"We won!"
Uchiha Izumi cheered at once.
Compared to the last mission, this one was night and day. Back then, even the three of them plus Kurenai had no way to deal with Shinno.
"That was one perilous fight," Aburame Torune couldn't help sighing. It was the first time his Rinkaichū hadn't worked as they should. On the other hand, he'd also seen his own problem—if the Rinkaichū don't work, his personal strength alone doesn't contribute much. He'd have to train even harder.
"With Kitazawa-sensei around, the danger felt under control," Yakushi Kabuto pushed up his glasses. After this battle, he reassessed Kitazawa's strength. He felt that only a handful in Konoha—Sarutobi Hiruzen, Tsunade, and the like—could be confident of beating him.
"What's going on with him now? The backlash from those forbidden arts?" Kurenai glanced at Shinno and frowned. He looked ghastly—skin and bones, a breath from the grave.
"Mm." Kitazawa crouched and held out a hand. "The stronger the forbidden art, the harsher the side effects." A pale green glow of chakra poured from his palm.
"Izumi," Kitazawa called without looking back. Shinno's condition was worse than he'd expected—but Kitazawa couldn't let him die yet.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Izumi hurried to his side.
"Use your Sharingan to put him under."
Izumi's eyes trembled; two tomoe spun into view. She looked at the dying Shinno. He was spent; though a jōnin in strength, he couldn't resist a two-tomoe Sharingan. His expression went slack—he was under.
"Izumi, ask him where the three medical forbidden arts are," Kitazawa said after a beat. "If there aren't scrolls, have him write them out."
"Okay." Izumi relayed Kitazawa's words.
"In…the control room of Ancor Vantian," Shinno rasped—the underground city-fortress of the Land of the Sky.
That fortress is powered by the Zero-Tails; in the original story it can even fly—and it mounts a super chakra cannon not inferior to a Tailed Beast Bomb. Shinno and the Sky Ninja planned to use Ancor Vantian to take revenge on Konoha. Ironically, the "invincible" fortress was easily countered by Aburame Shino; the Aburame clan's kikaichū can wreck its mechanisms and make it crash.
"Kabuto, keep him alive," Kitazawa decided. "Izumi, have him write out the three medical arts. Kurenai and I will go to Ancor Vantian."
"Understood, Kitazawa-sensei," Kabuto and Izumi answered in unison.
"Let's go." Kitazawa dispelled the Mystical Palm Technique and headed for the shaft the Sky Ninja had used. He vaulted down; Kurenai quickly followed.
"There should only be a few Sky Ninja left," Kitazawa said as they walked.
"How do you know this place so well?" Kurenai asked, curious.
"I sent a shadow clone ahead to scout," he said.
"I see." Kurenai nodded, looking around. They were in a metal corridor; the faint grind of gears echoed somewhere ahead.
"What exactly is this 'Ancor Vantian'?" she asked again.
"A giant flying weapon," Kitazawa said casually. "That's the origin of the 'Land of the Sky'—they have a fortress that can fly."
"How wild," Kurenai murmured. The shinobi world truly held all kinds of impossibilities.
"Not very useful," Kitazawa shook his head. "In front of a power, Ancor Vantian is just a big target."
"True," Kurenai agreed. "If it were that strong, the Sky Ninja wouldn't have been wiped out."
"People ahead." Kitazawa halted.
"I'll handle them!" Wanting to make up for how little she'd contributed against Shinno, Kurenai volunteered. Kitazawa nodded. She sprang forward.
"Who's there?" The two Sky Ninja at the door spotted her.
Ninja Art: Profusion of Flowers!
Kurenai tossed her hands; petals swirled through the air—and she vanished. When she reappeared, she was behind the guard on the left. A flick of her hand; the petals accelerated and slit the ninja's throat. Blood sprayed.
The other guard jolted, panic on his face. He looked around—no Kurenai in sight. A tearing whistle overhead; he looked up on reflex. Kurenai's kick dropped him unconscious.
"Clean and decisive," Kitazawa praised, then opened the door.
Inside was a room full of emaciated villagers. Seeing them, fear washed over every face; no one dared speak.
"What's with them?" Kurenai hadn't expected a prison.
"They're 'batteries'—to feed the Zero-Tails," Kitazawa said, forming a seal and splitting off a shadow clone. Kurenai frowned. She didn't know what the Zero-Tails was, but she understood "battery." In other words, these people were being used to supply it with…something.
"They're villagers from the surrounding area," Kitazawa said. "Clone—get them out."
"You're here to save us?" "Thank you!" "We'll never forget your kindness!" At the word "leave," the villagers seemed to come alive—gratitude and tears all around.
"Shinno truly deserves what's coming," Kurenai spat, anger rising at their reaction.
"Kurenai, let's go down a level," Kitazawa sighed. "The energy here is sent to the floor below—the control room where the Zero-Tails is kept."
They moved on. Any Sky Ninja in their way were dispatched by Kurenai with ease.
"This is the control room," Kitazawa said at the door, already sensing a bone-chilling chakra beyond. He pressed the panel—doors slid open.
A huge transparent cylinder dominated the room. Coiled inside was a snake-like creature—mud-colored body, mask-like face. The moment it saw them, it slammed the glass—but the container didn't budge.
"So that's the Zero-Tails? Kinda ugly," Kurenai said, face scrunching.
"Ugly or not, Shinno was a talent to have created it," Kitazawa eyed the thing. He'd never seen a true tailed beast; he couldn't compare—but he was certain the Zero-Tails fell far short. In the original story it was literally overfilled and burst by Naruto and Sasuke's chakra—meaning it has a hard cap.
"What do you plan to do with it?" Kurenai asked, frowning.
"Leave it for now," Kitazawa said after thinking. The Zero-Tails feeds on the darkness in people's hearts—plainly, negative emotions. The "best" way to raise it would be Shinno's way: capture people and torment them to harvest negativity.
No thanks. Even aside from Kitazawa's bottom line, its chakra cap gutted its value; it would never reach tailed-beast levels. And even if it could—where would he find that much darkness?
Shinno had spent over twenty years just to barely fatten this one up. Kitazawa had a system; he didn't need the hassle. Still, he wouldn't waste it either: once he learned the Four Symbols Seal, he'd seal the Zero-Tails into a scroll and use it as a power bank. Born of Yin Release, its chakra is ideal for genjutsu and Yin-based secret arts.
Kitazawa tore his gaze away and searched for Shinno's three medical arts.
"Over here!" Kurenai spotted three scrolls first—Medical Forbidden Art: Body Activity Technique, Medical Forbidden Art: Body Revival Technique, and Medical Forbidden Art: Body Revival Max Technique.
Kitazawa took them and read on the spot. When he finished, he nodded. At least Body Revival matched what his system had rewarded him with.
He also understood why Shinno's Eight Gates felt like a bootleg: the real issue was his body. The Revival Max had "stacked" his physique—gold outside, straw inside. It looked impressive, but it wasn't.
Might Guy and Might Duy had trained their bodies for years—naturally far sturdier than Shinno's.
"Let's go," Kitazawa pocketed the scrolls. They retraced their steps to the surface.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Izumi handed him another scroll. "This is the write-up of the three medical arts, in Shinno's own hand."
Kitazawa checked it—identical to what he'd just obtained. No tricks.
"Kabuto, that's enough. End his wicked life," Kitazawa said, closing the scroll. Kabuto stopped channeling chakra. Without medical ninjutsu propping him up, Shinno died quickly. To be sure, Kabuto drove a blade into his heart.
"Finishing your target is a good habit," Kitazawa said approvingly.
"Kabuto looks more like a shinobi than I do," Kurenai joked.
"Then you'd better work hard—don't get outdone by my student," Kitazawa nudged her.
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei," Kurenai shot him a look. She'd worked plenty hard; talent gaps just aren't bridged by effort alone.
"Kabuto, you three go complete this bandit-clearing job. Kurenai and I will sanitize Ancor Vantian," Kitazawa took out the B-rank mission he'd accepted as a cover.
"Right." Kabuto took the mission scroll, gave it a glance—trivial—and led Izumi and Torune toward a nearby mountain.
"Kill every Sky Ninja left in Ancor Vantian, then seal the entrance," Kitazawa said without a hint of mercy. That's the shinobi world—kill or be killed, everyone's hands are stained. Hence shinobi like Jiraiya seek true peace. Clearly, they never found the path; Jiraiya even pinned his hopes on a Child of the Prophecy.
When they finished with the fortress, Kitazawa and Kurenai sat and waited for the trio to return. It was only a B-rank, so Kabuto's team didn't take long before reappearing.
"Back to the village," Kitazawa said with a sweep of his hand.
By dawn the next day—Monday—they finally reached Konoha.
"You've all worked hard. Go rest," Kitazawa patted Kabuto's shoulder.
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei," the three said together. They wouldn't get S-rank pay for this run, but the gains were real—fighting someone like Shinno massively boosts experience and perspective.
"You too, head home first," Kitazawa told Kurenai. "I'm going to the Mission Hall."
"Mm." Kurenai nodded obediently and didn't press. Kitazawa parted from her and went to the desk. Since it was only B-rank, he didn't need to see Hiruzen. He turned it in and went home.
On the sofa, Kitazawa took out Bodily Activity. He had no intention of learning Bodily Revival Max—the backlash is too severe. Not yet, anyway; there were too many other arts he wanted first. But Bodily Activity was promising.
He'd long wondered: if it's all "activation," why doesn't the Fourth Raikage suffer Shinno's kind of side effects? Reading Body Activity cleared it up—Shinno took a shortcut. He'd temporarily inflated his body to its peak with Activation, then used Body Revival to keep it going.
Simple terms: Shinno is a balloon that needs constant air; the Fourth Raikage is a solid lead ball that needs none. They look similar, but they're not. Same reason Shinno's Eight Gates are nothing like Might Guy's or Might Duy's.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin, thinking. He didn't want to learn Body Activity as-is; he planned to refit it into a Yang Release Chakra Mode. That would be simpler than turning Body Revival into true limb regrowth—the method here was clear: use Yang Release chakra to activate the whole body.
[Current Mission: Refactor "Bodily Activity."]
[Reward: Water Release: Water Severing Wave.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa let out a soft "oh." Unexpected quest—but of course he'd accept. The reward was Water Severing Wave. The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, mastered countless water techniques, and Water Severing Wave is among the most powerful—S-rank difficult. It spits a super-high-pressure, razor-sharp linear jet, sustaining long-range cuts; in the original story it sliced through the God Tree's roots.
9:00 a.m. Kitazawa headed for Konoha's main gate. Plenty of shinobi and villagers were going the same way to gawk at the Kirigakure envoy. Kitazawa had a different aim: try to spot Uchiha Obito—assuming he'd slipped in with the delegation.
He joined the crowd. The Mist envoy hadn't arrived yet, but Tsunade was already in place, along with Shikaku Nara and others—twelve in the adjudication party, plenty of "face" for the Mist.
Before long, the Mist envoy approached. Kitazawa immediately picked out Suikazan Fuguki—hard to miss, as was the bandaged blade Samehada.
Of the Seven Ninja Swords of the Mist, Samehada gets the most screen time—called a "sword," but really a living weapon whose main trick is absorbing chakra. It will even betray its wielder if it finds tastier chakra—like how it fell for the Eight-Tails' chakra and got along famously with Killer B.
Kitazawa's gaze drifted across the delegation. Under so many eyes, he couldn't use the Byakugan, so he had no way to tell whether Obito was among them.
Truth be told, even the Byakugan might not see it. He wasn't disappointed; he'd expected as much. Once Tsunade took Fuguki and the rest to the Hokage building, he headed home.
Kamui is annoying, but canon offers several counters. And this was Konoha—Obito might showboat, but he wouldn't linger. Another idea came: Hatake Kakashi.
If Obito returned to Konoha, he'd seek Kakashi out—their "bond." No rush today.
If Obito had come with the Mist envoy, he'd be stuck in the conference room; the talks wouldn't wrap quickly—Kirigakure wanted the Thunder Blades: Kiba most, and they weren't getting them.
A new day—Tuesday. Kitazawa was still eating breakfast when a knock sounded. He got up and opened the door.
"Tenten?" He blinked. "This early…don't tell me the Thunder Blades have already been reforged?"
"Kitazawa-sensei, you really do predict the future!" Tenten beamed.
"Wasn't it supposed to take a month?" Kitazawa asked.
"A month was the estimate. Plus, my dad gleaned some from Kiba itself, so we cut the time in half," Tenten explained.
"I see." Kitazawa smiled. "Double good news, then."
"Kitazawa-sensei, I brought both blades." Tenten unfurled a scroll; with a summoning pop, two sheathed swords appeared.
"Thanks." Kitazawa took them.
"I'll get going then—see you, Kitazawa-sensei!" Tenten didn't linger and left.
Kitazawa stowed the swords, finished breakfast, and headed to the Academy. It was only 8:30; the Advanced Class hadn't started training yet.
"Kakashi, for you," Kitazawa found Hatake Kakashi.
"These are the reforged Kiba?" Kakashi drew one and inspected it. "Doesn't look that special."
"Only one way to know." Kitazawa tilted his head. "Let's go over there." The yard was full of students—if they called down lightning and hit someone, that'd be bad.
"Mm." Kakashi led him to the place he usually used to birth Kirin.
"Shouldn't need any special technique—just pour Lightning Release chakra in and it'll call lightning," Kitazawa recalled Kurosuki Raiga's usage.
Kakashi lifted the blade. Lightning chakra flowed like water; in an instant, the sword blazed. Dazzling arcs danced along the steel.
"Good blade," Kakashi couldn't help praising. He knew swords—he'd used one since boyhood. His father, Hatake Sakumo, was called Konoha's White Fang for his masterful kenjutsu, fame little less than the Legendary Sannin.
After Sakumo's suicide, Kakashi inherited his short sword—until it broke at the Kannabi Bridge, his comrade died, and he put the Hatake style away.
Kakashi raised the sword. Lightning speared skyward from the tip; in moments, thunderheads gathered and rumbled.
"Definitely simpler than manually drawing down lightning with ninjutsu," Kakashi let the chakra fade, then couldn't resist a few practice flourishes.
"Could this be the legendary Hatake sword style?" Kitazawa arched a brow.
"You recognize it?" Kakashi was a bit surprised.
"Not really—just heard of it," Kitazawa said.
Kakashi stared at the blade; memories flickered in his eyes. It had been a long time since anyone talked about Hatake-style kenjutsu.
"Shame that in today's shinobi world, mention of swordsmanship brings up the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist first," Kitazawa shook his head. "Long before they were famous, the Hatake blade already shook the world."
"Saying all that—do you want a taste of it?" Kakashi turned his head, asking.
"If I can see it for myself, all the better," Kitazawa coughed lightly.
"Then let's have a duel—swords only," Kakashi said, tightening his grip.
"Go easy on me," Kitazawa smiled and drew Zangetsu. He'd only learned Leaf-Style kenjutsu; in pure swordplay, he wouldn't match the Hatake style.
Kakashi exhaled slowly. Holding a sword again stirred something inside—an old power waking up. He blurred, blade lunging like a thunderbolt.
Fast! Kitazawa's eyes narrowed; Zangetsu snapped up to guard.
Clang!
Kakashi missed and withdrew; his wrist turned, the blade flashed white, thrusting straight for Kitazawa's eyes. Kitazawa squinted on instinct. A true assassin's style—it's no wonder Sakumo earned the name White Fang.
But Kitazawa had no intention of yielding; while his kenjutsu was inferior, his physicality outstripped Kakashi's. He leaned back, slipping the thrust, and brought his own sword up from below in a slicing counter.
"Good!" Kakashi only grew more excited. He felt like a youth again, sparring with Uchiha Obito—always winning those bouts with the Hatake blade.
The sun lifted; steel rang in rhythmic beats.
From afar, Uchiha Obito found the sight grating. After trailing the Mist envoy to Konoha, he'd been trapped in meetings all day. He'd thought the talks would end quickly, but Konoha refused to hand over Kiba.
On day two, Obito skipped with a pretext and came to the Academy instead—just in time to see Kitazawa bring the reforged Kiba to Kakashi. Only then did he understand why Konoha wouldn't surrender the blade: they'd given it to Kakashi.
Not knowing the context, he misread it—and his fists clenched. Why did Konoha still lavish attention on this self-degraded failure? Kakashi had always drawn everyone's eyes. And him? He had nothing. He'd finally won the gaze of Rin Nohara—but he wasn't the only one.
As a boy, he hadn't thought too hard; he and Kakashi even became friends. But in the end, the result blindsided him—Kakashi killed Rin with his own Chidori. He couldn't understand. Was Konoha more important than Rin?
And why was the "fastest man alive," Namikaze Minato, late?
That's why, once he recovered, he returned to Konoha and unleashed the Nine-Tails. He would make the village feel his pain, make Minato pay, seize the Nine-Tails, complete the Eye of the Moon Plan, and build a new world—with Rin in it.
"Nice!" Kakashi's shout snapped him back. Obito looked up on reflex. Kakashi's all-too-familiar silhouette filled his vision; his teeth ground tight. What are you doing? That's not the reaction I want from you. Have you forgotten—you killed Rin?
"Kakashi looks pretty happy," a voice chirped at his feet.
"Shut up," Obito snarled at White Zetsu.
"I've got some intel," White Zetsu went on, unfazed. "Kakashi's teaching at the Academy on Hiruzen's orders."
"Why?" Obito's voice went cold. He'd expected Kakashi to wallow; seeing him doing well was hard to stomach.
"The 'Advanced Class,'" White Zetsu outlined it in brief.
"Advanced Class? Just a bunch of brats," Obito scoffed. If such a class had existed back then, he certainly wouldn't have made it—he'd always been at the bottom. Didn't stop him from becoming one of the strongest shinobi alive.
"I also dug up one more thing," White Zetsu snickered. "Kakashi picked a student—name's Uchiha Sasuke."
"Uchiha?" Obito's face went rigid. What's that supposed to mean? Of all choices, he chose an Uchiha? Trying to replace me?
Obito stared at Kakashi trading blows with Kitazawa, and his mood soured even further.