Tsunade's Fury, Shiraha's Surprise!

Tsunade returned a day earlier than expected.

The injured returned to the village with Jiraiya the following day.

Due to Tsunade's vehement opposition, the Konoha High-Level decided to temporarily suspend the Wood Release Experiment plan.

A temporary high-level meeting was also set to take place in the Konoha Hospital conference room.

The following afternoon.

Shiraha went to Tsunade's office at the hospital.

"Tsunade-sensei, there's something I need to tell you. It's about healing—"

"I'm about to attend a meeting. Tell me when I get back." Tsunade hurried away, but halfway there, she turned back and grabbed Shiraha's hand. "You're coming with me!"

"Tsunade-sensei, Genin don't seem to be qualified to attend meetings, do they?" Shiraha looked utterly bewildered. Tsunade had seized him so forcefully that he could not resist at all.

"As long as you get proficient with the Mystical Palm Technique, you could be promoted to Special Jonin through Medical Ninjutsu alone. Promoting you to Chunin would only take a word." Tsunade did not seem to care.

Shiraha had asked Tsunade about the training details of the Mystical Palm Technique, so he had not completely concealed his progress in Medical Ninjutsu from her.

The slower his combat ability appeared to improve and the faster his Medical Ninjutsu improved, the safer he would be.

"Fine." Shiraha could only let Tsunade drag him along.

By the time the two arrived at the conference room, more than half the seats were occupied.

Some were Medical Ninja, while all the other ninja attending the meeting were Jōnin who had participated in the frontline war.

Tsunade directly led Shiraha to a seat near the front, having him sit at the same long table as her.

No one had any objections to Shiraha, a Genin, entering the conference room.

It was not only because Tsunade had brought him in. More importantly, Shiraha's Medical Ninjutsu was highly skilled, and some of the Jōnin present had received his care when they were injured.

Before long, Jiraiya arrived at the conference room. He had originally wanted to sit with Tsunade, but seeing Shiraha already beside her, he went to sit behind her instead.

Once the conference room was full, the Konoha High-Level, led by Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, entered and took their seats at the front.

When the Third Hokage saw Shiraha beside Tsunade, he was slightly taken aback before offering him a friendly smile.

"Everyone is here. Let's begin."

At the Third Hokage's command, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, the Hokage Advisors, were the first to raise the topic of the meeting, including arrangements for the ninja fighting on the front lines.

Shiraha listened quietly. Before long, the discussion turned to Medical Ninja and medical supplies.

Tsunade rose to speak.

"Everyone. My most direct impression from the front lines is that many injured ninja suffered worsening injuries because they were not treated in time. Some even died because they missed the best window for treatment.

"Especially for combat squads carrying out long-term missions in enemy territory, if every four-man squad were assigned a Medical Ninja, both the squad's survival rate and mission success rate would greatly increase.

"Therefore, I believe that training Medical Ninja with exceptional medical skills and establishing a more complete medical system are the most urgent tasks at present."

After Tsunade finished speaking, the room fell silent. Not many people agreed with her.

Shiraha's expression remained unchanged. From the perspective of his personal interests, Tsunade's proposal was unfavorable to him. From the perspective of overall interests, it would benefit Konoha.

It was just that the higher-ups would most likely not agree.

Having spent nearly five years at Konoha Hospital, his strongest impression had been the shortage of personnel.

A Medical Ninja capable of treating others without drugs or barriers had to at least be proficient in the C-rank Healing Jutsu and the Hemostasis Technique. In terms of Medical Ninjutsu, that was at least a second-rate level; by ninja standards, they would be among the most elite Chunin.

Medical Ninjutsu demanded extremely precise Chakra control and relied heavily on talent.

Especially during wartime, training Medical Ninja from scratch was too little, too late.

Tsunade was thinking about the future and making long-term plans.

The fact that the higher-ups had been so eager to resort to the foolish Wood Release Experiment showed that they were focused on the present, trying every possible way to end the war as soon as they could.

"Tsunade, the situation is indeed as you described. But we are at war. Establishing a more complete medical system would not only take too much time, but there are currently too many wounded. The Medical Ninja are already burdened with heavy duties and simply cannot take on teaching responsibilities as well. The enemy will not give us much time, either." The Third Hokage analyzed the situation calmly.

"What did you say?! You old fool! If we don't make changes, even more people will die! You'd rather waste manpower and resources on that idiotic Wood Release Experiment than—"

Tsunade's expression changed, and in her agitation, she began cursing outright. The appearance of a genius like Shiraha in the Medical Training Class proved that this system was worth promoting.

"Tsunade, watch your attitude!" Mitokado Homura interrupted her. In truth, both sides had valid points, but for now, they had to focus on defeating Sunagakure.

Konoha had already established an advantage in its war against Sunagakure, but they did not know whether Iwagakure might suddenly attack. Though the possibility was slim, they had to avoid that outcome, so they needed a swift victory.

"I agree with her proposal."

At that moment, a gentle voice came from the back.

Everyone turned toward the sound and saw a young man with long blue-white hair cascading over his shoulders rise to his feet. He had fair skin and handsome features. It was Konoha's Elite Jonin, Dan Katō.

"I don't want more ninja to die in vain in the future, so we must learn from this lesson."

"Victory in the war comes first. Everything else must be put aside for now." The Third Hokage once again made his position clear. Once the war was completely over, this policy could be implemented.

At that moment, Shiraha, who had remained silent, suddenly raised his hand. "Lord Third Hokage, may I speak?"

The Third Hokage paused, then nodded slightly. "Go ahead."

The overall policy would not change anyway. In truth, all the ninja present knew that Tsunade had a point, but very few openly expressed their support.

Because the Jōnin all understood just how fierce the war had become. The village simply had no energy to carry out reforms according to Tsunade's proposal right now.

Winning the war was the top priority!

"I think Tsunade-sensei is absolutely right! However, her proposal truly would be difficult to implement at present—"

Shiraha stood as he spoke.

When Tsunade heard the first half of Shiraha's statement, she felt at least somewhat comforted. Judging from everyone's reactions, she had known that her proposal would be difficult to pass. But she had not expected even the student she had always thought so highly of to not support her.

"But there is one thing I believe the village can do right now." Shiraha abruptly changed direction, stepping into the aisle and taking out a small scroll from his clothes. "Please allow me to demonstrate."

He took out a scalpel from the medical kit he carried with him, then lightly cut a roughly two-centimeter-long wound across his left palm. Blood immediately seeped from the cut.

Shiraha opened the scroll and pressed it over the wound on his palm. An extremely gentle stream of Yang Release Chakra poured from the scroll.

Whoosh—!

Tsunade abruptly shot to her feet, her chair scraping across the floor with a piercing screech.

Yet no one in the room paid attention to that, because all their attention had been drawn to Shiraha.

"This is... the Healing Jutsu?!" Tsunade's face was filled with shock.

A C-rank Medical Ninjutsu like the Healing Jutsu was nothing to Tsunade. The key was that this Healing Jutsu had been released from a scroll.

The Third Hokage and the others also looked at one another, exchanging glances.

For a full three minutes, everyone stared at Shiraha. Apart from the sound of breathing, no one made a sound to interrupt him.