Konoha's Forest of Death.
Konan descended from midair.
She could've flown straight back to the Anbu base, but that would've been way too flashy. Half the ninja in Konoha would notice.
Konan loosened her hold on Kitazawa and was about to step back when he pulled her in again.
"Did you put on perfume?"
Kitazawa lowered his head, leaned in close to her neck, and sniffed lightly.
"No."
Konan replied with her usual calm expression.
"Smells nice."
Kitazawa chuckled and finally let her go.
"If you like, I can—"
Konan stopped halfway, realizing how ambiguous that sounded, and cut herself off.
"Why'd you suddenly stop talking?"
Kitazawa looked at her beautiful, delicate face.
"I'm heading back to the Akatsuki today."
Konan changed the subject. "The commissioned job from Hōzuki Gengetsu should be done by now."
"The sooner you go, the sooner you're back."
Kitazawa nodded.
"Mhm."
Konan answered softly, then vanished from sight.
Kitazawa returned to Konoha and, after thinking for a bit, headed to the Hokage's office.
He pushed the door open and didn't see Tsunade right away.
He turned toward the sofa and saw her sprawled there without the slightest concern for her image.
Honestly, not surprising—but better than her sneaking off to the casino.
"It's only morning. How do you already look this tired?"
Kitazawa closed the door and walked over to her.
From above, he could clearly see the tilt of her clothes.
"Why can't I be tired in the morning?"
Tsunade asked lazily, eyes shut.
"You planning to rest up in the morning so you can hit the casino this afternoon?"
Kitazawa crouched down, once again appreciating the truth of "lying down really is the best position."
"Is that really what I look like in your eyes?"
The moment she heard the word "casino," Tsunade snapped her eyes open and turned on her side to look at him.
With that movement, her clothes bunched a little, her collar gaped open, revealing pale skin and the necklace half-buried in her cleavage.
"Do you even care about your image?"
Kitazawa's eyelid twitched.
"Image doesn't pay the bills, but you did just remind me of something."
Tsunade paused, then said boldly, "Give me money."
"As expected of you, Tsunade-sensei. Only you could pull off something like asking for money while lying down."
Kitazawa said, half-teasing, half-praising.
"That's my money!"
Tsunade glared at him. "Why shouldn't I ask for it?"
"I never said I wouldn't give it back."
Kitazawa laughed. "I'm just saying it's harder to hand you money if you're lying down."
With clear reluctance, Tsunade sat up, still lounging comfortably against the sofa.
"You look so tired, I'll reluctantly give you a massage."
Kitazawa sat down beside her and patted his thigh.
Tsunade went along with it, lying down with her head on his lap and her legs stretched out along the sofa.
"I don't think you're tired—you're just lazy."
Kitazawa reached out and squished her soft cheeks.
"What do you think you're doing? No respect at all!"
Tsunade shot him a warning look.
"Massaging."
Kitazawa answered calmly, sliding his hands up to her forehead.
Tsunade pouted, then shut her eyes again.
Her body quickly relaxed, and she drifted off to sleep.
Kitazawa subconsciously glanced down at her.
Her breathing was slow and steady, her clothes rising and falling with each breath in a very rhythmic—and very visually distracting—way.
After a moment's thought, pale green chakra flowed from his hands.
Time slowly passed.
Tsunade woke up.
She stretched lazily and felt wonderfully refreshed.
"Thanks."
She stood up, looking at Kitazawa.
"Just 'thanks'?"
Kitazawa leaned back on the sofa and looked up at her.
Tsunade stepped closer until her knees touched the edge of the couch.
She bent down, leaning in, and lowered her head bit by bit.
Kitazawa watched her soft red lips draw closer until they finally pressed against his.
His hand moved on instinct.
Since Tsunade was standing, his left hand landed on her thigh, while his right ended up on her backside.
The different sensation under each hand made his fingers unconsciously tighten.
Tsunade let out a soft hum, then rapped him lightly on the head with her hand.
After the tap, she wrapped her arms around his head and deepened the kiss.
Seeing that, Kitazawa's hands gently moved over her, tracing the lines of her body.
Tsunade only managed to endure his wandering hands for so long before finally pushing him away.
She took a step back, breathing slightly unevenly, a faint blush coloring her pale cheeks.
"Try that kind of nonsense again next time and I'll literally kick you out the door!"
she growled.
"Got it, Tsunade-sensei."
Kitazawa replied with a perfectly serious face, even though her threat didn't feel threatening at all.
"I'm hungry. Let's go eat."
Tsunade glanced at the clock on the wall and changed the subject.
"Are we eating out? Or having something brought here?"
Kitazawa nodded and asked.
"We're eating at the Konoha Casino!"
Tsunade instantly perked up.
Kitazawa could only shake his head helplessly.
So much for keeping up appearances—two sentences and her true nature came out.
"Come on, don't waste time."
Tsunade turned and headed for the office door.
"Aren't you forgetting something?"
Kitazawa reminded her with a smile. "You need to get permission from Shizune-senpai."
"Leave Shizune to you. You go convince her."
Tsunade stopped and urged him. "Hurry up, I'll wait for you!"
Kitazawa stood, walked up to her, and stole another quick kiss, earning a fierce glare before he finally headed for the Hokage's secretary room.
Watching him leave, Tsunade licked the corner of her lips, a smile unconsciously appearing on her face.
After exchanging a few words with Shizune, Kitazawa headed to the Konoha Casino with Tsunade.
These days, the Konoha Casino was the busiest business in the village.
First, because of the service. Second, because it was fair.
Even though they made a bit less than more crooked casinos, it was still a ridiculous amount of money.
After lunch, Tsunade rushed to the gambling tables like she couldn't wait another second.
Kitazawa sat beside her and, while he had some free time, went through his system quests.
Compared to before, he didn't have many unfinished ones left—only five.
Two long-term quests: help Uzumaki Naruto become a perfect jinchūriki, and assemble a new "Legendary Sannin" for Konoha.
Three relatively short-term quests: train four trusted subordinates, help Haku master three Ice Release techniques, and cultivate Earth Release resistance in the kikaichū.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
He needed to find a way to trigger more system quests.
Five felt a bit too few, and the quest to help Haku master three Ice Release techniques was about to be completed, which would leave him with only four.
On top of that, the "train four trusted subordinates" quest could also be finished at any time.
After doing so many system quests, he'd more or less figured out how they were triggered.
First: growth-type quests, usually triggered by the students in the Advanced Class.
Right now, training for the Advanced Class students had already settled into a steady rhythm.
The students most likely to trigger new quests were the newest additions—Shion.
Besides her, there was Kaguya Kimimaro.
Kitazawa mentioned him because Kimimaro's Shikotsumyaku was still 30% short of being fully awakened.
Second: ninjutsu-type quests, like learning new techniques or creating new ones.
Kitazawa thought of Sage Mode.
That was what he wanted most at the moment.
As for Wood Release, he was limited by his own chakra and couldn't learn more advanced Wood Release techniques for now.
Speaking of Sage Mode, the most likely triggers for related quests were the three great summoning places and Jiraiya.
Should he go pick a fight with Jiraiya? Or challenge the Great Toad Sage or the White Snake Sage?
Kitazawa doubted it would be that easy.
Third: event-type quests, tied to major canon storylines.
At this point in the timeline, there weren't any big arcs or main story events going on. They'd have to wait until the Akatsuki started the Eye of the Moon plan.
He could start the main plot early, but there was no need.
His strength still wasn't at the "invincible" level, and he didn't want anything to go wrong.
Aside from the main plot, there were plenty of side stories and movie plots.
Things like the Grass Village's Box of Ultimate Bliss or the Demon Mōryō from the Land of Demons—he'd already handled those and completed the associated quests.
Fourth: battle-type quests, triggered by defeating or killing well-known ninja.
Like the challenge from Kakuzu he'd just completed today.
That suddenly made Kitazawa think of Hōzuki Gengetsu.
As the Second Mizukage, he should logically trigger some kind of system quest.
Maybe it was because he'd been summoned with Edo Tensei?
And it did make sense: if Hōzuki Gengetsu could trigger quests, Kitazawa could just dig up every famous dead ninja in the world with Edo Tensei and farm quests nonstop.
What a shame.
The system might be a bit dumb sometimes, but most of the time it still behaved normally and wouldn't let him cheat that hard.
In short, those four types of quests were the ones that appeared the most.
But patterns were just patterns. Meeting the conditions didn't guarantee a quest—it just made it likely.
Kitazawa sank into thought.
The sun set in the west.
As expected, Tsunade spent the whole afternoon losing money again.
Kitazawa followed her out of the casino as she fumed in frustration.
"Damn it!"
Tsunade stomped down, and the stone under her foot instantly crumbled into dust.
"Tsunade-sensei."
Kitazawa reminded her, "Please don't damage the street."
Tsunade whipped around, giving him a sharp look.
"If you break the road, I'll have to find people to repair it tomorrow."
Kitazawa replied with a bright smile.
"It's not like I was planning to break it."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow and snorted. "I'm still the Hokage, you know."
"Shizune-senpai and the others will be off work soon. If they go home and find we're not there, they'll definitely get suspicious."
Kitazawa said, glancing at the darkening sky.
"Then let's go."
Tsunade responded immediately.
When it came to Shizune, she was a bit wary—maybe more like guilty.
After all, she'd snuck out to spend the entire afternoon at the casino during work hours.
Tsunade glanced at Kitazawa without thinking.
She couldn't help sensing something subtle.
Shizune and Kitazawa were alike in that both usually tried to rein her in—but when it really mattered, they were completely different.
Take today, for example.
Kitazawa had turned into her accomplice and personally escorted her to the casino.
"What is it?"
Kitazawa caught her expression and asked with a smile.
"I want roast chicken tonight. And sake."
Tsunade coughed lightly and said.
"Then you head back first and cover for us with Shizune-senpai. I'll go buy the chicken and the drinks."
Kitazawa thought for a moment and suggested.
"Mhm."
Tsunade nodded and turned to leave.
The next day—Tuesday.
In Amegakure of the Land of Rain, it was still raining.
But compared to before, the atmosphere had changed.
In the past, whether ninja or civilians, everyone found the constant rain annoying.
Now, when they saw rain, it was like seeing money. Everyone was excited.
Konan glanced around.
Every household had already installed water-collecting setups.
Rainwater flowed down from pipes along the rooftops and was directed into a reservoir outside the village.
Konan withdrew her gaze and walked up onto a high platform.
"What brought you back all of a sudden?"
Tendō Pain looked at Konan, a hint of surprise in his tone.
"I took on a commission in Konoha, so I had to come back once."
Konan explained. "I plan to send Kakuzu and Hidan to handle it."
She didn't mention that the commission came from Kitazawa.
Given how sensitive Kitazawa's identity was, she was worried Nagato would refuse if he knew, so she figured it was better not to say.
Pain nodded and didn't pry.
Even though he was the leader of the Akatsuki, Konan handled almost all of the organization's affairs.
He was a god, after all; he just needed to protect the Land of Rain.
"There's something else."
Pain suddenly remembered something. "Deidara went back to Iwagakure for personal reasons."
Konan froze for a second.
Deidara was Ōnoki's student. Why would he head back to Iwa?
She didn't know why, but Kitazawa's figure flashed through her mind.
She couldn't shake the feeling that this had something to do with him—or more precisely, with his Wood Release.
"The Akatsuki is facing a manpower shortage right now."
Pain continued. "I've already sent White Zetsu out to scout for candidates. If it finds anyone suitable, it'll notify you."
The Akatsuki recruited members for two reasons: capturing the tailed beasts and letting the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path absorb them.
Strictly speaking, the second was more important.
Catching the tailed beasts was something Nagato could do alone, but letting the statue absorb them wasn't.
That required an S-rank sealing technique called Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals.
Its effect was to extract a tailed beast from a jinchūriki and seal it into the Demonic Statue.
The only problem was that this sealing technique required ten ninja to perform it together.
And not just any ten ninja—they all had to be elite jōnin-level.
After all, Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals was S-rank. Ordinary ninja couldn't learn it at all.
On top of that, using it took several days. Anyone without enough strength would simply collapse halfway through.
In short, the Akatsuki had to maintain at least ten members.
But because of Kitazawa, Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, Orochimaru, and Deidara had either never joined or weren't currently in the organization for various reasons.
"I understand. I'll make time to go recruit people."
Konan nodded.
The Akatsuki's recruitment method was pretty straightforward: beat someone up first, talk later.
White Zetsu didn't have much combat ability, so Konan had to do the fighting.
As for Tendō Pain, unless something really major happened, he basically never left Amegakure.
Time jumped ahead to Thursday.
Before nine in the morning, every student in the Advanced Class had already arrived in the classroom.
The reason was simple: today was the first day of finals, and the written exam was in the morning.
"Are you guys going anywhere for summer break?"
Yamanaka Ino lay on her desk and blew upward, making her blonde bangs flutter.
"Summer means youth, and youth means intense training!"
Uzumaki Naruto said, giving a big thumbs-up.
"Don't you get tired of training all the time?"
Ino asked helplessly.
"How can youth ever feel tired?"
Naruto scratched his head and shot back.
"You shouldn't be asking Naruto that."
Inuzuka Kiba couldn't help commenting. "He's got more stamina than all of us put together."
"Do you guys want to go to the Land of Demons?"
Shion suddenly thought of something and asked.
"The festival in the Land of Demons is really fun!"
Naruto's eyes lit up instantly.
"It's not that fun. Better to train."
Uchiha Sasuke replied calmly.
"Then I'm training too!"
Haruno Sakura clenched her fists. "Then I'll be able to crush Ino easily!"
"No way!"
Ino sat up straight without thinking. "I'll work way harder than you!"
"No one's working harder than me!"
Naruto's teeth sparkled as he grinned. "Because youth is all about effort!"
"That's not necessarily true."
Tayuya cut in.
"Agreed."
Aburame Shino echoed.
"You're all doomed, you know that?"
Nara Shikamaru listened to them spiral into a competition of effort and looked like his soul hurt.
"You're working hard too, Shikamaru."
Akimichi Chōji smiled. "I've seen you training after school more than once."
"…Eh?"
Shion blinked.
So she was actually the laziest?
"Ahem."
Shikamaru quickly changed the subject. "Why don't we talk about the teams for the practical exam instead?"
"What's there to talk about?"
Kiba shook his head.
The first time they'd been grouped for a practical, everyone had their own preferences—people they wanted to team up with.
But after being split up so many times, that initial novelty was long gone.
At this point, it didn't really matter who their teammates were.
"Shame."
Shion said regretfully. "I can't be on a team with you guys."
She knew a few sealing techniques, but she didn't have much combat power. There was no way she could get into the top eighteen of the Advanced Class in the short term.
"You'll be our teammate sooner or later."
Tenten said with a smile. "There's never been a bad transfer student in the Advanced Class."
"Really?"
Shion was taken aback.
"Because every transfer student in the Advanced Class was personally picked by Kitazawa-sensei."
Ino said proudly. "His eye for talent is spot on. He's never been wrong."
Hinata Hyuga subconsciously nodded.
She clasped her small hands together, with only one thought in her heart—that she hoped Kitazawa would be the supervising instructor for this exam.
At nine o'clock sharp, the written exam for the Advanced Class began.
But Kitazawa didn't go to the classroom. He left invigilation to Iruka Umino.
He himself headed into the Forest of Death to train Wood Release.
He'd already learned Wood Release: Wood Transformation Technique. Now he was working on Wood Release: Wood Clone Technique.
In the original story, Wood Clones were probably the most useful among all clone techniques.
Simply put: more durable, harder to distinguish from the original, and tougher.
The most outrageous example was Uchiha Madara—his Wood Clones could even activate Susanoo.
They were far weaker than the original, of course, but that alone showed just how special Wood Clones were.
Time slipped by as he trained.
Footsteps approached.
Konan appeared in front of Kitazawa.
She'd returned to Konoha the day before yesterday and successfully brought back part of the Second Mizukage Hōzuki Gengetsu's body.
"The rankings for the Advanced Class written exam are out, Kitazawa."
Konan reminded him.
~~~
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