Nara Rokaku continued:
"The second agenda item is the rotational assignment for positions such as fortress outpost Jonin and Guardian Ninja Jonin."
"These Jonin stationed outside the village are key to maintaining the village's influence."
"Any Jonin summoned by the village for these assignments cannot refuse for any reason."
Yōkō listened to the list, and his heart grew colder the more he heard.
Being a stationed Jonin at a fortress outpost was a tough job; few Jonin were willing to be stationed in border forts.
But being a Guardian Ninja for the various Daimyō was a lucrative post.
The Guardian Ninja Jonin for the Daimyō of the Land of Fire were all from the Sarutobi clan.
The Guardian Ninja Jonin for the Daimyō of the Land of Rivers were Mitokado Homura's son and Utatane Koharu's daughter.
The Guardian Ninja Jonin for the Daimyō of the Land of Whirlpools were from the Ino–Shika–Chō trio clans.
The Guardian Ninja Jonin for the Daimyō of the Land of Grass were Shimura clansmen.
Only the Guardian Ninja Jonin for the Land of Hot Water were two civilian Jonin.
These Jonin, paired with some Hyūga and Inuzuka clansmen, formed the main force of the Guardian Ninja.
The lucrative posts all went to The Five Noble Clans. The higher-ups couldn't even be bothered to hide it.
Guardian Ninja could learn about national and Daimyō-commissioned tasks earliest and had the power to recommend candidates to the Daimyō.
With a Guardian Ninja's recommendation, accumulating S-rank missions became much easier.
The criteria for S-rank missions weren't solely about being dangerous enough to fight Kage-level shinobi or Elite Jonin; they were missions related to national secrets or those with significant impact on the nation and the Daimyō.
The Five Noble Clans monopolized the Guardian Ninja positions, then helped their own clansmen accumulate S-rank missions.
The Five Noble Clans' shinobi had more S-rank missions and were promoted to Jonin faster.
The Five Noble Clans had more Jonin, allowing them to monopolize more Guardian Ninja positions.
A perfect closed loop. Others wanting a piece of the pie could only smell it from afar.
Yōkō looked at Tsunade and the others in the first row and found that none of them raised objections to the Guardian Ninja Jonin list.
Since Sarutobi Hiruzen became Hokage, the Guardian Ninja Jonin had always been assigned this way. Others had opposed it before, but it hadn't worked.
Those who opposed either disappeared while opposing, or eventually backed down while opposing.
In short, no one opposed it now.
Nara Rokaku continued announcing the various agenda items.
These items were important, crucial for the village's operation, and no Jonin would oppose them.
The true core issue of today's Jonin Commander meeting was the Jonin recommendation slots; that was the moment for the real struggle.
"The ninth agenda item: the post-war Jonin recommendation and assessment list."
Yōkō sat up straight. Here it comes, the main event.
Nara Rokaku said:
"After the war, the various battlefield commanders-in-chief and deputy commanders recommended 41 Tokubetsu Jonin for promotion to full Jonin."
"After evaluation by the Hokage-sama, 20 individuals have entered the Jonin promotion review process. We now announce the list of personnel entering the Jonin review."
Yōkō listened and found the list was randomized.
If it weren't randomized, it would be bad. If listed by family name, one would immediately see that The Five Noble Clans had too many new Jonin.
After listening carefully to the list, Yōkō deduced the faction distribution of the new Jonin.
Sarutobi clan: 5. Ino–Shika–Chō trio clans: 4. Shimura clan: 2.
Uchiha clan, Senju clan, Hyūga clan: 1 each.
The remaining 6 were civilian Tokubetsu Jonin.
Crucially, these 6 civilian Tokubetsu Jonin were also trusted subordinates of the higher-ups.
Yōkō frowned. Among the civilian Tokubetsu Jonin, the ones recommended by Hatake Sakumo – Shinma and Hayama – were not on the list.
The meeting room was exceptionally quiet. Everyone was calculating the shifts in power dynamics resulting from the Jonin Commander meeting.
Before others could finish their calculations, Tsunade abruptly stood up.
"Third Hokage-sama, the Senju Mie I recommended did not make it onto the review list. Please give me a reason!"
For a moment, the meeting room fell deathly silent.
Nara Rokaku said, "Tsuna–"
His first syllable was cut off as Tsunade interrupted him.
"Senju Mie served as a medical-nin in the Land of Grass, Land of Rivers, and Land of Whirlpools battlefields. Just talking about her surgical record, Senju Mie performed a total of 411 frontline surgeries during these three wars!"
"Do you know what 411 frontline surgeries mean?"
"At least 220 of those patients returned to the battlefield several days after surgery."
"Third Hokage-sama, please explain, where did she fall short? Why can she not be promoted to Jonin?"
Tsunade had recommended three Senju clansmen. One died suddenly from old injuries flaring up, another, Senju Sachie, was undergoing mission review by the ANBU and was only released yesterday.
As a result, Senju Sachie made the list, but Senju Mie did not.
Yōkō felt a bit guilty. Senju Mie not being on the list was, indeed, his doing.
Jonin from the Sarutobi, Shimura, and other clans looked at Tsunade with unfriendly eyes.
Politely, they might address her as 'Princess'. Impolitely, the Senju clan was almost gone, so what kind of damn princess was she?
With the Senju clan weakened to such a state, what right did Tsunade have to question the Hokage's decision?
Nara Rokaku pretended to flip through documents and, looking at one, said:
"Senju Mie was involved in a severe medical accident. The deceased's family member detonated several explosive tags inside Konoha Hospital."
"Given the negative impact of this medical accident, Senju Mie's Jonin recommendation has been suspended."
Hatake Sakumo stood up at this point and said:
"Hokage-sama, Commander Rokaku, I have a deep impression of Senju Mie. She is a highly skilled medical-nin."
"Whether in surgery or antidote administration, she was among the best in the frontline medical stations."
"Saying she was worth two battalions might be an exaggeration, but saying she was worth one battalion during the war might even be conservative."
"A medical accident isn't necessarily the doctor's fault. We should wait for Konoha Hospital's investigation report."
Uchiha Kane then added: "As the deputy commander of the Land of Whirlpools war, I inspected the medical stations several times."
"Once, I saw Senju Mie, after completing three surgeries, holding half a military ration pill, asleep leaning against a pillar."
"If she weren't a Senju clanswoman, I would have been the first to recommend her for Jonin."
The Jonin could still understand Hatake Sakumo supporting Tsunade. During the last Jonin Commander meeting, Hatake Sakumo had also spoken up for Tsunade.
But Uchiha Kane actually speaking up greatly surprised the Jonin.
Uchiha Chūnin and Genin were extremely radical, but the Jonin maintained conservatism and restraint.
The Uchiha clan rarely openly opposed the village's decisions. For many years, this was the first time Uchiha Kane had expressed a differing opinion at a Jonin Commander meeting.
The Senju clan, the Uchiha clan, and Hatake Sakumo – were the three sides openly forming an alliance?
The entry point they chose was very appropriate. It wasn't combat shinobi like Hayama or Uchiha Mahiru, but the medical-nin Senju Mie.
Senju Mie tirelessly treating injured shinobi on the battlefield naturally garnered sympathy and goodwill from the shinobi.
This was the plan decided upon by the three after discussion: not to mention Uchiha Mahiru, Hayama, or others, but to insist on recommending Senju Mie for Jonin.
Even a clay figure has a temper of three parts. The higher-ups had gone too far.
Yōkō, behind his mask, stared at the Third Hokage, observing his every micro-expression.
The ANBU had learned yesterday about the alliance between the Senju, Uchiha, and Hatake Sakumo. The Third Hokage had anticipated this situation.
Just as the Third Hokage was about to speak, Orochimaru suddenly stood up.
***
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(Chapter end)