“All right.
Now that everyone has finished introducing themselves, open your textbooks to the first page.
We’ll begin with the section titled ‘The Will of Fire.'”
At the front of the classroom, Nomi Ikkaku clapped his hands and addressed the students below.
Qiyu stared at the words The Will of Fire printed across the page.
No matter how he looked at it, the whole thing read like the doctrine of some pyramid scheme—grandiose nonsense from beginning to end.
As Nomi Ikkaku recited the text with deep emotion, his reverent tone making it sound as though he were reading from holy scripture, Qiyu found himself growing drowsy.
With nothing better to do, he opened his status panel and continued studying it.
He currently had a little over five thousand Malice Points.
It was not enough to raise any of his Proficient-level skills to Perfection, but he could still improve his Water and Earth Release, then raise a few auxiliary professions to the Intermediate level.
Once the thought occurred to him, Qiyu immediately focused his will on the Water and Earth Release skill panels.
“Upgrade.”
In an instant, an immense flood of knowledge concerning the principles of water and earth poured into his mind.
It was profound, obscure, and mysterious.
A dull ache pulsed through his head, causing him to frown involuntarily.
As the knowledge was slowly absorbed, Qiyu felt his mastery over the two systems deepen considerably.
Their techniques now seemed to respond as naturally as his own limbs.
Afterward, he upgraded both Artifact Refining and Pill Refining to the Ordinary level.
Knowledge of countless refining methods, alchemical procedures, and medicinal herbs surged into his mind once more.
Even though Qiyu had prepared himself, the rapid influx still left his head throbbing.
Fortunately, his spiritual power had grown considerably.
Otherwise, he would never have dared to upgrade several major skills in one sitting.
He still remembered what had happened shortly after he first obtained his unique system.
Back then, he had possessed nothing more than the mind of an ordinary child and had been completely unprepared.
The overwhelming torrent of forcibly implanted knowledge had knocked him unconscious on the spot, leaving Mikoto worried for who knew how long.
Qiyu’s occasional frowns did not escape Nomi Ikkaku, who was standing at the front of the classroom explaining the Will of Fire.
“Looks like we have another Uchiha who leans toward the hardliners.”
Nomi Ikkaku glanced indifferently at Qiyu, seated near the back of the room.
A trace of coldness flashed through his eyes.
Before class, the Third Hokage had specifically instructed him to carefully observe Fugaku’s two sons, both of whom had entered the Academy this year.
He had yet to determine what the other boy was like, but the one before him was clearly not an Uchiha who felt any loyalty toward the village.
Disgust welled up inside Nomi Ikkaku.
Most of the village’s civilians blamed the jinchūriki for the Night of the Nine-Tails.
But as someone who had fought on the front lines that night, Nomi Ikkaku had clearly seen the Sharingan reflected in the Nine-Tails’ eyes.
As a result, most civilian shinobi harbored deep hatred toward the sinful Uchiha clan.
He was no exception.
From the moment he entered the classroom, his expression had remained calm, but inwardly, he had felt no small amount of revulsion toward the young heir of the Uchiha clan.
Now, seeing Uchiha Qiyu’s obvious rejection of the Will of Fire only deepened that resentment.
The most direct result was that Qiyu received another one hundred Malice Points.
Qiyu emerged from the sea of knowledge concerning wind, water, earth, and the various systems of cultivation filling his mind.
When he noticed that his dwindling Malice Points had suddenly increased by another hundred, he froze and glanced toward Nomi Ikkaku, who was still solemnly lecturing about the Will of Fire.
“What is wrong with this guy?
Did I kill his father or his mother?
Why does he hate me this much?”
A mocking smile tugged at Qiyu’s lips.
Watching the jōnin instructor earnestly preach the Will of Fire from the podium, Qiyu nearly laughed aloud.
“He cannot even treat the village’s students equally, yet he stands up there preaching about the Will of Fire.
Calling it complete nonsense really isn’t unfair at all.”
Izumi, seated beside him, noticed his expression and nudged him gently with her elbow.
“Qiyu-kun, what’s wrong?”
She lowered her voice to a whisper.
Seeing Izumi’s furtive, kitten-like expression, Qiyu smiled faintly.
“Nothing.
I just think the teacher is explaining it very well.
The Will of Fire, huh?
Konoha’s leaves have burned generation after generation, yet those who deserved to die survived, while those who should have lived were sacrificed instead.
How fitting.
Baseness is the passport of the base, while nobility is the epitaph of the noble.”
Izumi tilted her little head, seeming to understand only part of his unusually profound words.
“Qiyu-kun always says such complicated things.
What am I supposed to do if I can’t understand them?”
She frowned in distress, her delicate brows knitting together.
At the front of the room, Nomi Ikkaku watched Qiyu and Izumi whispering incessantly, paying no attention whatsoever to the teacher standing before them.
Irritation rose in his chest.
Suppressing his anger, Nomi Ikkaku gently set down his textbook.
“I expect every student to listen carefully while I am teaching.
Uchiha Qiyu, stand up and explain the meaning of the phrase: ‘Where the leaves of Konoha dance, the fire will burn.’ This is a crucial point.
It will be heavily emphasized in your graduation theory examinations.”
Qiyu had been planning to tell Izumi a few entertaining stories—anything to keep the girl from being brainwashed by the sermon from the front of the room.
Instead, he found Nomi Ikkaku staring at him with a scrutinizing gaze.
Unhurriedly, Qiyu rose to his feet and straightened the book on his desk.
“Teacher, fire is scorching hot.
The moment the leaves of Konoha touch it, they become fuel.
They are reduced to ashes and burned away until nothing remains.”
A hint of amusement appeared in Qiyu’s eyes as he looked toward Nomi Ikkaku.
“Actually, Teacher, there is something I have never understood.
May I ask you a question?”
Nomi Ikkaku frowned slightly.
“It is a teacher’s duty to resolve a student’s doubts.
Go ahead.”
“Thank you, Teacher.”
Qiyu bowed politely.
“My question is this: within Konoha, who is the fire, and who are the leaves?
Who sets themselves ablaze to illuminate the village?
And did those who burned themselves truly see their wishes fulfilled?
“Have the new sprouts truly been allowed to flourish in a peaceful and just society?
“I often wonder—can a village truly prosper merely by demanding sacrifice?”
Qiyu’s questions were extraordinarily sharp.
Sharp enough to tear apart the veil of peace draped over Konoha.
One did not even need to look far into the past.
After the Nine-Tails’ attack, it was not the young Fourth Hokage who survived.
When Konoha’s White Fang was driven into despair by the village’s condemnation, Konoha had never stepped forward to save its hero.
And during the Third Shinobi World War, Academy students had made up a staggering number of the dead.
If this was the Will of Fire, then the Will of Fire was nothing more than a cruel joke.
Nomi Ikkaku’s expression turned exceedingly ugly.
Grinding his teeth, he forced out each word.
“Uchiha Qiyu, are you questioning the First Hokage’s Will of Fire?”
“You misunderstand, Teacher.
These are merely a student’s doubts.
I am not questioning anything.”
Qiyu bowed slightly, then looked at Nomi Ikkaku with a calm expression.
“I ask that Teacher resolve them for me.”
“Hmph!
Uchiha Qiyu, is this your understanding of the Will of Fire?”
Nomi Ikkaku glared at him, his face dark with anger.
“My understanding?”
Qiyu’s voice remained steady.
“Teacher, those who carry firewood for others must not be left to freeze to death in the snow.
“From the moment you entered this classroom, your eyes have scarcely left me.
Should you have some grievance against me, you may state it openly.
“And should your dissatisfaction stem from my identity as an Uchiha, then there is no need for you to preach about the Will of Fire.
“The Uchiha clan stands as Konoha’s foremost great clan because we have shed blood for this village and made indelible contributions to its founding.
“You have benefited from the sacrifices of the Uchiha clan.
What right do you have to treat us with prejudice?
“In the First, Second, and Third Shinobi World Wars, did the Uchiha not lose enough clansmen?”
His firm, powerful words rang throughout the classroom.
Every student fell silent.
One by one, they stared blankly at Qiyu, who stood straight-backed before his teacher, refusing to yield even a single step…
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