"A thank‑you gift from Uchiha Itachi?"
Kitazawa sensed something faintly unsettling.
He had always kept a respectful distance from Uchiha Itachi—patricide and matricide were, after all, terrifying crimes.
Unless, of course, Kitazawa himself became Hokage one day.
Frightening as Itachi was, he had been thoroughly indoctrinated by the Will of Fire; he was Konoha's sword.
In Kitazawa's mind, even Sasuke ranked below the village itself.
"Sasuke, thank your brother for me," Kitazawa said, stowing the ninjutsu scroll.
If something's free, why turn it down?
Besides, this wasn't freeloading—he had genuinely helped Sasuke grow stronger, so the reward was deserved.
"Yes, Kitazawa‑sensei," Sasuke replied with a nod.
"Come on, let's go train," Kitazawa said, smiling as he patted the boy's shoulder.
With that scroll he had essentially "laundered" four Fire‑Style techniques at once—a huge win.
Kitazawa took Sasuke to the academy training ground, left a shadow clone to supervise, and slipped away.
Sasuke's Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu was almost mastered; he didn't need watching anymore.
After breakfast Kitazawa sent Hinata Hyūga and Ino Yamanaka off to train—this time adding Sakura Haruno—while he headed for the classroom to teach the first period: The Will of Fire.
…
"Kitazawa‑sensei!"
Naruto Uzumaki bounded onto the dais, eyes shining.
"Guess how many points I got on last night's homework!"
His "homework" was really a mock test Kitazawa had prepared.
Hinata had enjoyed the same perk earlier—a sort of "half‑cheat."
Were it not for his mission, Kitazawa wouldn't be going to this much trouble.
He took the paper and looked it over.
Naruto had been taking these practice exams for nearly a month.
Though nowhere near Sasuke's level, even brute memorization under this semi‑cheat system was paying off.
"Not bad—eighty‑four."
Kitazawa closed the test.
"Yes! I finally broke eighty!"
Naruto pumped a fist, ecstatic.
"Don't celebrate too soon," Kitazawa cautioned. "A mock score, no matter how high, is still pretend. And if you want a guaranteed top‑ten rank, you need at least ninety."
Naruto scratched his head, excitement undimmed—an eighty‑four was a historic first for him.
"Starting today we're upping the practice," Kitazawa said with a pleasant smile.
"Huh? How exactly…?"
Naruto's grin froze.
Fearless though he was, written drills were his one dread.
What kept him going was Kitazawa's rewards and the lure of the top ten.
"Remember what I said? Crack the top ten and I'll teach you jutsu."
Kitazawa knew sheer extra homework would never fly; he had to sweeten the deal.
"Of course I remember!" Naruto shot back.
"The technique I'll teach is the Shadow Clone Jutsu—a B‑rank, mind you," Kitazawa emphasized.
"♪ Listen to me, thank you! ♪"
Tears welled in Naruto's eyes as he trembled with emotion already half‑singing the meme.
"But I'm revising the reward system," Kitazawa added quickly, cutting off the budding serenade.
"Eh?"
Naruto, poised to shout "Youth!", froze.
"From today on I'll teach you Shadow Clone Jutsu, and we'll scale your extra drills to how well you learn it. Poor performance? A few full mock exams. Good performance? Just a handful of questions."
Naruto blinked, torn between joy and dread.
Learning Shadow Clones was thrilling—so why more worksheets?
"How's that for extra practice?" Kitazawa asked, patting his shoulder.
"You can count on me, Sensei! I'll work hard!"
Naruto bit his lip, excitement outweighing the pain of drills.
"After class don't go home—meet me at the training field."
Handing the paper back, Kitazawa said, "Class starts now. Take your seat."
"Mm‑hm."
Naruto returned to his desk clutching the test.
…
Dusk came quickly.
"All right, that's it for today's combat class," Kitazawa announced, clapping his hands.
"Goodbye, Kitazawa‑sensei!"
The students of Year‑One Class A filed out until only Naruto remained.
"Naruto," Kitazawa said, forming hand seals, "time to teach you the Shadow Clone Jutsu."
In the original story Naruto mastered the advanced Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu in no time—but that was after graduating, with some foundation.
Right now he was still far behind.
"Half a mock paper tonight," Kitazawa declared two hours later.
Naruto, in high spirits from the jutsu, felt a bucket of cold water dumped on him.
Yet Sensei had just given him a B‑rank technique—if he refused the homework he'd be, well, shameless.
"Yes, Kitazawa‑sensei," Naruto said, taking the sheet.
Kitazawa was about to speak when his brow twitched.
[Current Mission: Help Uchiha Sasuke learn a second Fire‑Style jutsu.]
[Reward: One‑handed hand seals.]
[Mission complete. Reward delivered.]
Kitazawa nodded in satisfaction—Sasuke really was talented, mission cleared so quickly.
[Your lifelong rivals Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha are both learning new jutsu. You refuse to fall behind.]
[New Mission: Learn one B‑rank jutsu within half a month.]
[Reward: 10 % Senju‑clan bloodline.]
"Holy crap!"
Kitazawa blurted.
Every shinobi knew that a ninja's ceiling was determined by bloodline.
With Senju or Uchiha blood your potential far outstripped the average.
If Uchiha power lay in the eyes, Senju strength resided in the body.
Senju Hashirama's body was so formidable that even post‑mortem his cells retained unimaginable vitality.
Of course, Hashirama was an outlier among the Senju.
Kitazawa guessed the system's gift would be a "baseline" Senju bloodline—yet even that thrilled him.
Where there's a first time, a second will come.
One day he'd surpass even Hashirama; he just wasn't sure how powerful a 10 % infusion would be.
As for the mission—how convenient of Sasuke to deliver four Fire‑Style techniques right when he needed one.
Half a month, huh? Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
With his now‑expert chakra control, mastering a B‑rank jutsu in that time shouldn't be hard—especially since he already had Fire affinity.
"Come on, Naruto—Sensei's treating you to Ichiraku Ramen!"
Kitazawa beamed.
"Eh? Sensei, what's got you so happy all of a sudden?"
Naruto asked, puzzled at Kitazawa's sudden mood swing.
~~~
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