The Will of Fire

"Lord Hokage, this is how the whole incident unfolded," the Anbu member wearing a cat mask reported honestly.

"I understand. Good work. Keep me informed if anything unusual happens with him."

"Yes, sir."

The Anbu member in the cat mask quickly took his leave.

Had Isho heard their entire conversation, he would have been surprised by how thoroughly the Anbu member monitoring him had described everything—so thoroughly, in fact, it was as if he had experienced it himself.

The vast Hokage's office was once again occupied by Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi alone. He exhaled a puff of smoke, held his pipe in one hand, and said, "He's not bad by nature, and he's fairly perceptive. On top of that, he awakened the Two-Tomoe Sharingan at such a young age. If a talent like him is properly guided, he'll surely become a great asset to Konoha."

"His teacher should talk to him more about the Will of Fire."

Two months later, beside a small stream in Konoha.

Isho sat on an oval stone, gripping his fishing rod with one hand while making gestures at the air with the other.

[Host: Uchiha Isho]

[System Inventory: Luck 31, Explosive Tags, Shuriken x10, Kunai x8]

If I weren't limited by the amount of chakra my body could hold, my strength would definitely be at the peak of Genin. But I'm lacking real combat experience.

Isho glanced at the system interface and sighed inwardly. Then he thought of his life at the Ninja Academy over the past two months.

At first, he'd been reluctant to go to school. But after a few days, he gradually got used to it, and eventually he even started looking forward to it.

"The workload isn't that heavy, and the history lessons Mr. Puhe teaches are pretty interesting. Besides, most of the time we have practical training." Isho's lips curled into a small smile.

In his eyes, practical training was more or less like a P.E. class, though there wasn't much to do for fun during the rest of the day.

What surprised him a little was that members of the famous Team Three would later be in the same class as him. Then there was the history teacher, who often talked about the Will of Fire.

During this period, he'd also completed another system task.

Just then, the curved fishing line began to tighten.

Isho immediately fixed his gaze on the rod. After it dipped three times, he heaved it up with one hand, and a huge white fish weighing an estimated eight or nine pounds leapt out of the water.

"Quite a catch today. The big white fish around here are so dumb."

Isho deftly put the fish into a bamboo basket in the shallows, then baited the hook again with a small worm that looked like an earthworm.

The sun sank lower, and the sky was filled with crimson clouds. A cool breeze stirred the woods as a small figure darted through the trees with practiced ease.

Strange. Why hasn't he come yet?

Did I pick the wrong place again? But there are obvious signs that someone's been living here for a long time. That doesn't make sense.

After thinking it over for a while, Isho glanced to the side.

The ground there was blackened, and the traces of a cooking fire were clearly fresh. There had been more than one.

Just as Isho was about to reel in his line, he heard rustling from the woods behind him. A moment later, someone emerged from the trees.

Their eyes met. Short blond hair, a skinny frame, plain clothes, and three straight whisker marks on each cheek—that was Isho's first impression of Naruto.

Both of them paused briefly. Isho recovered first, looked away, and returned his attention to the fishing rod.

Naruto was clearly curious to find someone else here—and even more so because the boy looked about his age.

Naruto glanced at him a few more times, then walked to the other side to find a good spot to fish.

Isho's expression remained calm, but inside, he was bursting with joy. Naruto. I've finally been waiting for you.

Suddenly, a familiar tune played in his mind: Finally, you're here~ I'm glad I didn't give up~

Cut it out. That song doesn't fit here. Putting the stray thoughts aside, Isho reeled in his line and got ready to grill the fish.

Over the past three months, Isho had run into Naruto a few times, but he hadn't approached him, worried that it might raise the suspicions of whoever was monitoring him.

He figured Naruto would probably fish often around this time. And since he could easily move to a different spot to fish without attracting suspicion, Isho came to the stream whenever he had free time, hoping to run into him.

Isho added more firewood, took a kunai and several small bottles of different sauces from his ninja pouch, then picked up the bamboo basket and walked downstream.

He was already downstream, so he stopped after only a few steps. The eight or nine big white fish in the basket kept leaping about now that they were out of the water.

By the time Isho had cleaned the innards out of each fish, it was completely dark.

He took out his homemade grill and cooked the fish over a large fire, sprinkling on a little sauce. Before long, the rich aroma of grilled fish spread through the area.

"Grrr." As three fish neared doneness, Naruto's stomach gave an impatient growl. The sound caught Isho's attention, and he looked over at Naruto.

As if he could feel Isho's gaze, Naruto's face reddened slightly. Isho felt a little awkward, too, since Naruto didn't seem to have caught a single fish all this time.

Perhaps because of him, the fish in this stretch of the stream were either full or had mostly been caught by him already.

This is the perfect chance to strike up a conversation. Isho skewered the fish one by one and walked over to where Naruto was.

"Sorry. Maybe I got here too early, and all the fish in this area are full. If you don't mind, why don't you try some of my cooking?" Isho apologized.

Naruto looked at Isho curiously. Seeing that he seemed sincere, Naruto turned his gaze to the big white fish, its skin roasted red. The smell kept tickling his nose, and he gave up on refusing, taking the skewer with both hands.

"I'm alone anyway, so why don't you come help me grill some fish?" Isho said earnestly.

"Can I?" Naruto pointed at himself uncertainly.

Isho nodded and replied, "Mm-hm." Naruto thought it over, then put away his fishing rod and ate the grilled fish while watching Isho's back.

This is going more smoothly than I expected. Isho grinned, then eagerly tried the fish himself. After one bite, he immediately began eating faster.

It's delicious. Looks like my seasoning is fine. The fish must be the main reason—the meat is tender, and it doesn't have many bones. Isho stuck another skewer into the ground, then put a fresh fish on the grill.

The two ate and chatted. Isho did most of the asking, inquiring about Naruto's life, and the answers were more or less what he'd expected.

"Rustle, rustle."

A kind-looking old man emerged from the trees.

"That smells delicious." The old man sniffed the air.

He had a kindly face and wore simple clothes that made him easy to like. Isho quickly stood up and said with feigned surprise, "Lord Hokage, what brings you here?"

"You're Isho, aren't you? I came hoping to try Naruto's grilled fish. I didn't expect you to be here, too." The Third Hokage smiled warmly.

"Don't be so formal. I just came to try the grilled fish. Treat me like any other guest." Seeing that Isho seemed to want to say something, the Third Hokage quickly reassured him.

Isho said no more. Before long, the three of them were happily eating grilled fish together.

Isho had a fair amount of respect for the Third Hokage. He had devoted his life to the village and was an outstanding politician as well as a powerful Hokage.

Even after Danzo had tried to assassinate him, he chose to let him go for the sake of the village's interests at the time. Some things needed to be done in the shadows, after all.

The Third Hokage must have anticipated what Naruto would go through. The way other villages treated their Jinchuriki made that clear.

The leaders of the various villages had all lived through the horrors of war. As long as a Jinchuriki's life wasn't in danger, they considered the hardships he faced a way to temper his resolve.

Gaara had it worst of all. He was raised entirely as a weapon of war.

People later on might see this as completely unreasonable, but the older generation was limited by its way of thinking. They believed this approach would maximize their interests.

As for Konoha, the real culprit was Danzo. After confirming that Naruto was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Danzo wanted him to join his Root and be trained into a killing machine.

When the Third Hokage refused, Danzo spread rumors everywhere, claiming Naruto was the Nine-Tails Fox. He wanted the villagers to hate and shun Naruto, so that once Naruto turned dark, Danzo could bring him into Root with a clear conscience.

This was why Naruto couldn't even afford a cup of instant noodles. The Third Hokage later stepped up his efforts to keep an eye on him, but by then the damage was done. The ignorant villagers believed only the rumors Danzo had spread.

"Isho, your teacher said you've become quite a bit more outgoing. I can see that's true," the Third Hokage said, gazing at the perfectly cooked fish as if making casual conversation.

"Lord Hokage, after the crisis last time, I realized I'd been too withdrawn because of what happened to my parents. I was always alone. I think I should make some friends. That's what my parents would have wanted, too." Isho's face showed sorrow.

Sarutobi offered a few words of comfort. Seeing that the moment was right, he began telling Isho and Naruto about the Will of Fire.

Beneath the night sky, the full moon shone like a bright, flawless mirror.

Seeing how attentively the two boys listened, Sarutobi ended with the famous line: "Wherever the leaves dance, the fire burns on."

"The firelight will keep illuminating the village and help new leaves sprout."