The village of Konoha, with almost zero casualties, won the Second War and gained a considerable war dividend.
All four disciples returned to the village, each having grown significantly.
The joy was overwhelming, doubling the happiness, leaving the Third Hokage, Hiruzen, smiling from ear to ear all day long.
However, happiness is always short-lived!
Hiruzen's happiness didn't even last a day. In the evening, it was brought to an end by the visit of the four disciples.
Sitting on the tatami mat, Hiruzen smoked in frustration. The four disciples in front of him were no longer beloved students in his eyes but rather four villains demanding extortion at his doorstep.
Jiraiya, under the guise of going out to gather intelligence for the village and recruit talent, demanded funds from the village, starting with a demand for 50 million.
Tsunade, citing the excellent performance of medical ninjas in the recent Rain Country War, requested increased investment in the training of medical ninjas and a reform of the composition of ninja teams to include a medical ninja in each three-person squad.
Orochimaru demanded the establishment of an independent research institution funded entirely by the village.
Kizaru didn't make a demand himself, but all the requests from Tsunade and Orochimaru were prompted by him!
Hiruzen even suspected that Jiraiya's shift from taking personal vacations to mission-funded outings was also Kizaru's suggestion.
Hiruzen's suspicion was not unfounded. Jiraiya's new excuse for using village funds for travel was indeed suggested by Kizaru.
At that time, while Kizaru and Orochimaru were discussing how to persuade Hiruzen to agree to fund the establishment of a research institution, Jiraiya, who had just finished arguing with Tsunade, happened to overhear their conversation.
After hearing Kizaru's series of methods to persuade Hiruzen, Jiraiya was astonished and immediately expressed his own dilemma to Kizaru.
Every time Jiraiya requested an extended leave for traveling and writing (in reality, to search for the Child of Prophecy), he would be nagged by Hiruzen and the two advisors, making the leave process very troublesome!
For Jiraiya, who had prepared and studied thoroughly in his past life to secure a stable job, his dilemma was simply a minor issue among minor issues.
Simply changing the wording of his leave request from "traveling and writing" to "risking danger, working hard, and voluntarily going outside the village to gather intelligence and ninjutsu from the ninja world" could not only reduce the difficulty but also allow him to enjoy officialy-funded travel.
As for whether Hiruzen and the other village elites would accept or believe it, that wasn't a problem.
As the Hokage's direct disciple, Jiraiya was determined to leave the village for an extended period before committing any treacherous acts.
Hiruzen and the village elites had no choice but to accept this excuse.
After listening to Kizaru's suggestions and reasoning, Hiruzen was enlightened and immediately increased the action fund proposed by Kizaru from 20 million to 50 million.
"Jiraiya, I recall you told me before heading to Amegakure that you wanted to travel and write after the war ended," Hiruzen said, looking at the four enemies in front of him, preparing to tackle the easiest difficulty.
Facing Hiruzen's question, Jiraiya glanced at Kizaru secretly. Seeing Kizaru nodding, he immediately put on an act like a talented actor, sitting upright with an expression of remorse.
"Sensei, it was after your education last time that I deeply realized my mistakes. Therefore, I have decided to repent and do my best to contribute to the village."
Seeing Jiraiya's little trick, Hiruzen felt annoyed.
Speeding up his smoking pace, Hiruzen tried to persuade gently, "You can also contribute greatly by staying in the village."
Shaking his head firmly, Jiraiya replied, "I'm not like Tsunade, who can help the village with medical ninjutsu, nor as intelligent as Orochimaru, who can conduct ninjutsu research to aid the village. The only thing I'm good at is gathering intelligence. So please allow me to leave the village and undertake espionage missions."
"You're good at gathering intelligence?"
Looking at his impulsive disciple in front of him, Hiruzen felt like hitting him with a smoking pipe.
Knowing he couldn't keep the wandering Jiraiya, Hiruzen had to lower his demand and said, "You can conduct espionage missions outside the village, but 50 million is too much."
"30 million. I only need 30 million. For the sake of the village, I'm willing to overcome difficulties!" Jiraiya said eagerly, as if sacrificing himself.
After a moment of silence, considering that the village had received many incomes during this period and its economy had become much richer, Hiruzen nodded in agreement.
Seeing Hiruzen nodding, Jiraiya's act instantly fell apart. A joyful expression appeared on his face, and his hands clenched tightly under the table with excitement.
"30 million funds! It would be enough for him to enjoy entertainment with different girls for several months."
Watching Jiraiya suddenly become ecstatic, Hiruzen immediately understood that he had been tricked.
Taking a deep drag of his cigarette, he reminded himself that these were all his disciples, they had grown up, and he couldn't just resort to violence. Suppressing the urge to strike, Hiruzen reluctantly restrained himself.
He knew Jiraiya couldn't come up with so many tricks on his own; there must be someone behind him.
Hiruzen directed his suspicious gaze towards Orochimaru, who sat quietly with a smug smile.
Though there was no evidence, Hiruzen was certain that Jiraiya had been corrupted by Orochimaru!
Glaring annoyed at Orochimaru, Hiruzen then looked at Tsunade and Kizaru.
Jiraiya's expenses were just small change; these two demanded the lion's share.
Whether it was increasing the training of medical ninjas or investing in establishing a research institution, the required funds were calculated in billions, and they were to be invested annually.
Watching the two disciples who were staring at him, considering their different proposals, the cunning Hiruzen quickly came up with a plan.
"I've considered your proposals, and honestly, I appreciate them," he began, then shifted the conversation to the difficulties.
"This war has indeed brought substantial gains to the village. However, the village has many expenses, and with the current funds, we can only afford one proposal."
Knowing that without shedding some blood this time, he couldn't dissuade the unscrupulous disciples who came knocking, Hiruzen could only resort to a bit of cunning to disrupt the alliance between the disciples.
Sure enough, as soon as Hiruzen spoke, Tsunade and Orochimaru's expressions changed, and they looked at each other.
Both knew it was Hiruzen-sensei's scheme, and they also understood that their proposals did indeed require substantial funds, which made sense.
Noticing their reactions, Hiruzen felt pleased, knowing that his plan had worked.
"Indeed, Hiruzen-sensei is truly wise!" Kizaru, as the initiator and leader of the four-person alliance, naturally wouldn't let Hiruzen's incitement succeed.
Seeing Kizaru speak up, the other three in the room all looked at him.
Putting his smoking pipe on the table, Hiruzen glared at Kizaru, signaling him not to speak.
"What am I doing all this for? Isn't it just to save up some money for you, the future Hokage?"
With an apologetic smile, Kizaru continued, "Actually, in my opinion, Tsunade's proposal to increase the training of medical ninjas doesn't require a large expenditure and can be carried out in conjunction with Orochimaru's plan to establish a research institution."
"Kizaru, cultivating an excellent medical ninja requires a significant investment," Hiruzen reminded, feeling that Kizaru underestimated the expenses of training medical ninjas. "You can ask Tsunade about this."
Nodding seriously, as the head of Konoha Hospital, Tsunade was well aware of the difficulty of training medical ninjas.
Each year, only a small number of students graduating from the ninja academy chose to become medical ninjas, and among those, the ones with actual talent were even fewer.
As a result, the number of medical ninja apprentices added to Konoha Hospital or ninja teams each year was extremely low.
At the same time, most of these talented students needed 6 to 8 years of training to become qualified medical ninjas.
Because of the scarcity of qualified medical ninjas, Tsunade's proposal to equip each ninja team with a medical ninja was not favored by Hiruzen and other Konoha elites.
"I'm well aware of the difficulty of training medical ninjas," Kizaru affirmed their concerns, then proposed his own suggestion.
"But in my opinion, the reason training medical ninjas is so troublesome is because of the outdated training system."
"Oh!" Surprised, watching Kizaru suddenly become serious, Hiruzen felt a bit of anticipation.
Not only Hiruzen but also Tsunade, sitting next to Kizaru, looked at him with anticipation.
"Because the village has long neglected medical ninjas, the number of academy graduates choosing to become medical ninjas each year is very small."
"For this reason, it greatly limits the selection of medical ninja candidates, wasting the talents of many potential medical ninjas."
"And those newly graduated academy students who are unwilling to become medical ninjas, besides being too young and yearning for power, the main reason is that the status and treatment of medical ninjas are not enough."
Kizaru had seriously analyzed the problem of training medical ninjas.
The resurgence of medical ninjas in Konoha was not only due to Tsunade's improvements in medical ninjutsu but also because Tsunade, as a medical ninja, played a significant role in the war, gaining immense fame.
It was Tsunade's outstanding performance that elevated the status of medical ninjas in the world where personal strength was admired.
After Tsunade became famous, the number of new academy graduates willing to become medical ninjas increased, and the village elites who had tasted the benefits were also willing to invest resources to increase the number of medical ninjas.
Konoha thus successfully realized the concept of equipping most three-person teams with a ninja proficient in medical ninjutsu in the future.
This was also the reason why Tsunade was admired by medical ninjas from various villages in the ninja world.
It could be said that Tsunade, with her efforts, improved the status and treatment of medical ninjas in the ninja world.
"In terms of treatment, the village can indeed be improved, but to improve the status, it needs to be decided through a high-level village meeting. Even as the Hokage, I cannot decide everything," Hiruzen pointed out the difficulty.
Hearing Hiruzen's words, Tsunade knew it was true, but she still felt indignant. As a medical ninja herself, she didn't think medical ninjas were inferior.
"Those bastards, if only they..."
"Status is not given by others, but earned by oneself," Kizaru caught Tsunade's excited hand, smiling as he spoke.
Tsunade's heart trembled for a moment. She greatly appreciated and liked this sentence. Stopping her speech, she looked at Kizaru.
"In this war, both Tsunade and the performance of the medical ninja class were excellent."
"It can be said that the reason why casualties on the battlefield in Amegakure were minimal this time was because of the outstanding performance of Tsunade and the medical ninja team."
"Therefore, I suggested that the village increase publicity for the achievements of medical ninjas on the battlefield in the coming time. This could serve as an opportunity to gradually change everyone's perception."
Kizaru's words didn't exaggerate the achievements of medical ninjas but stated the truth.
Before Kizaru supported Amegakure, most of the hundreds of Konoha ninjas led by the Sannin were knocked out by Hanzo and the ninjas from Amegakure using poison.
If it weren't for the rescue of these medical ninjas, the injured and poisoned ninjas would not have lasted until Kizaru's arrival to support and defeat Hanzo to obtain the antidote.
"It could be said that without these medical ninjas, the war between Konoha, Amegakure, and Hanzo, even though it quickly achieved victory due to Kizaru's support, would have been a Pyrrhic victory."
After listening to Kizaru's words, Hiruzen nodded in agreement.
"Tomorrow, I will order an increase in the publicity of the achievements of medical ninjas."
With a happy expression on her face, Tsunade looked at Kizaru with a sense of goodwill and joy in her eyes.
"Furthermore, the village's training of medical ninjas is too rough, with extremely low efficiency. I suggest initiating reforms."
"How do you propose to reform?" Hiruzen asked curiously.
"Starting from the ninja academy." With a mature idea already prepared, Kizaru confidently spoke, "The ninja academy's academic year is six years. I suggest implementing a class division system starting from the third year."
"A class division system?"
"The current training system of the ninja academy is too general. The education each student receives only focuses on becoming a qualified genin. This kind of training system is outdated and easily overlooks many students with outstanding talents beyond combat."
"Therefore, I suggest conducting an assessment and class division for students at the third year level."
"We can divide them into three classes based on their performance in the test: Combat Class, Medical Class, and Research Class."
"What is the Research Class?" Hiruzen could understand the first two, but he was a bit puzzled about separating a Research Class.
"For those students who don't have much talent in ninjutsu but excel in theoretical and cultural subjects and have excellent learning abilities, we can assign them to the Research Class."
"Instead of sending these children with average combat talents to their deaths on missions and battlefields in the future, it's better to maximize their advantage by allowing them to conduct scientific research in the rear." Kizaru explained.
After hearing the explanation, everyone present fell into contemplation.
Regardless of whether Kizaru's unprecedented idea could be implemented, just the reform system he proposed was admired and appreciated by everyone.
If this reform could really be implemented, the village would surely harvest a large number of talents in the future.
Picking up the smoking pipe again and putting it in his mouth, Hiruzen looked at Kizaru, the successor he had chosen, with admiration in his eyes.
At this moment, Hiruzen even felt a hint of impulse to step down.
Kizaru would surely become an outstanding Hokage. Under his leadership, Konoha would head towards a brighter future.
Not only Hiruzen, but also the other Sannin, looked at Kizaru, harboring similar thoughts.
Before, the Sannin recognized Kizaru as the successor to become Hokage because of his formidable strength.
But now, what they recognized in Kizaru was his long-term vision and excellent governance ability.
If Kizaru became Hokage, they would surely have a better and more comfortable life in the village!
If Hiruzen had passed on the position to Kizaru earlier, perhaps everyone's ideals and pursuits could have been realized more smoothly.
Watching Kizaru maintain his smile, the Sannin began to anticipate the bright future of Kizaru becoming Hokage.