Hiruzen Sarutobi was in high spirits as he instructed,
"Go and bring me Hyuga Aokawa's files."
"Yes." The Anbu accepted the order.
"Wait!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly spoke up, stopping the departing Anbu.
"That approval for Advisor Danzo regarding his personnel request hasn't been sent over yet, has it?"
"Not yet."
"Bring that along as well."
"Yes."
That old fellow Danzo had been frequently pressuring him for personnel lately under the banner of Konoha's grand plan.
He had brushed them all off.
Hmph!
Demanding people even from his own son!
Hiruzen Sarutobi was very angry!
If he didn't give him a proper warning, Danzo wouldn't understand.
I am the Hokage!
I'll see just who will be the one to regret it.
The two sides had been back and forth like this.
Fortunately, this approval hadn't been sent to Root yet.
Otherwise, if Danzo impulsively agreed, he would have to deal with him again.
He just hadn't expected this young man, Hyuga Aokawa, to be so talented.
And his strength wasn't limited to Medical Ninjutsu; even his application of Ninjutsu was consummate.
It seemed the work of scouting talent at the Ninja Academy was still insufficient.
He wondered how his performance in tomorrow's actual combat would be; he was looking forward to it.
He opened the office door, walked briskly to the window, and pushed it open.
Impatiently, he lit his pipe and took a deep drag.
At the Hospital, he had been stifled to death.
He exhaled a long puff of smoke and sank comfortably into his chair.
As expected, this office was the most comfortable.
A moment later.
There was a knock at the door.
An Anbu arrived carrying a stack of Hyuga Aokawa's files.
Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his pipe.
He lowered his head and carefully skimmed through Hyuga Aokawa's files page by page.
"From these records, he seems quite ordinary."
He then pulled out Hyuga Aokawa's report card from the most recent semester.
Hmm!
What a coincidence; in every exam, however many people were in the class, that's exactly the rank this kid would get.
If he could be last, he would never move up.
Theory, practice, politics, common knowledge... it was a diverse array.
But every single one was a disaster.
He sighed helplessly; he would have to have the school teachers give him some extra focus, especially on the will of fire.
This was the foundation of Konoha's cohesion.
We'll see; if his grades in the will of fire can be improved...
Somewhat helplessly, he picked up the pipe resting on the desk and took a deep drag.
He was different from Sarutobi Biwako; he didn't just look at talent.
Besides talent, the will of fire was equally important.
If their ideologies weren't on the same wavelength, how could he nurture him?
"Hokage-sama, should we summon Hyuga Aokawa?"
The Anbu nearby asked.
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head and slowly exhaled smoke.
"There's no need for that for now."
...The next day.
The Hospital Director's office.
Early in the morning, Sarutobi Biwako was already working at her desk.
Yesterday, because of Hyuga Aokawa's assessment, a lot of time had been taken up.
She had to wake up early today to clear the backlog of work.
She was grading the exam papers from the recent Intern Doctor assessment at the Hospital.
"What on earth is this? Was everything learned during these months of internship just shit?"
With a dark expression, she marked a question with a cross.
Then she looked at the next question, and her face grew even darker.
"With this level, they dare to make suggestions? The suggestions are all at the level of shit too."
She flipped the paper over to see the candidate's name.
"Shojin Ito."
"What is this unintelligible nonsense?"
She made up her mind that if this candidate performed like shit again next time, she would send him to the Proctology Department to scoop out shit.
Irritably, she rubbed her temples and took a deep breath.
Suppressing the anger that was about to erupt, she numbly pulled out another paper from the few remaining ones.
When her gaze fell on the paper again, her furrowed brow relaxed slightly.
"Hmm? This paper is answered well."
"The explanation of the principles is well-organized, and it even cites relatively obscure but very precise academic viewpoints as evidence."
Sarutobi Biwako couldn't help but sit up a bit straighter.
She turned to the second question, a complex trauma scenario.
The candidate's answer rigorously analyzed the priority of injuries.
And it provided a highly practical treatment process with clear steps.
Each step was clear and professional, perfectly suited to the realities of the Battlefield or emergency first aid.
"Whose paper is this?" Sarutobi Biwako curiously flipped to the candidate's name section.
Hyuga Aokawa!
Sarutobi Biwako was stunned for a moment, then gave a helpless self-deprecating laugh.
"What was I thinking?"
Among the Intern Doctors, besides a Genius like Hyuga Aokawa...
...who else could write such a pragmatic answer after fully mastering the material?
Was she really expecting to find a second Genius among them?
She read faster and faster, her astonishment growing like ripples from a stone thrown into a lake.
After reading the entire answer sheet, her impression was...
...that Hyuga Aokawa not only had a solid foundation of knowledge but also possessed excellent clinical thinking skills and the potential to solve practical problems.
Her heart pounded.
Now she was more and more certain that the upper limit of Konoha's future medical development might truly depend on Hyuga Aokawa alone.
If such a person were to die on the Battlefield, it would be an immeasurable loss for Konoha.
However, Hyuga Aokawa's performance yesterday showed that his actual combat ability was not bad.
At the very least, his Body Flicker Technique was up to standard.
If today's combat assessment followed the usual standards, he might actually pass.
No!
I absolutely cannot let him go to the Battlefield and die for nothing.
Click!
The door opened.
It was Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He had arrived early with Sarutobi Kaido.
As soon as she saw them enter,
Sarutobi Biwako stood up abruptly and walked quickly to Sarutobi Kaido.
"Kaido, today you must do everything in your power to prevent Aokawa from passing."
The honest expression on Sarutobi Kaido's face was replaced by confusion, his eyes widening.
"I have to find a way again?"
"Auntie, what's with you?"
He looked at Sarutobi Biwako with great confusion.
"Au-Auntie, didn't you say yesterday that I was too heavy-handed?"
"Yesterday was yesterday, today is today."
"Today, you must not let him pass no matter what. Even if he gets injured, it's fine; your auntie is here."
"I, I..." Sarutobi Kaido scratched his head anxiously.
The contradictory instructions left the honest, tall young man with a flushed face, unable to say a word for a long time.
"Just listen to your aunt; just do as you did yesterday."
Hiruzen Sarutobi patted Sarutobi Kaido on the shoulder, giving him direction.
He also wanted to see if Hyuga Aokawa could bring him any other surprises in actual combat.
Not long after, Hyuga Aokawa arrived.
"Then let's head to the riverside as before," Sarutobi Biwako said.
The four of them went to the lakeside together.
"Aokawa, this second assessment tests your comprehensive combat ability. You need to hold out against Kaido for 30 minutes!"
"30 minutes?"
Hyuga Aokawa looked at the three of them in great surprise.
Before coming, Hattori Kako had told him that their combat assessment required holding out against a Special Jonin for 3 minutes.
Why had it become 30 minutes for him?
What's wrong with you three?
Where did that
extra zero come from?