Any research project starting from scratch involves unimaginably complex preliminary work, especially in biotechnological engineering like the unprecedented project of recreating Wood Release Ninja.
Since the Jonin meeting passed the proposal nearly half a year ago, Orochimaru has been leading the preliminary work—site selection for the research institute, personnel selection, equipment procurement, and so forth.
Of course, perhaps this was his excuse for not wanting to teach Nawaki in Senju Clan's territory. After all, with Orochimaru's intelligence, he surely guessed that appearing in front of Tsunade would not end well for him.
Meanwhile, Tatsuma has maintained his routine life, diligently working in the Hokage's office during the day, contemplating Flying Thunder God and his Medical Ninjutsu, and training at home in the evenings to keep improving.
During this period, there have also been some rumors circulating among the people, all praising Tsunade's selflessness, dedication to the village, and so on. The basic public opinion environment has slowly been changing people's perceptions of Tsunade.
Some casinos even launched exclusive discount promotions for Tsunade. For instance, while a normal person could exchange ten thousand Ryo for one hundred chips, Tsunade could exchange them for one hundred and twenty chips instead.
For the casinos, whatever Tsunade exchanged would eventually be spent—either lost to the house or to other players. The money from other players would gradually fall into the hands of the house through a 5% commission system, ensuring no loss for them.
However, this discount promotion didn't last long because Tsunade, who was short on money, took Tatsuma there on one of his days off.
The two played at a private gambling table where Tatsuma repeatedly won Tsunade's chips, exchanged them for money, lent them back to Tsunade to exchange for chips again, and then lost them back to Tatsuma. Despite the house's commission, they were betting six-figure sums each time they rolled the dice. In a single day, Tatsuma cleaned up a substantial amount from the casino, forcing all casinos to halt their discount promotions simultaneously.
All these winnings naturally went to Tsunade, while Tatsuma collected a stack of nothing.
After hearing Tsunade's words, Tatsuma was placed on the Black List of various casinos. As for Tsunade, without Tatsuma—a disciple known for causing trouble—accompanying her, she was seen as someone who came to lose money and thus couldn't possibly end up on the Black List.
Meanwhile, Tatsuma's peaceful life continued until midsummer when things began to change.
"Yaksha, this is the new mission entrusted to you by the village."
Inside the Hokage's office, Sarutobi Hiruzen placed a scroll on the desk. Tatsuma, who had just arrived for work, paused in surprise, then nodded and picked up the scroll to unravel and read it.
Hiruzen took a deep breath of smoke and continued, "You are to assist Orochimaru in the laboratory for the Wood Release Ninja regeneration project, helping him with the experimental research."
Upon hearing this, Tatsuma's expression turned extremely odd—not because of the task Hiruzen mentioned, but because the contents of the scroll in his hand differed significantly from what the Hokage had just described.
"Starting from the initiation of the Wood Release Ninja regeneration project, oversee the lead researcher Orochimaru, back up all research findings of this project, and prevent any ethical violations and inhumane incidents in biological research."
This was the content of the scroll Tatsuma held, and it bore almost no relation to what Hiruzen had just spoken. The disparity between the two was stark.
Regarding the same event, there were two different sets of instructions. In terms of priority, the verbal orders directly issued by Hiruzen as the Hokage took precedence over the tasks written in the scroll.
However, mission scrolls, especially those received by ANBU Ninja, were documented from the moment the decision was made, and they became part of ANBU records. At this moment, Tatsuma's ANBU record should have already recorded the surveillance mission.
This was a situation Tatsuma encountered for the first time. In previous missions, Hiruzen's verbal orders had always served as supplementary instructions. For example, escorting Hiruzen to the Daimyo's residence and the decision to engage hidden foreign Ninjas within the Land of Fire were supplements to the escort mission, which could be reported afterward.
At this moment, the task Tatsuma received, though not directly conflicting with Hiruzen's verbal orders issued simultaneously, represented a vastly different implication.
For a moment, Tatsuma couldn't understand why the village had assigned him such a task.
Seeing Tatsuma's prolonged silence, Hiruzen spoke, "Orochimaru requested your assistance in the lab. He believes you have the talent for this, at least more so than anyone else."
Hiruzen's emphasis while speaking was peculiar. Tatsuma pursed his lips, beginning to grasp the situation. The village's willingness for him to assist wasn't strong; in fact, they probably didn't want him to go.
Yet due to certain factors, he had to go. Therefore, the village provided him with a reason to go. And this reason...
As Tatsuma re-evaluated the contents of the mission scroll, he realized it was essentially a non-stick situation!
If this research succeeded, it meant there would be no "accidents," and Tatsuma would have fulfilled the village's surveillance mission.
Meanwhile, Tatsuma could also rely on Hiruzen's verbal orders as supplementary support to become a hero in this research, enjoying the rewards and subsequent dividends brought by the project's success.
If this research were to fail, then the current Hiruzen might simply forget the verbal orders he had once issued to Tatsuma.
As long as Tatsuma promptly reported when any "accidents" occurred during the research, he could smoothly complete his surveillance mission. Furthermore, by acting promptly, he could also become a hero in preventing the escalation of any "accidents."
Even if the research neither succeeded nor failed but was stopped due to overtime or exceeding the budget, Tatsuma would ensure that no accidents occurred during this research. Perhaps the credit wouldn't be substantial, but it would certainly not be blameworthy.
In other words, regardless of the outcome of the Wood Release Ninja reconstruction research, Tatsuma would only gain benefits from this operation and not incur any faults.
After understanding all of this, the slight resistance Tatsuma initially felt upon hearing about his participation in the project dissipated.
Although he felt that this research was likely to fail and might even end with the loss of dozens of lives, when he couldn't prevent it from happening, acting selfishly seemed to be his best outcome.
If this had been two years ago, Tatsuma might have tried everything to refuse and chosen to distance himself from these matters, avoiding causing deaths because of himself.
But now he understood: when tragedy couldn't be changed or stopped, simply evading it would only console himself. Because if he didn't participate, others would, and they would bear these dark consequences.
Certainly, if Tatsuma didn't engage in this research, the blame for those who might die wouldn't fall on him. However, those who would die because of it wouldn't survive just because Tatsuma stayed away.
Moreover, Tatsuma felt that with his involvement, perhaps there might be some changes in the outcome of this experiment?
Yet under his mask, Tatsuma's face revealed a troubled expression. With his current abilities, he couldn't see how he could contribute to such a biological research project.
Perhaps sensing Tatsuma's mood, Hiruzen spoke up: "There's still some time before the project starts. During this period, you should intern at Konoha Hospital. It's also about time you were given an official position."
What Hiruzen meant by "official position" naturally referred to a visible role, considering that ANBU ninjas required confidentiality. For a ninja who had neither teammates nor an assigned department but lived comfortably, there would certainly be issues.
As for the reason why Tatsuma hadn't been assigned anything so far, Hiruzen himself was contemplating. Given Tatsuma's political acumen, a direct administrative position within the Hokage Building would undoubtedly be appropriate.
However, Tatsuma's combat talent was also exceptional, but as a Hokage Guard, he couldn't be sent out and thus couldn't be assigned to a combat squad.
Moreover, Tatsuma's proficiency in Medical Ninjutsu was also commendable. Ninjas returning from the battlefield occasionally recalled how Tatsuma had saved them.
Hiruzen had heard from his wife more than once that Konoha Hospital was short-staffed and Tatsuma could be a great help there. However, he had always put it off.
He couldn't just tell his wife, "The young man you've taken a liking to spends his days in my office inhaling second-hand smoke, right?"
Recently, Tsunade had completed the first phase of her project, sending off a group of newly trained medical ninjas to join combat squads. Only two remained behind. As a result, Konoha Hospital, which had just begun to feel relieved, was short-staffed again.
Sarutobi Biwako somehow found out that Tatsuma hadn't been assigned to a squad or position yet. She had been pestering him these days to assign Tatsuma somewhere, or else she'd have a third child.
Therefore, Hiruzen reluctantly made a decision. Since Tatsuma needed to do some preliminary work now, he would send him to Konoha Hospital to help out and accumulate relevant knowledge.
Upon hearing Hiruzen's arrangement, Tatsuma replied, "Yes, Hokage-sama." Then he asked, "But, Hokage-sama, what about my guard duties?"
Hiruzen sighed, glancing at the files. Normally, Tatsuma not only sat around inhaling second-hand smoke but also acted as an advisor. Especially for matters where it wasn't convenient to have Shikato come over to explain or make decisions, Tatsuma would typically lend a hand.
As Tatsuma turned to leave, Hiruzen spoke up, "Mandrill will fill in for you during this time, but you still need to come in for guard duty every Thursday."
Tatsuma nodded at his words and replied, "Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Any other questions?" Hiruzen asked.
"Well, when I go to Konoha Hospital, who should I report to? Jonin Tsunade?" Tatsuma inquired.
"Find my wife, Sarutobi Biwako," came the reply.
"Understood. I don't have any other questions, Hokage-sama. Do you have any other arrangements?" Tatsuma asked.
Hiruzen shrugged slightly. "I'm not particularly familiar with hospitals either. When you're there, find the contact person and get acquainted. You can also ask your sensei for advice in the evening."
Seeing that Tatsuma didn't raise any further requests, Hiruzen suddenly felt relieved. Perhaps having three disciples who were all worrisome, encountering a reliable grand-student who could also assist him was a huge contrast.
After a moment of thought, Hiruzen felt there was nothing else to discuss. He said, "There's nothing else today. Have Mandrill come over to coordinate with him, then go report to Konoha Hospital."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Tatsuma replied.
Coordinating with Mandrill was straightforward. By midday, he had arrived at Konoha Hospital. Using the staff registration form at the hospital's registration desk, Tatsuma quickly found Biwako.
Inside the director's office, Biwako looked at Tatsuma with a smile that couldn't hide her joy. She said, "Welcome to Konoha Hospital. So, which department would you like to join? I can arrange it for you directly. However, if you join now, you'll start as a resident doctor. After you settle in, we can arrange an assessment for promotion. How does that sound to you?"
"Your arrangement works for me. However, I lean towards the Emergency or Surgical departments. I'm not strong in theoretical knowledge, but I do have some clinical experience. As for the title, I'll follow the normal process."
Tatsuma believed that the departments of Oncology and Pathology would be most helpful for the Wood Release Ninja project. However, given his current level of expertise, he wouldn't be effective in these areas. Thus, he planned to start in one department and learn, hoping to transfer later if possible.
Biwako smiled warmly and nodded, saying, "Alright, you can start in the Emergency department for now. If it doesn't suit you, let me know, and I'll arrange something else for you. By the way, let me introduce you to your colleagues and show you around the department. It's almost lunchtime, so we'll go to the cafeteria later. How does that sound?"
"No problem. Thank you," Tatsuma replied.
Tatsuma was cooperative, especially since Biwako was the Hokage's wife. There was no need to rush and potentially offend her. Seeing Tatsuma's agreeable attitude, Biwako smiled back and led him to the Emergency department.
The Emergency department was bustling with people. After a short wait, Biwako managed to catch two slender doctors and said, "Taji, Nono, let me introduce you. This is Sakamoto Tatsuma, your new colleague."
"Tatsuma, meet Taji and Yakushi Nono, medical ninjas trained by your sensei. Get acquainted," Biwako continued.
"We've met before. Tatsuma Senpai has taught us," Taji said openly. Nono, who was more familiar with Tatsuma, seemed a bit shy and spoke softly, "It's been a while, Sakamoto."
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