Today, Kitazawa had one class less than yesterday.
The morning was Will of Fire, and the afternoon was combat practice.
After finishing his lecture, Kitazawa returned to his office and casually picked up the stack of assignments on his desk.
Combat class had no homework, but both Konoha History and Will of Fire did.
Neither subject was too difficult—everyone could at least pass, though a few assignments stood out as particularly well written.
To Kitazawa's surprise, one of them actually belonged to Uzumaki Naruto.
It seemed his teaching had gotten through to the boy.
This wasn't self-praise; after all, in the original story Naruto was the class dunce.
"Dunce" meaning the lowest of the low—dead last in both theory and practice.
Time passed, and soon it was the last lesson of the day: combat class.
"Today's lesson is still kunai throwing," Kitazawa announced before the students. "Those who haven't mastered it should continue practicing. Those who already have, you may use the time freely."
At once, many faces lit up with delight—especially among the genius heirs like Uchiha Sasuke and Nara Shikamaru.
After all, "free activity" was just another way of saying "no class."
"Damn it! I miscalculated!"
Inuzuka Kiba froze on the spot, his face full of regret. "If I'd known, I would've shown my true skills yesterday!"
"I'll definitely hit the bullseye today!"
Naruto clenched his fists in determination.
He had already collected Kitazawa's snack pack yesterday—if he still couldn't land a proper throw today, that would be beyond embarrassing.
From the corner of her eyes, Hyūga Hinata glanced at Kitazawa.
After a moment's hesitation, she decided to stay behind and continue practicing kunai.
Even though she had already mastered it long ago.
"This teacher is really… different. I like it."
Shikamaru flopped down onto a patch of grass, hands behind his head, staring lazily at the sky.
"Yeah, I agree."
Akimichi Chōji sat down beside him, pulling out a bag of chips and munching loudly.
"Sasuke-kun!"
Haruno Sakura practically flew over to Sasuke's side. "Can you teach me that curving-kunai trick from yesterday?"
"I don't have time."
Sasuke brushed her off without hesitation.
Without sparing her a glance, he walked to the far side of the field.
Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!
Sasuke formed hand seals, chakra surging out of him. A fireball the size of a clenched fist burst into the air.
But his expression soured in disappointment.
Everyone called him a genius, but compared to his brother Uchiha Itachi, he was painfully ordinary.
Itachi could master the Great Fireball after seeing it once. Sasuke couldn't.
"Why… why can't I?"
He grit his teeth.
All he wanted was to master it quickly—just once, to hear his father and brother praise him.
Every time he imagined that scene, the corners of his lips curled unconsciously.
But it was only fantasy.
"Your chakra control is too poor."
A sudden voice broke his thoughts.
Sasuke turned—and froze at the sight of Kitazawa.
For a moment, his eyes flickered. But soon they returned to their usual calm.
Kitazawa was just a normal chūnin teacher, not even of the Uchiha. What could he possibly know about the Great Fireball?
He doubted the man had any real skill.
"Come with me."
Kitazawa, seeing straight through Sasuke's thoughts, didn't mind.
The pride of the Uchiha was expected.
But this was a rare chance to fulfill a task. He wasn't about to let it slip.
"Go where?" Sasuke asked in suspicion.
"You'll see soon enough."
Kitazawa led him to a secluded training ground within the school.
Sasuke opened his mouth to question him—
But what he saw next left him completely dumbstruck.
Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!
Kitazawa unleashed the jutsu at full strength, spewing forth a massive fireball.
It was even larger than the ones his brother Itachi had produced.
Sasuke's worldview shook to its core.
"Want to learn? I'll teach you."
Kitazawa grinned at the boy's stunned expression.
The Great Fireball may have been the Uchiha's signature technique, but because it was simple to learn and packed decent power, plenty of outsiders had picked it up too.
Kitazawa's late mentor had been one such case.
So there was no need to worry about anyone questioning the source of his fire-style ninjutsu.
It took Sasuke a long moment to snap out of it.
If he could unleash a fireball like that, his father and brother would have no choice but to acknowledge him!
"Sensei Kitazawa—I want to learn!"
His spirit surged as he spoke without hesitation.
This Sasuke wasn't yet the closed-off boy from the original story—so he wasn't too proud to ask.
"To master the Great Fireball, you need to focus on two things."
Kitazawa smiled. "One is chakra control. The other is chakra nature transformation."
The original story never explained how fire-nature training worked, but it had shown wind-nature training when Naruto learned from Asuma.
Step one: slice a leaf with wind chakra.
Step two: cut a waterfall.
Step three: apply the transformation to a jutsu.
"For you, chakra nature transformation is still a bit early. So let's start with control."
He pointed to a nearby tree.
"Channel chakra into your feet, then climb it."
The Great Fireball also involved chakra shape transformation—but as a C-rank jutsu, it wasn't like the Rasengan. There was no real complexity beyond making the fireball larger and rounder.
"That's it? So simple?"
Sasuke was doubtful.
"Try it." Kitazawa said with a knowing smile.
He remembered in the original story Sasuke had failed his first tree-climbing attempt.
Back then, Sasuke was already a graduate. Now, just enrolled, he'd probably do worse.
"Watch me get it on my first try!"
Feeling Kitazawa's skepticism, Sasuke snorted and strode to the tree.
He gathered chakra into his feet and began walking upward.
"See? Not that hard."
Sasuke smirked after a few steps.
But celebrating early always invited disaster.
Halfway up, his face twisted—and he slipped, crashing down to the ground.
"Well?" Kitazawa asked, smiling faintly.
"It—it's because the bark's too slippery!" Sasuke blurted, cheeks flushed, refusing to admit failure.
He staggered to his feet, took a deep breath, and tried again.
[Current Task: Gain preliminary acknowledgment from your classmate Uchiha Sasuke.]
[Reward: Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.]
[Task complete. Reward granted.]
Kitazawa raised his brows. So the "prideful rival" trope is already going out of style, huh?
Information surged through his mind—the new jutsu etched into memory.
He glanced at Sasuke struggling up the tree and frowned slightly.
How was he supposed to explain the origin of these system-granted techniques?
For low-level jutsu, he could claim they were taught by his deceased mentor or teammates.
After all, the dead couldn't be questioned.
But starting from B-rank, that excuse would no longer hold.
In general, ninjutsu came from only two sources: a teacher, or as a reward from Konoha.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin, lost in thought.
[Your lifelong rival Uchiha Sasuke is working hard on fire-style training. You can't afford to fall behind.]
[New Task: Master a C-rank jutsu faster than Uchiha Sasuke.]
[Reward: Manipulated Shuriken Technique.]
[Accept?]
The prompt left Kitazawa stunned.
Him? A mere chūnin, designated as Sasuke's "lifelong rival," the foil to a future savior?
The system had really set him up.
The new task sounded simple—but in reality, it was anything but.
He didn't have any new jutsu to learn, even if it was only C-rank.
Unless… he went to Sarutobi Hiruzen himself?
Kitazawa massaged his temples.
With no notable achievements yet, barging in like that would only make him look greedy and out of line.