The Hyuga clan compound.
Because it was Saturday, Hyuga Hinata and Hyuga Neji were in the courtyard practicing Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Not far away, Hyuga Hiashi grew more and more satisfied as he watched.
Both were progressing quickly; he felt it wouldn't be long before they reached Thirty-Two Palms. If you split the Sixty-Four Palms in half, the Thirty-Two Palms is one stage.
Though it's an unfinished version of the Sixty-Four Palms, it already packs respectable combat power. Up to now, Hinata's and Neji's "Sixty-Four Palms" had been piecemeal.
Just then, a young shinobi hurried into the courtyard.
Hiashi looked up on instinct. It was Hyuga Homon—one of the standouts of the younger generation and already a jōnin.
"Homon, what happened?" Hiashi asked evenly.
"Clan Head," Homon said in a low voice, "Hokage-sama just issued a notice: Root is being abolished."
"What did you say?" Hiashi's expression changed at once. How was that possible? Given Sarutobi Hiruzen's relationship with Shimura Danzō, he was actually dissolving Root?
"It's absolutely true," Homon said after a deep breath. "I saw the Anbu posting myself."
"Did you learn the specifics?" Hiashi asked, grave. The dissolution of Root was enough to shake Konoha. He worried it might adversely affect the Hyuga.
"It's because of Tsunade-sama," Homon replied. "The notice says she discovered noncompliant experiments inside Root."
"That's it?" Hiashi blurted, taken aback. "What experiment exactly?"
"The notice doesn't say." Homon shook his head.
"That doesn't add up." Hiashi paced, thinking. In his view, a single noncompliant experiment didn't warrant dissolving Root—unless Tsunade applied pressure and Hiruzen had to produce an outcome that satisfied her.
"Looks like Tsunade becoming the next Hokage is a foregone conclusion." Hiashi glanced reflexively at Hinata. Fortunately, the Hyuga had linked up with Kitazawa early. That ten-million-ryō chakra blade might not rocket their status upward, but at least it would hold things steady. For a thousand-year-old clan, maintaining the status quo was already a win.
"I understand. You may go," Hiashi said with a wave.
Root's dissolution meant Hiruzen had resolved to make Tsunade the next Hokage. That made the Hyuga's next steps simple: offer support at an appropriate moment. And it wasn't just the Hyuga—clans like the Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Aburame were thinking the same thing. If they couldn't be kingmakers, they could at least add icing to the cake. A new Hokage meant a shift in Konoha's power structure; if they could snag a benefit in the process, that would be a pure win.
Night fell.
Uchiha Sasuke sensed something odd at home. It wasn't exactly heavy, but Fugaku seemed on edge, getting up and pacing from time to time.
"Dad, did something happen?" Sasuke finally asked.
"It's nothing," Fugaku said, shaking his head. In truth, he was waiting for Itachi, hoping to hear details about Root's dissolution from him.
"Really nothing?" Sasuke asked, skeptical.
"You." Mikoto pulled him close, ruffled his hair, and smiled. "If your father says it's nothing, then it's nothing."
"Okay." Seeing his mother's familiar smile, Sasuke relaxed.
"Has Kitazawa taught you any new jutsu lately?" Fugaku asked, suddenly thinking of something.
"No," Sasuke said. "I've been training with Kosuke-sensei and Kakashi-sensei."
"I see." Fugaku frowned slightly. He'd planned to send Kitazawa another one or two jutsu via Sasuke, but without new lessons from Kitazawa, he lacked a tidy pretext.
Just then, the door opened.
"Niisan!" Sasuke darted from Mikoto's side toward the entry.
Exhausted, Itachi still smiled when he saw him. As a member of the Anbu, he'd spent the entire day running around Root—shutting down experiments, organizing documents, and taking inventory.
Root had been around for too long; the accumulation was vast. Itachi figured the Anbu would be busy for half a month to fully clean house.
For him, it was sweet work. Unfortunately, Danzō had moved quickly and spirited some things away in advance. For example, Itachi hadn't found files related to the Uchiha.
When he stepped into the living room and saw Fugaku and Mikoto waiting, he knew exactly why—Tsunade storming Root and Hiruzen dissolving it. He was, after all, one of the principals.
"Sasuke," Mikoto stood and said gently, "come to my room. I need to talk to you."
"Huh?" Sasuke blinked.
"Go on," Itachi said, letting go of his hand.
Once Mikoto and Sasuke left, Itachi took the initiative and explained the lead-up and aftermath of Root's dissolution.
"So it involved the First Hokage's cells?" Fugaku said, looking enlightened. "No wonder the punishment was so severe." He didn't know about the Wood Release experiments, but taking cells from Hashirama's corpse was already gross disrespect—more so when you got caught by Hashirama's granddaughter.
"But I think the main factor is Tsunade-sama," Itachi analyzed. "If it were anyone else, Hokage-sama probably wouldn't have dissolved Root."
"True," Fugaku agreed. With Tsunade's identity, even as her teacher Hiruzen couldn't wave it off. The Senju clan's influence in Konoha was too great; if this got out, the village would be thrown into chaos. That's the power two Hokage left behind. Fugaku sighed inwardly. When would the Uchiha produce a Hokage? At least now there was hope—if Sasuke worked hard enough, maybe he could be Hokage.
"Kitazawa played a major role in this," Fugaku said after a moment's thought. "Since he's also Sasuke's teacher, it won't be hard for us to get closer to him."
As for Tsunade—how to put it—easy to approach and not easy to approach. Building real closeness would be troublesome.
"You mean…?" Itachi arched a brow.
"Didn't Sasuke gift him a jutsu before?" Fugaku said. "We can find another opportunity to give him a few more."
For the Uchiha with Sharingan, jutsu weren't exactly scarce; the eyes themselves were the trump card.
"Mm." Itachi nodded. He already had a favorable impression of Kitazawa.
First, because Kitazawa truly taught Sasuke from the heart, and Sasuke's growth had been explosive under his guidance.
Second, because Kitazawa was Tsunade's student and the Academy's vice principal—effectively part of Konoha's leadership.
Few in the upper echelons were friendly to the Uchiha; Kitazawa's attitude toward them was refreshingly normal. If Tsunade became Hokage, Kitazawa would also be a Hokage candidate. Barring surprises, the two of them could keep the Uchiha stable for decades.
The next day, Sunday.
Kitazawa wasn't affected by Root's dismantling; he continued training with Kurenai Yūhi. Under his guidance, Kurenai quickly learned Ninja Art: Profusion of Flowers and Ninja Art: Moonlight Beauty—two techniques that are quite similar: use genjutsu plus petals to confuse the enemy, then strike. The only difference is that the former attacks from all sides, while the latter drops in from above.
Monday.
The Advanced Class had started lessons again—today was theory. Kitazawa didn't need to go to the Academy, but he still had a "class" to teach: Monster Strength for Kurenai.
They went to an open patch behind the house.
"Strictly speaking, Monster Strength is a striking method," Kitazawa said unhurriedly. "You concentrate a large amount of chakra into a spot on your body and detonate it—that's Monster Strength."
Kurenai was a good fit for it, since her chakra control was solid—she could already use genjutsu. Of course, Monster Strength was harder and more demanding than genjutsu. Whether she could learn it, Kitazawa couldn't say, but trying wouldn't hurt.
"Every part of the body can be used, but the most common are the hands and feet," he went on, raising a fist. "I'll teach you the hand-strike first. You can call it 'Cherry Blossom Impact.'" In the original, that naming came from Haruno Sakura. Tsunade's hand strike didn't have a formal name; only the kick was known as the Heavenly Foot of Pain.
"Okay," Kurenai said with a nod.
"The upside of Monster Strength is no hand seals and big power." Kitazawa punched down. The ground cracked and a two-to-three-meter pit bloomed—this was with him holding back. At full power, he could do much more.
Kurenai had seen it many times, but the thought of learning it herself still thrilled her. If she could master Monster Strength, her power would skyrocket just like Kitazawa said. If genjutsu failed in battle, she could make enemies taste her fists and feet.
"The only issue is it burns a lot of chakra," Kitazawa added, shaking out his hand.
"Then I'll treat it as a trump card," Kurenai said after a moment's thought. In ordinary cases, she'd still rely on genjutsu.
"Let's begin, then." Kitazawa stepped up and took her wrist. Given her talent profile, he decided on a teaching style entirely different from Tsunade's—training at a fine-grained level: forcing Kurenai to memorize the chakra flow pattern.
With the Byakugan, he could do that. In fact, while Kurenai slept last night, he'd already used it to map her internals in detail.
Time slid by. Even with his borderline-cheating method, Monster Strength was hard. After a whole day, Kurenai hadn't budged an inch. That was normal; even Shizune hadn't learned it in the original story.
Tuesday.
After breakfast, Kitazawa headed to the Academy.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Yamanaka Ino ran straight up, wrapped herself around his leg, and looked up with big blinking eyes. Hinata, beaten to the punch, halted quietly.
"It's only been three days. Since when are you this proactive?" he said, rapping Ino lightly on the forehead.
"I can't wait to learn a new jutsu!" Ino let go, all fired up.
"I'll teach you in a bit," he said with a smile. Over the past three days, besides training Kurenai, he'd picked out a new technique for Ino—also from a game—called Ninja Art: Ten Thousand Flowers Profusion.
The name sounds like Profusion of Flowers, but the effect is completely different. Ten Thousand Flowers Profusion is more like the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique: leap up and rain down a mass of flower shuriken to suppress the enemy.
A "flower shuriken" is a petal infused with chakra; in terms of lethality, it's not much worse than a real shuriken—it just eats more chakra. He chose it because it could combo with Profusion of Flowers and Moonlight Beauty.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto, Kiba, and the others called out.
"It's about time—come with me." He led his usual three study groups to their training ground. Then he pulled Naruto and Ino aside.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Ino bounced in place, eager.
"I'll start with you. This one's called Ninja Art: Ten Thousand Flowers Profusion." Kitazawa sprang up; with a sweep of both hands, petals filled the air. Their edges, sharpened by chakra, sliced into the ground like blades.
"Do you know explosive tags?" he asked with a grin when he landed.
"I do," Ino said, snapping back to herself. Explosive tags—products of sealing arts—store a Fire Release in a talisman. They're powerful, don't need hand seals, and cost no chakra. Precisely for that reason, they're expensive; most shinobi can't afford to use them often. But as the Yamanaka clan's young lady, Ino could get a few without trouble.
"You can have petal-shaped tags custom-made and mix them into the flower shuriken," Kitazawa said after a pause. "Just don't use them at school."
Ino's eyes lit up. With explosive tags added, Ten Thousand Flowers Profusion' power would scale without ceiling. And no enemy would expect tags hidden among flower shuriken—perfect for a nasty surprise.
"Practice on your own. If anything's unclear, ask me," he said, ruffling her hair, then turned to Naruto.
"What new jutsu are we learning?" Naruto asked, buzzing.
"None for now," Kitazawa said with a shake of his head. "We're doing live-combat training—or call it mindset training." In the original story, Naruto was the "number-one most unpredictable ninja," but perhaps because he listened too well these days, that trait hadn't shown. No matter—he could train it. As for a new jutsu, Kitazawa planned to teach him Wind Release: Rasengan later.
"Follow my shadow clone for special training," he said, splitting off a clone. "Combat drills in the morning, wind-nature practice in the afternoon."
Naruto scratched his head. No new technique was a bit of a letdown, but he didn't complain.
Kitazawa's real body headed to the artificial lake to keep working on his A-rank jutsu, Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique.
He chose the lake because water nearby meant big chakra savings for Water Release. Also present were Kiba, still honing the Three-Headed Hell Hound; Uchiha Sasuke, learning Leaf-Style Swordsmanship; and Haruno Sakura, practicing Water Release: Water Formation Wall. After greeting Maruboshi Kosuke, Kitazawa got to work—while also mulling over his "system" task of creating a new technique.
His current "guaranteed" S-rank was Wind Release: Rasenshuriken. But since it's a forbidden jutsu, it might be hard for anyone else in Konoha to train it. He wondered if there was an S-rank technique with broader impact and use—something that would net him the system's top reward.
By late morning, his Great Waterfall got a little sharper.
"Kitazawa," Maruboshi Kosuke limped over—his left leg was a prosthetic, giving his gait a slight hitch.
"Senpai—" Kitazawa froze mid-word. Inspiration flashed. The shinobi world had plenty of medical ninjutsu, but none that regrew severed limbs.
He did, however, have something similar: the S-rank medical forbidden jutsu, Body Revival Technique—able to reassemble and regenerate the body even if it's torn to pieces, but it only works on oneself.
Kitazawa's idea was to modify it: first, nerf the effect to simple limb regeneration—lowering side effects at the same time; second, make it usable on others.
If he could pull it off, that one medical technique would be enough to make his name in Konoha—maybe across the whole shinobi world. Ninja battles are brutal; missing arms and legs are common. He felt it was worth a try.