Konoha: Offer your heart to the Hokage!

Upon seeing each other again after so long, I could truly sense the sharpness in the two of them.

Sakumo Hatake was considered the strongest ninja in Konoha after Tobirama Senju, even stronger than the Legendary Sannin. His talent was on full display at this time; even before graduating, his aura was comparable to that of a Chunin.

Senju Kensuke's performance was equally impressive. At only seven years old, he already had seven years of experience training in Water Release and Earth Release techniques. This training time was more than that of most Genin or even Chunin.

"Sir Sir."

"Uncle Shen'er."

However, even such geniuses can only ever be "juniors" or "children" in front of Shen Er.

During the process, many parents bowed to him in greeting, including patients he had previously treated and students from his medical class. What was supposed to be a simple enrollment process turned into a fan meeting.

Shen Er nodded slightly in return.

He has to keep a respectable air now; not everyone can get a smile from him anymore.

This scene allowed Tsunade and Orochimaru to truly witness Shen's immense popularity in Konoha.

The school registration process lasted all morning.

In the afternoon, the new student enrollment ceremony officially began.

There were three chairs at the front of the stage, but Tobirama Senju was busy controlling the Edo Tensei ninjas and stayed at the Hokage Building, so he was not present. At this moment, only Jinji and Jiri were seated there.

After giving his opening remarks, Chiri handed the stage over to Shinji.

"Next, please welcome Elder of Konoha, Director of Gospel Hospital, and Vice Principal of the Ninja Academy, Zenin Jinji, to give a speech to the new students!"

What a Zen monastery!

As soon as the name was announced, the freshmen stirred, cheers rose and fell, and they all looked up and eagerly awaited the news.

Even some senior students who were in class chose to skip class and watch from the sidelines.

The elusive Zen master, Jinji, is a legend in the students' textbooks. It's said that the last time he gave a speech at the Ninja Academy was when the academy had just opened and the Will of Fire had just been established…

Today, this legendary figure, a living fossil, has arrived.

Shen Er stood on the high platform, looking down at the pairs of innocent eyes below, feeling a pang of emotion. The last time he came to the Ninja Academy, those looking up at him were the Bronze Generation, including Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Now, it's the turn of the Silver Generation.

Loyalty should be instilled from childhood, so let's plant the concept of loyalty to the Will of Fire and loyalty to Elder Shen'er in the hearts of these "child soldiers" from a young age.

They are witnessing history; they are creating talking points!

Later, when I go out, I can boast to people that I was a witness to Elder Shen'er's speech.

A frenzied emotion is spreading.

This is exactly the effect that Zenji wanted to achieve: the mindset of Konoha Village is shifting towards hero worship.

It wasn't his speech that was inflammatory, but rather the atmosphere of Konoha at that moment that was inflammatory.

The villagers of Konoha, enduring immense suffering, knelt down and prayed, "Who can bring us hope!"

The Zen monk raised his arms and shouted, "I will bring you hope!"

In this situation, everyone in Konoha who wants peace and to be free from suffering will stand with him. No matter what kind of speech or statement he makes, as long as it doesn't deviate from the main theme, it will be popular!

She even brought a blank sheet of paper with no writing on it onto the stage, glanced at it pretending to look at it, and then casually handed it to Zhili.

This set the tone for his unique speaking style.

"First of all, congratulations to all the students who passed the entrance exam. You are all destined to become excellent ninjas. Those who did not pass the exam yet, don't be discouraged. As long as you are willing to work hard, the worst outcome of your ninja career is simply that you will achieve great things later in life!"

"I heard... During the assessment, some students suggested that different assessment standards should be applied to students from commoner and ninja clan backgrounds."

"What I'm trying to say is that there are two outcomes to everything you do: if you can endure it, you'll excel; if you can't, you'll be eliminated. That's the life of a ninja—realistic and cruel! No one will lower their standards for you just because of your background! Even if the standards for the Ninja Academy were lowered, would those Cloud, Rock, and Sand Ninjas, who are sharpening their knives to attack Konoha, do that?"

"If you choose to complain about not having a father from a ninja clan, one day your son will complain about your incompetence just like you do!"

Outside the ninja academy, many of the students who had failed the entrance exams hung their heads in shame.

In the student formation, a sickly-looking child with white hair and gray eyes revealed a look of longing. This was Hiruko, who, despite his mediocre talent, had been admitted through a special admission program based on "exceptional research ability."

If the examiner had said that, he might have scoffed.

Do you know how much more resources ninja students have compared to ordinary people from birth?

But this is Elder Shen'er. He wasn't even a Konoha person at first, but he eventually integrated into Konoha through his own efforts and became a legend.

Hiruko had genuine admiration for such a person... The words of Zenji Ranji were his guiding principles!

People only know that Jin was initially an ordinary wandering ninja, but they don't know about the Earth Grudge within him. If Jin's background were any better, he probably wouldn't be so convincing.

Just like many stories of "ordinary family background" and "starting from scratch", digging deeper will reveal the stories behind the stories.

After recounting the minor commotion surrounding the entrance exam, Shen'er continued, "There are two things in this world that no one can take away from you: one is the dream hidden in your heart, and the other is the will of fire that you believe in!"

"I ask you, what is the Will of Fire?"

He then answered his own question, "In my view, the Will of Fire is friendship, it is bonds, it is the determination to protect Konoha! It is trust in the Hokage Building!"

"Your circle determines your life. The kind of people you surround yourself with will influence the path of your ninja way. Birds of a feather flock together. Your card-playing buddies at the dice shop will only urge you to play cards, your drinking buddies at the izakaya will only urge you to drink, but your friends at the Konoha Ninja Academy will push you to take another step on the path of the ninja way!"

"This is the Will of Fire!"

"There aren't that many exceptionally talented bloodline ninjas in the ninja world. Excellent ninjas always strive to overcome obstacles! You must know: what will ultimately make you stand out is perseverance, truly sticking to one thing. Time will see your efforts and reward you in the real ninja exam!"

"You entrust your talent to fate, your actions to the future, and your future to destiny, then tell yourself: 'I've heard many道理 (principles/truths), but I still can't become an outstanding ninja.' Then it's perfectly normal for you to live a mediocre life."

These words were deliberately spoken to those with ulterior motives, with the primary target being Hirukov.

Hiruko, feeling resentful and jealous because he believed his talent was inferior to the Sannin, gradually developed the Oni-Garaku technique. Now, the intention is to guide him, amplify this desire in his heart, and develop his hidden potential as soon as possible.

As for whether this mentality is right for a child...

They don't even care about the inner thoughts of a tool.

It wasn't just for Hiruko's ears; all five hundred-plus freshmen in the audience heard it. If they could discover a few more talented individuals with the same strong will as Hiruko, that would be even better.

There are still many vacancies for the position of root researcher.

"..."

His mouth speaks of the will of fire, his silence speaks of loyalty to the village.

For seasoned, experienced ninjas, it might not be a particularly poignant experience, because they have witnessed the cruelty of the ninja world and their edges have long been smoothed out.

The Will of Fire cannot bring them cash or a better life.

They only care about whether the requests they receive at the Hokage Building can give them a better chance of survival on the battlefield.

But... these newly enrolled students are different.

Their hearts were filled with enthusiasm, as pure as a blank sheet of paper. Zen Monastery was the one holding the pen, freely pouring his will onto it.

A general's will can pierce steel plates;

The elder's will can break the shackles of talent.

What Shen Er said was overheard by Bei Liu Hu Quan.

His blood was boiling!

So what if he's not particularly talented? So what if he's a special admission candidate? As Master Shen said, as long as you persevere and have ideals, the worst outcome is simply late blooming. One day, he will break through his own limits.

Seeing that the atmosphere was just right, Shen'er decided to elevate the theme:

"When the youth are strong, the village is strong; when the youth are independent, the village is independent; when the youth are free, the village is free; when the youth progress, the village progresses; when the youth surpass the Hidden Cloud Village, Hidden Rock Village, and Hidden Sand Village, the village surpasses the Hidden Rock Village, Hidden Cloud Village, and Hidden Sand Village; when the youth are mighty in the ninja world, the village is mighty in the ninja world."

A student inexplicably raised his right hand at a 45-degree angle, then, realizing his posture was incorrect, placed his right fist close to his heart.

"Offer your heart for Konoha!"

"Offer your heart for the Will of Fire!"

"Offer your heart to Elder Shen!"

Seeing this, Shen Er revealed a satisfied smile.

The Land of Fire has no homeland people, but Konoha has its own main population.

Chapter 148 The Most Steadfast Warrior of Bullying

After the ceremony, the children on the playground went to their respective classes in an orderly manner according to the class assignment list.

Shen Er did not leave immediately, but followed Zhi Li to the office, where he used his telescope technique to spy on Tsunade's class through the crystal ball.

The Telescope Technique was originally a ninjutsu developed by Hiruzen Sarutobi.

However, Shen had previously mentioned to Tobirama that he was too busy with official duties to accompany and witness Orochimaru's growth, and worried that Orochimaru might be bullied at the ninja academy. He hoped for a secret technique that would allow him to observe his child's movements and development at any time.

Tobirama felt that Shinji was being a bit too protective of the child, but he didn't say much. He agreed on the spot and set aside a few days to develop the telescope technique ahead of schedule.

Its core function is to monitor targets at a distance through a crystal ball, and it can transmit sound and images in real time. The limitation is that the array needs to be set up in advance at the monitoring location, so it cannot be used on the battlefield.

Its monitoring accuracy can reach the level of individual behavior observation, but it requires users to have precise chakra control.

Furthermore, if the person being monitored is a sensory-type ninja who is quite sensitive to chakra, they will be able to learn what they are being monitored.

It's like a ninja-world version of surveillance.

After the telescope technique was developed, Tobirama himself found it very useful and created a total of three crystal balls. He gave one to Jin, and placed the other two in the Hokage's office and the Senju clan's territory, respectively.

She even shared the surveillance footage with Zhili in her office.

...

As arranged by Shen, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Hiruko were assigned to the same class.

Class 1-1 is a class specifically set up by the Ninja Academy for top students with excellent entrance exam scores. It is equipped with the strongest teaching staff and a full set of high-quality teaching aids. The curriculum is also streamlined and designed specifically for geniuses.

Of course, this information is insider information. It will not be disclosed to students or their parents to prevent them from saying anything detrimental to unity.

Jiraiya and Might Guy, both members of the Silver Generation, failed to enter Class 1 due to their grades. Logically, Hiruko's entrance performance was not qualified, but she simply exercised her power a little too much.

This tiered and class-based system also originated from Shen Er's suggestion.

In his view, the six-year system of ninja school was still too long and tedious.

It's hard for a genius not to skip grades.

Aside from the Three Body Techniques, which are relatively practical, much of the basic knowledge taught at the Ninja Academy is largely useless after graduation. This is especially true for theoretical courses like "The Will of Fire."