The Will of Fire!

The lecture hall inside the Ninja Academy.

It was called a lecture hall, but the technology tree in the world of Naruto was seriously skewed. They already had refrigerators, yet lacked electrical devices like telephones and microphones.

So the actual scene was a group of children sitting on the floor, watching the Third, who wore his Hokage hat, deliver their entrance speech.

"Children, as I said, wherever leaves dance, fire burns on. This is the Will of Fire passed down by the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. To me, everyone is one of those dancing leaves. But I already count as an old, decaying leaf, while you are newly sprouted young leaves."

"Our generation will turn our own bodies into flames, illuminating the dance of your new generation of Konoha leaves. And once you grow up, you, too, will burn for the next generation. As this cycle repeats, Konoha's fire will burn ever brighter..."

"Ahhh..."

Inside the Sealing Space, Hashirama yawned. Finally unable to take it anymore, he cut off his connection to the outside world.

He really couldn't be blamed. Monkey had been talking for a whole hour, all about his understanding of the Will of Fire and his hopes for the children.

Sarutobi: I could give my "The Will of Fire as I See It" speech for an entire day! I can do it all day!

Kurama gave Hashirama a strange look. He was curious why even Hashirama couldn't bear to listen anymore. Hadn't he proposed the Will of Fire?

"Hey, Hashirama? Why did you stop listening?"

Hashirama sat up straight and said with a perfectly serious expression.

"Hmph, of course I understand the Will of Fire I proposed myself. There's no need to keep listening."

Meanwhile, inside his head: I don't understand a damn thing! Seriously, how did Monkey wring so much out of 'wherever leaves dance, fire burns on'?

As everyone knew, the origins of Konoha and the Hokage began on a dark and windy day.

Hashirama and Madara stood atop the future Hokage Rock, looking down at the village that was beginning to take shape as they discussed its name.

"Madara, it's about time we gave the village a name."

Hashirama wore pale green clothes, while Madara stood beside him in a dark robe.

"Do you have any good suggestions?"

Hashirama turned toward Madara and asked with a smile.

That smile was so warm that it imprinted itself directly on Madara's heart.

Madara blinked, turned his head away, and looked at the leaf in his hand, gazing at the village through a hole in it.

Since you can use Wood Release...

"How about Konoha?"

Then Hashirama's answer instantly shattered Madara's composure.

"So literal. There's nothing distinctive about it. It's too obvious."

Hashirama lowered his head. Faint black lines seemed to appear around him, making him look thoroughly dejected.

"Hey, hey, hey! Isn't the name Hokage you came up with exactly the same? And you still haven't gotten over that habit of sulking!!!"

Madara had originally intended to play it cool and aloof, but Hashirama made him crack immediately.

Sigh, there's really no dealing with him.

In short, their leader was called the Hokage because Madara excelled at Fire Release, while the village was named Konoha because Hashirama could use Wood Release.

So the actual meaning of "wherever leaves dance, fire burns on" was, in fact-

Wherever I, Hashirama, am, Madara will be there!

Yes, that was how Hashirama explained it to Tobirama at the time, after which Tobirama gave him a thorough scolding.

He said that meaning was far too embarrassing to put into words, so he helped Hashirama tweak it slightly.

Then Konoha became the central subject, while the flames became what its leaves transformed into.

And he stripped away every trace of the meaning behind Hashirama and Madara's declaration of bromance.

"Brother, you already have children, yet you spend all day hanging around an old bachelor, and you're even whispering sweet nothings?"

"Whispering sweet nothings is one thing, but to an inherently evil Uchiha?"

"As for an inherently evil Uchiha... no, I can't let that slide at all! And you want to pass this meaning down to future generations?"

What a joke!!!

Tobirama was furious. Then, while Hashirama looked dejected once again, he wrote the phrase's "true meaning" into the history books.

Later, after Sarutobi and the others studied it in depth, it finally became what it was today.

Hashirama: I don't understand any of it!!!

"All right. I trust that, after my speech, your understanding of the Will of Fire has taken root in your hearts."

"I hope that, as you study at the Ninja Academy, you will deepen your appreciation of the Will of Fire and develop both your bodies and your minds."

The Third cleared his throat and looked kindly at the children below.

Hmm? Why has Naruto fallen asleep?

"Ahem!"

Quite a few sleeping children in the audience were startled awake by Sarutobi's voice.

Sigh, it's all my fault. I was so absorbed in speaking that I failed to consider how the children felt.

The Third reflected on himself, then decided to speak for five minutes less next time.

After all, teaching the Will of Fire had to start in childhood. It wouldn't do if they became rogue ninja in the future.

"Hey, Naruto, the speech is over!"

Kurama's voice woke Naruto from his dreams.

Huh? That soon?

Naruto's body jolted, but fortunately, the only person around him was Sasuke. Hinata was sitting with the girls.

Sasuke gave Naruto a disgruntled look. He had actually wanted to sleep too, but his older brother had told him to make a good impression on Lord Hokage, so he had forced himself to stay awake.

Naturally, seeing Naruto sleeping so soundly beside him annoyed him.

Naruto: You didn't sleep, and now you're blaming your big bro here? Sigh, what a rebellious kid.

The other children all sat some distance away from Naruto. Those who knew, knew why.

Not far away, a boy with black, pineapple-shaped hair rubbed his eyes. He had let his mind relax for a while, or, in short, zoned out.

"Hey, Shikamaru, is that the boy Ino mentioned?"

A little chubby boy beside him quietly asked Shikamaru, curiosity in his voice.

"Yeah, probably."

Naruto and Sasuke actually made quite a conspicuous pair, one blond and blue-eyed, the other black-haired and handsome. But because of who they were, none of the children around them dared approach.

Quite a few girls in the distant girls' group were staring at Sasuke, though very few looked at Naruto.

The reason was nothing more than the whiskers on Naruto's face. It didn't matter; Naruto was used to it, including from that pink-haired girl.

Yes, that was right, Sakura, who was staring at Sasuke.

It really left one speechless. She stared at Sasuke, then got scared when she accidentally caught sight of Naruto, then went right back to watching Sasuke once her fright passed.

Fortunately, Naruto was asleep, or he would have been speechless beyond belief.

Still, it was a good way to get through the Third's speech. Her best friend Ino was doing the same thing.

Sasuke: It's no sin to be captivated by an Uchiha's handsome face, but trying to anger an Uchiha is a sin.

Although being watched by girls was proof of his good looks, being watched nonstop was harassment.

"Iruka, take the students to their respective classrooms."

Having stood to one side throughout the entire speech, Iruka immediately thrust out his chest and answered loudly.

"Yes!"

"Students, I'm Iruka, and I'll be serving as the director of studies for your year. Next, I'll take you to your respective classrooms."

"First, split into classes according to the names I call out."

"..."