Reform

That afternoon, Ōnoki convened a High-Level Meeting regarding Yichen's proposal to change the configuration of the Iwa ninja mission teams.

Two elderly advisors also participated in the meeting, but neither of them uttered a single word; they simply watched quietly.

After that, the two never participated in High-Level Meeting again, completely withdrawing from the power center of Iwa ninja.

At Yichen's instruction, Nakata Hajime compiled a list of ninjas who had been treated by the Medical Department over the years and whose records were detailed.

The data is alarming: more than 70% of patients' subsequent treatment was affected because they did not receive timely treatment. Of these 70%, a small percentage died or were left with disabilities, and another small percentage had their recovery time greatly delayed.

Once these data were presented, the higher-ups understood what Yichen was planning. However, the reform was too ambitious, and everyone at the meeting expressed doubts about its successful implementation. But after Yichen explained the steps of the entire reform plan in detail, the higher-ups fell silent. After a long while, Ikura broke the silence.

"Yichen, according to your plan, the existing squads will basically not change their configurations. Only in the future will newly formed squads be considered to have a Medical Ninja in each squad?"

After analyzing the situation in their minds, everyone felt that the idea was highly feasible. Even the fastest graduating class from the Ninja Academy would still need almost a year to graduate, giving them ample time to train Medical Ninja.

While there will be resistance to the existing teams learning basic medical knowledge, this resistance is within the acceptable range for the village.

The biggest source of this resistance is the issue of reward. Ninjas have limited time; if a squad sends one person to learn Medical Ninjutsu, the entire squad will be unable to go on missions.

Many people would feel this is a waste of time, since time is very precious in the process of a ninja's growth. Missing the time for a few missions could delay the time to exchange for ninjutsu.

However, the money problem was easy to solve. The village had just received a large sum of money from the government, and after distributing the compensation, there was still a large surplus.

Finally, the female advisor, Mei, proposed a gentler approach: to conduct voluntary training first, allowing each ninja squad to sign up themselves.

First, train the teams that are interested in this. If we promote it well, I believe there will be quite a few willing teams.

By the time this group of teams finishes training, quite some time will have passed. We'll then inform the other teams of the results. At that point, some more teams should be willing to undergo training.

Once these two groups have received training, the impact on the rest, even if the village doesn't force them, will be minimal.

Whenever a squad suffers a loss and needs to be reorganized, the village can simply reorganize the squad according to the new configuration.

If this continues slowly, after a year or two, most of the Iwa ninja squads will probably have been replaced.

Yichen thought this method was feasible and reliable, much more dependable than his own idea of achieving success overnight, so he was the first to express his agreement.

Ōnoki was pleased that Yichen accepted Mei's suggestion; being able to listen to the mature and prudent advice of his senior was also a sign of growth.

He slammed his hand on the table and said, "Alright, the Medical Department take care of this. They'll arrange for Medical Ninja to train the others every day, starting tomorrow."

"As for the training of new students, the Medical Department is preparing a textbook to increase the theoretical courses at the Ninja Academy. Several Medical Ninja will also be assigned to the Ninja Academy as temporary instructors, teaching senior students. Ikura has informed the Ninja Academy of this and asked them to adjust the curriculum accordingly."

Finally Ōnoki looked at Mei and said, "I'll entrust the publicity to Mei. Make sure to inform every squad."

"Yes," everyone responded in unison.

After the meeting, a message quickly began to circulate among the Iwa ninja. The first part of the message was the report that Nakata Hajime had compiled, and the second part was the village's plan to train Medical Ninja and the registration method.

The results surprised the higher-ups; everyone was more enthusiastic about participating in the training than expected. Although there were differing opinions, since it was voluntary, there were some who disagreed, but almost no one who opposed it.

The number of ninjas who signed up stretched from the second day to six months in advance.

To minimize disruption to everyone's mission execution, Nakata Hajime divided the training into three phases.

The first phase is open to everyone; all you need to do is register. This phase covers the most basic concepts, combining theory and practice. The course lasts approximately seven days.

The second stage involves learning more advanced content. This stage requires passing the test in the first stage before you can begin. The learning period exceeds twenty days.

The third stage involves ninjas with genuine medical talent. Their training will not be completed in one go; the village will find ways to provide them with long-term training.

The first phase consists of two training sessions per day, each lasting half a day. The training covers the most basic professional first aid techniques, including bandaging and hemostasis, poisoning treatment, and emergency treatment methods after being hit by various ninja techniques or hidden weapons.

Because Yichen and Ikura were worried that there wouldn't be enough people to sign up, they registered their teams early. Both teams were among the first to attend the lecture, and both teams registered as a group of four.

There are many teams like Yichen's group, where four people sign up together. They figure that since they can't carry out the mission if one person is missing, it doesn't matter whether one person listens or four people listen.

The village was happy to see this happen, since the first phase of training didn't cost much anyway.

Yichen had some knowledge of Medical Ninja before, but it was all very basic theoretical knowledge. There were many first aid skills taught in this training course that Yichen did not know.

In particular, Yichen had never even heard of the treatment methods for various ninjutsu techniques.

"Indeed, professional tasks should be left to professionals."

After the lecture, there was a quiz sheet. According to Nakata Hajime, this quiz sheet was used to screen whether a ninja had the talent to become a true Medical Ninja.

The test is out of 100 points. Those who score 60 or above have some talent and have the potential to become a Medical Ninja. Those who score 80 or 90 points, according to Nakata Hajime, can proceed to the next round of testing. Passing the test means they have a chance to learn advanced Medical Ninjutsu like Mystical Palm Technique.

Yichen wasn't sure what the next test would be, because no one in his and Ikura's team could score above 80. Surprisingly, the best score among the eight was Matsutani Shinya, with 73 points. The other children barely scored 60, Yichen and Ikura both scored in the 60s.

Furthermore, according to Nakata Hajime, Jonin's 60 points are far inferior to Genin's 60 points. This is because Jonin's 60 points include a lot of inflated points derived from extensive experience. Therefore, in terms of Medical Ninjutsu talent, Yichen and Ikura are not as good as the others.

This puzzled Yichen, who had always believed that he had a good talent for both Medical Ninjutsu and Genjutsu Talent.

Hearing Yichen's question, Nakata Hajime smiled and said, "Medical Ninjutsu talent is divided into two parts: theoretical talent and Chakra talent. Your Chakra talent is definitely top-notch, but Chakra talent cannot make up for a lack of theoretical talent."

Yichen thought about it and realized it made sense, so he stopped worrying about it.

After leaving the Medical Department, Yichen's three disciples and Ikura's three disciples chatted together and walked ahead, while Yichen and Ikura walked behind.

Watching the six still discussing the first aid knowledge they had just heard, Ikura was slightly lost in thought. After turning a corner, Ikura came back to her senses Yichen said, "Yichen, perhaps you are more suitable to be the Tsuchikage than I am."

Yichen hadn't noticed Ikura's expression; he was still wondering how high his talent in Genjutsu Talent was, given that his Medical Ninjutsu talent was only average.

Hearing what Ikura said, Yichen chuckled and said, "What, are you giving up on your dream so soon? I remember when you first entered the Ninja Academy, your dream was also to become the Tsuchikage. Speaking of which, my dream back then wasn't to become the Tsuchikage."

Ikura recalled the scene from back then, smiled, and still said, "You are indeed more suitable to be the Tsuchikage than I am. The changes you have made have truly benefited Iwagakure."

"Haha, Ikura, are you being silly too? Am I the Tsuchikage now? I'm not the Tsuchikage now, but aren't these reforms still underway? As long as the Tsuchikage can accept suggestions that benefit the village, what difference does it make whether the person making the suggestions is the Tsuchikage or not?"

"Hmm..." Ikura thought about it and realized it made sense. "That makes sense. In that case, I'll still have to compete with you for the position of Fourth Tsuchikage."

Yichen looked at the six little figures in front of him, thought for a moment, and said, "There's nothing for us two to compete over. How about this, let the three of them have a competition, and whoever's disciple wins the most will become the Tsuchikage, how about that?"

"Huh?" Ikura didn't expect Yichen to say that, and subconsciously looked at the six little ones in front who were still discussing whether to find a patient to try the bandaging method.

After a while, Ikura said blankly, "Okay, but what if it's a tie?"

It's normal for ninja matches to end in a draw. If Ikura were to fight Yichen now, Yichen could simply fly into the air, and Ikura would be helpless against him. However, in a head-on fight, Yichen would be no match for Ikura, a quasi-Kage with Kage-level Combatant.

Without even thinking, Yichen said directly, "If it's a draw, of course I win, after all, I still have three disciples!"

"Haha, okay, it's settled then."

As the sun set, the six children were still discussing excitedly, completely unaware that their teacher had assigned them such an important task.

The matter of reforming the Medical Ninja was no longer something Yichen needed to worry about. After that, Yichen stopped attending classes.

The next day, Yichen went to the place where the Beast Taming.

The Iwa ninja has two Tailed Beasts, the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails.

Yichen had never encountered the Four-Tails named Son Goku, but he had a relatively deep impression of the Five-Tails.

Back when Second Shinobi War had just ended, and Yichen was still a child, he had witnessed the Five-Tails going berserk. Yichen had also met the previous Jinchuriki, Katsuragi.

Furthermore, in order to subdue the rampaging Five-Tails, the Barrier Team used the Five Elements Sealing Jutsu developed by Yichen.

In this war, the Four-Tails was not sent to the battlefield; instead, the Five-Tails was sent. Yichen also had some contact with Han, the current Five-Tails Jinchuriki.

Therefore, the first person Yichen met was Han Five-Tails Jinchuriki.

The village's two Tailed Beasts were not placed together because if one Tailed Beast out of control, it could be suppressed. If both went berserk together, then Iwagakure could forget about competing for the title of the Ruler of the Ninja World.

Han lived in a valley more than ten kilometers away from the village. Two Anbu Squad lived with Han, but they were more like they were monitoring the Five-Tails than living with him.

Yichen looked around the valley. Hmm, there were traces of a barrier. The information said it was a barrier that could weaken giant Ninja Beast. He wondered how useful it was. He would take a closer look later.

As soon as Yichen entered the valley, the person in charge of the place stood in front of Yichen.

This man is called Tajima. Yichen had met him a few days ago. He and another person were specifically responsible for accompanying Han, working in shifts.

Yichen nodded to Tajima and they went together to Han's door.

Han used the Five-Tails' power once before, and the seal was loosened at that time, making the Five-Tails very violent. However, after the battle, the seal was reinforced by Ōnoki, and the Five-Tails is now very calm.