Young Master, Please Become the Hokage

I Loaded the Will of Fire

"?!"

Akira Sarutobi's consciousness, which had been on the verge of fading into chaos, became clear once more.

Lines of unknown text lit up across his right retina.

The unknown characters kept shifting, like a cascading stream of code.

It might have been an instant, or it might have been a long time.

[Current point in time... established... late stage of the Second Shinobi World War!]

His right eye, which had been lost in battle, began to regain its sight.

Akira Sarutobi immediately realized that this was the miraculous function of something called a "system."

As a transmigrator, Akira Sarutobi was no stranger to systems, though he was still somewhat surprised.

A strange eyeball was embedded in Akira Sarutobi's right eye socket. It flickered with several inexplicable flashes of light before changing into a form identical to his left eye, leaving no visible difference between them.

"My right eye... regenerated..."

Akira Sarutobi raised a hand and touched his eye socket.

His right eye, damaged in the current battle, had recovered.

[System Ultimate Main Quest: Path of the Hokage! Let the Will of Fire spread throughout the shinobi world! Strive to grow stronger and ultimately defeat Kaguya Otsutsuki...]

An ultimate quest?

Akira Sarutobi immediately scanned through it.

His lifelong goal had been to become Hokage and uphold the true Will of Fire, rather than some twisted fire cultivation.

As for Kaguya, that went without saying. Nearly every transmigrator had to oppose her.

Princess Kaguya was also the catalyst that opened the chapter of fighting against the Otsutsuki Aliens.

However, the next line of text in the system's mission left Akira Sarutobi slightly stunned.

[...and inject Kaguya Otsutsuki with the Will of Fire, causing her to bear new offspring. Ultimately, let the radiance of the Will of Fire completely shine upon the entire planet!]

[Final mission countdown: Years remaining...]

Akira Sarutobi: "..."

"Young Master, Young Master!"

The injured girl dragged herself over to Akira Sarutobi's back and anxiously began checking on him.

Seeing him remain completely motionless, she had thought that her young master had lost his life.

"I'm fine, A-Hui... Go see how Ruri is doing."

Still half-kneeling on the ground, Akira Sarutobi turned to look at the girl before him. The urgency on her face, colored by war, carried a tragic kind of beauty.

Members of the Yamanaka Clan were generally outstanding in appearance.

The young kunoichi before him, Ino Yamanaka, was no exception.

As his childhood sweetheart, attendant, classmate from the same year, teammate, subordinate... Ino Yamanaka had provided him with assistance in nearly every aspect of life and battle. She was a rare all-purpose helper. It was precisely because of her presence that he had been able to train without concern.

Only after confirming that Akira Sarutobi truly was fine did the blonde girl with a single ponytail swiftly turn around to check on the safety of the Byakugan girl lying on the ground.

"Young Master, Ruri is fine. She may just have a slight concussion..."

Ino Yamanaka reported the situation.

Akira Sarutobi, Ino Yamanaka, and Ruri Hyuga—those three names were unmistakably minor-character names.

In truth, their actual identities were indeed much the same... Akira Sarutobi thought.

Though he truly was the eldest son of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, the original manga had only noted his identity in a side-story title-page annotation.

And Ino Yamanaka... as his childhood sweetheart, she was most likely Konohamaru's future mother, another character of the same sort.

As for Ruri Hyuga—

She was Hizashi Hyuga's childhood sweetheart and a Branch Family Member of the Hyuga Clan. In the original work, she was Neji Hyuga's mother.

However, now that he had come to this world, he would not let many things continue along their original course.

Because...

"It's time to inject this planet with the true Will of Fire!"

Akira Sarutobi swiftly rose to his feet.

As a cool sensation spread from his right eye to his brain, strength returned to every limb and bone in his body.

The moment he stood up, Akira Sarutobi noticed something different.

His body, which should have been completely exhausted, was now in unbelievably good condition, as though he had never been injured at all.

"I'll study it slowly later..."

Akira Sarutobi quickly picked up a kunai from the ground. His previous ninja tools had all been used up.

After coldly finishing off everyone on the battlefield, not a single Sky Hidden Village ninja remained alive.

On their side... only the three of them had survived.

At last, Akira Sarutobi swept his gaze over the surrounding forest. Only after confirming there was no danger did he quickly move closer to Ino Yamanaka.

Unlike the Yamanaka Clan girl with her golden ponytail, who had developed a curvaceous figure despite her young age, the Hyuga girl being helped into a sitting position was petite, her chest completely flat.

A petal-like bow tied her hair into a bundle behind her head.

No matter how one looked at her, she did not seem to be their age, but rather several years younger.

Yet Ruri Hyuga was indeed the same age as Ino Yamanaka and himself.

Her delicate face and gloomy eyes made her look like a porcelain doll displayed in a shop.

Her identity as a Branch Family Member of the Hyuga Clan had shaped her into what she was today.

The lonely look on the girl's face, along with the green Caged Bird curse mark exposed on her forehead, could not help but break one's heart.

Ino Yamanaka unconsciously hugged her a little tighter.

"Young Master Ryo, look!"

Suddenly sensing something, Ino Yamanaka pointed into the distance.

Akira Sarutobi turned to look. Several kilometers away, a massive sky fortress large enough to blot out the sky was spewing thick smoke as it tilted in midair, broke apart, and plummeted toward the ground.

Sky Fortress Ankbandian, the lair of Sky Hidden Village.

Its crash represented the destruction of Sky Hidden Village's ambitions and signaled that the Second Shinobi World War was drawing to a close.

Before long, an earth-shaking boom rolled in from afar.

Even the tremors could be felt from here.

Did the main force succeed? Akira Sarutobi wondered.

Faced with the simultaneous assault of the Five Great Nations, Sky Hidden Village naturally could not have survived.

Whoosh!

A moment later, the sound of swift leaps through the forest rang out.

Akira Sarutobi immediately became vigilant.

"Young Master Ryo, they're our people." After sensing them, Ino Yamanaka immediately identified the shadows in the woods.

Soon, a silver-haired ninja appeared at the scene, leading a squad.

After surveying the area and confirming that Akira Sarutobi was unharmed, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief. A gentle smile, like that of a friendly neighbor, appeared on his face. "Young Master Ryo, you're all right... that's truly wonderful."

Akira Sarutobi said, "Teacher Sakumo..."

The newcomer was Akira Sarutobi's private tutor, the man who taught him swordsmanship—Hatake Sakumo, known as Konoha's White Fang!

I'll Be Hokage!

Time flew by.

The Second Shinobi World War finally came to an end shortly after Sky Hidden Village was destroyed and Akira Sarutobi returned to the village with Hatake Sakumo.

The Five Great Nations were the victors of this war.

In the end, they plundered numerous smaller nations and filled their own coffers.

Konoha itself had not suffered any serious damage.

However, during this war, Konoha lost its ally, the Land of Whirlpools.

Beginning with the death of Senju Hashirama's grandson, Senju Nawaki, turning with Tsunade's departure, and ending with the destruction of Sky Hidden Village, the war finally came to a close.

To the Konoha High Command, these losses were insignificant, since they had made a fortune from the war.

But for the families who had lost relatives and friends, war was the cruelest thing of all.

That day, rain fell from the sky.

Everyone, dressed in black, came to the cemetery to pay their respects.

The sound of weeping rose continuously from nearby. The families of the fallen left behind their deepest longing here.

Akira Sarutobi stared at the gravestone before him, upon which were written the words: "Grave of Senju Nawaki."

Ino Yamanaka, also dressed in black, held an umbrella to shield Akira Sarutobi from the wind and rain.

She was his most capable assistant, as well as his most virtuous childhood friend.

Having grown up together since childhood, the two shared a deep bond.

Ino Yamanaka was also one of the few people Akira Sarutobi could trust.

"Young Master Akira Sarutobi."

A figure with shattered golden hair appeared.

The handsome young man stood beside Akira Sarutobi.

"Minato, I heard your two teammates were killed. My condolences."

Akira Sarutobi turned to the boy his own age and spoke.

The blond youth before him was none other than the future father of Naruto Uzumaki... Minato Namikaze.

Though still young, Minato Namikaze had already made a name for himself in the shinobi world.

During the Second Shinobi World War, Minato Namikaze's Jonin instructor, Jiraiya, took part in the campaign against Amegakure. After the campaign ended, he remained in the Land of Rain.

His three students could only fight on their own.

Relying on his extraordinary talent and sharp intellect, Minato Namikaze successfully forged his own ninja way amid the war.

Last year, Minato Namikaze had even rescued Uzumaki Kushina after she was abducted by Kumogakure shinobi. Because of that great achievement, the higher-ups permitted him to view the "Scroll of Seals," which ordinarily only the Hokage could access.

After learning the S-rank Flying Thunder God from it, the youth began his legendary meteoric rise.

In just two short years, the title "Golden Flash" had already become his.

If anyone deserved to be called heaven's favored child, it was him.

But Minato Namikaze's two nameless teammates had not been so fortunate.

In a shinobi war where even Jonin instructors could die at any moment and Kage-level experts might fall, the odds of children surviving... were rock-bottom. With no surprise at all, they had died.

"Mm." Minato Namikaze nodded, his expression turning slightly grave. "Young Master Ryo, I heard that the Jonin instructor of you and your Yamanaka classmate was killed as well. My condolences to you too."

The earlier battle had been extremely brutal.

Several powerful fighters had suddenly barged in, throwing the battlefield into utter chaos.