"Hello, I'm Nawaki. Nice to meet you!"

Nawaki confidently extended his right hand, displaying a friendly handshake gesture and wearing a warm smile on his face. There was no hint of looking down on Araki, and he exuded a very sunny demeanor.

"I... I... I'm... Araki..."

Araki stammered in response. He still had to maintain this persona for now. After hesitating for a moment, he raised his right hand and shook hands with Nawaki to show friendliness.

"Araki," Nawaki repeated, memorizing the name.

"You're really unlucky!" Nawaki suddenly exclaimed, shaking his head. Then, like an older brother, he patted Araki's shoulder and said, "Today, my sister is in charge of the interviews. She's famously tough to pass. I can only wish you good luck..."

"Tha... thank you..."

Araki's face showed no change in expression. He just nodded to Nawaki, expressing his gratitude.

Nawaki's sister...

Should be Tsunade!

There was no one else it could be.

Araki hadn't expected to encounter one of the Legendary Sannin so quickly. He thought it was a good opportunity.

If he could become Tsunade's disciple, then when facing Orochimaru in the future, he wouldn't dare to act recklessly.

"Ah..."

Nawaki looked deeply at Araki, seeing no reaction from him, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

This younger brother clearly hadn't graduated yet.

He had no idea how terrifying his sister was.

He probably had no foundation in medical ninjutsu and lacked much knowledge. After all, ignorance breeds fearlessness.

But anyone who understood the concept here...

Would know the fear that Tsunade instilled in Konoha Hospital!

"Come with me upstairs!"

Nawaki took the lead and started walking. He didn't pay too much attention to Araki. He came here to watch the excitement, and his interaction with Araki was just a brief encounter and a moment of reflection.

"Mm."

Araki followed closely behind. In truth, he didn't care that much either.

Being a medical ninja was indeed a good reputation.

But he wouldn't force it.

Let things happen naturally.

...

Nawaki and Araki arrived at the third floor of Konoha Hospital, walking one after the other without speaking along the way.

Although Nawaki had a cheerful, positive, and talkative personality, he keenly sensed that Araki seemed to struggle with speaking. Considering Araki's upcoming interview, Nawaki thought of giving him more time to adjust his mindset and didn't want to disturb him too much.

"This is it."

Nawaki stood at the door of a room, and a banner on the door clearly read "Conference Room."

"Wait here for a moment. I'll go in and see how things are. If there's no queue, I'll come out and call you."

Nawaki nodded at Araki, his tone of speech gentle. He still had that older brother taking care of a younger brother feeling. Then he lightly knocked on the door and entered the room directly.

Araki silently stood at the door, watching Nawaki's actions.

Indeed, it's great to have someone who knows how to get things done!

Nawaki was Tsunade's brother, and his actions here were almost as if he was in his own home.

He easily entered the conference room.

If it were Yinsui-sensei, Araki would probably have to wait outside for the response from inside, and there might even be a need to establish connections in advance before coming here.

Having acquaintances makes things easier.

Even in the ninja world, this is true.

Now that he thought about it, it was a fortunate turn of events. Originally, it was Yinsui who registered him, but unexpectedly, Yinsui got drunk, and it ended up being Nawaki who referred him.

There was no need for Nawaki to say anything. Just showing a little bit of closeness could make things easier.

Creak...

Just at that moment, the door to the conference room in front suddenly opened, and Nawaki's small head popped out. The two tufts of hair on his forehead turned into two little red bars under the pressure of his smile.

"Araki, come quickly! I cut in line for you, and you're next!"

Nawaki quietly beckoned, knowing that this kind of thing shouldn't be made too public. While speaking, he waved his hand to signal Araki to come in quickly.

"Okay."

Araki hurriedly took a couple of steps, passed through the door of the conference room, and followed behind Nawaki. Now he was almost certain that he had established a bit of a connection with Nawaki.

"Araki, perform well later. Impress Lady Tsunade. You're the youngest among the candidates for this round of interviews. You mustn't disappoint me!"

Nawaki patted Araki's shoulder again, and from his facial expression, it seemed as if Araki was truly his little brother, giving off a sense of an older brother getting face from his younger brother.

Before Araki could think of what to say, the two of them walked past the partition of the conference room and arrived at the interview site.

What caught their eyes was a long table with three chairs behind it, each occupied by a person.

In the middle sat a woman with light yellow long hair and an explosive figure. She was just over twenty years old, with a solemn and serious expression on her youthful face.

This woman was none other than Lady Tsunade!

However, she looked slightly different from the impression Araki had of her. The current Tsunade was a younger version, in her early twenties, the prime of her youth.

Compared to her appearance in the official storyline, she lacked some mature charm but exuded a lot of youthful greenness. She was radiant and tender, not fully ripened, yet blooming with a different kind of allure.

Sitting on both sides were two old women, around the age of sixty. Their faces were covered in wrinkles, indicating that they had immersed themselves in the position of medical ninjas for a long time. Even the passing of years couldn't conceal their temperament and abundant vitality.

In front of the three of them was a table with a scroll placed on it.

The scroll was unfurled, displaying complex red seals that seemed to contain mysterious power.

At this moment...

A fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy had both hands pressed against the scroll.

More precisely, his hands were pressing down on a dead fish on the scroll.

The boy's face was filled with a sense of defeat, and his hands trembled incessantly. In Araki's line of sight, he could clearly see the sadness and loss bursting from the boy's sunken eyes.

"Failure!"

Lady Tsunade sitting in the middle coldly spat out these two words. Immediately, the boy seemed to be drained of all his strength, losing the motivation to struggle any further, and silently left the scene.

Thud!

Just as the boy left, there was a burst of air above the scroll, and the dead fish disappeared.

"Next."

When Lady Tsunade spoke, she looked towards Araki's direction. The serious and solemn lines on her face softened slightly, but only by a small degree. When it came to medical matters, she was extremely strict.

"Nawaki, did you bring him here?"