81 I Hope You Lead the Eastern Front
"The two girls are quite formidable," a voice rang out, "The Hidden Leaf has improved its training abilities considerably. They have shown us many things we haven't seen before."
The Daimyo was satisfied.
Female ninjas often found themselves at a disadvantage in the world of the shinobi. Over the years, very few had made their names known, and even fewer had become medical ninjas.
Yet.
Both Rin and Kurenai demonstrated excellent combat skills.
Especially Kurenai.
Even though the Daimyo was not a ninja himself, he could see it—she had the ability to end it with a single strike right from the moment Rin fell under a Genjutsu.
After all.
Few could survive such a punch.
"All credit goes to Kyōichi. He's got a knack for teaching, and Kurenai is his student."
"Kyōichi? He's a medical ninja too?"
"His medical Ninjutsu skills are only second to Tsunade's."
The Daimyo squinted slightly, his gaze turning toward the audience.
Only second to Tsunade...
Such an assessment was already quite terrifying.
Indeed.
He was a genius, just like the Second Hokage.
What a pity...
Such people couldn't be used for his purposes.
He sighed inwardly.
However.
The Daimyo paused, glancing again in Kyōichi's direction, and then said with apparent surprise, "Is that Tsunade?"
"Yes, Tsunade returned to the village a few days ago."
The Third Hokage grinned broadly.
As the saying goes, it takes one to know one. Whether Tsunade would stay or not was still up in the air.
The Daimyo wouldn't see it that way.
Seeing Tsunade's return, he was delighted.
Leaving everything else aside.
Just Tsunade's ability to heal a multitude of ninjas could shift the tide of a battle, not to mention her powerful medical Ninjutsu and the respect she commands as a Sannin, and her formidable combat strength.
With her return, Konoha was not afraid to stand alone against two major ninja villages.
This was a sure win!
He lost interest in the subsequent fights.
But.
The next round showed him what excitement truly was.
Shisui versus Guy!
Might Guy opened the Gate of Opening, while Shisui performed the Body Flicker Technique to its utmost, their figures darting all over the arena.
If Kurenai and Rin's battle represented the novelty of medical ninjas.
Then, this was a real brawl.
The clash of sword and Taijutsu!
Uchiha's sword techniques, Leaf's sword techniques, Wind Release sword techniques...
If nothing else, it was just thrilling!
However.
It seemed like the power wasn't strong, and in the end, he was defeated by a ninja who seemed quite comical.
The Daimyo didn't understand.
But.
The Third Hokage did.
That kid Shisui, he must be slacking off again.
Of course.
Even if Shisui had used all his strength, he would have stood no chance against Might Guy, who had activated the Eight Inner Gates. At this stage, Guy's overall strength was undeniably superior to Shisui's.
Therefore, this arrangement wasn't problematic.
After all, everyone had demonstrated their specialties, and Shisui himself didn't desire a promotion. So, this was indeed the best outcome.
After the conclusion, Kyōichi immediately left the scene.
Who would be promoted and who wouldn't, had been decided in the second round.
Now it was merely a formality.
...
After watching the third round, Kyōichi accompanied Tsunade to the hospital to check on Hayate Gekko's condition.
"Your surgery was flawless," she speaks, "he is recovering quickly. He should be able to move normally within a week."
"How long until he's back to a normal physical condition?"
"I can't say for sure."
Tsunade shakes her head.
The bloodline disease of transparency jutsu had no precedent, making it impossible to assess its specific conditions.
"We'll need to monitor him regularly, record the data... We could try regularly purging toxins to see if we can meet the use requirements of transparency jutsu while maintaining physical health."
As Kyōichi spoke, he thought of the Eight Gates and the Seven Heavens Breathing Method, "Those learning the first two Gates of Eight Gates, and the Seven Heavens Breathing Method are similar, I believe they should have regular check-ups and treatments."
Tsunade paused after hearing this, takes a long moment to think, then lightly nods, "That makes sense."
Regular checks, data recording, it could not only ensure the health of the ninja but also, with the help of extensive data, might improve the effectiveness of Ninjutsu in the future.
Reducing side effects, lowering the barriers to use...
Regular medical examinations should be arranged!
But then,
"You little brat, you only know how to assign me work. Are you not afraid I'll leave the village?"
"Isn't that your decision already?"
Kyōichi grinned mischievously.
Tsunade had no comeback for this.
This kid...
He managed to guess it with just a little clue.
Damn it!
Shizune, who had been listening, paused for a moment, then asked in surprise, "Lady Tsunade, are we not leaving?"
"Do you want to continue wandering? Fine by me!"
"No, no, no, I, I want to stay in Konoha."
Shizune hesitantly replies.
Her previous life of wandering with Tsunade was unstable, not suitable for studying and self-improvement.
"We're not leaving for now."
...
The Hokage's office.
The Third Hokage had just met with the Daimyo, sent him back via Minato's Flying Thunder God Technique, and then started dealing with the recent affairs. However, not long after, he came across a special information scroll.
From the hospital.
What could have happened at the Hospital?
He unrolled the scroll and read a few lines. After contemplating for a moment, a sincere smile spread across his face.
Psychology.
Regular check-ups.
They were all excellent measures!
Of course.
If it were simply a matter of these two proposals being approved, it wouldn't have been enough to elicit such joy from the Third. What delighted him was the person behind the proposals —
Tsunade and Kyōichi.
"Go and call Tsunade... No, just have Kyōichi come here," the Third initially wanted to call for Tsunade.
Yet...
On second thought, he decided against it.
Tsunade was difficult to converse with. Better to ask Kyōichi to come instead.
Kyōichi, receiving the message, likely understood the situation, and Tsunade was not surprised by it either.
The old man is sure to agree!
He approached the building.
The Third could hardly wait. As soon as Kyōichi arrived, he promptly rose to greet him, excitedly inquiring, "Is Tsunade... not leaving?"
"She needs to supervise both psychological medicine and regular check-ups, so she won't be leaving for now. I'm not sure about what happens next."
"For now? That's good, that's good."
The Third looked somewhat disappointed, but he was aware of Tsunade's circumstances. The fact that she agreed to stay and oversee these tasks was no small feat.
He sighed and took out a scroll.
"Your proposals are excellent. I will have Konoha's Hospital fully cooperate, particularly in psychological medicine. Anyone you need, including me, is available."
The Third became solemn.
Psychological medicine.
It was something he had never thought about before. Having lived a long life, he had seen too many ninjas who couldn't display their abilities due to psychological issues.
Kosuke Maruboshi was a prime example.
Clearly possessing the skills of an upper-level ninja, yet remaining as a lower-level one.
This wasn't just Kosuke's loss, it was a significant loss for the village.
There were others like Kakashi too.
"Yes!"
Kyōichi wasn't surprised. Psychological illnesses were quite common among ninjas.
The Third thought for a moment, then took out another scroll, saying, "This is information extracted from the corpse of a Mist Village upper-level ninja by the Anbu."
Kyōichi quickly took it.
Glancing at it, he pondered, "Hokage-sama, it seems the war hawks faction in the Mist Village has gained the upper hand. They may take action against us in the future."
"That's what I'm thinking as well, Kyōichi. I hope you can be in charge of the eastern front."
"Me?"
Kyōichi was taken aback.
He'd only been promoted for less than a year. To be put in charge...
Could he command respect?
"With Tsunade and me, you don't need to worry about any other issues."
