Outmaneuvering Each Other

Konoha Hospital.

Tsunade stared blankly at the air in front of her, looking completely resigned, and had no intention of paying any attention to Taiichi's talk about training Medical Ninja.

As a lazy soul who had been wandering for four years, even after returning to serve as the Commander of the East Front, he completely delegated authority to his staff officers to handle affairs.

They called it "training their abilities."

Now that the war is over, she has no interest in being a serious dean anymore.

The reason she's back now is twofold: first, to stabilize morale, and second, and more importantly, to support her apprentice.

So----

"Taiichi, go and prepare a proposal, and submit it to me tomorrow."

Having apprentices but not using them? What a bastard!

With such a good worker around, why would I need to use my brain?

Besides, wasn't the whole point of getting him from the old man for this very moment?

Taiichi stared wide-eyed at Tsunade in astonishment, wondering if he had misheard.

"Teacher, it's not appropriate for me to do this kind of thing."

"Stop talking nonsense! I'm the dean, responsible for setting the overall direction. The specific tasks are your responsibility, otherwise what am I doing with you!"

Tsunade spoke with complete confidence, seemingly unaware of who had just signed the document without even glancing at its contents.

Taiichi was helpless. What could he do with such a master and leader? He could only sigh, bow, and accept the order before leaving.

Soon, all departments of the hospital received an order from Taiichi: each department must submit at least three ideas about training more Medical Ninja before the end of the workday tonight.

For a moment, the entire hospital was bewildered by this order.

Ninjas, whether combat-oriented or Medical Ninja, are primarily action-oriented.

They're all top-notch at doing tasks, but asking them for advice is a bit of a stretch.

However, this also shows Taiichi's current prestige. Although his orders were ineffective, everyone in the hospital was mobilized for an entire day.

Even as Taiichi walked along the corridor, he could hear medical staff discussing various feasible measures during their breaks.

By evening, Taiichi looked at the various opinions he had gathered and couldn't help but admire the power of numbers.

Although there are many unreliable opinions here.

For example, the village was asked to allocate double the funds. If the village really had that much money, they wouldn't have put Tsunade in charge of this matter.

Everyone knows the saying that money makes things easier.

But there are indeed quite a few good ideas in it.

The next day, Taiichi compiled his opinions into a document and delivered it to Tsunade.

Tsunade took the document, gave Taiichi strange look, but still started reading it, muttering to herself.

"You're a fast learner, kid!"

"Haha, isn't this all thanks to Teacher Tsunade's excellent teaching?"

Taiichi wasn't ashamed at all; on the contrary, he was proud, watching Tsunade put her learning to good use.

Tsunade muttered to herself silently, but as she read on, she gradually forgot about Taiichi's "laziness" and a serious expression appeared on her face.

After a long silence, she put down the documents in her hand, looked up at Taiichi, and said seriously, "I'm afraid what you've mentioned is beyond the capabilities of our Konoha Hospital alone. We'll have to ask the old man for coordination."

"Teacher, we're just offering suggestions. The specific implementation of this multi-departmental collaboration will ultimately require the Hokage-sama's approval."

"Excellent, that's a great idea!"

Tsunade stood up abruptly, picked up the document, and walked out, patting Taiichi on the shoulder as she reached him.

"Let's go to the Hokage's Office now and settle this matter with the old man."

Without waiting for Taiichi's reply, he turned and left the Dean's Office without looking back, which was truly swift and decisive.

Taiichi watched from behind, shaking his head helplessly.

You're the one who's lazy, and you're the one who's in a rush.

Woman, your thoughts are truly unpredictable.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and catch up!"

Tsunade's urging voice came from outside, clearly indicating her dissatisfaction with Taiichi's slow writing.

"Here it comes, here it comes!"

The Hokage's Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the documents Tsunade had submitted and a relieved smile appeared on his face.

There was no other reason than that Tsunade was able to focus on her work at Konoha Hospital and didn't spend all her time at the gambling den, which made him very satisfied.

"You can decide for yourselves to increase the training of ninjas among general physicians within the hospital."

"You've come here now so that I'll open a special Medical Ninja course at the Ninja Academy, right?"

Although it was a question, he spoke with absolute certainty, proving that he was indeed the Hokage of many years and could see through Tsunade's intentions at a glance.

"The adult ninjas outside of hospitals are basically already set in their ways, all leaning towards combat. No matter how much the hospital recruits and trains them, the base size is still limited."

But schools are different; they have a constant influx of new talent every year, which is the most important aspect of developing Medical Ninja.

Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned, carefully considering the pros and cons, and weighing his words.

"Tsunade, you need to understand that while Medical Ninja are important, combat is a ninja's primary duty. Isn't directly training Medical Ninja at the academy putting the cart before the horse?"

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi was being very careful, his words still touched on Tsunade's painful memories.

When she first proposed reforming the configuration of Konoha's Medical Ninja, she faced similar traditional skepticism and suppression.

Tsunade a deep breath and glared fiercely at Taiichi was watching the show from the sidelines.

"You, you proposed this plan, go and talk to the Third Hokage yourself!"

After saying that, he ignored the two of them and turned to walk towards the balcony.

Taiichi looked completely innocent; he had been caught in the crossfire of Tsunade's anger, but he still had to complete the task assigned by Tsunade.

"Hokage-sama, I've investigated at the school. During peacetime, the Ninja Academy has many students who fail to graduate each year."

Many of these students aren't lacking in talent, but their talent doesn't lie in combat. These are precisely the students we need to recruit.

Besides, most of the children in the school who want to become ninjas aim to become combat ninjas. Children with talent in that area would not become Medical Ninja.

For those truly gifted children, this is also giving them an opportunity to acquire more abilities.

Taiichi's explanation was very logical, clearly stating that this was not about competing with combat ninjas for recruits, thus completely dispelling the Hokage's concerns about a future decline in the number of combat ninjas.

Hiruzen Sarutobi is now very decisive. He wants to take advantage of his Hokage Position to deal with some troubles and leave a relatively clean Konoha for the Fourth Hokage.

Just like this new subject at the Ninja Academy, he would find it quite easy to do, regardless of the outcome.

If Minato were to do it, the newly appointed Minato would definitely face many obstacles.

Now that Taiichi has provided a reasonable explanation, he no longer hesitates.

"Alright, in that case, you can go ahead and do it. I'll take care of things at the school, but regarding the teachers and teaching materials—"

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his head towards the balcony and raised his voice.

"Tsunade, you'll have to prepare these yourselves."

Taiichi suddenly had a bad feeling, and before he could react, the premonition came true.

Tsunade hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's words, Tsunade re-entered the office, but without even looking at the Hokage, she directly addressed Taiichi: "Did you hear that? This matter is now in your hands. You handle the teacher and teaching materials yourself—"

After saying that, he raised his hand and Hiruzen Sarutobi as a greeting, then left the Hokage's Office.

Taiichi's lips twitched. This was... a piece written by a first-year high school student.

He bowed to the Hokage and hurriedly followed after Tsunade.

As Hiruzen Sarutobi watched the two leave, he felt something was off. He picked up the document again and examined it closely, finally realizing that the handwriting seemed to be that of Taiichi.

Combining this with Tsunade's previous explanation, a guess immediately popped into my mind.

This guy, is he just pushing all the blame onto Taiichi?

Outside the Hokage Building.

"Teacher! Teacher!"

Taiichi kept accelerating as he chased after Tsunade's retreating figure, but Tsunade was clearly trying to avoid Taiichi and was also accelerating.

Left with no other option, Taiichi shouted, which finally forced Tsunade to stop.

"You brat, what are you yelling about? I didn't run away."

Taiichi curled his lip. "They haven't even run yet. If they really started running, they would have disappeared by now."

He harbored resentment in his heart, but he didn't speak honestly about it either.

"Teacher, the teaching materials are easy to handle, but where am I supposed to find a way to get the teachers?"

The sound was so loud that it immediately attracted the attention of passing ninjas.

But when they saw that it was Taichi Matsushita and Tsunade speaking, they all wisely left quickly.

Clearly, they didn't want to join in the fun that the master and apprentice were having.

Tsunade turned around and looked at Taiichi's conflicted face, perhaps realizing that she had gone too far.

More importantly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a smiling, disgruntled old man watching them from the balcony of the Hokage Building.

"You little brat, you're doing this on purpose! Come back with me right now."

Go back! Taiichi wasn't going to fall for it; if he went back, this whole thing would really be a disaster for him.

He moved slowly, letting Tsunade along, showing no sign of urgency.

"Teacher, you can't just dump everything on me. The selection of teachers is of utmost importance; they must have a solid foundation."

Such talent is already scarce; if the hospital expands its internal training programs, it will be even more difficult to find people to serve as teachers.

Tsunade watched Taiichi become hesitant and stammering as he spoke, a sense of unease crept into her heart.

"Hey kid, get to the point, or I'm really leaving!"

"Teacher, you see, since you're pretty free anyway, why don't you become a teacher at the Ninja Academy?"

"What! Say that again!"

Tsunade stared wide-eyed at Taiichi, thinking she had misheard.

On the other hand, Taiichi quickened his pace. He grabbed Tsunade's arm and said as they walked, "Teacher, you don't need to be surprised. According to my plan, this Medical Ninja Training Class was originally intended for graduating students."

They'll be facing students interested in Medical Ninjutsu, and the number won't be large; it would be good if they could even fill a class.

"Isn't this size perfect for you to be a teacher? You can provide the children with the most solid foundation, and you can also legitimately leave the office to slack off."

Faced with Taiichi's blatant seduction, Tsunade, though knowing that Taiichi had ill intentions, couldn't help but indulge in Taiichi moment of daydreaming along with his train of thought.

Indeed, compared to teaching a bunch of kids at the Ninja Academy, the days spent reviewing documents in the office were definitely torture.

The key point is that Tsunade's gaze might inadvertently glance at Taiichi beside her, and that wouldn't be out of the question—

Both of them had their own ulterior motives: one wanted his teacher to do more, and the other wanted his apprentice to do more for him.

"Oh----"

"Oh----"

Two long sighs rang out, as if they had both figured everything out. At this moment, the two put their arms around each other's shoulders and quickened their pace towards the hospital.

The Land of Wind.

A fierce wind swept across the desert, and the yellow sand stretched from the sky to the ground, as if the entire sky was covered with a layer of dark clouds. As far as the eye could see, this was a world of yellow sand.

In the middle of this desert, there is a small town that, because of its remote location and lack of resources, exists independently of the Land of Wind's rule.

Rōran became an independent small country within the Land of Wind.

If any Sunagakure ninja were here at this moment, they would be astonished; the current Rōran is nothing like the Rōran of the past.

Rōran was once just a small town, where people lived in poverty and gradually declined to the point of being of concern to the Mist Ninja.

--

Otherwise, why would the Land of Wind let go of such a fat piece of meat located in its own territory?

But now, Rōran is filled with buildings, with towering tower-like structures standing everywhere in the city.

While it can hardly be called prosperous, it is by no means in a way that is impoverished.

All of this is related to Anrokuzan, who suddenly appeared in Rōran four years ago and is now the Minister of Rōran.

Inside the tallest building in Rōran, atop a magnificent palace...

Queen of Roran Seraam of Loulan was seated on her throne, receiving her minister Anrokuzan.

"Your Majesty, may I ask why you summoned me here so urgently?"

At this time, Anrokuzan was about thirty years old, with a full beard, and looked kind and benevolent.

They also maintained sufficient respect for the Queen on the throne.

"Anrokuzan, recently many of my subjects have told me that their husbands and children have mysteriously disappeared. Are you aware of this?"

Seraam took this matter very seriously. Rōran was a small country with a small population, making each person all the more precious.

Moreover, the fact that dozens of people have gone missing this time, and these are all able-bodied men in their families, makes it even more imperative for the Queen to take this matter seriously.

However, the girl still showed considerable trust in her minister, believing that as long as she voiced her concerns, Anrokuzan would definitely investigate the matter thoroughly.

"Your Majesty, I have also heard about this matter. Before coming here, I sent people to investigate it, and I believe we will have results soon."

"Anrokuzan, you must be extremely careful now. Rōran's population is already small, and they cannot afford such losses."

"Rest assured, Your Majesty, I will uncover the truth within two days at the latest!"

Anrokuzan wore a confident smile, as if he was absolutely certain of the outcome.

"In that case, I'm relieved. You may leave now!"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Anrokuzan maintained his smile, and under the Queen's gaze, he respectfully took a few steps back before turning and leaving the hall.

However, the queen on the throne did not notice that the smile on Anrokuzan's face completely disappeared the moment he turned around, replaced by a chilling aura.