Infiltrating the Medical System, Sosuke's Bloodless Power Seizure Plan

The pungent stench of blood mixed with the odor of cheap disinfectant, filling the corridors of Hidden Leaf Hospital.

Wounded soldiers withdrawn from the front lines were casually tossed along both sides of the passageways like torn sacks. Severed limbs, festering wounds, and muffled cries of pain intertwined, forming a suffocating vision of hell on earth.

"Doctor! Save my little brother! His leg is still bleeding!" A civilian chūnin covered in mud knelt before the triage desk, desperately clutching a medical ninja's white coat, his eyes filled with pleading despair.

The medical ninja shook him off in disgust, frowning deeply. "What are you yelling for? Can't you see they're stitching up a Sarutobi Clan jōnin inside? Penetrating wounds from people like you genin can wait. Grab some hemostatic bandages and wrap them yourselves first!"

"But he's already in shock!"

"Then his luck is bad!" The medical ninja snorted and turned toward the intensive care ward.

At that critical moment, the hospital lobby's heavy glass doors were violently kicked open. Shattered glass scattered like hailstones, instantly silencing everyone in the hall.

Tsunade strode into the chaos in a loose green robe. Her golden hair shone brilliantly beneath the dim lights, while undisguised fury churned in her amber eyes.

"Bad luck?" Tsunade sneered. With a flicker, she appeared before the medical ninja and slapped him across the face.

Smack!

Before the medical ninja could even scream, he spun twice through the air before crashing heavily into the wall, spitting out several bloodied teeth.

"L-Lady Tsunade?!" Several hospital executives who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion began trembling in fear when they saw her. These bureaucrats, who had climbed their way up through connections, instinctively feared the First Hokage's granddaughter and one of Hidden Leaf's Three Sannin—the legendary medical expert.

"From this moment on, I am taking full control of Hidden Leaf Hospital." Tsunade ignored those fools. She pulled a thick stack of documents from her robes and slammed it onto the triage desk. "Gather every medical ninja who can still breathe! Reorganize the wards according to this Wartime Medical Triage Manual!"

This manual was precisely the devastating weapon Sosuke had written out for her overnight, drawing upon modern medical concepts from his previous life.

"Those with severe, life-threatening injuries get red tags and are sent immediately to Operating Room One. I'll handle them personally!"

"Fractures and nonlethal penetrating wounds get yellow tags. Intermediate medical ninja will take over, working like an assembly line. The first person cleans the wound, the second stitches it, and the third applies medicine!"

"Those with minor injuries get green tags. Send them all to the temporary tents in the courtyard and have the orderlies handle them!"

"Set up a sterilization and quarantine zone immediately. Everyone entering or leaving must wash their hands with heated alcohol! Throw out every clan young master occupying an intensive care room for nothing more than superficial injuries! If anyone resists, tell them it is my order!"

Tsunade's rapid-fire commands swept through the hospital like a gale through fallen leaves, instantly cutting apart its bloated and inefficient operating methods.

The low-ranking medical ninja who had previously been at a loss all lit up when they received the rigorously logical, clearly divided operating manual. This modern way of thinking, breaking down complex medical ninjutsu into standardized procedures, was simply an overwhelming advantage against the medical system of this era.

In less than half an hour, the hospital, once as chaotic as a market, miraculously regained order.

A civilian ninja with a red tag, who had already been declared critically ill, was forcibly pulled back from death's door by Tsunade's precise Mystical Palm Technique.

When the ninja opened his eyes and saw the fine sweat on Tsunade's forehead, his eyes immediately reddened. He struggled to rise and kowtow to her.

"Don't move. Your life was saved by the Senju Clan, so make sure you keep it." Tsunade pressed down on his shoulder. Her voice was not loud, yet it rang clearly through the entire ward.

Those words were like a spark, instantly igniting the emotions in every civilian ninja's heart.

They had fought desperately and bled for Hidden Leaf, only to receive cold indifference and abandonment from the higher-ups. Yet now, the Senju Clan's young lady treated them like human beings and snatched them back from the hands of death.

At the same time, several Senju shadow guards dressed as ordinary orderlies silently moved through the wards. As they changed the wounded soldiers' dressings, they lowered their voices and "casually" revealed certain bits of information.

"Did you hear? That batch of high-grade hemostatic medicine meant for the front lines was intercepted by Lord Danzo's Root..."

"If Lady Tsunade and Young Master Sosuke hadn't donated all the medicinal herbs privately stored in the Senju Clan Grounds, everyone here would be dead today."

"The higher-ups don't care whether us civilians live or die. Only the Senju Clan still remembers us..."

Rumors spread through the wounded soldiers' camp as though they had grown wings. Anger and gratitude, the two most extreme emotions, intertwined into an invisible chain, tightly binding Hidden Leaf's largest and lowest foundational class to the Senju Clan's chariot of interests.

Senju Clan Grounds, main residence courtyard.

Sosuke leaned against a corridor pillar padded with cushions, idly turning a rough porcelain teacup in his hand. He still wore that somewhat thin white robe, his face carrying a sickly pallor, but a cold and profound glint flickered in his pitch-black eyes.

Mikoto sat on her knees beside him, gently peeling a grape before carefully feeding it to his lips.

"Husband, the shadow guards just sent back word." Mikoto lowered her voice, unable to conceal the reverence in her tone. "The hospital situation has completely stabilized. Following your arrangements, Lady Tsunade dismissed three medical squad leaders from the Sarutobi faction. Now, all the civilian ninja in the hospital recognize only the Senju name. Even the inspectors sent from the Hokage Building were driven out by wounded soldiers throwing bloodied bandages at them."

Sosuke swallowed the sweet fruit, a faint curve touching his lips. "That old fox Hiruzen Sarutobi loves to talk about the Will of Fire, using hollow slogans to send the lowest ranks to their deaths. I merely gave them a real way to survive. Naturally, their hearts turned toward me."

He raised a hand, lightly tapping his fingertips against the wooden floor with dull knocks.

"The essence of institutional power is the authority to allocate resources. When seventy percent of Hidden Leaf's lowest-ranking ninja realize that their lives were not given to them by the Hokage, but by me, Senju Sosuke, then the chair in the Hokage Building has already had its foundation hollowed out."

Mikoto's heartbeat quickened involuntarily as she looked at the man calmly directing everything before her. Born into the Uchiha clan, she had seen plenty of reckless brutes in her family who only knew how to flaunt their strength through the Sharingan. Sosuke's political maneuvering—using only a few sheets of paper and a pile of rumors to hollow out Hidden Leaf's upper ranks without spilling a drop of blood—held a fatal attraction for her.

"However, Hiruzen Sarutobi will never sit by and watch us grow stronger." Sosuke's tone shifted, and his eyes gradually turned cold. "After suffering this silent loss at the hospital, he will definitely find a way to make it up elsewhere."

Before he had finished speaking, hurried footsteps shattered the courtyard's quiet.

The Senju shadow guard leader, Toka, appeared at the edge of the courtyard like a ghost. He dropped to one knee, his voice carrying an unusual gravity.

"My lord, something has happened."

Sosuke did not turn around. He merely took a calm sip of tea. "Speak."

"The agent planted in the Hokage Building risked his life to send out top-secret intelligence." Toka lowered his head even farther. "Hidden Sand Village of the Land of Wind has torn up the border ceasefire agreement. Half an hour ago, Hidden Sand deployed nearly a thousand elite puppet masters, personally led by Chiyo, in a massive surprise assault on the western border of the Land of Fire!"

"The western defensive line... has completely collapsed!"

Thud.

The grape in Mikoto's hand fell onto the wooden floor. She abruptly covered her mouth, her eyes filled with shock. Hidden Sand Village's full-scale entry into the war meant that the already deadlocked Second Shinobi World War had plunged completely into its most brutal abyss.

Yet not even the fingers holding Sosuke's teacup trembled. He slowly raised his head and looked at the dark clouds gathering along the horizon, the smile on his lips becoming ever colder.

Hokage Building, top-floor office.

Bang!

Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed his palm against the desk, sending the documents scattered across it flying everywhere. The face that always wore a kindly disguise was now twisted into a mess of rage.

"Tsunade is being utterly ridiculous! What right does she have to dismiss the medical squad leaders I appointed? Who gave her the authority to implement such a nonsensical system in the hospital?!" The Third roared furiously, his pipe creaking in his grip.

Danzo, standing in the shadows, snorted coldly, venomous light flashing in his single eye. "Hiruzen, I told you long ago that although that sickly tiger of the Senju Clan is close to death, he remains a threat. Tsunade used the treatment of wounded soldiers to buy people's hearts this time. Now the civilian ninja at the bottom know only the Senju Clan, not the Hokage. If you keep hesitating, Hidden Leaf really will change its surname!"

The Third took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the anger in his chest. How could he fail to see the scheme behind this? But he could not touch Tsunade right now. The front lines had suffered terrible casualties. Without Tsunade holding down the hospital, Hidden Leaf's medical system would collapse tomorrow.

"Set aside the hospital matter for now." The Third tiredly rubbed his brow and tossed a bloodstained scroll onto the desk. "The western front is the most pressing problem."

Danzo stepped forward. Upon seeing the contents of the scroll, his pupils abruptly contracted.

"That mad old woman Chiyo from Hidden Sand actually deployed the main force of their puppet master corps? The few people on the western line can't possibly stop them!" Danzo gritted his teeth. "We must immediately send reinforcements. Otherwise, once Hidden Sand tears open a breach, the Hidden Leaf heartland will have nothing to defend it!"

"The village's mobile forces are already stretched thin." The Third relit his pipe, took a deep drag, and exhaled a heavy cloud of smoke. Within the curling haze, an exceedingly cold calculation suddenly flashed through his murky eyes.

"Danzo, haven't you always wanted to eliminate the hidden threat that is Senju Sosuke?" The Third's voice became low and hoarse.

Danzo paused slightly, then narrowed his eyes. "He is a sickly weakling with ruined chakra pathways. You want to send him to the front lines? Tsunade would tear down the Hokage Building herself."

"What if it is in the name of the Senju Clan's honor?" The Third looked coldly toward the Senju Clan Grounds beyond the window. "Since the Senju Clan enjoys the support of the civilian ninja, they must naturally shoulder the corresponding responsibility. I will issue the highest Hokage order, appointing Senju Sosuke as special adviser to the western reinforcement force, representing the Senju Clan on the expedition."

A cruel smile gradually spread across Danzo's lips. He instantly understood the Third's open scheme.

The front lines were now a meat grinder, and Hidden Sand's puppet masters excelled at assassination and poison. Throwing a frail Senju orphan into such a battlefield meant Root would not even need to act. A stray arrow amid the chaos could easily take his life.

Even if Sosuke died on the battlefield, he would have died for his country. No matter how furious Tsunade became, she would have no excuse to challenge the higher-ups.

"Not only that." The Third exhaled a ring of smoke, his voice turning completely cold. "The Uchiha clan has been far too arrogant lately. Have Uchiha Fugaku lead the elite of the police force to the western front as Sosuke's guards. Tell Fugaku that this is his only chance to wash away his previous disgrace."

Use Hidden Sand's blade to bleed both the Senju Clan and the Uchiha clan dry.

That was how a politician killed without shedding blood.

A chilling draft swept through the office, rustling the bloodstained battle report. A deadly trap aimed at Sosuke had silently begun to unfold.