Naruto: Kage of Kages

Theory was up first with the five exams taking place back to back with an hour test time and 15 minute breaks in between.

Harsh for earth schools but in the Shinobi World where children had much higher physical and mental tolerances, it was manageable.

The stress from the back to back test was part of the test itself as shinobi were expected to operate well under that sort of pressure.

Math, Languages and Shinobi Theory were easy enough. With Shiki’s perfect memory, high speed thought and kukyo’s ability to eliminate the effects of pressure, nervousness and even boredom, he could always be at maximum effectiveness.

Shinobi Theory was a three part text covering Chakra Theory, Jutsu Theory and Hypothetical Situations a shinobi might find themselves in.

The tough exams for Shiki were the Will of Fire exam and, though to a lesser extent, the History exam.

Leaving the former aside temporarily, what was the problem with the History exam?

Simple.

Actual history and Hokage approved history had some discrepancies.

By combining the knowledge of the series that he retained from his previous life and the unaltered documents from Mito’s library, Shiki had managed to get a very accurate grasp of recent history up to a few decades ago, though mostly limited to the Land of Fire.

He did know quite a bit about other territories but the records were still undoubtedly scarcer, even the series was like so as its main characters all lived in the Land of Fire.

But when the boy began studying school material, certain deviations started to crop up. Taking a trip to the Konoha public library only confirmed this.

Some of the changes were to glorify the Third Hokage, inflating his role in the First Great Shinobi War but others had likely been made before his time.

One change Tobirama himself directed, as he admitted within the unadulterated records of Mito’s library, was the change in Madara’s history. The role of the Ghost of The Uchiha was diminished to the utmost degree.

Be it his contributions or his various misdeeds, all of them were reduced to the maximum and the few remaining were left purposely vague.

Likely an effort to erase his path of thought. Tobirama believed erasing him would be far more effective than condemning or attempting to discredit him.

So Madara was just considered the leader of the Uchiha during the founding and the first clan to ally with the Senju in the founding of Konoha, who later went rogue and attacked the village only to be stopped by the First Hokage.

Even that much was not easy to find.

And, Shiki had to very carefully navigate his knowledge to make sure he answered every single question in his test according to official history and not let his knowledge of the authentic version influence his answers and possibly hurt his final score.

The real challenge however, laid in the final Will of Fire exam.

This was where Shiki would face a real challenge. He wanted a perfect score in all subjects and this was no different.

He had read fanfictions where the main character just faked utter devotion in their answers and passed with flying colors but that was utter nonsense.

‘I can’t be too smart about it so as to not alarm the higher ups but if I just show utter devotion, I will not be able to demonstrate high understanding not to mention that since I’m Mito-sama’s ward, it might feel fake if I do so . . .’ The boy pondered as he carefully went over the exam.

The number of questions was actually quite low, just three.

Write down your interpretation of the Will of Fire.

What are your thoughts on the Village of Konohagakure?

What are your views on the Hokage?

‘Alright then . . .’ Shiki spun the pencil on his fingers as he focused on the first question.

‘The Will of Fire is the philosophy that love is integral for peace, inherited from Ashura and given its current shape by the Senju.’ The boy began to analyze.

‘With the change of Hokage taken into consideration and the glorification of sacrifice . . . It has become a form of willpower and guiding principle instilled into Konoha shinobi, to willingly give their effort and even life for what they love.’

‘Writing about my devotion and willingness to sacrifice is easy enough but what should I set as my “what” that must be treasured, loved and protected?’ Shiki lightly pondered.

‘My home, loved ones and the village they are a part of.’ He decided.

‘Cliche but effective and believable for the higher ups.’ The boy determined and so, he moved onto the next question.

Not before writing an exemplary and well worded essay based on the answer he arrived to of course. A summary would lack the impact Shiki desired and might harm his score after all.

‘Konoha . . . My home, a gathering of precious people that must be protected, the legacy of my predecessors that I wish to make better and leave to those that come after me . . .’

This time Shiki came to an answer he felt good about much earlier.

Was it sincere?

Not entirely but it was still closer to his heart than his answer to the previous question which was filled with falsehoods through and through.

Shiki was not a subscriber to the Will of Fire in the first place so honesty would be impossible.

‘As for my view on the Hokage . . . It would hardly be believable that, with Mito-sama as my educator, I would put the Third on a pedestal so rather than praise the current Hokage, I should instead write about my view on the position and what it means to me instead.’

‘That said. Honesty is not in my best interest here. So rather than describing what the position is, I should describe it as what the ideal version would be.’ The boy concluded.

‘The pillar of the village, a symbol of integrity and strength, with the will to make the tough and hard decisions necessary to not only protect the village but also to advance its interests and bring about greater prosperity.’

Conceptualy, Shiki believed this is what the Hokage should be.

Did he think the current Hokage was embodying any of those characteristics? No.

Did he want to be such a Hokage himself? Also no.

In the event he had to become Hokage for one reason or another, did he plan on becoming as described? Not really.

Still, while he did not have any thought of being Hokage and did not see Hiruzen as a worthy one either, if he described the ideal Hokage without naming names, the readers could interpret it however they pleased.

And considering his mentor was the wife of not just a Hokage, but THE Hokage, the likelihood of the interpretation being positive and his score reflecting that, would be quite high.

‘Wording it in a very nice and elaborate way will also help my case.’ With such thoughts in his mind, Shiki wrote down the answer to the final question.

+++++

Hey, Author here!

Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.

I’m trying to become a full time Author now and I’m not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.

Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -