Spring turned to autumn, and two years passed in a flash.
Under Sarutobi Hiruzen's governance, Konoha was flourishing.
Internally, he carried out drastic reforms, cracking down on corruption with an iron fist and establishing a clear system of rewards and punishments, completely revitalizing the village's atmosphere.
Externally, relying on the information advantage provided by the simulator, he was always able to anticipate the enemy in small-scale skirmishes with other ninja villages, achieving victory at the smallest cost and steadily increasing Konoha's prestige.
The villagers and ninja who once had doubts about his succession were now thoroughly convinced. Rumors of the Third Hokage's "near-demonic intelligence" had even begun to spread throughout the ninja world.
And Team Sarutobi, which he personally instructed, had grown into Konoha's most dazzling new stars.
Jiraiya was still his boisterous self, but his strength was no longer that of the dead-last from back then; his ninjutsu was quite impressive.
Tsunade's mastery of her monstrous strength taijutsu had become even more profound. More importantly, under Hiruzen's deliberate guidance, her talent for medical ninjutsu had been fully awakened.
As for Orochimaru, he had become completely engrossed in the mysteries of life.
His research into ninjutsu had delved into the level of cells and the very source of chakra, and he often proposed theories that even Hiruzen found astonishing.
These two years had been fulfilling for Sarutobi Hiruzen, but also exhausting.
He was like a diligent gardener, carefully pruning every branch of the great tree of Konoha to prevent them from growing crooked.
Today, he was preparing to make a big move.
Hokage Building, High-Level Meeting Room.
Sarutobi Hiruzen sat at the head of the table. To his left and right were his advisors, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Shimura Danzo.
The portly Akimichi Torifu was lazy and disliked meetings, so he wouldn't attend unless it was for an important decision. As for Uchiha Kagami, he was busy training his clansmen.
Their expressions were much more relaxed than two years ago, and their gazes towards Hiruzen were filled with conviction.
In these two years, Hiruzen had completely won over these old comrades with one irrefutable, god-tier prediction after another.
On the conference table lay a thick proposal.
On the cover, a line of conspicuous large characters was written—"Proposal for the Establishment of the Konoha Medical Ninja System and the Popularization of Medical Ninja in Standard Squads."
The authors of the proposal were Tsunade and Orochimaru.
But everyone knew that the real driving force behind it was the Third Hokage himself.
"Have you all finished reading?" Sarutobi Hiruzen's gaze swept over everyone. "Let's hear your thoughts."
The meeting room was silent.
After a long while, Mitokado Homura pushed up his glasses and was the first to speak.
"Hiruzen, I admit, the concept of this proposal is very... forward-thinking." He chose his words carefully. "Equipping a squad with a dedicated medical ninja would indeed greatly increase the squad's survival rate and mission sustainability."
"However," he changed his tone, "we must consider the practical issues."
"The resources and time required to train a qualified medical ninja far exceed that of an ordinary combat ninja. They need to learn a vast amount of knowledge about the human body and undergo training in fine chakra control, which would seriously take up their time for practicing combat ninjutsu."
"This also means that in a squad, the medical ninja is often the weakest link in terms of combat power. In peacetime, is it a waste of resources to train them on a large scale?"
Mitokado Homura's words voiced the thoughts of most of the people present.
"Homura has a point," Utatane Koharu immediately agreed. "Our Konoha's ninja resources are already tight. Every genin who graduates is a precious combat asset. If we have them switch to becoming medical ninja, it would be a de facto weakening of our overall military strength."
"Moreover, establishing a brand-new medical department would require a huge amount of start-up capital and space. Our village has just been through a war and is in a state of recovery. I'm afraid our finances can't support such a huge expense."
Koharu and Mitokado Homura, as staunch supporters of the Second Hokage's system, had a very pragmatic, even conservative, way of thinking.
In their view, the core value of a ninja was combat. Any action that weakened combat power was unacceptable.
Tsunade, as one of the authors of the proposal, was also present at the meeting. Hearing the two's objections, her face flushed with anger, and she stood up abruptly.
"Advisor Homura, Advisor Koharu! You are being short-sighted!"
"Are the lives of ninja not a resource? An experienced ninja dying on a mission because they couldn't receive timely treatment—is that not an even greater waste?"
"A medical ninja may not be able to kill an enemy directly, but she can save three comrades! Can't you do that math?"
Tsunade's rebuttal was powerful, but Koharu and Mitokado Homura just shook their heads.
"Tsunade, we understand how you feel," Koharu's tone was calm. "But it is peacetime now. Large-scale casualties will not occur. To invest such a huge cost to deal with a low-probability event is not cost-effective from the perspective of the village's overall operation."
"You..." Tsunade was so angry she was speechless.
She looked pleadingly at her teacher, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
However, Sarutobi Hiruzen just sat there, saying nothing, his fingers tapping a rhythmic beat on the desk, as if deep in thought.
The meeting reached a stalemate.
Neither the supporters nor the opponents could convince the other.
All eyes were on the Third Hokage at the head of the table, awaiting his final decision.
But at that moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen was frantically communicating with the simulator in his mind.
"Simulate!"
[Initiating future simulation...]
[Simulation Scenario: Reject the medical department proposal, maintain the status quo.]
A blood-red scene exploded in his mind.
[Scene 1: The Second Great Ninja War breaks out in full force. Konoha's ninja fall in droves in the brutal battles against Sunagakure and Iwagakure.]
[Scene 2: A Konoha squad falls into a trap, and the captain is severely poisoned. Because there is no medical ninja in the squad, they can only watch helplessly as their captain dies in agony. If there had been a medical ninja at that time, he could have been saved with a simple Mystical Palm Technique.]
[Scene 3: Post-war statistics show that the casualty rate of Konoha ninja is as high as forty percent. Among them, more than half died from injuries that could have been treated. Countless experienced, core members of the force were sacrificed in vain.]
[Conclusion: Although Konoha wins the war, its strength is greatly diminished, and it will take many years to recover. And Tsunade, because of this war, is left with an indelible psychological scar.]
The simulation ended.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's eyes instantly turned icy cold.
His fingers, which had been tapping on the desk, stopped.
Peacetime?
Not cost-effective?
How ridiculous and ironic this short-sightedness seemed in the face of the bloody future.
Sarutobi Hiruzen slammed his hand on the table, and the entire meeting room fell silent in an instant.
"Peace?"
"How long do you think this so-called peace will last? A year? Two years? Or five?"
"The clouds of war have never dispersed! They could engulf us again at any moment!"
His voice suddenly rose, ringing in everyone's ears.
"At that time, every ninja we sacrifice will be because of our hesitation and short-sightedness here today."
"At that time, who among you can be responsible for those lives that could have been saved?!"
"Will it be you, Mitokado Homura? Or you, Koharu?"
The two who were called out turned pale instantly, subconsciously avoiding Hiruzen's gaze.
They had never seen Hiruzen so furious.
At that moment, they seemed to see in him the unquestionable shadow of the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, and perhaps... even more.
Shimura Danzo, on the other hand, had been much more behaved these past two years, keeping his eyes and nose to himself.
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep breath, his tone becoming firm and decisive.
"Ten percent of the Hokage's funds will be directly allocated as start-up capital for the immediate establishment of the Konoha Medical Department."
"Tsunade will serve as the first head of the Medical Department!"
"Orochimaru will serve as the deputy head and chief researcher!"
"Starting next semester, all Ninja Academy students must take basic medical knowledge as a compulsory subject for graduation!"
He looked at the thoroughly stunned Koharu and Mitokado Homura and said, word by word, "This matter, I command in the name of the Third Hokage!"
"There is no room for discussion!"
"Meeting adjourned!"
With that, without looking at anyone's reaction, he turned and strode out of the meeting room.
He left behind a room full of stunned and shaken high-level officials.
Tsunade watched her teacher's departing back, her eyes shining with immense admiration.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura exchanged a look, and both saw the shock in the other's eyes.
They realized that Sarutobi's vision might have already seen a future that was completely beyond their reach.
Konoha, perhaps, was truly about to enter a new era in his hands.