The sparring test wrapped up.
Uchiha Sasuke left the academy with a stormy look.
Losing to Uzumaki Naruto stung, but it wasn't hopeless. He felt like he only needed one chance to turn the tables and beat him.
But his fight with Kurama Yakumo filled him with despair—the kind where no matter how many times you try, you never win.
Inuzuka Kiba, on the other hand, headed home grinning from ear to ear.
He'd won three straight. The first two opponents were nothing to write home about. But in the last match he faced Yamanaka Ino and beat her using the Shadow Clone Technique. Ino hadn't learned Mind Clone Switch yet, so at best she could control a single target.
Beating Ino gave Kiba a huge boost of confidence. Once he fully masters Hellhound, maybe he can go toe-to-toe with Sasuke and Naruto too.
"I'm home!"
Kiba shouted as he opened the door.
"You're fifteen minutes late today."
A kunoichi with the same red inverted-triangle markings on her cheeks stepped into view—his mother, Inuzuka Tsume.
She's strict with both ninken and her kids. In the original story, she once flipped the dining table because Kiba overslept. In her eyes, anyone who can't get up on time doesn't deserve breakfast.
"We had another sparring test today, so it ran late," Kiba said quickly.
"Did you win?" Tsume asked in a low voice.
Kiba had already told her on Monday about the sparring tests, so she let the tardiness slide.
"All three!" Kiba said, excited. "And I learned the Shadow Clone Technique today!"
"Not bad," Tsume said, her tone softening.
"Your teacher's amazing," Inuzuka Hana chimed in, impressed. "Our teacher won't even teach shadow clones."
"That's true," Tsume mused. "Ask him when he's free to come by our place as a guest."
"Mm." Kiba nodded, then hesitated a couple of seconds. "Kitazawa-sensei also taught me a secret technique today."
"The one you mentioned before?" Tsume blinked. When Kiba had begged for clan techniques, he'd said Kitazawa planned to create a new one. She hadn't believed it, but Kiba pleaded so hard she gave him two secret arts as reference.
"Yeah, that one," Kiba said, full of admiration. "A fusion technique that doesn't need a ninken!"
"He created it in such a short time?" Tsume found that hard to believe.
"I'll show you."
Kiba formed hand seals and made a shadow clone. The two of them used Hellhound together and fused into a two-headed hound.
He dispelled the fusion a moment later.
"I only learned it today, so I'm not fluent yet," Kiba said, scratching his head. "The coordination with my clone is bad—right now we can barely walk."
"Shadow clones have too many ideas—they're not as straightforward as ninken," Tsume said after a pause, understanding the problem.
This secret art… well, it's a bit tasteless but a pity to discard. It's a stopgap for Inuzuka who don't have a ninken. But there aren't many like that—most Inuzuka bond with a ninken they resonate with before age ten.
Even so, Kitazawa's grasp of secret techniques exceeded her expectations. Inuzuka arts involve Yang Release; this showed his chakra nature transformation for Yang was extremely high.
"Looks like that rumor's true," Tsume thought aloud.
After Tsunade forced her way into the Root base, rumors flew. One was about Kitazawa—supposedly Tsunade's student, just not publicly acknowledged yet.
Seeing Hellhound convinced Tsume. Medical ninjutsu is also Yang Release. It's perfectly reasonable for an excellent medical ninja to create a Yang-type secret art.
"Kiba, I'll go to the school with you tomorrow," Tsume said after a moment's thought.
"Okay," Kiba nodded. He could already guess why. In his view, since Kitazawa had given them a very practical Inuzuka technique, they owed him thanks in person.
…
A new day—Thursday.
Kitazawa opened his eyes and felt sore all over, as if he'd been beaten up.
Which wasn't far from the truth. He'd spent last night training monster strength with Tsunade again.
Now he understood why Might Guy trains every day, rain or shine. You really do need a tough body to learn taijutsu.
After breakfast, he headed to the training field.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Karin asked as he approached, "did you need something?"
"I prepared five practice tests for you," he said with a smile. "Do one a day. I'll check them next Thursday."
"Okay."
Unlike Naruto, Karin had no complaints about drills and agreed without hesitation.
"I'll teach you ninjutsu over winter break," he added, ruffling her hair. "Your goal is to place top ten in the written finals."
"Top ten? I'll do my best!" she promised earnestly. It would be hard, but no harder than surviving in the Grass Village.
"Keep studying," he said, withdrawing his hand.
There's a saying: "Poor kids grow up fast." It fit Karin perfectly.
After confirming everyone's training was on track, he headed to the artificial lake.
To his surprise, besides Kiba there was a female ninja who resembled him.
"Hello, Kitazawa-sensei," she introduced herself. "I'm Kiba's mother, Inuzuka Tsume."
"I've heard a lot about you," he said, smiling.
In canon, Tsume gets about as much screen time as Aburame Shibi—maybe even less—showing up during the Konoha Crush, Pain's invasion, and the Fourth Great Ninja War.
"Kiba told me yesterday you created a new Inuzuka secret technique called Hellhound," Tsume said frankly. "I came today to thank you."
She produced a summoning storage scroll.
"Thanks." Kitazawa didn't stand on ceremony and accepted it. A C-rank secret art isn't cheap.
"Kitazawa-sensei, would you be interested in having a ninken?" Tsume asked after a couple seconds' hesitation.
Ninken are Inuzuka partners, but not exclusive to them. If an outsider does the clan a favor and asks for a ninken, they won't be stingy.
Strictly speaking, Kitazawa hadn't done enough to merit that—Hellhound was only useful to a small subset of the clan. But considering his connection to Tsunade, Tsume decided to offer one anyway.
"A ninken?" Kitazawa was taken aback. He hadn't expected Tsume to offer him a ninja hound.
A ninken's combat power is average, but their support abilities are strong—Hatake Kakashi's dogs are proof. At the right moment they're invaluable. And with Inuzuka secret arts, a ninken can do some fighting too.
"I don't have a use for one right now," he said after a brief think. "It'd just be wasted with me."
He wasn't interested in man-dog combination techniques. When it comes to summoning beasts, the "Three Sacred Land" are the real deal. He had a good shot at contracting the Slug from Shikkotsu Forest, so there was no need to keep a ninken.
"If you change your mind, come find me anytime," Tsume said, neither pressing nor closing the door.
"Got it," he nodded. Who knew—maybe one day he really would need a ninken. He could ask the Inuzuka then.
"Kitazawa-sensei, I'll leave you to it," Tsume said, turning to Kiba. "Train hard."
"Don't worry, Mom!" Kiba answered at once. "With Kitazawa-sensei here, there won't be any problems."
Once Tsume left, he let out a long breath.
"Go train," Kitazawa said with a smile. He could tell Kiba was a little afraid of Tsume.
[Current Mission: Help Inuzuka Kiba develop a new technique.]
[Mission Reward: 10% Senju bloodline.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Three lines of text flashed before Kitazawa's eyes. He stood still, feeling real changes inside his body.
The most obvious was chakra—it had just jumped by at least a fifth. His stamina and recovery also ticked up.
He clenched his fist. He now possessed 20% of the Senju bloodline. He was eager to see the changes at 100%.
Of course, "Senju bloodline" doesn't equal Hashirama's bloodline. At 100% he figured he'd be around Tsunade's level—or maybe a bit stronger. He'd test it when he got there.
Next up was the mission for Naruto to learn the Rasengan. Once completed, that'd be another 20% Senju bloodline.
He considered cutting himself with a kunai to test his toughness, but in the end decided against it. He had a better idea: that night's monster strength training. With an extra 10% Senju bloodline, he should last longer.
He glanced at Kiba, then took out the storage scroll Tsume had given him.
He unrolled it and raised a brow.
It was similar to the one Aburame Shibi had given him: plenty of rare medicines and ninja tools—and three million ryō.
"Made eight million ryō just going back and forth," he thought, a bit at a loss for how to spend it.
Ordinary tools are pricey, but they're only in the hundreds or thousands. The only ninja tools that cost over a million are those mixed with chakra metal.
Chakra metal conducts chakra faster and is both hard and sharp. They say Sarutobi Asuma's two chakra blades cost twenty million ryō.
Kitazawa put the scroll away and went back to practicing Water Style.
The day flew by.
After school, he was about to head home when he spotted a familiar figure at the gate.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Aburame Shibi walked up. "We've located the Nokizaru Group."
"When are you moving out?" Kitazawa wasn't surprised. A clan in full mobilization has a lot of reach; finding them made sense.
"Considering you have classes, we set it for Saturday," Shibi said considerately.
"Thanks, Clan Head Shibi," Kitazawa smiled. "I'll come find you at nine on Saturday morning."
The Exploding Insect mission would be no trouble for him—especially with the Aburame joining in. He might even get extra benefits: if any of them were infected, he could help remove the bugs. Surgery to extract Exploding Insects is high-difficulty.
After saying goodbye to Shibi, he returned to Kurenai's place.
Tsunade was already waiting at the door.
"Tsunade-sama, how come you're back so early these last two days?" he asked, curious.
"To teach you monster strength, of course," Tsunade said with a grin, clenching her fist. "Today we train in live combat."
"…?" Kitazawa could only put a question mark over his head. Did she lose too much recently and want to vent on him?
He didn't dare voice that thought. It would only rub salt in old wounds and make her madder.
"Come on," Tsunade said, taking position opposite him. "Taijutsu only."
k took a deep breath and rushed in.
In a blink he was in front of her.
"Your speed's not bad," Tsunade said, throwing a casual punch.
Monster strength!
Their fists met, and visible waves of chakra blasted out. The force surged through him; he staggered back several steps.
"Your strength has gone up since yesterday," Tsunade said, surprised. After training him for two days, she knew his limits. Today he was clearly stronger. It was hard to fathom—unless he'd had a breakthrough. It happens under pressure, but not often.
Kitazawa steadied himself and shook out his right arm. Tsunade's power was absurd; his whole arm felt numb. No wonder she's one of the Legendary Sannin—none of them are famous for nothing.
"Again," Tsunade beckoned.
Leaf Body Flicker!
Kitazawa blurred into leaves. Tsunade glanced around, spun, and lashed out with a kick.
Thump!
He got both arms up in time to block. Ignoring the tingling, he swung a kick toward her midsection.
It was doomed to fail. Tsunade took a light step back and stomped; the ground cracked, a pit opening underfoot.
He yanked his leg back and fought to keep his balance.
Tsunade drove a fist at him.
Monster strength!
He had no choice but to meet it with a punch of his own.
The impact launched him through the air. Tsunade didn't press, waiting where she stood. He twisted midair, landed, and came right back in.
Time slipped by; soon it was 8:30.
"Not bad—you lasted half an hour longer than yesterday," Tsunade said, satisfied, looking at him sprawled on the ground. "Same time tomorrow."
"T-Tsunade-sama… see you," he panted, too drained to even wave.
He had to admit—having 20% Senju bloodline was paying off. After a short rest, he got to his feet, stretched, and decided the training wasn't so bad; at least it worked his conditioning.
…
The weekend arrived.
Only a week was left in November.
Saturday, 9:00 a.m.
Kitazawa arrived at the Aburame compound right on time.
Friday had been the third sparring test, but this time he didn't pull any strings. He didn't want to be obvious. Target Sasuke three times in a row and even he'd catch on. Twice a week was enough.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Aburame Shibi came to greet him.
"Clan Head Shibi," he said, coming back to himself—and noticed the lineup. The Aburame had brought out their elites: eight jōnin in all, including Shibi.
Which made sense; this operation could change the clan's fate.
"Nokizaru's base is in a valley in the Land of Iron," Shibi said as they walked. "There are twenty-seven of them, with five jōnin."
Kitazawa nodded slightly. Five jōnin is impressive for an unofficial group.
The Land of Iron is one of the few neutral countries. They still have samurai—though in practice they're chakra users. Because it's neutral, the second Five Kage Summit in the original story was held there. It borders the Land of Fire.
They left Konoha and headed for the Land of Iron, reaching their destination by nightfall.
"Kitazawa-sensei, wait here," Shibi said. "Under cover of night we'll strike and wipe them out in one go."
In versatility, even the Uchiha can't match the Aburame. Their insects let them scout, ambush, defend, attack, and heal—all in one.
"Got it. Don't mind me," Kitazawa said, then added a reminder: "If you're infected by Exploding Insects, use chakra."
"We understand," Shibi said, and with a wave, the eight jōnin slipped into the valley.
A moment later, screams rose.
Kitazawa joined the fight too—he was here to help, after all—tossing out a few Fire and Wind Style jutsu for support.
Half an hour later, three lines flashed before his eyes:
[Current Mission: Help the Aburame clan obtain Exploding Insects.]
[Mission Reward: Substitute Technique.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
A flood of information poured into Kitazawa's mind.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 100 Chapters Ahead of Others!