The Will of Fire that never ends
Twenty-seven years ago a little town invited us in, and even allowed the shinobi there to leave us in peace while we observed an epic tale unfolding in its streets. We are talking about the humble ninja village Konohagakure no Sato, which means ‘Hidden Leaf Village’, if it is loosely translated. It is a town governed by the Will of Fire. a philosophy, a guidepost. So what is this Will of Fire? Let’s explore one of the villagers and learn through part of his life story.
The Life of Naruto
We met a young orphan boy that struggled so hard to be noticed that he played tricks on the town even going as far as splashing the Hokage Monument on Hokage Mountain with paint. That boy was Uzumaki Naruto.
The first person to nurture and teach Naruto was an instructor at the academy named Umino Iruka, who understood Naruto because he was an orphan himself. He created a strong bond with Naruto, and in our walk with the happenings in the story we can both see the love for and pride in Naruto from this softhearted instructor, who is like an older brother to our hero.
Iruka-sensei once told Mizuki, the first antagonist we meet: “…Naruto is different. I’ve acknowledged him as one of my excellent students. He may not be the hardest worker, and he is clumsy and no one accepts him, but he already knows what it is to feel pain inside your heart. He isn’t the monster fox. He is a member of Konohagakure. He is Uzumaki Naruto.”
But Iruka was only the first. There is also Hatake Kakashi. Kakashi-sensei was specifically chosen by the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, to be Naruto’s trainer in the next step on Naruto’s path. This was also the time when Naruto formed bonds with his teammates Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. When Sasuke went rogue in a quest to become stronger for the sake of revenge, Kakashi-sensei stood by Naruto.
Kakashi really cares for his three students and taught Naruto never to give up on his friends. He told the three students: “In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, that’s true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.”
Besides Kakashi-sensei there is also the enigmatic Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin and a well-established writer (we even learned that Naruto’s parents named Naruto after the lead character in Jiraiya’s first book).
Jiraiya and Naruto developed an almost grandfather-grandson relationship, one which Naruto’s parents would have appreciated. Naruto learned many of his most important ninja skills from this sage ninja. He once told Naruto: “They say wherever someone is still thinking of you, that place is your home.”
Jiraiya certainly became a home for Naruto, a beacon of solace in his developing years, and we have a saying home is where the heart is after all.
All of these great men shaped our hero Naruto, driven by the will of fire, and instilling in him the heart to continue the will of fire’s legacy.
What is the Will of Fire?
The Will of Fire (Hi no Ishi) is a noble ideal. It is a belief that love is the key to peace, and is a life philosophy of many in Konohagakure Village, passed down from parent to child through generations.
The entire village is a large family unit, and every Konoha shinobi with the Will of Fire loves, believes, cherishes, and fights to protect the village, as the generations did before them.
On our journey through the village we even found a sculpture representing this will, with an inscription below it that says Hokage, literally meaning Fire Shadow. Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, believed that this is what gives the village’s shinobi the strength to continue fighting against all odds, giving them strength of character and symbolizing the hopes and dreams of the previous generation carried by the next.
Legacy of the Will
The Naruto Manga ended and we were sad, but will the Will of Fire end with it? No. We will also carry it in our hearts because in this little story we also learned messages that we will carry on and teach our friends and children. Naruto’s heart and morals became part of us who followed his journey. In that spirit we believe that the Will of Fire will never end.
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