The sun was setting.
"Y-You… you're leaving?" Konan's voice came out a little hoarse.
"Yeah." Kitazawa nodded. "Get some proper rest."
Konan's eyelashes trembled as she tried to prop herself up.
Her pale skin was exposed to the cool air as she moved.
After lunch, she and Kitazawa had spent an intense stretch of time together—long enough that, just from the weakness in her voice, the outcome was obvious.
"What, you're not listening to me?" Kitazawa reached out, caught her by the shoulder, and eased her back down.
Konan hesitated like she wanted to say something, but in the end she sank back under the blanket, only her head showing.
Lately, she'd been carrying a constant fear that she could lose Kitazawa at any moment—so if there was a chance to be with him longer, she refused to waste it.
Kitazawa's hand rose and rested lightly on her forehead.
A stream of Yang Release chakra flowed in, easing the fatigue in her body.
He could guess what she was thinking.
Someone as cool and restrained as Konan had been… far too relentless today, like she didn't care what it did to her. If not for the soundproof barrier, he honestly suspected the whole Hidden Rain would've heard her.
"Thanks," Konan murmured, feeling the comfort return to her limbs.
Kitazawa's fingers shifted gently, separating a few strands of hair that had stuck together with sweat.
A flush still lingered on her cheeks, making her look vivid and striking—an unfamiliar kind of allure.
"I'm heading back. I'll come see you again next time." Kitazawa stood.
"Mm." Konan answered softly, watching in silence until he vanished.
A week later, early in the morning.
Still half-asleep, Kitazawa heard urgent knocking at the door.
He opened his eyes at once.
In his arms, Tsunade frowned.
"That's not Shizune," Kitazawa said casually. "She wouldn't knock like that."
"Which bastard is making that kind of noise?" Tsunade muttered as she shifted.
Without thinking, she pressed her warm, full body closer against him—instinctively seeking the comfort of his heat.
"It's Jiraiya-sama." Kitazawa activated the Byakugan and immediately saw Jiraiya outside, still knocking.
A strange feeling tugged at him.
"That idiot is asking to get punched," Tsunade snapped, sitting up. "And Shizune didn't even stop him!"
"Not Shizune's fault." Kitazawa reached out and absently rubbed at her chest as he spoke. "You can sleep a bit more. I'll go see him."
"And you think I can fall asleep after you do that?" Tsunade shot him a look.
"Sorry. Reflex." Kitazawa withdrew his hand as if nothing happened.
"Honestly—every day you act like a kid." Tsunade's lips curled as she teased him.
"In front of you, Tsunade-sensei… I'm happy to be a kid," Kitazawa said, licking his lips.
"I think you're the one looking for a beating," Tsunade threatened, clenching her fist.
But the way she looked right then—bare and completely unguarded—made the threat feel more like a bluff, especially with the way her body moved as she spoke.
"I wouldn't dare." Kitazawa leaned in, kissed her once, then straightened. "I'll go talk to Jiraiya-sama."
"Go back to your room first," Tsunade reminded him.
She couldn't afford to let a second person find out what she and Kitazawa really were to each other.
Kitazawa nodded.
He understood her worries—she was afraid of gossip.
But he also had an answer: become the strongest in the ninja world… even unify it.
Then no one would dare say a word about them.
Kitazawa returned to his room, changed, and went to the living room.
"Kitazawa? What are you doing here?" Jiraiya froze when he saw him.
He'd only just returned to the village. He went to the Hokage Tower first, learned Tsunade had moved back to the Senju compound, and came straight over.
He hadn't known Kitazawa and Kurenai had moved in as well.
"Jiraiya-sama." Kitazawa explained, "Tsunade-sensei asked Kurenai and me to move in."
"I see." Realization dawned across Jiraiya's face.
He could more or less guess Tsunade's reasoning.
As for the possibility that Tsunade and Kitazawa had something… he didn't even consider it.
In the ninja world, teacher–student bonds were treated with real gravity. Something like that simply didn't happen.
"Tsunade-sensei probably isn't up yet." Kitazawa lifted a hand. "Please, have a seat."
"Mm." Jiraiya nodded and sat down, taking the tea Shizune poured.
After pouring, Shizune went back into the kitchen to make breakfast.
Normally she would've woken Tsunade first, but Jiraiya had insisted he'd handle it—leading to what just happened.
"Tsunade really did take in an excellent student," Jiraiya sighed after a sip. "I never expected Naruto, under your guidance, to defeat Sasori."
Sasori had been famous for a long time—known as Sasori of the Red Sand.
After killing the Third Kazekage, his name only grew bigger.
His strength, too, had reached the very top tier of the ninja world.
When Jiraiya first heard Naruto had beaten him, he'd honestly assumed it was someone else with the same name.
But there was only one child of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato.
"That was Naruto's own effort," Kitazawa said modestly.
"He's still young—no amount of effort alone explains strength like that," Jiraiya said, shaking his head. "Let's talk business."
Kitazawa accepted the shift. "Tsunade-sensei called you back because she wants Naruto to become a Mount Myōboku contractor."
"I was planning that anyway." Jiraiya chuckled. "I just didn't expect him to grow this fast—qualified even before finishing the academy."
"In any case, the Akatsuki are capturing tailed beasts and jinchūriki everywhere." Jiraiya's expression hardened. "I think he should lie low at Mount Myōboku for a while. And I can teach him Sage Mode."
"I don't think that's the right move," Kitazawa said, shaking his head. "A ninja should have the courage to face hardship head-on."
"You're not wrong," Jiraiya said seriously, "but he's still young, and the Nine-Tails jinchūriki cannot be lost."
"I agree with Kitazawa." The crisp sound of high heels approached, and Tsunade—fully dressed now—appeared in the living room.
"Tsunade," Jiraiya pressed, "we need to think this through."
"Why not ask Naruto what he wants?" Kitazawa suggested after a moment. "He's old enough to decide for himself."
"Fine." Jiraiya agreed. "I'll go talk to him in a bit."
"And why did you come here at dawn and ruin my sleep?" Tsunade asked, sitting beside Kitazawa, clearly annoyed.
"I just wanted to—" Jiraiya started, then saw Tsunade's fist tighten.
He swallowed the rest of the sentence.
"Are you done talking?" Tsunade asked Kitazawa.
"I already told Jiraiya-sama about Naruto," Kitazawa replied.
"Good." Tsunade nodded.
At that moment, Shizune emerged from the kitchen. "Breakfast is ready. Come eat."
Behind her was Uzumaki Rina.
"Tsunade, why did you suddenly move back to the Senju compound?" Jiraiya asked curiously.
"This is my home," Tsunade said flatly. "Me moving back is normal."
"But it is nicer—more people, more lively." Jiraiya rubbed his hands together. "So… can I stay here for a while?"
"No," Tsunade refused instantly. "It's all women here. You living here isn't appropriate."
"But Kitazawa's here," Jiraiya argued immediately.
"He lives here with Kurenai," Tsunade said evenly. "If you want to stay, stay with Naruto. It'll be convenient for you to teach him."
Jiraiya blinked, then finally caught up.
So Kitazawa and Kurenai were a couple now?
Thinking about it… that was normal. Kitazawa was simply too outstanding.
If he were Tsunade's age, Jiraiya honestly doubted even she could resist his charm.
Thankfully, their age gap—and the teacher–student relationship—made that impossible.
After breakfast, Tsunade, Shizune, and the others went to the Hokage Tower.
Kitazawa and Jiraiya headed to the ninja academy.
"Old man!" Jiraiya shouted as soon as he spotted Hiruzen Sarutobi in the distance.
"Jiraiya?" Hiruzen looked surprised. "When did you get back?"
"Jiraiya-sama." Yamato and the others greeted him quickly.
Kakashi Hatake, in particular, looked like he wanted to ask when the next volume of Icha Icha Paradise would be released.
"I just got back," Jiraiya said. "I was going to the Land of Rain to investigate the Akatsuki, but Tsunade called me back to teach Naruto."
"What can you even teach Naruto?" Hiruzen asked—echoing the same doubt Tsunade had.
From their perspective, Naruto lacked nothing.
With seven prodigy-class instructors, he was better off than with Jiraiya alone.
"Old man, you make it sound like I'm a useless ninja," Jiraiya complained. "I'm one of the Legendary Sannin, you know."
"So what?" Hiruzen said blandly. "I trained you."
"I—" Jiraiya choked, then could only sigh. "The Advanced Class really is too blessed."
"In any case, there is one thing you can offer that I can't." Jiraiya grinned. "Mount Myōboku."
"He can become a Mount Myōboku contractor," Hiruzen said, frowning, "but he cannot leave Konoha like you did. He's the Nine-Tails jinchūriki."
"I understand." Jiraiya knew Hiruzen and Tsunade had no interest in Mount Myōboku's prophecies.
"Good." Hiruzen nodded.
"Then I'll go talk to Naruto." Jiraiya walked toward him.
The conversation went smoothly.
After all, Jiraiya had been Namikaze Minato's teacher.
Before long, Naruto signed his name and became a Mount Myōboku contractor.
"Naruto, give it a try," Jiraiya said with a grin.
"Not at school," Kitazawa warned immediately.
With Naruto's current power, he definitely wouldn't end up summoning something tiny like in the old days.
"Then the Forest of Death," Jiraiya decided.
"I'll send us there with Flying Thunder God," Kitazawa said.
"Flying Thunder God?" Jiraiya whipped his head toward him.
"You've been away too long," Hiruzen said pointedly. "Otherwise you'd know Kitazawa mastered it."
"You actually learned Flying Thunder God?" Jiraiya stared, shocked.
"Got lucky," Kitazawa said with a small smile.
"Tsunade really did take in an unbelievable student," Jiraiya sighed again. "Now you've even surpassed Minato. Out of the three of our students—you're the best."
He meant the three of them: himself, Orochimaru, and Tsunade.
In the past, Minato's Flying Thunder God had given him an edge.
But with Kitazawa mastering it too, he completely outstripped Minato—especially since he also had Wood Release.
Kitazawa only smiled, not answering.
As he prepared to use Flying Thunder God, he noticed Uchiha Sasuke and the others watching with open curiosity.
Jiraiya hadn't exactly hidden his talk with Naruto, so they'd all heard that Naruto had become a Mount Myōboku contractor.
And Mount Myōboku's reputation was enormous—one of the Three Great Sage Regions in legend.
But none of them had ever seen it firsthand.
"You're coming too." Kitazawa smiled.
"You can carry that many people with Flying Thunder God?" Jiraiya blurted, stunned.
Kitazawa nodded and activated the technique.
In the next instant, everyone was transferred to the Forest of Death.
"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto formed seals the moment he steadied his footing.
With a thunderous boom, an enormous toad dropped from the sky.
It was red all over, a pipe clenched in its mouth, a short blade tucked at its waist.
"So cool!" Naruto shouted, instantly thrilled.
He'd wanted a big summon ever since he saw Tenten's Shiromari—now he'd finally gotten what he wished for.
Sasuke, on the other hand, couldn't hide the envy in his eyes.
A toad that huge—and from Mount Myōboku—was bound to be strong.
And it was.
The toad Naruto summoned was Gamabunta, one of Mount Myōboku's strongest.
He excelled at Fire Release and swordsmanship—and had even used transformation to briefly grapple with the Nine-Tails and Shukaku in the past.
In the original story, Naruto called him "Boss Toad."
He was also one of the keys to Jiraiya's status as a Legendary Sannin—rivaling Orochimaru's Manda and Tsunade's Katsuyu.
Kitazawa glanced at Sasuke.
After the surgery succeeded, he planned to take Sasuke to Orochimaru and obtain a Ryūchi Cave summoning scroll.
The only problem was that the snakes of Ryūchi Cave were brutal—Manda most of all.
But Sasuke would never offer sacrifices to Manda.
Kitazawa saw a simple solution: fight him—fight until he submits.
If physical "reason" didn't work, Sasuke's Mangekyō Sharingan could force compliance on the mental level.
As for who should contract Shikkotsu Forest next…
A contractor didn't have to be only one person.
Haruno Sakura, Karin, and Shion could all become contractors.
Even non-medical ninja like Hyūga Hinata and Hyūga Neji would work.
Kitazawa's thoughts shifted, and he realized Hinata and Neji were especially well-suited to Katsuyu.
Katsuyu's split bodies could share vision.
In other words, Katsuyu's fragments could "see" places beyond the Byakugan's direct line.
With an additional Katsuyu fragment acting as an anchor, Hinata and Neji could theoretically achieve limitless effective range.
And Katsuyu's combat ability wasn't weak either—she could protect them better as long-range archers.
After thinking it through, Kitazawa ultimately decided the third member of the "new Konoha Legendary Sannin" would be Hinata.
Once she unveiled her World-Ending arrow, her fame would explode.
And at Naruto and Sasuke's level, they no longer truly needed a dedicated medic-nin.
"We can go back to school, Kitazawa." Jiraiya finished introducing Naruto to Gamabunta and sent the toad back to Mount Myōboku.
This summon was only to test the technique.
Everything else—especially the plan to have Naruto learn Sage Mode—Jiraiya would explain later.
Kitazawa nodded and used Flying Thunder God again.
In the next instant, everyone returned to the academy field.
"It's about time. Go train." Kitazawa clapped his hands.
"Naruto, I still have some things to tell you," Jiraiya said. "Come with me."
"Sure, Jiraiya-uncle," Naruto replied.
He didn't treat Jiraiya as his master the way he once might have—because in this timeline, Jiraiya hadn't really taught him much.
"Sasuke." Kitazawa called, stopping him.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Sasuke's eyes lit up. "Can I get a summon from one of the Three Great Sage Regions too?"
"You can," Kitazawa nodded, "but not yet. You have something more important first."
"What is it?" Sasuke froze, then grew excited. "A mission outside the village?"
Ever since Naruto became famous across the ninja world, Sasuke had been waiting for his own chance.
"No." Kitazawa shook his head. "The surgery for the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan."
"The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?" Sasuke looked confused.
"It's an evolution of the Mangekyō," Kitazawa explained. "It lets you use your ocular techniques repeatedly without going blind."
"There's an evolution?" Sasuke was stunned—then proud.
As expected, the Uchiha truly were the strongest bloodline clan!
"Get ready," Kitazawa said after a moment. "In daily training, use Naruto's Yang Release chakra for activation as much as possible."
Only then did Sasuke understand why he'd been learning Yang Release activation—so it was for the Eternal Mangekyō.
Kitazawa glanced toward Jiraiya and Naruto in the distance.
In another version of events, Naruto might've gone to Mount Myōboku to learn Sage Mode.
But now, he probably wouldn't.
He had too many teachers and too many peers here.
Before long, Jiraiya returned with a frustrated look.
Clearly, things hadn't gone smoothly.
"He doesn't want to go to Mount Myōboku," Jiraiya sighed. "Then he'll stay in Konoha and keep learning."
"You can teach him Sage Mode here," Kitazawa suggested.
"I won't stay in Konoha long," Jiraiya said. "The ninja world is in turmoil. The Child of Prophecy could appear at any time."
"You still want to go to the Hidden Rain?" Kitazawa raised a brow.
"I do," Jiraiya admitted, "but since Tsunade won't allow it, I'll stay in Konoha for a while and watch how things develop. If someone who looks like the Child of Prophecy appears, I'll go find them."
Kitazawa nodded.
He'd done all he could. If Jiraiya truly insisted on walking into death, Kitazawa couldn't stop him.
For now, though, Tsunade as Hokage could at least rein him in.
"You can teach in the Advanced Class while you're here," Kitazawa added.
Kurenai was away for the moment; Jiraiya could substitute.
"No problem." Jiraiya agreed immediately. "I can test whether Naruto has talent for Sage Mode."
With that, he led Naruto to another training area.
"Kitazawa-sensei—then what about my training?" Sasuke asked as Naruto left.
"I'll teach you a new Lightning Release technique," Kitazawa said as a thought struck him. "An S-rank one. It's called Lightning Release: Kirin."
Naruto had earned the title "Dragon of Konoha" thanks to the Leaf Dragon God.
If Sasuke mastered Kirin, maybe he'd earn "Konoha's Kirin."
"Come with me." Kitazawa turned and walked out.
Kirin was too destructive to teach at school.
Sasuke followed, buzzing with excitement.
After an hour of teaching, Kitazawa left a shadow clone to continue the lesson.
He went to the Land of Snow and brought Kurenai back.
Even after returning to Konoha, she still couldn't go back to teaching at the academy yet—she was preparing Konoha's first film.
Time moved into April.
The Advanced Class finished their finals and entered break.
On the second day of the break, at Konoha Hospital—
Uchiha Sasuke lay on the operating table, eyes closed.
Outside the operating room waited Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Mikoto, and Uchiha Itachi.
They were worried, but they trusted Kitazawa and Tsunade enough not to spiral into panic.
After all, the two best medical nin in the ninja world were right here.
Even if Sasuke didn't awaken the Eternal Mangekyō, he wouldn't be harmed.
[Current Mission: Help Uchiha Sasuke awaken the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.]
[Mission Reward: Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa looked at the three lines of text and finally exhaled.
Sasuke hadn't woken yet, but if the system marked the mission complete, then the surgery had succeeded.
Kitazawa blinked unconsciously.
He could feel his ocular power increase.
But aside from that, nothing new appeared.
His thoughts drifted to the Rinnegan.
If he didn't rely on system missions, he'd likely have to gather the chakra of Asura's and Indra's reincarnations to awaken it.
But Kitazawa suspected that if he truly tried something like that… he might just lure out the Sage of Six Paths himself.
~~~
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