Konoha 39, December.
Akaseki, who had not returned to Konoha for more than a year, received an order to return to the village to recuperate after his mission was over.
Although the war has not ended and Konoha is short of manpower, it is still very rare for Konoha to have no chance to rest for a consecutive year.
On the one hand, Akaseki plays a very important role, especially in Land of Grass; on the other hand, Akaseki has never been to the front line - only fighting three or five times a month, not as nervous as Konoha Ninja in Land of Wind.
However, seeing that the New Year is coming again, Akaseki still replied to Konoha.
This time I'm going back to Konoha, as well as Orochimaru and Tsunade...
As for Jiraiya, it's because he doesn't want to go back.
Sarutobi also had a headache and was angry about the situation where Jiraiya had to take care of local orphans in the middle of the war.
This kind of behavior, Sarutobi can only say...
Damn Orochimaru, why can't you stop him from being stupid?
However, although he complained in his heart, Sarutobi still agreed temporarily. He just made a "three-part agreement" with him that he was not allowed to completely lose contact and that he must immediately withdraw to perform the task in case of emergency...
After all, there have been too many Konoha Ninjas showing stress during this period. Jiraiya's behavior was naturally understood by Sarutobi as a stress reaction - and indeed it was.
I became very close to the Three Youngsters, which happened later.
The reason why Jiraiya "goes his own way" and even acts rebelliously on his own is because he is already stressed by the war.
Although the direct trigger for the outbreak of the war was Hanzō's ambition, and even Amegakure had shown his fangs to Konoha before the war, and was severely taught a lesson, but...
Land of Rain The current tragic situation still makes Jiraiya feel uncomfortable.
Konoha is not far away, the four people on the way back - Akaseki, Nonō, Orochimaru, Tsunade.
"I can't believe that...Lord Hokage actually agreed to Teacher Jiraiya to continue to stay with Land of Rain and no longer assign tasks to him." Akaseki sighed, remembering that there were Orochimaru and Tsunade around him, especially Nonō who might snitch... so he changed his mind decisively.
"Weak ninja, why not go rest." Orochimaru said disdainfully.
Although Orochimaru and Sarutobi had another quarrel through secret messages because of Jiraiya's incident, they still expressed disdain for Jiraiya.
"Hokage Building has recently been discussing the issue of the continuation of the war, hoping to adjust the pace of the war. There should be too many companions, and there is a psychological stress reaction." Tsunade said worriedly.
Tsunade seems to be very calm now, but in fact she feels that she is not very normal... especially after the death of Nawaki! The most obvious thing is that she is overly nervous. When Tsunade was at Land of Rain and Land of Wind, if there was a slight disturbance, even if the other party was a civilian, she would be on guard.
The reason why there has been no accidental injury is also thanks to the strong Chakra Control of Tsunade. Whenever an Chunin is so nervous, it is very likely that Nagato will become a parent.
As for anxiety, insomnia, etc., needless to say...
Also...
Akaseki looked at Orochimaru and Tsunade on his left and right hands at this time, and felt slightly in his heart - although Tsunade said he understood, and even rationally did not blame Orochimaru, but... Ever since the incident with Nawaki, there has been a gap with Orochimaru.
Even Orochimaru is usually cold and indifferent, but after getting along for a long time, Akaseki can still vaguely feel it. It can be seen from some small movements and micro-expressions that Orochimaru has actually been unwilling to face Tsunade!
"Before the Ninja Village era, the intensity of this kind of war would have been nothing more than child's play... This is the world of ninjas." Orochimaru emphasized in a hoarse and cold voice, as if he didn't care.
Tsunade was a little disgusted with Orochimaru's words, but unlike before, when he was disgusted, he directly scolded him. Instead, he said with a sense of alienation, "That's what I said... But these three years can be said to be unprecedented three years since the establishment of Konoha. The main ninjas of Konoha now all grew up in the Ninja Village era."
How Warring States Period is, for today's Konoha people, it is just a thing of the past.
It's impossible that just because someone from the older generation came out and said, "I was like that back then," everyone would immediately adjust to a good state and feel that it's pretty good now. Most of them would just curse in their hearts: This old man.
"I heard that some big Shinobi Clan are very irresponsible. Now I'm asking some old bloggers to come out and say something about what they have and what they don't." As soon as Akaseki heard this, he immediately stopped feeling sleepy.
Well, Akaseki belongs to the minority - he doesn't curse in his heart. Of course Orochimaru and Tsunade know who he is talking about...
In order to "pacify people's hearts", Danzo assisted and invited the elder of the Shimura Clan - Lao Deng of Warring States Period... to remember the bitterness and sweetness, and to prove that we are far from reaching the limit now. We encourage everyone to increase their support for Hokage Building's policy, to actively fight, and not to always come back to rest!
After all, even for Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others, Warring States Period is just a vague memory from childhood, not a personal experience. Only such a big Shinobi Clan can really be considered as an old man who has come from Warring States Period.
However, this kind of remembering the bitter and thinking of the sweet is obviously not very effective...
Seeing that Orochimaru and Tsunade did not agree with him, Akaseki continued, "The Warring States Period war is so fierce, and that Shimura Clan old man is still alive and well... I think they were too timid at Warring States Period, and now they come out to point fingers at young ninjas. It's really abominable!"
Seeing that Akaseki was going too far, Tsunade changed the subject. "It's not just a psychological problem, but more directly... there are also a large number of injured people who have not recovered at this time. Konoha has temporarily built hospitals and sanatoriums, but... Medical Ninja is too few."
Tsunade was very serious when talking about this matter.
After all, Tsunade can be said to be the person in charge of the current Konoha medical system!
In comparison, although Sunagakure also has this problem, and even has a much greater casualty ratio than Konoha, and it is said that the pressure is naturally greater, the situation is actually better than Konoha.
After all, Sunagakure has been "working hard" all these years. In order to defeat Konoha and for the resources of Land of Fire, both generations have been gritting their teeth and "exploding troops"...
Moreover, in the Shinobi World war twenty years ago, they were not as "absent" as Konoha. The continuous friction with Iwagakure and Kirigakure made them more adaptable to the state of war.
Just like what is said in their "Sand Wall Declaration" - although the gravel is tiny, it forms a wall when gathered together, born in the sea of sand, and is unyielding. "Indomitable" is their main theme. Naturally, at the psychological level, they are more durable than Konoha Ninja. As for the physical level...
The Medical Ninja on the front line is insufficient, which also makes Sand Ninja's "injured" very few, but it seems that Medical Ninja is not so lacking!
For the same injury, Konoha Ninja received first aid and needed follow-up care and medical treatment, but Sand Ninja... Gaba, died on the spot.
On the contrary, Konoha is now trapped in a cycle of more Medical Ninja and less Medical Ninja.
"Medical Ninja... isn't it too talented?" Akaseki thought about the Uchiha Clan, and there seemed to be few Medical Ninja.
Tsunade shook his head at this time and said, "Medical Ninja's talent is indeed rare, but unlike other ninjas, the threshold is mainly Chakra Control's power... Commoner Ninja generally has the problem of insufficient chakra talent, but in terms of control, the proportion of those with talent is not much lower than Shinobi Clan."
Obviously, Tsunade feels that "talented seedlings" will always be found if you look for them. Although they are rare, they have little bloodline bonus, so there are a large number of civilians who can be used as bases.
Not to mention top Medical Ninja, at least ordinary ninjas who know Medical Ninjutsu can be cultivated as long as they are willing to spend resources.
"At this time...Konoha does not have the conditions to expand Medical Ninja." Orochimaru poured cold water on it.
Seeing that Tsunade didn't speak, Orochimaru continued, "Even if there are more Medical Ninja, they will definitely go to the front line. By then, the problem of insufficient medical manpower will become even more prominent."
Tsunade remained silent.
She wanted to say "then structurally adjust the ratio of ninjas", but she knew that was impossible. After all, Konoha's resources are limited...
Although from a utilitarian perspective, Medical Ninja can ensure the "resilience" of the village's combat power, but... the prerequisite is that it has combat power!
Konoha is already a big tree, so it is necessary to maintain military preparedness as a rigid necessity. Otherwise, no matter how many Medical Ninja there are, it will be meaningless if they are destroyed directly.
And...
Now Medical Ninja is insufficient because of the war!
If Medical Ninja is as plentiful as Tsunade thinks now, then after the war, how to resettle these people will still be a problem.
Especially Commoner Ninja, Konoha has to bear a lot of expenses to cultivate...
If it were in the past, Akaseki would still wonder why Medical Ninja was not allowed to take on more "medical tasks" in normal times, so as not to return "open source" to the village?
But now Akaseki no longer thinks so.
What he saw and heard at Land of Rain made Akaseki understand that ordinary people don't treat diseases at all, or they can just get some herbal medicine to deal with it, and they don't have the money to hire Medical Ninja. As for the rich and nobles... most of them have their own doctors. Even if Medical Ninja is really needed, they only need to hire the top ones at critical moments!
Shinobi World does not have that much demand for the ordinary Medical Ninja, or... it cannot be raised at all, which is seriously inconsistent with the cultivation consumption.
At this time, Akaseki's expression changed, and he suddenly thought of something... "Medical Ninja mainly needs control... By the way, if you think about it, Hyuga Clan is born to be Medical Ninja, right? Especially they can see things through!" Akaseki suddenly thought of this "medical mine".
But in fact, although Hyuga Clan has Medical Ninja, the number is not large. In other words... it has great potential.
"Jiejiejie, what you said makes sense... Mr. Akaseki, you only need to do two things. One is to convince Main Family of the Hyuga Clan to accept a large number of the Hyuga Branch Family has become an indispensable Medical Ninja in the team. The second is to convince the old man to accept a large number of indispensable Medical Ninja and to be under the absolute control of the Hyuga Main Family."
Orochimaru reminded sadly at this time.