After the physical training ended, the students completely abandoned their dignity, collapsing all over the training field in every imaginable posture.
Watching them, Kitazawa couldn't help recalling the physical fitness tests from his previous life in college.
Back then, just running a thousand meters had felt like taking a full-powered punch from Tsunade's monstrous strength—he'd nearly died on the spot.
Yet these kids, only six or seven years old, treated a thousand meters like child's play.
All he could say was that chakra was truly miraculous.
[Current Task: Place first in physical training.][Task Reward: Leaf Strong Whirlwind.][Task Completed. Reward distributed.]
After processing the information flooding his mind, Kitazawa nodded in understanding.
Might Guy had developed the Leaf Whirlwind series of taijutsu.Leaf Strong Whirlwind was the advanced version of Leaf Great Whirlwind.
Kitazawa suspected that if he continued completing tasks in this chain, he might eventually obtain the legendary Eight Gates technique.
The Eight Gates placed an enormous burden on the body, but their power was unquestionable.
Besides, when life and death were on the line, who cared about side effects?
"Now I'll announce the rankings,"Kitazawa said after letting the students rest for a while."First place—Uchiha Sasuke."
"Sasuke-kun!"Haruno Sakura and the other girls couldn't help cheering.
But Uchiha Sasuke felt no joy at all.
First place in physical training, plus a snack pack—by all rights, that should have been double happiness.
So why did it feel like this?
Could an ordinary chunin really run that fast?
Sasuke let out a quiet sigh.
The excitement belonged to them—he had nothing.
"Second place, Inuzuka Kiba. Third place, Aburame Shino… Ninth place, Uzumaki Naruto…"
Kitazawa stopped after announcing tenth place.
As expected, most of the top ten were students from ninja clans.
Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji were the exceptions—they'd only run halfway.
"Damn it!"Uzumaki Naruto grabbed his head in frustration.
He wanted to become the fastest ninja in the world, yet he'd only placed ninth.
Kitazawa glanced at him.
Naruto's stamina wasn't bad, but his technique was nonexistent—he'd just been charging blindly.
[Your lifelong rival Uzumaki Naruto placed too low in physical training. This is frankly embarrassing.][Current Task: Help Uzumaki Naruto achieve second place in physical training.][Task Reward: Shadow Clone Technique.][Accept?]
Kitazawa froze for a moment at the sudden task, then quickly recovered.
This was good stuff.
The Shadow Clone Technique created tangible clones.
And shadow clones could do many things—not just combat, but training and even intelligence gathering.
When a shadow clone dispersed, its memories and experience returned to the original body.
The advanced version was the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique.
In the original story, this was practically Naruto's cheat code.
With his massive chakra reserves, he could create hundreds or thousands of clones—essentially running a permanent multi-experience boost.
Kitazawa couldn't do that.
His chakra wasn't even enough to count as "one card," not even a fifth of one.
Still, while Multiple Shadow Clone was out of reach, the basic Shadow Clone Technique was well within his capabilities.
Why did the task only require Naruto to place second?
Kitazawa rubbed his chin and quickly understood.
The system probably counted him as first.
So Naruto's "second place" was effectively first place anyway.
"Once you've rested, continue practicing kunai throws at the moving targets,"Kitazawa said after a pause."Those who have already mastered it may move freely."
Hearing this, Uchiha Sasuke immediately stood up and headed silently toward the tree-training area.
He'd already lost in physical training—he had to finish the tree-climbing exercise as soon as possible.
Hyuga Hinata and Yamanaka Ino exchanged glances and followed after him.
"Naruto, come with me,"Kitazawa called out.
"Is something wrong, Kitazawa-sensei?"Naruto asked curiously as he followed.
"I watched your performance just now,"Kitazawa said, looking at him."You shouldn't have only placed ninth."
"Really?"Naruto's face lit up."That's what I thought too!"
Kitazawa laughed helplessly.
When it came to stubborn pride, Naruto was exactly like Sasuke.
Truly worthy of being brothers from different fathers and mothers.
"In my opinion, you could easily make the top three,"Kitazawa continued, then asked,"But do you know why you only got ninth?"
Naruto shook his head.
"Because you rely purely on brute force,"Kitazawa explained."You don't actually understand running."
"Can you teach me, Kitazawa-sensei?"Naruto asked excitedly instead of feeling discouraged.
"Of course,"Kitazawa smiled."That's why I called you over."
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei!"Naruto burst into laughter."I'll definitely be first next time!"
"That's not guaranteed,"Kitazawa shook his head."Sasuke isn't inferior to you—but you do have one advantage. Your stamina is exceptional."
The Uzumaki clan was naturally gifted with powerful bodies and abundant chakra.
And Naruto was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki—residual tailed-beast chakra alone allowed him to recover stamina and injuries at an astonishing rate.
Even if he and the Nine-Tails weren't on good terms, that leaked chakra was more than enough.
They arrived at a secluded training ground on campus.
It was the same place where Sasuke, Hinata, and Ino were practicing tree climbing.
"Sasuke!"Naruto called out loudly when he spotted him.
Thud!
Startled, Sasuke fell straight down.
Why are you yelling so loud?!
He climbed back up with a twitching mouth and resumed training.
"What are they doing?"Naruto scratched his head, confused.
"Chakra control training,"Kitazawa said after a pause."You're not ready for that yet. I'll start by teaching you running techniques."
"Okay!"Naruto straightened up, instantly serious.
"The most important thing about running is correct posture and stride…"Kitazawa summarized."In short, rhythm."
"So that's it!"Naruto nodded hard."I get it!"
"Whether you really get it, we'll see after you try,"Kitazawa thought pessimistically.
In the original story, Naruto's theoretical knowledge—outside of ninjutsu—was a complete mess. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been dead last academically.
"Alright, run around the training field,"Kitazawa said, patting his shoulder."I'll correct you if you do anything wrong."
"Got it!"Naruto immediately took off.
Kitazawa's mouth twitched.
What a monster.
He'd just finished physical training, rested only a few minutes, and was already full of energy again.
Kitazawa felt a twinge of envy.
Thankfully, he now had a system.
With its help, catching up to Naruto in physique and chakra was only a matter of time.
He glanced back at Sasuke, Ino, and Hinata practicing tree climbing.
He was finally starting to look like a real teacher.
Saturday arrived.
Kitazawa raised his hand and knocked on a door.
It opened to reveal a beautiful face.
"So early?"Yūhi Kurenai yawned sleepily.
Kitazawa's eyes immediately lit up.
She was wearing a kimono-style night robe—a yukata.
The snug fabric outlined her graceful curves perfectly, especially her full chest.
While she was nowhere near Tsunade's level, it was still quite impressive.