For the Strongest Hokage, Look to XX

The bustling monthly exams came to an end.

Everyone who had finished the exams was on edge. Some feared pressure from their families if their results were poor.

Others had no such worries.

At six the next morning, Konoha was still shrouded in mist, but a light was already on in one of the Hokage Building's offices.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat at a desk piled with documents, took a sip of tea, and began another day of paperwork.

Although he was still fairly robust, he had to admit that he was getting on in years.

In previous years, whenever monthly exams came around, the Ninja Academy's teachers would bring the grade books to his office in person and wait, then discuss the students' performance with him at length.

This had been the custom for years.

But seeing those teachers arrive at four or five every morning to wait for him, Hiruzen Sarutobi eventually found it too hard to bear.

Lord Hokage simply couldn't stand seeing anyone suffer.

So he might as well not see them.

Thus, he issued a new rule: once the exams were graded, the results could simply be left on his office desk. Any time within three days was acceptable.

Of course, after this rule was issued, not a single teacher actually waited until the third day.

Grading papers, compiling rankings, and writing comments-all of it was completed in one go on the night of the exams.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his office door the next morning, a neatly written report was already lying quietly on his desk.

After all, voluntarily working overtime for the Will of Fire was a basic qualification for Konoha's educators.

As for why, best not to ask.

"Let's see whether there are any promising youngsters this time."

Hiruzen Sarutobi picked up the report and began leafing through it.

The first page listed the overall rankings. He glanced over it, his gaze lingering briefly on a few names.

Minato Namikaze: above average in theory, outstanding in practical combat.

Yakushi Nonō: above average in theory, good in practical combat, with a special note that her "Chakra Control far exceeds that of her peers."

His gaze continued downward and stopped on another name.

Amamiya Maki.

Theory score: excellent.

Practical combat score: outstanding.

Hiruzen Sarutobi took the pipe from his lips and turned to Amamiya Maki's exam paper.

In truth, he already knew the backgrounds of these three children without needing to look.

All were orphans, Konoha villagers with impeccable roots.

Both parents deceased, no clan connections, raised from childhood in the Konoha Orphanage.

Clearly good children deeply nurtured by the Will of Fire.

But what truly caught his eye was Amamiya Maki's answer to the final essay question on the theory exam.

The question: "Why is Lord Third the strongest Hokage?"

Amamiya Maki's answer read as follows-

"Years ago, Lord Third assumed command of an army defeated under the Second's misguided leadership and saved Konoha in its hour of peril.

Now, after many years of his rule, all of Konoha grows ever more prosperous. Doors need not be locked at night, and lost belongings remain untouched on the roads-a scene of boundless vitality, with all things flourishing."

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded slightly.

An opening that addressed the topic directly, supported by classical allusions. Not bad.

"The First Hokage fell somewhat short in literary grace; the Second Hokage lacked a touch of poetic flair.

Madara Uchiha, the great Asura of his age, knew only how to wield a war fan and throw darts."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyebrows rose.

That phrasing, those comparisons, that sheer audacity-

"For the strongest Hokage, look to XX."

He set down the exam paper, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long breath.

This essay really had hit the sweet spot with its flattery.

It wasn't crude bootlicking, but high-quality flattery, backed by reasoning, built up layer by layer, and supported with classical allusions.

It began with historical context, used the achievements and failings of successive Hokage as its framework, then crowned the Third as the strongest with a magnificent closing line.

A complete structure, ample supporting arguments, and heartfelt emotion.

It could serve as a model essay for Konoha's Will of Fire.

Hiruzen Sarutobi read the paper again from beginning to end. The more he read, the more he felt that this child named Amamiya Maki was no ordinary boy.

Writing an essay like this at six wasn't something one could accomplish merely by memorizing the doctrines of the Will of Fire.

This child truly understood.

Amamiya Maki: I know what you're getting at.

He picked up the paper, rose, and left the office.

In a corridor at Root, Shimura Danzō was reading an intelligence report.

An oil lamp's flame danced silently in the gloom, casting his shadow long and thin against the wall.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi pushed the door open and entered, he didn't even raise his eyelids.

"What is it?"

"I have something to show you."

Hiruzen Sarutobi placed the exam paper before him.

Danzo glanced down, and his brows immediately knitted together.

In his hands, that page full of praise looked like an intercepted intelligence report from an enemy nation.

He skimmed it from beginning to end, moving quickly, his gaze pausing for only half a second on a few key phrases.

"You came all this way just to show me this piece of flattery?"

"Ah."

Hiruzen Sarutobi heaved a long sigh.

It seemed his old partner had still missed the important lines.

"Look at this sentence."

He pointed to the end of the essay.

Danzo followed his finger. After all the lavish praise, a separate line appeared at the end:

You don't gain the villagers' recognition by becoming Hokage; you can only become Hokage once you have their recognition!

The Will of Fire is the will I shall put into practice.

Danzo fell silent.

Not because he had been persuaded, but because he understood.

All the flattery before it, all the praise, all that "for the strongest Hokage, look to the present"-it was only packaging.

These two sentences were the true heart of the essay.

They bound the Third's legitimacy to the Will of Fire and made "being recognized" a prerequisite for "becoming Hokage."

Therefore, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had become Hokage, must have been recognized.

And that was precisely what Danzo could never accept.

What he had pursued his entire life was "become Hokage first, then gain the villagers' recognition."

Use strength, use schemes, use whatever means were necessary to take that seat, then make everyone acknowledge that he was right.

Amamiya Maki's essay had effectively sentenced his approach to death on theoretical grounds.

A six-year-old orphan had used his pen to define the word "Hokage" on a monthly exam paper at the Ninja Academy.

And that definition left no place for Danzo.

"Hmph!"

Danzo slapped the paper back onto the desk.

"Hiruzen, you'll regret treating this sort of personal XX as an excellent essay!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi put the paper away and spoke unhurriedly.

"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

Danzo stormed out, slamming the door.

A few specks of dust shook loose from the doorframe and swirled in the dim light.

Hiruzen Sarutobi neither followed him nor got angry.

He sat back down, unfolded Amamiya Maki's exam paper once more, and rested his gaze on the final two sentences.

You don't gain recognition by becoming Hokage; you can only become Hokage once you have recognition.

This child sincerely believed in the Will of Fire.

He wasn't merely writing it on an exam paper. He believed it from the bottom of his heart.

He silently committed Amamiya Maki's name to memory.

He would have to find some time to visit this year's promising youngsters in person.

Meanwhile, far away at the Ninja Academy, Amamiya Maki sneezed.

"What's wrong?"

Nonō turned to look at him.

"No idea."

Amamiya Maki rubbed his nose. "Maybe someone's talking about me."

Of course, he had no idea that the Third Hokage had personally judged his exam paper an exemplary essay.

Nor did he know that this essay had just sparked a minor argument between the Hokage and the Darkness of Konoha.

When handing in his paper, he had simply followed the principle of "make your flattery land right, not backfire."

He had polished the textbook's standard answer a little and added a few lines of XXXX.

The standard answer among standard answers.

Every class of Konoha students answering "Why is the Third the strongest Hokage?" had to use those two sentences at the end to elevate the theme.

He had merely written the right sentences in the right places.

Minato turned around from the row ahead, still holding his lunch box.

"Maki, how did your theory exam go this morning?"

"Pretty well, I guess. I filled the whole thing."

Amamiya Maki replied.

That was what he said aloud, but his thoughts were another matter entirely.

Those questions:

Which battle had the Third turned around with which ninjutsu? What mistakes had the First made in his later years? He had seen the standard answer to every single one in the textbook.

He had written those answers down without omitting a single word, then added a little something of his own at the end.

How could he put it? While writing, he had silently cursed the person who set the questions at least three times.

Minato clearly had no idea what he was thinking. He simply nodded, then picked up a piece of tamagoyaki from his lunch box and offered it to him.

"Try this. I used a different soy sauce."

Amamiya Maki took the chopsticks and was about to bring the food to his mouth when a series of system notifications suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Detected: host caused mental stress to "Hiruzen Sarutobi" (indirectly)

Pressure Points +15

Obtained: Fire Nature Transformation fragments ×2]

[Detected: host caused mental stress to "Shimura Danzō" (indirectly)

Pressure Points +25

Obtained: Wind Release Chakra Chakra Nature Transformation fragments ×3]

His chopsticks stopped in midair.

The Third and Danzo.

He hadn't even met either of them. How had Pressure Points arrived from a distance?

And Danzo's Pressure Points were ten higher than the Third's—what did that mean?

It meant that his essay had affected Danzo more strongly than the Third.

The Third had probably been delighted to read it, thinking another successor to the Will of Fire had appeared.

Danzo had probably been very unhappy, thinking another brat siding with Hiruzen had appeared.

One essay that pleased the Hokage and displeased Danzo at the same time. That was a deal with guaranteed returns.

"Amamiya Maki?

What's wrong?"

Nonō tilted her head as she looked at him.

His chopsticks were suspended in midair, and the tamagoyaki was almost cold.

Amamiya Maki came back to his senses, popped the tamagoyaki into his mouth, and chewed.

"Nothing. I was just thinking, no war news to compare in Konoha today."

Nonō frowned at him for a moment, feeling that something about that sentence sounded odd.

But since he didn't want to explain, she stopped asking.

After all, this boy hadn't been normal since his first day at school.

Amamiya Maki swallowed the tamagoyaki and mentally reviewed what he had just gained.

Those extra ten Pressure Points Danzo had yielded compared with the Third.

He could more or less guess the reason.

There was a line in that essay that wasn't about the Third, but about "people hiding in the shadows."

He had said something similar in class. Root's ninja had most likely reported that remark to Danzo along with the contents of his exam paper.

Danzo probably felt that this brat wasn't flattering the Third, but publicly choosing a side.

Farming rewards from afar.

The returns on this flattering essay had far exceeded expectations.