"That concludes the final rankings for this month's exam."
Kitazawa closed the roster. "Now, everyone who placed twentieth or below, step forward."
Soon, ten students stood before him, faces tense and uneasy. They knew exactly what was coming next: challenges from top students in other classes. Lose, and they'd be out of the Advanced Class.
"Don't stress too much," Kitazawa said with a smile. "You may not have noticed, but you've improved a lot this month—enough to handle the challenges."
The ten glanced at one another, then chose to believe him, feeling much calmer.
"Iruka." Kitazawa handed the roster to Umino Iruka. "Please bring over the students who'll be challenging."
"Got it." Iruka took the list to find the other teachers. All classes at the Academy hold their monthly exams on the same day; with the Advanced Class done with its practicals, most other classes were wrapping up too.
"Use the time to rest," Kitazawa told the group. "We'll start the challenge round once everyone's here."
The Advanced Class students sat down on the field, including those who wouldn't be in the challenge round—like Uchiha Sasuke and Hyūga Neji. They'd all wait until the challenges finished to leave.
"Kitazawa." Sarutobi Hiruzen walked up. "I'll head out first. Swing by my office when you have a moment."
He'd already seen the part he cared most about—the rankings. The challenges didn't interest him; in his mind, it'd just be low-level sparring. He'd take a look at the updated roster in the end anyway. And like Kitazawa, he figured the Advanced Class's advantage was too large; other classes would struggle to win.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kitazawa replied.
Time passed, and students from other classes arrived one after another.
"Kitazawa-senpai," Iruka said, bringing the last challenger over. "That's everyone for the challenge round—fifteen in total."
"Mm." Kitazawa nodded. "You host it."
With that, he headed over to sit among the Advanced Class students who weren't participating.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto waved him over. "Sit here!"
"Sensei, over here!" Kiba yelled right after.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Ino waved urgently. "Here! Here!"
Hyūga Hinata, beside her, looked hopeful.
"Anywhere's fine," Kitazawa said, and chose the spot between Ino and Hinata.
"I'll announce the rules for the challenge round now," Iruka called out. "Each Advanced Class student can be challenged at most three times, and not consecutively…"
"Kitazawa-sensei," Ino tugged his sleeve, glancing at Sakura seated next to Sasuke. "Is Sakura learning Water Release really fast?"
"She's not slow," Kitazawa considered. "Among her peers, she's top-tier."
After all, Sakura is the female lead in the original story—her talent is unquestionable. In medical ninjutsu she's second only to Tsunade. And Water Release is far simpler to learn than medical ninjutsu; plus she's naturally water-aligned, so she takes to it like a fish in water.
"Then… can I still beat her next time?" Ino asked, worried.
"Already losing confidence?" Kitazawa smiled.
"I just have a lot of confidence in you, Sensei," Ino said impishly.
"If you want a new jutsu, just say so." He tapped her forehead with a finger.
"Knew I couldn't fool you." Ino rubbed her forehead, grinning.
[Current Mission: Help Yamanaka Ino defeat Haruno Sakura in next month's exam.]
[Reward: Mind Clone Switch Technique.]
[Accept?]
Not exactly a surprise. The Mind Clone Switch Technique is a beefed-up version of the Mind Body Switch Technique that lets you control two targets.
Kitazawa already knew Mind Body Switch, so getting the clone variant fit the system's usual pattern. To him, neither was especially useful—but whatever, accept first.
He could also use the jutsu he himself had created; Ninja Art: Ten Thousand Flowers Profusion and Ninja Art: Moonlight Beauty were both quite practical. Since they were genjutsu, he could even teach them to Kurenai—two birds with one stone.
"I'll teach you a new jutsu next week," Kitazawa said, meeting Ino's light-blue eyes with a smile.
"Yay!" Ino clenched a small fist. "Thank you, Sensei!"
While they chatted, the first challenge match had already ended. The winner—unsurprisingly—was from the Advanced Class. He stood there a little dazed; the win had felt far too easy. In the three practical rounds earlier, he'd struggled so much he'd started doubting himself. Now he realized he wasn't weak—his classmates were just too strong. Against students from other classes, his true strength finally showed. And he wasn't the only one.
By the end of the challenge round, all fifteen challengers had lost. Iruka led the shocked group away.
"No more speeches. Head on home—see you next week," Kitazawa said, standing at the front with a smile. "Dismissed."
Sasuke turned and strode off at once, a grin tugging at his lips. If he could teleport home, he would—he couldn't wait to tell Fugaku and Itachi that he'd taken first place.
"Naruto," Kitazawa called.
"Sensei?" Naruto looked up, puzzled.
"You lost to Neji and Sasuke today. Have you thought about why?" Kitazawa asked, smiling.
"I think I'm just not strong enough!" Naruto's fighting spirit flared. "I'll train twice as hard and beat them soon!"
"Your power's about the same as theirs. What you lack is adaptability," Kitazawa said. He wasn't surprised—Naruto's thinking was as straightforward as his personality.
"Adaptability?" Naruto scratched his head.
"Put simply, switch strategies based on your opponent," Kitazawa said. "In the last phase against Sasuke, why did you only think of using the Rasengan?"
"If not Rasengan, then what?" Naruto asked blankly.
"Throw ninja tools," Kitazawa replied. "With three Sasukes backed by Leaf-Style kenjutsu and Fire Release, closing in was the worst option."
"Oh—right!" Naruto's eyes lit up. If he'd gone for ranged throws, Sasuke and his clones couldn't have stayed back-to-back; standing still would've made them sitting ducks. If they split up, their threat dropped, and he might've picked them off one by one.
"You're sharp as ever, Sensei!" Naruto gave a big thumbs-up.
[Current Mission: Help Uzumaki Naruto defeat Uchiha Sasuke and Hyūga Neji in next month's exam.]
[Reward: +20% to chakra capacity.]
[Accept?]
Looking at the three lines, Kitazawa thought of one thing: a legendary. In sheer value, Naruto's mission reward was worth many times Ino's—raising the chakra cap was a real, permanent boost.
"We'll go over the details next week," Kitazawa said, patting his shoulder.
"Okay! See you, Sensei!" Naruto said, and trotted off.
Kitazawa watched him go, then looked around. The Advanced Class students had all gone home—except Hinata.
"Hinata, what do you want for lunch?" he asked with a smile as he walked over.
"I'm fine with anything," Hinata answered.
"Let me think." He ruffled her hair. "How about sukiyaki?"
Sukiyaki—Japanese beef hotpot. Kitazawa never shortchanged himself, especially now that he was fairly well-off.
"Mm!" Hinata had no objections.
"Let's find a sukiyaki place first. Then I'll stop by the Hokage's office—wait for me and we'll eat together," he said after a moment. Dropping in on Hiruzen after a meal felt improper. Even if his standing in the village had risen, proper respect for the Hokage was due. (If Tsunade became Hokage, then maybe he could loosen up.)
"Okay," Hinata nodded.
They found the nearest sukiyaki shop. After Kitazawa placed the order, he headed to the Hokage Building.
Knock, knock.
"Come in," came the casual reply.
"Hokage-sama," Kitazawa said as he entered.
"Ah, Kitazawa." Hiruzen set his papers down. "The Advanced Class performed excellently this month."
"It was a team effort," Kitazawa said after a beat. "In particular, the contributions from Kakashi and Maruboshi-senpai were huge."
"Still so modest," Hiruzen chuckled. "Your own contribution is plenty—those three jutsu you created are solid. They can be rated B-rank."
"I've been busy and forgot about this. I'll submit all four jutsu to the village in a bit," Kitazawa offered. Those four weren't that useful to him; turning them in would net better rewards.
"That's not what I meant," Hiruzen blinked—then realized. "But that's a good idea. If you submit them, you can exchange for four…?"
He stopped, suddenly doing the math.
"Four?" Hiruzen asked, surprised.
"There's another—Quadruple Fang Over Fang," Kitazawa said, and explained why he'd created it.
"I see." After thinking a moment, Hiruzen said generously, "Then pick four B-rank jutsu."
Strictly speaking, Quadruple Fang Over Fang wasn't quite B-rank, but there was no need to quibble.
Kitazawa's eyes brightened. Not a bad deal—four B-ranks for free, essentially.
"And not just these four," Hiruzen added. "Any jutsu you create going forward can be exchanged for ones of the same rank. If it's A- or S-rank, there'll be extra rewards."
Kitazawa mused. So the village wanted to encourage him to create more jutsu—which made sense. New techniques, even low-rank ones, were good for Konoha; most ninja were genin or chūnin.
[The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, greatly appreciates your creativity—this is your chance to make a name.]
[Current Mission: Modify or create a new jutsu.]
[Reward: Determined by the jutsu's rank, utility, and impact.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa's heart lifted—another rare quest with a floating reward, like Tenten's "find a summoning beast" quest.
His first thought was Lightning Release: Kirin—an S-rank that surely qualified—but that had already triggered its own system quest; he wasn't sure if it would count again.
Next was Wind Release: Rasenshuriken—enormously powerful but with severe side effects; in the original, Naruto's right hand lost function after his first use, and Tsunade classified it as forbidden. It fit the criteria, but its utility and impact might not score best.
Coming up empty, he set the idea aside. You can't rush inventing jutsu—especially S-ranks.
"I understand, Hokage-sama," Kitazawa said seriously. "I'll do my best."
"I look forward to you creating many useful techniques—like my teacher did," Hiruzen said, satisfied.
After a brief chat, Kitazawa followed an Anbu named Haru to the Ninjutsu Archive.
"Here are the scrolls," Haru said, handing over four. "Please write the hand-seal sequences and any specific notes."
"Mm." Kitazawa picked up a pen and recorded his four techniques: Hellhound; Ninja Art: Ten Thousand Flowers Profusion; Ninja Art: Moonlight Beauty; and Quadruple Fang Over Fang.
Hellhound and Three-Headed Hellhound were essentially one technique—their relationship was like Shadow Clone and Multiple Shadow Clone, with minor differences.
When he finished, he passed them back.
"You can select four B-rank jutsu now," Haru said after a quick check.
Kitazawa nodded and started browsing the archive shelves while Haru filed his submissions—Ten Thousand Flowers Profusion and Moonlight Beauty under Genjutsu, and Hellhound plus Quadruple Fang Over Fang under Secret Arts for the Inuzuka lineage.
After thinking it through, Kitazawa chose two Earth Releases and two Water Releases. He already had plenty of wind, fire, genjutsu, and medical techniques. He was light on lightning, but with only four picks he'd save those for next time.
The Earth Releases were Earth Release: Sticky Earth Drop—dropping a mass of sticky clay from above to trap a target—and Earth Release: Earth Flow River—turning the ground under the target into a flowing mudslide to sweep them away.
The Water Releases were Water Release: Heavenly Weeping—spitting a shower of senbon-like water needles, often used for surprise attacks—and Water Release: Water Bullet Barrage—spitting a stream of bullet-like water orbs to pummel a target, a bit like Wind Release: Vacuum Spheres. Both Water techniques were originally Tobirama Senju's.
With four new techniques in hand, Kitazawa felt time getting tight. Including earlier acquisitions, he now had three Water and five Earth techniques left to learn—and he still had to train Leaf-Style kenjutsu. Busy was good; in a world where strength rules, learning more jutsu is a blessing.
After lunch with Hinata and seeing her home, Kitazawa headed to Kurenai's place. It was Friday; because of the practicals, they'd been given the day off. With Saturday through Monday, Kitazawa had three and a half days free.
From a distance, he saw Kurenai practicing Ninja Art: Ten Thousand Flowers Profusion. Amid drifting pink petals, her graceful movements looked like a dance—beautiful to watch.
He paused to observe; she'd basically mastered it. Kurenai truly had a gift for genjutsu.
The petals fell, and Kurenai stopped.
"Have you eaten?" Kitazawa walked up and pulled her into his arms.
"I'm sweaty—gross," she reflexively struggled twice, but couldn't break free.
"Not gross—fragrant," he said, lowering his head to breathe in the scent at her neck.
"You really are a perv," Kurenai rolled her eyes. "Since you're back, get ready for lunch."
"I've eaten. You just finished training—take a shower. I'll cook," he said, letting her go.
"Fine." Kurenai nodded, took his hand, and led him inside.
"How about a qipao at home today?" he asked with a grin.
"Just don't tear it," Kurenai huffed.
"That's slander. I've only ever torn your stockings," Kitazawa said, suddenly straight-faced.
"Don't you want to tear it?" Kurenai's smile turned sultry.
"I'm not that kind of guy," he coughed lightly. "But if you ask me to, I'll oblige."
"Hypocrite." Kurenai stepped on his foot, then sashayed into the bath.