During the night.
Hokage Residence.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the exam papers on his desk with a mix of anticipation and curiosity, lit his pipe and began to smoke, enjoying the aroma of tobacco.
"Let's see how the young people of the village have done in the exam..."
Hiruzen neatly opened the sealed test paper bag.
He started reading from the first paper, smoking and carefully correcting the students with a red pen.
As the Third Hokage and the honorary headmaster of the Ninja School, Hiruzen did not usually get involved in the school's affairs except for the opening and graduation ceremonies.
Therefore, this time he was not only evaluating Kazuki, but also testing the will of fire in all the students in the school.
"Nohara Rin."
This was the first exam that Hiruzen reviewed.
"Not bad... Although the idea is still a little naive, the main idea is still closely tied to the will of fire. This is a child from a commoner family. It is rare for him to have such insights."
"Wow... she also mentions Kazuki, interesting..."
In the last question, 'Describe your understanding of the will of fire', Rin used as an example Kazuki's willingness to share the Mystical Palm Technique with her, considering it a true manifestation of the will of fire.
Hiruzen nodded slightly, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Furthermore, Hiruzen immediately caught a hint of emotion in Rin's words...
"Ah, youth... This is where bonds are born. Very good, very good..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded with satisfaction and gave Nohara Rin a high score of 87.
This good start made the Third Hokage very happy, and he was looking forward to the performance of other students.
"Might Guy."
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at the test paper with a smile, his expression gradually changed, and he sighed helplessly.
The whole test paper was full of youth, youth, and youth!
Discipline is youth, the will of fire is youth, the shinobi clan and civilian shinobi are all youth!
Even as the Third Hokage, Might Guy also listed various examples in detail to prove that he is a youthful Hokage.
After thinking for a while, Sarutobi Hiruzen still laughed. "Youth? Funny little guy, I'm really not old yet..."
"Although this child's theoretical knowledge is a little lacking, his enthusiasm and love for Konoha can be seen by me through the test paper."
"Good boy, keep going."
Sarutobi Hiruzen gave Might Guy 83 points and wrote a comment for him: "Look forward to the day when your youth blooms."
In Might Guy's exam, it was also mentioned how Kazuki had healed him from an injury.
He believed that Kazuki was a model of the combination of youth and the will of fire and was his goal to learn and pursue.
So far, the two test papers that Sarutobi Hiruzen was very satisfied with both had Kazuki's name.
This made him look forward to Kazuki's answer even more.
"Uchiha Obito."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's expression became serious. ANBU had once reported to him about this Uchiha genius who opened two tomoe at the age of seven.
Later, another ANBU report suggested that Obito may have had contact with Uchiha Setsuna, an elder of the Uchiha clan belonging to the Hawk faction, who had attempted to start an armed rebellion in the past.
"A genius of the Uchiha clan, a member of the hawk faction…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep puff of cigarette. The combination of these two words would make him feel very troublesome even if he was the Hokage of Konoha. This was one of the most difficult problems in Konoha at present.
After seeing Uchiha Obito's answer, Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned, and in the end it was like a knot.
In Uchiha Obito's entire answer, the content about the Uchiha clan occupied the majority.
With strength as the core argument, he expounded the superiority of the Uchiha clan's dominant position in Konoha after the dissolution of the Senju clan, and explained everything that Uchiha Setsuna had recently instilled in him...
At the end, he reluctantly combined the Will of Fire with the Uchiha clan and talked nonsense, but Sarutobi Hiruzen no longer had the patience to read on.
"Shinnosuke, focus on this Uchiha Obito, and let the ANBU shift the focus of the Uchiha clan's surveillance to him and Uchiha Setsuna as appropriate."
Sitting across from him, helping out in the office, Sarutobi Shinnosuke nodded. "I know, father."
As the eldest son of the Third Hokage, his current position is the captain of the ANBU, and he is in charge of all ANBU affairs.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke watched his father's expression change from pleasant to extremely ugly, and curiously took Uchiha Obito's test paper. After a moment, his eyes narrowed.
"This kid is a big problem... According to my information, the Uchiha Hawks have had contact with him. It seems that he has been deeply affected. Do we need to do further processing, father?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen waved his hand. "Words can reveal people's hearts. Just strengthen the monitoring."
After calming down, Hiruzen silently searched for Kazuki's test paper. Initially, he had planned to review all the students' exams first.
In this way, he could fulfill his duty as Hokage fairly, but Obito's exam had given him a bit of a jolt, and Hiruzen no longer had the patience to wait.
If Kazuki is also similar to Obito...
"Impossible, Kazuki won't be like this. He is the descendant of Kagami and is so kind..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen muttered to himself, found Kazuki's test paper quickly, and read it very seriously.
Shinnosuke pricked up his ears.
Not only his father, the Hokage, but also his brother, Asuma Sarutobi, have mentioned this name unintentionally recently.
A kid from the Uchiha clan can actually have such an influence in the Sarutobi clan...
And seeing his father's expression change, Sarutobi Shinnosuke was even more curious from the bottom of his heart.
"... Where the leaves of Konoha are flying, the fire will also continue... and new leaves will be born..."
"…Fallen flowers are not things without feelings, they become nutrients for flowers in spring…"
Sarutobi Hiruzen repeated these two sentences in a low voice, his eyes lit up, and he gently patted the table.
Those words resonated deeply in his heart.
Especially the first sentence, which seemed to evoke in Hiruzen's mind the image of a Hokage who would, without hesitation, sacrifice his life to protect the future of the village.
"Teacher, I miss you."
Sarutobi Hiruzen stared at the photo frame of Senju Tobirama not far away and whispered: "Please rest assured, for the village, I will not hesitate to sacrifice myself..."
He once again recalled the scene of Senju Tobirama covering the six of them, which was a regret he would never forget in his life.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was lost in his memories, in shock.
"Father, father..." After Shinnosuke called several times in a low voice, Hiruzen woke up from his memories.
He slowly looked away from the Second Hokage's portrait, cast a disapproving glance at his impatient eldest son, and then carefully handed him Kazuki's test paper.
"You, as an ANBU captain, review this. Would you be able to write an expression of the Will of Fire with this depth?"
Shinnosuke took Kazuki's test paper, at first with indifference, but one glance was enough for his pupils to dilate, and he began to read carefully.
Kazuki's response combined Hiruzen's sincere thoughts on his deathbed with the words the Second Hokage had spoken in his youth.
"Kazuki... There is no doubt about it, he is Uncle Kagami's worthy descendant... Father, I think we should spread this test widely. We could extract some of his quotes and use them to promote the Will of Fire among the shinobi in the village. This would help strengthen their understanding of it."
"Generally speaking, each village has different spiritual pillars, such as our Will of Fire and the Will of Stone in Iwagakure. A catchy and concise summary is very helpful for spreading the Will of Fire."
As an ANBU captain, Shinnosuke had quickly grasped this point.
"Go ahead, Shinnosuke, this is a very meaningful thing." Hiruzen nodded in agreement, took back Kazuki's test paper, and wrote a full score on it without hesitation, and then hesitated again.
He wanted to write a suitable comment for Kazuki.
After a moment, he wrote: [I am glad to see the Will of Fire shining so brightly in your hands, Kazuki. May the love for Konoha take root in your heart and bloom into splendid flowers.]
However, Hiruzen was still not completely satisfied. He shook his head in disapproval. "I will talk to Kazuki in person in a few days. This is a good child..."
"Now the hawks of the Uchiha clan are rising strongly. Uchiha Obito has been polluted by them. Kazuki, as the descendant of Kagami and the excellent inheritor of the Will of Fire, must be protected with all efforts."
"I have a hunch that Kazuki may be the key to solving the problems of the Uchiha clan in the future."
Shinnosuke nodded silently, indicating that he understood.
Although words can deceive, being able to express the Will of Fire with such depth, as if they came from the words of the Hokage himself, made the possibility of deception almost non-existent.
"It's better that I continue reviewing the others' exams. I must not be partial to Kazuki, I must be fair..."
Hiruzen smiled as he read through the papers, giving low or high scores, but no one failed, but he didn't give any additional comments.
Until there were only two papers left.
"It was a long night, but also very satisfying to see the growth of these children..."
Hiruzen rubbed his tired back and took another test. "Koshiro Inada... seems to be a boy from a civilian family."
Immediately, Hiruzen's expression turned strange.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---