Kitazawa had lunch with the Hyuga clan, then left under the watchful eyes of Hyuga Hiashi, Hyuga Homon, and the others.
He didn't go back to the Ninja Academy. Instead, he headed straight for the Forest of Death.
Just thinking back to how warm and enthusiastic Homon and the others had been over the meal made Kitazawa shake his head.
That kind of scene was still something he wasn't great at handling.
But he could understand it.
The "caged birds" had finally been let out of their cage. Of course they'd be excited.
Kitazawa suspected that, within the Hyuga clan, his prestige might already have surpassed Hiashi's.
After all, by modifying the Caged Bird seal, he had effectively saved every branch member of the Hyuga clan.
Kitazawa snapped out of his thoughts and activated the Byakugan.
He leapt forward, a few light bounds carrying him to a spot right in front of a small herd of wild boars.
The boars didn't shy away at all when they saw him. Instead, they all charged at him.
Byakugan: Suppressive Pressure!
Kitazawa's Byakugan flared. An invisible wave rippled outward.
The whole herd of boars collapsed one after another, instantly falling unconscious.
Kitazawa gave a small nod.
Even though "Byakugan: Suppressive Pressure" was mainly designed to work on people, in reality it affected any living creature.
Once he finished the test, he headed back to the Ninja Academy.
The upheaval within the Hyuga clan hadn't affected the Advanced Class students at all. They were still on the training field, each focused on their own practice.
Kitazawa's gaze landed on Hyuga Hinata.
Now that the improved version of the Caged Bird seal existed, both she and Hanabi would have to receive it.
After all, there was no downside.
More importantly, they weren't going to make exceptions anymore: every member of the Hyuga clan would be treated the same. No more split between main family and branch family.
"Hinata."
With that thought, Kitazawa called out to her.
Hinata quickly put away her Moonchaser Bow and jogged over to him.
She lifted her head to look at him, eyes bright and sparkling with youthful energy.
"Do you know what happened in the Hyuga clan today?" Kitazawa asked with a small laugh.
Hinata shook her head.
She was still young, and the whole thing had happened so suddenly that Hiashi hadn't told her anything yet.
"It's a good thing," Kitazawa said, then briefly explained the improved Caged Bird seal.
Hinata's face lit up with surprise and delight.
She knew what the Caged Bird seal was.
In the past, Neji had grown distant and cold toward her precisely because of that seal.
With Kitazawa's help, their relationship had improved a lot.
And now, with the improved Caged Bird seal, something like that would never happen again.
"You really are… cute."
Kitazawa reached out and gently ruffled her hair.
What he'd wanted to say was that Hinata's thinking was a bit too simple, that she didn't realize the deeper implications behind all this.
But on second thought, there was no need for her to know.
Hinata blinked, not quite understanding why he'd suddenly complimented her.
"Stay still. I'll put the improved Caged Bird seal on you," Kitazawa said.
His hand slid down and came to rest on her forehead.
Hinata immediately stood perfectly still, allowing his chakra to flow into her.
Applying the Caged Bird seal was much easier than replacing an old one.
In less than three minutes, a blue cross-shaped mark and two hooked lines in opposite directions appeared on her fair forehead.
Kitazawa withdrew his hand.
As his chakra faded, the mark vanished along with it.
That was what he liked most about the improved Caged Bird—no ugly blue symbol constantly sitting on someone's forehead.
Hinata instinctively touched her forehead.
She couldn't feel any difference.
"If nothing unusual happens, it'll never activate. Just ignore it in daily life," Kitazawa said with a smile.
The new Caged Bird only had one purpose now: to protect the Byakugan.
It would only trigger if an enemy tried to gouge out the user's eyes.
Beyond that, it did absolutely nothing. It was like it didn't exist.
"Okay," Hinata said, nodding.
"Since I happen to be free today, I'll teach you Multiple Arrow while we're at it," Kitazawa said.
He stretched out his hand and took her Moonchaser Bow.
Looking toward a row of wooden stakes in the distance, he raised his arm and drew the bowstring.
The Fatefeather Bow, which sealed the Zero-Tails, was better suited for Multiple Arrow.
The Moonchaser Bow, on the other hand, had Satori sealed in it, so using Multiple Arrow required an extra step.
He had to split Satori's chakra into multiple portions and infuse them into the Yin Release arrow.
Kitazawa released the string.
A single Yin Release arrow shot out, then shuddered midair and split into three Yin Release arrows.
Crack, crack, crack!
Three wooden stakes were pierced at the same time.
When Kitazawa glanced back, he found that Hinata had already activated her Byakugan.
The Sharingan could copy non–bloodline ninjutsu. The Byakugan couldn't do that, but it could assist in learning ninjutsu.
That was because the Byakugan let you see the flow of chakra directly.
Normally, the way chakra flowed was different for every jutsu.
"Here." Kitazawa handed the Moonchaser Bow back to her.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei," Hinata said, immediately raising the bow to imitate his movements.
Kitazawa watched while giving pointers as she practiced.
The sun dipped toward the west, and another day came to an end.
"Bye, Kitazawa-sensei!"
Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, Sakura and the others all came over to say goodbye.
Kitazawa watched them leave the academy.
He was just about to head home when a familiar silhouette appeared in front of him.
Kitazawa stopped in his tracks at once.
"Kitazawa-sama."
Uchiha Itachi walked up to him. "These are the documents on Shikotsumyaku."
"Thanks."
Kitazawa took the file. "Go home and rest for a week. Come find me again after that."
Dragging him off to the Hidden Sand Village to handle Mukade as soon as he came back from the Hidden Mist would've been way too heartless.
Even a 'nuclear-powered workhorse' needed a break.
Not to mention, Itachi was a total little-brother fanatic. He hadn't seen Sasuke in this long—he was probably dying to get home.
A week made sense; in a week, the new term would start.
"Yes, Kitazawa-sama."
Itachi nodded and disappeared from where he stood.
He really couldn't wait to go home.
Kitazawa stayed where he was and opened the file to read.
The contents were even more detailed than he'd expected.
It didn't just have Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch, but also Dance of the Clematis, Dance of the Seedling Fern, and every other Shikotsumyaku technique.
Which meant that once he obtained Shikotsumyaku himself, he'd be able to fully master all of its techniques just from this material.
Unlike Ice Release, where he'd had to develop all the jutsu himself.
[Current Mission: Master three Shikotsumyaku jutsu.]
[Mission Reward: Immunity to Shikotsumyaku's hereditary disease.]
[Accept Mission?]
Kitazawa paused for a moment, surprised the system would trigger a mission at this timing.
But the reward was pretty good. It meant that once he had Shikotsumyaku, he could use it without ever worrying about falling ill.
After accepting the mission, he turned to the section on Dance of the Larch.
The priority right now was helping Kaguya Kimimaro master Dance of the Larch, so he could finish the mission and truly obtain Shikotsumyaku.
Compared to the original Dance of the Larch scroll Kimimaro had given him, the material here was far more detailed.
It even included a lot of experiences and insights from Kaguya clan jōnin who had trained the technique.
Once Kitazawa finished reading, he felt confident.
He had been worried he wouldn't be able to teach Kimimaro properly, but now it looked like it wouldn't be a problem at all.
The next day arrived.
Kitazawa called Kimimaro over and began teaching him the Dance of the Larch.
Kimimaro listened with a look of astonishment on his face.
He'd been practicing Dance of the Larch for a long time. He hadn't mastered it yet, but he'd gained a decent understanding of it.
Now he realized that Kitazawa actually understood the technique better than he did.
It was bizarre.
Kitazawa didn't have Shikotsumyaku, and he'd only had the Dance of the Larch scroll for less than a month.
The only explanation was that a true powerhouse could understand all techniques through one.
Kitazawa's knowledge and perspective were so high that he could even guide him in Shikotsumyaku.
In this respect, Kimimaro even felt Orochimaru might not measure up.
Orochimaru had given him pointers before, but never with this level of depth.
A week passed quickly.
Summer break ended, and the Advanced Class started a new term.
On the second day after school reopened, Itachi left for the Hidden Sand Village carrying Kitazawa's orders.
As for Kitazawa, he split his time between learning Wood Release: Wood Clone and teaching Kimimaro Dance of the Larch.
By late September, it was a Tuesday morning.
Kimimaro stood on the training field and took a deep breath.
Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch!
In an instant, dozens of white bones burst out from his body.
Watching from not far away, Kitazawa thought he looked like a white hedgehog.
[Current Mission: Help Kaguya Kimimaro master Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Larch.]
[Mission Reward: 30% Shikotsumyaku.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
[Current Shikotsumyaku has reached 100%. Shikotsumyaku has fully awakened.]
Looking at the four lines of text in front of him, Kitazawa broke into a satisfied smile.
After all this time, he finally had Shikotsumyaku.
He raised his hand and focused. A piece of white bone pushed its way out from the center of his palm.
He only tested it briefly, then stopped.
After all, he was still standing on the academy training field.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei."
Kimimaro walked over to him, his expression serious.
"There's nothing to thank me for. It's all your own effort," Kitazawa said casually. "You've just learned it, so take some time to get used to it."
"Got it," Kimimaro nodded.
He felt a wave of relief. Now that he'd mastered Dance of the Larch, he should be able to keep his spot in the top five of the Advanced Class.
But he also knew he couldn't relax too much. The other students were improving quickly as well; there was no room for slacking.
Once Kimimaro left, Kitazawa headed to a quiet spot.
He had a system mission to master three Shikotsumyaku techniques, so he decided to start practicing them himself.
He began with the simplest: Shikotsumyaku: Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets.
Learning Shikotsumyaku had no downside.
Ninja battles were information wars.
Having Shikotsumyaku gave him an extra element of surprise.
In close combat, if he suddenly used Shikotsumyaku, most enemies would never react in time if they weren't prepared for it.
By sunset, Kitazawa had more or less mastered Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets.
The jutsu was simple: you used the bones of your ten fingers as projectiles.
The difficulty spiked from there.
The second jutsu he learned was Shikotsumyaku: Dance of the Willow.
It sounded simple—making white bones emerge from various parts of the body, like the arms or knees.
In practice, it was extremely hard, because it was a taijutsu-based technique.
To bring out the full potential of Dance of the Willow, you had to pair it with a fighting style as soft and fluid as falling willow leaves.
Kitazawa didn't keep training. He headed back to the training field.
Off in the distance, he could see Sakura and Yamanaka Ino sparring.
In a way, this was just their usual best-friend routine.
At first, Ino won more often thanks to Ninja Art: Mind Butterfly.
But over time, Sakura found ways to counter it.
She'd even learned a Water Release technique specifically to deal with Mind Butterfly, called Water Release: Instant Water.
By now, their win rates were basically fifty–fifty.
Kitazawa also knew Water Release: Instant Water.
It had two effects: first, high-speed movement through water; second, using the current to drag an opponent into the water and pin them down.
Sakura would usually create a water-filled environment.
When Ino used Ninja Art: Mind Butterfly, Sakura would use Instant Water to dive into the water and dodge the attack.
But with her limited chakra, it didn't always work.
"I win! Haha!"
Ino put her hands on her hips, looking very pleased with herself.
"Damn it…"
Sakura's face was full of frustration, the very picture of a sore loser.
"Kitazawa-sensei!"
Ino suddenly noticed him watching and ran over immediately.
"You did pretty well just now," Kitazawa said with a smile.
"I think so too!" Ino grinned, brushing a strand of blonde fringe away from her forehead, clearly delighted.
"Kitazawa-sensei." Sakura walked over to greet him as well, though her voice still carried a hint of sulky gloom.
Just then, the dismissal bell rang.
"You don't need to assemble today. Just head straight home," Kitazawa said after thinking it over.
"Bye, Kitazawa-sensei!"
Sakura called out, then hurried toward Sasuke.
Her smile returned as if that loss in their sparring match had never happened.
"That's Sakura for you," Ino muttered, shaking her head.
"By the way, your birthday's in a few days. Got anything you want?" Kitazawa asked, looking at her.
"Nope," Ino tilted her head, thought for a second, then said, "You can give me whatever you want, Kitazawa-sensei. Or nothing at all, that's fine too."
"Oh yeah?" Kitazawa teased. "What if I give you homework?"
"Definitely not that!" Ino shook her head furiously.
Kitazawa burst out laughing.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Ino said, hugging his arm, "you're not actually going to give me homework for my birthday, right?"
"Come on, it's your birthday. I'm not that cruel," Kitazawa said with a shake of his head.
"That's a relief."
Ino let out a long breath, then her eyes lit up. "I just thought of a birthday present!"
"What is it?" Kitazawa asked, looking down at her.
"Kitazawa-sensei, for the next monthly exam, I want you to be my squad leader. That'll be my birthday present!" Ino said with a big grin.
"Sure, that's easy," Kitazawa said, giving her a head pat. "Come on, I'll walk you home."
"Okay!" Ino bounced happily along beside him as they left the academy.
September passed, and the Advanced Class welcomed their first monthly exam of the term.
The format hadn't changed: written test, combat test, plus a mission.
Kitazawa kept his promise and picked Ino for his squad.
Along with her, he chose Haku, Jūgo, and Shion.
The reason he brought Shion as an extra was that the mission this time was in the Land of Demons.
This mission wasn't anything special—pretty simple, more like a sightseeing trip.
Shion was happy enough about it; she got to go home for a bit.
By the time they returned to the Leaf, another half month had gone by.
Kitazawa hadn't come back empty-handed either. He'd successfully mastered Wood Release: Wood Clone.
The next day, a Monday.
By late October, the temperature had dropped noticeably, and there was already a hint of early winter in the air.
Kitazawa headed for the Anbu base.
He pushed open the door and saw Konan sitting on the sofa, reading a stack of reports.
"What are you reading?" Kitazawa asked casually.
"The recent situation in the Land of Rain," Konan replied.
"How is it?" Kitazawa asked, curiosity piqued.
"Much better than before," Konan said, looking up at him, an odd light in her eyes.
The changes in the Land of Rain were entirely thanks to Kitazawa.
Driven by the twin engines of the silver jewelry business and the rainwater trade, the living standards of Rain's people had shot up.
They had once lived in poverty. Now they could at least eat three full meals a day.
And their quality of life was rising fast.
Konan had gone back once recently. What struck her most was that the people of the Land of Rain now had light in their eyes—or rather, hope.
She, Yahiko, and Nagato had once dreamed of bringing peace and prosperity to the Land of Rain.
None of them had expected that, with Kitazawa's help, that dream would already be halfway realized.
Kitazawa wasn't particularly surprised to hear all this.
The Land of Rain was, after all, a small country with a small population.
And after years of war, the people's expectations were actually very low.
With how much money the silver jewelry and rainwater ventures were making, ensuring they never went hungry was not that hard.
But going further would take time.
A country couldn't rely on just two industries forever.
"Kitazawa," Konan said after a moment's thought, "what do you think the Land of Rain should do next?"
"Money alone isn't enough," Kitazawa said, walking over to stand in front of her. "You also need people—talent."
"Talent?" Konan frowned slightly, puzzled.
"If the Land of Rain wants to develop, it has to rely on its own people," Kitazawa said. "Do you and the Akatsuki actually know how to run a country?"
"No," Konan murmured, thoughtful now. "I guess we'll have to ask the Rain Daimyo to recruit some capable people."
"What do you think of the Rain Daimyo and his noble officials?" Kitazawa asked, shaking his head.
Konan froze for a moment.
She'd never really thought about that.
Akatsuki's way of controlling the Land of Rain had been simple: use force to intimidate the Daimyo and his nobles into submission.
"They're parasites eating away at the Land of Rain," Kitazawa said, answering his own question.
"Parasites?" Konan echoed, confused.
From her point of view, the Land of Rain had been holding together pretty well.
So why was Kitazawa calling the Daimyo and those nobles parasites?
"I'm giving you a month off," Kitazawa said with a pleasant smile. "Go back to the Land of Rain and investigate. You'll understand what I mean when you see it for yourself."
~~~
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