Two days later, during Thursday's practical class.
"Raise your right hand a little higher. Stand with your legs straight. Leaf-style taijutsu is the Strong Fist—put some power into it."
Kitazawa walked up and down the line, correcting stances as he went.
After canceling Monday's sparring test, he'd had both classes focus on practicing the Clone Technique and Leaf-style taijutsu. He would watch, point out mistakes, and fix them on the spot.
This was the "targeted reinforcement" he'd promised. It wasn't really necessary for prodigies like Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuga Neji, but it helped the average students a lot. With their talent ceilings, mastering the Three Basic Techniques and Leaf-style taijutsu was already solid; after graduation they'd be standouts among genin.
Halfway through the period, two lines of text suddenly flashed before Kitazawa's eyes:
[Current Mission: Help Uzumaki Naruto master the Rasengan.]
[Mission Reward: 20% Senju bloodline.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa froze on the spot.
A massive surge of chakra flooded his body, racing through his network. He clenched his fist on reflex and felt the immediate jump in power.
Because this was a straight +20% Senju bloodline boost at once, the effect was far more obvious than the previous +10%. Added together, he now had 40% Senju bloodline.
Between various mission rewards, his increased Byakugan purity, and the Senju boost, his total chakra had gone up by around two "bars."
Kitazawa rubbed his chin. Quantity becomes quality, as the saying goes. At 40% Senju bloodline, if you go by the old rule of thumb—every 10% equals one-fifth of a bar—then 40% should only add four-fifths of a bar. But in reality he'd gained close to a full bar. In other words, a full 100% Senju bloodline probably isn't just two bars of chakra—it's likely more.
He snapped back to the present and split off a Shadow Clone to keep supervising. With 40% Senju bloodline, maintaining one more clone was nothing.
"Kitazawa-sensei!"
Even before he walked over, he heard Naruto's excited shout. A blur of green skidded to a stop in front of him.
"Got the Rasengan down?" Kitazawa asked first.
"Look, Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto thrust out his hand, grinning from ear to ear.
A tightly compressed, rapidly spinning sphere of chakra churned in his palm.
"Congratulations," Kitazawa said with a smile.
Unlike in the original timeline, Naruto hadn't relied on any shortcuts this time—he'd learned a full, proper Rasengan.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto said, genuinely grateful. He knew very well this was only possible because of Kitazawa.
"Now that you've learned Rasengan, hold off on picking up new jutsu," Kitazawa said after a moment's thought. "What you need is to try integrating Rasengan with the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu in live drills."
"I got it!" Naruto's eyes lit up. If he and his clones all used Rasengan together, wouldn't that be unbeatable? It was an A-rank technique; of course it packed a punch.
"There's still half a period left. I'll teach you a new tactic for dealing with Sasuke," Kitazawa said.
"What is it?" Naruto blurted.
"It's another way to use Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu—one you've never tried," Kitazawa patted his shoulder. "Break it out in the Student Council selection match and you'll definitely catch Sasuke off guard."
Naruto stared at him, even more curious.
"This method also counters Sasuke's Manipulated Shuriken Technique," Kitazawa added.
"I wanna learn it!" Naruto was completely hooked now.
"Start with Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu," Kitazawa chuckled.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto flashed through seals and popped out fifty clones.
"See that tree?" Kitazawa pointed to a trunk about five meters away.
"See it!" a chorus of Narutos answered in unison.
"Good. Hit it with kunai."
Naruto and his clones obeyed immediately. Fifty-one kunai sailed out and studded the tree from top to bottom. On a fixed target, Naruto's throwing wasn't bad—Kitazawa had drilled it into him.
"That's the 'new' use of Multiple Shadow Clone: long-range group volleys," Kitazawa explained.
"Feels like kunai don't hit hard enough," Naruto said, getting the idea.
"Kunaï aren't the only thing you can throw," Kitazawa said. "Think about it—what happens if fifty Sasukes all cast Fire Style: Great Fireball at once?"
Naruto went blank. He'd seen Sasuke's Great Fireball many times—big, hot, and scary enough that he usually had to dodge. But fifty giant fireballs? How would you even dodge that? With that kind of coverage, you couldn't.
"But I don't know Great Fireball," Naruto scratched his head. "And honestly I kinda like being a taijutsu guy."
Kitazawa wasn't surprised. He'd long since seen that Naruto just wanted to brawl; taijutsu fit him to a T. If anything, it was Kitazawa's fault—canon Naruto was a ninjutsu fighter, not a pure taijutsu one. Introducing him to Might Guy had changed that trajectory.
But a pure taijutsu specialist came with real drawbacks. Naruto wasn't like Rock Lee with only a taijutsu affinity; limiting himself to taijutsu would waste a lot of potential.
"Don't forget your dream, Naruto," Kitazawa said with a light cough. "A taijutsu-only ninja can't surpass the Hokage of past generations."
"Oh, right!" Naruto flipped instantly. "Teach me Fire Style!"
"Not just Fire Style—learn ninjutsu," Kitazawa corrected. Canon Naruto's early nature was Wind, but by the late game he had almost everything except Yin.
"Rasengan works too," Kitazawa added. "But your current Rasengan can't be thrown yet."
"You can throw it?" Naruto's eyes went wide.
"You can," Kitazawa nodded. "But you can't learn that part yet."
In the original, there are two throwables. One is Wind Style: Rasenshuriken—early on it couldn't be thrown, but once Naruto learned Sage Mode he could hurl it at range. The other is the Vanishing Rasengan—basically a Lightning Release Rasengan; with lightning added, it not only works at range, it also becomes invisible.
Sage Mode was a ways off. But Lightning Release: Rasengan? Kitazawa figured they could try it after the Student Council selection match. A vanishing Rasengan is perfect for ambushes. Of course, throwing raises one problem: accuracy.
"Alright, let's keep going," Kitazawa clapped. "Hitting a stationary target isn't enough."
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto said.
"You and your clones, attack me," Kitazawa said—and then used the Transformation Technique to turn into Uchiha Sasuke.
"Kunai volley! Target: Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto ducked into the crowd of clones and barked the order.
Wind hissed. A dense rain of kunai came down like arrows.
"Naruto, a wild, unsynchronized barrage is too scattered and easy to dodge," Kitazawa reminded him, slipping through the gaps. "Mind your rhythm. Stagger the throws."
"Got it! Everyone, three squad!" Naruto reshuffled the formation into three lines of seventeen. The first rank loosed seventeen kunai; the second tracked Kitazawa's evasion and hurled another seventeen; the third anticipated his next dodge and fired the last wave. By then, the first rank had reloaded and the loop continued.
For a moment, even Kitazawa felt a bit pressed. One thought kept ringing in his head: Multiple Shadow Clone is an official cheat code. Fifty-one Narutos were annoying enough; once you're facing two or three thousand later on, it's practically invincible.
Well, not truly invincible. Against monsters like Hashirama or Madara it's still nothing. But most ordinary shinobi would struggle badly against this tactic—and an as-yet-unseasoned Sasuke would have an even harder time.
"Naruto, this long-range style has a weakness—once the enemy gets in your face, it falls apart," Kitazawa said as he slipped between volleys.
Leaf Body Flicker!
He blurred into a flurry of leaves and reappeared among the clones. The third squad reacted late and threw anyway, accidentally dispelling a bunch of their own.
Seeing the opening, Kitazawa used the Manipulated Shuriken Technique. The result was like Sasuke's earlier trick—some clones got tripped up, some popped instantly, and everything got messy. Naruto, having learned from last time, ignored the chaos and rushed Kitazawa for close combat.
"Good reaction, but there's still an issue," Kitazawa said, disengaging to open space.
Naruto halted, waiting.
"Spread your three squads farther apart. That way it's much harder for the enemy to bull through all three at once," Kitazawa said. "But if the enemy also has clones, it'll still be tough."
"So what do I do then?" Naruto asked quickly.
"Simple," Kitazawa grinned. "Cancel Multiple Shadow Clone, cast it again, and then go in with Rasengan and taijutsu."
"Eh?" Naruto blinked, then realized, "Isn't that just my old way of fighting?"
"It is," Kitazawa said evenly. "In a real fight, one mode isn't enough. You have to mix styles."
War is the art of deception, after all.
"I understand!" Naruto answered reflexively.
"What exactly did you understand?" Kitazawa arched a brow.
"Uh… go in close first. If that doesn't work, fight at range. If range doesn't work, go back to close!" Naruto said after a beat.
Kitazawa couldn't help laughing. Put that way, it wasn't wrong.
"Back to the drill," he said, returning to his spot.
"Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto sealed up again and he and his clones threw themselves back into the fray.
Twenty minutes later, the exercise ended.
"That's it for today. Head home and rest," Kitazawa said, patting Naruto's shoulder.
"Bye, Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto was tired but still buzzing.
Kitazawa tugged a wry smile. He felt like his stamina was worse than Naruto's—and honestly, it was. The Uzumaki bloodline was absurdly strong. He remembered watching the anime in his previous life—when Karin suddenly burst out Adamantine Sealing Chains, it left him slack-jawed. Total hacks. And beyond the chains, Mind's Eye of the Kagura and that self-recovery stamina were top-tier broken. No wonder the Uzumaki had such ridiculous natural advantages: massive chakra, monstrous durability, elite sensing, and terrifying sealing arts. It's not surprising that Naruto ended up as the main protagonist.
Just as Kitazawa reached the academy's training grounds, he ran into the other protagonist—Uchiha Sasuke.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Sasuke said without preamble, "I've mastered Genjutsu: Unknown Fire."
Kitazawa blinked. He hadn't taught Sasuke that—that was from Itachi, and Sasuke had been working on it for a while. As for why he'd come to Kitazawa now, the reason was obvious: he wanted new jutsu.
Kitazawa did plan to teach him, but only after the Student Council selection match. He was going to let Sasuke get thoroughly beaten first, then teach him Lightning Release. In canon, Sasuke took better to lightning than fire. Kitazawa also had two mission rewards tied to Lightning Release—both would only become available after the selection match.
"The match is almost here. There's no time to cram new jutsu," Kitazawa decided aloud. "Spend the next few days polishing what you've got. You can also do leaf training."
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei," Sasuke said, eyes brightening. He wondered what Kitazawa would teach him later; everything so far had been extremely useful. Not to mention, on Monday he'd beaten Naruto easily with Kitazawa's teachings.
"See you tomorrow, Kitazawa-sensei," Sasuke said, goal met, and headed home.
Classes were over, but Kitazawa didn't leave right away—he had one more thing to do. He found his squad on an open patch near the field. Kabuto was practicing the Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu; Aburame Torune and Uchiha Izumi were working on regular Shadow Clones.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Kabuto walked up the moment he noticed Kitazawa, producing a scroll. "These are the D-rank missions we completed today."
Kitazawa unsealed it and scanned the list. He'd set a baseline of three D-ranks per day, but now that they had clones, the pace had accelerated. Right now they could clear five or six a day; if they got simple ones, even faster. His system quest progress was already about halfway. By his estimate they'd be done in at most two weeks.
"Once winter break starts, I'll take you all on higher-difficulty missions," Kitazawa said, closing the scroll.
"Understood," Kabuto replied, steady as ever. D-ranks were dull, but he never complained. Torune, raised in Root, had obedience baked into his bones. Izumi wasn't a typical Uchiha either—gentle and kind. She didn't always get the reasoning, but she did the work.
"That's it for today's training. My treat—yakiniku," Kitazawa waved them over. Honestly, putting them on a mission grind benefited him most. Not only did it push his system quest, it brought in a tidy sum. A D-rank paid anywhere from 500 to 10,000 ryō, and as the team's leader he took more than half. Sounds unfair, but in practice it's reasonable—the leader teaches ninjutsu and guarantees everyone's safety.
They headed toward the barbecue place. Halfway there, Kitazawa spotted two unexpected figures: Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy—more precisely, Guy clinging to Kakashi, trying to drag him into a "youthful duel."
"Kitazawa?" Kakashi lit up like he'd seen a savior and slipped free of Guy.
"What are you two doing, wrestling in the street?" Kitazawa teased.
"…" Kakashi opened his mouth and thought better of it, the jab hitting home. He'd just gotten off an Anbu shift and had run straight into Guy, who'd hard-locked him for minutes.
"Perfect timing, Kitazawa!" Guy sprinted over. "You can be our referee!"
"I never agreed to a spar," Kakashi said flatly.
"Kakashi, can't you feel my hot-blooded youth?" Guy shot a thumbs-up, brimming with fighting spirit.
"No," Kakashi said, utterly calm.
"That's youth—sometimes fiery, sometimes bitter!" Guy paused, fists clenched, undaunted.
Kabuto nudged his glasses. He'd met all sorts of odd shinobi while spying, but Guy was… new. He looked wildly unreliable, yet if he was pestering Kakashi for a match, his strength was probably no joke.
"We were just heading to yakiniku," Kitazawa said, oblivious to Kabuto's thoughts and smiling. "Since we ran into you, come along."
"Sure," Kakashi agreed immediately. Given a choice between grilling meat and sparring Guy, dinner won hands down. It's not that he hated sparring with him—it's just that once Guy got going, he never stopped.
~~~
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