Kitazawa didn't destroy all the bodies—he left two behind.
Their squad had a system task to boost their reputation. Ringo Ameyuri was a big name in Kirigakure—kind of like Uchiha Itachi in Konoha: a standout of the younger generation.
Her death would give Kitazawa's team a serious bump in notoriety. If they didn't leave two corpses, the Mist wouldn't know who killed Ringo and her group.
Kitazawa and the others made it back to Konoha's main camp by nightfall. The round trip had taken nearly a full day, most of it spent on the road. Because they were deep behind Kirigakure's lines, they had to keep dodging Mist patrols.
"Go get some rest," Kitazawa waved them off. "I'm going to see Tsunade-sama."
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei," the three—Yakushi Kabuto and the others—answered in unison.
"I'll head back and wait for you," Kurenai said, then walked toward their tent.
Kitazawa went to the central command tent. When he stepped in, he paused for a moment: besides Tsunade and Shizune, Shikaku Nara and an Anbu named Haru were also present.
"How'd the mission go?" Tsunade asked offhandedly.
"Perfectly. The two Kirigakure supply ships are completely destroyed," Kitazawa replied.
"Nicely done," Tsunade said, clearly pleased. "Good work. Collect your payment, then get some sleep."
Kitazawa was her student. The better he performed, the better she looked.
"Understood," Kitazawa nodded.
Even during wartime, missions were paid just like in peacetime. At the end of the day, shinobi are mercenaries. The Will of Fire is one thing, but mission pay is what makes people risk their lives for Konoha. For most ninja, the reward matters even more—if you can't even fill your stomach, what good is talking about the Will of Fire?
"We ran into three jōnin this time," Kitazawa said, taking out a summoning storage scroll. "One of them was Ringo Ameyuri."
"The sword and Lightning Release prodigy from the Mist?" Shikaku's eyes widened.
"Yeah. That's her," Kitazawa confirmed.
"Looks like the Mist took another heavy loss," Shikaku sighed.
Tsunade was a little surprised, but not much. Kitazawa had already killed Kurosuki Raiga; taking down Ringo Ameyuri, too, wasn't out of character. You could say Ringo was just unlucky—so young to run into Kitazawa. A genius life cut short before it even began.
"Haru, have the Anbu spread word that Ringo Ameyuri is dead," Tsunade ordered with a wave.
Ringo was a named powerhouse in the Mist. News of her death would lift Konoha's morale. And, of course, Tsunade was helping raise Kitazawa's profile.
"We'll log your achievements. When the war's over, go bug the old man for a proper reward," Tsunade said, taking the scroll.
"Got it. I'll take my leave," Kitazawa said, then headed to the tent on the left to pick up his mission pay.
It had been an S-rank mission, so the reward was 1.2 million ryō. Kitazawa claimed it, split the money with Kabuto and the others, and returned to his own tent.
"Fighting really speeds up progress," Kurenai said with a bright smile, clenching her fist. "At this rate, it won't be long before I've mastered chakra-enhanced strength."
"Risk and reward are proportional in battle," Kitazawa said, lying back on the rug. "Otherwise Root wouldn't train people so brutally."
"Root's training goes too far—it's inhuman," Kurenai murmured as she curled into Kitazawa's arms, resting her head on his elbow.
…
While the two chatted, the mood in Kirigakure's main camp was grim.
"Kitazawa again?" Ao frowned.
"So he's not just a Water Release specialist—he's a powerful Lightning Release too?" Kisame Hoshigaki asked.
"We didn't see the fight itself, but it's obvious his Lightning Release outclassed Ameyuri's," Mei Terumi said in a low voice.
"So what?" Zabuza Momochi snorted. "You think we're scared of him?"
As one of the Mist's famed prodigies, he was plenty proud. In his view, he could have killed both Kurosuki Raiga and Ringo Ameyuri as well.
"Not fear, caution," Mei said levelly.
"Agreed," Ao nodded. "You might not fear him, but other shinobi who run into him won't stand a chance."
"Kitazawa killing Ameyuri will hit our morale," Fuguki Suikazan said coldly. "We have to pay him back in kind."
Ao's frown deepened. He followed Master Yuan's orders to draw things out with Konoha and buy time. Fuguki, on the other hand, answered only to Fourth Mizukage Yagura Karatachi and was extremely aggressive, repeatedly urging proactive strikes and large-scale raids.
"I think Fuguki-sama has a point," Zabuza said with a confident grin. "Send me to lead a deep raid into the Land of Fire. I'll bring back Kitazawa's head."
Ao weighed it. Fuguki's argument was reasonable this time, so he couldn't flatly refuse—but he couldn't let Zabuza go. He needed to send Fuguki. As deputy commander, Fuguki's authority was second only to his.
With how aggressive he was, it was only a matter of time before he stirred up something big. So throw him into the Land of Fire to harass Konoha. With just one squad, he wouldn't be able to cause too much trouble.
"Fuguki, you go," Ao decided. "It's dangerous, and your experience fits the job."
"I'm not exactly inexperienced, you know!" Zabuza protested.
"I'm the commander," Ao said evenly, shutting him down.
"Fine," Fuguki bared his teeth in a grin. "I hope I run into Kitazawa—his corpse will give our side a morale boost."
"Don't get drawn into a slugfest," Ao warned. "Your job is to cause as many Konoha casualties as possible."
"I know," Fuguki replied coolly.
The night passed without incident.
After breakfast, Kitazawa returned to the command tent.
"Morning," Tsunade mumbled around a rice ball.
"Good morning, Tsunade-sama," Kitazawa greeted. She was alone, so he didn't stand on ceremony—he stepped up and scanned the stack of missions on the desk.
"This one," Tsunade said, tossing him a mission scroll.
Kitazawa blinked, opened it, and immediately understood why she wanted him on it. It was an urgent assignment. Half an hour earlier, a Konoha outpost on the coast had been seized by a Mist squad.
"I'll head out now," he said, stowing the scroll.
"Mhm." Tsunade finished one rice ball and reached for a second. As frontline commander managing a battle with over eight thousand shinobi on both sides, the situation changed every second. She was so busy she had to work even while eating breakfast.
"Tsunade-sama," Kitazawa said, taking a couple of steps before noticing something. He moved closer.
"W-what is it?" Tsunade suddenly felt oddly tense as he approached.
"You've got a grain of rice," he said, lifting his hand to wipe a lone grain from the corner of her mouth.
"Thanks," Tsunade blinked.
"See you later, Tsunade-sama," Kitazawa smiled.
"That guy really is bold," Tsunade muttered, wiping the corner of her mouth and shaking her head.
After leaving, Kitazawa found Kurenai and the others.
"What's the mission today?" Kurenai asked as they walked.
"A-rank: retake an outpost," Kitazawa said. "Enemy composition: two special jōnin, two chūnin."
"We can handle that!" Kurenai elbowed him playfully.
"Kabuto, you command," Kitazawa grinned. "If you can't win, I'll step in."
As their lead instructor, his job was to train the three students as much as possible, not do everything himself. And Kitazawa was the type to slack when he could—if Kabuto and the others could handle it, there was no need for him to interfere.
"We've got this," Uchiha Izumi said confidently.
Aburame Tokune said nothing, but nodded in agreement.
They soon reached the seaside woods.
"Explosive tag trap, three hundred meters ahead," Tokune warned.
"Kurenai-senpai, Izumi—circle around to the back of the outpost," Kabuto said after a beat of thought. "Once I neutralize the trap, you strike."
"Got it." Kurenai and Izumi sped off.
"They're in position," Tokune reported moments later.
Wind Release: Vacuum Shuriken!
Kabuto flicked a kunai. It hit the explosive tag trap dead-on. Wind-nature chakra surged, triggering the tags.
Boom!
Four Mist shinobi rushed to the top of the outpost, alerted to intruders.
"Two Konoha ninja straight ahead," the middle-aged team captain said, forming hand signs. Water-nature chakra gathered in his throat and burst forth as a roaring water dragon.
Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!
Kabuto inhaled hard and spat wind bullets that punched holes through the water dragon.
"There are two more Konoha ninja in back," the other special jōnin spotted Kurenai and Izumi. "We'll take them!"
The two Mist chūnin charged. One formed signs and spewed a dense fog.
"Careful!" Kurenai warned. "That's the Hidden Mist Technique!"
Izumi's two-tomoe Sharingan snapped open. The Sharingan couldn't see through the mist, but if an attack got close, it would let her react faster than a normal shinobi.
"Sharingan?" the young woman realized at once the two chūnin weren't up to this. She dove into the fog, aiming straight for Izumi.
Monster Strength!
Thinking fast, Kurenai clenched her fist and punched into the fog. A violent gust tore through, scattering a huge swath of mist. The figures of the young woman and the two chūnin flickered in and out of view.
Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!
Izumi formed seals and flung a flurry of shuriken, each wrapped in flame, arcing toward the three Mist ninja.
The young woman had planned to ambush Izumi under cover of the fog, but Kurenai's punch had blown her cover. She had no choice but to raise a water wall with rapid hand signs. The two chūnin reacted quickly too—leaping up and tossing shuriken over the wall at Izumi.
Kurenai lifted both hands, sending a flurry of petals into the mist—many infused with chakra—to deflect every shuriken.
"Where'd she go?" one of the chūnin blinked—and realized Kurenai had vanished.
"Genjutsu!" the young woman blurted, reaching out to snap the chūnin out of it—when a rushing wind roared at her side.
Kurenai appeared on her left and drove a punch forward, a gale riding her fist. The young woman's heart lurched. She didn't dare take it lightly; chakra burst from her fists as she met the blow head-on.
Thud!
She staggered back several steps, stunned. Even expecting it, Kurenai's raw power exceeded her imagination.
At the same time, Izumi body-flickered to the two chūnin. They had just broken Kurenai's genjutsu when they found themselves staring into scarlet tomoe.
Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!
Izumi unleashed a sweeping blaze that billowed with the wind and swallowed both chūnin. Screams rang out. Izumi glanced left and right, then flicked two shuriken that pierced their hearts. The screams stopped; the bodies toppled, lifeless.
"Damn it!" the young woman turned reflexively and saw red, fury boiling over. She poured chakra through her body, flew through hand signs, and spat a massive water sphere like a falling meteor straight at Kurenai.
Kitazawa recognized it at a glance—Water Release: Water Formation Pillar. In the original, Mei Terumi used it and even suppressed Uchiha Madara's Great Fire Annihilation. He immediately copied it with his three-tomoe Sharingan. Kurenai and Kabuto were in the thick of battle; no one noticed he had activated the three tomoe.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
Izumi hurled a huge fireball; Kurenai fell back. But they underestimated the Water Formation Pillar. The water sphere burst on contact like a balloon, torrents surging in all directions. It snuffed out the fireball and swept over Kurenai and Izumi.
Rasengan!
Kurenai gathered chakra in her palm and slammed it into the onrushing flood. The water split in a whirling hole and sheared away in spirals.
"What?" the young woman's pupils shrank.
Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!
The instant she met Kurenai's gaze, Kurenai flashed through seals—and darkness fell. Robbed of sight, the young woman froze for a heartbeat.
Monster Strength!
Kurenai body-flickered to her and, with a full-power punch, sent her flying.
"What jutsu is that?" Izumi drew a sharp breath. Bringer-of-Darkness blinds everyone within its range except the caster. What shocked her most was that it even worked on the Sharingan. Only an Uchiha truly understands how terrifying it is to lose the Sharingan's sight.
Kurenai released the darkness, stepped to the unconscious young woman, and finished her with a clean blade stroke.
She looked over to Kabuto—his fight was nearly over. In a ninjutsu shoot-out, his Wind Release and the middle-aged Mist ninja's Water Release were evenly matched. But Kabuto wasn't fighting alone. Once Aburame Tokune joined in, momentum flipped fast.
Kabuto body-flickered to the outpost roof. The middle-aged ninja was busy evading Tokune's kikaichū. By the time he realized, Kabuto's kunai was already arcing in. He leapt back and raised a water wall—but
Wind Release: Vacuum Blade!
Kabuto exhaled wind chakra that clung to his kunai like a flowing edge. The water wall split. The Mist ninja tried to body-flicker away, but kikaichū erupted from the ground and wrapped his legs. Kabuto surged forward and took his head in one stroke.
"Clean the field," Kitazawa said, forming seals. With a puff of smoke, a shadow clone appeared.
"Head back to main camp and have them dispatch a squad to relieve us," he ordered the clone.
Their assignment was to retake the outpost, not garrison it.
Kabuto's team cleared the site. When they finished, a Konoha squad arrived to take over.
"Kitazawa-sama," the special jōnin leading the team greeted him with deep respect.
Kitazawa gave a quick handover and led Kurenai, Kabuto, and the others back to the main camp. The A-rank mission had gone smoothly.
Time slipped by. Kitazawa's squad kept up a pace of one mission per day, and ten days flew past. Their frightening efficiency sent their reputation soaring. Both Konoha and the Mist now knew there was a terrifyingly capable team out there—fast and successful, every time. Word also spread that Kitazawa was Tsunade's student.
[Current Mission: Lead your squad to complete ten A- or S-rank missions.]
[Reward: Composite Ninjutsu — Blazing Wind Wild Wave.]
[Host has completed the task. Reward delivered.]
Kitazawa received the fruits of his hard work: a combined technique—more precisely, two standalone jutsu and their combo. "Composite Ninjutsu: Blazing Wind Wild Wave" is a fusion of Fire Release: Intelligent Hard Work and Wind Release: Pressure Damage.
Kitazawa hadn't learned either yet, so, per usual, the system threw them in as a bonus. Buy one, get two free—an absolute steal.
~~~
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