Konoha had won the Second Shinobi World War with almost no casualties, and the village had also received a large amount of war compensation.
All four of Hiruzen's students had returned to the village, each of them having grown considerably.
One happy event after another—double the joy.
For the entire day, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, smiled so widely that he could barely close his mouth.
Unfortunately, happiness was always short-lived.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's good mood did not even last until nightfall before it was completely destroyed by the four students who came to visit him.
Sitting on the tatami, Sarutobi Hiruzen smoked his pipe with a gloomy expression. The four students in front of him no longer looked like his beloved pupils.
In his eyes, they were four bandits who had come to extort him.
Jiraiya, under the name of leaving the village to gather intelligence, collect ninjutsu, and search for talent for Konoha, asked him for funding.
And the moment he opened his mouth, he asked for fifty million.
Tsunade, citing the outstanding performance of medical-nin during the war in the Land of Rain, requested that the village increase investment in medical-nin training. She also proposed reforming the standard three-man cell system so that every squad would include one medical-nin.
Orochimaru requested the establishment of an independent scientific research institute, with its entire budget provided by the village.
As for Kizaru himself, he had not made any request.
But Tsunade and Orochimaru's proposals had clearly been handed to them by that very same man.
Sarutobi Hiruzen even suspected that Jiraiya changing his reason from "taking leave to travel" to "leaving the village on official duty with public funding" was also Kizaru's idea.
And Hiruzen's suspicion was correct.
Jiraiya's new excuse for traveling on public funds had indeed been given to him by Kizaru.
At the time, Kizaru and Orochimaru had been discussing how to persuade old man Sarutobi to approve village funding for the establishment of a research institute.
After arguing with Tsunade, Jiraiya had run over to Kizaru and Orochimaru, only to accidentally hear their conversation.
After listening to the series of methods Kizaru had prepared to convince Sarutobi Hiruzen, Jiraiya had been stunned. He immediately brought up his own problem to Kizaru.
Every time Jiraiya wanted to take a long leave from the village to travel and write—though in truth, it was to search for the Child of Prophecy—he would be nagged endlessly by Sarutobi Hiruzen and the two advisers.
The process of applying for leave was always troublesome.
But to Kizaru, who had made plenty of preparations and studies in his previous life just to survive a comfortable office job, Jiraiya's problem was nothing more than a small issue among small issues.
All he had to do was change the wording.
Leaving the village to travel and write?
No.
For the sake of the village, he would bravely take risks, endure hardship, and voluntarily leave Konoha to gather intelligence on the shinobi world, search for useful ninjutsu, and discover talented individuals.
The action was the same.
Only the phrasing changed.
But once the phrasing changed, the difficulty dropped immediately. Not only could Jiraiya leave the village, he could even do it with public funding.
As for whether Sarutobi Hiruzen and the village higher-ups believed it?
That was not the problem.
Jiraiya was the direct disciple of the Hokage. If he had already made up his mind to leave the village for a long period of time, then unless Konoha wanted to force him into desertion, Sarutobi Hiruzen and the village elders could only grit their teeth and accept the excuse.
After listening to Kizaru's analysis, Jiraiya felt as if he had received enlightenment.
He directly changed the twenty million ryo in operating funds that Kizaru had suggested into fifty million.
"Jiraiya," Hiruzen said, looking at the four enemies sitting in front of him. He decided to start with the easiest one first. "I remember that before you went to the Land of Rain, you told me you wanted to leave the village to travel and write after the war."
Facing Sarutobi-sensei's question, Jiraiya secretly glanced at Kizaru.
When he saw Kizaru give him a slight nod, Jiraiya immediately sat upright. His face became solemn, as if he were a repentant man who had finally awakened to his mistakes.
"Sarutobi-sensei, after your teachings last time, I deeply realized my own mistakes. That is why I've decided to change my ways and do everything I can to contribute to the village."
Sarutobi Hiruzen saw Jiraiya's little movement clearly.
His anger rose at once.
He took a harder puff from his pipe, then forced himself to speak as gently as possible.
"You can contribute to the village by staying in Konoha too."
Jiraiya shook his head with firm resolve.
"I'm not like Tsunade. I can't use medical ninjutsu to support the village. I'm also not as smart as Orochimaru. I can't conduct ninjutsu research and strengthen Konoha that way."
His expression became even more serious.
"The only thing I'm good at is gathering information. So please allow me to leave the village and carry out intelligence reconnaissance missions."
You?
Good at gathering intelligence?
Looking at the reckless and loose-natured student in front of him, Sarutobi Hiruzen almost wanted to hit him with his pipe.
Knowing that he could not keep Jiraiya, whose heart had already flown outside the village, Hiruzen could only lower his demand.
"Leaving the village to gather intelligence is acceptable. But fifty million is too much."
"Thirty million!" Jiraiya immediately said. "I only need thirty million! For the sake of the village, I'm willing to overcome any difficulty!"
His tone was passionate, as if he were making some great sacrifice.
Sarutobi Hiruzen fell silent for a moment.
Considering that the village had gained a large amount of income during this period, and the finances were indeed much better than before, he finally nodded.
The moment Sarutobi-sensei nodded, Jiraiya's act succeeded.
Joy appeared on his face at once.
His hands slipped under the table, clenching together in excitement.
Thirty million ryo in funding!
With this, he could find different women to drink with and entertain him for several months.
Seeing Jiraiya's sudden happiness, Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately realized that he had been tricked.
He took a deep drag from his pipe and kept telling himself that the people in front of him were his students. They had grown up. He could not casually beat them anymore.
Only then did he barely suppress the urge to strike.
He knew very well that Jiraiya alone could not come up with so many tricks.
Someone must have been guiding him from behind.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's suspicious gaze slowly landed on Kizaru, who was sitting quietly with a faint, lazy smile.
Although there was no evidence, Hiruzen was certain.
Jiraiya had been led astray by Kizaru.
After glaring at Kizaru in annoyance, Sarutobi Hiruzen turned his gaze toward Tsunade and Orochimaru.
Jiraiya's funding was only a small matter.
What these two wanted was the real expense.
Whether it was increasing the training of medical-nin or investing in the establishment of a scientific research institute, the required funds would be calculated in hundreds of millions, and they would need to be invested every year.
Looking at the two students staring directly at him, and thinking about the proposals they had each put forward, the cunning Sarutobi Hiruzen quickly came up with an idea.
"I've read both of your proposals. To be honest, I value them very much."
After first giving encouragement and approval, Hiruzen changed the direction of the conversation and began raising difficulties.
"The village did gain a great deal from this war. However, Konoha is large. There are many places where money must be spent. With the village's current funds, we can approve at most one proposal."
Hiruzen knew that if he did not bleed a little this time, there was no way to make these unfilial students retreat.
So he could only use a small tactic to break the alliance between them.
Sure enough, the moment Sarutobi Hiruzen finished speaking, Tsunade and Orochimaru's expressions changed slightly. Both of them looked at each other.
They knew this was Sarutobi-sensei's tactic.
But they also understood that their proposals were indeed expensive, and what their teacher said was not completely unreasonable.
Noticing the movement between the two, Sarutobi Hiruzen was secretly pleased.
His plan had worked.
"As expected of Sarutobi-sensei. How clever."
As the initiator and leader of this four-person alliance, Kizaru naturally would not sit back and watch Hiruzen's provocation succeed.
The moment Kizaru spoke, the other three people in the room all turned to look at him.
Sarutobi Hiruzen placed his pipe on the table and glared at Kizaru, clearly signaling him to stop talking.
Why do you think I'm doing this?
Isn't it to save more money for you, the future Hokage?
Kizaru gave him an apologetic smile, but his tone remained slow and relaxed.
"In my opinion, Tsunade-senpai's proposal to strengthen medical-nin training does not actually require such a large amount of funding right away."
He tilted his head slightly, still wearing that careless expression.
"Orochimaru-senpai's plan to establish a research institute can be carried out at the same time."
Hiruzen's eyelid twitched.
Kizaru continued as if he had not noticed.
"After all, forcing two good proposals to fight each other just because of money… sounds a little scary, doesn't it, Sarutobi-sensei?"
"Kizaru, training an excellent medical-nin requires a great deal of investment."
Feeling that Kizaru had underestimated the cost, Sarutobi Hiruzen reminded him, "You can ask Tsunade about that."
Tsunade nodded seriously.
As the person in charge of Konoha Hospital, she understood better than anyone how difficult it was to train medical-nin.
Every year, only a handful of students who graduated from the Academy chose to become medical-nin. Among those newly graduated genin who were interested, even fewer actually had the talent for medical ninjutsu.
Because of that, the number of new medical-nin apprentices joining Konoha Hospital or field units each year was pitifully small.
At the same time, most genin with the talent to learn medical ninjutsu needed six to eight years of training before they could truly stand on their own and become qualified medical-nin.
It was precisely because qualified medical-nin were so rare that Tsunade's proposal to assign one medical-nin to every three-man cell was not favored by Sarutobi Hiruzen or the other Konoha higher-ups.
"I understand very well how difficult it is to train medical-nin."
Kizaru first acknowledged their concern, then slowly gave his own view.
"But in my opinion, the reason medical-nin training is so troublesome is because the training system itself is outdated."
"Oh?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Kizaru in surprise.
Seeing Kizaru rarely speak with such seriousness, he suddenly felt a trace of expectation.
Not only Hiruzen—Tsunade, who was sitting beside Kizaru, also looked at him expectantly.
"For a long time, the village has not placed enough importance on medical-nin. Because of that, very few genin choose the medical path after graduating from the Academy each year."
Kizaru spoke slowly, his tone still relaxed, but his words were unusually clear.
"That greatly limits the number of people we can select from. Many genin who might have talent for medical ninjutsu end up wasting that talent without ever realizing it."
He raised one finger lazily.
"And those newly graduated genin are unwilling to become medical-nin for two main reasons. One is that they're young. They want obvious strength. They want flashy jutsu. They want to stand on the front line and be recognized."
Then he raised a second finger.
"The other reason is even simpler. The status and treatment of medical-nin are not high enough."
Kizaru had already analyzed the issue of medical-nin training carefully.
The reason medical-nin would flourish in Konoha later was not only because Tsunade created and perfected many medical ninjutsu.
The most important reason was that Tsunade herself, as a medical-nin, played an enormous role in war and earned countless achievements and fame.
It was precisely because of Tsunade's outstanding performance that the status of medical-nin rose in the shinobi world—a world that worshiped personal combat strength above all else.
After Tsunade became famous, the number of new genin in Konoha willing to become medical-nin increased. The village higher-ups, having tasted the benefits, also became willing to invest more resources into training them.
Only then did Konoha eventually realize the idea of equipping most three-man cells with shinobi capable of medical ninjutsu.
That was also why Tsunade was revered by medical-nin across the shinobi world.
It could be said that Tsunade had single-handedly raised the status and treatment of medical-nin throughout the entire shinobi world.
"In terms of treatment, the village can indeed make improvements."
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded slightly, then continued, "But status is different. If you want to raise the status of medical-nin, it must pass through a high-level village meeting. Even as Hokage, I cannot decide everything alone."
Tsunade knew Hiruzen was telling the truth, but she still felt anger rise in her chest.
As a medical-nin herself, she never believed medical-nin were inferior to anyone.
"Those bastards, if not for—"
"Status is not given by others. It is earned by oneself."
Kizaru reached out and held Tsunade's excited hand, smiling as he spoke.
Tsunade's heart trembled slightly.
She liked that sentence very much.
Appreciation flashed in her eyes. She stopped speaking and looked at Kizaru instead.
"In this war, both Tsunade-senpai's personal performance and the performance of the medical corps were outstanding."
Kizaru's voice remained unhurried.
"It can be said that the reason our casualties on the Land of Rain battlefield were only in the single digits was because of Tsunade-senpai and the medical corps."
His eyes curved slightly behind his lazy smile.
"So I suggest that the village increase publicity regarding the achievements of medical-nin on the battlefield. Use this war as an opportunity to gradually change everyone's view of them."
Kizaru's words did not exaggerate the achievements of the medical-nin.
He was simply telling the truth.
Before Kizaru arrived in the Land of Rain, most of the hundreds of Konoha shinobi led by the Sannin had been brought down by Hanzō and the Amegakure shinobi's poison.
Without the medical-nin desperately keeping them alive, those injured and poisoned shinobi would never have survived long enough for Kizaru to arrive, defeat Hanzō, and obtain the antidote.
In other words, without those medical-nin, even if Konoha's war against Amegakure and Hanzō ended quickly because of Kizaru's support, it would still have been a miserable victory.
After listening to Kizaru, Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded in agreement.
"Tomorrow, I will give the order to increase publicity regarding the achievements of the medical-nin."
Joy appeared on Tsunade's face.
When she looked at Kizaru again, her eyes were filled with goodwill and happiness.
"In addition, the village's method of training medical-nin is too crude and extremely inefficient. I suggest reforming it."
Sarutobi Hiruzen became even more curious.
"How would you reform it?"
"Start from the Academy."
Kizaru had clearly already prepared a mature plan. He spoke with calm confidence.
"The Academy currently has a six-year system. I suggest beginning from the third year and implementing a class division system."
"A class division system?"
"The Academy's current training mechanism is too general."
Kizaru leaned back slightly, his tone still carrying that lazy drawl.
"Every student receives the same education: how to become a qualified genin. That system is too outdated. It easily ignores students who may not have outstanding combat talent, but possess other valuable abilities."
He looked at Hiruzen and continued.
"So I suggest that starting from the third year, the Academy should assess the students and divide them into different classes based on their performance."
"We can divide them into three categories."
"The combat class."
"The medical class."
"And the research class."
"What is a research class?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen could understand the first two, but the third made him pause.
"For students who lack strong shinobi combat talent but perform excellently in theory, culture, and learning ability, they can be assigned to the research class."
Kizaru's smile remained unchanged.
"Rather than letting children with average combat talent die on missions or battlefields in the future, it would be better to let them use their strengths."
He tapped the table lightly.
"They can remain in the rear and conduct scientific research for the village."
After hearing his explanation, everyone present fell into deep thought.
Regardless of whether this unprecedented idea could actually be implemented, they had to admit that the reform system Kizaru proposed was impressive.
If it could truly be carried out, then in the future, the village would definitely gain a large number of talents.
Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up his pipe and placed it back in his mouth.
Looking at Kizaru, his eyes were filled with admiration for the successor he had chosen.
At that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen even felt the urge to step down.
Kizaru would definitely become an excellent Hokage.
Under his leadership, Konoha would surely move toward a brighter future.
It was not only Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The Sannin sitting at the side also looked at Kizaru, and similar thoughts could not help but rise in their hearts.
In the past, they had recognized Kizaru as the Hokage's successor because of his overwhelming strength.
But now, what they recognized was Kizaru's long-term vision and outstanding ability to govern.
If Kizaru became Hokage, then their lives in the village would definitely become much better—and much more comfortable.
If Sarutobi-sensei gave up his position to Kizaru earlier, perhaps everyone's ideals and pursuits could truly be realized.
Looking at Kizaru, who continued to smile lazily, the Sannin could not help but begin imagining the bright future of Kizaru becoming Hokage.
--------------------------------------
Support me at patreon.com/Arthorain and read upto 50 Advanced Chapters and R-18 Content!
--------------------------------------
Update schedule: 7 chapters/week
Every 200 power stones = 1 Extra Chapter
By voting with [power stones], you can easily get double the number of chapters.