Naruto: Starting with Creating a Genius Persona

Chapter 133 Going to the Front Lines (2/8)

In late December, the weather had turned bitterly cold, three days after the outbreak of the war between Sunagakure and Konoha.

Inside Konoha Hospital, medical staff could be seen rushing through the corridors carrying medical supplies. The atmosphere was tense yet orderly, resembling a wartime scene.

In the temporary combat command room on the third floor of the hospital, Tsunade was reviewing the final list of medical and logistical personnel to be sent to the southwestern front with a furrowed brow.

Sunagakure has Chiyo, a master of poisons. Her poisons and puppets can bring huge casualties and a continuous threat to Konoha on the battlefield. As the top medical ninja in Konoha and even the entire ninja world, Tsunade has a great responsibility.

As the head of the logistics and medical system for the southwestern battlefield, directly appointed by the Hokage, she is scheduled to lead the people on the list to the front line early tomorrow morning. Her mission is not only to coordinate battlefield medical care, but also to shoulder the heavy responsibility of cracking the Chiyo poison and establishing an effective detoxification and treatment system.

She flipped through the list page by page, then stopped.

The light stopped on that familiar name!

She then slammed the list on the table with a loud thud, startling Shizune and Kurenai, who were helping to organize the documents, and they looked up.

"That brat!" Tsunade squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth. Without even explaining to Shizune and Kurenai, she grabbed the list and strode out of the room, rushing to the other side of the hospital and kicking open the door of a treatment room.

The door slammed against the wall with a loud bang.

Several nurses who were organizing equipment in the room jumped in fright, almost dropping the trays in their hands. Shinichi, who was sorting through a pile of preliminary injury data reports from the front lines, looked up and said, "Tsunade-sensei." Shinichi closed the file, stood up, and spoke calmly as if nothing had happened.

"Don't call me teacher!"

Tsunade rushed up to him, slammed the crumpled list onto the table next to him, and shouted angrily, "You're Shinichi Higashino on this list, aren't you?!"

The nurses exchanged glances, then silently left the room, leaving the master and apprentice alone.

Shinichi glanced down at the list, then looked up to meet Tsunade's fiery gaze.

"Yes."

"yes?!"

Tsunade's voice rose several octaves: "Who gave you permission?! When did you sign up?! How come I didn't know?!"

What was that old man from the third generation thinking? He actually allowed you to go to the battlefield? How old are you?!

She paced back and forth in the room, then looked directly at Shinichi and said in a deep voice, "The front lines are very dangerous right now, you're not allowed to go!"

Shinichi stood ramrod straight, meeting her gaze, and said calmly, "Tsunade-sensei, I am a special Jonin of Konoha, a registered full-fledged ninja. The village needs strength, and our predecessors on the front lines are bleeding. How can I stay safely in the rear? Besides, I once said in front of the entire village..."

'

"I said you're not allowed to go!" Tsunade abruptly raised her voice, interrupting Shinichi's next words, and said angrily, "Special Jonin? So what if you're a Special Jonin? Don't even mention Special Jonin, on the battlefield, even a Kage would die! Do you think your strength is enough? This is a battlefield! Not a fighting ring!"

Although Shinichi had previously refused her offer to work at the hospital and become a medical worker in the rear, Tsunade had anticipated that Shinichi would go to the battlefield, but not now!

Why are you so eager to go to the battlefield when the war has just broken out?

Looking for death?

She took a deep breath, trying to make her tone sound more rational: "Listen, kid, you're going to stay in the village and the hospital for the time being! They need manpower here too, and you're contributing to the village just as much, but it's safer and you can better utilize your medical skills!"

Shinichi remained silent, offering no rebuttal, but simply watching her quietly.

Those eyes, which were always gentle and smiling, were now deep and calm, but this calmness only made Tsunade more anxious.

She sighed, her tone finally softening.

"Kid, do you even know what that means?"

She looked away, gazing at the gray sky outside the window, and lowered her voice: "I know you are strong, stronger than your peers, even stronger than many Jonin. You are a genius, the hope of Konoha's future. The old man, and many others, have high hopes for you."

"but!"

She turned back, her gaze sharpening once more.

"On the battlefield, 'genius' is the most useless title! It's even more dangerous than being an ordinary ninja!"

"The battlefield is not a sports field; there are no rules, no spectators, no cheers; there is only survival and death!"

"What determines life and death is often not who has more talent or who has stronger ninjutsu. It could be a poisoned senbon that shoots out from the shadows, or an explosive tag that you didn't even notice and buried under your feet that could take your life!"

"You have no idea where the danger will come from! Can your eyes simultaneously see every inch of land and every person in all directions?"

Tsunade grew increasingly agitated: "Furthermore, precisely because you're a genius, the most promising rising star in Konoha, you'll be as conspicuous on the battlefield as a torch in the night! The Sand Village commanders aren't fools; once they receive intelligence, the first target they'll eliminate is someone like you, a seedling with the potential to become a major threat! You'll be targeted, ambushed, and relentlessly pursued and killed! Do you understand?!"

"Besides, look at your peers, who's on the battlefield now? And that Hatake kid, Kakashi!"

Wasn't he a genius too? Didn't he also stay in the village obediently, doing missions and continuing his training? This is the proper arrangement for ninjas your age!

She was telling the truth. One of the original wishes of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, when he founded the village was to keep the children away from war and allow them to grow up in a relatively peaceful environment.

Therefore, even if war breaks out, Konoha is relatively conservative in its allocation of manpower and will not easily send young ninjas who have not yet fully matured directly to the most brutal front line.

In the original timeline, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin's generation spent more than a year in the village, even after the war had already begun, during which time they were able to participate in the Chunin Exams.

Even in the most critical and dangerous moments of war, when manpower was most scarce, Konoha was extremely cautious in using young ninjas. Usually, only Chunin were dispatched, while Genin were generally not directly involved in front-line combat. At most, they would take on support, patrol, or logistical tasks in the relatively safe second line.

"Teacher," Shinichi finally spoke, "You have heard my analysis report, so you should know that the war between Sunagakure and Konoha is just the beginning, the first spark that ignites the powder keg. Kumogakure's lightning offensive will soon follow, and even Iwagakure and Kirigakure are watching us closely."

"By then, the war will have engulfed the entire border. Can I just hide in the rear forever? When the village needs every bit of manpower to fill the defenses and manpower is extremely scarce, can I still refuse on the grounds that I'm young and a genius who needs protection?"

He slowly shook his head: "I'm afraid not. At that time, it won't be a question of whether I want to go or not, but that I have to go, and I might even be hastily thrown into a more dangerous and unexpected battle."

"Instead of passively waiting for that time and being pushed along by the chaotic situation, it is better to take the initiative now. The Sand Village is the biggest threat to us right now, but it may also be the weakest link among the various parties that besiege us in the future. It is better to accumulate experience with them, adapt to the battlefield, and hone ourselves than to be hastily thrown into a more dangerous front and face a more dangerous enemy later."

At this point, Shinichi paused, looked directly into Tsunade's eyes, and said earnestly, "Furthermore, Tsunade-sensei, a week ago, in the plaza in front of the Hokage Building, facing hundreds of thousands of fellow villagers, it was I who personally called upon everyone to unite and fight to the end. If even I, the one who issued that call, is now hiding in the safe rear for various reasons, what will the soldiers on the front lines think? What will the villagers think of me? How can the village's morale be maintained?"

"I think that the Third Hokage probably approved my inclusion in the first batch of reinforcements for this reason."

Of course, these are just the surface. Shinichi's real consideration is to accumulate merits on the battlefield against Sunagakure so that he can quickly be promoted to Jonin. Once he is promoted to Jonin and obtains enough knowledge to generate Jonin-level entries, he will be able to get a chance to draw a purple-quality item.

Purple quality is a rank he has never had before, and the qualitative change it may bring is undoubtedly a huge boost.

Upon hearing this, Tsunade fell silent and quietly looked at Shinichi.

In that instant, she suddenly realized that Shinichi was a little different; his usual warm and approachable demeanor and youthful energy seemed to have faded away.

Instead, there is an indescribable calm demeanor that subconsciously inspires trust and reassurance.

After a long while, she let out a long breath, as if she had made a difficult decision.

"Okay, you can go!"

Before Shinichi could answer, she immediately raised a finger and continued in a resolute tone, "You remember this! Your identity on the front lines is solely that of a professional medical ninja! Your duties are strictly limited to field hospitals, first-aid stations, and the safe zone I designate!"

"Your job duties include treating the wounded, distributing medicines, managing medical supplies, and carrying out research or analysis tasks assigned to you! Without my explicit permission, you are absolutely! Absolutely! Not allowed to leave the logistics area, and you are strictly forbidden from participating in direct frontline combat as any combat ninja! Do you understand?!"

"Yes, Tsunade-sensei." Shinichi nodded. "I understand and will strictly abide by your instructions. My identity on this trip to the front lines is that of the medical ninja, Higashino Shinichi. I will follow your orders and focus on my medical duties."

Upon hearing his definite answer, Tsunade nodded and said no more, only giving him a final, deep look.

"Go back and get ready! Meet at the village entrance at six o'clock tomorrow morning. Don't be late. If you're even a second late, I'll personally throw you out of the line. I mean it."

After saying that, she opened the door and strode away without looking back, her footsteps quickly fading into the distance in the corridor.

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