A new day.
Kitazawa woke up early. His very first class was the subject he specialized in: The Will of Fire.
In another sense, this schedule reflected just how much importance Hiruzen Sarutobi placed on indoctrination.
That old man is wicked. And a pervert.
Kitazawa was absolutely certain that the Third Hokage would be watching this class through his Crystal Ball Technique. Of course, the Hokage wouldn't be watching for Kitazawa, but to observe Naruto Uzumaki and the other clan heirs.
Kitazawa entered the Class 1-A classroom and found only five students present.
He scanned the room, his gaze settling on a small girl sitting in the middle row.
She wore a loose, cream-colored hoodie and pants, her short, dark blue hair framing a face defined by her eyes—pure, featureless white.
The Byakugan. The Kekkei Genkai exclusive to the Hyūga clan, granting X-ray vision and 360-degree insight.
[Current Mission: Help your desk mate, Hinata Hyūga, retrieve her scarf.]
[Mission Reward: Leaf Whirlwind.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa stared at the three lines of text floating in his vision, the corner of his mouth twitching involuntarily.
How on earth am I supposed to be Hinata Hyūga's desk mate? I'm the teacher.
Kitazawa pondered for a few seconds before a loophole occurred to him. He slowly walked up the aisle and sat down in the empty seat right next to her.
"...?"
A flicker of doubt rose in Hinata's heart. But her crippling shyness sealed her lips, preventing her from asking why. She lowered her head, her index fingers nervously poking against each other.
"I am Kitazawa-sensei, the homeroom teacher for Class 1-A."
Kitazawa turned his head to look at her. Her skin was pale as snow, delicate as a porcelain doll.
"T-Teacher... hello!"
Hinata greeted him in a fluster. The Hyūga clan was considered aristocracy among ninja; rules and etiquette were drilled into their bones.
"No need to be so formal."
Kitazawa smiled gently. "Do you mind if I sit here as your desk mate for a bit?"
He didn't bring up the scarf immediately; that would be too abrupt.
"Y-Yes."
Hinata answered instinctively, but then she tilted her head, looking at him with visible confusion.
"I haven't finished preparing my lesson materials yet, and the podium doesn't have a chair. So, I'll just be your desk mate for the time being," Kitazawa lied smoothly, opening a file folder in his hands.
It was complete nonsense. But Hinata didn't overthink it; she simply believed him.
Just then, three more lines of text appeared in Kitazawa's vision.
[Current Mission: Become the first person in class to attract the attention of the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.]
[Mission Reward: Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.]
[Accept?]
Is it really this easy?
This System wasn't as stupid as he thought.
Kitazawa accepted immediately. This was something he could do in his sleep. He had already planned to put on a show for Hiruzen during the first lesson anyway.
It was called networking. Its core component was loyalty.
Hinata stared blankly at the handsome teacher sitting next to her. He seemed so... outgoing.
At the same time, she felt a pang of envy. If she had a personality like his, maybe she wouldn't disappoint her father, Hiashi Hyūga, again and again.
"What are you looking at?"
Kitazawa, having formulated his plan, turned back to find Hinata staring at him, her pale eyes looking a bit hollow.
"N-No... nothing."
Hinata met his gaze and her face instantly turned beet red.
"By the way, you haven't told me your name yet, Miss Hyūga," Kitazawa asked with a smile.
"Huh?"
Hinata scrambled to stand up, looking mortified. "I... I apologize! My name is Hinata Hyūga!"
"See, you're being too formal again."
Kitazawa reached out and patted her head lightly. "We are desk mates right now, not teacher and student."
"I'm... sorry." Hinata stiffened, bowing her head again.
"Sit down. Let's talk." Kitazawa withdrew his hand.
Hinata sat back down obediently, legs pressed together, small hands resting on her knees. Suddenly, a thought occurred to her, and she looked up.
"Um... how did you know my last name was Hyūga?" she asked curiously.
"Your Byakugan, of course," Kitazawa said, gesturing to her eyes.
"Don't... don't look."
Hinata turned her head away quickly. "They aren't... they aren't nice to look at."
"I think they are very beautiful."
Kitazawa felt a twinge of sympathy. "Why do you think they aren't pretty?"
"I..." Hinata hesitated, a conflicted look on her face.
"We're friends now, right?" Kitazawa smiled encouragingly.
"They said it..." Hinata's cute little face paled slightly. "They said the Byakugan is ugly."
Just as I expected, Kitazawa thought.
This was straight out of the backstory—three brats bullying Hinata. The scarf mentioned in the mission must have been stolen by them.
"Did that really happen? Then I'll have to discipline them." Kitazawa's expression turned serious.
"Eh?" Hinata was stunned by his sudden shift.
"Do you remember who they were?" Kitazawa softened his tone. "Don't worry, I'm a teacher. I won't hurt them, just... correct them."
"I remember." Hinata nodded, then struggled with her words. "But I don't know their names."
"That's fine," Kitazawa said coolly. "Just tell me what they looked like."
"They were three boys, about my age... that's about it," Hinata recalled slowly.
"That's enough. I already have a few candidates in mind. I'll confirm it after class," Kitazawa said with a confident smile.
Every class had a few troublemakers. Plus, with Hinata's description, finding them wouldn't be hard.
"That's amazing!" Hinata blurted out. To her, Kitazawa already seemed like an incredibly reliable adult.
"It's a small matter." Kitazawa waved his hand. "I'll let you know when I have results."
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei," Hinata said gratefully.
Kitazawa was about to reply when voices drifted in from the hallway.
"Sakura, do you think our teacher will be a tall, handsome guy?"
"It doesn't matter if the teacher isn't handsome, what matters is having lots of handsome classmates!"
Two young girls walked into the classroom.
One had pink hair tied back with a ribbon, revealing a broad, pale forehead. The other wore a high blonde ponytail, with bangs sweeping down to cover her right eye.
Kitazawa glanced over and recognized them instantly: Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka.
The former was one of the heroines of the original story, destined to help save the ninja world alongside Naruto and Sasuke. Of course, in Kitazawa's eyes, she wasn't exactly MVP material; at best, she was a sidekick who got carried to the finish line.
The latter was the "Ino" of the new generation's Ino-Shika-Chō trio, specializing in sensory and mind control techniques. Both she and Sakura would pine after Sasuke, but since she lacked the heroine's plot armor, she ended up as the "blonde loser" in the love triangle.
"So handsome!" Ino's eyes went wide as she spotted Kitazawa.
"Is that our teacher?" Sakura asked, her mood instantly brightening.