Exchange of Interests

"I have no objections!"

Utatane Koharu agreed. She had ambitions of her own, and the relationship among the three advisors had become somewhat delicate.

"I hope it succeeds!"

Danzo sighed inwardly. He had already noticed the gleam in his former comrades’ eyes. The seeds of ambition were beginning to sprout.

But he had no reason to stop them. Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu were both adults and qualified politicians. Each had their own interests, and it was only natural for the three of them to have different interests. He could not make them abandon their own interests for his sake.

"There’s one more matter. I need the support of all three advisors."

Gu Sheng smiled and looked at Danzo across from him. "Regarding the reform of medical ninja training, I think we can begin work immediately. However, there aren’t many medical ninja in the village, so I hope to transfer some capable medical ninja to join the newly established Medical Academy."

Danzo panicked inwardly under Gu Sheng’s gaze. Could this kid have his eyes on Root?

"I’ve heard that Root has several medical ninja with considerable skill. I hope you can spare them, Lord Danzo, and help Lady Tsunade."

"Root’s missions will no longer involve going out on assignments. Instead, they’ll be stationed in Konoha. The chances for medical ninja to be useful won’t be many. In contrast, Lady Tsunade’s Medical Academy needs quite a few highly skilled medical ninja."

"But as you know, the most capable medical ninja are all in the frontline combat forces. Otherwise, they’ll be following Lady Mito to the battlefield. The only ones available for transfer are Lord Danzo’s Root…"

Gu Sheng spoke with a smile. Of course, he had piled on a whole host of sound reasons. Tsunade had already been appointed Konoha’s new Medical Director, specifically responsible for medical reform.

"Acting Hokage, this…"

Danzo naturally objected. This was cutting flesh from his own body, and anyone with eyes could see that once they were transferred, they would remain at the Medical Academy and not return to their original unit.

But before Danzo could finish, the hot-tempered Tsunade shouted, "Danzo, what do you mean by that? Medical ninja can only make better use of their abilities at the Medical Academy. You…"

Tsunade naturally began throwing her weight around. As Konoha’s princess, she was quite the little Overlord, and of course she would get whatever she wanted.

The proposal to establish the Medical Academy had passed, and she was full of confidence, ready to make a grand start. But the shortage of personnel really was a problem.

Many of her former subordinates had been left at the Land of Wind Battlefield, while some of the rest would be joining the campaign against Mountain Country.

She thought Gu Sheng’s proposal was excellent. Transferring people directly from Root was exactly what she had wanted to do for a long time. Wasn’t it a waste for an intelligence organization to have so many medical ninja?

Besides, Root’s ninja had no experience in legion warfare. Sending them to the battlefield would also be a waste. Establishing a medical-ninja corps was the better choice.

She also felt Gu Sheng was right. Danzo’s Root needed to rotate its personnel and temporarily emerge from the shadows, taking responsibility for maintaining Konoha’s order and security. Since they would be stationed in Konoha, Root had no use for medical ninja.

Even if something happened, anyone in the village could simply be sent to the hospital for treatment. There was no need to retain an entire medical-ninja unit. Wouldn’t it be far more valuable to hand them all over to her for the Medical Academy?

"This…"

Danzo fell silent. He had no idea how many times he had fallen silent that day. He looked around, but Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu both avoided his gaze. Gu Sheng’s "grand promises" had just won them over, so they could hardly speak up for Danzo.

They also believed this was the best solution for the time being. Root did indeed have somewhat too many medical ninja. Because Danzo had been conducting certain experiments in secret, Root had more medical ninja than ANBU.

"Lord Danzo, rest assured. Transferring your medical ninja doesn’t mean taking all of them away. It only means temporarily assigning some of them during the stationing period."

Gu Sheng smiled and explained, "Once Elder Mito returns victorious, the original medical ninja will return as well. You can always reassign your subordinates afterward!"

"This… all right!"

Although Danzo felt somewhat uneasy, he agreed in the end. He understood very well that this was an exchange of interests.

Gu Sheng had won over the three advisors with his "grand promises" and given them power. In return, they needed to "repay the favor" by supporting Gu Sheng’s work. It was a mutual exchange.

The cooperation proposed by Gu Sheng actually allowed Danzo to secretly breathe a sigh of relief. Since Gu Sheng was making a request of him, that at least indirectly proved he probably wasn’t plotting some scheme to trick him.

Gu Sheng smiled and concluded, "Then it’s happily decided…"

"So tired!"

After a period of silence, an untimely murmur suddenly came from the Hokage’s office.

Tsunade slumped in her chair like a "dead fish." Her exchange with the three advisors had exhausted her body and mind. It was truly unbearable—she was even more tired than Gu Sheng, who had been the main target.

After all, she was not yet the battle-hardened Fifth Hokage she would become in the future. Right now, she was simply a willful young woman. Although her figure did not quite match that description, her personality really was unsuited to socializing. Being forced to take on such complicated matters and engage in schemes with three old foxes—how could she not be exhausted?

"If you’re tired, get a good rest today. Tomorrow will bring even more exhausting work!"

Gu Sheng lay lazily in his chair. He actually faced more problems than Tsunade, but his thinking was more mature, and he had some experience in this area, so he was managing.

"No more. If I’d known organizing reforms would be this awful… Oh, god!"

Tsunade felt like she was about to go crazy. She simply was not suited to handling practical affairs right now. Even after becoming the Fifth Hokage later on, she often shirked her duties and tossed the documents to her junior assistant, Shizune, to deal with.

"All right, don’t worry. I’ll be by your side and help you the whole time."

Gu Sheng stood and walked over to Tsunade. He placed his right hand on her shoulder and solemnly promised the weary beauty before him.

What’s happening to me? This kid is even younger than Nawaki! How could I possibly…

Tsunade opened her eyes. Her little face was red and hot. This was one of the few times she had been so close to Gu Sheng, yet she had not pushed him away. Her heart was racing, and an inexplicable emotion filled her entire being.

"Get some proper rest when you go back. Don’t frown anymore. It doesn’t look good."

Gu Sheng noticed Tsunade’s reaction and thought, This is going well. He continued testing the waters by reaching out with his left hand to smooth the furrow between her brows. Tsunade unusually did not push him away, merely lowering her head slightly.

"I-I know…"

Tsunade’s reaction made Gu Sheng’s heart leap. There’s a chance!

"Keep it up. We’ll definitely succeed."

Gu Sheng continued encouraging Tsunade. Then he suddenly lowered his head and kissed the diamond-shaped mark on her fair forehead. "I’ll always stay by your side and support you. Leave everything to me, Tsunade…"