Tuesday.
After breakfast, Kitazawa headed straight for the academy training field. It wasn't class time yet, so only some students had arrived, but Maruboshi Kosuke and Hatake Kakashi were already there.
"Kosuke-senpai. Kakashi," Kitazawa greeted as he walked up.
"Kitazawa," Kosuke said, looking him over with a sigh of amazement. "So young, and you've already taken down Kurosuki Raiga. Truly formidable."
It was the first time anyone had called Kitazawa "young." Considering Kosuke's age, though, the label fit.
"You flatter me, Kosuke-senpai. I've still got a lot to learn," Kitazawa replied, then asked, curious, "How did you hear I killed Raiga?"
"The Hokage sent out a notice," Kakashi cut in to explain. He was surprised Kitazawa had killed Raiga, but not that surprised. Last year they'd teamed up on a mission to extract Yakushi Kabuto and had fought several Iwagakure shinobi along the way.
Back then Kakashi had already gauged Kitazawa's strength—easily at jōnin level. Of course, Raiga was far beyond your average Rock shinobi. Kitazawa had simply progressed too fast. Still, if Tsunade-sama had her eye on him, that made sense.
"I see," Kitazawa said, raising a brow as he more or less understood Sarutobi Hiruzen's thinking. All in all, it was a good thing. Fame made you a target, but it also quietly raised your standing and influence in Konoha.
They chatted a bit longer until nine o'clock, then broke off to lead their respective study groups and begin training.
As usual, Kitazawa went down the line to check his students' progress. Once he was sure things were on track, he left two shadow clones behind to instruct them and, as his real body, headed to the academy's man-made lake to practice Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique.
Time slipped by. Near the end of the school day, three lines of text floated in front of Kitazawa's eyes:
[Current Mission: Learn four Water Release jutsu during the third term.]
[Reward: Proficient-level Water-nature chakra transformation.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa let out a breath. Finally done. With proficient Water-nature transformation, he could learn water jutsu faster—and he was one step closer to Five Release: Great Combo Technique. Even so, he didn't plan to keep grinding Water Release.
He had another system quest this term: learn four Earth Release jutsu. He'd already mastered Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall, so three more to go. After a moment's thought, he decided to start with Earth Release: Earth Substitution.
It wasn't a random pick. Offensive earth jutsu were fine, but he already had plenty of offensive techniques; at best they'd be icing on the cake, not fight-deciders. Earth Substitution, though—support plus defense—was a life-saver. It formed a substitute out of the ground so the user could swap out when struck. Great for blocking or evasion—just plain useful.
With dismissal imminent, he stopped training and headed to his squad's practice spot. He'd split the 1.2 million ryō reward with Kabuto and the others yesterday. Today he was mainly here about quests.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Kabuto and the other two stopped training the moment they saw him.
"Make sure you keep grinding quest counts whenever you've got time," Kitazawa reminded them. "Same as before—if a task looks dicey, come find me."
"Understood, Kitazawa-sensei," the three answered in unison.
Kitazawa was about to continue when a familiar figure appeared out of nowhere.
"The Hokage requests your presence," said an Anbu operative, getting straight to the point.
Kitazawa frowned slightly. Was this about Raiga? But hadn't he already reported everything two days ago?
"Got it. Thanks." He didn't overthink it—he'd know once he went. As soon as he spoke, the Anbu vanished.
"School's out anyway. Wrap up for today and head home," he told Kabuto's team, then left the academy.
He reached the Hokage Tower quickly, but stopped at the door. A few people were gathered around the notice board. Kitazawa stepped closer and took a look: the posted announcement detailed how his team had slain Kurosuki Raiga.
He spotted a blind spot. The notice said "Jōnin Kitazawa," not "Special Jōnin Kitazawa."
So that's why I'm being called in—promotion to jōnin. Made sense. He'd killed one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen; leaving him as a tokubetsu jōnin would be hard to justify.
He headed upstairs into the Hokage's office. The first thing he saw inside was a green jōnin flak jacket laid out on the desk.
So his guess was right.
"Kitazawa," Hiruzen said without preamble, "there's one thing I forgot to mention earlier—effective immediately, you're promoted to jōnin."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Kitazawa bowed slightly, then asked, "Do I still need to take a jōnin assessment?"
"You? After killing Raiga? That's tougher than any assessment," Hiruzen chuckled, standing to hand him the green jacket.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kitazawa said again, taking it.
"There's something else," Hiruzen continued as he sat back down. "This morning, Kirigakure sent word they intend to dispatch a delegation to Konoha."
"To retrieve Raiga's body and the Kiba blades?" Kitazawa's eyes narrowed.
"That's right." Hiruzen tapped his pipe and added, "But don't worry—those blades are yours now."
That actually surprised Kitazawa. Hiruzen was being unusually firm—likely because this was Kiri, not Kumo.
Of course, Kirigakure was currently under Uchiha Obito's control. Who knew what might happen? Still, it didn't matter much—thanks to the Blood Mist era, Kiri was bottom of the Five Great Villages.
If it came to blows, Konoha would win. And Kiri wasn't a monolith. The faction around Yuanshi, Ao, and Mei Terumi had long chafed under the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi.
Even if Ao never discovered Yagura's manipulation with his Byakugan, they were bound to revolt and set things right sooner or later.
"Konoha's goal in these talks is to exchange Raiga's remains for a sum of money," Hiruzen said after a pause. "We're still short one negotiator."
"You want me to go?" Kitazawa asked.
"Raiga may have been a rogue, but plenty in Kiri were close to him. If you show up, it'll look like Konoha's provoking them," Hiruzen said, shaking his head. "I want Tsunade to go."
"Given Tsunade-sama's personality, she'll probably refuse," Kitazawa said, hesitating. He saw what Hiruzen was aiming for: sending Tsunade as Konoha's representative would be a clear signal—to the clans and shinobi alike—that she was consolidating power and was the next Hokage. Get behind her.
It felt… delicate. This retirement-hungry Hiruzen was not quite the Hiruzen in Kitazawa's impression.
"I'll ask her. She'll likely say no," Hiruzen said, eyes settling on Kitazawa. "But if you ask, she might agree."
"…," Kitazawa's mouth twitched. Of course. Still, his recent gains put him in a generous mood; he decided to give it a try.
"I'll be waiting for good news," Hiruzen said with a warm smile.
Kitazawa left the tower and glanced at the green jōnin jacket in his hands, which, for some reason, made him think of Might Guy's green bodysuit. The jacket did look better—though not by much. Luckily, it wasn't for daily wear. In Konoha, you were required to wear it in only two situations: missions outside the village and formal meetings.
He tucked the jacket away. Promotion didn't change much immediately; the rank's weight showed at critical moments—say, during a shinobi war, when jōnin had authority to command chūnin and genin.
Kitazawa headed for Tsunade's place.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Karin said when she opened the door.
"Is Tsunade-sama home?" he asked, ruffling her hair.
"She just got back," Karin said, stepping aside. "Please come in."
In the living room, Tsunade was sprawled on the sofa, radiating pure laziness, though her expression said her mood wasn't great—probably lost money again.
"Tsunade-sama," Kitazawa said, "I've got some questions for you."
He didn't open with Hiruzen's request about the negotiation; instead, he steered the conversation to limb-regeneration techniques.
"Kitazawa, have some tea," Shizune said, bringing a cup.
"Thanks, Shizune-senpai." He set it on the table.
"I heard you killed Raiga?" Shizune asked, curiosity winning out before she left.
"Mm." Kitazawa smiled. "Got lucky."
"That's one of the Seven Swordsmen. Since when is that 'luck'?" Shizune gave him a look.
"They're just the Seven Swordsmen. Not a big deal," Tsunade said offhandedly.
"Tsunade-sama's right," Kitazawa chimed in immediately.
"Forget it. You two talk. I can't with you," Shizune muttered, feeling like a husky who'd wandered into a pack of wolves. Since when were the Seven Swordsmen "no big deal"?
After she left, the two of them dug into limb regeneration.
"That's an interesting angle," Tsunade said suddenly, sitting up, thinking hard. Kitazawa had just revealed a key idea from the forbidden Medical Ninjutsu: Body Revival Technique.
"The downside's too steep, though," she added, rubbing her brow. "Trading lifespan for limb regrowth—hard to say if it's worth it."
"It's a necessary cost," Kitazawa said, sipping tea. "Regrowing a lost limb goes against nature. There's no such thing as something for nothing."
"You've got a point," Tsunade conceded. "Keep following that thread. We can figure out how to reduce the side effects later."
"Mm." Kitazawa's thoughts flashed to Uchiha Obito. In the Third Shinobi War, he'd had half his body crushed by rock. Uchiha Madara saved him and rebuilt him with Hashirama cells—but from what canon suggests, it wasn't just Hashirama cells; White Zetsu was involved too.
Pure Hashirama cells are too overbearing. Danzo and Orochimaru experimented endlessly and only Yamato survived—there's no reason Obito could have withstood it unaided.
Even Danzo needed Sharingan to keep Hashirama's cells in check. White Zetsu, like Hashirama's cells, had all sorts of applications—like serving as Edo Tensei sacrifices to better reproduce a summoned shinobi's power.
Unfortunately, finding White Zetsu was basically impossible; the way it hid, especially with the Mayfly Technique, was outrageous—merging with the earth to move freely underground while masking every trace.
"I didn't expect you might actually create a limb-regeneration jutsu," Tsunade said, giving him a dazed look. Kitazawa was advancing so fast it felt unreal. At this rate, what else could she even teach him—besides the Yin Seal and Creation Rebirth: Strength of a Hundred?
"It's thanks to you," Kitazawa said modestly. "Without your answers, I wouldn't have had the flash of insight."
At the same time, another thought surfaced: Shinnō had to go. He was from the Land of the Sky, an enemy of Konoha. Kitazawa couldn't explain the source of the Body Revival Technique concept; he'd have to claim it as his own creation—risking exposure.
In canon, Shinnō and Tsunade never met, but still. And Shinnō was a movie-grade villain—hardly innocent: imprisoning villagers to refine Dark Chakra, leading Sky ninja to attack Konoha and cause heavy casualties. Taking him out wouldn't weigh on the conscience. The problem was finding him.
By the current timeline, he was likely living under aliases, drifting between the great villages, learning their ninjutsu and forbidden arts—Konoha included. His Eight Gates knowledge and the Zero-Tails technique both came from Konoha.
"If you have questions later, just come find me," Tsunade said, reclining again. If limb regeneration succeeded, it would help tens of thousands of Konoha shinobi and civilians.
"Understood." Kitazawa cleared his throat. "Tsunade-sama, I do have one more favor to ask."
"Say it," Tsunade said, giving him a sidelong glance—this, she felt, was the real reason he was here.
"I killed Kurosuki Raiga. Kirigakure is sending a delegation to negotiate for the return of his body," Kitazawa said evenly. "Hokage-sama hopes you'll represent Konoha in those talks."
"No," Tsunade said with a curl of her lip. "And why didn't he come tell me himself?"
"I happened to be in his office, so he asked me to pass it along," Kitazawa answered.
"The old man's playing you," Tsunade sniffed. "He knows I'd refuse, so he sent you to try your luck."
"So what do we do?" Kitazawa asked, playing along.
"Hold on," Tsunade said, suddenly suspicious. "Are you and the old man running a bit on me?"
"Would I dare?" Kitazawa shook his head quickly, then tried the retreat-to-advance: "If you really don't want to go, I'll go instead."
"Great. Do that," Tsunade said instantly.
"Uh—" Kitazawa's face froze.
"What? Problem?" she asked with a grin.
"I'm the one who killed Raiga. If I go face his old comrades, it could spark a fight," Kitazawa said, blinking. "You're stronger, and your name carries weight. If they see you, their courage will evaporate."
"They wouldn't dare kill you in Konoha," Tsunade said flatly.
"But my status isn't enough," Kitazawa improvised. "I'm just a regular academy instructor."
Tsunade had the urge to roast him but didn't know where to start. A "regular" academy instructor—who killed Raiga? Still, she thought it through: his titles were thin.
The only one worth showing off was the "Principal." If his status as a student of one of the Legendary Sannin were public, that would suffice—but it wasn't, not officially.
"Forget it. I'll go," Tsunade said after two seconds of silence.
"Thank you, Tsunade-sama," Kitazawa exhaled in relief. He wouldn't have balked at going himself, but Hiruzen's pick was Tsunade—and it touched the Hokage succession. He wanted her, not him, to go.
"When's the negotiation?" Tsunade asked. It was a hassle, but since she'd agreed, she'd do it right. Besides, Konoha held the advantage; this wouldn't be hard. Losing first and then negotiating—that was torture.
"Next month," Kitazawa said. "Anbu will notify you of the exact day."
"Mm." Tsunade waved him off.
"See you next time, Tsunade-sama," Kitazawa said, standing. They'd spent two hours discussing limb regeneration; it was already 7 p.m.
He decided to swing by the Hokage Tower again. If Hiruzen had left, an on-duty Anbu could pass the message along. To Kitazawa's surprise, Hiruzen was still in his office.
So busy?
"Haha! I knew I judged you right!" Hiruzen burst out laughing after hearing the news.
~~~
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