The Third Hokage is the Sun

Time quickly passed to early April, and the Ninja Academy officially opened its doors.

Standing at the entrance of the Ninja Academy, feeling the spring breeze brush against him and listening to the noisy chatter of the children nearby, Akiyama Shun felt that his mood had never been better.

Finally!

Starting today, he was a "trainee" powerhouse, officially eligible to collect his basic welfare!

After collecting 800 gold coins, and adding in the check-in rewards from the past few days, Akiyama Shun's gold coin total had reached 1165, enough for 7 draws.

However, he didn't pull immediately; there was no rush, so he might as well save them up for now.

After settling on this, Akiyama Shun walked toward the teaching building and found his classroom.

Class 1-A.

The classroom was just like in the manga, a tiered lecture hall.

Akiyama Shun thought he had arrived early, but to his surprise, the classroom was already nearly full.

Scanning the room, he saw quite a few familiar faces: Hatake Kakashi, Nohara Rin, Sarutobi Asuma, Might Guy...

It seemed that, just as Yuhi Shinku had said, those with great talent were intentionally arranged into the same class. As for Might Guy, well, he probably just got in through sheer luck.

A class couldn't be filled entirely with geniuses; there were plenty of ordinary students as well.

"Shun! Over here!"

Sitting by the window in the second-to-last row, Yuhi Kurenai saw Akiyama Shun, stood up to wave at him, and then pointed to the empty seat beside her.

"You got here so early?"

Akiyama Shun greeted her and sat down next to Yuhi Kurenai.

"Hehe, my father woke me up when he left this morning, so I woke up very early. I'm actually the first one to arrive in the classroom today."

It wasn't just the two of them chatting; the students throughout the classroom were excited and chattering away. Only Hatake Kakashi sat in the front row, silent, eyes closed in meditation.

Time quickly reached eight in the morning.

With most of the students arrived, a stern-faced middle-aged man walked in. As he entered, the noise in the classroom gradually died down.

"Kazama Shinya."

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

"From now on, I am your homeroom teacher. As long as you don't violate school rules, I have no other requirements for you. Now, let's start self-introductions from the right side of the first row."

The classic self-introduction segment.

And the first one up happened to be Hatake 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 was enough to get a rough idea of his personality.

After Hatake Kakashi finished, a wave of boos erupted in the classroom, but he didn't care at all and returned to his seat.

After that, the other students took turns introducing themselves. Most were the same, with dreams of becoming the Hokage and the like.

This scene reminded Akiyama Shun of his past life; it was like grabbing any elementary school student and hearing that their dream was to become a scientist.

Only Sarutobi Asuma, a second-generation shadow, said his dream was to defeat the Hokage.

Yuhi Kurenai's dream was also different from theirs. From a young age, she had shown great talent in genjutsu, and Yuhi Shinku was intentionally cultivating her in that direction. 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 the Hokage."

Of course, this was a lie, just a way to conform to the political correctness of Konoha.

The first day was just an entrance ceremony with no actual classes. When he left after school, Akiyama Shun even saw Obito. Just like in the manga, he was late on his first day, then received help from the "Konoha ghost," and his favorability started to skyrocket.

Starting from the second day, classes officially began.

The initial curriculum consisted of academic subjects. After learning to read and write, it was Konoha History and the Will of Fire.

There was no need to elaborate on history; as for the history of Konoha, Akiyama Shun could write it backward three times with his eyes closed. The important part was the Will of Fire.

"Where the leaves of Konoha dance, fire will burn. The fire's shadow will illuminate the village and allow new leaves to sprout."

When Kazama Shinya wrote this sentence on the blackboard, Akiyama Shun's eyes immediately became exceptionally serious.

Here it comes!

The strongest genjutsu!

The only thing that could compare to it was the "Iron Block" from the neighboring series.

To be honest, Akiyama Shun didn't think this statement had any practical meaning; in his view, it was an extremely hollow slogan.

However, he still acted very seriously, his eyes shining with light as he listened to the lecture.

Whether he was actually learning it didn't matter; what mattered was that he had to show he was very interested in this course—that he just loved learning about the Will of Fire!

As everyone knew, one of the Third Hokage's favorite hobbies was using his crystal ball to peep at people everywhere. Akiyama Shun believed that for such an important lesson, the old man was definitely watching right now.

Building up favorability with relevant personnel in advance would make it much easier for him to graduate early when the time came.

Take Kazama Shinya, for instance; the way he looked at him now was filled with satisfaction.

After a month of academic classes, the Ninja Academy ushered in its first monthly examination.

"There's a test too! Damn it!"

Obito's head spun the moment he saw the exam paper handed out; he was such a poor student that he could barely write properly, let alone handle these kinds of questions.

It wasn't just Obito; a chorus of wails erupted throughout the entire classroom.

For the vast majority of students, exams were a source of pure agony.

Unlike the pained reactions of the other students in the room, the corners of Akiyama Shun's mouth couldn't help but curl into a smile when he saw the final question: [On the Hokage and the Will of Fire].

No!

Can't do it!

Must not laugh, I have to hold it in!

It was finally here!

The exam was exactly what he wanted!

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

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

How else could he successfully graduate early?

Yuhi Kurenai, who had been feeling a bit nervous, gradually relaxed after seeing the confident Akiyama Shun.

"Shun, do you know how to answer these history questions?"

Yuhi Kurenai nudged Akiyama Shun with her shoulder and whispered.

"Of course! You can copy off me."

"Really?"

Hearing Akiyama Shun's reply, Yuhi Kurenai's voice was filled with delight.

She was the closest person to Akiyama Shun, and she knew all too well how attentive he was in class; plus, Akiyama Shun was naturally very clever.

Copying from him would definitely be fine!

The exam began quickly, and all the students buried their heads in their work.

Every time Akiyama Shun finished a question, he would deliberately slide his paper toward Yuhi Kurenai so she could copy it.

As for the final question, there was nothing to be done there, but Akiyama Shun didn't need to worry about that one; Yuhi Kurenai already knew the answer herself.

The exam ended quickly.

A few days later, when Akiyama Shun received his report card, an expression of "as expected" appeared on his face.

With his final answer titled [The Third Hokage is the Sun], he successfully achieved a perfect score, crushing the rest of the students at the Ninja Academy!