A week flew by in the blink of an eye.
During those five days, the students of First‑Year Class A were busy preparing for Sunday's monthly exam and next week's friendly match against Second‑Year Class A.
After a month of special training, Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata, and the others had more or less reached Kitazawa's expectations.
Their chances of beating Second‑Year A were high, but whether they would actually win still depended on how things played out.
Saturday.
Behind Kurenai Yuhi's house.
Kitazawa stood in an open space, forming a hand‑seal with one hand.
Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!
A large amount of chakra gathered in his throat; as he leaned back slightly, he spat out a fire dragon.
Uchiha Sasuke had given him four Fire‑Style jutsu.
Apart from Fire Style: Dragon Fire Technique, which was C‑rank, the other three were B‑rank.
Among them, Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation had already been learned earlier as a system reward.
Between Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson and Great Dragon Fire, he chose the latter to study.
After four days of practice, he had achieved basic mastery of the Great Dragon Fire Technique.
"Basic" because he could only produce one fire dragon; once fully mastered, he could produce three, with tremendous power.
Just then, applause rang out.
Kitazawa paused, withdrew his chakra, and turned to see Tsunade smiling and Shizune looking astonished.
"Why are you teaching at the Academy when you have strength like that?"
Tsunade stopped clapping. "Very few shinobi can form seals with just one hand."
"I like kids," Kitazawa replied with a smile, having heard that question before.
"Are you close to the Uchiha?" Tsunade asked, nodding slightly.
She had immediately recognized the jutsu as Great Dragon Fire. While the Fireball Technique was widespread, hardly anyone outside the Uchiha clan could use B‑rank Fire Style. Seeing an ordinary Chūnin‑exam hopeful use it genuinely intrigued her.
"It was payment from Sasuke," Kitazawa explained. "I taught him ninjutsu."
He hid nothing—on purpose. With Tsunade's endorsement, no one would question his one‑handed seals or advanced Fire Style again.
"Mikoto's second son, huh?" Tsunade sighed. "Hard to believe he's school‑age already."
The last time she saw Uchiha Mikoto was at Minato and Kushina's funeral—six years ago.
"Pause your training for a moment," Tsunade said, getting to the point. "Come with me to see the old man."
"The third jutsu's finished?" Kitazawa's eyes brightened.
"Just completed," Tsunade replied, walking off.
"What's it called?" Kitazawa caught up, walking beside Shizune.
"Demonic Illusion: Inner‑Heart Technique—C‑rank genjutsu," Tsunade said offhandedly. "It triggers the patient's psychological disorder."
The name reminded Kitazawa of Fox's Inner‑Heart. He and Kurenai had planned to use it to locate negative emotions, but after Tsunade's revisions it now directly manifested the patient's mental illness—inescapable but not very kind. Some sacrifice was inevitable in treatment.
Bang!
Tsunade kicked open the Hokage's office door.
"How many times have I told you to knock while I'm working!" Hiruzen Sarutobi hurriedly put away his crystal ball and straightened up.
"Old man with no dignity," Tsunade scoffed. Jiraiya learned his peeping habit from Hiruzen.
"I was merely inspecting the village," Hiruzen coughed. "What do you need?"
"Here." Tsunade tossed a scroll.
Hiruzen opened it, read for a moment, and nodded in satisfaction.
"A jutsu that treats the problem directly," he said. "Kitazawa, collect one million ryō from the Anbu."
"One million each?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes.
"One million per jutsu," Hiruzen corrected. He'd let her profit, but not too much.
"So stingy!" Tsunade frowned openly.
"That's village money," Hiruzen said sternly. "It can't be squandered."
"Enough—I don't want to hear it," Tsunade snapped, grabbing Kitazawa's hand and heading out.
"Tsunade‑sama, how do we split it?" Kitazawa asked, glancing at her soft hand.
"I take 400 000; you and Kurenai get 300 000 each," she decided after a moment. She'd like it all, but she had limits.
"Fine," Kitazawa agreed. Tsunade had done the most; 400 000 wasn't excessive. In truth he was getting off easy, contributing the least—but only a fool rejects money.
"Kitazawa, want to try your luck at the tables?" Tsunade's eyes gleamed now she had cash.
"I'm not interested in gambling," Kitazawa said, shaking his head. In his previous life he'd always avoided gambling and drugs.
"Then lend me 100 000?" Tsunade held out her hand.
"No," Kitazawa smiled. "Unless you take me as your student."
"Becoming my student isn't that easy," Tsunade said after a start. "You're not qualified yet." As one of the Legendary Sannin, her students had to be prodigies of medical ninjutsu. Kitazawa was twenty‑one and still a Chūnin—hardly gifted. In the original story Tsunade had only two students: Sakura and Shizune.
"Give it time—you might change your mind," Kitazawa said. He'd merely been testing; the reply was expected.
He had another idea Tsunade might accept: becoming mutual teachers—she'd teach medical ninjutsu, he'd teach her Wood Style, for example. The dumb system cared only about the title "teacher–student." He wasn't strong enough yet, but with the system anything was possible.
Deep Blue, show me your limits!
"We'll see," Tsunade said, clearly unconvinced. She forgot the matter at once and headed for the casino. "See you next time, Kitazawa."
Shizune, however, gave him a thoughtful glance, unsure what to think.
Saturday passed; Sunday arrived.
Today was the May monthly exam—the theory portion. Tomorrow would be the practical class, same as April: clone jutsu, physical tests, ninja‑tool throwing, and so on.
"Naruto, feeling confident?" Kitazawa entered the classroom with a stack of test papers.
"First place is in the bag!" Naruto Uzumaki flashed his gleaming grin. "Just watch me unleash my youthful spirit, Kitazawa‑sensei!"
"Big talk again," Kiba snorted. "You didn't even crack the top ten last time, now you're claiming first."
"You were only sixth yourself!" Naruto retorted, hands on hips. "I'll beat you this time!"
"Oh really?" Kiba laughed. "If you place above me, I'll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen."
"Deal!" Naruto agreed instantly.
~~~
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