Inside the Hokage Tower next to the Ninja Academy, the Third Hokage was making strange noises in the restroom.
"Hehehe..."
"Heheheheh..."
Ahem, the truth is the Third Hokage was perched on the toilet, flipping through a slim little book. As for what it contained, well... let's not say.
"Hehe, my disciple Jiraiya really understands me. How could Orochimaru's research report possibly be more entertaining than this?"
Shocking! The Third Hokage secretly reading such a book in the restroom!
"The new photos of my teacher are pretty wild."
(Not naming any names here, for fear of ruining your innocence if you Google it.)
"Trouble! The Ninja Academy is on fire!" Suddenly, a loud shout startled the Third Hokage so much he dropped the small book he'd barely started into the toilet.
"???"
Staring at his now-empty hands, the Third Hokage went absolutely still, like time itself had stopped.
"What do you mean, the Ninja Academy?" He stuck his hand into the toilet and realized the book hadn't gone down too far.
"Huh? What 'burning'?"
"It's the Ninja Academy that's burning!"
The Third Hokage, who had just picked the book back up, once again jerked his hand. This time, however, his luck wasn't nearly as good—the book, full of those mysterious "mosaics" kids don't get, directly plunged into an endless abyss.
"Pfft… That was my favorite copy…"
A mournful scream echoed from inside the restroom.
Nishinodera had barely shouted about the fire when Anbu members arrived at the scene.
"What exactly happened? How could the school catch fire like this without reason?" The Third Hokage soon arrived at the location after the Anbu.
"I just found out myself. It was the students leaving who told me, but at least most of the students have already evacuated," Nishinodera answered blankly.
The Third Hokage immediately asked anxiously, "So do you know what exactly went on?"
Only after hearing the question did Nishinodera react, staring hatefully at the burning classroom as he gritted his teeth, "It was Shen Uchiha! That kid even admitted setting the fire himself, saying any trouble should come straight to him."
The Third Hokage and all the Anbu agents exchanged utterly confused glances [meme face intensifies].
"Although these details all came from Akimichi Heiji's account, so I can't guarantee their accuracy," Nishinodera added.
"Why does this feeling of familiarity feel so familiar?" The Third Hokage commented that this situation seemed oddly reminiscent of something before.
"Oh right! Didn't he also say something about the Senju young master liking men last time?" The suddenly enlightened Third Hokage immediately ordered the Anbu, "Go extinguish the fire quickly, or the entire school will burn down!"
Receiving orders, the Anbu members vanished on the spot—they were about to step up as makeshift firefighters in Konoha.
"What a headache... Headache indeed. Qing reminded me yesterday about taking fire prevention measures, yet today the school caught fire anyway. How did that child manage to cause such trouble so easily?"
Rubbing his temples, the Third Hokage expressed how exhausted he felt. In the past month alone, from abnormal activities in Amegakure, to the collapse of the Uchiha Commercial Street, and now the school fire today—he wondered why one misfortune followed another recently.
"Lord Third, the fire has been put out," reported one kneeling Anbu member.
The Third Hokage set aside his personal concerns for now and focused on the situation at hand. "As long as the fire's out, have we figured out the cause?"
"There were clear signs of Fire Release Ninjutsu at the scene. Based on the scale of the blaze, someone must have used it at least ten times."
"Ten times? Qing, do you really think a five-year-old could have that much chakra?" The Third Hokage asked rhetorically.
"If it were anyone else, I wouldn't be sure, but if it was truly Shen of the Uchiha clan doing this, I wouldn't find it strange at all," Qing replied, appearing beside him.
"What's your reasoning?"
"Based on available intelligence, that child seems to have always been prone to troublemaking. And just several weeks ago, Anbu received intel stating Kazushi spent an entire night chasing Shen around the Uchiha compound. Perhaps he held a grudge and decided on revenge?" Qing spoke emotionlessly as always.
"Burning down a school over a sense of injustice? Truly childish." After hearing the analysis, the Third Hokage couldn't help but shake his head with a bitter smile.
"Lord Third, should I bring that child in for questioning?"
"Why would you do that? It's just a kid letting off steam. Besides, no students were injured. I'll simply invite Kazushi over for tea another day."
To the Third Hokage, this was nothing more than a child acting out from lack of fatherly attention. Thinking about it this way even seemed to explain the recent disappearance of the Commercial Street. If Shen knew his carefully planned B plan had been interpreted by the Third Hokage as mere childish mischief, who knows what kind of reaction he'd have?
"Detach one construction squad from the Uchiha Commercial Street project to renovate the school. Use this opportunity to completely upgrade the facilities, and also notify the schoolteachers to give the kids a break this month."
"Yes!"
After appropriately resolving the matter, the Third Hokage left the school grounds. He planned to go back later and try getting that book again.
At the Uchiha clan head's residence, Mikoto was reporting the day's events to Kazushi and Aiko.
"That's basically everything, Lord Kazushi." Having said that, Mikoto promptly excused herself.
Was she going to stay until iron-faced Kazushi exploded in rage?
Immediately after Mikoto left, Kazushi clenched his fists so tightly they cracked audibly. Words could barely express his fury at this moment.
"Darling—"
"Aiko, don't even try defending him! That brat already caused me trouble halfway through this morning!" An angry Kazushi immediately cut her off.
"No, I'm not trying to defend him. It's just that according to Mikoto's report, it seems Shen has started hanging out with that Hyuga girl?" Aiko's attention clearly wasn't focused on her youngest son burning down a school.
Kazushi was instantly defeated by her words. "That's not the point! The point is all the trouble that idiot keeps causing!"
Aiko scoffed at Kazushi with a dismissive smirk. "That's all? I thought he actually blew up the school. Didn't he swear he'd do something like that this morning?"
"You're right! What happened to that boy? Why did he stop after just one fire?" Suddenly realizing something, Kazushi began growing suspicious.
"Maybe it was just too hard for him? We can ask when Shen returns."
Aiko clearly has a higher tolerance level than Kazushi. She said that compared to obliterating an entire street, this was just a minor issue.
"This is giving me a headache! If the school can't handle this kid, what are we supposed to do?" Accepting reality, Kazushi decided he'd play dumb if the Third Hokage came looking for trouble.
When Fugaku returned from training, he saw his parents wearing troubled expressions. "Father, Mother, what's wrong?"
"It's you, Fugaku. Nothing serious—just that your younger brother burned down the school."
Hearing Kazushi calmly narrate such shocking news, Fugaku couldn't help but marvel at how surreal life had become.
Who could possibly speak about something like arson at school so nonchalantly? It seemed like his family had simply become too accustomed to bizarre events lately. If Konoha got blown off the map one day, they'd probably accept it with calm faces too.
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