However, Sand Hidden was still ahead of all the other major ninja villages in this regard, except for Konoha.
Chiyo's Medical Ninjutsu was second only to Tsunade's in the current Ninja World. Even if the foundation of Medical Ninjutsu in the Sand Village couldn't compare to Konoha's, at least they could set up a basic framework and start using it.
Later, once Konoha's medical system was established, they could simply imitate it and gradually fill in the gaps.
But now, with Medical Ninja not yet emerging on a large scale and the medical system still unestablished, Qingshui wanted to learn Medical Ninjutsu. With Jianxue's help, getting started would be fine. However, achieving a certain level of mastery in this area and finding someone who could teach him seemed not so easy.
"By the way, Jianxue-jie, who is this Senior Reina you just mentioned? How come I've never heard of a senior in the village who's so proficient in Medical Ninjutsu?"
Qingshui placed the date cookies, which he had brought as a gift, on the table and asked curiously.
"Sister Reina, she's really amazing!"
Speaking of Reina, a gentle smile appeared on Jianxue's lips.
"She's probably about twenty years old this year. Although she's only a Chunin, she comes from a family of doctors and possesses a wealth of medical knowledge. So, her progress in the medical training class quickly surpassed all of us. When Elder Chiyo isn't around, she's the one who takes over teaching!"
"I see."
Qingshui nodded. After chatting with Jianxue for a while longer, he left the classroom with the booklist.
"Senior Reina!"
"Sister Reina!"
As Qingshui and Jianxue, who was seeing him off, reached the entrance, they saw a woman dressed in the traditional white robes of Sand Hidden entering through the gate. Many people around were greeting her.
It was clear that she possessed a certain charisma, was highly respected, and had a very approachable appearance.
Soft, golden long hair, a gentle smile, and a pair of black-rimmed glasses that made her seem harmless when worn.
Qingshui's movements paused imperceptibly.
"Sister Reina, when I'm using Mystical Palm Technique to repair the lizard's spinal connection, I always fail to connect the nerves properly! Can you teach me how to do it?"
Jianxue ran over and hugged Reina, rubbing her face against Reina's arm.
"You, you must not have enough precision in your perception. With your Puppet Force background, your Chakra precision definitely isn't an issue. Also, you need to pay attention to…"
Reina reached out and flicked Jianxue's nose, patiently explaining with a doting expression.
"Well then, Jianxue-jie, I'll be going now."
Qingshui waved to Jianxue, signaling his departure.
Jianxue nodded her head at Qingshui, indicating she understood.
"That was…"
Reina scrutinized Qingshui for a few moments, then asked Jianxue.
"Oh, that's Qingshui, my teammate from the Puppet Force."
"I see. To be able to join the Puppet Force at such a young age, he must be a genius."
"He's only a tiny bit stronger than me."
Jianxue boasted shamelessly.
Qingshui, who had walked out the gate, naturally didn't know that Reina was trying to get information out of Jianxue, probing his background. But a sense of wariness had already risen in his heart concerning her.
"His background seems clean and ordinary, yet he's risen in a reasonable way to become an important figure in the newly established medical squad. He gets along well with everyone, and he has profound Medical Ninjutsu… Could she be the Walking Miko?"
Qingshui wasn't sure, but he felt Reina was suspicious.
Mainly, her appearance was too similar to Yakushi Nonou from his memories!
As Root's ace intelligence operative, Yakushi Nonou's information regarding her height and appearance was absolutely a secret known only to Konoha's higher-ups.
Those who knew Yakushi Nonou would not know her identity as a spy, and those who knew the name Walking Miko would definitely not know her real name and appearance.
Except for Qingshui, the transmigrator.
"This woman is now an important figure in the medical squad and can assist Chiyo with teaching. She has very likely gained Elder Chiyo's trust. Ordinary people can't easily touch her. I still need to investigate her secretly."
Qingshui walked along the road, deep in thought.
One minute later, Qingshui turned a corner and arrived at the adjacent Puppet Force base.
His daily Puppetry training couldn't be neglected. There were free training facilities here, so there was no reason not to use them. Moreover, Sasori would often have a whim to challenge Qingshui, which would give him another opportunity to borrow from Chiyo's collection of books.
...
...
Meanwhile, in the Kazekage Building, the Kazekage's office.
The office was very large. On the Third Kazekage's desk, an additional large table had been set up, piled high with various documents and scrolls.
"So, these three young people have performed quite well, then. However, they shouldn't take on missions too frequently. While balancing work and rest is one aspect, they also need time to train and digest what they've gained from missions. Especially for a Puppet Master like Qingshui, if he's always on missions, he won't have time to improve and create Puppets."
Ebizo said, flipping through the mission scrolls submitted by Fukami Senran.
"I understand, Lord Ebizo. I was already thinking the same thing. Their current strength already surpasses most Chunin, and their foundations are solid enough. In the next few years, they only need to address their weaknesses during normal training, and they should all be able to become qualified Jonin within three years. Even now, if the three of them fight together, they are perfectly capable of fending off a standard Jonin-level threat."
Fukami Senran said with a calm demeanor.
"Then it depends on the direction of this war. If the war can end quickly, we will naturally have several years to recuperate and let these new generations grow. But you and I both know that this is quite unrealistic."
Ebizo closed the file and sighed.
The Sand Village was already poor, and its local logistical resources weren't enough. It had sustained itself until now by fighting to support itself, expanding outwards, and plundering.
The premise for fighting to support oneself was continuous victory, which allowed for a steady supply of spoils of war.
Should a major defeat occur, the Sand Village would face logistical collapse, leading either to disintegration or to retreating early while preserving its main force.
"No one expected Hanzo to spare the Third Hokage's three disciples, and even turn around and cooperate with Konoha. Otherwise, according to our original plan of 'driving the wolf to devour the tiger,' if those three from Konoha had been killed by Hanzo, Konoha's high-level combat strength would have been damaged, and it would no longer have the power to contend with two major Hidden Villages simultaneously. What a pity..."
A long silence fell over the Kazekage's office.
What happened next was that Hanzo chose to ally with Konoha, hoping to leverage Konoha's superior strength to drive Stone Hidden and Sand Hidden out of the Land of Rain.
-----------
Machine Translation by: https:// beta.randomtranslator.com/
Read 1111+ original & fanfic translations in English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, or Русский at: https:// beta.randomtranslator.com/
Join our Discord: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------