My Foolish Little Brother

Chapter 12: My Stupid Little Brother.

"Where the leaves dance, a fire will burn. The firelight will continue to illuminate the village and allow new leaves to sprout."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's iconic voice boomed from a large podium.

It was gentle and kind.

It made one instinctively feel that he was a benevolent old man.

The area around the podium was filled with excited parents and children, along with a continuous stream of invited guests.

The speech lasted for two hours.

Finally, the moment Third Hokage's speech ended, applause erupted like a tidal wave. The crowd went wild, with some even waving their arms and shouting as they rushed towards the stage.

The crowd around the podium seemed to have caught a terrible virus. At this moment, their expressions were so passionate, as if they were possessed. Both adults and children had eyes filled with fervent admiration.

Third Hokage was very satisfied with the response from the crowd.

It was now mid-September, the official start date for new students at the Ninja Academy. He had specifically put aside his office duties to provide some ideological guidance. These children were the future of Konoha, and the Will of Fire had to be deeply rooted in their hearts from the very beginning.

This was his most important duty and responsibility as Hiruzen Sarutobi, the inheritor of the Will of Fire.

Naruto stood alone at the very edge of the crowd, but he was also smiling and clapping. Such occasions required a certain demeanor.

Moreover, he had been personally invited by Third Hokage.

As soon as he woke up that morning, he sensed many ninjas in Konoha bustling about the village. He had just taken a bite of his breakfast when he sensed Third Hokage, along with his subordinates, heading his way.

Naruto's sensing range now exceeded five kilometers, and as his chakra continued to grow, his sensing range would only expand further in the future.

When Third Hokage pulled him over, he had said he wanted to teach him new ninjutsu since he had rare free time today. In reality, he had just given him a scroll and then went up to the stage.

He hadn't mentioned anything about coming to the school for a speech at all, so Naruto hadn't used the Transformation Jutsu.

Therefore, when he first arrived, he wasn't far from the podium. But as the crowd grew, he was like some terrible plague, and the crowd pushed him to his current position.

What made him slightly speechless was that Hayate Gekko had also followed him, invisible. It was only after he had been smiling and clapping for a few seconds that Hayate left his side and headed towards Third Hokage.

"Naruto, did you hear that? That's the Will of Fire passed down from the First Hokage!"

Minato Namikaze's voice suddenly came from within the Sealed Space.

"Is the Will of Fire this powerful?" Naruto's consciousness descended to the sealed space, and he looked at his father's excited expression with some surprise.

"What's so strange about it?"

Naruto asked, looking at his father calmly.

Minato Namikaze's expression turned serious. "The Will of Fire is the foundation of Konoha's strength. It's a belief that has been passed down from the First Hokage to the present day. The Will of Fire is about protecting the important people around you and keeping them from harm."

"It tells us that the youth are the hope of the future. The older generation must trust and protect them, shielding them from harm. The sacrifices of the ancestors are not in vain; they inspire the youth to become pillars who will carry the future."

"Only the Will of Fire can allow children to grow up in peace and not die due to war!"

Minato Namikaze's voice was clearly filled with passion as he spoke his last sentence.

Kurama, who had been sleeping nearby, opened its narrow, fox-like eyes. After glancing at Naruto's expression, a sneer appeared on its lips.

"Are you done?"

Naruto's tone was clearly noncommittal, and his expression was the same as before.

"Uh..."

Seeing his son's expression, Minato Namikaze felt a bit awkward.

Naruto looked directly into his father's eyes and said, "Father, don't you think the person who created the Will of Fire intentionally harmed people?"

Minato Namikaze's expression turned serious. "How could that be!"

Naruto's eyes flashed. "Do you remember Sakumo Hatake, the Konoha White Fang?"

Upon hearing that name, Minato Namikaze's body immediately stiffened.

"It seems that this genius ninja, whose name resounded through various countries and even earned the respect of the 'Legendary Sannin,' actually abandoned his mission to save his comrades after personally embodying the belief of the Will of Fire. As a result, he was blamed by the villagers, and eventually, the comrades he saved turned against him. unable to bear the ostracism from everyone, he chose to commit suicide."

As Naruto spoke, he thought of the most severely mentally ill person in the world of Naruto and continued, "You just said that the Will of Fire can allow children to grow up in peace and not die due to war."

"Why is it that what I see in Konoha's historical records is not like that?"

"Father, when you participated in the Third Great Ninja War, it seems one of your subordinates died. Although he was eventually enshrined in Konoha's Hero's Tomb, he was only 13 years old, wasn't he?"

Minato Namikaze knew who Naruto was referring to and immediately fell into deep self-reproach.

"And what's funny is that the First Hokage, who founded the Will of Fire, had his own grandson, Nawaki Senju, die at the age of 12 in the Second Great Ninja War."

"Also, there's something I've never understood. Father, can you tell me why, after Third Hokage took the stage, the Senju Clan quickly dwindled to only one remaining member, the Legendary Sannin Princess Tsunade?"

Before Minato Namikaze could extricate himself from his self-reproach, Naruto's question left him completely bewildered. He really didn't know.

He had died too early, and there were many things he hadn't had time to handle. From the end of the Third Great Ninja War to becoming Hokage was less than a year.

"Hey! Naruto, stick out your fist. I actually know a few things about the Senju Clan."

Hearing Kurama's voice, Naruto remembered its first Jinchuriki, Mito Uzumaki, and immediately extended his fist.

Soon, Naruto conveyed everything Kurama knew to his father.

Naruto then withdrew from his mental world. Minato Namikaze, sealed within, seemed to have lost his will to live, even though he was already dead.

Naruto, having just regained his senses, immediately turned his gaze in one direction.

He sensed quite a few more ninjas arriving on the outskirts of the crowd.

But these people seemed out of place. They weren't clapping, their faces showed no emotion, and their eyes were filled with cold indifference.

Yet, deep within that cold gaze, a strong sense of unwillingness clearly flickered.

Naruto glanced at their standard vests, different from the Anbu's style, and recognized them.

The Konoha Military Police Force, a group of Uchiha Clansmen.

He had no interest in these people who were destined to die.

Although, compared to the living, the dead could still hold significant value in the ninja world if handled properly, these individuals clearly didn't qualify.

Looking at the Third Hokage, surrounded by the crowd on the stage, Naruto then pulled out the scroll the Third Hokage had given him. He figured the Third wouldn't come looking for him.

Turning around, Naruto walked to a secluded corner and unrolled the scroll in his hands.

Instantly, he let out a wry smile. The Third Hokage had actually given him the fundamentals of genin-level Taijutsu.

"Alright, from today on, I can openly display my Taijutsu," he thought, and then headed towards the Ninja Tool Full Point Hall.

"Nii-san! I really didn't come over here to secretly train!"

On a crisscrossing road, a small boy with a flushed face was trying to explain something, pouting.

"Heh heh, Sasuke, I believe you. I don't have any missions today, so I can accompany you for some shuriken practice."

The conversation ended there. The two figures, one tall and one short, quickly passed through a sparsely vegetated grove. However, they immediately spotted someone scaling the training wall specifically designed for physical conditioning within their destination.

"Nii-san! Look! It must be this guy! He's been using our training ground!"

"Wait a moment, Sasuke."

After the young boy named Sasuke shouted this, a flash of arrogance crossed his face, and he ran a few steps to the side of the figure scaling the wall.

"Do you know you're occupying someone else's training ground? Do you know who I am?"

The young boy questioned righteously.

"I know. Although I'm sorry for occupying your training space, I don't care who you are!"

The figure by the wall stopped. He ignored the arrogant young boy, and as he looked up, his azure eyes immediately focused firmly on the taller figure not far away.

"Itachi Uchiha!"