Who is Kojiro Inada? How dare he tell me, the Hokage, what to do!

Shin'nosuke Sarutobi stared in shock at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had fallen into memory.

A mere exam paper from a Ninja Academy brat—and it could move the Hokage of Konoha so deeply. And it was written by a brat from the Uchiha Clan, no less...

This was far too astonishing.

Shin'nosuke Sarutobi was intensely curious. Hiruzen Sarutobi had shifted from solemnity to delight, then from delight to sorrow.

What on earth had he seen?

"Father... Father..."

After Shin'nosuke Sarutobi called out softly several times, Hiruzen Sarutobi snapped out of his memories.

He slowly pulled his gaze away from the Second Hokage's portrait, first shooting an annoyed glare at his impatient eldest son, then carefully and reverently handed Seisui's exam paper to Shin'nosuke.

"You're the Anbu Captain—take a look. Could you write a Will of Fire with this kind of literary flair?"

Shin'nosuke Sarutobi took Seisui's paper without comment, glanced at it first, then his pupils trembled as he read it seriously.

It couldn't be helped.

The answer Seisui had used combined Hiruzen Sarutobi's heartfelt reflections at the end of his life with Tobirama Senju's words from his youth.

Merging the essence of the Second and Third Hokage—calling it the Will of Fire was an understatement. It should be called the "Will of Flame"...

"Seisui... truly worthy of being Uncle Kagami's descendant... Father, I believe this exam paper should be widely promoted. Its phrases could even be extracted as slogans for the Will of Fire. This would help the village's ninja deepen their understanding of it..."

"On a larger scale, each village has its own spiritual pillar—for example, our Will of Fire, Iwagakure's Will of Stone. A catchy, concise summary is very helpful for spreading the Will of Fire."

As the Anbu Captain, Shin'nosuke Sarutobi keenly seized on this point.

"Go ahead, Shin'nosuke. This is a meaningful task."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded in agreement, took back Seisui's paper, unhesitatingly wrote a perfect score on it, then hesitated.

He wanted to give Seisui a thoughtful comment.

After a moment, he picked up his brush and wrote: I am delighted that the Will of Fire has shone brightly in Seisui's hands. May the love of Konoha take root and bloom in your heart into radiant flowers.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi still shook his head in dissatisfaction. "In a few days, I want to speak with Seisui in person. He's a good child..."

"Right now, the Uchiha Clan's Hawk Faction is rising aggressively. Obito Uchiha has already been corrupted by them. As Kagami's descendant and an outstanding inheritor of the Will of Fire, Seisui must be protected with all our strength."

"I have a feeling—perhaps Seisui is the key to solving the Uchiha Clan's problems in the future."

Shin'nosuke Sarutobi silently nodded, indicating he understood.

Though words could deceive, writing the Will of Fire to a level akin to a Hokage's own words—the chance of deception was far too low.

"Let's finish reading the children's papers. I can't be too biased toward Seisui. I must be fair..."

The Third Hokage chuckled as he reviewed each paper, giving high or low scores. None failed, but he gave no further comments.

Until only two papers remained.

"What a tiring night, but still a beautiful one—witnessing the children's growth..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi rubbed his lower back, pulled himself together, and picked up one. "Kojiro Inada—clearly a child from a civilian family."

And then, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression turned strange.

Shin'nosuke Sarutobi glanced at his father in surprise. This was the first paper since Obito's and Seisui's to provoke such a strong reaction from Hiruzen Sarutobi.

"..." Hiruzen Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, his expression growing odder.

A hint of agreement, displeasure, and even a trace of anger.

Shin'nosuke Sarutobi grew even more curious. Even Obito Uchiha's paper had only made his father serious. Who the hell was this Kojiro Inada, to stir up a full spectrum of emotions in the Hokage?

"He has some understanding, but he's disrespectful and arrogant. A brat dares to teach me how to be Hokage, questions current village policy, and orders me to reform—whose child is this..."

Hiruzen Sarutobi suppressed his rising anger and picked up the practical combat report sent by the Ninja Academy disciplinary office.

If Kojiro Inada was a genius, perhaps some leniency could be granted.

But after seeing Kojiro Inada's abysmal combat scores, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a heavy breath.

A useless armchair strategist!

At such a young age, instead of diligently studying basic knowledge and fundamental jutsu, he presumed to critique village governance from a condescending tone, even hinting at how to be a truly good Hokage.

If the Second Hokage had said these things to him face-to-face...

Hiruzen Sarutobi would have humbly admitted his shortcomings, thanked his old teacher for his guidance, promised to work harder, and agreed with everything he said!

But Tobirama Senju, who had never experienced written exams in his life, didn't know how to shift from the mindset of a Second Hokage and mentor to that of an ordinary examinee.

Even if he had restrained himself, the lecturing and instructing tone he couldn't hide in his writing had already made Hiruzen Sarutobi's blood boil.

Critical words can have vastly different effects depending on the status of the speaker...

"Nonsense! Utter rubbish!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed the table, picked up a red pen, and wrote a harsh comment on Kojiro Inada's paper:

Reach for what you can't grasp, restless and impatient. The Will of Fire is not your armchair theorizing. Learning to be a ninja is your first priority!

He fairly gave it a score of zero!

Shin'nosuke Sarutobi finished reading Kojiro Inada's exam paper and shrugged.

All he could say was that the kid had some rotten luck.

If an ordinary teacher had graded it, they'd just give him a scolding at worst. But he happened to get the Hokage himself reviewing the papers—there was no helping that...

And that final paper, combined with Kojiro Inada's critical answers, thoroughly enraged Hiruzen Sarutobi, who normally had decent composure.

Examinee: Asuma Sarutobi.

In the rebellious Youth Asuma's paper, this famous Second-Generation shinobi went all out, bluntly calling out the hypocrisy of the Will of Fire and his father, claiming the current Third Hokage didn't understand the Will of Fire at all, only knowing how to spout vague nonsense to fool people.

The directness of his words, the sharpness of his language—in all of Konoha, there was no one else like him.

Even Shimura Danzō wouldn't dare trash-talk him like that!

"Fine, fine, fine, you little brat, so this is how you treat the exam I wrote, huh!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi yanked open his desk drawer, rummaging for something.

Shin'nosuke Sarutobi watched blankly as his father grabbed a belt and rushed out of the Hokage building in a fury. He leaned over the desk, glanced at the paper, and covered his face.

A family disgrace, that's what this was.

But then, Shin'nosuke Sarutobi started laughing.

Kid, like stealing my cigarettes, huh?

Shin'nosuke Sarutobi leisurely picked up his father's pipe, left forgotten on the desk, and took a satisfied puff.