Third Generation: Chiya is the inheritor of the Will of Fire

As far as Chiya knew, aside from the Uchiha compound, there was only one BBQ restaurant in Konoha.

He had visited it a few times with Uchiha Izumi.

It seemed to be called Kozo BBQ Restaurant.

"Of course, that's the one my dad runs!" Mentioning her father, Akizuki Airi clutched her hands excitedly to her chest, a faint blush appearing on her delicate, cute face.

"Pardon me for asking, but who is your father?" Watching Airi display such a father-obsessed demeanor, Chiya's mouth twitched violently. He inwardly grumbled, Could her father really be Akizuki Kozo?

"Akizuki Kozo, oh," Airi said with a blush, her expression full of admiration as she smiled.

"..." Chiya's mouth twitched violently again.

Damn it, it really is **!

Black, messy hair, a Konoha ninja headband tied around his forehead, handsome and prominent features, dressed in a black tight-fitting combat suit, with the Zanpakuto Kyoka Suigetsu and a ninja tool pouch at his waist, a kunai pouch strapped to his right leg, standing over 1.7 meters tall with an extremely well-proportioned and slender build.

This was Chiya's current appearance and attire.

Three days later.

Led by Yuhi Kurenai, Chiya arrived at the Hokage's office.

"Lord Hokage, I have brought Chiya. Chiya, hurry, greet Lord Hokage." The latter part was directed at Chiya.

"Greetings, Lord Hokage."

"Ever since I was very young, I have admired you."

"You are the strongest and greatest Hokage in Konoha's history, for the sake of the village..."

"My greatest dream is to become a great ninja like you."

Upholding the persona of someone who worshipped the Third Hokage, Chiya didn't care about anything else and immediately began showering Sarutobi Hiruzen with flattery the moment he arrived.

He brought up the "glorious resume" of Sarutobi Hiruzen found in the Ninja Academy textbooks.

His expression was as if a fan from his past life had met their favorite pop star.

He was just one step away from screaming out loud.

Beside him, Yuhi Kurenai's mouth twitched upon hearing this; she suddenly realized that Chiya was somewhat unlike the person she usually knew.

At this moment, Sarutobi Hiruzen was secretly sizing up Chiya, trying to discern something from him. Seeing the boy express such admiration upon arrival and listing off his "glorious resume" one by one, his clear, pitch-black eyes appeared to contain not a shred of falsehood.

His favorability increased significantly in his heart.

As expected, Danzo was just being overly suspicious.

An excellent ninja who inherited the Will of Fire, determined to protect the village, and who admired him, the "strongest Hokage in history," so much—how could he possibly betray Konoha?

It was pure nonsense.

Sarutobi Hiruzen chuckled, "Heh heh, what a sensible child."

"Chiya, come to think of it, this is our first formal meeting. Actually, I have been keeping an eye on you since you were very young. You are an excellent ninja who, like your parents, has inherited the Will of Fire. I am proud of you."

Chiya spouted nonsense with a straight face: "Thank you for the praise, Lord Hokage. Chiya will surely serve Lord Hokage and the village with all his might until his dying breath."

Look at this expression, this tone.

He placed the Hokage above the village itself.

It was as if he would gladly die for Konoha the moment the Third gave the order.

No matter how you looked at it, he was an excellent successor to the Will of Fire.

"Serve with all your might until your dying breath, eh..." Sarutobi Hiruzen repeated, liking Chiya more the more he looked at him. He laughed heartily, "It is good that you have such heart, but this is not a time of war, so don't keep talking about dying. You are the new sprouts of Konoha; what you need now is to grow strong. Konoha still needs to rely on you to carry on its legacy."

"I will certainly not fail your expectations, Lord Hokage." Chiya stood solemnly. Anyway, flattery was free; he could dish it out as much as he wanted.

This gave Yuhi Kurenai, standing to the side, goosebumps all over.

Was this really the same Chiya who always handled everything with calm and composure?

"Hmm." Sarutobi Hiruzen did not notice the change in Yuhi Kurenai's expression. By now, he was practically floating on cloud nine from Chiya's barrage of flattery. He stood up and said, "I assume Kurenai has already told you about your promotion to Chunin."

"Yes, Lord Hokage," Chiya replied respectfully.

"Then come with me. Kurenai says you already possess strength comparable to a Jonin, so we can take this opportunity to test it. If you can truly demonstrate sufficiently formidable power, then I can make an exception and promote you to Jonin."

As he spoke, Sarutobi Hiruzen walked out of the Hokage's office first. Chiya and Yuhi Kurenai exchanged a glance and followed closely behind.

Soon, the three arrived at an open field adjacent to the outer perimeter of the Forest of Death.

At this moment, almost all of Konoha's core figures were present, including Danzo, the two Hokage advisors, and numerous Anbu.

Uchiha Itachi and Kakashi were also among them.

When the others saw Chiya arrive, they only felt a slight curiosity and did not show much emotional change. However, Uchiha Itachi's face, hidden beneath his fox mask, appeared particularly grave, for under the gaze of his Mangekyo Sharingan, Chiya seemed to have become increasingly unfathomable.

The unusually powerful and strange chakra on his body seemed to be deliberately hidden; if not for his Mangekyo Sharingan, he might not have been able to detect it.

Uchiha Itachi thought to himself, Could you be the one who snatched Shisui's right eye? Chiya, you have suddenly become so flamboyant—what exactly is your goal?

What no one knew was that Uchiha Itachi, who had zero emotional intelligence but off-the-charts intelligence in other areas, had already begun to suspect that Chiya was the mysterious person who had swooped in to steal Danzo's prize and snatch Shisui's right eye.

Of course, he was not the only one being suspected.

And then there was that masked man, Uchiha Obito, who had killed his teammate when he was eight years old and forced him to awaken his Sharingan.

Chiya's perception was incredibly sharp, so he naturally noticed Uchiha Itachi's hostile gaze.

However, he did not pay it much mind; his goal was about to be achieved soon anyway.

"Chiya, these two are the Hokage advisors, Lady Utatane Koharu and Lord Mitokado Homura. As for this one, he is the leader of Konoha's Root, Lord Shimura Danzō."

Once they reached the front, Yuhi Kurenai whispered the introductions to Chiya.

Upon hearing this, Chiya put on an extremely sunny and respectful expression, bowing to the three old foxes, "Lady Koharu, Lord Homura, Lord Danzō."

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura nodded, clearly very satisfied with Chiya's attitude, while Danzō remained expressionless. Detesting the sunlight as he did, he said indifferently, "Since you are here, let us begin. Your opponent is him."

"Kakashi, come out."

As his voice fell, a man with long white hair, dressed in Anbu attire and wearing a dog mask, stepped out.

Hatake Kakashi? I never expected us to meet in this manner. A hint of playfulness flashed obscurely in Chiya's eyes as he thought to himself.

ps: First update, seeking recommendation tickets and monthly votes.