"Tsunade? Which Tsunade?"
"Come on, how many Tsunades do you think live in Konoha? Of course, it's the Tsunade—one of the Legendary Sannin!"
"What?! Lady Tsunade came here looking for Kitazawa-senpai?!"
After a few stunned seconds, the first-year teachers erupted in murmurs, eyes wide with disbelief.
"L-Lady Tsunade," a younger chunin quickly stood and pointed, "Kitazawa-senpai's office is the first one on the second floor."
Tsunade gave a nod and casually closed the door behind her before heading upstairs.
She was about to push the door open out of habit when she paused, thought better of it, and knocked instead.
"Come in," came Kitazawa's voice from inside.
He looked up from his desk as the door opened. He had just finished teaching Second Year Class A and was knee-deep in prepping materials for the upcoming final exams. Unlike the monthly ones, these were far more important—and it was his first time overseeing them. He couldn't afford any mistakes.
"Lady Tsunade?" he said, a little surprised.
"Got a moment?" she asked directly. "Let's go see the Hokage."
Kitazawa nodded without hesitation. It wouldn't take long—and more importantly, it was time to collect their reward.
As the two walked out of the school, Tsunade hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Thanks for last night, Kitazawa."
"It was nothing," he replied casually. "Really."
Tsunade bit her lip, unsure of what else to say.
Before long, they reached the Hokage's office.
Bang!
Tsunade kicked the door open without even blinking.
"One of these days, you're going to give me a heart attack," Hiruzen muttered from behind his desk, sighing in exasperation.
"You'll live," Tsunade said flatly. "And if you don't, I'll heal you."
Hiruzen gave a long-suffering sigh, coughing slightly as he leaned back.
Without missing a beat, Tsunade strode over, snatched his pipe from his hand, and said, "You could live longer if you stopped puffing this thing."
"If you irritated me less, I'd want to live longer," he muttered.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "We're here for the reward."
She tossed a scroll onto his desk.
"Memory Sealing Technique?" Hiruzen asked as he unrolled the scroll, scanning its contents. "How is this different from the standard memory-sealing jutsu?"
"For starters, it doesn't cause any damage to the brain," Tsunade said, holding up three fingers. "Second, the seal is permanent. And third, the target knows their memory was sealed."
"Sounds more humane," Hiruzen nodded. Most traditional memory-sealing jutsu were designed for interrogation or war—blunt and often dangerous.
"I'll authorize a payment of one million ryo through the Anbu."
"One million isn't enough," Tsunade replied flatly. "This is a B-rank sealing jutsu."
Hiruzen frowned, then exhaled. "Fine. One and a half million. And Kitazawa can choose a B-rank jutsu from the archive."
Having seen Kitazawa's performance with the Rasengan—and recognizing both his combat potential and teaching skill—Hiruzen had no qualms about strengthening his arsenal.
"Now that's more reasonable." Tsunade turned to leave, waving her hand. "Let's go, Kitazawa."
"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Kitazawa said with a respectful nod, then followed her out.
"I'll take seven hundred thousand," Tsunade said without hesitation as they walked, splitting the reward just like last time.
Kitazawa didn't object—she had done most of the heavy lifting.
"Let's go over the new jutsu again tonight," Tsunade said with a smirk. "But for now, I've got a date with the casino."
Kitazawa detoured to follow Haru to the jutsu archive.
He already had a jutsu in mind and wasted no time claiming it: Wind Release: Great Vacuum Bullet.
It was a power-enhanced version of Vacuum Bullet—if the original was a wind projectile, this was a wind-powered missile. Though slower in speed, its explosive force made it equally dangerous. Hence, both were ranked B-rank.
Afterward, Kitazawa returned to the academy and resumed prepping the final exams. By afternoon, most of the work was done. Only one task remained—having teachers from each year finalize their questions.
[Current Mission: Help Ino Yamanaka master the Mind Body Switch Jutsu.]
[Mission Reward: Mind Body Switch Jutsu.]
[Mission Complete. Reward Issued.]
"Finally," Kitazawa muttered, a small smile tugging at his lips.
Kitazawa wasn't surprised.
After all, Ino had been training in the Mind Body Switch for quite a while.
As he reviewed the mission update, he couldn't help but shake his head.
The technique had far too many limitations. Using it solo was always a gamble.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Given Ino's age, mastering this jutsu was already an impressive feat. For now, the training would stay the course—she needed to continue refining her control over Yin Release chakra.
Shikamaru was in the same boat. If he wanted to take on another secret technique, he'd have to first build a solid foundation.
Kitazawa opened his mission list, scanning through the missions. There were many, but two in particular stood out—they were tied to the upcoming final exams:
Help Uzumaki Naruto defeat Uchiha Sasuke.
Take first place in the final exams.
Then there were two more he planned to tackle over the summer:
Help Hinata Hyuga defeat Neji Hyuga.
Help Sasuke defeat Neji Hyuga.
In short, both Hinata and Sasuke were getting special training.
A faint smile tugged at Kitazawa's lips.
Why were they all targeting Neji?
He could already picture Neji's face after losing twice in a row—it would be brutal. But that wasn't his concern. On the contrary, such events were likely to trigger new missions.
His thoughts drifted to Akimichi Choji. Both Shikamaru and Ino had already activated missions. Choji had to be next.
Then again, the Akimichi clan was… unique. For them, binge eating counted as training.
Kitazawa let out a thoughtful hum.
Binge eating, huh?
The memory of the Ichiraku Ramen eating contest from the original story flashed through his mind. Maybe there was a way to spin that into something useful.
Shaking off the thought, Kitazawa headed to the training grounds.
Sakura's progress remained impressive. At her pace, she'd probably master the hemostatic technique by tomorrow.
After that, he planned to teach her the Anesthesia Technique, then pause her medical jutsu studies to focus on developing Yang-natured chakra. Fortunately, he had just mastered Yang-natured chakra transformation himself—it was the perfect time to pass it on.
Kitazawa shifted his gaze, walking over to Hinata to continue her training.
The sun began to set, bringing Thursday to a close.
Kitazawa left the Ninja Academy on time and headed toward Kurenai's home.
But as he opened the door, he froze.
Instead of the entrance hall and living room, an endless starry sky spread before him.
'Did I get the wrong door?'
Frowning, he closed it and tried again—but the surreal starlit expanse remained.
Then it clicked.
This had to be Yakumo's Kekkei Genkai—Terrifying.
He recalled the original account: even Kurenai, a top-level genjutsu master, had nearly died when caught in this illusion.
Kitazawa stepped inside.
The starlight shimmered around him like soft fireflies, surreal and dreamlike.
Before long, he spotted Kurenai and Yakumo.
They were sitting by the sea, barefoot, their pale feet submerged in glittering water.
"Over here, Kitazawa!" Kurenai waved at him.
As he approached, he noticed the water wasn't ordinary—it sparkled like it was made of liquid gemstones.
He sat beside her and dipped his feet in. A chill ran up his spine, but it was surprisingly refreshing.
"This is Yakumo's new ability," Kurenai explained. "She can create illusions so real that even impossible scenes feel natural."
Kitazawa immediately thought of Itachi's Tsukuyomi.
In that world, everything—time, space, even gravity—was under the user's control.
Yakumo's genjutsu… was easily in the same league.
Kitazawa glanced down. Kurenai's long legs shimmered under the water, her skin smooth and radiant.
His mind wandered. He lifted his leg, brushing gently against hers.
Kurenai glared at him with a subtle warning in her eyes—don't push it, not with Yakumo here.
He just smiled innocently… and pressed his leg a bit closer, running it softly along her thigh.
Kurenai's muscles tensed. Her curled toes peeked above the water, and her breath hitched.
She was just about to whisper something sharp—when sudden footsteps echoed nearby.
"Is this Yakumo's Bloodline Limit?" Tsunade's voice rang out in amazement. "No wonder Danzo was so desperate to keep her under wraps."
Shizune was speechless, her eyes wide with awe.
They had walked straight into the illusion without even realizing it. That was how seamless and terrifying it was.
"Enough already," Kurenai whispered urgently, leaning toward Kitazawa.
Her heart thudded in her chest.
If Tsunade or Shizune noticed what was going on beneath the surface, she'd die of embarrassment.
"Lady Tsunade, Shizune-senpai," Kitazawa called out, pulling his foot away. "Come enjoy the foot bath with us."
The two women joined them, settling beside the shore and slipping their feet into the glowing waters.
All five of them, except for the serene Yakumo, marveled at the realism of the illusion.
"This is the model for our next ninjutsu," Tsunade said, raising her leg to admire the droplets glistening on her skin.
"We'll base it on Yakumo's illusion."
"That sounds… incredibly difficult," Kurenai said, raising an eyebrow.
"There's a workaround," Tsunade replied, splashing her foot back in. "We only need to replicate one-tenth of this effect."
"And our Genjutsu is meant for healing," Shizune added. "We don't need a grand illusion—just something soothing and comforting for patients."
"Not a bad idea," Kitazawa nodded.
This time, he could sit back and be a "lie-down-and-win" participant.
With genjutsu like this, he wasn't going to be much help anyway.
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