Yuki Haku
On the way out of the hospital, Sakura Haruno was still chatting away with Shiro.
"The parasitic disease prevalent in the northwest is actually not difficult to treat at all!" the pink-haired girl explained quickly. "By organizing a medical team, preferably led by Master Hokage himself, we can develop a specific drug that kills the pathogens in the water in the epidemic area and completely eradicates this epidemic in just one or two months!"
"Then send a few Chunin teams, or even Genin teams, and this problem can be completely solved in six months at most. For ninjas, this is not a problem at all!"
She had just read Bai's report. This disease looked quite similar to schistosomiasis on Earth in her previous life. It was extremely prevalent in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in the early days of the People's Republic of China, infecting and killing tens of millions of people. It took more than fifty years to basically eradicate it. Perhaps in sixty or seventy years, the new generation will no longer feel its threat, but if someone in their family has died because of it, they will probably have a deep impression of it. However, in the Hokage world, there are extremely convenient Ninjutsu, so it shouldn't take that long.
Yuki Haku walked alongside her, and along the way, low-ranking medical-nin they encountered stopped to greet her, saying, "Yuki." She smiled and nodded in response, then looked at Sakura with a beaming smile, "But the Land of Fire government didn't issue us this mission!"
--Without a mission, there is no mission reward. The Fifth Hokage wouldn't do something so unprofitable.
That said, the kind and gentle Haku is a perfect fit for the profession of medical-nin. In just a few years since becoming a ninja, he has risen to the Jonin with his superb Medical Ninjutsu and serves as a company commander in the medical unit, which is quite an achievement. In addition, his gentle and graceful personality and his beautiful and delicate face make him extremely popular among the doctors (regardless of gender) at Konoha Hospital.
"You didn't understand me!" Sakura waved her hand, saying repeatedly, "I wasn't right just now. First of all, our ninja village doesn't actually need the Land of Fire's government. Or, it would be best if we formed our own government, without the need for daimyo or nobles! That way, we would have the qualifications and the obligation to manage such matters!"
"But," Bai said calmly, her tone melodious and gentle, "These are all things that haven't happened yet!"
"That's right, just as Master said, neither the ninjas nor the ninja villages are ready yet, so we have to maintain the status quo and not make any easy changes," the pink-haired girl snapped her fingers, her spirits still high. "But that doesn't mean we should do nothing. Quite the opposite! If we do nothing, we'll always be in a state of being unprepared! So your report is actually a great opportunity!"
"Hmm?" Bai tilted his head, asking the question at just the right moment.
"It's very simple. It's a remote, impoverished place that even dogs would avoid. Neither the ninja village nor the great powers would ever pay attention to such a place! So whatever we do there won't easily be leaked. In fact, in my opinion, we can do far more than just treat patients and eradicate the root of the disease. On the contrary, many things that would easily arouse the suspicion of the daimyo or the vigilance of foreign powers can be carried out in that natural experimental field."
We can call it a revolution.
Sakura Haruno spoke slowly and deliberately.
While she was saying this, she suddenly thought of the Land of Rain —the location of Akatsuki's base. That rainy country, bordering the northwestern part of the Land of Fire, was also an area plagued by parasitic diseases. Like other impoverished and remote mountainous regions, the Land of Rain suffered from economic hardship and poverty, with little to no profit to be made. As a result, it was not valued by other countries, which is why Akatsuki was based in such a place, making it difficult for Jiraiya after searching for several years (perhaps an even more important reason was that Jiraiya could drink and frequent brothels, neglecting these poor mountain villages).
The same applies to Orochimaru's base.
Is this some kind of Hokage version of "encircling the cities from the countryside"? Thinking this, Sakura Haruno sneered. It's a pity such a good strategy was used by a depraved terrorist organization to wreak havoc on the world, and by a mad scientist who crossed ethical boundaries to harm ordinary people...
After Sakura Haruno finished speaking, Yuki Haku looked at her seriously for several moments before saying solemnly, "Sakura, it seems you really want to save those people's fates. You... I've known you for so many years, and only now have I realized you're this kind of person. Perhaps you could be described as kind or even great?"
Sakura was both amused and exasperated. "Are you... being sarcastic?"
"It's not sarcasm," Bai shook his head, "It's just... I feel your thinking is different from many people. Many medical-nin in the hospital are also very kind people; they will take the initiative to treat patients and the injured when they see them. But they are different from you. They treat Konoha Ninjas or residents who are very close to us, while you are thinking about people Senri away who have nothing to do with us, and hundreds of thousands, even millions of them. This... is different."
"I'm no great man, nor am I as noble as you. I just think... if we can save many people, thousands, tens of thousands, with just a little effort, then why not do it?" The pink-haired girl chuckled and said, "As for the rest, you can consider it a kind of, well, boring political fantasy. Besides, even for something this simple, I didn't argue about it, and in the end, I was still convinced by Master Tsunade, wasn't I?"
"That's because as Hokage, she needs to think from a holistic perspective... Haven't we been trying to unite all nations to deal with the Akatsuki threat? At this critical juncture, we can't afford to disperse our forces. Perhaps this is a necessary sacrifice?" Bai said calmly.
"Sacrifice?"
Sakura Haruno glanced sideways at the black-haired girl beside her. Her pale face was expressionless, revealing nothing. She had sacrificed almost everything for Zabuza's ambition back then, and she was probably more qualified to speak on this heavy topic.
The two were walking down a long corridor when their conversation suddenly stopped, and the corridor fell silent.
Only the light footsteps of the girls remained, the crisp click-clack of their sandals on the floor.
In the stillness, Sakura Haruno suddenly recalled her occasional discussions with Master Tsunade about these matters. Of course, those private conversations were much deeper than those in front of her friends. Unfortunately, Sakura was more interested in science and engineering than humanities back then, and even her graduate studies were through a guaranteed admission program. She didn't even study the political science for the graduate entrance exam; most of the time she just played with vocabulary. She didn't have the level of people like Li Sheng, Chen, and Cheng. She shouldn't completely admire Tsunade; there were many things she herself didn't understand.
The key issue is that many theories from past lives don't apply here.
The exploiting class includes landlords and capitalists, but do ninjas count? No, ninjas can also engage in production! Their productivity far surpasses that of ordinary people! For example, if she were in charge of irrigation, one person could manage half of the Land of Fire's farmland! If we were to create a distorted, industrialized version of the Hokage world, Sakura, who learned Water Release, could work on water conservancy projects; Hinata could do mineral exploration or non-destructive testing (far more advanced than ultrasound); Sasuke could be an eighth-level fitter and lathe operator, proficient in turning, planing, milling, drilling, and grinding—just find ten or eight master craftsmen and have him replicate their work; Choji could build a 10,000-ton press and a gantry crane; and Naruto would be even more useful—just fill any gaps in manpower.
That sounds pretty exciting.
Unfortunately, it remains just a thought.
Reality! Reality... is not like that at all.