Rustling sounds filled the quiet classroom as students pulled several heavy books from their schoolbags, the turning of pages sounding exceptionally clear.
Uchiha Reki glanced over the mountain of theoretical masterpieces piled on his desk, unable to suppress a trace of helplessness in his heart.
"Chronicles of Konoha", "The First Hokage's Will of Fire", "The New Era's Will of Fire", "On the Will of Fire: Annotated by Sarutobi Hiruzen"...
Looking at these items, Uchiha Reki wore an expression as complex as a pie chart.
His eyes held three parts helplessness, three parts exhaustion, and four parts total numbness toward these theories.
It felt just like reading an article in school, only for the teacher to demand a profound book report of no less than eight hundred words.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's annotations were even more headache-inducing.
It was practically like reading someone else's book report, and then being asked to write a book report about that book report.
Uchiha Reki could not help but sigh inwardly; this bizarre operation was simply too abstract.
Meanwhile, Miyagi Shunsuke had already picked up his textbook and began explaining earnestly.
"As we covered in the last class, the Ninja Academy founded by Lord Second..."
Miyagi Shunsuke's voice carried its characteristic cadence as he drew a tree diagram on the blackboard.
The students sat straight, taking meticulous notes for fear of missing a single detail.
Uchiha Reki rested his chin on one hand, his knuckles unconsciously rubbing the corner of his clothes as his gaze drifted aimlessly.
He yawned and secretly observed Senju Hashirama inside him.
Senju Hashirama, the legendary First Hokage, was currently listening to Miyagi Shunsuke's lecture with an extraordinarily serious attitude.
Yet judging from his entirely blank expression, he did not understand much of it at all.
"Lord Hashirama, are you listening?"
Senju Hashirama awkwardly scratched his head. "Has the Will of Fire evolved to such profound depths since I died?"
"If the Will of Fire you promoted was version 1.0, then the current Will of Fire has updated to version 3.0. It's only natural that you don't understand."
Senju Hashirama was even more bewildered. "What kind of one point zero, three point zero? Why is the way you talk even harder to understand than what this teacher is lecturing about?"
Finding himself rather bored, Uchiha Reki started chatting with Senju Hashirama about other things.
"Lord Hashirama, tell me about the stories from your era."
Uchiha Reki snapped his fingers, conjuring two spacious sofas, and plopped down onto one.
"Back in our day," Senju Hashirama leaned back into the sofa, reminiscing about those painful past times.
"The training grounds always reeked of blood. A companion who was jumping around full of life today might become a corpse by tomorrow. War was the main melody of our era."
Uchiha Reki knew that the era Senju Hashirama spoke of was precisely the Warring States period.
Struggles between shinobi clans never ceased; every day was either spent fighting a war or preparing to fight one.
"It was during that time that you met Uchiha Madara, right?" Uchiha Reki asked softly.
Hearing Madara's name, Senju Hashirama fell silent for a long while.
A complex emotion flickered in his eyes, as if he were recalling that past filled with both deep friendship and fierce contradiction.
"If it weren't for the wars, Madara and I might have become lifelong best friends. We once shared a common ideal: hoping to establish a peaceful Shinobi World where shinobi would no longer kill each other over clan hatreds."
"But there was no other way. My surname was Senju, and he was an Uchiha; our hands were stained with too much blood of each other's clansmen."
"Every time we met on the battlefield, I went in with the firm resolve to die."
"I knew Madara felt the same way."
At this, Senju Hashirama paused.
"Fortunately, I had decent luck, living long enough to see the end of the war and even founding Konoha together with Madara."
"Back then, we thought we could finally realize our dream of peace."
Uchiha Reki propped up his chin, a hint of doubt in his gaze.
"But the books say Uchiha Madara was a traitor to the village. Not only did he leave Konoha, but he also became the village's enemy."
Senju Hashirama's expression turned somewhat complicated. He rubbed his head, seemingly sorting through his thoughts.
"Back then, Tobirama never agreed with my philosophy of peaceful coexistence with the Uchiha. He repeatedly stated that the Uchiha clan was inherently evil. Those words eventually reached Madara's ears."
"Madara understood that the suspicions in both sides' hearts had already begun to take root and sprout."
Senju Hashirama continued, "He realized that even though we once shared common ideals, in the face of clan hatred and suspicion, those ideals appeared so fragile. Thus, on a certain night, he left Konoha all alone."
Saying this, Senju Hashirama's gaze once again fell upon Uchiha Reki.
He examined the young man closely, as if seeing a familiar figure in him.
"You look alike, far too alike. Sometimes I even feel like you are Madara."
Uchiha Reki started coughing violently. "Is that why you wanted to slap me to death with Wood Release back then, Lord Hashirama?"
Senju Hashirama's old face flushed. "A misunderstanding, it was all a misunderstanding."
Then, a bold idea popped into Senju Hashirama's mind.
"Reki, is there any chance you might actually be Madara's descendant?"
Uchiha Reki was completely dumbfounded. Senju Hashirama had just gone and found him a grandfather out of nowhere?
"I have no idea. My parents never mentioned anything from the past, and I only found out my mother was a member of the Senju clan through the mementos she left behind."
Senju Hashirama did not dwell on these matters any further.
The Will of Fire taught in the Ninja Academy today had reminded him of many things once again.
"Reki, you carry the bloodline shared by both the Senju and the Uchiha. You are destined to become a shinobi who protects Konoha."
Protect Konoha, huh? Uchiha Reki turned those four words over in his mind.
If it weren't for those few troublemakers, Konoha would have taken off long ago; there wouldn't be any need for anyone to protect it.
Senju Hashirama continued, "I have always believed that the Uchiha clan is not inherently evil; they simply differ in theory."
"Yeah..."
Right at that moment, Miyagi Shunsuke put away his textbook.
"Class dismissed."
"Awesome!"
The half-asleep students streamed out in a file, only to be frightened half to death by Miyagi Shunsuke's next sentence.
"Take a ten-minute break, then come back and prepare for the assessment on the Will of Fire."
As soon as those words fell, waves of complaints instantly erupted inside the classroom.
Miyagi Shunsuke added one more calm sentence, leaving them utterly speechless.
"The scores for this Will of Fire assessment will be submitted directly to Lord Hokage."
Uchiha Reki curled his lips. Did Sarutobi Hiruzen have nothing better to do than grade papers himself?
Amidst a chorus of groans, the exam began.