"See you next time, Kitazawa-sensei."
Uchiha Mikoto stood at the door, watching Kitazawa leave.
"Aunt Mikoto," Uchiha Izumi finally couldn't hold back. "I already have a team leader and teammates."
"I know." Mikoto withdrew her gaze and looked at her.
"Then why did you agree to Kitazawa-sensei?" Izumi asked, stunned.
"Your team leader is a jōnin from the clan. I'll just speak to him," Mikoto said casually.
Normally, after graduating from the Academy, a genin is assigned a jōnin leader and teammates. But as one of Konoha's great clans, the Uchiha enjoy certain privileges—such as designating a specific jōnin as leader.
Izumi is a clan prodigy, so they'd assigned a Uchiha jōnin to teach her. There was another reason: the Sharingan. Outsiders can't really teach it. Appointing a Uchiha jōnin would help Izumi grow faster.
"I don't get it," Izumi said, baffled. Kitazawa wasn't an Uchiha and didn't have a Sharingan—hardly a fit as her team leader.
"Kitazawa's status is special. Becoming his student benefits you and the Uchiha," Mikoto said, ruffling her hair with a smile. "As for the Sharingan, I'll have Itachi teach you. How about it?"
"Really?" Izumi brightened immediately.
"Of course." Mikoto paused, then added, "And Kitazawa-sensei is far more capable than you think. You won't lose out by becoming his student."
Her proof was Sasuke. Before enrolling, Sasuke showed some talent, but he was nowhere near Itachi. After starting school, he rocketed ahead—awakening early and mastering all kinds of genjutsu, Fire Release, and taijutsu. Before enrollment he was a normal prodigy; after, a super prodigy. The reason was Kitazawa.
"Mm." Izumi nodded. "I just don't know how strong my new teammates are."
"Anyone Kitazawa-sensei picks won't be weak," Mikoto said with a laugh. "And with your ability, passing the Chūnin Exams won't be a problem."
"You're right." Izumi straightened up. "Itachi's already a squad captain in the Anbu. I can't fall too far behind."
Afternoon came. The students of Year 1, Class A and Year 2, Class A arrived on the field right on time. Monday meant another round of live-combat tests.
By pulling some strings, Kitazawa matched Uchiha Sasuke against Kurama Yakumo. As expected, it was another loss for Sasuke. He stood there trembling, humiliated by losing so badly every time. Past the point of pride, his desire to win only grew stronger. He resolved to finish Kitazawa's special training as soon as possible.
"Class dismissed," Kitazawa clapped. "See you tomorrow."
What surprised him today were Hyūga Neji and Hyūga Hinata—both had progressed in Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Neji had reached Twelve Palms; Hinata had reached Fourteen. As for Sasuke, Naruto, and Kiba, they performed about as expected.
"Goodbye, Kitazawa-sensei!" The two classes scattered, racing for the gates. Sasuke pulled a long face, ignored everyone, and left. Kitazawa couldn't help but smile—until he remembered it was time for monster strength training again.
After getting thrashed by Tsunade for three straight hours, Monday drew to a close.
…
Saturday.
After breakfast, Kitazawa headed to the Academy's training ground. Weekends were quiet—almost no one around—but not entirely empty. Three people were waiting: Yakushi Kabuto, Aburame Torune, and Uchiha Izumi.
When he arrived, he saw a familiar sight: Kabuto holding court, chatting up his two teammates. No wonder he'd be a major antagonist in the original story—maxed-out social skills.
The fourth week of November had been uneventful. In the past five days, nothing big had happened except Sasuke suffering two crushing defeats. There was good news, though: Sasuke had mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu. With Body Flicker on top, he now stood a decent chance against Naruto—though it still wasn't a sure thing. Kitazawa had already told him that special live-combat training would start Monday. For now, he had to do his duty as their team leader.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Kabuto noticed him and immediately stopped talking.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Torune and Izumi also greeted him at once.
"Since you already know each other, I'll keep it brief. The three of you will form a squad for next week's Chūnin Exams," Kitazawa said with a nod.
"Yes," the three answered in unison.
"The exam is simple in structure—three stages: written test, team battle, and individual battle," Kitazawa explained. He'd looked into it beforehand: Konoha's internal exam was similar to the joint exams in the original, except the team phase wasn't necessarily a scroll hunt in the Forest of Death.
"For the next two days, your task is team synergy," he said with a smile. "And the way we'll build it is simple: live combat."
"Do we spar against each other?" Izumi raised her hand. She was genuinely curious about Kabuto and Torune's strength; fighting them would be a handy way to find out.
"No," Kitazawa shook his head. "All three of you will fight me."
"Eh?" Izumi blurted. Kabuto and Torune were also taken aback.
"I'm confident you'll do well in the written and individual stages. But you've never actually worked together in a fight," Kitazawa said. "That's what this is for. I'll be your whetstone."
"Kitazawa-sensei," Torune hesitated, "can I use my poison bugs?"
"What, worried you'll poison me?" Kitazawa caught the subtext and smiled. "I'm a medical-nin, remember. Don't worry."
Torune's nano-poison bugs were nasty, but he wasn't a jōnin yet. Kitazawa had ways to keep the bugs from ever reaching him. And even if they did, he'd studied detox under Tsunade and Yakushi Nono. In the original, Haruno Sakura was breaking Sasori's poisons after training with Tsunade—poisons that stumped all of Sunagakure, Chiyo included.
"The team battle arena usually isn't flat. Expect a more complex terrain, like a forest," Kitazawa said, glancing around. "We'll use that little grove."
Kabuto, Torune, and Izumi followed him into the trees.
"You have ten minutes to plan," Kitazawa said, stopping.
Kabuto immediately started strategizing with his teammates. Kitazawa didn't eavesdrop; he stood quietly and waited.
"We're ready, Sensei," Kabuto said in under ten minutes.
"Begin," Kitazawa nodded.
In the next second, all three vanished into hiding. Kitazawa arched a brow. Right—Naruto's the oddball. "Ninja" has "stealth" baked in; ambush tactics are the correct way to open.
He ran through their strengths: Kabuto—medical ninjutsu and Wind Release. Torune—nano poison bugs and Aburame secrets. Izumi—one-tomoe Sharingan, Fire Release, and taijutsu.
The air warped. A massive fireball bloomed out of nowhere—followed immediately by a roaring gale that fed it until it blazed like a sun.
"Wind with Fire—smart," Kitazawa said, genuinely impressed, though not surprised given Kabuto was calling plays.
"Will it work?" Izumi asked tensely, keeping her voice low.
"Unlikely," Kabuto shook his head.
"Kitazawa-sensei is too strong. Most of our opening salvo probably won't land."
"That strong?" Izumi said, startled. Her impression of Kitazawa mostly came from Itachi: superb teacher, excellent medic. Not much else.
"Kitazawa-sensei has elite-jōnin-level strength," Kabuto said. Unlike Izumi, he'd seen Kitazawa fight an Iwagakure jōnin and knew what the man could do.
"Elite jōnin?" Izumi was stunned. An Academy teacher with elite-jōnin strength?
A bestial roar answered her. A water dragon surged into existence in the grove and slammed into the fireball. Water and fire collided with a boom, hurling up billows of steam. The fireball didn't last long before the dragon swallowed it whole.
"So it was a triple-layered offense," Kitazawa said, brow lifting. His water dragon had plowed into something else—Torune's nano-bugs, hidden behind the ninjutsu. Under that cover they were even harder to spot.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
Without hesitation, Kitazawa flashed through seals. Water hadn't done enough to the nano-bugs—time for heat. A wall of flame roared up before him, five meters tall to ensure total incineration.
"Whoa, that's huge!" Izumi breathed. She'd seen plenty of Great Fireballs, but few could match his. An outsider, better at Great Fireball than many Uchiha?
"As expected, no effect," Kabuto said, then turned. "Torune, you okay?"
"I'm fine," Torune said, face a touch pale. "I lost too many bugs, though. I'll need Secret Technique: Insect Cocoon to replenish."
Whether nano-bugs or kikaichū, the principle was similar—use chakra to breed them.
"Izumi, execute plan two," Kabuto said, forming seals and creating a shadow clone. The clone transformed into Izumi.
A tearing wind roared in. Kitazawa turned as the gust barreled toward him.
Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
A curtain of water surged up, splitting the gale to either side. Kabuto Body Flickered in from the flank.
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!
Chakra-laced kunai in hand, he chopped at Kitazawa. At the same time, Izumi hurled a storm of kunai and shuriken from the other side.
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!
Kitazawa casually drew a kunai and met Kabuto head-on.
Clang!
Kabuto felt the jarring force run up his arm and had to stumble back several steps.
Kitazawa spared him a glance, then pivoted and slashed. With Wind chakra layered on, his kunai became a short blade, batting Izumi's kunai and shuriken aside.
Body Flicker!
Izumi flashed in and snapped a kick at his midsection. Kabuto planted his feet and formed seals.
Wind Release: Vacuum Shuriken!
The spinning wind shuriken reached Kitazawa at almost the same moment as Izumi's kick.
Kitazawa was about to counter when his pupils tightened—the ground beneath his feet erupted with dense, swarming poison bugs.
Leaf-Style Body Flicker!
He dissolved into drifting leaves.
"Not good!" Kabuto reached out on reflex, but the wind shuriken couldn't be recalled—it smashed into "Izumi."
Poof!
"Izumi" burst into smoke and vanished.
"A shadow clone, just as I thought," Kitazawa said, reappearing. One-handed seal, pivot—and there was the real Izumi.
Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!
She met his eyes and, before she could move, felt herself swallowed into the trunk of a tree. Genjutsu? Her Sharingan flared and snapped the illusion—but too late. Kitazawa's roundhouse caught her and sent her flying. He pulled the kick, of course.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Kabuto formed seals without hesitation, unleashing a torrent of wind. Torune seized the chance, driving his bugs in behind it. Izumi scrambled up and tugged her hands; the shuriken she'd thrown earlier snapped off the ground and whipped back into the air—the Uchiha's Manipulating Shuriken Technique.
Kitazawa was a little impressed. Their coordination was awfully smooth for a first-time squad. The benefit of a strategist on the team—Kabuto, of course. Despite his age, he'd spent years as a spy; both his experience and perspective were rich. His command let the squad punch far above their weight. It also helped that Torune and Izumi weren't ordinary genin.
An hour later, the bout ended. Kabuto, Izumi, and Torune collapsed where they stood, exhausted. They'd thrown everything they had at him and still hadn't scratched Kitazawa.
"Your teamwork is good, but there are still issues," Kitazawa said, using their rest time to point out problems. Even so, he was pleased.
Among genin, they were basically unbeatable—especially Kabuto, who could fight, heal, and command. The kind of teammate any squad would kill for.
No wonder he'd grow into a major villain. In the original story, the civilian who truly hit the ceiling was Yakushi Kabuto, without question.
"I'm looking forward to your performance in the exams," Kitazawa concluded.
"Thank you, Sensei," Kabuto said, wiping sweat from his brow. He was genuinely surprised. He'd asked Kitazawa for help just to make up the numbers so he could enter the exams—only for Kitazawa to hand him two super-genius teammates.
He'd planned to just scrape by as a Chūnin; now he was thinking about forming a permanent squad with Izumi and Torune. Usually teams are fixed, but for the Chūnin Exams you can form your own.
Izumi finally understood what Mikoto had meant earlier. Based on what she'd just seen, Kitazawa was far stronger than her previous jōnin leader. Aside from lacking the Sharingan, he was a near-perfect teacher. Her two teammates were no slouches, either. Torune, for his part, had no particular opinion—classic Root mindset: follow orders.
"That's it for this morning's live-combat training. We'll meet here again at four this afternoon for another round," Kitazawa said after a moment's thought. He could keep going, but the three of them were spent. Two sessions in a day would be enough.
After a quick goodbye, he turned to leave. His to-do list wasn't done—he still had to train monstrous strength and teach Kurenai sealing techniques.
When the weekend ended, only two days of November remained.
…
Monday morning.
Kitazawa arrived at the Academy training field.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Sasuke rushed up, barely containing himself.
"Let's start your live-combat training," Kitazawa said with a nod. "Come with me."
They didn't spar on the main field—no need to disrupt Hinata and Shikamaru.
"To make it more immersive, I'm going to transform into Naruto and use only the ninjutsu and taijutsu he has," Kitazawa said, facing Sasuke and forming seals. His body shifted, and in a blink he was Uzumaki Naruto.
Sasuke stared—something felt off, but he couldn't put a finger on it.
"Begin." Kitazawa formed seals again—Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu. In an instant, forty clones popped into existence around him. He'd previously maxed out around twenty, but after stacking various mission rewards, forty was no longer an issue.
"…" Sasuke's mouth twitched. Did you have to be that accurate?
The fight began, and he was immediately on the back foot. Compared to the real Naruto, who brawled headlong, Kitazawa fought with brains as well as brawn.
Sasuke got a taste of how terrifying a truly optimized Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu could be. Even with Kitazawa holding back, Sasuke was beaten without any chance to fight back.
~~~
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