"Kitazawa-sensei, I want to challenge Sakura!" After Kitazawa announced the final rankings, Ino raised her hand and said.
Today was the last day of this semester; if she didn't challenge now, she would have to wait until the new semester next year, after the winter break.
Sakura glanced at her. She wasn't surprised at all.
Because Ino had already said multiple times before that she would defeat her.
"Sakura, what do you think?" Kitazawa came back to his senses and asked with a smile.
"I accept her challenge." Sakura walked into the arena.
Seeing this, Ino also came to stand opposite her. The two looked into each other's eyes, both filled with confidence.
"What a fiery atmosphere, who do you think will win?" Kiba looked at them and asked.
"Hard to say." Tenten shook her head and said, "Their strengths are already very similar; either one could win."
"I think Ino will win." Inuzuka Hana explained, "Because she's the one who initiated the challenge, she must be confident of winning."
"That reason sounds very logical." Yakumo chuckled softly in agreement.
"Ino participated in Kitazawa-sensei's new special training." Hinata stated with certainty, "She will win."
Haku and Karin subconsciously nodded. They all trusted Kitazawa unconditionally.
"Sakura also has new special training." Tayuya snorted lightly and said, "Kita..."
Hinata subconsciously looked at her. Tayuya immediately swallowed the rest of her words.
What she had originally wanted to say was that while Kitazawa was powerful, he wasn't omnipotent, so why would Ino definitely win just because she participated in his special training?
However, Hinata's gaze just now inexplicably gave her a very terrifying feeling.
But in another blink, the Hinata in front of her still looked soft and weak.
Was it an illusion? Tayuya felt doubt in her heart.
But being interrupted like that, she didn't say anything more.
"The spar has begun; we'll know by watching," Sasuke said in a calm tone.
"Sakura! Ino! Go for it!" Naruto didn't think too much, cheering both of them on.
"Let us see your blooming youth!" Rock Lee followed closely, raising a thumb and shouting.
Tenten and Neji subconsciously shook their heads.
"The battle begins." Kitazawa stepped aside.
Water Release: Water Bullet Technique!
Sakura immediately formed hand signs, spitting out a high-pressure stream of water towards Ino.
Ninja Art: Myriad Flowers Jutsu!
Ino didn't dodge or evade, instead throwing out a large number of ninja flowers with both hands.
The ninja flowers, like shuriken, collided with the high-pressure water stream. Upon contact, many ninja flowers were scattered by the water stream.
But more ninja flowers cut through the water stream, their momentum undiminished, covering Sakura's surroundings.
Water Release: Water Formation Wall!
Sakura clapped her hands, and water surged out, forming a water wall around her. The ninja flowers struck the water wall, only creating ripples.
By the time all the ninja flowers had dispersed, the water wall remained unmoving.
Ninja Art: Moonlight Beauty!
Petals filled the sky. Ino disappeared from her original spot.
Sakura's lips curled slightly.
She had witnessed this Ninja Art: Moonlight Beauty multiple times and had long guessed what Ino's next attack would be.
Genjutsu: Release!
Sakura dispelled the Genjutsu, immediately looked up, and indeed saw Ino in mid-air.
Water Release: Heavenly Weeping!
The moment Sakura discovered Ino, she immediately opened her mouth. Water Release Chakra condensed into three water senbon in her mouth.
The senbon flew out, hitting Ino in an instant.
With a bang. Ino turned into smoke and disappeared.
"A clone?" Sakura's expression changed; she hadn't expected it to be a clone.
Normally, the Clone Technique, one of the basic Three E-rank Techniques, is easy to distinguish.
But she subconsciously thought Ino was the original body, which led to her oversight and not looking closely.
Sakura immediately looked around. She hadn't expected her first use of Water Release: Heavenly Weeping to not achieve its intended effect.
One must know that Water Release: Heavenly Weeping was developed by Second Hokage Tobirama Senju specifically for sneak attacks.
Uchiha Madara once commented on it as an insidious projectile. In fact, Ino felt a sense of lingering fear.
Although her original plan was to use a clone to lure Sakura, she hadn't expected to coincidentally avoid Water Release: Heavenly Weeping.
If she had used her original body, she would probably have been injured by now and lost this spar.
Sakura's gaze suddenly sharpened. She saw Ino not far away. At this moment, she stood still, raising both hands.
"Is this the Mind Body Switch Technique?" Sakura saw this familiar hand sign and, without a word, immediately flashed to her left.
As Ino's good friend, she was very aware of how powerful the Mind Body Switch Technique was.
Once hit by the mental energy released from Ino's hands, she would lose control of her body.
Although theoretically one could regain control of their body through a mental battle, that difficulty was too high.
After all, Ino was a professional, proficient in mental combat.
After Sakura had put a long distance between them, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Ino.
She saw her standing motionless like a puppet.
"Failed?" Sakura's eyes lit up.
If the Mind Body Switch Technique didn't hit its target after being used, her spirit wouldn't be able to return to her body for a short period.
At this time, Ino would be unable to move. Thinking of this, Sakura quickly rushed towards Ino, with a kunai appearing in her hand.
She wanted to end this spar.
"No, you fell for it!" Ino suddenly moved her hands to aim at her.
Ninja Art: Mind Butterfly!
An invisible mental shockwave swept out.
"What?" Sakura subconsciously widened her eyes, but it was already too late.
The next second, she felt dizzy and disoriented, her body out of control, and she fell directly to the ground.
"I win!"
Ino seized the opportunity and quickly reached her side. She crouched down, pointing a kunai at her.
"…" Sakura regained consciousness, looked at the kunai in front of her, and fell silent.
"Winner, Ino!" Kitazawa announced.
"This time, Ino really came prepared!" Kiba said with a shocked expression.
He felt that if it were him, he would have ended up in a similar situation to Sakura.
"Ino indeed made a lot of preparations; Sakura's loss is not unjust." Yakumo nodded and said.
"First, she used the Clone Technique to trick Sakura's Water Release, then used a feint to make her drop her guard and fall for the Ninjutsu."
Neji paused, then said, "This last Ninjutsu must be the new Ninjutsu taught by Kitazawa-sensei."
"It seems a bit similar to the Mind Body Switch Technique." Shikamaru mused.
"It's a Yin Release Ninjutsu," Sasuke stated directly.
"Another Secret Technique? Kitazawa-sensei is still too amazing!" Kiba exclaimed.
"Moreover, Yin Release Ninjutsu is usually formless, invisible to the naked eye, and very difficult to dodge," Tenten said in a deep voice.
Neji nodded slightly. If he didn't have the Byakugan, he would also find it difficult to clearly see the trajectory of Yin Release Ninjutsu.
But only he and Hinata have the Byakugan; others facing this Yin Release Ninjutsu would, with a slight carelessness, fall victim to it just like Sakura.
Tayuya, on the other hand, secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, what she had been about to say was stopped by Hinata; otherwise, she would be severely humiliated right now.
[Current mission: Help Ino defeat Sakura once.]
[Mission Reward: Mind Transmission Jutsu.]
[The host has completed the mission, reward issued.]
Three lines of text appeared before Kitazawa's eyes just in time.
For him, among the Secret Techniques of the Yamanaka Clan, Mind Transmission Jutsu was much more useful than the Mind Body Switch Technique.
Moreover, this Ninjutsu could be used directly because it had no obvious characteristics.
Even if it were discovered, Kitazawa could claim it was a self-created Ninjutsu, just coincidentally similar to Mind Transmission Jutsu.
With his current status and position, no one would dare to question anything.
The reason Kitazawa wanted to use this Mind Transmission Jutsu was that it was indeed very convenient. It was good for both teaching and mission use.
"Sakura." Ino put away her kunai and extended her hand towards Sakura.
"Hmph, I was careless this time, next time you'll definitely lose!" Sakura grabbed her hand and got up.
"It's not certain who will lose or win next time!" Ino smiled triumphantly, brushing off the dust from her clothes.
The Ninja Art: Mind Butterfly that Kitazawa taught her was not a Genjutsu; it wasn't that easy to break. However, it would indeed be hard to win next time.
Because Sakura would already be on guard, plus her Water Release was also very powerful.
For example, the Water Release: Heavenly Weeping from just now. Ino almost fell for it.
But next time is next time; this time she had already won, so she would be happy first.
"This semester ends here. See you all next semester." Kitazawa clapped his hands, attracting everyone's attention. "Holiday!"
The Genius Class immediately erupted in cheers.
After all, the winter break wasn't short; with the New Year, it was about a month and a half, giving them plenty of time to play.
Of course, some people didn't slack off even during the winter break and continued to train.
Kitazawa watched them leave. He had quite a few things to do this winter break.
First, continue to learn Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence. Second, deal with Hozuki Castle and the box of ultimate bliss.
Third, learn the Yang Release Chakra Mode.
Kitazawa had only developed the Yang Release Chakra Mode, but hadn't learned it yet.
The learning difficulty of the Yang Release Chakra Mode and the Lightning Release Chakra Mode was similar, both B-Rank.
However, a low learning difficulty didn't mean it was easy to learn.
The reason Kitazawa said this was because only two people in Hidden Cloud Village had mastered Lightning Release Chakra Mode: the Third Raikage and the Fourth Raikage.
So, the question was, if Lightning Release Chakra Mode was only B-Rank, why could only two people in the Hidden Cloud Village learn it?
Normally, any Jonin could master a B-Rank Ninjutsu. Yet, even the Fifth Generation Raikage, Darui, hadn't learned Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
The only explanation was that its learning difficulty was low, but its requirements were high, or its prerequisite conditions were very difficult to meet.
The same logic applies to Yang Release Chakra Mode.
It had three prerequisite conditions. First, Master-level Yang Release Chakra nature transformation.
Second, an excellent physique.
Third, one must inherently possess a large amount of Chakra.
Kitazawa felt that currently, only he and Tsunade in Konoha Village could learn it. Nono, Kabuto, Shizune, and Sakura, among others, had potential.
Kitazawa planned to tell Tsunade after he had learned it himself.
After all, he hadn't learned it yet and didn't know if the Yang Release Chakra Mode truly possessed those effects.
Kitazawa left the Ninja Academy and returned home. He pushed open the door and found that Kurenai wasn't in the living room.
Kitazawa thought for a moment and then went to her room. He looked inside and saw Kurenai standing gracefully by the window.
She was wearing a white nightgown, revealing a pair of bare feet.
Kitazawa felt the fluctuation of Chakra; Kurenai was practicing Self Curse Seal.
He didn't disturb her, sitting on the bed to wait, and cultivating the Yang Release Chakra Mode in the meantime.
The cultivation of the Yang Release Chakra Mode was essentially a single statement: using the Yang Release Chakra to activate the entire body.
It felt like a complete transformation of the body, from the inside out.
"Why didn't you say anything when you came back?" A moment later, Kurenai finished her cultivation, turned her head, and looked at Kitazawa.
"There's no rush anyway," Kitazawa said casually.
"Is this activation type jutsu?" Kurenai's gaze fell on his hand.
His skin and flesh were subtly wriggling, looking a bit strange and peculiar.
"Mm." Kitazawa nodded and said, "This is my self-created Yang Release Chakra Mode."
"It sounds like Hidden Cloud Village's Lightning Release Chakra Mode." Kurenai immediately thought of Lightning Release Chakra Mode from the name.
After all, Lightning Release Chakra Mode was very famous.
"It is indeed similar to Lightning Release Chakra Mode." Kitazawa looked at her and asked, "Want to give it a try?"
"How do I try?" Kurenai asked, puzzled, "I don't know Yang Release Chakra Mode."
"Put your leg up here." Kitazawa patted his thigh and said.
Kurenai sat beside him, extending her fair legs along with her delicate feet. She gripped the edge of the bed, worried about falling off.
And with her movement, her clothes shifted, revealing a glimpse of white, making her appear both sexy and alluring.
Kitazawa glanced at her, reached out, and grabbed her foot.
Yang Release Chakra surged in. Kurenai instinctively widened her eyes and couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.
She felt the warmth and comfort coming from her foot, causing her rounded toes to involuntarily curl up.
This was also the difference between Lightning Release and Yang Release. If it were Lightning Release Chakra, Kurenai would now be numb from the electricity.
Kitazawa looked at her, his hand moving upwards, touching the full and tender skin of her thigh.
Kurenai instinctively closed her legs. She met Kitazawa's gaze, bit her lip, and said, "You're thinking about that again."
Although she said that, her tone was more of anticipation than dislike.
"Then what are your thoughts?" Kitazawa patted her thigh.
Kurenai lay back, no longer looking at him. Soon, she frowned, hugged Kitazawa, and pressed his head into her embrace.
Yang Release Chakra spread from her chest, gradually reaching her entire body.
---
A new day.
First week of winter break.
Kitazawa didn't disturb Kurenai's sleep; after breakfast, he went to the Ninja Academy. As expected, Naruto, Ino, Hinata, and Shikamaru, among others, were all there.
Only Sasuke, Sakura, and Rock Lee were absent. Because they were training with Kakashi, Kosuke, and Chen.
Kitazawa arranged training for the students who came. Actually, there wasn't much arrangement; it was just a continuation of their original training.
Only Ino's training changed, or rather, reverted.
She had already learned Ninja Art: Mind Butterfly and could continue to learn her Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death.
Kitazawa's own schedule was to learn Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence in the morning and Yang Release Chakra Mode in the afternoon.
Time passed steadily amidst the training.
December 21st.
"Teacher Kitazawa!"
At noon, Naruto, Kiba, and others gathered around.
"What's wrong?" Kitazawa had already anticipated it but didn't expose them.
"Hinata, you tell him." Shikamaru cleared his throat and said.
"Um... Teacher Kitazawa, we'd like to invite you to lunch." Being stared at by so many people, Hinata said nervously.
"Where are we eating?" Kitazawa stroked her head.
"To the izakaya near my house!" Ino leaned forward and said, "It's really good, Teacher Kitazawa, I promise you'll like it!"
"Then let's go," Kitazawa said with a smile.
"Follow me!" Ino grabbed his hand and walked out.
Hinata hesitated to speak, then quickly followed.
"Do they have instant noodles in the izakaya?" Naruto looked at Shikamaru and asked.
"Why would an izakaya have instant noodles?" Shikamaru shook his head and said, "You really do love instant noodles."
"Instant noodles are fine once in a while." Choji brought the potato chips in his hand to Naruto and said, "Only potato chips never get old, no matter how many you eat."
"I think instant noodles never get old either." Naruto picked up a potato chip and put it in his mouth.
"I prefer meat!" Ino said with a big smile, "I'm going to order pork belly later!"
"I agree!" Choji's eyes immediately lit up, and he said.
Kitazawa smiled, listening to them discuss what to eat all the way until they reached their destination.
Ino led the way, and the group entered a private room. On the table in the private room was a giant cake.
"Happy Birthday, Kitazawa-sensei!" Ino, Hinata, Sasuke, and Karin, among others, said in unison.
"Thank you, everyone." Kitazawa's heart warmed, and he said.
A lively lunch officially began. After eating, Kitazawa sent them home, and in the evening, there was another big meal.
However, fewer people were eating together; it was just Tsunade, Kurenai, Shizune, Nono, Kabuto, Uchiha Izumi, and Torune Aburame.
Karin, like Kitazawa, had two meals.
"It's my birthday, but you drank the most." Kitazawa helped Tsunade back to her room.
"Nagging!" Tsunade pushed him away and plopped down on the bed.
She looked at Kitazawa, her eyes hazy, but she quickly shook her head.
"Alright, you get some good rest." Kitazawa stepped forward, reached out, and pinched her cheek.
"Disrespectful!" Tsunade glared at him and said.
"What's this?" Kitazawa lowered his head, kissed her forehead, and whispered, "You sleep first."
Tsunade froze for a moment, turned her head, and fell directly onto the bed. Her entire body trembled.
Kitazawa's eyelid twitched; he suspected she was doing it on purpose. He shook his head, turned, and left the room to help in the kitchen.
--
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