Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

Chapter 12 Medical Department, must be established.

Spring has passed and autumn has come; two years have flown by in the blink of an eye.

Under Hiruzen Sarutobi's rule, Konoha Village flourished.

Internally, he implemented sweeping reforms, cracked down on internal corruption, and established a system of clear rewards and punishments, which brought about a completely new atmosphere in the entire village.

Externally, he leveraged the information advantage provided by the simulator to anticipate the enemy's moves in small-scale skirmishes with other ninja villages, achieving victory at minimal cost and increasing Konoha's prestige.

The villagers and ninjas who once had doubts about his succession are now completely convinced. The rumors of the Third Hokage's "almost supernatural wisdom" have even begun to circulate throughout the ninja world.

The Sarutobi team, which he personally taught, has grown into the most dazzling new stars in Konoha.

Jiraiya is still carefree, but his strength is no longer that of a bottom-of-the-barrel student; he now wields ninjutsu with considerable skill.

Tsunade's mastery of superhuman strength and taijutsu became increasingly profound. More importantly, under Hiruzen's deliberate guidance, her talent in medical ninjutsu was fully unleashed.

Orochimaru, on the other hand, became completely engrossed in the mysteries of life.

His research into ninjutsu has penetrated to the level of cells and the origin of chakra, and he often puts forward theories that amaze even Hiruzen.

These past two years have been both fulfilling and exhausting for Hiruzen Sarutobi.

He was like a diligent gardener, carefully pruning every branch of the big tree of leaves to prevent them from growing crooked.

Today, he is preparing to make a big move.

The Hokage Building, high-level conference room.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in the main seat, with several Hokage advisors on his left and right: Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and Danzo Shimura.

Akimichi Torifu, that fat guy, is lazy and doesn't like meetings, so he won't come except for some important decisions. As for Uchiha Kagami, he's busy training his clansmen.

Their expressions were much more relaxed than two years ago, and their gazes toward Hiruzen were filled with conviction.

In the past two years, Hiruzen has completely won over his old partners with his undeniable, god-like predictions time and time again.

On the conference table lay a thick proposal.

On the cover, there is a line of eye-catching words: "Proposal on Establishing a Medical Ninja System in Konoha and Popularizing Medical Ninjas in Regular Teams".

The proposal was written by Tsunade and Orochimaru.

But everyone knows that the real driving force behind this was the Third Hokage himself.

"Have you all finished watching?" Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze swept over everyone. "What are your thoughts?"

Silence fell over the meeting room.

After a long pause, Mitokado Homura adjusted his glasses and spoke first.

"Hiruzen, I admit, the idea behind this proposal is very... ahead of its time." He carefully chose his words. "Having a dedicated medical ninja in the squad can indeed greatly improve the squad's survivability and mission sustainability."

"But," he changed the subject, "we must consider the practical issues."

"Training a qualified medical ninja requires far more resources and time than training an ordinary combat ninja. They need to learn a great deal about the human body and undergo meticulous chakra manipulation training, which will seriously take up their time for practicing combat ninjutsu."

"This means that medical ninjas are often the weakest link in a team. In peacetime, isn't large-scale training of them a waste of resources?"

Mitokado Yan's words expressed the sentiments of most people present.

"Yan is right."

Koharu Utatane immediately chimed in, "Our Konoha's ninja resources are already strained. Every genin who graduates is a valuable fighting force. If we send them to become medical ninjas, it's tantamount to weakening our overall military strength."

"Moreover, establishing a brand-new medical department requires a huge amount of start-up capital and space. Our village has just experienced war and is in dire need of reconstruction. We are afraid that our finances will not be able to support such a huge expenditure."

Koharu and Homura, as staunch supporters of the Second Hokage system, have a very pragmatic, even conservative, way of thinking.

In their view, the core value of a ninja is combat. Any action that weakens their fighting ability is unacceptable.

Tsunade, one of the authors of the proposal, was also present at the meeting. Upon hearing the two opposing opinions, she blushed and stood up abruptly.

"Advisor Yan, Advisor Xiao Chun! You're being short-sighted!"

"Aren't ninja lives also a resource? Isn't it an even greater waste for an experienced ninja to die on a mission because they can't receive timely medical treatment?"

"A medical ninja might not be able to kill the enemy outright, but she can save three teammates! Can't you even do the math?"

Tsunade's rebuttal was forceful and clear, but Koharu and Homura Mitokado simply shook their heads.

"Tsunade, we understand how you feel."

Xiaochun's tone was calm. "But this is peacetime now. Large-scale casualties are unlikely to occur. Investing such a huge cost to deal with a low-probability event is not worthwhile from the perspective of the village's overall operation."

"You..." Tsunade was so angry she couldn't speak.

She looked pleadingly at her teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

However, Hiruzen Sarutobi simply sat there, silent, his fingers rhythmically tapping the table, as if deep in thought.

The meeting reached a stalemate.

Supporters and opponents alike cannot convince each other.

All eyes were focused on the Third Hokage in the main seat, awaiting his final judgment.

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi was frantically communicating with the simulator in his mind.

"simulation!"

[Start the future simulation...]

[Simulated Scenario: Reject the medical department's proposal and maintain the status quo.]

A blood-red scene suddenly unfolded in my mind.

[Scene 1: The Second Shinobi World War has fully erupted. Konoha ninjas are falling in droves during the fierce battles against Sunagakure and Iwagakure.]

Scene Two: A Konoha squad is caught in a trap, and their captain is poisoned. Because the squad lacks a medical ninja, they can only watch helplessly as their captain dies in agony. If there had been a medical ninja present, a simple extraction technique could have saved him.

[Scene 3: Post-war statistics show that the casualty rate of Konoha ninjas was as high as 40%, with more than half of them dying from injuries that could have been treated. Countless experienced core members of the force sacrificed themselves in vain.]

[Ending: Although Konoha won the war, it was severely weakened and would need many years to recover. Tsunade, too, was left with indelible psychological trauma from the war.]

The simulation has ended.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes instantly turned icy cold.

His fingers, which were tapping on the table, stopped.

Peacetime?

Not worth it?

Such shortsightedness seems so ridiculous and ironic in the face of a bloody future.

Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his hand on the table, and the entire conference room fell silent instantly.

"Peace?"

"How long can your so-called peace last? One year? Two years? Or five years?"

"The shadow of war has never truly left! It could loom over us again at any moment!"

His voice suddenly rose in pitch, ringing in everyone's ears.

"By then, every ninja we sacrifice will be because of our hesitation and shortsightedness here today."

"By then, who among you will be responsible for those lives that could have been saved?!"

"Is that you, Mitokado Homura? Or is it you, Koharu?"

The two whose names were called turned pale instantly and instinctively avoided Hiruzen's gaze.

They had never seen Hiruzen so enraged.

At this moment, they seemed to see in him the undeniable shadow of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, and perhaps even more so...

Danzo Shimura has been much more well-behaved these past two years, keeping his eyes down and his mind at ease.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath, his tone becoming resolute.

"Ten percent of the Hokage's funds will be allocated directly as seed money to establish the Konoha Medical Department immediately."

"Tsunade will become the first head of the Medical Department!"

Orochimaru will serve as Vice-Minister and Chief Researcher!

"Starting next semester, all students at the Ninja Academy must take an additional course in basic medical knowledge as a mandatory graduation exam!"

He looked at Koharu and Mitokado Homura, who were completely stunned, and said, word by word.

"I issue this order in the name of the Third Hokage!"

"There's no room for negotiation!"

"Meeting adjourned!"

After saying that, he didn't look at anyone's reaction, turned around, and strode out of the conference room.

The room was left with only stunned and shocked executives.

Tsunade watched her teacher's departing figure, her eyes blazing with boundless admiration.

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado exchanged a glance, both seeing shock in each other's eyes.

They realized that Sarutobi's vision might have already shown them a future that they could never reach.

Konoha may truly be ushering in a new era under his leadership.