Sarutobi Hiruzen deftly unsealed the stack of exam papers. He lit a cigarette, red pen in hand, and began grading from the very first one.
This wasn't some ordinary test. Hiruzen himself had designed these questions. They were difficult—deliberately so. The point wasn't just to test knowledge, but to reveal the student's true ability, perspective, and inner heart.
As the Third Hokage and honorary head of the Ninja Academy, Hiruzen usually only appeared for speeches at opening or graduation ceremonies. Day-to-day, he left things to the staff. But this time was different. This wasn't just about evaluating Uchiha Seiji—he wanted to see how the next generation of Konoha carried the Will of Fire.
"Nohara Rin."
The first exam belonged to her. Her neat, careful handwriting alone put Hiruzen in a good mood.
"Not bad," he muttered, puffing smoke. "Still a little childish in her reasoning, but she grasped the core of the Will of Fire. For a child from a civilian family, that's impressive."
Then his eyebrows rose."Oh? She even mentioned Uchiha Seiji…"
In the final essay, 'Describe your understanding of the Will of Fire,' Rin had used Seiji as an example—how he'd selflessly offered to share his healing jutsu, the Mystical Palm Technique, with her. She wrote that this was the very embodiment of the Will of Fire.
Hiruzen nodded, smiling faintly. She wasn't wrong. A ninja who willingly shared jutsu with civilians—how was that not the Will of Fire? And beyond that, Hiruzen caught something else buried in her words… a trace of feeling.
"Young bonds… the very seed of the Will of Fire," Hiruzen murmured, pleased. He gave Rin a generous 87 points.
That strong start lifted his spirits. He turned eagerly to the next paper.
"Might Guy."
The Third Hokage's expression shifted as he read, eventually letting out a sigh somewhere between helpless and amused.
Every answer, every line… was youth, youth, and more youth!
Discipline? Youth. The Will of Fire? Youth. The unity of clan and commoner? Still youth.
Even the Hokage himself—Guy described Hiruzen in great detail as "a Hokage overflowing with youth!"
After a pause, Hiruzen chuckled. "Youth, huh? Interesting brat. Maybe I'm not that old after all…"
His theory work was weak, yes. But his optimism, his raw love for Konoha, poured out of the page.
"Good kid. Keep pushing forward."
He gave Guy 83 points, along with a handwritten note: 'I look forward to the day your youth blooms.'
Guy too had mentioned Seiji—specifically how Seiji had healed him once. To him, Seiji was the fusion of youth and the Will of Fire, his role model and goal.
Two exams in a row, both praising Seiji. Hiruzen found himself increasingly curious about the boy's own paper.
"Uchiha Obito."
At this, the Hokage's face grew heavy. ANBU had already flagged this child for him: a seven-year-old who awakened two-tomoe Sharingan. A prodigy. And more troubling, there were whispers he had been in contact with Uchiha Setsuna—the hawkish elder who once tried to spark a clan uprising.
"Uchiha genius, tied to the hawks…" Hiruzen inhaled deeply, frowning. Even as Hokage, that combination gave him a headache. It was one of Konoha's most pressing dangers.
Reading Obito's answers only deepened the crease in his brow. By the end, his face looked like a twisted knot of irritation.
The entire exam was drenched in clan rhetoric. His central thesis: power. He argued that with the Senju dissolved, the Uchiha should rightfully dominate Konoha. It was basically Setsuna's teachings, copied verbatim onto paper.
At the very end, Obito forced in some flimsy link between the Uchiha and the Will of Fire, but Hiruzen had stopped caring by then.
"Shinnosuke," Hiruzen said flatly, "keep ANBU eyes locked on Uchiha Obito. Shift surveillance priority toward him and Setsuna."
Across the desk, Sarutobi Shinnosuke—the Third's eldest son and commander of the ANBU—nodded. "Understood, Father."
Curious, he glanced at the paper himself. His eyes narrowed. "This kid's dangerous. My intel already suggested hawkish influence, but this is serious. Do we need to… intervene further?"
"No," Hiruzen said, waving a hand. "Words reveal the heart. Watch him closely, nothing more."
Even as he said it, he reached straight for Seiji's exam. Originally, he had intended to read all the tests in order, as a matter of fairness. But Obito's answers had rattled him. He couldn't wait any longer.
If Seiji's paper is anything like Obito's…
"No. Impossible," Hiruzen muttered to himself. "Seiji is Kagami's descendant. He's too kind for that…"
He found Seiji's paper quickly, straightened it with care, and began reading intently.
Shinnosuke noticed. His father wasn't the only one—his younger brother Asuma had also mentioned this boy's name lately. An Uchiha child, influencing the entire Sarutobi household? That was rare indeed.
As Hiruzen read, his stern expression melted. A genuine smile spread across his face. He even went back and reread lines, savoring them.
"…Where the leaves dance, the fire will burn—keeping the village alive and giving rise to new leaves…"
"…Fallen blossoms are not meaningless—they return to the earth as spring soil, nourishing future flowers…"
Hiruzen whispered the lines again and again, eyes shining, tapping the desk in rhythm.
These words hit him straight in the heart.
Especially the first—he could see it: a Hokage, sacrificing himself to protect the next generation of Konoha.
"Sensei… I miss you." Hiruzen's gaze lingered on Tobirama's framed portrait. His voice dropped. "Don't worry. For the village, I too will give everything… even my life."
Once more, he relived that fateful memory: Tobirama's last stand, his back turned as he stayed behind for his team. A memory that haunted him forever.
Commentary note: How Tobirama actually died… who knows. Personally, I'd say—at the time, even he didn't realize he had Flying Thunder God.