"The winners are Naruto's team!" Kitazawa quickly announced the result.
Although Sasuke and Kimimaro had managed to break the Konoha Dragon God before, there were only two of them.
One Konoha Dragon God versus eighteen Konoha Dragon Gods were two completely different concepts; moreover, they didn't have much chakra left, so they conceded rather decisively.
"In the end, Naruto's team took first place," Kiba remarked with a sigh.
"More accurately, Naruto took first place," Shikamaru said, shaking his head.
Although Rock Lee and Jugo had held back Kimimaro and Sakura, the final outcome was still Naruto fighting three opponents on his own.
"Naruto's chakra is so massive, it's like he's not even in the same age group as us!" Tenten complained.
Iruka fell silent after hearing this.
It wasn't just them—Naruto's chakra levels would be outstanding in any age group.
Compared to him, Iruka felt as though his twenty-plus years of life had been lived in vain; the gap between people was indeed staggeringly large.
"Even though it's a Team Battle, individual strength still has a huge impact." Ino glanced at Neji and said, "Unless there's an exceptionally good tactic."
Among the three rounds of Team Battles, only Neji's team defeating Yakumo's team could truly be considered a surprise.
But such a surprise was difficult to replicate; it required excellent coordination as well as the Byakugan and a bow.
Theoretically, only Hinata's team could reproduce it. Even so, it proved largely ineffective when facing Naruto.
"Fortunately, we can change to different teammates for every Team Battle," Shino said while adjusting his glasses.
"Changing teammates only helps if everyone's strength is roughly the same," Kiba sighed.
"With Naruto's strength, he should be restricted from participating in Team Battles!" Tayuya suggested, "Otherwise, first place will always belong to him in the future!"
Shikamaru instinctively fell into deep thought.
Not allowing Naruto to participate in Team Battles was obviously not an option. But restricting his strength also seemed unfair.
"By comparison, missions have much more randomness," Shikamaru said while rubbing his brow.
For the moment, he couldn't think of a good solution.
"Team Battles already have a lot of randomness, and the venue for the next Team Battle will definitely change," Neji said calmly. "While defeating Naruto is difficult, it's not impossible."
"Neji is right!" Tenten immediately agreed.
Hinata, who had been listening quietly, instinctively looked up.
Kitazawa, Sasuke, Naruto, and the others left the battlefield and walked toward them.
At the same time, Tsunade and the others on the observation deck atop the Wood Dragon also descended.
"You all performed very well in this Team Battle." Kitazawa walked up to the Genius Class students, stopped, and spoke.
"More than just well." Tsunade glanced at Kitazawa and added, "You're very likely the strongest class since the Ninja Academy was founded."
"If we add the premise of being the same age, then they are indeed the strongest class," Hiruzen said with a chuckle.
Since the establishment of the Ninja Academy, only two classes could truly be described as overflowing with geniuses.
The class he himself belonged to, which included Shimura Danzō, Uchiha Kagami, Mitokado Homura, and others.
And later, the class that produced Kakashi, Kitazawa, and Asuma. Yet even those classes lagged behind the current Genius Class.
At the very least, at the same age, the students of the Genius Class were stronger.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stroked his beard. Whether it was himself, Kitazawa, or Tsunade and the others, they had all been late bloomers.
During their time at the Ninja Academy, none of them possessed strength comparable to a jōnin.
Upon hearing this, the students of the Genius Class immediately showed excited expressions.
With Kitazawa and two Hokage saying so, it was clearly not mere polite praise.
"I'm looking forward to your futures," Tsunade said with clear satisfaction.
"I'll now announce the rankings for this Team Battle," Kitazawa spoke only after they had finished.
Sasuke, Naruto, and the others instinctively looked toward him. Everyone else also quieted down.
"First place, Uzumaki Naruto. Second place, Uchiha Sasuke. Third place, Hyūga Neji." Kitazawa read them out in one breath.
There was nothing surprising about the top three; they were all captains who had led their teams through victory in the three rounds of Team Battles.
However, the rankings afterward differed significantly from the previous Practical Exams.
Winning teams received team points as well as additional captain points.
Losing teams also received points, but both the team points and additional captain points were fewer.
This made it extremely difficult for a losing team to surpass a winning one.
"Fourth place, Jugo. Fifth place, Rock Lee." Kitazawa continued reading.
Jugo and Rock Lee were Naruto's teammates. As the final victors, even without additional captain points, they still surpassed the others.
"My youth has finally broken through! It's burning more fiercely than ever before!" Lee clenched his fists, his entire body trembling as tears streamed down his face.
Needless to say, in the Theoretical Exams, he was dead last every single time. Although the Practical Exams weren't as tragic, he almost never made it into the top ten.
There was no helping it—the students of the Genius Class were simply too monstrous.
Taking fifth place in this Team Battle was an unprecedented achievement for him.
"Lee!" Naruto gave a thumbs-up. "That was a Team Battle truly filled with youth! Guy-sensei will definitely be proud of you!"
"Thank you, Naruto!" Lee replied with blazing enthusiasm. "My youth hasn't reached its limit yet! I'll work hard to catch up to you and Guy-sensei!"
"Jugo actually got fourth place?" Tayuya instinctively looked at Jugo, feeling a tinge of envy.
She had been in the Genius Class for so long and had never reached fourth place.
"Congratulations, Jugo." Although Kimimaro was disappointed he didn't make the top five, he was still happy that his friend did.
"I just got lucky." Jugo shook his head and said, "In next semester's Monthly Exam, you'll definitely return to the top five."
With his own strength, it would normally be difficult for him to even enter the top ten.
Being able to reach fifth place this time was entirely due to Uzumaki Naruto's terrifying strength.
Only the Final Exams featured Team Battles; the next Monthly Exam would revert to mission-based assessments.
By then, it would certainly be hard for him to remain in the top five—but achieving it once was already enough.
After all, this was the Genius Class, where geniuses were as common as clouds.
"And me!" Tayuya emphasized, "I'm going to get into the top five next semester too!"
"It's over!" Kiba scratched his head and said, "I wonder how many ranks I'll drop after this Team Battle."
Hinata instinctively gripped the hem of her clothes.
Now that the top five had been announced, and combined with her poor performance in this Team Battle, she might drop out of the top ten for the first time.
Hinata didn't actually care that much about the ranking itself, but she cared about the attitudes of Kitazawa and Hyūga Hiashi.
If her rank dropped too much, they would surely be disappointed.
"It's just the first Team Battle." Ino noticed her expression and comforted her, saying, "Just win it back in the next Team Battle."
"That's true." Kurama Yakumo echoed.
Previously, she had been without desire or ambition, but this defeat in the Team Battle had made her take things seriously.
No matter what, she couldn't fall in the first round of the next Team Battle.
"Sixth place, Shino Aburame. Seventh place, Kimimaro. Eighth place, Tenten. Ninth place, Kurama Yakumo."
Kitazawa paused briefly before continuing, "Tenth place, Hyūga Hinata. Eleventh place, Sakura Haruno. Twelfth place, Tayuya."
The teams that won the first round were Sasuke's team, Naruto's team, and Neji's team.
In terms of points, excluding the captains, the members of Sasuke's team and Neji's team had very similar scores.
Although the other three teams failed, their scores were also quite close after adding the extra captain points.
Specifically, these involved the three captains: Shino, Yakumo, and Hinata.
In short, from sixth place to twelfth place, the point gap among these seven people was not particularly large.
The highest score among them belonged to Shino. That was because he had performed exceptionally well during the battle against Sasuke's team.
If Sasuke's individual strength hadn't been so overwhelming, Shino's team would have been the winners.
Kimimaro was a member of Sasuke's team. He ranked below Shino because he had been defeated by Shino's surprise attack.
However, he was still ranked higher than the others.
In the subsequent battles against Neji's team and Naruto's team, he performed extremely well.
Sasuke acted as the main attacker, while Kimimaro provided support.
By comparison, Sakura mainly played the role of restraining opponents and providing assistance.
Tenten was a member of Neji's team.
She was the key contributor in defeating Yakumo's team, especially with her Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, which completely caught them off guard.
In terms of points, she ranked higher than Yakumo.
"Dammit!" Tayuya said unwillingly, "I actually dropped to twelfth place!"
"Look on the bright side—at least you're still in the top twelve," Kiba said in resignation. "I bet I'll struggle just to stay in the top fifteen."
Kimimaro frowned slightly. Although his ranking hadn't changed much, he still didn't feel happy.
He had thought that after learning Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch, he would be able to stabilize himself in the top five—but he had missed it twice in a row.
Hinata unconsciously let out a breath of relief. She was still in the top ten; although she was exactly tenth, at least she hadn't dropped out.
When combined with the Theoretical Exam rankings, her final position should still rise by one or two places.
"Great!" Tenten said excitedly, "I finally made it into the top ten!"
After learning the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, her strength could be said to have improved by leaps and bounds.
Although she still wasn't top-tier within the Genius Class, she was far stronger than before.
Sakura felt a mix of worry and joy. Eleventh place was neither good nor bad, but at least she had beaten Ino.
Moreover, fighting side by side with Sasuke made her extremely happy. For her, the result of this Team Battle was acceptable.
"Thirteenth place, Inuzuka Kiba. Fourteenth place, Haku. Fifteenth place, Karin. Sixteenth place, Yamanaka Ino."
Kitazawa continued reading out the remaining rankings. "Seventeenth place, Akimichi Chōji. Eighteenth place, Nara Shikamaru."
The remaining six were all members of the three teams that had failed in the first round.
Among them, Shikamaru was the most unfortunate; encountering Naruto, who destroyed the battlefield itself, meant he had no chance to display his abilities.
"At least I didn't drop out of the top fifteen!" Kiba suddenly grew excited.
But a moment later, he restrained himself; thirteenth place wasn't exactly worth celebrating.
Haku, on the other hand, was genuinely pleased. He usually hovered around eighteenth place, so reaching fourteenth was a first for him.
Karin also found the result acceptable. She was similar to Haku and had made progress as well.
Even though the improvement was small, achieving it in the Genius Class was already quite difficult.
"After the holidays start, I'm definitely going to train extra hard!" Ino brushed a strand of golden hair from her forehead and said fiercely.
Having a low ranking was one thing, but losing to Sakura was absolutely unacceptable.
"It is what it is. I'll just work harder next time." Shikamaru said lazily, resting his hands behind his head.
This time, the fault didn't lie with him. Running into Naruto was what one would call an irresistible force.
"That concludes the final rankings for this Final Exams." Kitazawa paused and said, "This semester ends here. Everyone has worked hard—go back and rest."
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei!" The students of the Genius Class immediately perked up upon hearing about the holiday.
After all, the Final Exams and rankings were now in the past.
Next would come the holiday, a new semester, and new exams.
Hinata hesitated for two seconds but didn't stay behind, leaving together with Hyūga Neji and the others.
Mainly because both Tsunade and Sarutobi Hiruzen were present.
She was worried she might disturb Kitazawa. But it didn't matter—she could return to the Ninja Academy tomorrow.
Although the holiday had begun, for many students, there was little difference between being on break and being in class.
"That was truly an excellent Team Battle."
Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a chuckle. "I'm looking forward to their performance after graduation even more."
"It will certainly exceed our expectations." Chen nodded and said, "It seems I'll have to live a few more years."
There is no greater grief than the death of the heart. In the original story, Chen became a recluse due to the death of his students.
Although it was never mentioned when he died, it was certainly before the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Because he was brought back via Edo Tensei during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
"Indeed." Kosuke agreed. "How could one die without seeing Naruto and the others become famous in the Ninja World?"
"Now is the time for hard work; it's too early to discuss such topics." Sarutobi Hiruzen interrupted their conversation teasingly.
"Even after these children graduate, they'll still need the guidance of seniors like you." Tsunade let out a light laugh as she spoke.
"Tsunade is right." Hiruzen paused, then said, "The Final Exams are over, so we should be going. See you next time."
[Current Mission: Lead the team to take first place in the Final Exams.]
[Mission Reward: Featureless activation of the Byakugan.]
[Host has completed the mission; reward is being issued.]
After Hiruzen and the others left, three lines of text appeared before Kitazawa's eyes. This was his harvest from this Team Battle.
The featureless activation of the Byakugan was similar to the featureless activation of the Sharingan.
Under normal circumstances, other ninja would be unable to sense that he was using the Byakugan.
Unless Kitazawa used abilities such as Byakugan: Pressure or Byakugan: Puppet Control.
"Kurenai, want to go to the casino?"
Tsunade clenched her fist and said confidently, "This afternoon, I'm going to win back everything I lost before!"
Kurenai subconsciously looked toward Kitazawa.
"I'll pay." Kitazawa met her gaze and said, "If you're interested, let's gamble a few rounds together."
"Alright then." Kurenai thought for a moment before agreeing.
"Let's go!" Tsunade impatiently grabbed Kurenai and Kitazawa and strode forward.
The three of them quickly arrived at the casino.
"Kurenai, have you ever been to a casino before?" Tsunade walked to the gambling table with practiced familiarity as she asked.
"No." Kurenai shook her head.
"Good, I'll teach you." The corners of Tsunade's mouth curled upward as she said, "I'll make sure you win big—just like me!"
Kitazawa and Kurenai subconsciously glanced at each other when they heard that.
Both saw the same thought reflected in the other's eyes: Where exactly is this 'winning big'? Why have we never seen it?
Kitazawa didn't participate. He sat to the side, watching Tsunade and Kurenai gamble.
Because of the delay from the Team Battle finals, it was already close to four o'clock. Kitazawa wasn't in a hurry to train, since he wouldn't even get two full hours of practice.
Suddenly, with a thought, he activated the Byakugan. Everything on the gambling table was completely exposed before his eyes.
Kitazawa thought to himself that this truly was a new way to get rich.
However, since this casino belonged to his own family, there was no need to use the Byakugan to make money.
Kitazawa looked around, then stood up and walked toward a glass pane. There was no white in his eyes, nor were there any bulging veins around his eye sockets.
Kitazawa couldn't help but marvel inwardly—this featureless activation of the Byakugan was truly a god-tier ability.
At 5:30 p.m., the three of them left the casino.
Kurenai looked excited, forming a sharp contrast with Tsunade.
Tsunade, naturally, had been losing the entire time.
But Kurenai had both wins and losses, and overall, she had earned a hundred thousand ryō. It wasn't a huge amount, but for a newcomer, it was quite impressive.
"How can this be?" Tsunade bit her thumb and asked, feeling extremely frustrated.
Kitazawa couldn't help but smile. Didn't she have even the slightest idea why this was happening?
But thinking about it again, she really didn't—otherwise, she wouldn't lose every time she gambled and still go to the casino every single day.
---
The next day arrived—Saturday—which was also the first day of the holiday.
This holiday was considered spring break; compared to summer and winter breaks, it was much shorter, lasting less than a month.
After breakfast, Kitazawa and Kurenai went to the Ninja Academy as usual.
More than half of the students from the Genius Class had already arrived and begun training early.
Especially Kiba, Ino, and the others.
They had performed poorly in yesterday's Team Battle, so they were holding their breath and working even harder.
"Kitazawa-sensei." Hinata took a deep breath and walked up to him.
"Good morning, Hinata." Kitazawa reached out and gently patted her head.
"Kitazawa-sensei, I… I didn't perform very well yesterday." Hinata lowered her head, speaking guiltily.
"Who said that?" Kitazawa raised an eyebrow and said, "You clearly performed very well."
"Eh?" Hinata instinctively looked up.
"Your team's overall strength was inherently weaker than Naruto's team. Being able to fight like that was already very impressive."
Kitazawa smiled as he spoke. "If it had been any other team, the outcome might have been even worse."
"Is… is that so?" Hinata smiled shyly.
The gloom in her heart was swept away, replaced by a warm sense of happiness.
"Would I lie to you?" Kitazawa pinched her cheek and said, "Perfect timing—I'll teach you a new archery-based Secret Technique."
"Mm!" Hinata's eyes immediately lit up, her happiness overflowing.
"This archery Secret Technique is called World-Extinction Arrow, and its power is immense," Kitazawa warned her. "Unless it's a life-or-death situation, you must never use it."
Hinata couldn't help but be startled. This was the first time she had heard such a warning.
Just how terrifying was this technique's power that it could only be used when facing death itself?
"Can it not be used during Practical Exams either?" After thinking for a moment, Hinata asked.
She had originally hoped to use this new archery technique to improve her ranking.
"No." Kitazawa shook his head.
Hearing this, Hinata became even more curious.
"Neji, come here." Kitazawa then called Hyūga Neji over.
Teaching one was teaching, and teaching two was teaching as well.
And now that the holiday had arrived, it was indeed time to conduct a periodic summary for the students of the Genius Class.
Kitazawa looked at them and began explaining the World-Extinction Arrow.
To prevent them from using it recklessly, he first made sure they fully understood the power of the World-Extinction Arrow.
However, he didn't waste the Source of the Dragon Vein to demonstrate it for them on the spot.
"To put it simply, the World-Extinction Arrow can destroy one-fifth of Konoha Village." Kitazawa gave a concrete example.
Neji showed a shocked expression after hearing this.
Although he didn't have a clear concept of a Tailed Beast Ball, he could easily grasp what it meant to destroy one-fifth of Konoha Village.
Hinata was also filled with disbelief. She felt as though she had been learning E-rank ninjutsu yesterday and was suddenly being taught S-rank ninjutsu today.
"You two should first learn the World-Extinction Arrow."
Kitazawa thought for a moment before continuing. "When there are new archery Secret Techniques in the future, I'll teach you again."
In truth, it was a little early for Neji and Hinata to learn the World-Extinction Arrow.
But Kitazawa didn't have any other archery techniques suitable for them at the moment, so they would have to make do with the World-Extinction Arrow for now.
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei." Hinata and Neji responded in unison.
Kitazawa formed a hand seal and created a Shadow Clone. Besides Hinata and Neji, he also needed to teach Tayuya today.
Tayuya wanted to learn conventional genjutsu. Kitazawa then taught her a D-rank genjutsu—Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique.
Although it was only D-rank, its effect was excellent, making it a highly cost-effective genjutsu.
"Sasuke." Kitazawa walked over to Sasuke.
"Kitazawa-sensei." Sasuke put away the Sword of Thunder God and looked at him.
"I promised you and Naruto before that I would teach you an S-rank ninjutsu."
Kitazawa paused briefly before continuing. "But to learn this S-rank ninjutsu, you first have to master the Rasengan."
In reality, what Sasuke was going to learn was Yin Release: Rasengan. However, the prerequisite for learning Yin Release: Rasengan was mastering the Rasengan itself.
Sasuke felt a trace of irony. After all, the Rasengan was a technique Naruto had mastered.
But it wasn't a problem. As a student of the Copy Ninja Kakashi, he possessed the mindset of: It's great that you have this technique—but in the next moment, it's mine.
Using the Rasengan to defeat Naruto—just imagining it was interesting enough.
"Rasengan training is divided into three stages."
Kitazawa had already taught the Rasengan to several people, so instructing Sasuke came naturally.
After teaching for an hour, he created another Shadow Clone.
Under the supervision of Kitazawa's Shadow Clone, Sasuke began the first stage of training—bursting a balloon filled with water.
Kitazawa thought for a moment, then went to find Yakumo and Tenten.
"Kitazawa-sensei, are you going to teach us a new ninjutsu?" Tenten asked with a bright smile.
The Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique had greatly increased her strength, so she was eagerly anticipating the next technique.
Yakumo, on the other hand, was mostly curious. After all, she had reached a bottleneck in genjutsu.
Was she going to learn taijutsu again?
"The ninjutsu I'm going to teach you is called the Konoha Body Flicker Technique."
Kitazawa smiled as he spoke. "Both of you are long-range-type ninja, so the Konoha Body Flicker Technique suits you very well."
Yakumo and Tenten were instantly energized. For them, the Konoha Body Flicker Technique perfectly compensated for their lack of mobility.
Especially for Yakumo.
She recalled her battle against Neji's team—if she had possessed the Konoha Body Flicker Technique, then she wouldn't have been defeated so easily.
Kitazawa created another Shadow Clone to teach the two of them.
He scanned the training ground, and his gaze finally settled on Naruto.
The other students were either continuing their previous training or had received new training content, but only Naruto had nothing assigned yet.
Naruto's previous training had been learning the Konoha Dragon God. Now that he had already mastered it, Chen had no stronger taijutsu left to teach him.
Only Might Guy still possessed the Eight Gates.
However, the Eight Gates were too difficult; the foundations of Naruto and Rock Lee were not yet sufficient, and they would likely have to wait until next year.
Rock Lee's mastery of the Konoha Dragon God was still inferior to Naruto's, so he could continue training it for a while.
As for Naruto, new training had to be arranged—and that was Yang Release Chakra.
Did Naruto possess Yang Release? He certainly did.
In fact, the Uzumaki Clan's powerful vitality and recovery ability itself was a form of Yang Release.
Naruto was also the reincarnation of Ashura's chakra. Ashura had inherited his father's—Six Paths Sage's—Yang Release power.
The real problem was that Naruto did not know how to convert or perform the nature transformation for Yang Release Chakra.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
He recalled the Yang Release Chakra nature transformation training used by medical ninja, which involved repeatedly treating fish to imbue them with life.
There were also the Akimichi Clan's Secret Techniques, which altered the body's form through Yang Release Chakra.
"It seems I still have to start with fish." With a thought, Kitazawa devised a training method.
That method was to inject Yang Release Chakra into fish, filling them with vitality.
"Naruto," Kitazawa called out.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto rushed over at top speed.
"You've already learned the Rasengan. Next, you can try adding different elemental chakras on top of the Rasengan."
Kitazawa got straight to the point.
"Am I going to learn Wind Release: Rasengan?" Naruto immediately thought of something and asked excitedly.
He had once learned Wind Release: Rasengan before, but had temporarily abandoned it due to insufficient mastery of Wind Release chakra nature transformation.
"First, learn Yang Release: Rasengan." Kitazawa shook his head and said.
"Yang Release?" Naruto was stunned for a moment, a look of confusion appearing on his face. "But my chakra attribute is clearly Wind."
"Yin and Yang are both latent chakra attributes; they can't be measured by a testing paper."
Kitazawa explained, "Based on my observations of you, you definitely possess Yang-attribute chakra."
"I see!" Naruto didn't hesitate at all and immediately believed Kitazawa's words.
"Before learning Yang Release: Rasengan, you must first improve your level of Yang Release chakra nature transformation."
Kitazawa patted his shoulder and said, "Come with me."
The two of them arrived at the Ninja Academy's Artificial Lake.
The Artificial Lake was very large and contained fish. With a casual wave of his hand, Kitazawa's chakra surged outward, pulling a fish directly from the lake.
As soon as the fish landed on the shore, it struggled desperately, brimming with vitality.
This state was clearly unsuitable for practicing the Yang Release chakra nature transformation.
"I'll first teach you how to convert Yang Release chakra, and then I'll teach you the exercises for Yang Release nature transformation."
Seeing this, Kitazawa began explaining in detail. By the time he finished his explanation, the fish was already on its last breath.
Kitazawa then injected Yang Release chakra into its body; the fish reacted as if it had been given a powerful stimulant, becoming lively and vigorous once again.
"So amazing!" Naruto exclaimed in amazement, then asked curiously, "Can Yang Release chakra be used on oneself?"
He was thinking that if he became tired during training, he could use the Yang Release chakra to relieve fatigue and continue practicing.
"It certainly can, but it requires a certain level of skill." Kitazawa nodded as he replied.
In a sense, the Yang Release Chakra Mode operated on precisely this principle.
The morning passed quickly.
Kitazawa didn't spend any time training that morning; instead, he was busy helping the students of the Genius Class adjust and refine their training content.
By the afternoon, he finally had some free time. Kitazawa found a quiet place and began his own training.
---
Time flowed by steadily.
Not long after entering April, a new semester arrived.
For the past half month, Kitazawa had been practicing the Wood Release: Hōbi Technique and the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Although the Wood Release: Hōbi Technique was newly learned, his progress with it was actually faster.
The Flying Thunder God Technique involved spatial manipulation, making it far more difficult for Kitazawa.
After all, he had already mastered Wood Release through the system. Theoretically speaking, learning any Wood Release ninjutsu was only a matter of time.
On Monday, April 7th, the new semester for the Genius Class officially began.
Because it was Monday, Kitazawa didn't go to the Ninja Academy. He ate breakfast and headed straight toward the Forest of Death.
For him, the most important things at the moment were practicing the Flying Thunder God Technique and the Wood Release: Hōbi Technique.
Time continued to advance steadily until the end of April.
Kitazawa began to feel a headache coming on over the first Monthly Exam in May for the Genius Class, which should now be called the Midterm Exam.
After all, with one Monthly Exam removed, only the Midterm and Final Exams remained.
Footsteps echoed within the Forest of Death.
Kitazawa stopped his training and looked toward Konan.
"Kitazawa." Konan walked up to him.
"Is there something from the Anbu?" Kitazawa reached out and removed her Anbu mask.
"No." Konan shook her head and said, "I want to request a week off."
"For what?" Kitazawa raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you going back to the Akatsuki Organization?"
"I'm going to recruit someone," Konan answered.
"Recruit who?" Kitazawa's interest was immediately piqued, and he asked curiously.
He truly was curious.
Because he had previously thought about potential recruits for the Akatsuki Organization, yet hadn't been able to come up with any suitable candidates.
"It's En Oyashiro." Konan hesitated for two seconds before finally telling the truth.
Under normal circumstances, she shouldn't have told Kitazawa this.
After all, Kitazawa wasn't a member of the Akatsuki Organization—on the contrary, he was even a potential enemy.
"That name sounds a bit familiar." Kitazawa frowned slightly.
"You know him?" Konan asked, clearly surprised.
En Oyashiro wasn't famous in the Ninja World and wasn't even a ninja; he was merely a merchant living in the Land of Lightning.
It was a White Zetsu that had accidentally sensed a massive amount of chakra within him, leading to the conclusion that he was extremely powerful.
After learning this information, Konan decided to personally test his strength. If he truly possessed such power, she would recruit him into the Akatsuki Organization.
"Where does he live?" Kitazawa had a vague impression and asked further.
"The Land of Lightning," Konan replied.
Kitazawa immediately remembered.
En Oyashiro was a survivor of the Chinoike Clan. The Chinoike Clan had a complicated history with the Uchiha Clan.
During the Sengoku period, before the hidden village system was established, a member of the Chinoike Clan had married the Daimyō of the Land of Lightning as a concubine.
The Daimyō's wife grew jealous of her and secretly plotted to have the Daimyō die of illness, framing the concubine for his death.
As a result, the Chinoike Clan was exiled to the Valley of Hell, and the Daimyō's wife even requested the Uchiha Clan's ninja to keep watch over them.
As time passed, the Uchiha Clan joined Konoha Village.
The Chinoike Clan, meanwhile, suffered a catastrophic tragedy.
That survivor was En Oyashiro.
His wife was persecuted to death by members of his own clan, and in a fit of rage, he annihilated the Chinoike Clan.
Afterward, he took his daughter, Chino, and fled to the Land of Lightning, living as a merchant.
Strangely, he did not acknowledge Chino as his daughter, instead forcing her to undergo harsh and cruel training on her own.
After Chino eventually escaped, she learned the true history of the Chinoike Clan and conceived a plan to take revenge on the Uchiha Clan.
At that time, the only remaining Uchiha was Uchiha Sasuke. They fought in the Valley of Hell, where Chino was ultimately defeated in a miserable fashion.
Later, under Oyashiro's intervention, Chino abandoned her vengeance and joined the Hidden Mist Village.
The Chinoike Clan possessed a special kekkei genkai known as the Ketsuryūgan (Blood Dragon Eye), which was somewhat similar to the Sharingan and carried hypnotic abilities.
In addition, the Chinoike Clan also possessed Secret Techniques that used fresh blood as a medium.
"I do indeed know him." Kitazawa snapped back to reality and said with a smile, "What do you want to know? I can tell you."
"How strong is he?" Konan thought for a moment before asking.
"That's truly the style of your Akatsuki Organization." Kitazawa reached out and gently stroked her cheek.
Konan's eyelashes trembled slightly, but she didn't stop him.
"His strength is more than sufficient to join your Akatsuki Organization." Recalling the plot from the original story, Kitazawa asked, "Are you planning to go alone?"
"Yes." Konan paused, then asked, "Are you implying that I can't beat him?"
"Hard to say." Kitazawa shook his head. "But going alone is ultimately more dangerous."
"Then I'll go back to the Akatsuki and find another member." Konan accepted the advice without resistance.
"You could also invite me to go with you." Kitazawa winked as he spoke.
"You are not a member of our Akatsuki Organization." Konan was momentarily stunned before refusing.
"But I am your Akatsuki Organization's advisor." Kitazawa took half a step forward, almost brushing against her.
Lowering his gaze, he saw her rosy lips.
"Why?" Konan's heart skipped a beat as she asked in confusion.
As Kitazawa's personal Anbu guard, she knew very well how busy he was. Suddenly, accompanying her to the Land of Lightning felt extremely strange.
"It's nothing," Kitazawa replied casually. "It can simply serve as a combat mission for the next Monthly Exam."
In truth, he was interested in En Oyashiro's daughter, Chino. Bringing her back would allow her to join the Genius Class.
Of course, that wasn't the main point—the real focus was the Ketsuryūgan.
Kitazawa felt it resembled a mutation of the Sharingan, or perhaps the Chinoike Clan were descendants of Indra.
After all, nearly all kekkei genkai in the Ninja World were connected to the Six Paths Sage's lineage.
As for whether Chino would agree, she most likely would. Her current life was nothing short of miserable.
Kitazawa truly couldn't understand Oyashiro's mindset—being so cruel even to his own biological daughter.
But on second thought, anything was possible for a madman who wiped out his entire clan.
"But I'm going to recruit someone." Konan asked, puzzled, "Then what mission are you going to do?"
"I'm also going to recruit someone." Kitazawa couldn't help but laugh.
The Akatsuki recruited Oyashiro while he recruited En Oyashiro's daughter—it sounded very… strange.
"Ah?" Suspicion deepened in Konan's eyes.
"What? You don't want me tagging along?" Kitazawa asked in return.
"No." Konan hurriedly shook her head. "Then let's go together."
With Kitazawa present, even if Oyashiro's strength exceeded hers, he wouldn't be able to harm her at all.
"How do you plan to persuade Oyashiro to join the Akatsuki?" Kitazawa pinched her cheek as he asked.
"Defeat him and make him join," Konan replied coldly.
"That's exactly the answer I expected." Kitazawa nodded. "We'll set out next week."
"Mhm," Konan responded softly, yet remained standing in place.
Because Kitazawa was still kneading her face.
"How's the situation over at Sunagakure?" Kitazawa suddenly thought of something and asked.
"In our competition with them, we have the upper hand," Konan replied. "This is thanks to the method you provided."
"Then how are you going to thank me?" As he spoke, Kitazawa placed his thumb lightly against her lips.
Konan hesitated for a moment, her red lips parting slightly.
Kitazawa immediately felt warmth against his fingertip. He withdrew his finger without hesitation, leaned down, and kissed her.
Konan was completely unprepared. Her eyes widened instinctively as she reached out to push him away.
Yet just as she applied force, she stopped. Her tense body relaxed, and she passively entered a battle of lips and tongues with Kitazawa.
Konan felt her heartbeat quicken, her strength draining as her soft body leaned into his embrace.
A muffled sound escaped her throat, her amber eyes reflecting Kitazawa, her gaze hazy.
After a long while, their lips finally parted.
Konan subconsciously avoided looking at him, lowering her head and burying it against his chest.
Kitazawa reached out and gently stroked her hair.
[Current Mission: Defeat En Oyashiro.]
[Mission Reward: Ketsuryūgan (Blood Dragon Eye), can be fused into the Sharingan.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa looked at the three lines of text that suddenly appeared before him and couldn't help but feel slightly startled.
Oyashiro could trigger a system mission as well? But that wasn't the main point.
Kitazawa's gaze lingered on the words "can be fused."
Could it be that the Ketsuryūgan and the Sharingan truly shared the same origin?
Would fusion grant new abilities, or would it amplify the Sharingan's existing powers?
Either way, it was a win for Kitazawa.
"Then… I'll head back to the Anbu first and won't disturb your training."
Konan took half a step back and, without waiting for Kitazawa to respond, vanished from the spot.
Kitazawa stared at where she had been, deep in thought.
The Akatsuki Organization was clearly the greatest obstacle between him and Konan taking the next step.
The only solution was to defeat Nagato and take control of the Akatsuki.
Once Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu were dealt with, he could finally rest easy.