A new day — Wednesday.
Kitazawa changed into fresh clothes and headed next door to Ichiraku Ramen for breakfast.
As he ate, he mentally went over his list of missions.
Since receiving the system, he'd triggered eight in total.
Now, only three remained — from Kurama Yakumo, Hyūga Hinata, and Uchiha Sasuke.
Helping Yakumo return to the Ninja Academy was by far the most troublesome one.
Fortunately, he had Yūhi Kurenai's help.
They'd already agreed to visit the Kurama Clan together this Saturday.
After finishing breakfast, Kitazawa made his way to the classroom.
The first period today was one of his own classes — The Will of Fire.
"Kitazawa-sensei."
The moment Hinata saw him, her heart fluttered with excitement.
But her strict upbringing and shy personality didn't allow her to show it. She sat quietly, looking as composed as ever.
Kitazawa naturally sat down beside her.
The system had designated Hinata as his desk partner.
To avoid invalidating the mission, he had to play along — at least pretend to go along with it.
Besides, Hinata was adorable. Who could possibly dislike her?
"Hinata," Kitazawa said, turning toward her. "Come to my office after this class."
"Y-Yes, sensei…"
Hinata blinked in surprise and nodded timidly.
"You're not going to ask why?" Kitazawa teased.
"W-What's the reason?" she asked softly, tilting her head.
"Special training," he said simply.
At once, Hinata remembered what had happened yesterday in the small grove.
In a month, she was supposed to spar with Toranosuke — and Kitazawa had promised to help her train for it.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei," Hinata murmured, cheeks slightly red as she turned her gaze away.
Just thinking about yesterday — when she had clung to him in fear — made her face grow even warmer.
Why is she blushing again? Kitazawa wondered, puzzled.
Before he could ask, the classroom suddenly erupted in chatter.
He looked up — and saw Uchiha Sasuke walk in.
The thought crossed his mind: Read more books, watch fewer Uchihas.
Sasuke scanned the room, paused, then changed direction.
He walked straight up to Kitazawa.
"Good morning, Kitazawa-sensei," Sasuke said evenly.
"Morning," Kitazawa replied with a small smile.
Across the room, Nara Shikamaru and the others exchanged bewildered looks.
"Did the sun rise in the west today?" Inuzuka Kiba muttered, glancing out the window. "Isn't that the first time Sasuke's ever greeted a teacher on his own?"
"As far as I can remember," Shikamaru mused, "yeah, it is."
Sasuke, a prodigy of the Uchiha clan, was known for his pride — and with a genius older brother like Itachi, he rarely showed respect to anyone, especially teachers.
So why the sudden politeness?
"My guess?" Aburame Shino adjusted his glasses. "Kitazawa-sensei's lessons are effective."
"Sasuke-kun!"
Haruno Sakura didn't care what was going on between Sasuke and Kitazawa.
Her eyes turned to hearts as she rushed forward.
"…"
Sasuke's expression only grew colder as he silently returned to his seat.
"Women are terrifying," Shikamaru sighed.
"Cough, cough."
Akimichi Chōji nudged him with his elbow.
Realizing what he'd just said, Shikamaru froze — then turned stiffly toward Yamanaka Ino.
"Am I terrifying?" she asked, hands on her hips as she blew a strand of golden hair from her face.
"I'll… buy you yakiniku tonight," Shikamaru said quickly.
"What about me?"
At the mention of food, Chōji's eyes lit up.
"You too," Shikamaru muttered reluctantly.
The Akimichi clan were all big eaters — there went half his allowance.
"Hmph," Ino huffed, but her irritation quickly faded.
She glanced toward Sakura, then decisively marched over to sit on Kitazawa's other side.
"If Kitazawa-sensei were our age," Shikamaru said under his breath, "he'd probably outshine Sasuke."
"Hehehe… yakiniku…" Chōji was already daydreaming about grilled meat.
"We're not having beef tonight," Shikamaru said quickly.
Beef was the most expensive — skipping it meant saving a small fortune.
"No beef? Aww…" Chōji groaned in disappointment.
The bell rang.
Right on time, Kitazawa wrapped up the class, collected his lesson plans, and left the room.
Hinata hesitated for a few seconds. Then, making sure no one was watching, she quietly stood up and hurried after him.
Kitazawa stopped at the door to his office — and caught sight of a nervous Hinata peeking around the corner.
"Why do you look like you're sneaking around?" he teased.
Hinata lowered her head in embarrassment.
"Come in."
Kitazawa opened the door and walked inside.
Hinata let out a soft sigh of relief and followed.
"Do you usually review the lessons ahead of time?" Kitazawa asked as he set down his notes.
"Yes," Hinata answered honestly. "I went over today's material last night."
"Good." Kitazawa smiled. "In that case, let's skip class."
"Eh?" Hinata blinked, stunned.
Her teacher was… asking her to skip class? She must have been caught in a genjutsu.
"This is called effective time management," Kitazawa said with mock seriousness. "You've already mastered what's in the textbook, so there's no point sitting through it again."
"B-But…" Hinata stammered, clearly flustered.
Skipping class went completely against everything she'd been taught as a Hyūga.
She didn't know what to do.
"No 'buts,'" Kitazawa said lightly. "It's just skipping class."
This was all part of his plan.
A person's personality was largely shaped by their environment.
Hinata had grown up surrounded by rules and expectations within the Hyūga Clan — that was why she'd become so timid and restrained.
To change her, he had to first break those invisible chains in her heart.
"I… okay," Hinata finally whispered, nodding without even realizing why.
"Let's go."
Kitazawa reached out and gently patted her head.
He led her across the courtyard to a section of the school's outer wall.
"There are guards at the front gate," he explained. "So we'll climb over."
"Eh?" Hinata's mind went blank.
Kitazawa crouched and leapt effortlessly onto the wall in one smooth motion.
He didn't say a word — just looked down and beckoned to her.
Hinata's heart pounded in her chest.
She had never imagined that, on only her third day of school, she'd be skipping class — and climbing the wall to do it.
But for some reason, it felt strangely exhilarating.
Biting her lip, she hesitated for just a moment — then jumped.
Kitazawa caught her wrist and steadied her as she landed beside him.
Together, they dropped down on the other side of the wall.
Hinata instinctively pressed a hand to her chest, her face flushed pink.