Will of Fire

The ninja school gave two days off, but Kamiya Keiyun didn't hit the streets; he stayed home, burying himself in training.

He consolidated the Basic Leg Techniques, summarizing them into a set of training methods, which he named Basic Leg Techniques 1.0. He even incorporated horse stance into Basic Leg Techniques 1.0. Standing all day at school, then training for two more hours after class, left his legs feeling like they weren't his own anymore.

But Kamiya Keiyun knew this was just his body not being used to the training—like someone who hasn't exercised in a long time, once they run a kilometer or climb a mountain, their legs are bound to ache for two or three days afterward.

Just stick with it, and it'll be fine.

Sure enough, by Monday when school started again, his legs had mostly adapted.

As for combat style, since he had no real battle experience, he couldn't sum that up yet.

He wasn't in a rush, though—after all, first-year students didn't have combat class.

"Hey, Kakashi, you're here?" As soon as Kamiya Keiyun arrived, he saw Kakashi sitting upright in the classroom.

He no longer jogged with the teacher in the mornings, since running didn't train his legs and stamina as well as Basic Leg Techniques 1.0. Better to practice legwork at home, so he wasn't the earliest student in class anymore.

But Kakashi—hadn't he been absent for three days already?!

Kakashi turned his face away, ignoring Kamiya Keiyun.

"What, ignoring people now?" Kamiya Keiyun blinked, then remembered his earlier question: Hatake Sakumo and Hatake Kakashi—could they really be related?

Konoha wasn't big, and Hatake wasn't a common surname. Maybe they were from the same family.

If that was the case, then Hatake Sakumo's trouble now would likely affect Hatake Kakashi.

Still, Hatake Sakumo was a jonin. Kakashi's family actually had a jonin!

"Kakashi, are you okay?" A girl with face paint walked over, asking gently, "You haven't been coming to school lately..."

It was Uchiha Obito's childhood sweetheart, Nohara Rin.

Kamiya Keiyun immediately looked at Uchiha Obito. Sure enough, Obito was glaring resentfully in their direction—mostly at Hatake Kakashi.

"This girl's got high-level skills. Just three days, and she's got this Uchiha crushing on her?" Kamiya Keiyun watched the scene. Not that Nohara Rin was being two-faced.

It was more that Obito was reading too much into things. Rin was gentle with him, so he mistakenly thought she liked him.

Little did he know, the girl was naturally kind to everyone.

Sure enough, the number one of the world's three great illusions lived up to its name. Even across worlds, it still worked.

"None of your business!" Kakashi was clearly in a bad mood, snapping curtly.

"Hey, Kakashi, Rin's just worried about you—how can you talk like that!" Uchiha Obito slammed his hand on the desk and stood up. "Apologize to Rin!"

"Idiot!" Kakashi shot Obito a glare and went back to reading his book.

Kamiya Keiyun glanced at the title: Konoha and the Will of Fire. What was that?

"It's okay, Obito. Kakashi-kun must be troubled lately. Let's not bother him!" Nohara Rin was understanding, not holding a grudge against Kakashi.

"Hmph, lucky you!" Uchiha Obito turned away, only to hear Kakashi mutter again: "Idiot!"

"You bastard!" Uchiha Obito clenched his fists. "You looking for a fight?! Let's go, to the training ground!"

"Whoa, they're about to throw down?" Kamiya Keiyun blinked, then looked around. No one was calling for a teacher—everyone looked excited instead!

This school.

"Let's go!" Kakashi was already in a foul mood, had been for days, and was itching for a fight. Now someone was walking right into it—why not take the chance to punch him?

The two got up and headed out, and the rest of the class swarmed after them. In less than half a minute, only two people were left in the room!

One was him, Kamiya Keiyun. The other was the Pineapple Head, sleeping face-down on his desk.

"Sleeping every day—how does he even manage that?" Kamiya Keiyun was curious. Humans had a fixed need for sleep each day; past that point, you shouldn't be able to fall asleep.

How could he sleep every single day? Was he staying up all night training, like himself?

Kamiya Keiyun's gaze toward the Pineapple Head sharpened.

That hairstyle was pretty distinctive too—not like some random background character. Maybe he was one of those guys who pretended to be weak while hiding his strength!

As expected, a class couldn't be full of slackers. There had to be some good students too.

As for why Kamiya Keiyun didn't go out—he really wanted to see Kakashi fight, but he was even more curious about the book Kakashi had left on his desk.

In the ninja academy, chances to get books were rare. And this was something the genius Kakashi was reading—it had to be special.

He picked up the book and opened it.

The first page had two big lines as a preface: Where leaves dance, fire burns on and on.

"What is this?" Kamiya Keiyun turned the phrase over in his mind. His first thought was: set the mountain on fire, and you'll rot in jail.

Was this describing a massive forest fire?

He read on. Oh, so this was Konoha's founding spirit.

Forty years ago, the First Hokage founded Konoha and first proposed the Will of Fire. Later ninjas kept adding to it and refining it, until the Third Hokage expanded it into an ideal totem in every ninja's heart.

The full content was: Where leaves dance, fire burns on and on. The flames will continue to light up the village and let new leaves sprout.

The rest of the book was mostly stories, examples of past ninjas putting the Will of Fire into practice.

"How to put it... it's a bit like 'The spring silkworm dies only when its silk runs out; the candle turns to ashes only when its tears dry up'?" Kamiya Keiyun flipped further back. He felt there should be more content.

But this thin little book really was just the Will of Fire plus stories.

"Is this some kind of collection of Konoha's ideological teachings?" Kamiya Keiyun flipped back to the cover, but didn't see any "Volume One" or "Book One" markings.

So, just this one book?

"Something is wrong." Kamiya Keiyun scratched his head, then continued flipping through the Will of Fire to study it.

Meanwhile, at the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, wasn't idle either.

Before Kakashi and Uchiha Obito had even started fighting at the ninja academy, word of it had already reached him.

"Kakashi, don't blame me." Thinking of Hatake Sakumo, Sarutobi Hiruzen shook his head. There was nothing he could do. Hatake Sakumo's prestige was too high, his contributions too great.

When a meritorious retainer can no longer be rewarded, the remaining options are few.

Either give up his own seat, or have that retainer killed.

He planned to suppress Hatake Sakumo, but he never intended to abandon Kakashi. After all, Kakashi was Hatake Sakumo's son, already showing considerable talent at a young age. In the future, he might become another Konoha's White Fang.

But by then, the Three Legendary Sannin's rise to power was already set in stone. Even if another Konoha's White Fang grew up, it wouldn't matter much.

He wanted to see how Kakashi performed, and also wanted to see how Uchiha Obito fared, since he was the Uchiha Clan's student sent to the academy this year.

He opened his crystal ball. The spar had just started, but within ten seconds, it was already over.

Kakashi went without saying—his Taijutsu was already quite polished, and he had begun to grasp swordsmanship. At his current displayed level, he was already no weaker than some civilian genin.

As for Uchiha Obito, well.

Let's just say his potential was great.

By the way, Teacher Iruka had also mentioned a promising student named Kamiya Keiyun earlier. Why hadn't he come to watch the match?

The crystal ball wavered twice, then shifted to the classroom.

And there, he saw Kamiya Keiyun, hugging Konoha and the Will of Fire, reading it with great interest.