When class finally ended, Kiseki left the room with only one thought in his head: dying might actually be better than sitting through another lesson like that. His mind felt completely saturated with the Will of Fire. For almost the entire class, the teacher had repeated the same ideas over and over again. Konoha was one great family. Every shinobi had to protect the village above themselves. Those who inherited the Will of Fire had to be willing to sacrifice themselves for the next generation.
In principle, Kiseki did not think there was anything inherently wrong with those words. The problem was who was using them and the way they were being taught.
"If I weren't a reincarnator, I'm pretty sure this would actually influence me."
He was only five years old. If he had really been born in this world without memories of his previous life, he probably would have listened to all those stories about sacrifice, heroism, and love for the village with shining eyes. But Kiseki knew too much. He had watched the anime. He knew the Will of Fire represented by Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju, and he could understand the original idea behind it. The adults protected the younger generation, and the village existed so its people could have somewhere to belong.
That was exactly why hearing the current version disgusted him even more.
Especially whenever they started talking about Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Third Hokage. The Professor. The man who supposedly mastered countless techniques.
And, according to what they were being taught at the Academy, the strongest Hokage in history.
Every time Kiseki heard that last part, he felt like something inside him died a little.
"The more Will of Fire I hear, the more that old man disgusts me."
Still, Kiseki had to admit one thing. He could understand, at least to some extent, why Hiruzen had ended up acting the way he did. Konoha was not an easy village to rule. Unlike many other shinobi villages, it was filled with old clans, each with their own interests, traditions, secret techniques, and military strength.
The Uchiha, the Hyūga, the Akimichi, the Nara, the Yamanaka, the Aburame, the Inuzuka.
And in the past, the Senju had held an even greater position than most of them.
That meant the Hokage could not rule through the title alone. He needed power, prestige, influence, and enough strength that none of those clans would ever believe they could openly challenge his authority.
That, in Kiseki's eyes, was one of Hiruzen's biggest problems.
Hiruzen was not weak. Not even close. In his era, he had undoubtedly been one of Konoha's strongest shinobi.
But being strong and being absolutely dominant were two different things.
Hiruzen alone could not simply crush entire clans like the Uchiha, Senju, or Hyūga if they were united and at their peak. Even groups such as the traditional Ino-Shika-Chō alliance could become a considerable political and military force if they acted together.
To Kiseki, that explained quite a lot.
"If you can't control everyone because you're powerful enough that no one dares rebel against you… then you just make everyone else weaker."
And that was exactly what Kiseki believed had happened throughout Hiruzen's long reign.
Little by little.
Generation after generation.
Some clans lost influence. Others lost members. Some were pushed away politically, while others slowly became shadows of what they had once been.
Kiseki did not know how much of it had been deliberately planned and how much had simply happened because of circumstances, but the final result spoke for itself.
And if history continued roughly as he remembered, one of the most extreme examples would happen in only a few years.
The Uchiha Clan Massacre.
As he walked through the Academy halls, Kiseki began calculating in his head.
"I'm five right now, and Itachi is six."
He frowned slightly.
"If I'm remembering correctly, the massacre should happen in around seven or eight years. Itachi was thirteen or fourteen when he killed them all… somewhere around that age."
That meant he still had plenty of time.
Seven years sounded like an eternity to a child, but Kiseki knew those years would pass much faster than they seemed.
And that immediately gave him another thought.
One that was considerably less moral.
"If I become strong enough by then… maybe I can get some good things from the Uchiha Clan during the chaos."
His eyes brightened for a moment.
He was not thinking only about money.
The Uchiha probably possessed considerable wealth, but there was something Kiseki valued much more.
Knowledge.
"The Uchiha library must be insane."
After all, they had the Sharingan.
An eye capable of observing, analyzing, and even copying an enormous number of jutsu.
For generations, countless Uchiha had participated in wars, missions, and battles against shinobi from all across the world. Kiseki found it almost impossible to believe that a clan like that had not accumulated scrolls, records, techniques, combat knowledge, and all kinds of information over the years.
Even if many techniques were restricted to important members of the clan, their ordinary library alone should still be incomparable to that of an average shinobi family.
"With generations of Sharingan users copying techniques, there has to be some really good stuff stored there."
Kiseki could already imagine shelves filled with ninjutsu from different chakra natures, genjutsu records, training methods, battle experiences, and techniques gathered over decades.
Then he quickly shook his head.
There were still years before any of that happened.
He did not even know if he would be strong enough to enter the Uchiha district during the massacre without accidentally getting himself killed.
There was no point thinking too far ahead.
For now, his priorities were much simpler.
Go home.
Train.
Improve his chakra control.
And finally convince his father to teach him the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Kiseki left the Academy and started walking toward home. It was then that, from the corner of his eye, he noticed a familiar figure.
Itachi Uchiha.
Kiseki slowed down slightly.
Seeing him nearby was not strange anymore. After all, Itachi was technically one of his classmates now.
What was strange was where he was going.
Itachi was heading toward a small area near the swings.
And beneath one of them stood an old man.
Gray hair.
An aged face.
A warm, gentle expression that probably made any normal child feel safe.
Kiseki recognized him immediately.
Hiruzen Sarutobi.
His steps almost stopped.
"Seriously?"
He looked at Itachi.
Then at Hiruzen.
Then back at Itachi.
For a moment, disbelief appeared on his face.
"You sly old bastard… you're already starting to brainwash poor Itachi at this age?"
Itachi had barely entered the Academy, and Hiruzen was already personally approaching him.
Of course, to someone who did not know the future, the scene would probably look harmless. Just a kind Hokage showing interest in one of the village's most talented children.
But Kiseki knew how everything ended.
Itachi would grow up placing Konoha above almost everything else.
Above his clan.
Above his parents.
Above himself.
And eventually, he would be willing to almost completely erase the Uchiha Clan.
From Kiseki's perspective, seeing Hiruzen speaking with a six-year-old Itachi made the scene far more disturbing than it probably looked.
Hiruzen, meanwhile, felt someone staring at him.
He turned his head slightly.
For a brief moment, his eyes met Kiseki's.
The Haruno boy was looking at him with an unusual expression.
It was not exactly fear.
Nor was it admiration.
It was simply far too serious a gaze for a child his age.
Hiruzen watched him for only a moment.
Kiseki immediately felt a chill run down his back.
At first glance, the old man's eyes looked warm.
Kind.
Almost paternal.
But Kiseki knew perfectly well what kind of person stood behind them.
"Shit…"
He immediately tried to control his expression.
He did not want Hiruzen paying attention to him.
Especially not now.
Fortunately, Itachi was already approaching, and Hiruzen did not seem interested in wasting too much attention on some Haruno child who was simply heading home.
The Third Hokage looked away and focused once again on Itachi.
On the young Uchiha prodigy who, with time, could become an extremely useful piece in dealing with his troublesome clan.
Kiseki did not need another warning.
"I should get out of here."
He immediately picked up his pace.
He did not run, because that would have been too obvious, but he walked as quickly as he could without drawing unnecessary attention.
Only when he was far enough away did he finally let out the breath he had been holding.
"I really need to get stronger."
Because insulting Hiruzen Sarutobi inside his head was one thing.
Remembering that the man was still the Hokage, one of Konoha's strongest shinobi, and someone capable of making a simple five-year-old disappear if he ever considered him a threat was something completely different.
Kiseki continued walking home. The image of Hiruzen and Itachi near the swings remained in his mind for a while, but eventually he pushed it aside.
There was nothing he could do about either of them right now.
His priority remained the same.
Train.
Improve his chakra control.
And become strong enough that, when all those events finally began happening in a few years, he would at least have the strength to choose his own fate.