Chapter 176: Advisor
After the meeting, Ōnoki had originally planned to take Ishiro and Ikura to the secret room to choose S-rank ninjutsu.
However, Ishiro hadn't yet decided which S-rank ninjutsu to choose this time. Moreover, although he had learned the S-rank ninjutsu "Mind's Eye," his proficiency was still far from sufficient, and Ishiro didn't have the spare time to learn a new ninjutsu in the short term.
So, Ishiro indicated he would wait a while longer and come to learn a new ninjutsu when he had more time.
Thus, while Ikura was selecting his ninjutsu, Ishiro went with the four advisors to familiarize himself with political affairs.
The process of becoming an advisor was quite complex. It required the current high-level officials to submit the list of names to the Daimyō for approval before it could be officially announced to the public. This process would take at least ten days.
However, the Daimyō was not well-informed about Iwagakure's internal affairs, so he never interfered with changes in the village's high-level personnel.
Therefore, although the appointment was not yet official, Ishiro still went to work as usual the next day.
Although an advisor was in charge of many departments, there wasn't actually much to do, because these departments already had their own heads. These heads were usually specialized personnel who knew more than Ishiro and the others.
Advisors didn't need to worry about daily affairs.
Only matters that the department heads couldn't handle, such as issues requiring negotiation with other departments, would be reported to the advisors for them to manage.
So, after starting work, Ishiro only sat in his office for a short while before going to inspect the various departments he was assigned.
Ishiro had actually considered his choices when selecting these departments; these were all departments where Ishiro hoped to make correct and transformative changes.
For example, the first place Ishiro went to, the Medical Department. Currently, Iwagakure had not yet formed the model seen in the original story where medical ninjas were assigned to squads.
This model was only being trialed by a small number of ninja squads in Konoha. No one could say for sure if this system was effective.
But Ishiro knew that this was an advanced experience summarized in the later stages of the original story.
It was precisely because Ishiro wanted to carry out reforms in this area that he chose the Medical Department.
The head of the Medical Department was named Nakata Hajime. He was not very old and was a newly promoted medical Jōnin from the past two years. The previous head of the Medical Department had been injured in the recent war. Although he had recovered, he chose to retire due to his advanced age.
Nakata Hajime's medical ninjutsu was not currently the best in the Medical Department, but his talent was the greatest, and his future achievements were bound to be the highest. Therefore, when nominating a successor to the village's higher-ups, the previous Medical Department head had nominated Nakata Hajime.
Nakata Hajime had already met Ishiro yesterday, so he wasn't surprised when Ishiro arrived at the Medical Department. After arranging his work at hand, he showed Ishiro around the various sections of the Medical Department.
Nakata Hajime wasn't much older than Ishiro, and the two, being close in age, communicated very smoothly.
While walking around, Ishiro inquired about the situation of the Medical Department from Nakata Hajime.
"Senior Nakata, how many doctors does the Medical Department currently have, and what are their ranks?"
"Lord Advisor, the Medical Department currently has 153 ninjas who can independently complete the treatment of ordinary severe injuries. Among them, 37 can perform the Mystical Palm Technique."
"So few?" Although Ishiro wasn't a complete novice regarding medical ninjutsu and understood that practicing the Mystical Palm Technique was very difficult, he hadn't expected that only 37 people had mastered it.
Nakata Hajime gave a wry smile and said, "It's not a small number. It's said that five years ago, there were only a dozen or so ninjas who had mastered the Mystical Palm Technique. The others, including myself, only learned it in recent years."
"Speaking of which, I must thank you for this, Lord Advisor. It's said that you obtained a manual from a Konoha spy back then. Is that true?"
Ishiro nodded and said, "Indeed, that happened. Konoha's medical ninjutsu is far ahead of ours in Iwagakure. That's why I proposed exchanging medical ninjutsu knowledge for that spy's release at the time."
"Yes, it was with the help of that manual that we were able to quickly master the Mystical Palm Technique," Nakata Hajime said with considerable emotion.
"So, has the village provided significant support to the Medical Department these years? With this manual, the village higher-ups should attach more importance to it, right?" Ishiro asked again.
"Yes, they have. I've seen the village's funding records for the Medical Department. In recent years, the village's funding has been at least five times more than before," Nakata Hajime said happily.
Ishiro thought for a moment and said, "It's too little."
Nakata Hajime was puzzled and asked, "What's too little?"
Ishiro glanced at him and said, "The number of medical ninjas is too small, and the funding is also too little."
Nakata Hajime was stunned and was about to ask for clarification when the two happened to pass a ward. Ishiro saw that the ninja inside wasn't sleeping, so he walked in.
This ninja was a Chūnin. He was stunned when he saw the two enter; he recognized both Ishiro and Nakata Hajime. His injuries had been treated by Nakata Hajime, and Ishiro was a celebrity in the village.
He didn't understand what a prominent figure like Ishiro was doing in his ward, so he appeared somewhat nervous.
Ishiro smiled and said, "Senior, no need to be nervous. I'm just here to understand the situation."
While flipping through his medical report, Ishiro asked, "Senior, were you injured while fighting Konoha?"
"Yes, I was injured by an enemy Chūnin who used an exploding tag just before dying while I was pursuing Konoha ninjas."
"Then, how much time passed in total from when you were injured until you received treatment?"
The man thought for a moment and said, "There were many injured people at that time, and I happened to be quite far ahead in the pursuit. So, by the time medical personnel treated me, an hour had already passed."
"If one of my subordinates hadn't learned a bit of bandaging, I probably would have died before receiving treatment."
Ishiro nodded, then turned to Nakata Hajime and said, "His injuries weren't actually that severe initially. The reason he hasn't been discharged yet is probably because it was delayed, due to not receiving timely treatment, right?"
"Er~~" Nakata Hajime thought for a moment and said, "Indeed, if he had received treatment a bit earlier, he could have been discharged long ago."
Ishiro then said, "You see, if no one in his squad knew basic medical knowledge, he would have died in battle long ago. Now, it just so happens that one of his subordinates knows some bandaging skills, so he survived until he received treatment."
"What if there happened to be a medical ninja in his squad?"
Hearing Ishiro say this, both Nakata Hajime and the Chūnin's eyes lit up. The Chūnin said, "If there happened to be a medical ninja in my squad, I would have recovered long ago. Perhaps I could have been carrying out missions much earlier."
"Exactly. So my goal is to eventually equip every Iwagakure squad with a medical ninja."
Nakata Hajime shook his head repeatedly after hearing this and said, "Impossible. The village simply doesn't have that many medical ninjas. Let alone that many, not even a tenth, no, not even one percent of that number."
Ishiro smiled and said, "What's the hurry? This kind of thing can't be achieved in one step. We can take it slowly. First, let's find a way to get a ninja who understands basic medical knowledge like bandaging into every squad."
Ishiro pointed to the Chūnin on the hospital bed before him and said, "At the very least, we must avoid the worst-case scenario. We must give injured ninjas a chance to wait for rescue. We must let them all be as lucky as this senior."
Nakata Hajime still shook his head. "That's also not feasible. The number of ninjas in the entire Medical Department who can master rapid bandaging techniques well, apart from those mentioned earlier, is only just over 300. It's still far from enough."
"If it's not enough, then we find a way. For example, we can have already formed squads send members to receive training for a period. If the medical aptitude of the entire squad is poor, then learning bandaging will be sufficient. It won't take too much time either."
"Those with medical talent are a minority, after all. The village isn't short of these few or few dozen squads for missions. We can absolutely let them study medical ninjutsu properly."
"In addition, the Ninja Academy can also increase its efforts in cultivating medical ninjutsu."
"But, how much funding would that require?" Nakata Hajime was somewhat worried.
"Haha, don't worry. The village has money now, and the Daimyō has money. If we propose to permanently station one or two medical ninjas in the capital, I believe the Daimyō will definitely be willing to allocate funds," Ishiro said confidently on this point.
What is more important than health? Meat-eaters like the Daimyō cared more about their own health than ordinary people.
"Alright, Lord Advisor, you've convinced me. What do you need me to do?" Nakata Hajime also looked aspirational after hearing this.
"Lord... Lord Advisor? Lord Ishiro has become an advisor?" The Chūnin was very surprised after hearing Nakata Hajime address Ishiro as such.
Ishiro smiled and didn't answer. Instead, he said to him, "However, there is one thing that needs to be confirmed. Senior, if there were a medical ninja in your squad, or a ninja skilled in bandaging techniques, would there be any changes to your mission arrangements?"
The Chūnin was stunned for a moment, then said firmly, "If there were a medical ninja or a ninja skilled in bandaging in my squad, we would prioritize protecting him. This doesn't require an order, because protecting him is protecting ourselves."
"Very good, then it's settled."
"Senior Nakata Hajime, later we will go see Lord Tsuchikage and the other advisors together," Ishiro said resolutely.
Nakata Hajime nodded, also looking serious. He was already thinking about how he should persuade them if the higher-ups didn't agree.
After leaving the ward, Nakata Hajime said, "Lord Advisor, I need to go organize some data to better persuade Lord Tsuchikage and the other advisors. Please excuse my absence."
Ishiro was taken aback, then smiled and said, "Alright, then I won't stroll around either. I'll go to Training Ground No. 7. You can find me there after you've finished organizing your things."
"Yes, Lord Advisor." After Nakata Hajime agreed, he hurried away.
Watching Nakata Hajime's hurried figure disappear at the end of the corridor, Ishiro felt somewhat gratified. If his ideas could gain the support of professionals, then his chances of persuading Ōnoki and the others would also be much greater.
After leaving the Medical Department, Ishiro went to the training ground alone. His three new disciples were currently training there.
After becoming an advisor, many unexpected matters arose, which meant that Ishiro would have much less time to guide his three disciples. So now, whenever Ishiro had free time, he would come over to instruct the three of them.
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