Kitazawa finished cooking and carried the dishes back to the living room.
He sat at the table to wait. Since Kurenai tends to take her time in the bath, he held out both hands and warmed the food with Fire Release chakra.
A moment later, the bathroom door opened.
Kitazawa looked up—and his eyes lit up.
Kurenai had changed into a white qipao. It fit like a glove, tracing every line of her figure—especially her full, rounded hips. With each step she took, the fabric over her hips drew taut and the curves looked even more luscious.
Her long black hair was pinned up behind her head and tied with a red ribbon, a style that lent her a touch of dignified grace she didn't usually wear. The qipao slit ran up to mid-thigh, and below it were two long legs sheathed in white stockings. Barefoot, she padded over to him.
She lifted one leg and pressed her white-stockinged toes lightly on his foot. "Do I look good?"
Kitazawa nodded on instinct. "Beautiful and enchanting—sexy and elegant."
"You do know how to flatter a girl." Kurenai smiled and sat down across from him.
"Here." Kitazawa handed her a pair of chopsticks.
"Thanks." Kurenai tugged at the collar of the qipao and said with a laugh, "This is my first time eating in a qipao. Feels a little strange."
"There's a design flaw," Kitazawa said after a glance.
"What flaw?" Kurenai picked up a fried shrimp with her chopsticks.
"The collar's too high. It hides half your neck."
"And what's wrong with that?" Kurenai froze, not quite following.
"It blocks my view. I can't admire your lovely neck and collarbones," Kitazawa said, blinking at her.
"Always trying to take advantage!" Kurenai shot him a glare.
"I'm just being honest," he replied solemnly.
Kurenai gave him a kick under the table. After a two-second hesitation, she set down her chopsticks and undid the top button at her collar. Without the button, the neckline fell open to either side, revealing a sweep of fair skin.
"Okay, no more requests," she said, picking up her chopsticks again. "And stop distracting me while I eat."
"Kurenai, you really are as kind as you are beautiful." Kitazawa couldn't help grinning. He laced his fingers together, propped his chin, and simply admired her. When she leaned forward to eat, the tight qipao showed off every elastic curve.
"Oh—I forgot to tell you something," Kurenai said suddenly, looking up to meet his eyes. "Three of your students dropped by this morning."
Kitazawa had plenty of students. But with the practical exams running that morning, the only ones free would have been Yakushi Kabuto, Aburame Torune, and Uchiha Izumi. Why hadn't they gone straight to the academy to find him? To avoid disturbing the exam?
"They said they'd come by again tonight," Kurenai went on. "They want to report on the missions their squad has completed lately."
"I see." Understanding dawned on Kitazawa's face. He'd sent Kabuto and the others out on missions half a month ago—it was about time to check in on them.
"Looks like I should run out and buy more groceries," he said after a moment's thought.
With three extra mouths, whatever was in the fridge wouldn't be enough. And since it was their first time visiting his place, he couldn't serve something stingy—he'd need to cook a proper feast.
"Mhm." Kurenai nodded. "I can go."
"I'll go," Kitazawa said, shaking his head. "I don't want anyone else seeing you in that qipao."
"I'm obviously not wearing a qipao to the market." Kurenai rolled her eyes.
"It's fine—I'll have a shadow clone do the shopping," Kitazawa chuckled. "And we can use the time we save to train a bit more."
"Works for me," Kurenai said, letting it drop.
"This afternoon, I'll help you practice Ninja Art: Ten Thousand Flowers Profusion and Ninja Art: Moonlight Beauty," Kitazawa said after thinking it over. Since both jutsu involved genjutsu elements, they'd go faster with a partner than solo.
"No need," Kurenai said, slightly taken aback. "I can practice on my own."
"You've already got a foundation in genjutsu. If I run drills with you and guide you, you'll master both jutsu faster," he said, a little mysteriously. "And once you do, I'll teach you a very special technique."
"A sealing jutsu?" Kurenai's interest was piqued.
"Not sealing," Kitazawa smiled. "A technique that'll give you an immediate power boost."
"There's a technique like that?" Kurenai rubbed her white-stockinged foot against his leg. "Spit it out!"
"Monster Strength," he said, dropping the pretense.
"Tsunade-sama's Monster Strength?" Kurenai's eyes flew wide.
"Mm." Kitazawa nodded. Monster Strength was, at its core, a devastating power-generation method. Its impact depended on the user's chakra and physical conditioning. Kurenai's version would never match Tsunade's—but even so, it would be a terrifying upgrade.
"Can I really learn it?" Kurenai asked, a flicker of doubt on her face.
"Don't worry," Kitazawa said with a smile, reading her mind. "Your boyfriend's part of Konoha's leadership now."
"Thank you." The words left Kurenai genuinely moved.
"Eat up," Kitazawa said, pinching her cheek. "Once you're stronger, you're coming with me on high-difficulty missions."
"Mhm." Kurenai nodded and smiled. "Wherever you go, I'll go."
[As the future Hokage, powerful and loyal subordinates are essential.]
[Current Mission: Help Yūhi Kurenai master Monster Strength and win her heart.]
[Reward: Cursed Seal of Heaven.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa blinked at the four lines that suddenly appeared in front of him. A mission—now? So, in the system's eyes, Kurenai counted as his subordinate?
He tugged at the corner of his mouth. Put that way, it wasn't wrong. If he became Hokage, Kurenai would be his secretary—technically under him. Unexpected as the mission was, the reward was surprisingly good.
Most sealing techniques were support-oriented; only a few worked directly in combat. The Cursed Seal of Heaven was one of them. The target's body would be covered by crawling black formula marks until they were immobilized and unable to move.
In the original story, Shimura Danzō had used it to bind even a Mangekyō-wielding Uchiha Sasuke. No doubt about it—a powerful sealing technique, and crucially, usable mid-fight. Land it, and your opponent was basically done for.
Kitazawa chose "Accept."
Looked like Kurenai really was his lucky goddess.
After lunch, he tidied the table and went to wash the dishes. A white qipao wasn't exactly practical for chores, so by the time he came back to the living room, Kurenai had changed back into her usual white-and-red outfit.
"It's not convenient to train ninjutsu in a qipao," Kurenai said as she came up and looped her arms around his neck. "I'll wear it again for you tonight."
Then she rose on tiptoe and offered him her rosy lips. Kitazawa slid his arms around her soft waist, and they sank into a deep, hungry kiss.
After a long moment, they came up for air, then headed outside to train.
Time slipped by.
At six, Kitazawa created a shadow clone and sent it to buy groceries.
Not long after, Yakushi Kabuto, Aburame Torune, and Uchiha Izumi appeared in the distance and walked up.
"Kitazawa, that's enough training for today," Kurenai said, wiping sweat from her brow. "You entertain them—I'll start the rice."
"I'll bring the vegetables to the kitchen when my clone gets back," Kitazawa said, turning to the trio.
"Sensei," Kabuto greeted as they approached, with Izumi and Torune right behind.
"Let's talk inside," Kitazawa said, leading them into the living room. "What would you like to drink?"
"Anything is fine," Kabuto replied.
"Then I'll pour water," Kitazawa decided.
"Thank you, Sensei." The three sat side-by-side on the sofa. Kitazawa handed each of them a glass of plain water and took the seat opposite.
"Sensei," Kabuto said, producing a scroll. "This is the list of missions we've completed over the past half-month."
"So many?" Kitazawa unrolled it and raised his brows. Ten C-ranks and three B-ranks—half a month was fifteen days, which meant they'd been doing missions almost nonstop apart from eating and sleeping.
He read the details more carefully, and his surprise eased. They'd chosen straightforward jobs concentrated around the outskirts of Konoha, none farther than the Land of Fire.
Clearly, Kabuto had taken his advice to heart: focus on volume. Their squad was strong enough; there was no need to pick hard missions just to prove themselves. The urgent task was to rack up numbers, then go sit the jōnin exam.
"Good work. Nicely done," Kitazawa said with a satisfied nod.
Kabuto let out a quiet breath. He'd guessed right about what Kitazawa wanted.
"How's your training?" Kitazawa asked, rolling the scroll back up.
"I'm still working on Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere," Kabuto said, a bit sheepish. "I'll need a little more time to master it."
"I've learned the Leaf Body Flicker," Torune reported.
"And the Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson you taught me—I'm almost there," Izumi added.
"Strictly speaking, you could be focusing on Aburame clan secret arts," Kitazawa said to Torune. "But given your role in the squad, I'm going to teach you the Substitute Technique (White Zetsu)."
The ideal three-man cell was medic, fighter, and support—and Kabuto, Izumi, and Torune mapped cleanly to those roles. Torune, as support, handled sensing and reconnaissance.
With that in mind, Kitazawa's choice made sense: the Substitute Technique (White Zetsu) would let Torune take on infiltration missions as well. Paired with his insect control, it was a nasty combo.
"What exactly does Substitute Technique (White Zetsu) do?" Kabuto asked after thinking it over. As captain, he needed to understand his teammates' abilities to assign tasks better.
Kitazawa explained the technique's effects in a few sentences.
"What a powerful jutsu," Kabuto said, eyes bright. With it, infiltration jobs would go even faster. Izumi nodded in agreement—a disguise jutsu that even the Sharingan struggled to pierce was downright scary. She didn't even want to imagine fighting an enemy who had it.
"Thank you, Sensei," Torune said at once.
"As for Izumi, stick with a B-rank Fire Release," Kitazawa mused. "I'll teach you Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation."
"Okay," Izumi agreed without hesitation.
"Take a look at these scrolls first," Kitazawa said, handing each of them a jutsu scroll—he'd spotted his shopping clone returning. "I'll pop into the kitchen."
He dispelled the clone, grabbed the groceries, and headed in. Kurenai had already set the rice to cook and was prepping the aromatics for stir-fry.
"Leave the rest to me," Kitazawa said, setting the bags down and hugging her from behind.
"What are you doing?" Kurenai's heart skipped; she glanced instinctively toward the doorway.
"You've been training all afternoon. I can't bear to make you cook on top of that," he said, giving her hips two playful pats.
"I'd be even more touched if you kept your hands to yourself," Kurenai said, setting the knife down. "We have guests, so I won't go lie down. I'll go chat with your students."
Strictly speaking, she was the real host here—even Kitazawa was technically a guest; the house was hers.
"Mm." He let her go. Kurenai bit his lip lightly, then left with a smile.
Dusk deepened; night fell early in February.
"What were you all talking about?" Kitazawa asked as he came out of the kitchen with bowls and chopsticks.
"Do you know the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?" Kurenai asked back.
"They're famous—of course I do," Kitazawa said with a small laugh. The Seven Swordsmen were Kirigakure's elite unit, handling high-difficulty missions for the Mizukage—roughly analogous to Konoha's Legendary Sannin in status, effectively part of the village leadership.
The title was also inheritable; many renowned Kirigakure jōnin had served as Swordsmen. The first generation was crippled by Might Duy. In the Third Great Ninja War, Duy opened the Eight Gates and kicked them into a sorry state—four died, three escaped.
"Biwa Jūzō and Kurosuki Raiga have defected from Kirigakure," Kurenai said with a smile. "It's huge news across the shinobi world. We only heard later since we weren't out on assignment."
For headlines like that, Konoha notified every shinobi working outside the village—mainly so they could avoid running into the defectors. If you were unlucky enough to encounter them, the best plan was to run as far as you could. If you couldn't… odds were you'd die.
Kitazawa's brow ticked up. Defecting now? On second thought, the timing fit. In the original timeline, Uchiha Obito controlled the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, plunging the village into a bloody regime.
Of the surviving first-gen Swordsmen, Suikazan Fuguki stayed, while Biwa Jūzō and Kurosuki Raiga defected in disgust. Jūzō later joined the Akatsuki and partnered with Uchiha Itachi—which meant he fled before the Uchiha massacre, i.e., around now.
But thanks to Kitazawa's butterfly effect, that massacre probably wouldn't happen. Jūzō likely wouldn't team up with Itachi—or die protecting him—like in the original.
Whether he'd still join the Akatsuki, Kitazawa couldn't say, though given how aggressively they recruited, chances were good.
Raiga's story was less epic. He found a boy named Ranmaru, seized a gold mine in the Land of Rivers, and lorded it over the locals—only to be killed by Naruto, Hyūga Neji, Rock Lee, and Tenten on a mission. Notably, Ranmaru had the Crimson Eye, a direct foil to the Byakugan: superb x-ray vision, observation, and sensory abilities, plus the power to create chakra after-images that interfered with the Byakugan.
"Kirigakure has posted bounties," Kurenai added. "Capture or kill either one and the reward is hefty."
"The Swordsmen are all at least elite jōnin," Kabuto said, shaking his head. "Most shinobi wouldn't stand a chance."
"Agreed," Kurenai said. "I doubt anyone will take it."
Something clicked for Kitazawa, and he fell into thought. He didn't know Jūzō's current whereabouts. But the original made Raiga's haunt crystal clear: Katabami Gold Mine in the Land of Rivers.
In terms of name recognition, the Seven Swordsmen far outshone the Twelve Guardian Ninja. Take down Kurosuki Raiga, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say a lot of people across the shinobi world would hear about their squad. On top of that, Raiga's Twin Swords—Kiba—and his Lightning Release techniques were worth a fortune.
[You've discovered a high-value mission that can raise your squad's profile.]
[Current Mission: Eliminate Kurosuki Raiga, one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.]
[Reward: Typhoon Water Vortex Technique.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa smiled at the four lines hanging in the air. Knew it—a system mission, just as expected. Raiga was a named character in the original, after all. And like the Guardian Ninja job, the reward was another composite ninjutsu—one even stronger than the last.
~~~
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