The sun was setting in the west.
Kitazawa left the Ninja Academy and walked down the street. After just one class of practice, he had completely grasped the One-Tomoe Sharingan.
Compared to the fully developed Three-Tomoe Sharingan, the One-Tomoe's abilities were quite limited. Its greatest strength lay in its insight—especially during combat—allowing the user to see an opponent's movements more clearly.
However, unlike the Byakugan, it could not see through the body to observe chakra flow or locate chakra points. That didn't mean it was useless.
For Kitazawa, the One-Tomoe Sharingan had two main benefits: First, a noticeable increase in chakra when activated. Second, the ability to learn Sharingan-specific genjutsu.
As he walked, Kitazawa pondered a question: Could he upgrade his Sharingan without relying on the system's automatic upgrades?
In theory, having a Sharingan already made him a ninja of the Uchiha Clan. To awaken or evolve the Sharingan, one only needed intense emotional stimulation.
The problem was, Kitazawa hadn't experienced such strong emotions in a long time—nor did he want to. That sort of thing wasn't exactly good for one's mental health. And if it left him with psychological scars, it would hardly be worth the trouble.
Just then, familiar footsteps sounded behind him.
"Guess who I am?" A pair of fair, delicate hands covered his eyes.
"The most beautiful kunoichi in Konoha Village," Kitazawa replied casually.
"I guess you got it right." Kurenai withdrew her hands, an involuntary smile brightening her face. "You're so good with words—it almost sounds like a lie."
"That's slander." Kitazawa caught her hand and pulled her in front of him. Kurenai's slender frame stumbled into his arms before she quickly stepped half a pace back.
"How should I punish you?" Kitazawa asked with a grin.
"What kind of behavior is this—pulling and tugging in the street?" Kurenai rolled her eyes and tried to pull her hand free, but couldn't.
"What's wrong with it? Is there some rule in Konoha that says you can't pull and tug in the street?" Kitazawa leaned closer, his eyes on her fair, beautiful face, then bit her ear lightly as he whispered.
Kurenai's breath hitched, and a blush spread across her cheeks.
"Have you been training?" Kitazawa noticed the thin sheen of sweat on her forehead.
"Mm." Kurenai nodded softly. "I want to learn the Infinite Darkness Jutsu as soon as possible."
"A-rank ninjutsu is difficult, and the Infinite Darkness Jutsu is especially tricky. Don't rush—you'll learn it eventually." Kitazawa's gaze drifted to her rosy lips as he spoke.
"I'm not rushing," Kurenai said. Then, almost pouting, she added, "I'm just bored at home."
Tsunade and Shizune spent their days at the casino, while Kitazawa was busy with classes. Kurama used to keep her company, but now she was attending classes too. Kurenai had suddenly become a rather lonely kunoichi.
Seeing her expression, Kitazawa couldn't resist leaning down to kiss her.
"What are you doing?" Kurenai flinched, her cheeks burning. "We're in the street!" she protested.
"If you've got nothing to do, you could come to the Ninja Academy for classes." Kitazawa winked. "I'm the Director of Academic Affairs now. Just bring me a small gift and I can arrange everything."
"What nonsense are you spouting?" Kurenai was torn between annoyance and amusement. Was he actually suggesting she use back channels?
"I'm serious," Kitazawa said earnestly. "If you want, you could even be the homeroom teacher for First Year, Class A."
"Forget it—I'm not suited to teaching." Kurenai thought it over and shook her head.
"If you change your mind, you know where to find me." Kitazawa didn't press the matter. Instead, he leaned in again, brushing his face against hers.
"All slobber," Kurenai said with mock disgust.
"That look suits you," Kitazawa chuckled, suddenly recalling an anime from his previous life.
"You really are a pervert." Kurenai stepped back, putting distance between them.
"You misunderstand me," Kitazawa said solemnly. "Come on—let's go home so I can explain myself properly."
"What nonsense now?" Kurenai shot him a glare. "Don't forget, Shizune is still waiting for you at Konoha Hospital."
"Medical ninjutsu—why is it always so inconvenient?" Kitazawa sighed dramatically.
"You really are…" Kurenai laughed despite herself, then stepped forward to give him a quick kiss before pulling away.
"Didn't we agree to take a mission together?" Kitazawa suddenly remembered. "Pick one you like—I'll go with you this weekend."
Becoming a jōnin required a certain number of missions. He might as well gain achievements while accompanying her.
"That's fine by me," Kurenai said with a smile. "Once I've mastered the Infinite Darkness Jutsu, we'll go."
"I'm heading to the hospital first. Wait for me at home." Kitazawa waved and left for Konoha Hospital.
The night passed uneventfully.
---
The next day—Friday—the Ninja Academy's training grounds were especially lively.
There was one more person present: Hyuga Neji.
"Neji, show me the Gentle Fist you've learned," Kitazawa said.
Neji gave him a surprised look. Can you even teach Gentle Fist?
Not all non-Hyuga ninja were ignorant of the style. For example, Hiruzen Sarutobi—the Third Hokage—was said to have mastered every ninjutsu in Konoha. Although he lacked the Byakugan, he could still give competent guidance on Gentle Fist.
Tsunade, too, had broad knowledge, excelling in both medical ninjutsu and taijutsu, and thus understood aspects of Gentle Fist.
After all, mastery of one art often gave insight into another. But could Kitazawa truly compare to Hiruzen or Tsunade?
Neji was skeptical, but said nothing. He simply performed the Gentle Fist from start to finish—then looked to Kitazawa for feedback.
"There are sixteen mistakes in your Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms," Kitazawa said with a slight smile.
"Impossible!" Neji blurted out instinctively.
He had only started learning the Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms from Hyuga Hiashi two days ago. If there really were that many mistakes, Hyuga Hiashi would have noticed long before.
"Brother Neji, Kitazawa-sensei is very capable!" Hinata, hearing him deny Kitazawa, couldn't help but speak up in defense.
"He..." Neji hesitated. He wanted to say that no matter how capable Kitazawa was, he couldn't compare to Hyuga Hiashi—but saying that aloud would be rude, so he swallowed the words.
"You demonstrate the Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, and I'll point them out to you," Kitazawa said, unfazed by Neji's attitude.
Upon hearing this, Neji immediately struck the opening stance.
"Your hand is too high." Kitazawa grabbed his wrist and lowered it by one centimeter.
Neji froze in surprise. He adjusted his movement, striking out with both palms—one forward, one behind.
"There's a deviation in your Chakra flow," Kitazawa said. Bringing two fingers together, he touched Neji's shoulder and asked, "Do you feel a slight lack of smoothness?"
Neji's eyes widened subconsciously. Could he actually see Chakra flow inside the body without the Byakugan?
Kitazawa simply chalked it up to practice. The proficiency in Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms that the system had instilled in him was so high that he could easily predict the consequences of imperfect form.
"Teacher Kitazawa is the best!" Hinata said quickly, noticing the change in Neji's expression.
Kitazawa glanced at her, and Hinata immediately lowered her head in embarrassment.
"Continue," Kitazawa said, turning back to Neji.
"Yes, Teacher Kitazawa," Neji replied, now with much more respect in his tone.
He went through the technique again, one movement at a time, while Kitazawa pointed out all sixteen mistakes.
Neji stood frozen, unable to process it for a long moment. Sixteen mistakes… and they weren't fabricated—every one of them was real.
[Current Mission: Gain Hyuga Neji's preliminary recognition.]
[Mission Reward: Increase Byakugan purity by 10%.]
[Host has completed the mission, reward issued.]
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow at the unexpected bonus. While he couldn't yet activate the Byakugan to feel the increased purity, he could already sense the rise in his Chakra reserves.
Now at 20% Byakugan purity, he still hadn't triggered a mutation, but his Chakra and long-distance vision had clearly improved.
"Neji, your training for the next two days will be to correct these mistakes," Kitazawa said, patting him on the shoulder.
"Yes." Neji took a deep breath, now fully convinced of Kitazawa's skill. No wonder Hinata's progress had been so rapid.
Still, he couldn't understand why Kitazawa—without the Byakugan—seemed even more proficient in the technique than the clan head himself.
"Hinata, come with me," Kitazawa called, leading her to an open space nearby. It was partly to avoid disturbing Neji, and partly to begin her Genjutsu lesson.
"Genjutsu attacks the five senses, essentially disrupting the target's Chakra flow," Kitazawa explained. "If you find your Chakra flow becoming chaotic in battle, you've most likely fallen under a Genjutsu."
Hinata immediately thought of Neji yesterday, when he'd fallen under Genjutsu: Ephemeral, exactly what Kitazawa described had happened.
"For normal Genjutsu, if you react quickly, you can restore your Chakra flow by forming the correct hand signs," Kitazawa continued. "But Dojutsu Genjutsu is trickier. You might not have time to dispel it, so often you have to rely on teammates."
Hinata nodded—this matched what Inuzuka Kiba and Ino had said yesterday.
"Theoretically, Dojutsu Genjutsu is almost impossible to counter. In reality, there are still ways." Kitazawa gave an example: "With the Byakugan, you could close the distance immediately and stop the caster before they complete their signs."
"But… I don't have that kind of speed," Hinata admitted. Her speed was even slower than Neji's. If even Neji's movements were read by the Sharingan, she didn't stand much chance.
"I'll teach you a Body Flicker Technique later," Kitazawa said with a smile.
Sharingan Genjutsu could be troublesome, but an Uchiha Sasuke who was only seven years old wasn't nearly as dangerous—there were many ways to deal with him.
"Mm!" Hinata nodded, looking happy.
"If the distance is too great and you can't reach them in time, don't look into their eyes—or just close yours," Kitazawa went on. "In that case, you'll have to learn to locate them by listening to the wind."
"I understand." Realization dawned on Hinata's face.
"Listening to the wind means you'll need a very keen sense of hearing," Kitazawa said thoughtfully. "I can arrange special training for that."
It wouldn't hurt—the Hyuga Clan relied too heavily on the Byakugan. If it ever failed, they'd be at a loss. The chances were slim, but still…
"Okay!" Hinata agreed without hesitation.
"The Body Flicker Technique I'll teach you is called the Konoha-Style Body Flicker."
Forming hand signs, Kitazawa vanished into a swirl of falling leaves before her eyes.
Hinata's face lit up in shock. She knew the Body Flicker Technique in theory, but the Konoha-Style was something else—fast, evasive, and theoretically able to dodge any physical attack or projectile.
When Kitazawa reappeared, he smiled. "Well?"
"It's incredibly strong!" Hinata said excitedly. "If I can learn it, I can definitely beat Sasuke!"
"It's rare for you to have such a competitive spirit," Kitazawa patted her head and said.
"I... I just don't want to disappoint Kitazawa-sensei." Hinata didn't dare to look at him, speaking with some embarrassment.
"Let's begin." Kitazawa chuckled and said, "I'll teach you the hand signs for the Konoha-Style Body Flicker Technique first."
---
Friday passed, and then it was the weekend.
Kitazawa, as usual, spent two days at Konoha Hospital.
Time came to the third week after school started; September was already past its halfway point. Kitazawa, as per custom, held a meeting on Monday to prepare for the September monthly exam.
Seven days flew by in a flash, and Monday of the fourth week arrived as scheduled.
After the first class, Kitazawa returned to his office. On his desk were the theoretical exam questions submitted by teachers from each grade.
Kitazawa formed hand signs and created two Shadow Clones. The three of them worked together and spent an hour sorting all the theoretical exam papers for each grade.
Kitazawa then took the exam papers to Vice Principal Hisao Sarutobi.
After he confirmed that the papers were fine, the preparations for the September monthly exam came to an end. The rest was to wait for the official start of the exam on September 30th, which was next Monday.
Kitazawa's only expectation for the September monthly exam was whether Hinata could defeat Sasuke. After all, this was the only mission he had.
Kitazawa left the Vice Principal's office and went to the school's training ground.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto rushed over like a green whirlwind.
"Have you completed the second stage of your Rasengan training?" Kitazawa raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Wow!" Naruto stammered for a moment and then asked, "Kitazawa-sensei, do you have a mind-reading Ninjutsu?"
"I guessed," Kitazawa explained. "Because normally you should be at the training ground at this time."
"Kitazawa-sensei, you're so smart!" Naruto immediately said excitedly, "I really have completed the second stage of Rasengan training!"
After speaking, he took out a rubber ball and burst it in front of Kitazawa.
"Not bad." Kitazawa nodded slightly.
He remembered Naruto started learning during the third week of summer vacation; calculating it, it took him about a month and a half. After all, he was young, and learning high-difficulty Ninjutsu was very strenuous.
But to say it was strenuous — it was actually not slow; the Rasengan was an A-Ranked Ninjutsu, after all.
"Kitazawa-sensei, can I learn the Rasengan before the monthly exam?" Naruto asked with anticipation.
"It's a bit difficult," Kitazawa replied.
The three stages of the Rasengan go from easy to difficult, and the third stage of training is the most difficult. According to Naruto's progress, he should be able to learn it before the final exam, probably taking two months.
"That's a shame; I can't give Sasuke a surprise." Naruto scratched his head and said.
Kitazawa chuckled wryly. For Uchiha Sasuke, this isn't a surprise — it's a fright.
"Don't worry, your Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu will definitely give him a huge surprise." Kitazawa patted his shoulder and said.
Although Uchiha Sasuke had opened his eyes and learned Genjutsu: Ephemeral, facing Naruto's righteous group attack, the outcome was hard to predict.
"Alright, I'll teach you the third stage of Rasengan training." Kitazawa extended his hand and said, "This third stage requires combining the training from the first two stages."
A large amount of Chakra surged out, gathering in his hand.
"Do you remember what your first stage of training was?" Kitazawa maintained the Chakra and asked.
"It was to make the water inside the balloon move irregularly!" Naruto immediately replied.
"Now we need to make the Chakra move irregularly." Kitazawa controlled the Chakra to spin.
"The second stage of training was to continuously release Chakra, materialize it, and burst the balloon!" Naruto thought for a moment and said.
"Mm." Kitazawa nodded and said, "Now, it's about highly compressing and refining Chakra."
The Chakra in his palm spun to its extreme, finally solidifying like a typhoon. Kitazawa looked left and right, then slammed the Rasengan into the ground.
In an instant, the ground cracked, and the terrifying Chakra crushed the earth, eventually forming a deep pit.
"What incredible power!" Naruto's face was full of excitement, already imagining how cool he would look when using the Rasengan.
"Call your Shadow Clones and start training."
Kitazawa did not tell him the tricky method from the original work. After all, there was no rush now; he would let him learn normally first, and if he really couldn't, then they would discuss it.
"I'm going right now!" Naruto turned and ran.
Kitazawa thought for a moment and created a Shadow Clone to follow him. The third stage of Rasengan training was quite complex, and he was worried Naruto might have problems training alone.
Kitazawa turned to look at Shikamaru and Ino. They had already stopped practicing Yin Release Chakra nature transformation and had begun learning new secret techniques.
Because they had also been practicing for almost a month, it was indeed time to enter a new stage. The former was learning Shadow Manipulation, and the latter was learning Mind Transfer Jutsu.
Both of these secret techniques were quite difficult and would likely take a long time to learn. After all, their talents were far inferior to Sasuke's and Naruto's.
--
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P@atreon/Arvinstorm (45+ Advanced Chapters)