After word of Suikazan Fuguki's death spread through Konoha's main encampment, it set off heated discussion.
Beyond his special status, it was because of the harassment tactics his squad had used for more than a week. They were so strong that many Konoha teams were on edge, forced to stay constantly alert during missions. If the Suikazan squad suddenly showed up, it usually meant maiming or death.
Konoha had organized multiple strike teams to hit them hard, but the Mist squad kept slipping away. Now that Kitazawa's unit had taken them out, it felt like a major hidden threat had been removed. At the very least, Konoha's teams could head out without worrying about that squad jumping them mid-mission with disastrous results.
With Fuguki's death, the name "Kitazawa" once again spread among Konoha's shinobi. Before this, most people thought of him as Tsunade's student. Now, the Kitazawa in their minds had become a powerhouse. When the first thing people recall shifts from "Tsunade" to "his strength," it proves his reputation is rising fast.
In the original story, Sarutobi Asuma's rebellious youth had a similar root cause—everyone saw him only as the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's son. Proud and headstrong, Asuma went off to the Land of Fire to change that impression. But his talent set a ceiling: he could never surpass Hiruzen. He finally figured things out and returned to Konoha.
On a certain island.
Compared with the jubilant mood in Konoha's main camp, Kirigakure's was dead silent.
"You're saying Fuguki-sama is dead? Impossible!" Hoshigaki Kisame, still in the Anbu and one of Fuguki's trusted subordinates, stared in disbelief after hearing the report. Before Fuguki betrayed the Mist, Kisame had complete faith in him.
"Did you see it yourself?" Terumi Mei frowned. Her tone, too, was full of doubt. Fuguki had survived countless battles—how could he be killed so easily?
"I didn't see it with my own eyes, but I went to the battlefield. There was blood everywhere," the Anbu operative said after a deep breath. "Most importantly, I truly lost contact with Fuguki-sama and his team."
"I've already sent Anbu to Konoha's main camp to gather intel. We'll know soon enough," Ao said evenly, though his heart was anything but calm. In truth, he already believed the report—Fuguki was as good as confirmed dead. Otherwise, with his personality, he would've killed Kitazawa's team and hurried back for credit—maybe even used it as leverage to demand more command authority.
In that sense, Ao felt Fuguki's death wasn't entirely a bad thing. But losing him still weakened the Mist, making them even less of a match for Konoha.
The command tent fell quiet again, a heavy atmosphere spreading. The Mist jōnin waited, each with their own thoughts. Even the always-brash Momochi Zabuza felt the pressure.
"Ao-sama!" Another Anbu rushed into the tent moments later. "F-Fuguki-sama is dead!"
"He's really dead?" Ao unconsciously took a step forward.
"The news is already all over Konoha's main camp," the Anbu panted.
"You may go." Ao waved them out after a two-second silence. The two Anbu bowed and left.
"That was Fuguki-sama…" a Mist jōnin muttered, still in disbelief.
"It seems we need to reassess Kitazawa's strength," Ao sighed. "If he can kill Fuguki, it means we don't have a way to deal with him."
Suikazan Fuguki wielding Samehada was among the Mist's top-tier fighters. The only one who could reliably beat him was the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi. As for those currently in the Mist's main camp—Ao himself, Zabuza, even Terumi Mei—none of them could say they had a sure win.
"You don't know until you try," Zabuza growled. "Maybe Fuguki was taken out by a sneak attack."
"There's no such thing as 'sneak attack' on a battlefield," Terumi Mei said coolly. "Kitazawa has already cut down several of our elite. His strength is proven." Though she had two kekkei genkai—Lava Release and Boil Release—she wasn't confident she could defeat Kitazawa.
"Agreed. Stop underestimating him and take Kitazawa seriously," Ao said with a nod.
"So what do we do now?" Terumi Mei asked, looking to him.
Ao's head ached. Their original plan was to stall Konoha while Yuanshi and the others uncovered the real cause for Yagura's war. But half a month had passed with no progress. That meant more stalling. Then a thought struck him—maybe Fuguki's death was an opportunity.
"Konoha's morale is surging. We should avoid the edge for now," Ao said after a brief pause. "The Mist should pull back to the islands and stop engaging Konoha on the mainland."
"Ao-sama!" Zabuza protested. "That's killing our own momentum! It'll look like we're afraid!"
Quite a few Mist jōnin nodded. Retreating at this moment did feel wrong.
"I know you want to avenge Fuguki, but war isn't about a single bout," Ao said. "And if we fall back to the islands, we can actually play to our true advantage." Kirigakure excels at Water Release. Fighting on land against Konoha only wastes the ocean's boost.
"I agree," Terumi Mei said. She understood Ao wanted to buy time. More importantly, the odds of beating Konoha were too low; better to preserve their forces on the islands and revisit things after they learned what was really going on with Yagura.
"Konoha is likely to press the attack. Then we can use the sea to mount a strong counter and maybe even avenge Fuguki," Ao continued.
"Ao-sama makes sense," the Mist jōnin chimed in.
"Good." Ao let out a silent breath of relief. "Notify all Mist shinobi still on the coast—pull out tonight."
The moon rose and fell. A new day began.
Warm sunlight bathed a peaceful Konoha. Aside from the occasional victory report, most shinobi and villagers barely felt like they were at war. In the end, the Mist just wasn't strong enough to apply real pressure.
6:00 a.m.
Sarutobi Hiruzen arrived at the Hokage's office before breakfast because of a war report Tsunade had rushed overnight. After decryption, it landed on his desk. Konoha uses a layered encryption system for intel—the more important the intel, the stricter the safeguards during transmission. To prevent enemy code-breaking, robust ciphers are essential. Battle reports are top-secret and get encrypted as well.
Hiruzen opened the report with high expectations—and burst out laughing a moment later. "Victory dispatches always lift the spirits," he said with satisfaction. Since the war with the Mist began, Konoha had been on a roll, taking the initiative everywhere.
Meanwhile, the Mist had lost Suikazan Fuguki and Ringo Ameyuri in quick succession. Add Kurosuki Raiga to that, and you have two senior elites dead and one once-promising prodigy gone.
Hiruzen closed the report. If nothing unexpected happened, Konoha would win this war. Of course, you never relax before the end. The Mist must have relied on something to start this war. Hiruzen still hadn't figured out what it was, but if the Mist didn't want to lose, they'd reveal their trump card sooner or later. He also had to guard against Kumogakure taking advantage of the situation.
"Baku," Hiruzen called.
An Anbu operative stepped in. "Haru went to Tsunade, so Baku had taken his place" was the current rotation.
"Pass the news along," Hiruzen said, handing him the report.
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Baku took the report and left.
"This time, Kitazawa should become truly famous—not just in Konoha, but across the shinobi world," Hiruzen thought as the door closed. Konoha's biggest war gains so far were the deaths of Fuguki and Ameyuri—and both had fallen to a single person: Kitazawa.
Hiruzen could already foresee Kitazawa's name skyrocketing like Namikaze Minato's once had. That was a good thing. Kitazawa was Tsunade's student and part of the Hokage's lineage. His fame would be the Hokage lineage's fame—benefiting Tsunade most, since students reflect on their teacher.
Granted, Kitazawa's current notoriety came from Water Release and kenjutsu rather than medical ninjutsu, but people would still credit Tsunade. In their eyes, without Tsunade, Kitazawa wouldn't have learned so many techniques. Hiruzen, however, knew the truth: Kitazawa had earned them by over-delivering on missions and exchanging the new jutsu he'd created for more techniques.
Tsunade had always been a legendary kunoichi, but her hemophobia in recent years had dimmed her presence. Kitazawa's meteoric rise made many people remember her again. In short, the spotlight had returned. Once the war ended, Tsunade would practically be forced into the Hokage's seat—Konoha could hardly find someone more famous or more suitable.
At the Shimura compound.
By the artificial lake, Danzō Shimura stared at the water, expressionless, a fishing rod in hand. Since retiring, he'd been passing time by fishing. An Anbu appeared suddenly, dropped to one knee, and bowed. "Danzo-sama."
After Root was disbanded, many of its shinobi joined the Anbu. This one was among them. Though the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal had been lifted, his loyalty hadn't wavered.
"What is it?" Danzō asked with a glance.
"A fresh dispatch: Kitazawa killed Suikazan Fuguki," the Anbu replied.
Danzō's face stiffened. Kitazawa again? Every time Tsunade's student made a name for himself, it pushed her closer to the Hokage's chair.
He waved the operative away in silence. The Anbu vanished. Danzō touched his right eye. At this point, Kotoamatsukami was his only card. But Konoha couldn't keep winning like this. The public impact of a sweeping victory and that of a pyrrhic victory are not the same.
What worried him was Tsunade's soaring prestige if Konoha routed the Mist. Even if he used Kotoamatsukami to make her support him, Hiruzen and others would object. He couldn't mind-control everyone.
For Danzō, the best outcome was a pyrrhic victory—win, but pay a heavy price. Losses could be pinned on Tsunade to tamp down her momentum. But Konoha couldn't lose outright; otherwise, the other villages—especially Kumo—would pounce. If he became Hokage in that scenario, he'd be fighting wars on all fronts with massive risk.
He sank into thought, plotting how to engineer a costly Konoha "win." Feeding intel to the Mist was the easiest route—but his hands had to be clean. If discovered, he'd never be Hokage. Fortunately, though Root was dissolved, his death-loyal agents remained.
8:30 a.m.
Class at the Academy started in thirty minutes, but many of the "genius class" students were already on the field warming up.
"Sasuke-kun!" Haruno Sakura called out brightly as usual. Uchiha Sasuke ignored her, practicing Leaf-Style: Willow with his sword.
"Morning, Sakura." Ino's voice came from behind. Sakura reflexively turned. Ino walked up with Hyuga Hinata.
"You two ate in Kitazawa-sensei's office again, didn't you?" Sakura glanced at the direction they'd come from and guessed it immediately.
"Mm." Ino sighed. "It feels weird when Kitazawa-sensei doesn't come to teach."
Hinata nodded in agreement.
"There you all are." Kiba jogged over, a little out of breath, and lowered his voice mysteriously. "Guess what I just heard?"
"What could it be?" Shikamaru Nara drawled from where he lay on the ground. "It's obviously about Kitazawa-sensei."
"Save the smart talk for when it helps," Kiba shot back.
"Kitazawa-sensei?" Uzumaki Naruto bounced over, impatient. "Kiba, spill it!"
Even Sasuke slowed his forms at that, his eyes sliding Kiba's way.
"Weird," Ino said. "How come we haven't heard anything about Kitazawa-sensei? The war with the Mist isn't exactly a secret, and we're all from clan families—we usually hear things from our parents."
"You got here too early and missed the chatter," Kiba said smugly. "I overslept. First thing I heard when I woke up was news about Kitazawa-sensei."
"Quit stalling and say it!" Ino clenched a fist in mock threat. "Or else."
"You know Suikazan Fuguki, right?" Kiba cleared his throat.
"One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen," Tenten answered at once. "The Kurosuki Raiga that Kitazawa-sensei killed before used to be his teammate."
"Right." Kiba nodded. "Kitazawa-sensei killed Suikazan Fuguki on the battlefield."
"That's our teacher!" Ino pumped a tiny fist, eyes shining.
"Fuguki's also one of the Seven, but he's way stronger than Raiga," Kiba said proudly. "And he was the Mist's deputy commander."
As future heirs of major clans, they understood exactly what Kitazawa killing Fuguki meant.
"I wonder when I'll get to follow Kitazawa-sensei onto a real battlefield," Naruto said, full of yearning.
"That depends on whether Kitazawa ends up your jōnin instructor after you graduate," Neji said, giving him a look.
"He totally will!" Naruto flashed a thumbs-up. "We have the bond of youth!"
Hinata's hands came together unconsciously as she prayed her own team would get Kitazawa.
"Don't count on it," Shikamaru yawned. "A jōnin instructor only takes three students. The odds aren't in your favor."
"Shikamaru's right," Ino said, hands on hips. "I've learned several jutsu Kitazawa-sensei invented, so obviously my chances are better!"
Shikamaru twitched. Everyone had a chance—except the Ino–Shika–Cho trio, whose instructor was traditionally from the Sarutobi clan. That was an unwritten rule.
"I'm not the only one who learned his original jutsu," Kiba reminded her.
"If it's something Kitazawa-sensei taught, it still counts," Sakura sniffed. "He's Tsunade-sama's student. I've been learning medical ninjutsu, so my chances are even higher!"
"Kitazawa-sensei really is popular," Kurama Yakumo said with a soft laugh.
"Don't you want him as your instructor?" Karin asked her.
"If I get to choose, of course I'd choose him," Yakumo smiled.
"Doesn't he already have three students?" Sasuke cut in coolly.
"Eh?" Hinata looked up.
"You mean Kabuto-senpai and the others?" Naruto scratched his head. "Do we still have a chance then?"
"We're younger. By the time we graduate, he should be taking a new trio," Shikamaru said after a moment's thought.
"It's too soon to worry about that," Neji said evenly. "It's almost nine. Get ready to train."
"Yeah." Sasuke sheathed his sword. "Kakashi-sensei's here. I'm going to work on Lightning Release."
His Leaf-Style: Willow had just barely reached the beginner level, so he'd started learning Lightning Release: Chidori.
~~~
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