Hmph Hmph Hmph, You're Giving Me a Zero, Huh? Tobirama Wants to Fight Hiruzen Sarutobi!

"Sigh, Tobirama, look at that answer you wrote—you've gone and made the kid cry..."

The surrounding classmates all shot Kojiro Inada strange looks.

Getting a high score in the Will of Fire class was indeed tough, but scraping a pass was basically no problem—as long as you didn't badmouth the Hokage, you could usually squeak by with a passing grade.

Even Obito Uchiha, with his rebellious answer, had been given a sixty by Hiruzen Sarutobi, all things considered.

Across the entire Ninja Academy, the only ones sulking—aside from Obito Uchiha, who felt targeted—were Asuma Sarutobi and Kojiro Inada, the pair of zero-scoring brothers.

"Impossible. Maybe I answered too brilliantly, and the score was so high it shocked the kid..." Tobirama's heart was sinking fast, but his mouth stayed stubborn.

Seisui shrugged, walked over slowly, sat down beside Kojiro Inada, and quietly comforted him.

At the same time, Seisui picked up his test paper and nearly laughed out loud, barely managing to keep his manners.

The score staring back at him was just too impactful.

A big fat zero scrawled in bold red ink, with an angry exclamation mark beside it!

And beneath that zero was a line of commentary even longer than what Seisui had gotten.

Aim too high, too restless—the Will of Fire isn't your armchair theorizing. Learning to be a ninja first is your real priority!

Seisui couldn't hold it in anymore. He unleashed the secret technique buried deep in his bloodline at Tobirama: Uchiha Mad Laugh!

At that moment, Seisui forgot all about his persona. He just wanted to thoroughly mock this overconfident Hokage, laughing like a squealing pig.

The condescending tone in the writing, combined with the unusual difficulty of the test, made Seisui almost certain that from setting the questions to grading the papers, it was all Hiruzen Sarutobi's handiwork.

Tobirama, meanwhile, stared motionless at Hiruzen's commentary, but his entire being rapidly flushed red from the inside out, to the point where it looked like he might pop a hole in his skull and spray boiling steam!

Compared to Seisui, Tobirama didn't need to analyze that much—he recognized Hiruzen's handwriting!

"Boil Release: Red Hot Tobirama Technique!"

Tobirama truly hadn't expected that his beloved disciple Hiruzen would give his answer a zero... especially with such harsh commentary, basically saying—

You think you're qualified to talk to me about the Will of Fire?

Get lost!

"Fine, fine, fine!" Tobirama muttered to himself. "You'd better pray I never get the chance, Monkey..."

It had to be said, Tobirama's expression and posture at that moment were almost identical to Hiruzen's when he was about to whip Asuma with a belt.

Maybe that's what they called master-disciple inheritance?

"Let me think, what did a certain Hokage say before?" Seisui said with a grin, counting on his fingers:

"The score was so high it shocked the kid, write a perfect test and teach me a thing or two, if your score isn't higher than mine, my Hokage face gets replaced with yours..."

"What else was there? Maybe you can help me remember? After all, they're your own words—you must remember them better than I do."

"Hey, this counts as another kind of perfect score too—no score at all, a reverse perfect score..."

Tobirama silently ground his teeth. If he weren't dead, he'd already be grabbing a belt and charging into the Hokage building, making sure Hiruzen knew who the real master was.

You little brat, if I hadn't covered your retreat back then, would you be here lecturing me about the Will of Fire?

Setting aside the fact that the answerer is a genin, how dare you say I'm not fit to be a ninja?

Damn it!

From target Tobirama: You have obtained Nintaijutsu: Senju's Super Strength!

Seisui couldn't help but laugh. This reward seemed to match Tobirama's mood perfectly—was he thinking about smashing Hiruzen's skull in with one punch?

"Alright, Tobirama, Hiruzen didn't know it was your test paper. Who told you to be so blunt?"

"That's no excuse! Everything I said was golden advice cutting through current ills—how dare he speak of me like that?" Tobirama waved his hand grandly, his tone dark. "Monkey, you'd better run the village without a single flaw, or you'd better pray you never get to see me..."

Seisui sighed.

Would Tobirama get that chance?

Probably, yeah.

The Power of Tobirama Senju allowed Seisui to borrow his strength. If Tobirama planned to teach his beloved disciples a harsh lesson at the right moment, Seisui wouldn't mind lending him his body for a bit.

A master disciplining his rebellious disciple—Seisui would enjoy watching that, just cheering from the sidelines...

"Kid, do me a favor."

Tobirama gradually cooled down, looking at the visibly upset Kojiro Inada, and spoke in a low voice. "Help comfort this child. Even if he doesn't know it's Monkey, a teacher scolding him like that is too harsh."

"After all, this is my fault."

Seisui nodded. The old man had a conscience, but he didn't reply—just jerked his chin at him.

Seeing this, Tobirama sighed helplessly. "Fine, fine, I'll teach you a few techniques. I won't go back on my word."

"But don't get the wrong idea—it's just casual instruction, not a master-disciple relationship!"

Seisui chuckled, giving Tobirama a disdainful look. "I'm a Konoha ninja. Have you ever heard of a Konoha ninja apprenticing himself to a guy who scores a zero on the Will of Fire? You're a bit overconfident, Tobirama."

Tobirama's gaze turned dangerous. He didn't quite understand what "overconfident" meant yet, but it felt deeply insulting...

But Seisui just shrugged nonchalantly, looking like he couldn't care less, let out three loud laughs, and turned to walk away with a flourish.

"Seisui, what am I supposed to do now? There's no way I can become a ninja anymore! If I can't be a ninja, how will I make money? If I can't make money, my dream is ruined!"

Kojiro Inada, seeing Seisui's gentle demeanor, cried even louder: "My lifelong dream is to inherit my grandfather's dango recipe, save up enough money, and open a three-colored dango shop..."

"Why, why did I have to turn in such a terrible exam paper!"

Hearing this, Seisui was a bit surprised.

So this Kojiro Inada was the future owner of the three-colored dango shop?

"That's your dream, Inada..." Seisui silently glanced at the exam paper in his hand again. This kid really wasn't cut out to be a ninja.

"In that case, then don't be a ninja."

Kojiro Inada wailed even louder. Even Seisui was saying it—he really had no hope left.

"Go open a dango shop instead. The stall next to Ichiraku Ramen belongs to my family. Work hard there, Inada."

Seisui patted him on the shoulder: "I won't charge you rent until you're an adult. We'll talk about profit sharing once you get things going. For now, just focus on making your three-colored dango taste good."

Kojiro Inada stopped crying instantly, his hands trembling: "R-really... Seisui!"

At the back of the classroom, Asuma Sarutobi, still nursing his aching backside, watched the scene with a complicated look, his mind a complete mess.