Study medicine for Konoha's rise!
Such simple words held a young boy's resilient spirit of tireless self-improvement!
His stammering delivery stood in stark contrast to his grand, powerful ambition, highlighting the breadth of his vision all the more.
"You want to become Hokage?"
Tsunade was the first to break the silence. She looked at Araki in puzzlement as the thought suddenly occurred to her.
The Hokage held the vast majority of power in Konoha. Only with that power could someone truly guide the village.
Otherwise...
No matter how great the ambition in one's heart, the cold water of reality would extinguish it.
Tsunade had experienced this more than once herself.
After coming up with ideas that could benefit the village, she had been unable to implement them because she lacked sufficient say.
Precisely because of those personal experiences, her instinctive response upon hearing Araki's words was to think of the Hokage.
Studying medicine was an ideal.
Power was what could make that ideal a reality.
As soon as Tsunade asked that question, Nawaki, who stood a short distance away eavesdropping on the interview, instantly perked up.
"No..."
Araki froze. He had only wanted to make an impression on Tsunade, catching her attention while passing the interview. He had never expected her to misunderstand him outright.
"There... there... there are many people... far more suited... than me... to be Hokage... I haven't... thought that..."
Araki shook his head and stammered. His expression was perfectly serious, without any fear or panic. He clearly gave the impression that he was answering the question honestly.
"I... I just... hope that through... my efforts... Konoha can... become... the Shinobi World's... great medical village!"
After a moment's thought, Araki added another sentence. The moment he saw Nawaki, he had realized that Tsunade had not yet developed her fear of blood, meaning she was still at the stage where she placed great importance on Medical Ninjutsu.
Whatever he said now, he just needed to steer it toward Medical Ninjutsu and Konoha.
He had seen plenty of that empty, lofty rhetoric before transmigrating.
Many things had rather mundane meanings in themselves, but linking them to social responsibility or humanity's fate to stir resonance could elevate them and achieve results otherwise impossible.
This was an art of sophistry in speech.
Yet because Araki's persona had such an obvious difficulty expressing himself, those words instead sounded all the more sincere.
"Araki, you have plenty of ideas, but ideas alone aren't enough to study medicine. It takes aptitude and hard work. You're still young, and your mind hasn't fully matured. You might find a more suitable choice later, so I think you could consider it for a few more years. It won't be too late to discuss this after you graduate from the Ninja Academy."
Tsunade spoke meaningfully, choosing her words to avoid damaging Araki's confidence as much as possible while making her thoughts clear.
It had to be said...
Araki's words had indeed had an effect.
Tsunade had intended to give Araki a difficult problem. After all, the interview questions varied, and she had hoped to make him recognize the difficulty and back down.
She had never expected that her momentary curiosity would instead give her quite a favorable first impression of this seemingly stubborn little fellow.
"I... I... I work very hard... harder... than anyone else... I can do it!"
Araki spoke at once. How could he miss what Tsunade meant? He knew perfectly well that if he yielded now, it would be over.
Whether she truly had his interests at heart or was testing his determination to learn, he absolutely could not retreat now.
Tsunade said nothing more, instead exchanging glances with the elderly women on either side of her. Each saw the information she wanted in the others' eyes.
"Then let's begin."
Tsunade looked at Araki. She saw fierce stubbornness in his eyes, a persistence that would never give up until the very last moment.
Previously, she had only seen such eyes in Dan Katō and her younger brother, Nawaki. Both had set their sights on becoming Hokage.
Although the young child before her said he did not want to become Hokage, his slogan was every bit as bold as theirs.
Since that was the case...
She could only make Araki give up on his own.
"On the table before you is a Summoning Scroll with a summoning formula already inscribed on it. Pour chakra into it, and it will automatically summon a fish."
Tsunade's voice rang out slowly. From that moment onward, its gentleness vanished, replaced by solemn seriousness.
When it came to medical matters, she was not merely a ninja, but a medical-nin.
"You may use any method to save the fish. The longer you keep it alive, the better your score. If it lasts ten minutes, you pass the interview assessment."
Tsunade explained the rules of the interview assessment, her beautiful eyes fixed entirely on Araki.
She felt conflicted now.
On one hand, she wanted to see Araki fail in the face of such immense difficulty, then return to his studies and leave becoming a medical-nin for later.
On the other, she wondered expectantly whether this little fellow who had made such bold claims would offer a surprise that made his eyes light up.
"Yes."
Araki answered immediately, recalling the boy who had just failed. The two of them were probably facing the same assessment.
The correct answer to this question should be the Mystical Palm Technique!
When Araki first arrived, he had seen that boy use the Mystical Palm Technique, but his strength had been insufficient to sustain it for ten minutes. In the end, the fish had still died on the scroll.
Now that it was his turn, the result would be no better.
After all, he did not know the Mystical Palm Technique at all and had no way to prolong the fish's life that way.
However...
Araki's mind worked very quickly.
He was not originally from the ninja world, but had transmigrated from the real world. Having witnessed an age of advanced technology, he naturally had more things he could imagine.
At that thought.
The corners of Araki's mouth lifted slightly.
He raised his right hand, spread all five fingers, and pressed his palm against the very center of the summoning formula, putting on a convincing show.
Immediately afterward.
Araki poured chakra into the summoning formula...
Chapter 40: Water Prison Technique
Araki's posture looked remarkably steady. Even after learning the contents of the interview assessment, he showed no panic. Instead, the faint smile in his expression conveyed a touch of confidence.
His demeanor immediately drew the attention of Tsunade and the others.
Especially Tsunade.
She knew all too well what this assessment entailed. Without at least three months of training in the Mystical Palm Technique, keeping that fish alive for ten minutes was simply impossible.
The candidates before Araki had all been older than him. Upon learning about this assessment, their expressions had changed, and very few had passed.
Judging by the current situation...
Either this little fellow did not understand the assessment's difficulty at all, or he could handle it with ease.
This instead made Tsunade, who had been preparing to persuade Araki to withdraw, even more expectant.
"Poof!"
Accompanied by a sound like a burst of air, a live fish suddenly leaped out of the formula. Water droplets glistened on its scales, its round eyes were filled with bewilderment, and its opening and closing mouth revealed an inexplicable confusion about its present circumstances.
The fish had been swimming perfectly happily in a pond when it suddenly felt the call of a mysterious power and instantly crossed time and space to arrive here.
Almost instantly, the discomfort of being out of water spread throughout its body, and its gills felt as though they were suffocating.
"Plop!"
After leaping into the air, the fish landed on the scroll. Its tail then drove its body into constant flopping, its entire body filled with the discomfort of being out of water. The whole fish was in a terrible state.
"You... just... bear with it a little..."
Araki watched the fish flopping on the scroll on the table. Now that it was out of the water, no matter how hard it flopped, it could not move far. It certainly could not escape.
Only...
He showed no intention of treating it at all.
This made Tsunade and the others frown in unison, the puzzlement in their eyes gradually turning to disappointment.
As the saying went, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
Araki's earlier declaration about studying medicine for Konoha's rise had raised their expectations enormously. The disparity now left them feeling empty inside, with an almost wrenching discomfort.
However...
Just as Tsunade was about to speak...
Araki suddenly moved.
His hands began forming hand seals with meticulous precision. What he used was not Medical Ninjutsu at all, but proper Ninjutsu.
"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"
After completing the hand seals, Araki suddenly extended his right hand and reached for the fish.
On the surface, it looked as though he was trying to grab the fish, but the moment he extended his hand, the chakra in his palm began forming streams of water.
The streams swirled together rapidly, forming a sphere of water that trapped the fish inside.
The water prison on Araki's hand was not particularly large, remaining about the size of a basketball. It enclosed the fish just right.
For an enemy, the water prison was a technique that restricted them, but for this fish, it provided a space to survive.
In an instant, the fish that had just been in extreme discomfort began swimming happily through the cramped water prison.
"This..."
Tsunade and the others exchanged glances, each seeing the others' shock. They had interviewed many, many people before.
Some had passed and become medical-nin, while others had failed and bid farewell to this profession.