Soon after, everyone arrived near the eastern medical outpost of Konoha Ninja Village. Before they even saw the outpost, they encountered Konoha ninjas who came to question them. After all, the role of medical ninjas in war was obvious, and they were the ninja unit most in need of protection. As long as there were medical ninjas in the rear, the survival rate of ninjas could be greatly increased.
After showing their secret codes and orders, and undergoing inspection by sensory ninjas, everyone was let through and quickly saw the medical outpost. Due to the needs of medical work, the environment of the outpost was very good, having never experienced the ravages of war, unlike the outposts on the front lines, which were repeatedly fought over, making it impossible to care for the internal environment.
Upon entering the outpost, the first thing everyone felt was quiet. Aside from ninjas crying out in pain, the medical ninjas passing by said nothing unless absolutely necessary. Because of this, no one felt like talking, and instead looked at everything in the outpost with curious eyes.
As they passed a tent, everyone suddenly heard a loud cry from inside. The scream was so tragic that it sounded like someone was undergoing torture. Soon after, a blonde woman walked out, took off her white hat, and said in a low voice, "Can't even bear this much pain? What kind of training do you do normally?"
"Lady Tsunade." The Konoha ninja leading the way immediately bowed to her.
The young ninjas behind immediately began to whisper, not daring to let others hear. They hadn't expected that the cold and beautiful woman in front of them, whose figure was not hidden even by her loose medical uniform, was actually the rumored Princess Tsunade. Although they had never met her, as the granddaughter of the previous Hokage and the student of the current Hokage, her achievements in the medical department had been prominently featured in the Konoha propaganda department's newspapers.
Tsunade, at a young age, displayed unprecedented talent in the medical department, greatly advancing the medical standards of Konoha Ninja Village. She was hailed as the next successor to the current head of the medical department, Koharu Utatane. Due to her outstanding achievements, she became the only jōnin among the younger generation with the right to participate in high-level discussions. The highest rank for others was Special Jōnin, who, although having a status close to jōnin, did not have the right to participate in discussions.
The position of Special Jōnin was originally created to address the increasing number of ninjas in Konoha Ninja Village and to balance the transition between chūnin and genin. After all, chūnin could be promoted with certain qualifications and merits, and the joint chūnin exam was merely a simulation of a miniature ninja world war, focusing on military drills, with promotion to chūnin being secondary. Furthermore, only a handful of young prodigies made it to the later stages of the joint chūnin exam. If this were the only channel for promotion to chūnin, who knows how many people would remain genin for life.
As the number of chūnin grew, it would cause inconvenience in the command system, because jōnin were promoted only after strict requirements, and their numbers were too few. Once the battlefield expanded, jōnin would be unable to oversee local command, and it would be difficult for chūnin of the same rank to command each other, making it a difficult problem to decide who to listen to. Thus, a position between jōnin and chūnin was a good solution to this problem—that is, Special Jōnin.
To the uninformed, Special Jōnin and Jōnin appeared to be the same, both uniformly referred to as Jōnin. But those in these positions knew that while the status of Jōnin and Special Jōnin seemed identical, there was actually a huge difference, and this difference lay in the right to participate in high-level discussions.
Although Tsunade performed well and accumulated many merits, it was still not enough for a jōnin. However, the high-ranking officials, considering her status as the granddaughter of the previous Hokage and the outstanding achievements of the Senju clan in the past, made an exception and approved Tsunade's promotion to jōnin. She was also currently the youngest jōnin in Konoha Ninja Village.
Because of this, with Tsunade's jōnin status and her descent from Hashirama Senju, she was called "Lady" by those around her at the young age of twenty-something.
This was not a title that ordinary people could obtain. Even Hatake Sakumo, who performed exceptionally well on the battlefield, was only referred to by his unit's position.
However, for Tsunade, it was not an entirely happy thing. At first, she was indeed very happy, because jōnin represented the village's top elites. But she soon felt that due to the difference in status, the attitudes of those around her changed. Only Hatake Sakumo, who was from the same school, or people with closer relationships, could treat her normally. Other peers, however, looked at her with respect.
At the same time, in the jōnin squad composed of jōnin, the next oldest to her was more than ten years older. Facing those older jōnin, she couldn't find anyone to talk to as an equal, and had always felt a bit lonely.
However, this situation would improve once the war ended. Tsunade had heard her teacher say more than once that young ninjas who performed exceptionally well in the war would be considered for promotion. People like Hatake Sakumo, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru, as long as they had a large number of merits, could be promoted to jōnin. Even if they were from commoner backgrounds, the jōnin from noble clans would have nothing to say, as military achievements were the most indisputable thing.
This was also to elevate the status of commoner ninjas. There was always a gap between commoner ninjas and clan ninjas with inherent foundations. Even if the achievements of the Konoha Research Department could be used by commoner ninjas, clan ninjas could also use them, and the research department's achievements were not enough to bridge the gap between the two.
However, as the number of commoner ninjas in the jōnin squad increased, their voices would also become more influential. Even clan ninjas could not ignore their voices and had to take their opinions seriously. Using military achievements to allow commoner ninjas to enter the jōnin squad was the best method. Even clan ninjas had to acknowledge the role of military achievements.
Tsunade nodded to the saluting Konoha ninja, then looked at the members of the transport squad behind her. Upon seeing Might Guy, she let out a soft "Oh?" and said, "I remember you. So you're on a transport mission."
Might Guy said somewhat surprised, "Lady Tsunade actually knows me?"
"Of course, I know. You're quite well-known in the medical department. You often injure yourself during training and come to the hospital for treatment. While it's understandable to want to improve your strength, there's no need to push yourself so hard, and your current job doesn't seem to require much strength." Tsunade had occasionally heard about Might Guy's past. Of course, she didn't know much detail, just as she said, he was simply remembered in the hospital for his frequent appearances. As a member of the medical department, Tsunade had inadvertently reviewed Might Guy's medical records.
"I hope to fight on the battlefield one day," Might Guy said, scratching his head a bit sheepishly, smiling.
"Is that so?" Tsunade nodded slightly at his words and warned, "It's good to have that ambition, but be careful. Your training intensity is really excessive. You might end up with irreparable hidden injuries, and then your ninja career might end prematurely."
"Thank you for your concern, Lady Tsunade, I will be careful." Although Might Guy said this, he would not reduce the intensity of his training. With his almost non-existent talent, if he wanted to fight against powerful opponents, he had to sacrifice something to gain the power of the Eight Gates. Shortening his ninja career was nothing, it was very fair.
The information provided by the Hokage was only a rudimentary form of the Eight Gates Released Formation. Might Guy was still training and looking for problems within it, slowly attempting to improve it until he discovered the true Eight Gates Released Formation technique. Fortunately, he had made some progress recently, but this was not yet the ultimate taijutsu that Might Guy sought.
"I won't delay your time. Go deliver the supplies." Tsunade stepped back, clearing a path for the transport squad to bring the carts laden with scrolls into the storage point—although spatial scrolls could be used to store supplies, their capacity varied depending on the materials used to make them. For the needs of a ninja unit, no matter how much they saved, they would still fill up quickly.
After watching the transport squad leave, the tent flap behind Tsunade moved, and then a person emerged from inside, clutching the bandaged area of their body, wincing in pain as they took a quick glance and said, "They're gone, huh?"
"Honestly, you're a grown man, just say what you need to say, instead of hiding." Tsunade glared at the white-haired man beside her.
This person was Jiraiya. Jiraiya, with a mischievous grin—though his face occasionally twitched slightly from pain—smiled at Tsunade and said, "You guys had something to talk about, and I didn't want to intrude. Now that they're gone, I can come out. By the way, Tsunade, aren't you being a bit too harsh with the medicine? I'm still in agonizing pain. Are you taking revenge on me?"
"I'm taking revenge on you? Let me tell you, the medicine on your body was carefully formulated by me. It can not only quickly heal wounds but also stimulate your body's cells and unleash your potential! I've put so much effort into this, and you're slandering me? If it weren't for your teacher and Sensei Fuusuke being from the same school, I wouldn't have given you this medicine!" Tsunade's eyebrows immediately shot up, her expression clearly saying that Jiraiya didn't know a good thing when he saw it.
"Really? Thank you, Tsunade, you're truly a good person." Jiraiya's heart stirred at her words. He thought that if the medicine was really that effective, then the temporary pain was worth it, and it would benefit him in the future.
"Hmph." Tsunade wrinkled her nose slightly and said, "By the way, what happened to you? You were fine on the front lines, and suddenly you came back severely injured. You're still Sensei Sarutobi's student, you shouldn't have fallen to this point."
Among the three-front war conducted by Konoha Ninja Village, the war with the Land of Water was currently the only one still ongoing. The Hidden Sand Village was at a standstill for at least another month due to the rainy season in the Land of Rain, while the Hidden Stone Village, due to the appearance of explosive tags and their cautious combat style, was very careful in the Land of Grass campaign, neither advancing nor retreating. However, the Hidden Mist Village, with no buffer zone in between and the advantage of its coastline, caused the most trouble for Konoha Ninja Village—though this was only relative to the other two battlefields.
If we only look at the performance in the war, the Hidden Mist Village performed better than any other ninja village. They occupied a moderate-sized territory along the coast of the Land of Fire, using offshore islands as a base for flexible support and material allocation, forming an east-west stalemate with the Konoha ninja forces—of course, mainly because there was no buffer zone between the two sides, and the Hidden Mist Village possessed a powerful navy that the Land of Fire could not match, making it very difficult to counter maritime attacks and prevent the movement of Land of Water ships.
After tasting the bitterness, some officials of the Land of Fire began to regret not investing too much effort in the navy. However, it seemed that their shortsightedness could not be blamed. After all, the Land of Fire was a typical continental country. They had no need to expand overseas. The only overseas island that could be identified as a threat was the Land of Water. The main contradictions were concentrated inland, so their understanding of overseas naturally wasn't enough, and the national strength had not reached the point where they could utilize marine resources. They also believed that as long as they protected the mainland, the Land of Water would not pose any threat, so they were too lazy to invest funds in the navy.
But now it seems that, although the importance of the navy has not yet reached the point of maintaining maritime power, at least a group of elite naval forces must be cultivated to interfere with the Land of Water's maritime transport. This would greatly reduce the pressure of the war. Now, looking at the Land of Water's navy that comes and goes freely, sometimes landing on the coast when they're in a good mood, and sailing away when they want to leave, it's so infuriating that people are speechless.
Therefore, when the war situation initially entered a stalemate, the Land of Fire side consciously trained its navy. Although it still couldn't catch up with the Land of Water, which was naturally an island nation, its strength had improved compared to before. Once it reached a certain level, they could consider competing with the Land of Water's navy.
Because of this, on the main battlefield, the number of direct engagements between the two sides was not too frequent, at least not as frequent as in the early stages of the war. However, due to the fierce fighting style forged by the harsh training of the Hidden Mist ninjas, the intensity of the battles was no less, causing considerable losses to the forces. So, while other battlefields were relatively stable, Tsunade was asked to come and help. At that time, Jiraiya was fine, but not long after Tsunade arrived, she saw him brought in covered in blood, which shocked her.
"Don't even get me started. I don't know if the Hidden Mist Village got hit on the head or something, but their brains suddenly opened up. The person from the Hōzuki clan who fought against Sensei Hiruzen in the Land of Whirlpools had seven ninja swords with special abilities, and his power was extraordinary. And now, the Hidden Mist Village has passed these seven ninja swords to other people in the village, forming a group called the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Each of them is incredibly strong and performs exceptionally well on the battlefield. I was caught off guard and surrounded by four of them. It was a miracle I managed to escape." Jiraiya shook his head and said.