Naruto: The Scientific Ninja

Seeing the body of the water bat cut in two, Sasuke froze for a moment, but his mind immediately kicked into gear. It was a golden opportunity to earn sympathy and give another demonstration of his unwavering "Will of Fire." Moreover, it could further solidify his persona. Without hesitation, he was possessed by the spirit of acting.

"Kuro! Kuro, what's wrong, Kuro!"

Sasuke quickly filled his eyes with chakra, stimulated his tear glands, and shouted heartbreakingly, "Kuro, you can't die! I've depended on you my whole life, we've shared joys and sorrows for so many years. I've always treated you like my own blood, I've taught and raised you, but I never expected that today the old would be sending off the young..."

He knelt on the ground, buried his head, and hugged the water bat's body, his heart shattered.

In truth, although this water bat was the one that had been with him the longest, it was simply the most resilient among many. If not for its strong resistance to poison, it would have been destroyed by his continuous poison tests long ago. Raise it like a biological son? What kind of parent feeds their child poison daily and uses them as an experimental subject?

"Alas, this is the fate of a ninja."

Seeing this scene, all the Konoha ninja, except for Kagejirō, felt sympathy, but none were overly saddened. It was obvious that such things had become commonplace in war. However, for a ninja like Sasuke, who valued friendship and loyalty and had an iron Will of Fire, facing such things must be very sad, right?

"Senpai, the dead are gone, so don't be so sad."

Shinnosuke, with a surprisingly mature air, patted Sasuke's shoulder and continued to console him, "Senpai, the village recently captured a flock of sand hawks from the Land of Wind, and many even have the blood of high-level summoning beasts. I'll find a way to get one for you then."

"Really?" Sasuke looked at Shinnosuke with tears in his eyes, which were a bit exaggeratedly red, a sad and expectant look on his face.

High-level summonable beasts were extremely rare, and flying ones were the best of the best. He remembered that in the future, even Sasuke Uchiha, after getting his snakes, also contracted a giant eagle.

"It's true," Torifune confirmed. He had more accurate inside information. Some time ago, a young man named Hatake Sakumo had destroyed a ninja beast breeding base in the Sand Village and had obtained a large number of summoned hawk chicks. They were now stored in the logistics department, in the high-level item exchange column, and could be exchanged for 5 B-rank mission merits.

However, Torifune knew that given Sasuke's status, he normally wouldn't be on the exchange list. But now that Shinnosuke had proposed it, the logistics department would be happy to do him a favor. Still, he didn't recommend Sasuke do it. Shinnosuke was young and emotional; it would be more practical for Sasuke to exchange his merits for ninjutsu or weapons. A hawk's growth period was long. By the time it grew up, the war might have been over for several years.

Seeing that Sasuke was too sad, the Konoha ninja left him alone and quickly cleaned up the battlefield. After assigning their respective tasks, Torifune took Shinnosuke aside and gave him some instructions. Before leaving, he added, "Shinnosuke, when you hand in the mission report, report the casualty of the water bat summon as a chūnin-level companion and sign the compensation over to Umino Sasuke's family."

It was customary to give a pension for the death of a summoning beast, but this situation was usually exclusive to the Inuzuka clan and a few other powerful ninja. Sasuke was now his right-hand man, and it wasn't an exaggeration to seek benefits for his own people. 'Sasuke is a chūnin, it's reasonable for his summoning beast to be chūnin-level. Besides, who can object if Shinnosuke reports it?'

"Yes!" Shinnosuke nodded forcefully, indicating that he would definitely not forget.

"Let's go," Ye said, nodding to Sasuke. He then carried the unconscious Asuka on his back and prepared to leave with Shinnosuke.

"Senpai, I'm leaving! I definitely won't forget about your hawk!" Shinnosuke shouted as he disappeared among the trees, his voice still echoing in the forest.

At the same time, Torifune winked at Maru, who secretly left a shadow clone behind as the main group departed.

"Lord Torifune, I still have to patrol the defense zone to prevent the Sand Ninja from taking the opportunity to break through. I will return first," Sasuke said, hastily bidding farewell. He didn't even have time to befriend the "Strongest Genin's" shadow clone.

"What a reliable subordinate!" Torifune thought, nodding, visibly satisfied with Sasuke's dedication. He ordered Shibi, who was at his side, "Shibi, you should look after Sasuke and his team more often. They're running out of supplies, don't let the Sand-nin take advantage of them."

"Yes," Shibi replied, nodding indifferently from behind his small sunglasses.