Konoha Year 57
Ninja Academy
The classroom was empty, save for one little girl who sat quietly at her desk, focused on her writing. Haruno Sakura was silently working on her exam essay about the "Will of Fire."
In front of her, as always, stood Iruka Umino and Mizuki, the two instructors from the Ninja Academy.
Iruka looked at the pink-haired girl with a mix of admiration and melancholy. He couldn't help but recall the shy little girl who had first stepped into the academy years ago—quiet, timid, always sticking close to Ino Yamanaka's side like a shadow.
Back then, she was meek and easily flustered. No one could have predicted that in just two years, she would be taking her graduation exam.
Although there was still a noticeable gap between her and the village's prodigy, Kakashi Hatake, she was nonetheless exceptional in her own right.
After all, Kakashi's record was outrageous—graduating at five, Chūnin at six, and becoming a Jōnin by the age of twelve.
But what Sakura lacked in prodigious talent, she made up for with relentless effort—and Iruka had seen it all. He had watched her grow, mature, and persevere with an iron will.
"Iruka-sensei, I'm finished," the eight-year-old Sakura said, respectfully handing her paper over.
"Oh, great." Iruka accepted the paper with a smile. "This will be graded before the practical exam this afternoon."
"You should take a break in the meantime. Don't worry, the graduation exam won't be as intense as the Chūnin Exams. It'll just test your basic transformation, substitution, and clone techniques."
He added the last part casually—after all, he was well aware that the Three Basic Jutsu posed no challenge for Sakura.
"Yes, I understand, Iruka-sensei," she nodded before quietly leaving the room.
Iruka didn't open the paper to read it himself. Instead, he sealed it in a scroll and immediately sent it to the Hokage's office.
This was a special request from the Hokage himself—he had personally named this as one of the papers he wanted to grade. No carelessness would be tolerated.
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What is the Will of Fire?
Where the leaves dance, the fire will continue to burn. The flames will light the village and help new leaves grow.
That was Hiruzen Sarutobi's understanding of it.
But as he furrowed his brows over Sakura Haruno's graduation essay, he couldn't help but feel that her version of the Will of Fire was… dangerous.
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"The Will of Fire — By Sakura Haruno"
Fire, the origin of civilization.
Will, the unyielding spirit of humankind.
In years past, the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, united many ninja clans under the Land of Fire to create Konohagakure, seeking to build a village where children would never have to go to war.
That was the First Hokage's Will of Fire.
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, used every means necessary to protect Konoha, striving to ensure lasting peace and prosperity for the village. Yet, the Land of Fire lies at the heart of the continent, surrounded by conflict and abundant in resources. After the First Hokage's death, wars broke out relentlessly. The Second Hokage sacrificed his life in these chaotic times.
Tobirama died to protect Konoha—and his death was honorable.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, inherited the will of his predecessors, ending the Second Great Ninja War, quelling the Third, and even during the Nine-Tails' attack, used his aging body to fight and protect the village once more.
Countless talents have emerged under the Third's leadership, only to perish unexpectedly, desert the village, or even become missing-nin.
Now, nearly a decade has passed in relative peace. The wounds of the battlefield are slowly healing, but another war could erupt at any moment.
And because Konoha is surrounded on all sides by major nations, it will be the first to bear the brunt.
One must worry before Konoha does; one must rejoice only after Konoha rejoices.
Always be alert in times of peace.
Success begins with human endeavor—and ends with human endeavor.
We should capitalize on the Land of Fire's rich and fertile resources.
The Lands of Wind, Earth, and Lightning consist mostly of arid deserts, rocky cliffs, and mountainous regions. These nations suffer chronic food shortages and rely heavily on imports from the Lands of Birds, Rivers, Grass, and Fire.
Raise grain prices. Use merchants to drive down the prices of iron, medicine, and ore. Secretly buy up stock.
When food prices rise while materials like iron and medicine plummet, the profit-hungry among those three nations will scramble to hoard grain and sell off their iron and medicine.
This will allow us to stockpile resources and prepare our forces.
Within five years, the internal markets of Wind, Earth, and Lightning will be destabilized. They will inevitably point their swords toward the Land of Fire.
When that time comes, we can choose to ally with one of the three—preferably the Land of Earth—and together pressure the remaining two.
The Land of Water is isolated overseas and adopts a closed-off policy. There's little information from them, and besides, launching troops across the ocean would be an enormous expense. Just as they did not participate in the Second Great Ninja War, they may remain uninvolved.
With that in mind, we proceed to ally with the Land of Earth. Because of their geographic advantage—forming a pincer position with the Land of Fire—we could use that relationship to sever connections between Wind and Lightning, then defeat them one by one.
In the meantime, we should immediately secure alliances with the surrounding minor nations. Those who resist should be subjugated through force.
No doubt there will be brilliant minds in the three great nations who see through this plan—but by then, it will be too late.
Even if the Land of Earth turns on us, we will already be prepared. We can offer them heavy benefits in the form of resource exchanges and military victories.
If they later plan betrayal, Konoha can simply cut off their supplies. The resulting collapse in morale and economics will cripple their fighting capacity.
The Tsuchikage will have no choice but to come to the negotiating table.
Then, we can jointly destroy the Land of Lightning.
With the continent under Konoha's rule, any remaining nations can be eliminated with ease.
The Land of Earth, lacking resources, will ultimately become a sword under the command of the Land of Fire.
A treaty can be signed at Kannabi Bridge, marking the division of power—two regimes on either side of the river, coexisting in peace.
Over the following years, as resources dwindle, the Land of Earth will have no option but to submit.
This is the strategy of boiling a frog slowly.
Even if they try a desperate final stand, we will be strong enough to crush them effortlessly.
When one is powerful enough, the entire world becomes their friend.
That is the Will of Fire.
If we make Konoha the strongest force in the world, then we can protect every citizen of Konoha.
Only then can the Will of Fire burn eternally.
Graduation Candidate: Haruno Sakura
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Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the scroll in silence.
His fingers trembled slightly.
This… is the Will of Fire?
No—this wasn't the Will of Fire. This was a grand, ruthless political and military doctrine!
Who in their right mind teaches little girls to write like this?!
This was Haruno Sakura's understanding of the Will of Fire?
If they cut her open—would her insides be pitch black?
The cigarette in his mouth burned fast. Thick smoke curled in the Hokage's office as the old man sat deep in thought, stunned and more than a little shaken.
This wasn't the same as Danzo Shimura's fanatical cries of "Everything I do is for Konoha!" No, Sakura had delivered a legitimate strategy—step-by-step, logically sound, and terrifyingly feasible.
Starting with a subtle economic offensive—grain prices, trade manipulation, monopolization of wartime essentials—and ending in total domination of the continent.
Every step cloaked in plausible deniability. No rash invasions. No grand declarations of war.
It was discreet. Calculated. Merciless.
And she had even accounted for betrayals and counterattacks.
All this, just based on existing ninja war history.
And the most terrifying part?
It made sense.
To Hiruzen, who had commanded in both the Second and Third Ninja Wars, he had never once considered that war could be waged like this.
Even the contingency plans she laid out—how to handle betrayal, stir public sentiment, secure resource flows—were airtight.
He couldn't even find a flaw in her logic.
Short of facing a god-like force like Hashirama Senju or Madara Uchiha, this plan might actually work.
Hiruzen's heart raced.
He, an old war veteran and the Professor of Ninjutsu, found himself nearly overwhelmed by the sheer brilliance—and danger—contained in this child's essay.
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(End of Chapter)