After a full two hours, the opening ceremony speech by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, finally concluded.
Hakushi stood in place until his legs were sore, but he patiently noted down the contents of the speech.
As a 'traitor,' before the betrayal, he must not reveal any dissatisfaction or strange behavior.
This means what the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, said might appear in school assessments.
Although the Third Hokage's speech was more trivial than the motivational articles Hakushi had seen in his previous life.
After the speech, the students exited in order and returned to their respective classrooms.
The teachers, on the other hand, had to hold a meeting.
Hakushi was assigned to Class 1-A.
The entire classroom was arranged like a tiered lecture hall. Each desk was long enough to accommodate three people, meaning three people shared one desk.
In the second-to-last row by the window, Hakushi found his name written in bold: 'Chiba Hakushi.'
When he found his seat, a child was already sitting on the innermost seat by the window.
It was a girl with long, straight black hair of an age similar to Hakushi's, around five or six years old.
With one hand propping up her chin, she gazed quietly out the window at the playground, exuding an unapproachable aura.
"Hello, my name is Chiba Hakushi, pleased to meet you."
Do not attract attention, but also do not appear too isolated; this was the position Hakushi decided on.
So, when he sat down beside the girl, Hakushi first introduced himself.
The girl turned her head slightly, removed the hand propping up her chin, and with a slightly aloof and cold expression on her delicate, cute face, her pitch-black pupils exuded a pure and icy aura like snowflakes, and she spoke to Hakushi in a condescending tone:
"Uchiha Ruri."
What a cold black-haired little girl.
After the girl named Uchiha Ruri spoke, Hakushi felt the surrounding temperature suddenly drop.
Afterward, Hakushi had no intention of speaking to Uchiha Ruri again.
He quietly sat in his seat, flipping through the textbooks that had already been prepared on the desk.
There were quite a few kinds of textbooks, including "The Chronicle of the Konoha Village," "Compendium of Hokage Quotations," "First Hokage and the Will of Fire"...
Among them, "First Hokage and the Will of Fire" was placed on top.
Hakushi read earnestly because this was an important way to gather information.
Because of the earlier Third Hokage's opening ceremony speech, Hakushi only had a half-understanding of the Konoha Village's propaganda of the 'Will of Fire,' possibly missing out on some points.
Now he needed to gain a deeper understanding of what this so-called 'Will of Fire' was all about.
He wanted to delve deeply and see if this so-called Ninja School was actually a brainwashing institution.
Although Hakushi no longer had any luck in his heart about this village named Konoha.
The opening sentence of "First Hokage and the Will of Fire"—
Where leaves dance, fire is never extinguished. The flame will continue to illuminate the village and allow the new leaves to bud.
This sentence was easy to understand.
The youth are the hope for the village's future, the older generation must trust the young, and protect them.
The sacrifice of the older generation is not without value but to encourage the youth to become the pillars capable of supporting the village's future.
The burning flames of falling leaves symbolize the heroic sacrifices of the older generation, while the new leaves symbolize the youth.
Cyclic renewal.
This is the core essence of the Will of Fire.
At first glance, it seems quite good and reasonable.
But thinking of children under ten being sent to the battlefield…
Hmm…this seems like using the sacrifice of young people to illuminate the older generation…
So, this kind of will is both false and empty.
At least, that's what Hakushi believed.
Why haven't the other people in Konoha Village noticed such an obvious mistake?
Hakushi continued reading, unaware of the passage of time, but as he flipped page after page, he felt his lips dry, and beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
The content in this book was devoid of substance, entirely filled with valueless idealistic fantasies.
This is the will passed down by the God of Ninja?
Had he even read the book?
Where are the guiding principles in the Will of Fire?
The ideological framework?
The detailed measures and standards?
Hakushi found the contents of "First Hokage and the Will of Fire" painfully glaring.
The entire text talked about the ideals of the First Hokage, like family, peace, protecting children…
But there was no concrete planning at all.
Besides, it seemed like the promise to protect children wasn't fulfilled either.
Currently, Konoha is sending batches and batches of children under ten to the battlefield as cannon fodder sacrifices.
Thus, Hakushi finally realized a fact that each page of this book, scribbled with the word "Will of Fire," concealed behind it a cryptic message—fraud.
Konoha Village is a terrifying organization.
The Ninja School was a brainwashing institution of fraud.
What's more appalling, such books appeared openly at the Ninja School, what does this signify?
It signifies that the village's higher-ups have already brainwashed all adults, and now it's the turn of the newborn generation of children.
Unfortunately, Hakushi would also become one of the members brainwashed by this so-called 'Will of Fire.'
Until a soft voice woke Hakushi from his thoughts.
"Um, are you okay? You're sweating a lot, feeling unwell somewhere?"
"Ah?"
Hakushi turned his head and saw a cute girl with straight black hair like Uchiha Ruri. Unlike the freeze on Uchiha Ruri's face, this girl's pure pupils held a soft hue, likely an easygoing type.
Except, her eyes were peculiar.
Pure white without impurities.
Cataract?
"Are you okay? You have a lot of sweat on your face."
She continued to express concern for Hakushi in a soft voice.
Only then did Hakushi touch his face, finding quite a bit of cold sweat, and he dryly nodded his head, "No issue, I might have accidentally drunk expired milk last night, my stomach feels a bit upset."
"Really?"
She looked at him with a puzzled gaze.
"Sorry to worry you. I'm Chiba Hakushi, and you are?"
"Hyuga Ayane, pleased to meet you."
With a gentle and generous smile, Hakushi felt himself relax and nod his head as if a weight was lifted from him.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Ruri on the other side glanced meaningfully at the book Hakushi had just read. Her intuition told her that it was because of the book in his hands that Hakushi broke into cold sweat, and there was a visible bewilderment and fear in his eyes.
This piqued Ruri's curiosity greatly.
It was just a book, was it enough to scare someone to this extent?
This deskmate of hers was certainly an oddball.