Land of Fire.
Konohagakure.
Konoha Calendar Year 53, December 8th, 5:00AM Konoha Standard Time.
Village Northwest Central Section, Morita Household.
~Soutarou POV, Two Years after Itachi's Graduation~
Soutarou stared up at his ceiling in half tiredness and half excitement all while he lay sprawled out all over his bed, before a knock resounded, "Wake up Soutarou."
Soutarou purposefully grumbled as if still asleep, before a sigh rang out from the other side of the door and Soutarou heard footsteps walking away from the door.
'Thank God it wasn't Kabuto trying to wake me up, but just Shizune… Shizune is way too soft compared to that damned adopted brother of mine…'
'Still… Two whole years huh…? I've definitely dragged out staying at the village for as long as I can. At this point I'm probably as strong as a bonafide well rounded Veteran Jonin… Though my taijutsu, sword play, and water release put me in a bracket above that… But unfortunately I haven't focused on anything else. I worked a bit on Genjutsu so I don't get absolutely folded by Naori and Izumi's sharingan…'
'But even in Genjutsu I've worked on how to seamlessly break out of it and cast disruption Genjutsu, not true combat Genjutsu. Well that and old man Kosuke's Leaf-Willow and Leaf-Style.'
'Other than that I haven't even touched any other element… I worked my body flicker quite a bit and I've got it down to the point where I can do it without handsigns too… But I haven't been able to take it any further… Despite that I've mastered the rasengan, and I've always been slowly making progress on fuinjutsu and juinjutsu… But combat wise I guess the only real progress I've made is in my Taijutsu and water-natured transformation.'
'That's right… I freaking did it! I finished the third stage of water natured transformation and heck I've started on the fourth stage… But the scale of the fourth stage is just absurd… So it'll take some time or rather a long time for me to get there… In fact I have a fairly good inkling that if I break through the fourth stage I'll break through to S-rank.'
'You're probably thinking, does that mean I'm Elite Jonin caliber right now…? Nope! Hell no! Old man Kosuke and even Nono would eat me alive… Though Old man Kosuke's probably an S-rank in all honesty… Still the point stands that at present I'm not the peak of the peak of Jonin forget entering elite jonin level.'
'Why, you might ask? Well jonin are adaptable… Sure in most scenarios I'm about a veteran jonin right now, but I lack one thing… Versatility. I'm only really capable in one element and close combat. Which again is enough for most scenarios… Except when I'm faced with a counter I just die. Well… not really just die, but you get the point…'
'The main thing is I'm severely lacking outside of my realm of expertise… Still I'm well above Naori, Izumi, and I'm guessing Itachi too. Izumi awakened her second tomoe, and Itachi got his third after his squadmate Tenma Izumo died at what I'm guessing are Obito's hands.'
'As for Naori… She's probably the strongest in raw prowess of the three of them… Well… At least for now… Once Shisui dies… Itachi will jump up again. And just because Naori's the strongest doesn't mean she'd win if she fought the other two… In fact I'd be willing to bet that Itachi would be the winner just because of his crazy combat instincts and his ability to adapt on the fly.'
'The reason I say I'm still above them is that my abilities just straight up counter them… I have to thank the great old gramps for that one… Still Naori and Itachi are firmly in the middle of Jonin Tier while Izumi is probably like a strong Elite Chunin. Absolutely bonkers line up for our graduating class… Not to mention us getting so strong drove our classmates to get stronger too… Like Hana Inuzuka who's solidly chunin level or Hikaru Hyuga who's actually middle level Elite Chunin.'
'Yeah Hikaru trains his butt off all day, honestly I feel bad for the guy, because in all honesty he's not as talented as Naori, Itachi, Izumi, or me… But still he's the one who's been pushing himself the hardest…'
'There's no one else of noteworthy mention in our graduating class… Though there was something interesting this year I suppose…'
'Yugao Uzuki's team fell apart and she's still a genin, a promising one at that meaning she might end up on one of the new teams from our little batch…'
'Well… Nothing major I suppose compared to the years before that… Orochimaru still went rogue as expected, though this time it was delayed a bit… The Hyuga fiasco went down the exact same way with Hizashi Hyuga sacrificing himself… the Kirigakure Civil War or whatever nonsense is happening over there started because they returned to their policy of isolationalism. On an interesting note, my ANBU guard returned to a single guard, who isn't Kakashi or Tekuno.'
'I suppose the only real differences in this timeline so far are me, my graduating class, and well… Tsunade-nee and the moves she's been making… That's right, right around the time the Hyuga fiasco happened Kirigakure and Sungakure ended their little spat… Tsunade-nee went and saved a certain someone who was supposedly sacrificed in the ceasefire between them… Or that other person who was supposed to become one of Orochimaru's hidden aces who Tsunade-nee snatched up. Though I didn't give her information on Kimimaro on purpose… I don't want her going anywhere near Kirigakure again for a while… Saving that other person was already pushing it. Not to mention I've already reduced Orochimaru's forces a little bit.'
'Anyways I guess I've wasted enough time… It's time… To graduate and see where I end up.'
Soutarou yawned bit and got up slowly stretching before throwing on his clothes in a blitz
Before pausing in front of the mirror and giving himself a good glance over before going over to the wall with measurements marked alongside it and marking and reading off the marked point…
[58 inches.]
'Damn I'm getting tall…'
'Ah shit I'm getting distracted again…!'
Rushing out of the bathroom and rushing downstairs he quickly came downstairs only to find Nono missing, with only Kabuto and Shizune there.
Kabuto was just staring at him with that look of 'really?' while Shizune had the gentle expression of 'my child's all grown up.'
Shizune softly said, "Come eat Soutarou."
Kabuto shook his head and said, "Shizune-nee you're too soft on Soutarou."
Soutarou sighed and asked Kabuto, "What do you even mean by that? If someone's rough there has to be a good cop too."
Kabuto rolled his eyes and said, "If you're in your lazy mode then there should only be the bad cop."
Soutarou huffed and said, "You'd better pray you're not on my genin squad or I'll drown you under the waves."
Kabuto sighed and said, "You'd seriously kill your squad's fuinjutsu specialist and healer?"
Soutarou waved dismissively, "No I wouldn't kill you just drown you. And don't worry I know a bit of healing jutsu and as for fuinjutsu I'm more experienced than you so no problems there."
Kabuto just rolled his eyes and said, "Seriously… Sometimes you're the smartest and most dependable person and others you're just an idiot."
Soutarou flashed Kabuto a bright smile and didn't respond any further as he began devouring his breakfast rapidly. After he finished he finally seriously said, "Let's go… It's finally time."
Kabuto's eyes glinted and he nodded and said, "Good luck."
Soutarou waved dismissively and walked to the door where Shizune bid the two farewell.
As the pair flickered towards the academy Soutarou suddenly a had a weird thought, 'Isn't
Kabuto, who had already graduated and is technically a Konoha shinobi finally getting assigned a genin squad kinda messed up? Especially when you consider that by merit Kabuto could've already been promoted to a special jonin, albeit one specialized in medical ninjutsu long ago. Huh, I guess this guy took my advice back then seriously and just waited for me…'
'Man well… If everything else goes to shit at least I got him backing me up don't I?'
'Though I need to get him a Ryuchi cave contract or how else is his sage mode talent going to bloom?'
'Fine… You've been a loyal brother and close aide… I'll try to get my hands on some goodies for you.'
Soutarou shook his head and instead focused on what lie ahead. As the pair approached the dark red academy building they split off with Soutarou calmly entering a different classroom than usual where Naori, Izumi, Hana, and Hikaru were.
Soutarou looked around and saw no one else making him turn questioning, before Naori just said out loud to him, "Stop looking around Souta, it's just us taking the graduation exam this time."
Soutarou let out an audible, "oh" and Izumi just stifled a laugh while Hana rolled her eyes. Naori on the other hand was also holding back a laugh, but she had some unreadable hidden emotion that made Soutarou's hair stand on end.
'Damn Uchiha…!'
Just as Soutarou settled in, in walked Ikaku Umino holding a small pile of test papers which he promptly passed out, before walking to the front of the classroom and saying, "All of you are the most talented amongst your generation, I won't say anything other than the written exam now begins. Do your best and congratulations in advance."
Soutarou rolled his eyes and thought, 'Always so many formalities if you know we're all passing then why even bother?'
Soutarou looked through the test quickly filling in answers even his newly reincarnated self could do before he found himself on the most bullshit math questions about shuriken angles and whatnot.
Soutarou's eyes twitched, but he worked through the questions slowly, but surely soon finishing most of the test before he found himself on the last page…
[In your own words describe the Will of Fire…]
'Heh…'
Soutarou took his pencil and thought about writing some nonsense answer, before he shook his head and decided to instead write something proper and befitting of his Grandfather's legacy.
'Here goes nothing I suppose…'
[The Will of Fire is many things, but in its prime essence it is the glue that holds our very village together, it binds us all in one united family under the great tree that is Konohagakure. In the words of the Great Second Hokage, "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."
Or in other words, the Will of fire is the belief that no one in Konoha stands alone. And that it is the duty of those who came before to protect, guide, and nurture those who come after, just as a tree shelters its young leaves until they are strong enough to reach towards the sun themselves.
It is not merely the courage of the battlefield, nor is it the compassion in peace, sacrifice in hardship, and faith in one another even in the darkest of times.
So long as that fire burns in our hearts, the village will endure, and the next generation will rise carrying the hopes, dreams, and the strength of the last. That is the true legacy of the Will of Fire embodied by the Charmistic First Hokage Hashirama Senju, the Great Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, the Current Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Mighty Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze.
And just as each has shown the will of fire is a will where one does not simply to live for oneself, but to protect the future of everyone we call family and of our home, Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.
Written by Soutarou Morita]
'Gramps… If this shit isn't good enough I swear I'll tear open your coffin even before Orochimaru does!'
Turning his paper in, Soutarou waited outside the classroom where Hikaru was already waiting before Hikaru asked Soutarou, "Soutarou-san… How do I get stronger?"