I am currently standing in the academy ground and the First Hokage is giving a speech about the Will of Fire.
And to be honest, Hiruzen is nothing compared to him.
In the anime, Hiruzen also gives a similar speech, but when he does it, it feels more like an ideology being passed down to children. With Hashirama, however, you can actually feel the genuineness behind every word.
This man genuinely believes in what he is saying.
He genuinely wants the children of this village to grow up without experiencing the same kind of hell that his generation went through.
'I am really glad I chose this era.'
I looked around the ground and noticed several familiar faces.
Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Kagami Uchiha.
Danzo Shimura.
Koharu Utatane.
Homura Mitokado.
Torifu Akimichi.
These were some of the people who would later become important figures in Konoha's history.
Other than them, however, I couldn't recognize many people.
Well, that's understandable.
It's still years before the beginning of the canon story I know.
I looked toward the stage again.
Tobirama was standing behind Hashirama.
And beside him was Madara Uchiha.
Just like I remembered from the anime, the two of them clearly didn't like each other.
I could practically feel the tension between them.
'Those two really haven't changed.'
Around the ground were also the heads of the various clans and the parents of the children who had come to attend the opening ceremony.
Everyone was here to witness the beginning of something important for Konoha.
I turned my attention back toward Hashirama and continued listening.
After speaking for several minutes, he finally began reciting the famous poem that would later become known as the Will of Fire.
"Where the tree leaves dance,
One shall find flames.
The fire's shadow will illuminate the village,
And once again, tree leaves shall bud anew."
As I listened to those words coming directly from the man who created them, something strange happened.
I became completely absorbed in them.
The poem felt different when I heard it here.
Not through a television screen.
Not through someone else's voice.
But from Hashirama himself.
I could almost feel the meaning behind his words.
My mind slowly drifted away from everything around me.
'The tree refers to the Leaf Village…'
'And the dance is a metaphor for war.'
'One shall find flames…'
'The Hokage must accept the Will of Fire and protect the village.'
'The fire's shadow will illuminate the village…'
'And when one Hokage dies, another will rise to protect the Leaf.'
The interpretation suddenly became incredibly clear to me.
I didn't even realize that I had started muttering my thoughts aloud.
"Tree refers to the Leaf Village and dance is a metaphor for war. 'One shall find flames' means the Hokage should accept the Will of Fire and protect the village, which is mentioned in 'the fire's shadow will illuminate the village'. The last line translates to when the Hokage dies, a new Hokage should be chosen to protect the Leaf Village."
I remained in my daze for another few seconds.
Then I finally snapped out of it.
"What a touching poem."
Silence.
I blinked.
Something felt wrong.
I slowly looked around.
Everyone was staring at me.
'…Huh?'
The children looked confused, while the adults looked like they had just seen a ghost.
I glanced toward the stage.
Hashirama was staring at me.
So was Tobirama.
Madara was also looking directly at me.
The clan heads weren't any different.
'Oh.'
'Shit.'
I had completely forgotten that I was surrounded by people.
And apparently, my voice wasn't as quiet as I thought.
The children didn't seem to understand what I had said.
Most of them were probably just surprised that some random kid had started talking in the middle of the Hokage's speech.
The adults, however, were different.
They understood every word.
And judging by their expressions, they were very surprised that a child my age had managed to interpret the poem like that.
Hashirama was the first to move.
He walked toward me with a warm smile and crouched down before patting my head.
"What's your name, little one?"
"Karma. Karma Akabane."
I looked directly into his eyes.
"Karma… that's a good name."
He smiled.
"There are many adults who can't understand the true meaning behind a poem, much less a child your age. Tell me, kid. What's your goal?"
I didn't even need to think about my answer.
"I am going to become the Hokage."
I said it with a determined expression.
And it was the truth.
There were countless tragedies in the future that I wanted to prevent.
If I became Hokage, I would have far more influence over what happened in the village.
Hashirama stared at me for a moment before suddenly laughing.
"Hahahaha! That's a nice goal, kid. You will have to work hard to achieve it. Good luck. I look forward to seeing your future."
He patted my head once more before standing up.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
Hashirama walked back toward the stage.
Madara and Tobirama followed him, but before leaving, both of them gave me one last curious look.
The clan heads also left soon afterward, though not before scrutinizing me for a few seconds.
I watched them disappear.
Then I sighed.
'Sigh… there goes my peaceful life.'
I thought about it for a moment.
'Well, it probably wasn't going to last very long anyway.'
I never planned on hiding my talent.
This wasn't the era of the Third Hokage, where Danzo could secretly kidnap talented children and drag them into Root.
Hashirama was the Hokage.
The village was still young.
If I wanted to become Hokage one day, making people aware of my potential would probably benefit me far more than hiding it.
I looked toward the academy building.
'Well then…'
'Let's see what kind of life awaits me.'
(??? POV)
I am currently standing in the academy ground and the First Hokage is giving a speech about the Will of Fire.
And to be honest, Hiruzen is nothing compared to him.
In the anime, Hiruzen also gives a similar speech, but when he does it, it feels more like an ideology being passed down to children. With Hashirama, however, you can actually feel the genuineness behind every word.
This man genuinely believes in what he is saying.
He genuinely wants the children of this village to grow up without experiencing the same kind of hell that his generation went through.
'I am really glad I chose this era.'
I looked around the ground and noticed several familiar faces.
Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Kagami Uchiha.
Danzo Shimura.
Koharu Utatane.
Homura Mitokado.
Torifu Akimichi.
These were some of the people who would later become important figures in Konoha's history.
Other than them, however, I couldn't recognize many people.
Well, that's understandable.
It's still years before the beginning of the canon story I know.
I looked toward the stage again.
Tobirama was standing behind Hashirama.
And beside him was Madara Uchiha.
Just like I remembered from the anime, the two of them clearly didn't like each other.
I could practically feel the tension between them.
'Those two really haven't changed.'
Around the ground were also the heads of the various clans and the parents of the children who had come to attend the opening ceremony.
Everyone was here to witness the beginning of something important for Konoha.
I turned my attention back toward Hashirama and continued listening.
After speaking for several minutes, he finally began reciting the famous poem that would later become known as the Will of Fire.
"Where the tree leaves dance,
One shall find flames.
The fire's shadow will illuminate the village,
And once again, tree leaves shall bud anew."
As I listened to those words coming directly from the man who created them, something strange happened.
I became completely absorbed in them.
The poem felt different when I heard it here.
Not through a television screen.
Not through someone else's voice.
But from Hashirama himself.
I could almost feel the meaning behind his words.
My mind slowly drifted away from everything around me.
'The tree refers to the Leaf Village…'
'And the dance is a metaphor for war.'
'One shall find flames…'
'The Hokage must accept the Will of Fire and protect the village.'
'The fire's shadow will illuminate the village…'
'And when one Hokage dies, another will rise to protect the Leaf.'
The interpretation suddenly became incredibly clear to me.
I didn't even realize that I had started muttering my thoughts aloud.
"Tree refers to the Leaf Village and dance is a metaphor for war. 'One shall find flames' means the Hokage should accept the Will of Fire and protect the village, which is mentioned in 'the fire's shadow will illuminate the village'. The last line translates to when the Hokage dies, a new Hokage should be chosen to protect the Leaf Village."
I remained in my daze for another few seconds.
Then I finally snapped out of it.
"What a touching poem."
Silence.
I blinked.
Something felt wrong.
I slowly looked around.
Everyone was staring at me.
'…Huh?'
The children looked confused, while the adults looked like they had just seen a ghost.
I glanced toward the stage.
Hashirama was staring at me.
So was Tobirama.
Madara was also looking directly at me.
The clan heads weren't any different.
'Oh.'
'Shit.'
I had completely forgotten that I was surrounded by people.
And apparently, my voice wasn't as quiet as I thought.
The children didn't seem to understand what I had said.
Most of them were probably just surprised that some random kid had started talking in the middle of the Hokage's speech.
The adults, however, were different.
They understood every word.
And judging by their expressions, they were very surprised that a child my age had managed to interpret the poem like that.
Hashirama was the first to move.
He walked toward me with a warm smile and crouched down before patting my head.
"What's your name, little one?"
"Karma. Karma Akabane."
I looked directly into his eyes.
"Karma… that's a good name."
He smiled.
"There are many adults who can't understand the true meaning behind a poem, much less a child your age. Tell me, kid. What's your goal?"
I didn't even need to think about my answer.
"I am going to become the Hokage."
I said it with a determined expression.
And it was the truth.
There were countless tragedies in the future that I wanted to prevent.
If I became Hokage, I would have far more influence over what happened in the village.
Hashirama stared at me for a moment before suddenly laughing.
"Hahahaha! That's a nice goal, kid. You will have to work hard to achieve it. Good luck. I look forward to seeing your future."
He patted my head once more before standing up.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
Hashirama walked back toward the stage.
Madara and Tobirama followed him, but before leaving, both of them gave me one last curious look.
The clan heads also left soon afterward, though not before scrutinizing me for a few seconds.
I watched them disappear.
Then I sighed.
'Sigh… there goes my peaceful life.'
I thought about it for a moment.
'Well, it probably wasn't going to last very long anyway.'
I never planned on hiding my talent.
This wasn't the era of the Third Hokage, where Danzo could secretly kidnap talented children and drag them into Root.
Hashirama was the Hokage.
The village was still young.
If I wanted to become Hokage one day, making people aware of my potential would probably benefit me far more than hiding it.
I looked toward the academy building.
'Well then…'
'Let's see what kind of life awaits me.'