Even though Kitagawa had taken Obito's goggles, he didn't neglect him. Stack after stack of test papers became a vessel for the teacher's love, making Obito's life miserable every single day.
Especially starting with the second batch—Kakashi only marked right or wrong, no longer writing the correct answers. And Kitagawa would randomly give surprise closed-book exams, which kept sending Obito back to copying and running laps.
Of course, the results were outstanding. The general education curriculum's knowledge points were getting crammed into Obito's brain bit by bit.
Teaching, training, occasional home visits—the days passed in a blur.
Half a month later, the curriculum moved into a new phase.
Once all the students had mastered Chakra Refinement, Kitagawa officially began teaching basic E-rank jutsu.
Of course, he didn't start with the Clone Technique. Instead, he started with Escape Technique and similar basics.
Tool throwing was also added to the schedule.
Time drifted from spring into summer.
The weather grew hot. The students grew drowsy.
The last period of the morning.
Seeing the listless students, Kitagawa announced loudly, "Today we're reviewing the Transformation Technique. Line up and go one by one."
"Anyone who does poorly gets 300 laps as punishment!"
That instantly got everyone's attention. The students began forming an orderly line to perform their Transformation Technique.
When it was Gai's turn, Kitagawa clearly felt his nervousness.
With a serious, careful expression, Gai formed the hand signs by the book.
POOF!
Smoke erupted. When it cleared, the students burst out laughing.
Gai had transformed into Kitagawa with a comically huge nose and an absurdly long body—nearly two meters tall.
But Kitagawa's actual height was 5'9".
Gai released the transformation. His classmates' laughter made him hang his head.
Kitagawa didn't comfort him. He spoke calmly. "Gai, run 300 laps."
"Yes~"
Amid the laughter, Gai left the classroom.
Once the Transformation review ended, the morning classes finished too.
After dismissing class, Kitagawa headed to the training grounds. Gai was still running laps.
Kitagawa called him to a stop. "Feeling down?"
Gai nodded. "I can't even master the basic Clone Technique properly."
Kitagawa's palm fell on Gai's head. "You already knew you didn't have ninjutsu or genjutsu talent, right?"
"And you still entered the academy with your willpower, courage, and determination."
"You should have been prepared for this."
Gai nodded but hesitated to say something.
Kitagawa spoke gently. "Of course your teacher understands that even when you know something in advance, it still hurts."
Gai nodded.
"But that tells us one thing."
Kitagawa looked straight at him.
Gai met his gaze. "What?"
Kitagawa said, "You're not truly ready to be a taijutsu ninja."
"You haven't completely given up on your fantasies about ninjutsu and genjutsu."
Gai fell silent. It was true.
"So..."
Kitagawa smiled. "Gai, starting right now, abandon all thoughts of ninjutsu and genjutsu. Commit fully to becoming a taijutsu ninja."
"And summon all your courage to make it real. Become a powerful taijutsu ninja—no worse than anyone else!"
Gai's eyes widened. "But... can I really do that?"
"My dad's always been a genin!"
Kitagawa spoke with absolute certainty. "Of course you can!"
"Gai, do you trust your teacher?"
Gai nodded firmly. He trusted Teacher Kitagawa completely, just like he trusted his dad.
Kitagawa smiled. "When the time is right, your teacher will teach you a taijutsu technique I developed myself."
"If you master it, even with just taijutsu, you can become a chunin!"
Gai's eyes went wide. "A technique you developed? What kind of technique?"
"Can you teach me now?"
Kitagawa shook his head. "Not yet. Your body still isn't strong enough."
"This technique requires exceeding human physical limits."
Gai gasped. "Exceeding human limits? Amazing~"
Kitagawa chuckled. "But I can show you a demo."
"Watch carefully, Gai. This technique is called Shave!"
Gai nodded eagerly, opening his eyes as wide as possible. "Teacher Kitagawa, I'm ready!"
With his hands in his pockets, Kitagawa nodded slightly, then his feet exploded with force. His entire form blurred into a series of afterimages, and in an instant, he appeared over ten meters away.
The ground where he'd stood was left with deep footprints.
"So... so fast!"
Gai gasped. Before he could even finish, Kitagawa reappeared right in front of him, the wind from his movement whipping up Gai's hair.
Gai instinctively stepped back two paces, then cried out excitedly. "Teacher Kitagawa, that technique is way too amazing!"
Kitagawa smiled warmly. "Gai, did you sense what happened?"
"Your teacher didn't use chakra at all just now!"
Gai's eyes went huge. "No... no chakra?!"
Kitagawa nodded.
He'd only recently broken through to this level—he could now do twelve consecutive high-speed stomps in a single second, achieving movement speed comparable to an ordinary chunin's Body Flicker, all through pure physical power.
This was authentic Shave!
And if he added chakra...
Kitagawa said, "Next, I'll use chakra."
As soon as he finished speaking, a terrifying sonic boom exploded near Gai's ears, then a powerful gust of wind knocked him flat on his back.
Kitagawa had broken the sound barrier and appeared a hundred meters away in an instant.
Gai, braced on his hands and knees, was shaking with shock beyond measure. "That was... that was incredible!"
Kitagawa reappeared at Gai's side. "That's the complete Shave—the movement technique your teacher developed. It's pure taijutsu."
Gai scrambled to his feet, trembling with excitement. "Teacher Kitagawa, I'm definitely going to work hard to meet your requirements!"
Kitagawa smiled lightly. "Your teacher believes in you."
"Alright, go get lunch. You can't train well without enough stamina!"
Gai nodded and waved goodbye, then ran back to school to grab his lunch box.
After watching Gai disappear into the distance, Kitagawa used Body Flicker and headed to a small fried rice shop. While eating eel fried rice, he watched the steady flow of people passing by outside.
Hm?
Kitagawa's eyelids twitched slightly. His peripheral vision tracked a customer who'd just entered the shop.
Equipment: Nakano's Glasses
Trait: Excellent Disguise Technique, C-Rank Sensory Jutsu
Note: These are a spy's glasses. Wear them and you have a high probability of becoming an excellent spy.
Equipment: Nakano's Scalpel
Trait: Chunin-Level Medical Technique
Note: A scalpel is meant for dissecting human bodies. Trust me, you'll love it.
No way!
Two pieces of equipment.
And a spy?
You run into a spy just grabbing lunch.
But if there was no equipment display, who'd ever know?
After all, this guy Nakano was completely unremarkable.
Kitagawa finished his eel fried rice and ordered another lobster fried rice to keep eating.
Once Nakano left, he finished up, paid the bill, and quietly followed behind him.
The two gradually moved away from the busy areas of the Leaf Village.
Suddenly, the figure in front stopped and turned around. "I've already discovered you!"
Kitagawa slowly walked out from behind a tree.
"So it's Teacher Kitagawa!"
Nakano smiled and spoke, seeming to relax.