"Hokage-sama."
Kitazawa took out a scroll. "This is the proposal for the Advanced Class."
"Good work, Kitazawa."
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded and opened the scroll to read. It matched what they'd discussed before, but with more detail and clear steps to implement.
"Well written."
Hiruzen smiled, satisfied. "No changes needed—you can take this and put it into action."
"You flatter me, Hokage-sama," Kitazawa said modestly. "It's all the result of our discussion."
"Any recommendations for who to hire as instructors?" Hiruzen set the scroll down and asked.
"The broader the coverage, the better," Kitazawa said, hinting, "ideally, we can teach all seven releases."
The Advanced Class would gather all the highly gifted students in one place. Their chakra natures would cover everything.
In Kitazawa's view, they should bring in three or four jonin who could teach Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, plus Yin and Yang Release. For a class like this, limiting it to just the Three Basic Techniques would be a waste.
"Why do I get the feeling you're angling for me to teach?" Hiruzen thought for a moment, then chuckled.
"If you could teach Hokage-sama, it would be a blessing for the students," Kitazawa blurted, then quickly leaned into it. He'd momentarily forgotten that besides Hatake Kakashi, Hiruzen was also an all-nature shinobi. In today's Konoha, only the two of them had every chakra nature.
"I'm the Hokage right now—I don't have time to teach," Hiruzen mused. "After I retire, though, I could come in for a couple of lectures."
He thought it over and realized teaching at the Academy really would suit him after retirement: he could instruct the next generation and burnish his legacy.
Without question, graduates of the Advanced Class would become Konoha's pillars. If he were their teacher, "fresh leaves budding on every branch of Konoha's great tree" wouldn't be an exaggeration.
"With your teaching, Hokage-sama, sounds like we'll be minting a few more shinobi on the level of the Legendary Sannin," Kitazawa said with a raised brow and a smile.
"That's overstating it," Hiruzen waved it off. "If even one emerges, that'd already be excellent."
Kitazawa knew it wasn't really an exaggeration. Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto would eventually surpass the Sannin—though that applied only to this particular cohort.
"Your suggestion isn't very realistic. Aside from me, the only all-nature shinobi is Kakashi," Hiruzen said, then paused. "Actually, we can have Kakashi teach."
He'd pulled Kakashi out of the Anbu to serve as a team leader largely so the young man could walk out of the shadow of his past. Making Naruto his student had been incidental—graduation was still five years off.
Compared with being a team leader, working at the Academy would let Kakashi meet more students, be around more buzz, and maybe recover faster.
For other jonin, Hiruzen would've worried about wasting mission time by putting them at the Academy. But with Kakashi that concern wasn't there. Ever since he'd been left alone, Kakashi had sunk deep into gloom; his only outlet was doing missions.
The more he did, the less he resembled a normal person. Keep that up, and how would he be any different from a Root operative?
"If it's Kakashi, he more than qualifies to teach," Kitazawa said, feigning surprise—though he was genuinely pleased. With Kakashi teaching, he'd have a lot less to handle himself.
"Haru," Hiruzen called, "bring Kakashi here."
Not long after, Kakashi Hatake entered the Hokage's office. He glanced at Kitazawa, a bit puzzled.
"Kakashi, do you remember I told you to leave the Anbu and become a team leader?" Hiruzen asked.
"I remember." Kakashi nodded with his trademark dead-fish eyes.
"Graduation is three months away," Hiruzen said cheerfully. "You haven't served as a team leader before, so why not spend these three months getting a feel for teaching at the Academy?"
"Teach at the Academy?" Kakashi finally understood why Kitazawa was here.
"That's right," Hiruzen asked, "what do you think?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied in an official, businesslike tone.
"Alright, you can go for now. Kitazawa will find you later and explain the details," Hiruzen said with a quiet sigh. He had high hopes for Kakashi—the talent was undeniable. Graduated at five, chunin at six, jonin at twelve; in Konoha's history, few could match that. Under normal circumstances, he'd become the next Hatake Sakumo or Namikaze Minato. But life had been brutally unkind, and he'd stagnated for years. The original story made that clear: once Kakashi recovered, his strength skyrocketed.
"Kitazawa, you were in the same cohort as Kakashi. You know his situation," Hiruzen added once Kakashi left. "Help him out where you can."
"I understand," Kitazawa said solemnly.
"With you and Kakashi teaching, the Advanced Class is more or less set," Hiruzen said. "Any other thoughts?"
"The Advanced Class still needs theory. Iruka should teach that," Kitazawa suggested.
"Approved," Hiruzen agreed after a brief thought. Umino Iruka was straight-arrow reliable, and the class did need theory—especially lessons on the Will of Fire.
"I also think we should add a seasoned, older shinobi," Kitazawa continued. "Kakashi and I are both pretty young; there'll be details we don't know."
"Konoha has plenty of veteran shinobi," Hiruzen said. "Do you have someone in mind?"
"Maruboshi Kosuke," Kitazawa answered.
"Maruboshi?" Hiruzen blinked, surprised. He hadn't expected that name. Maruboshi Kosuke was the "eternal genin," but his seniority was terrifying—he'd served under Senju Tobirama, Hiruzen, and Minato. More importantly, he was capable, responsible, and a steadfast practitioner of the Will of Fire.
"He's punished himself for a mistake in his youth, and even at his age he still takes dangerous infiltration missions into enemy villages," Hiruzen said, warming to the idea. "Posting him to the Academy would be like letting him retire a bit early and enjoy life."
"Shall I go tell him?" Kitazawa asked.
"Maruboshi isn't your average genin—I'll go see him myself," Hiruzen said, shaking his head. In a sense, he and Kosuke were fellow students under the Second Hokage, Tobirama, even if Kosuke hadn't been a formal student.
"Alright," Kitazawa said. With Hiruzen handling it personally, nothing should go wrong—and if there was a chance to slack off, he'd take it.
"We'll launch the Advanced Class next term," Hiruzen said after a pause. "We're holding a jonin meeting Sunday morning—three days from now. Be there."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kitazawa replied at once.
With that settled, Kitazawa left the Hokage building. As for who would be in the class: the top thirty from the Student Council Selection match.
He headed to the Anbu base.
"Kitazawa-sensei."
A familiar voice rang out. Kitazawa turned instinctively. The speaker wore an Anbu mask, but Kitazawa still recognized him: Uchiha Itachi.
"Did Tsunade-sama send you to Anbu with a mission?" Itachi asked, stepping forward.
"No," Kitazawa shook his head. "I'm here to see Kakashi."
"Kakashi-senpai is packing in his room," Itachi said with a hint of regret. "He's about to leave the Anbu." Kakashi had been his guide in Anbu; they'd often worked together after Itachi joined.
"If you want to see him later, come to the Academy," Kitazawa said frankly. "Kakashi will be one of our teachers."
"Huh?" Itachi couldn't hide his surprise. Retiring from Anbu to be an Academy teacher? That sounded… off.
"Can you take me to him?" Kitazawa smiled.
"Normally, non-Anbu aren't allowed in the barracks," Itachi hesitated two seconds, then said, "but you should be fine. Please, this way."
"Do all Anbu live in the barracks?" Kitazawa asked as they walked.
"No," Itachi explained. "Anbu have to be on call around the clock. The barracks are for those rotating on duty to rest."
"I see," Kitazawa nodded.
"Kakashi-senpai is Anbu captain, so he has a private room," Itachi added.
They soon arrived at a door.
"Kakashi-senpai," Itachi knocked. "Kitazawa-sensei is here."
A moment later, the door opened—but the man standing there wasn't Kakashi. His hair wasn't white.
"Tenzo-senpai," Itachi greeted politely.
Kitazawa took a quick measure of Tenzo—that was Yamato's Anbu codename, and he was the only survivor/success of Danzō and Orochimaru's Wood Release experiments.
"Kakashi's inside," Tenzo said, then turned and left.
"I'll head out too. You two talk," Itachi said, and disappeared with Tenzo.
"Am I going to teach first-years in Class A?" Kakashi asked without looking up.
"No, the Advanced Class," Kitazawa said, then explained what it was. Kakashi was surprised. There hadn't been anything like it when he was a student—so this was likely Kitazawa's innovation. It also made sense why Hiruzen wanted Kakashi there: he knew thousands of jutsu and had all chakra natures. As for Kakashi himself… he didn't really care. Anbu, team leader, Academy teacher—whatever.
"I'll find you next term," Kakashi said, sitting on the bed after finishing his packing, voice cool and flat.
"What are you planning to do for this next month?" Kitazawa asked.
"…" Kakashi froze. Ever since Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin died, he'd joined the Anbu. It had been nothing but mission after mission for years—he'd never had a full month off. Ask him what he'd do? He honestly didn't know. Maybe sit at home and read Icha Icha Paradise?
"I'm running a winter-break special training," Kitazawa said with a small laugh. "There's a student in the Advanced Class with a knack for Lightning Release. How about you coach him early?"
"Who?" Kakashi asked, puzzled. "I didn't see any students using Lightning Release in the Selection bouts."
"Sasuke," Kitazawa replied. "He has Lightning and Fire affinity, but as you know, the Uchiha don't really have standout Lightning-style users."
Kakashi paused—then felt a faint tug of interest. Lightning affinity plus Sharingan was a perfect match for him. And he'd teamed with Sasuke's brother, Uchiha Itachi—familiar territory.
"My bar is high. He'll have to pass my test first," Kakashi said after thinking it over. Since Hiruzen had already tapped him to teach, giving Sasuke some coaching was no big deal.
"As it should be," Kitazawa said with a smile. With Kakashi taking point, Sasuke's "mission" should go smoothly. Of course, Kitazawa would still step in now and then so he wasn't completely hands-off.
"I'll bring Sasuke tomorrow. Let's meet at the Academy Training Field," Kitazawa added. "Eight a.m."
"Works," Kakashi nodded.
"See you tomorrow," Kitazawa said, then left the Anbu base.
He didn't go back to the Academy, though. He headed to where Tsunade and Shizune were staying and knocked.
"Good morning, Kitazawa-sensei," said Karin, opening the door.
"Is Tsunade-sama in?" Kitazawa patted her head.
"No," Karin replied. "She and Shizune-nee went to the casino."
"Figures," Kitazawa said with a smile. "Then I'll talk to your mother."
"Okay." Karin stepped aside. "Please come in."
"Tea, Kitazawa-sensei," Uzumaki Rina said, handing him a cup with both hands.
"Thank you." Kitazawa took a sip. "Karin's caught up on her studies with the extra lessons. I plan to teach her ninjutsu over winter break."
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei," Rina said gratefully, glancing at Karin. After fleeing Kusagakure, she understood how important strength was.
"Karin's an Uzumaki. Sealing arts suit her best," Kitazawa said bluntly. "Rina-san, have you studied sealing techniques?"
"No," Rina sighed. "I don't have the talent."
Kitazawa wasn't surprised. If Rina had really mastered Uzumaki sealing, she would've escaped Kusagakure long ago.
"The good news is Konoha has plenty of Uzumaki sealing techniques available. When Tsunade-sama gets back, please mention it to her," Kitazawa said, standing. "For now, I'll take Karin to train her chakra control."
Sealing was even harder than medical ninjutsu; chakra control was crucial. In the original story Karin already showed talent for seals, so he wasn't worried—he could jump straight into training.
They went to the Academy. Chakra control practice naturally started with the classics: tree-walking and water-walking. After ten minutes of explanation, Karin began tree-walking. She picked it up fast and soon could climb to the midpoint of the trunk.
Just then, three lines of text flashed before Kitazawa's eyes:
[Current Mission: Lead your ninja squad to complete 90 D-rank missions within one month to make a name for yourselves.]
[Reward: Lightning Release: Chidori.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa arched a brow—surprised, but it made sense. With powerhouses like Yakushi Kabuto, Aburame Torune, and Uchiha Izumi—and their Shadow Clones—finishing early was expected.
He stood still, letting the system pour Chidori into his mind. Moments later, he had fully mastered Lightning Release: Chidori. Its only real drawback was that it needed the Sharingan to pair with it—the speed was simply too high.
Chidori fully exploited Lightning's swiftness and was meant for blitz attacks; without the Sharingan, even the user could hardly control it. In the official novels, after losing the Sharingan, Kakashi created Purple Lightning as a replacement. Worth noting: Kakashi invented Chidori because he couldn't master the Rasengan.
In terms of form, Chidori really is similar to the Rasengan: neither can be thrown; both are released at close range.
"Kitazawa-sensei."
A few minutes later, Yakushi Kabuto, Aburame Torune, and Uchiha Izumi arrived at the Academy training field. They'd hurried over after filing their last D-rank completion at the Mission Hall.
"Good work. You won't need to do D-ranks anymore," Kitazawa told them.
[Your squad now has some name recognition in Konoha, but it's not enough.]
[New Mission: Choose a higher-rank mission that can boost your squad's reputation.]
[Reward: Combined Ninjutsu: Lightning Water Dragon Bullet.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa's eyes went straight to the reward. Combined Ninjutsu—also called composite techniques—meant fusing different jutsu for greater effect. In the original, the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, and the Fourth Raikage, A, used Combined Ninjutsu: Lightning Water Dragon Bullet—stronger than Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet and adding Lightning's paralysis effect.
~~~
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