Kitazawa had one class less today than yesterday.
The morning lesson was The Will of Fire, and the afternoon was practical combat.
After finishing his morning class, Kitazawa returned to the teachers' office. He casually picked up a stack of assignments from his desk and began to grade them.
The practical combat class didn't assign written homework—only Konoha History and The Will of Fire did.
Neither subject was particularly difficult; most students passed easily, though a few submissions stood out as exceptional.
To Kitazawa's surprise, one of those exceptional ones was from Uzumaki Naruto.
"Looks like my teaching actually got through to him," Kitazawa murmured with a small, satisfied smile.
It wasn't arrogance. In the original timeline, Naruto had been at the very bottom of the class—both in theory and in practice. "Dead last," as they called it.
Time passed quickly, and soon it was the final period of the day: Practical Training.
"Today's lesson is still kunai throwing," Kitazawa announced, standing before the class. "Those who haven't mastered it yet—keep practicing. Those who have may move freely."
At once, several students' faces lit up with joy—especially the clan prodigies like Uchiha Sasuke and Nara Shikamaru.
After all, "free activity" was just another way of saying no class.
"Damn it! I miscalculated!" Inuzuka Kiba cried out dramatically, face full of regret. "If I'd known this, I would've shown my real skills yesterday!"
"I'm hitting the bullseye today, dattebayo!" Naruto clenched his fists, his eyes blazing with determination.
He'd already claimed one of Kitazawa-sensei's "snack packs" yesterday as a reward. If he couldn't master this skill today, it would be humiliating.
Hyūga Hinata stole a glance at Kitazawa, hesitated for a moment, then decided to stay behind and continue practicing kunai throwing—even though she'd already mastered it long ago.
"This teacher is really something else. I kinda like him," Shikamaru muttered lazily as he found a nice grassy spot, laced his fingers behind his head, and lay down under the afternoon sun.
"Yeah," Akimichi Chōji agreed, plopping down beside him and crunching on a bag of chips.
"Sasuke-kun!"
Haruno Sakura rushed toward Sasuke, eyes sparkling. "Can you teach me that curved kunai trick you did yesterday?"
"I don't have time," Sasuke replied flatly, not even glancing at her as he walked off to the far side of the training field.
Then—
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Sasuke's hands formed seals in a blur. Chakra flared, condensing in his chest before bursting outward as a bright orange fireball the size of a fist.
He frowned, clearly disappointed.
Everyone called him a genius, but compared to his brother, Uchiha Itachi, he still felt hopelessly ordinary.
Itachi had mastered the Great Fireball Jutsu after seeing it performed just once. Sasuke, on the other hand, still couldn't produce a proper fireball.
"Why can't I do it…?" he muttered, frustration tightening his jaw.
He just wanted—once—to make his father and brother proud.
Every time he imagined that scene, his lips would curve upward unconsciously… yet it remained only a fantasy.
"Your chakra control is off."
A calm voice cut through his thoughts.
Sasuke turned sharply and found Kitazawa standing behind him.
For a brief second, Sasuke's expression shifted—but he quickly masked it with indifference.
Kitazawa was just an ordinary chūnin instructor, not even from the Uchiha clan. What could he possibly know about the Great Fireball Jutsu?
"Come with me," Kitazawa said simply.
Sasuke hesitated, brows furrowing. "Where?"
"You'll see soon enough."
Kitazawa led him to a secluded training ground behind the academy.
Sasuke opened his mouth to question him again—but then froze, eyes wide.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Kitazawa's chakra flared powerfully as he exhaled, unleashing a roaring sphere of fire several times larger than Sasuke's own attempt—so massive that the heat rippled through the air like a living creature.
Sasuke stood there, utterly stunned. This was stronger than even Itachi's fireball.
"You want to learn?" Kitazawa asked with a faint grin.
Sasuke could only nod dumbly.
Although the Great Fireball Jutsu was considered the signature technique of the Uchiha clan, its method was simple and widely taught due to its balance of ease and power. Even non-Uchiha shinobi could master it.
Kitazawa himself had learned it from his late instructor—so there was no need to worry about awkward questions.
After a long silence, Sasuke finally found his voice. "Kitazawa-sensei… I want to learn!"
Unlike the brooding boy he'd later become, this version of Sasuke wasn't quite as withdrawn yet.
"To master the Great Fireball Jutsu, you need two things," Kitazawa began patiently. "First—control over your chakra. Second—the ability to manipulate its elemental nature."
In the original timeline, the Great Fireball Jutsu's elemental training wasn't shown, but the process was similar to what Naruto would later learn from Sarutobi Asuma when developing his Wind Release.
Step one: slice a leaf using wind chakra.Step two: cut through a waterfall.Step three: apply that refined chakra to a jutsu.
"For now, the second step—nature transformation—is too advanced for you," Kitazawa continued. "So let's start with chakra control."
He pointed toward a nearby tree. "Gather chakra into your feet, and walk up that tree without using your hands."
Though the Great Fireball Jutsu involved some chakra shape manipulation, it was a C-rank technique—far simpler than something like the Rasengan. The main challenge was control and stability.
"That's it?" Sasuke asked skeptically.
"Try it," Kitazawa replied with a knowing smile.
He remembered from the original timeline that Sasuke hadn't succeeded on his first attempt back then—and that was after graduating. Right now, as an academy student? This would be even harder.
"Watch me climb it on my first try!"
Sasuke snorted, clearly taking Kitazawa's calm tone as a challenge. He gathered chakra at his feet and stepped confidently onto the tree trunk.
After a few steps, he smirked. "See? Easy."
But confidence came before the fall—literally.
Halfway up, the chakra flow faltered, and Sasuke lost his grip, crashing to the ground.
"How's that going?" Kitazawa asked, still smiling.
"T-The bark's too slippery!" Sasuke blurted, cheeks flushed.
He pushed himself up stubbornly, took a deep breath, and tried again.
Then—
[Mission: Earn preliminary recognition from your classmate Uchiha Sasuke.][Reward: Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu.][Mission complete. Reward granted.]
Kitazawa's brow arched slightly. So the tsundere stage is already fading, huh?
A flood of new knowledge filled his mind—the Phoenix Flower Jutsu's hand seals, chakra flow, and firing technique all at once.
But another question nagged him.
How was he supposed to explain suddenly knowing these jutsu?
For low-level techniques, he could claim to have learned them from his late teammates or instructor. Conveniently, the dead couldn't be questioned.
But for anything B-rank or higher… that excuse wouldn't hold up.
After all, in Konoha, there were only two ways to legitimately learn new ninjutsu: through a teacher's instruction, or as an official reward from the village.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
Just then—
[Your lifelong rival, Uchiha Sasuke, is working hard to master Fire Style. You can't fall behind.][New Mission: Master a C-rank ninjutsu faster than Uchiha Sasuke.][Reward: Manipulated Shuriken Technique.][Accept?]
Kitazawa blinked. Lifelong rival? Me? Against Sasuke?
What kind of cosmic joke was this?
Still, he couldn't deny—new missions meant new rewards.
But this one would be tricky.
He didn't have any new ninjutsu to learn right now, even if it was only C-rank difficulty.
Maybe I should… ask the Third Hokage? he thought wryly.
Then sighed. No. Not with my current rank. That'd just make me look shameless.
Kitazawa pressed his fingers against his temple, feeling a headache coming on.
The day was far from over.