The Third Hokage Is the Sun

By early April, it was time for the Ninja Academy to officially open.

Standing at the academy gates, feeling the spring breeze and listening to the children chattering around him, Akiyama Shun realized he had never felt better.

Finally!

Starting today, he was an "apprentice" powerhouse. He could officially collect his basic stipend!

After collecting 800 coins and adding in the login rewards from the past few days, Akiyama Shun now had 1,165 coins—enough for seven pulls.

But he didn't draw right away. There was no rush, so he might as well save up a little longer.

After thinking it over, Akiyama Shun headed for the classroom building and found his class.

Class 1-A.

Just like in the manga, the classroom was arranged like a lecture hall, with tiered seating.

Akiyama Shun thought he'd arrived early, but the classroom was already nearly full.

A quick glance around revealed plenty of familiar faces: Kakashi, Nohara Rin, Sarutobi Asuma, Might Guy...

It seemed more or less as Yuhi Shinku had said. The talented students were deliberately placed in the same class. As for Might Guy, well, he'd probably just gotten lucky.

Not every student in the class could be a genius. There were plenty of ordinary students, too.

"Shun! Over here!"

Yuhi Kurenai, sitting by the window in the second-to-last row, spotted Akiyama Shun and stood up to wave at him. Then she pointed to the empty seat beside her.

"You got here early."

Akiyama Shun greeted her and sat down beside Yuhi Kurenai.

"Hehe, my father woke me up when he left this morning, so I got up really early. I was the first one in the classroom today."

The two of them weren't the only ones chatting. The entire class was buzzing with excitement, except for Kakashi, who sat silently in the front row with his eyes closed, resting.

Soon it was eight in the morning.

Most of the students had arrived when a stern-looking middle-aged man finally entered. As he walked in, the classroom gradually quieted down.

"Shinya Kazama."

After writing his name on the blackboard, Kazama Shinya looked over the students.

"From now on, I'll be your homeroom teacher. As long as you don't break the school rules, I don't have any other particular requirements. We'll start with introductions, from the right side of the first row."

The classic round of self-introductions.

And the first student was none other than Kakashi.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't want to tell you what I like or dislike. My dream is to become a great ninja like my father."

It was a very brief introduction, but it still gave a rough impression of his personality.

As soon as Kakashi finished, a round of jeers rose from the classroom. He didn't care in the slightest and simply returned to his seat.

The other students introduced themselves in turn. Most of them had the same sort of dream: to become Hokage.

The scene gave Akiyama Shun flashbacks to his old life. It was like asking any random elementary school student about their dream and hearing that they wanted to become a scientist.

Only someone like Asuma, a second-generation child of a Hokage, said that his dream was to defeat the Hokage.

Yuhi Kurenai's dream was different, too. She had shown great talent for genjutsu since childhood, and Yuhi Shinku had been deliberately training her in that field. Her dream was to become a genjutsu master.

Soon, it was Akiyama Shun's turn.

"My name is Akiyama Shun, and my dream is to become Hokage."

Of course, that was a lie. He was just going along with Konoha's political correctness.

The first day was only an entrance ceremony, with no lessons. As Akiyama Shun left after school, he also saw Obito Uchiha. Just like in the manga, he was late on his very first day, then got help from the Konoha "female ghost," and his affection for her began skyrocketing.

Starting the next day, classes officially began.

The early lessons were all cultural studies. After learning to read and write, they moved on to the history of Konoha and the Will of Fire.

There was no need to say much about history. It was just Konoha's history, and Akiyama Shun could have recited it backward three times with his eyes closed. What mattered was the Will of Fire.

"Wherever the leaves of Konoha dance, the fire will continue to burn. Its light will keep illuminating this village and help new leaves sprout."

As Kazama Shinya wrote those words on the blackboard, Akiyama Shun's expression immediately turned especially serious.

Here it comes!

The ultimate genjutsu!

The only thing that could compare was the Iron Body next door.

Honestly, Akiyama Shun didn't think those words had any practical meaning. To him, they were nothing more than an incredibly hollow slogan.

Still, he made sure to look thoroughly serious. His eyes even seemed to shine as he listened to the lesson.

Whether he was actually paying attention didn't matter. What mattered was making sure everyone could see that he was interested in this subject—that he loved studying the Will of Fire!

Everyone knew that one of the Third Hokage's favorite pastimes was using his Crystal Ball to spy on people. Akiyama Shun was sure that, during such an important lesson, he was watching the classroom right now.

Raising the favorability of the people who mattered in advance would also make it easier for him to graduate early.

For instance, Kazama Shinya was already looking at him with clear approval.

After a month of cultural studies, the Ninja Academy held its first monthly exam.

"There's an exam, too? Damn it!"

Obito saw the test paper and felt his head ache. He was such a poor student that he could barely write properly, and now he had to answer all these questions?

Obito wasn't the only one. Groans spread throughout the classroom.

For most students, exams were miserable.

Unlike the other students, who were all suffering, Akiyama Shun saw that the final question was [Discuss the Hokage and the Will of Fire] and couldn't help smiling.

No!

That wouldn't do!

He couldn't smile yet. He had to hold it in!

The moment he'd been waiting for had finally arrived!

The exam was exactly what he wanted!

If there were no exams, how would anyone know just how firm his belief in the Will of Fire was?

How would anyone know how much he admired the Third Hokage?

How else could he graduate early?

Yuhi Kurenai had been a little nervous, but seeing how confident Akiyama Shun looked gradually put her at ease.

"Shun, do you know the answers to these history questions?"

Yuhi Kurenai nudged Akiyama Shun with her shoulder and whispered.

"Of course! You can copy mine."

"Really?"

Yuhi Kurenai's voice brimmed with delight.

She was sitting closest to Akiyama Shun, and she knew better than anyone how attentively he listened in class. Besides, Akiyama Shun was clever to begin with.

Copying from him would definitely work!

The exam soon began, and the students bent over their papers.

After answering each question, Akiyama Shun deliberately shifted his paper a little closer to Yuhi Kurenai so she could copy it.

There was nothing he could do about the final question, but he didn't need to worry about that one. Yuhi Kurenai already knew the answer.

The exam soon ended.

A few days later, when Akiyama Shun received his report card, he wore an expression that said he'd expected nothing less.

He had titled his answer to the final question "The Third Hokage Is the Sun" and earned full marks, crushing the rest of the Ninja Academy students!