Shin-chan hugged his school bag and shuffled into the school building. The hallway was empty and so quiet that the only sound was his own footsteps.
"Huh? Why is nobody here?" he muttered to himself as he walked to the door of Class A.
He slid it open.
Whoosh.
More than a dozen pairs of eyes turned toward him at the same time.
Teacher Ibuki stood at the front of the room, chalk in hand, looking at him with a complicated expression.
"Nohara Shinnosuke."
"Here." Shin-chan raised his hand.
"Do you know what time it is?"
Shin-chan thought about it, then answered seriously, "No. I don't have a watch."
"..."
"But judging from the position of the sun, it should almost be snack time?"
A vein twitched at Teacher Ibuki's temple.
"It is now 8:10 in the morning. The bell rang ten minutes ago."
"Oh." Shin-chan nodded, then started walking toward his seat.
"Wait." Teacher Ibuki stopped him. "Do you have anything to say?"
Shin-chan stopped, tilted his head, thought for a moment, then turned around and bowed to the teacher and the whole class. "Sorry I'm late. I'll come earlier tomorrow."
"..." Teacher Ibuki took a deep breath. "Sit down. If you're late again next time, you'll stand in the hallway."
Shin-chan nodded and went to sit beside Uchiha Toru.
"Morning, Toru," he whispered.
"Morning," Uchiha Toru whispered back. "Why were you late?"
"Couldn't be helped. Mom runs too slow."
Uchiha Toru was silent for two seconds and decided not to ask any follow-up questions.
Teacher Ibuki tapped the blackboard. "Alright, settle down. Today we're going to talk about a very important topic."
Then he turned and wrote four large characters on the board:
The Will of Fire
Shin-chan blinked and whispered to Uchiha Toru, "What's the Will of Fire? Can you eat it?"
Uchiha Toru's mouth twitched. "No."
"Then what's it for?"
"Just listen to the teacher."
Teacher Ibuki drew a simple tree on the board, with branches and leaves. "The so-called Will of Fire is the will to protect what is important to you, the will to protect the village. Konoha was founded so that children would no longer have to go to war and could live peaceful lives."
Then he looked at the children below.
"Where the leaves dance, fire burns on. That is the Will of Fire. It is not about living selfishly, but living to protect."
The classroom fell silent for a few seconds.
Obito's eyes sparkled. "That's amazing."
Guy's eyes were already starting to redden. "Youth! This is youth!"
Kakashi kept a blank expression, but his gaze rested on the blackboard as if he were thinking about something.
Then a hand went up.
Teacher Ibuki looked at it. "Nohara Shinnosuke."
"Teacher, if the Will of Fire means protecting important people, then am I an important person too?"
"Of course you are."
"Then can I protect 'myself' by not eating bell peppers?"
Teacher Ibuki froze.
The room went silent for one second, then burst into laughter.
"Quiet." Teacher Ibuki tapped the blackboard. "That has nothing to do with the Will of Fire."
"But teacher, that's what you said. I'm an important person too, so I have to protect myself. Bell peppers hurt me, so if I don't eat them to protect myself, isn't that the Will of Fire?"
Teacher Ibuki's mouth twitched. "Bell peppers do not hurt you."
"They do." Shin-chan looked dead serious. "They make me feel awful, they make me want to throw up, and they make me lose my appetite. If that's not harm, what is?"
"That's just because you don't like the taste."
"Isn't that still harm?" Shin-chan tilted his head. "Taste can be a kind of harm too."
Teacher Ibuki opened his mouth, only to realize he genuinely could not come up with a rebuttal right away.
Beside him, Uchiha Toru whispered, "Shin-chan, that's not how the Will of Fire works."
"Then how does it work?"
Uchiha Toru thought for a moment and explained seriously, "The Will of Fire is about sacrificing yourself to protect others. It's not something you use to get out of eating bell peppers."
Shin-chan blinked and fell silent for two seconds. "So the Will of Fire still can't help me avoid bell peppers?"
"No."
At the front of the room, Teacher Ibuki had overheard the exchange, and his expression was indescribable.
"Nohara Shinnosuke."
"Here."
"The Will of Fire is not there for you to exploit loopholes."
"But teacher—"
"No buts. When you go home today, write a reflection on what you understand the Will of Fire to mean."
Shin-chan's face fell. "Aw, I have to write?"
"Yes. Three hundred words."
"How much is three hundred words?"
"A lot."
Shin-chan sighed and slumped over his desk. "The Will of Fire is hard."
Beside him, Uchiha Toru couldn't help laughing.
"And you're laughing." Shin-chan looked at him resentfully. "This is all your fault. You didn't even help me out."
"How was I supposed to help? Everything you said was wrong."
"What was wrong about it?"
Uchiha Toru thought for a moment, then said seriously, "The Will of Fire is about making everyone happy, not just yourself."
Shin-chan blinked and looked at him. "Then Toru, what do you want to do in the future?"
Uchiha Toru froze, clearly not expecting the topic to change that fast.
"I... I don't know."
"You don't have a dream?"
Uchiha Toru lowered his head. "People in the Uchiha clan usually become ninja and serve the village."
"What about your own dream?" Shin-chan tilted his head.
Uchiha Toru was silent for a while, then said quietly, "Minister of Chocolate Sticks?"
"Oh, right." Shin-chan seemed to remember something. "We still have to eliminate bell peppers too."
Uchiha Toru's mouth twitched. "Can't you just forget about bell peppers?"
"No." Shin-chan looked absolutely serious. "Bell peppers are the enemy of my life."
At the front of the room, Teacher Ibuki continued explaining the Will of Fire.
"So, the core of the Will of Fire is protection—protecting the village, protecting your comrades, protecting the future. Among you, perhaps someone here may become Hokage one day."
"Me." Obito shot to his feet. "I'm going to become Hokage."
Teacher Ibuki jumped a little in surprise, then smiled helplessly. "Sit down, Obito."
"But teacher, I really am going to become Hokage."
"Yes, yes, I know. Sit down first."
Obito sat back down, but the excitement on his face didn't fade in the slightest.
"I'm going to become Hokage too," Guy said, raising his hand. "For youth!"
"Teacher," Rin raised her hand too, "can girls become Hokage?"
"Of course." Teacher Ibuki nodded. "The Hokage isn't chosen by gender."
Kakashi still said nothing, his face blank as ever.
But Teacher Ibuki suddenly turned to him. "Kakashi, what about you? Anything you want to say?"
Kakashi glanced at him coolly. "No."
"You don't want to become Hokage?"
"Too troublesome."
Teacher Ibuki: "..."
At the side, Shin-chan whispered, "Kakashi is so cool."
Uchiha Toru nodded. "Yeah. He's always like that."
"But does he eat bell peppers in the morning?"
"I don't know."
"If he doesn't eat bell peppers either, I'll admire him even more."
Uchiha Toru sighed and decided not to respond anymore.