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Chapter 293: Cloud Hidden's Offensive
Chapter 293: Cloud Hidden's Offensive
"Today, a large number of Cloud Hidden ninjas launched an attack on our border with the Land of Hot Water." Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke with a grave expression.
The younger Jonin in the room wore solemn expressions. While Cloud Hidden and Konoha had been in a state of war for a long time, neither side had engaged in a major battle.
However, most of the Jonin present remained calm. They knew that if the situation were truly dire, they would not be having this meeting. Instead, ninja squads would already be dispatched to provide support. Since they had the leisure for a meeting, the situation was likely still manageable.
"Fortunately, our front-line ninja forces are resilient. They successfully held off the enemy's assault and kept the Cloud Hidden ninja forces from entering the Land of Fire," Hiruzen continued after a brief pause.
This was due to both the discovery of unusual activity by reconnaissance ninjas and Minato's encounter with the new AB combination. As a result, Hiruzen had dispatched additional ninjas to reinforce the border, preventing a major incident.
"However, the situation remains grim, and we must send more ninjas to the border to thwart Cloud Hidden's schemes," Hiruzen added.
One of the purposes of this meeting was to select a commander to lead the ninja forces in supporting the front line.
Before this meeting, Hiruzen had already convened with Danzo and the others, intending to suggest Jiraiya as the commander again. However, Danzo had proposed Orochimaru, and they decided to leave the final decision to the Jonin meeting.
Hiruzen looked at Jiraiya, hoping that he would volunteer to lead the team to the border.
Becoming a Hokage was closely tied to one's achievements, and the best way to stand out was to surpass everyone else. Jiraiya had recently defeated the Iwagakure ninja forces, and if he succeeded in repelling Cloud Hidden as well, his reputation in Konoha would soar to new heights.
"Minato, what's it like to have disciples? It must be gratifying to see them grow under your guidance," Jiraiya turned to Minato and said, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Hiruzen.
"Yes," Minato nodded with a gentle smile.
"Oh, this guy," Hiruzen sighed inwardly as he watched Jiraiya deftly divert the conversation.
For a moment, silence filled the room. Then, Orochimaru spoke up, "Third Hokage-sama, I am willing to go to the border to provide support."
Due to the formal setting of the meeting, Orochimaru refrained from addressing Hiruzen as "teacher."
Danzo immediately voiced his support for Orochimaru, praising his will of fire.
Seeing that Jiraiya showed no sign of competition and appeared indifferent, Hiruzen finally decided to appoint Orochimaru as the commander, leading a thousand ninjas to reinforce the border.
After all, he had just rejected one of Danzo's requests, and Jiraiya himself didn't seem eager to take on the task.
Even after deciding on the personnel for the front line, the meeting continued. There were other important matters to discuss besides the selection of a commander.
"The ninja world is in turmoil, with wars raging between countries. Given this situation, what course of action should Konoha take?" Hiruzen asked, looking at the Jonin present.
Compared to deciding who would lead the forces to the front line, this was the main focus of the meeting. The former had limited options, and the likely candidates were already known beforehand.
"We should actively participate in the wars and showcase our strength to the feudal lords and clients," Danzo promptly voiced his opinion. "By doing so, we can elevate Konoha's reputation to new heights."
Ninja village commissions, especially foreign ones, were not given lightly. They were typically awarded based on the village's strength. The better a village performed in the Great Ninja War, the more commissions it would receive after the war, and vice versa.
"We should counterattack the Lightning Country and the Earth Country!" added the leader of the Hawk Faction, followed by supportive voices from other Hawk Faction Jonin.
She hadn't intended to say anything and had only wanted to attend the meeting and then return home to wait for Moyue to prepare dinner. But she couldn't help but speak up, hearing the hawkish remarks from some of the Jonin.
Tsunade saw no issue with retaliating against an invasion, but initiating an attack on the Wind Country, a nation they were not currently in conflict with, seemed downright absurd.
"We should indeed train more medical ninjas," Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed, shaking his head slightly. "However, it will be challenging to assign one to each team."
By agreeing with Tsunade's suggestion, Hiruzen was giving her some face. Still, he would never approve of such a proposal as it would waste resources and bring little benefit.
A standard Wood Leaf team consisted of four members: a leader and three teammates. If one of the four had to be a medical ninja, it would mean that out of four thousand ninjas, one thousand would need to be medical specialists.
The number of ninjas Wood Leaf could support was limited; it couldn't expand indefinitely. Increasing the number of medical ninjas would mean reducing the number of regular ninjas, leading to an overall decrease in the village's combat strength.
Moreover, training medical ninjas was more expensive and challenging than training regular ninjas. Hiruzen would never agree to a plan that would weaken Wood Leaf's overall power.
"If we're going to train medical ninja talents, I have an idea," Moyue said, after a moment's thought. "Generally, those with excellent chakra control tend to excel in medical ninjutsu. If we start cultivating this talent from the ninja academy stage, we can identify promising individuals and shorten the training period."
"We could establish a special medical class," Moyue continued. "Students with an interest in becoming medical ninjas could enroll in this class and receive specialized training."
The system rewards were sometimes random and sometimes fixed. The boosts he received from teaching his students were consistent, and he wanted to further narrow down the scope. He wondered if teaching only medical ninjutsu would result in rewards specifically for that field.
If successful, Moyue's ninja academy reform plan could be a significant step forward. In the future, if he wanted to excel in a particular field, he could teach a specialized class and receive targeted rewards.
Additionally, Moyue felt that bringing this up now might help improve his relationship with Tsunade.
"A medical specialty class..." Hiruzen furrowed his brow in thought, feeling that Moyue's idea was excellent and much more feasible than Tsunade's initial proposal.
Tsunade's mouth hung slightly open as she turned to look at Moyue, a hint of surprise on her face. After considering the suggestion, she realized it was indeed a good idea and very friendly towards aspiring medical ninjas.
Moyue didn't elaborate further, as this wasn't a significant enough matter to discuss at length during an emergency Jonin meeting. It wasn't like they were planning to establish an entirely new ninja academy dedicated solely to medical ninjas. The Education Board and the ninja academy could handle the details with their meeting.
The discussion soon returned to Wood Leaf's course of action in the ongoing war.
After the meeting concluded, Moyue briefly exchanged ideas about taijutsu with Chen before heading to Tsunade's house to prepare dinner and study medical knowledge.
As he had mostly tested the basics of the Breath Regulation Technique with her, Moyue began teaching the foundations to Rin Nohara. However, due to his busy schedule, he primarily used shadow clones to teach during the week, only instructing her in person on weekends. This was a necessary arrangement, as even a figure like Itachi did the same.
(End of Chapter)
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