The Brat Who Alarmed the Hokage

Looking at the Class 2 students sprawled across the ground, wailing in pain, his expression turned cold. Although Hiashi and Nawaki had worked together to put out the flames on the burning students, most of them had suffered serious burns. If they were not treated in time, those scars might stay with them for the rest of their lives.

"Look at what you've done! You damned brat!"

Chunin Shimada roared furiously as he strode toward the silent Katsuo.

Katsuo reached for his waist, where he kept the Kunai his father had left him!

Shimada was fast, but someone else was no slower—Aoki, Katsuo's homeroom teacher and the teacher of Class 1-1. He stepped forward and blocked Shimada's path.

"Shimada, calm down!"

"How am I supposed to calm down? Look at what he's done! Such a vile incident...!" Shimada bellowed angrily.

But Aoki cut him off directly.

"Shut up. He's still just a child. Do you have any semblance of a teacher's conduct right now?"

"Hmph! Easy for you to say. Those injured children are all from my class..."

"Take a good look at whose class this is. If I were you, I'd be helping take the injured students for treatment right now," Aoki said calmly.

"Hmph! I'll report this to the Hokage!" Shimada said unwillingly, though he agreed with Aoki's words.

"Mm." Aoki nodded. This had become far too serious. Class 1-1 and Class 2-1 would probably both have to suspend classes. The Hokage needed to be informed about this.

As for Uchiha Katsuo, the Hokage would have to decide his fate as well!

Aoki looked at Katsuo's calm expression. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he did not ask any further questions. This matter should be left to the Hokage!

He walked past Katsuo and headed toward Mikoto.

Mikoto's eyes were vacant. She stood there without moving, clearly frightened out of her wits.

Aoki sighed, took her hand, and led her out of the classroom.

Not long after, three figures flashed into view. The moment they received their orders, they rushed to the scene at top speed.

The Hokage attached enormous importance to matters at the Ninja Academy. In his heart, nothing could be allowed to go wrong there, and in his eyes, not even a grain of sand was tolerable!

Uchiha Katsuo was taken into custody!

The Sannin acted, leaving him utterly unable to resist. Tsunade roughly lifted him up and hauled him before the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi!

Hiruzen Sarutobi had unusually stopped smoking as he scrutinized Katsuo with a grave expression.

After a long while, he shook his head and asked softly, "Child, who taught you that ninjutsu?"

"Ninjutsu? You mean the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique? I taught myself by reading my father's scrolls!" Katsuo said with a grin, looking immensely proud.

"You little bastard, you're still smiling? Do you know how serious what you did was? Huh?" The hot-tempered Tsunade immediately gave him a hard knock on the head!

Rubbing his head, Katsuo pouted and muttered, "What's the big deal? A whole group of people wanted to beat me up. Was I not supposed to fight back? You're the foolish one, not me!"

"What did you say? You bastard!!!" Tsunade grabbed Katsuo by the collar with one hand and roared at him, yet she unusually did not hit him again. Clearly, she did not think Katsuo had been wrong!

As for saying nonsense like, "You can't use ninjutsu to fight back... They're your classmates... Classmates should be friendly..." she simply could not bring herself to say it.

They were ninja. Being reasonably united and friendly was enough. Ninja were bloodthirsty wolves, not docile sheep!

A group of second-years had been utterly thrashed by a first-year, and they still had the nerve to blame that first-year?

Even though they did not believe Katsuo had done anything wrong in this situation, they would not indulge him either.

"According to Shimada, the Class 2 homeroom teacher, Uchiha Fugaku had already lost the ability to resist and could not fight back. He even arrived in person and told you to stop. Why did you continue attacking?" Orochimaru asked with a smile, licking the corner of his lips. His voice was hoarse and unpleasant.

"When did I keep attacking? I just glared at him once! He got so scared that he fainted. Is that my fault?"

"Just glared at him once? More than that, surely? As far as I know, he suffered considerable mental trauma. That was obviously caused by a genjutsu, wasn't it?" Orochimaru said gleefully.

Everyone in the Hokage Office fell silent.

After a long while, the hot-tempered Tsunade lost her temper again!

"You little liar, are you going to tell the truth or not? Resist harshly, confess leniently!"

"Ah... haha! I'd just learned a C-rank genjutsu not long ago, so I wanted to find someone to test it on..."

Katsuo awkwardly rubbed his nose. His bashful appearance was rather adorable!

Gasp!!!

Someone in the Hokage Office sucked in a breath, and they fell silent once more!

They did not think Katsuo was lying, or hiding anything.

Because those words fit a child's way of thinking perfectly.

The difference was that while many children might have such thoughts, almost none of them possessed Katsuo's ability to act on them.

For example, one of the main reasons the Ninja Academy did not teach students ninjutsu beyond the Three Body Technique was precisely because they feared an incident like this.

Once a child suddenly mastered a powerful ninjutsu, there was more than a ninety-five percent chance they would be eager to show it off to others or use it on classmates they were hostile toward.

At that moment, a masked Anbu appeared in a Body Flicker and handed Hiruzen Sarutobi a report. It was Katsuo's personal file, and it clearly recorded information about both him and his parents.

After glancing at it, Hiruzen Sarutobi casually passed it to Orochimaru, then lit his pipe and began smoking.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly. He knew his teacher had relaxed and likely would not punish Uchiha Katsuo too severely. He understood his teacher very well!

After the Sannin finished reading it, the report was passed to the two Advisors behind them and the man standing in the shadows.

Sure enough, just as Orochimaru expected.

The Third Hokage first sternly criticized Katsuo, then gave a speech about the Will of Fire.

Recalling Katsuo's father, Uchiha Osamu, the Third Hokage praised him as a great ninja who had inherited the Will of Fire, selflessly devoted himself, and feared no sacrifice.

He also said that Uchiha Osamu had named his son Uchiha Katsuo in the hope that he would surpass his predecessor and excel beyond him, inherit his father's unfinished cause, and become an outstanding ninja!

The Third Hokage further stated that since Katsuo's parents were both gone, and in consideration of Uchiha Osamu's selfless spirit in dying in the line of duty, he intended to pay out of his own pocket for the medical expenses of the students injured in this incident.

He also declared that he would apologize to the injured students and their families on Katsuo's behalf!

Faced with Hiruzen Sarutobi's performance, Katsuo naturally became overwhelmed with gratitude. Looking remorseful and distressed, he threw his arms around Tsunade's fair, smooth leg and burst into tears!

Jiraiya watched with burning resentment, both envious and jealous!

Seeing Katsuo crying so bitterly, Tsunade could not help feeling a little sad as well. She did not push him away. After all, he was only a pitiful child who had lost both parents and felt guilty for making a mistake.

He was only five years old!

At that moment, another Anbu appeared in a Body Flicker and whispered a few words into Hiruzen Sarutobi's ear. The Third Hokage nodded, gave the Anbu another instruction, and the Anbu vanished in a Body Flicker!