Chapter 65: The Dream-Weaving Master

During their training breaks, Ino also offered her suggestions to the newly formed Team 10.

"Asuma-sensei, do you think Team 10 is missing something?"

Missing something? Not really, right? Though I do feel like I've been a bit short on money lately. The flowers your family sells are way too expensive! Asuma was a bit puzzled by her question.

Ino asked seriously, "We're missing a medical ninja! When we were eliminating the bandits last time, Shikamaru got injured, and all we could do was some basic bandaging. That was against bandits, but what if we're up against other ninja? What if I get hurt, or Shikamaru and Choji get hurt, or even you, Asuma-sensei, in the future? What will we do then?"

Asuma looked at her intently. "Are you saying you want to learn medical ninjutsu? You're already learning so much water release, earth release, genjutsu, your clan's secret techniques, and basic taijutsu training. Even with shadow clones, can you handle all of that? Strictly speaking, having a medical ninja is something for chunin teams. At the genin level, it's very difficult for you to learn medical ninjutsu."

Ino didn't say anything, but her determined eyes told him, "I must learn this! For my dreams, for my bonds, to become an excellent ninja like Tsunade, and for all the unpredictable things in the future, I have to learn it! Right now, immediately!"

Asuma surrendered. "Alright, alright. Having a medical ninja on the team would indeed be very convenient. But I don't know medical ninjutsu, so I'll help you contact a ninja who specializes in it."

"Thank you, sensei!"

With the influence of the Yamanaka clan, Ino could have easily gone to the Konoha Hospital to find a medical ninja to teach her.

However, for a long time, the Yamanaka clan had kept their influence confined to the intelligence field. By the time the Third Hokage took power, the roles within the village had become more clearly defined, and the Yamanaka clan's influence was largely limited to the Analysis Team.

Aside from the Yamanaka clan's own ninja, others like Yamashiro Aoba and Tobitake Tonbo were also under Inoichi's command. The Yamanaka clan's influence was already substantial, and they were careful not to extend their reach beyond the Analysis Team.

Similarly, the Nara and Akimichi clans were also cautious. Overreaching could easily provoke wariness from the Hokage and the advisors. The Uchiha clan was a prime example of what could go wrong.

Asuma, however, had no such concerns. Whether it was the Medical Corps or even the ANBU, he could directly contact them. His father was the Hokage, after all. What did he have to fear?

Just one day later, Asuma brought Ino to the Konoha Hospital and introduced her to a jounin named Hanpo.

Hanpo was the head of the Konoha Medical Corps and, like Asuma, was 27 years old.

After Tsunade left the village, the Medical Corps became a unit directly under the Hokage's command. Aside from the Nara clan supplying medicinal herbs to the Medical Corps, the influence of other ninja clans in this area was minimal.

For a civilian ninja to join the Medical Corps, they had to pass rigorous exams. Ninja from clans were treated the same way. In this regard, the Third Hokage truly maintained fairness.

Hanpo looked over Ino's school records and said, "If Yamanaka-san wishes to learn some medical ninjutsu, I personally welcome it. However, considering you still need to perform genin-level missions, you can only be considered a trainee. How much you learn during this period will depend entirely on you."

No salary, no dedicated teacher Hanpo made it very clear.

Ino was essentially there through connections. The hospital was a busy place, and giving her a trainee title was already quite generous. She had no reason to refuse.

"Understood. Thank you, Director."

"Alright, I'll have someone show you around." Given Asuma's influence and knowing Ino's background, Hanpo added, "Being a medical ninja is tough. You need to be mentally prepared for hardship."

Considering that Ino might have some of the temper of a ninja clan's young lady, Hanpo put some thought into it. The person assigned to show Ino around was a kind and gentle genin Yakushi Kabuto!

Although she had some mental preparation, seeing his sunny smile still caused a ripple in Ino's heart.

Good grief, this is the famous traitor "Master Enshin's" junior, the equally traitorous "Master Enmu"!

She was no match for Kabuto right now.

This guy's strength was almost on par with Kakashi's.

Kabuto seemed to notice her surprise.

"Yamanaka-san, you seem a bit surprised to see me?"

Ino's imaginary enemies were the ones who ate from giant wooden barrels. Compared to them, Kabuto was nothing. She didn't think she was on Kabuto's target list, so this was just a normal interaction. She quickly adjusted her mindset.

"Sorry, senpai, it's just... it's just..."

She hesitated, her words trailing off.

Kabuto thought he understood. He smiled like a big boy and said, "You think I'm a bit old, right? It's true, I'm already 20 years old. I've tried many times but still haven't passed the chunin exams. I'm still a genin. Sigh, I really can't compare to geniuses like you from ninja clans."

He smiled bitterly, as if genuinely frustrated by his inability to pass the chunin exams.

Ino tactfully asked, "Is the chunin exam really that hard? Could you tell me about it, senpai?"

"Of course, but aren't you here to learn medical ninjutsu today?"

"Ah!" Ino feigned surprise and gave a slight bow to apologize.

"Yamanaka-san is very polite."

"Senpai, you can just call me Ino."

Strictly speaking, Kabuto was also one of the legendary "Konoha genin." He never became a chunin in his life.

Kabuto's current status was the same as Ino's a trainee at the Konoha Hospital. No salary, no teacher. He usually had his own ninja team and would take on D-rank missions. According to him, over the past four years, he had taken the chunin exam seven times but still hadn't passed. He could only take on missions and had completed 163 D-rank missions so far.

Ino was amazed. You've done 163 of those a mess of broken tasks? Your patience is truly remarkable!

Kabuto's medical ninjutsu was almost on par with Tsunade's, but he still pretended to be a novice. In the few days Ino had been at the Konoha Hospital, he often just sat around reading medical cases. Sometimes, when the chunin asked him to try his hand, he would decline, claiming he wasn't skilled enough.

Kabuto looked down on the skills of these medical ninja. He was the real deal.

He was more interested in the long-accumulated medical cases at the Konoha Hospital, constantly drawing knowledge from them to expand his own expertise.

Theoretical knowledge applied to practice, and through practice, he developed new theories. Kabuto had undoubtedly reached the latter stage.

Ino, as a newbie, couldn't compare to this master. Her task now was to learn, speak less, do more, and master what she could.

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