Kitazawa finished extremely fast. Barely an hour had passed and he had already completed the entire test.
Well… he was cheating.
If you know the answers beforehand, how could you not be fast? Kitazawa checked his paper once more, made sure there were no mistakes, then set it aside.
With a perfect score, first place was guaranteed.
He lifted his head and looked over the class. Most students were quiet; a few scratched their heads in panic, clearly struggling.
Kitazawa's eyes finally landed on Shikamaru.
During monthly exams, Shikamaru normally worked lazily, do a little, rest a little, as if the test meant nothing.
But today was different. He sat straight, serious, fully focused.
If Nara Shikaku were here, he'd think he had fallen into a genjutsu. Otherwise, how could he witness something this bizarre?
Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
Everyone knew the Nara clan was brilliant. In battles or strategy, their intellect shone everywhere.
So what about exams? Would Shikamaru pull off a perfect score?
Kitazawa thought it was possible. After all, Shikamaru must know he didn't stand a chance at placing top three in the combat exam.
To avoid disaster, he had to rank as high as possible in the written portion. Time passed, and soon it was eleven o'clock.
"Time's up. Everyone put down your pencils and stay seated."
Kitazawa stood and began collecting papers from the first row. Once finished, he said nothing and simply left the room.
"Naruto," Inuzuka Kiba asked, trying to gather intel, "How'd you do?"
"I dunno," Naruto replied confidently.
"But I answered everything! Maybe I'll even get first place!"
"Hope your dream comes true," Kiba snorted.
Looked like Naruto would be treating everyone again.
"Shikamaru, what about you?"
Ino turned and asked, "Did you decide to beat Sakura?."
"You think his score can beat mine?"
Haruno Sakura had overheard, and said in disbelief, "He always ranks in the twenties."
"Grades don't matter, summer vacation does."
Shikamaru yawned, uninterested in their argument.
Today he had truly overused his brain.
To avoid combat training over summer, he had gambled everything.
"Good."
Ino, knowing his personality, felt reassured by his answer.
"What's good? You're so weird," Sakura huffed.
"Ino, get your money ready, we're going shopping after tomorrow's exam."
"I'll say the exact same thing to you," Ino smiled.
"You're only acting tough now."
Sakura glanced at Uchiha Sasuke, instantly softening her voice,
"Sasuke-kun, you want to go shopping the day after tomorrow?"
"No."
Sasuke didn't even look at her and left the room.
Tomorrow was the practical exam; with the afternoon free, he planned to go home and train more Fire Style.
Unfortunately, both his father and brother were working. Otherwise he could ask them directly.
It didn't matter, he would talk to them after he won first place tomorrow.
Kitazawa returned to the office.
After setting down the papers, he formed a hand seal.
With a puff of smoke, a Shadow Clone appeared.
"You grade the tests."
Kitazawa then left the Academy and headed to the Konoha Hospital director's office.
"Tsunade-sama and Shizune aren't here yet," Nonō said thoughtfully.
"If you don't mind, I can teach you."
"How could I mind?" Kitazawa quickly shook his head.
"Would it interfere with your work though?"
"I can teach you medical ninjutsu while I work."
Nonō smiled.
"It won't affect anything."
"Okay. Thank you, Nonō-senpai."
"This way."
As they walked, she explained,
"Ninja getting poisoned is very common. A Special Jōnin came in today with toxin exposure."
"What kind of poison?" Kitazawa asked.
"A snake venom coating a senbon needle."
Senbon were common ninja tools, basically elongated needles.
To make them deadlier, poison was often applied.
They arrived at the operating room.
"Huh? It's you? Genma-senpai?"
Kitazawa opened the door and was surprised.
This was Shiranui Genma, former bodyguard of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
He had even learned Flying Thunder Formation, a weaker, three-person version of Flying Raijin.
Restrictions made it useless in battle, only good for unhindered transport.
But that was in the past. After Minato's death, Genma became an ordinary Special Jōnin.
Kitazawa called him "senpai" because he was a year older.
"Abba… ab… abba…"
Genma mumbled nonsense.
"Your mouth got poisoned?" Kitazawa asked.
Genma nodded.
"Chat later after treatment," Nonō said.
"Right now he can't talk anyway," Kitazawa added.
"What should I do?"
"Bring the antivenom, shelf seven."
"…?"
Genma stared wide-eyed.
Kitazawa? Helping in Konoha Hospital?
But what happened next stunned him more.
"Kitazawa, do you know the Anesthesia Jutsu?"
"If you do, numb his mouth and tongue."
"I do."
Kitazawa extended his hand and performed Anesthesia Jutsu.
Genma was completely shocked.
Half an hour later, the surgery ended successfully.
"Ugh, finally I can, tsss!"
Genma straightened up but winced and grabbed his mouth.
"You just had surgery. Rest two days," Kitazawa reminded him.
Medical ninjutsu wasn't all-powerful it was emergency treatment.
The body still needed time to recover, which explained why the hospital was always full.
"I-I'm… tss… fine…"
Genma said, unable to hide his curiosity:
"How do you know medical ninjutsu?"
"I learned it," Kitazawa answered plainly.
"...?"
Why did he make it sound so easy?
Medical Ninjutsu was one of the hardest arts to master, along with Sealing Techniques and Genjutsu.
"Kitazawa is a genius. He learned in half a month," Nonō added with a smile.
"What?!"
Genma froze completely.
"How'd you get poisoned anyway?" Kitazawa asked.
"You're best at senbon. How'd a senbon hit you?"
"Well… it's a long story…"
"Keep it short."
"… Fine. I accidentally stabbed myself with my own senbon."
Kitazawa immediately understood.
Genma liked holding senbon in his mouth.
He could easily imagine the moment:
Wait, this one had poison… oh no,SLURP.
Nonō opened the door and signaled the nurses in.
Before being pushed out, Genma asked, "Kitazawa… you're learning medical ninjutsu from Director Nonō?"
"No," Kitazawa replied.
"I'm learning from Lady Tsunade."
"?!?!"
Genma was dumbfounded.
He didn't know how, but he knew Kitazawa was destined for greatness.
He let out a long sigh.
Once, he had that chance too. As Hokage's guard, one normally rose into the village leadership—like advisors Homura and Koharu, who were once Tobirama's guards.
But when Minato died, Hiruzen regained power, and Genma was overlooked.
Shizune rushed in.
"Sorry I'm late!"
"It's fine," Kitazawa said knowingly.
He didn't even need to ask why she was late.
Shizune felt touched, someone finally understood her struggles.
When she arrived, Nonō resumed her work, leaving Kitazawa to self-study.
Time passed quickly; evening came.
"I'll go get Lady Tsunade from the casino," Shizune sighed.
If she didn't, Tsunade would gamble nonstop and forget the meeting about the new jutsu.
"Alright," Kitazawa nodded.
"I'm heading back to the Academy to check the first- and second-year A-class results."
First-year was fine, his clone was there.
Second-year grades had been handled by Terai and Yamada Isamu.
"Thank you for teaching me today, Nonō-senpai."
"No problem," she said warmly.
"The more skilled medical ninja Konoha has, the easier my job becomes."
Just then, a knock sounded.
Kitazawa was closest, so he opened it.
"This is the second-year A-class exam results."
Terai entered, expression blank.
Nonō's face stiffened slightly.
Kitazawa was surprised, he didn't expect Terai to bring them personally.
And how did he know Kitazawa was at the hospital?
Root intelligence, no doubt.
"Thanks," Kitazawa said, taking the papers.
"I'm just doing my duty," Terai replied and left.
Kitazawa scanned the results. Unsurprisingly, Hyūga Neji was top, followed by Tenten. As expected, Rock Lee failed miserably.
"Is he a teacher at your school?" Nonō asked cautiously.
"Yeah. Transferred last month."
"He's Root," she said after a pause.
"You should be careful."
"Thanks."
Kitazawa hadn't expected the warning but she misunderstood.
Reasonably so. Root was deeper in the shadows than ANBU, mostly unknown to the village.
"Don't worry," he smiled.
"With the Hokage and Lady Tsunade supporting me, he can't stir up trouble."
Besides, at his current level, Terai wasn't a threat.
"I see."
Nonō immediately grasped the implication.
With Hiruzen and Tsunade aware, Kitazawa was safe.
She felt a bit of envy, if she had the same support, she wouldn't have to fear Danzō.
"How do you know so much about Root?" Kitazawa asked.
"I was a Root member," she said simply.
She didn't hide it. Tsunade would know anyway.
"No wonder."
Kitazawa said goodbye and left the hospital.