"Hinata."
After finishing breakfast, Kitazawa headed to the Ninja Academy.
"Kitazawa-sensei."
Hyūga Hinata stopped her training and walked up to him in a few quick steps.
"Congratulations."
Kitazawa reached out and patted her head. "You've already gotten the basics of Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven."
"I'm still not skilled enough."
Hinata answered honestly.
"Skill comes with time."
Kitazawa chuckled. "You've done really well already."
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei."
Hinata looked up at him and asked curiously, "Do I have new training today?"
"Not for now."
Kitazawa shook his head. "But you do have a mission today."
"A mission?"
Hinata's eyes lit up. "Kitazawa-sensei, are you leading the team?"
"What—if I say it's not me, are you not going?"
Kitazawa teased.
"I… I'll go either way."
Hinata lowered her head, a little embarrassed.
"Let's go."
Kitazawa pinched her cheek, then used Flying Thunder God.
The two of them appeared in the Forest of Death.
The moment they steadied themselves, they felt a sinister chakra spreading through the area.
Kitazawa raised his gaze and saw Uzumaki Naruto in a partial tailed-beast state.
He already had seven tails.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
In the original story, once Naruto erupted to eight tails, Namikaze Minato would appear and stop him from going completely berserk.
More accurately, it was a strand of chakra Minato had left behind—something like a mental imprint.
In fact, it wasn't only Minato. Uzumaki Kushina was there too.
When Naruto trained to enter Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Kushina's chakra appeared and helped him suppress the Nine-Tails.
That was how he successfully completed the training and awakened Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
But things were very different now.
Naruto wouldn't need to face Nagato alone, nor would he need to lose control and reach eight tails.
Still, when it came time to seize the Nine-Tails' chakra, Minato and Kushina's remaining chakra should appear.
Kitazawa wasn't trying to prevent that.
Without them, it wouldn't be easy for Naruto to smoothly awaken Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
What Kitazawa wanted was to help Naruto keep Minato and Kushina's chakra around for longer.
In the original story, after they finished helping him, they disappeared completely.
Kitazawa thought it through carefully.
Maintaining their chakra should be possible in theory—
as long as he could simulate Kushina and Minato's chakra.
That prerequisite wasn't especially hard.
Kitazawa now had mastery-level proficiency in the Six-Release chakra nature transformations, chakra shape transformation, and chakra control.
He guessed that the chakra Minato and Kushina left behind was either Yin Release or Yang Release.
"Kitazawa-sensei! Hinata!"
When Naruto saw them, he immediately dispelled the partial tailed-beast transformation.
"Jiraiya-sama."
Kitazawa nodded toward Jiraiya. "I'm taking Naruto out today for a mission."
Ever since returning to the village, Jiraiya had been teaching Naruto.
Not Sage Mode—Jinchūriki training.
In the original story, Jiraiya was the one who taught Naruto how to become a capable jinchūriki.
Kitazawa didn't mind.
One, it saved him trouble so he could do his own things.
Two, Jiraiya teaching Naruto wouldn't affect his system missions.
Flying Thunder God!
After greeting Jiraiya, Kitazawa brought Naruto and Hinata to the Land of Lightning.
He didn't know where Turtle Island was, but he knew it was in the sea near the Land of Lightning.
"Wait here a moment."
Kitazawa leapt up and, using Magnet Release, flew into the sky.
As he flew, he swept everything around them with the Byakugan.
In under half an hour, he found Turtle Island.
Turtle Island was a colossal turtle the size of an island.
Most people couldn't find it—because even if they did see it, they'd assume it was just a normal island.
But in front of Kitazawa's Byakugan, it couldn't disguise itself.
Even so, there was no point disturbing it or trying to subdue it.
Kitazawa's real target was the Falls of Truth on its back.
This so-called Falls of Truth forced anyone who entered it to confront the darkness buried deep in their own heart.
For most ninja, that effect didn't matter much.
But for jinchūriki, it was extraordinary.
To become a perfect jinchūriki, you must reconcile with the tailed beast.
That "reconciliation" isn't just talking it out—it's reconciliation at the level of chakra, or rather, the jinchūriki has to seize the beast's chakra.
But a tailed beast's chakra is steeped in malice and hatred.
If you slip up even a little, the jinchūriki gets affected—becoming unstable, losing control, and having their inner darkness fully triggered.
With Turtle Island's Falls of Truth, you can defeat that inner darkness in advance, then face the tailed beast afterward with a much higher chance of success.
Even then, it's only a higher chance—not guaranteed.
In the original story, if Kushina's chakra hadn't appeared in time, Naruto might not have been able to overcome the Nine-Tails.
Kitazawa descended from midair and walked straight to the Falls of Truth.
It was easy to find because four Cloud Village jōnin were stationed nearby.
The moment Kitazawa appeared, they surrounded him.
He didn't give them a chance to speak.
He activated his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
A dazzling crimson light flared.
The four Cloud jōnin reflexively looked into his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
The next second, all of them went blank and froze.
Kitazawa didn't kill them.
No one knew how long Naruto's training on Turtle Island would take.
In the original story it was quick—one or two days.
But this Naruto wasn't the same as the original; the situation was unknown.
Keeping those four Cloud jōnin alive might prove useful.
Besides, the Cloud Village would probably be too busy in the near future to pay attention to Turtle Island anyway.
Kitazawa vanished with Flying Thunder God.
He reappeared in front of Naruto and Hinata.
Without explaining much, he brought them onto Turtle Island.
"Cloud Village ninja?"
Hinata immediately noticed the four controlled Cloud jōnin.
"This is the Cloud Village's Turtle Island."
Kitazawa then explained Turtle Island's purpose to Naruto.
"So that's how it works!"
Naruto asked excitedly, "Then do I start training right now?"
He didn't care about "inner darkness" at all.
As long as he could get stronger, that was enough.
"Walk into the waterfall and you can begin."
Kitazawa smiled. "We'll wait outside."
In the original story, "defeating your inner darkness" manifested as two Narutos fighting.
Honestly, for the current Naruto, that kind of thing was exactly what he loved—pure, satisfying combat.
"Kitazawa-sensei, what should I do?"
Hinata asked proactively.
Kitazawa fell into thought.
He truly wasn't sure what else to teach Hinata next.
Her Gentle Fist was basically complete.
There weren't any new bow-style secret techniques either.
In terms of strength, Hinata was roughly at elite jōnin level.
But setting aside the World-Ending Arrow, she was still short of Kage level—more precisely, short on chakra.
Kitazawa immediately thought of Ōtsutsuki Toneri on the moon.
If he gave Toneri's chakra to Hinata, she'd most likely awaken the Tenseigan.
If Kitazawa's own Ōtsutsuki bloodline reached 100%, his chakra might have the same effect.
But the Tenseigan still wasn't in hand.
Then Kitazawa's mind suddenly clicked—Hinata's Moonchaser Bow.
That bow had Goku sealed inside it.
In a sense, Hinata could be considered a half-jinchūriki.
So could he have her borrow Goku's chakra and achieve a partial tailed-beast form?
In theory, yes.
Full tailed-beast transformation would be much harder.
Goku wasn't actually a tailed beast, and his chakra reserves weren't comparable.
And he was sealed in the bow, not inside Hinata's body.
But partial transformation was already enough—it would make up for Hinata's weakness in chakra.
Of course, if Hinata could use it, then Neji and Hanabi could as well.
"I have a new secret technique."
Kitazawa patted Hinata's head. "You can help me refine it."
But he didn't forget he still had another purpose today.
Kitazawa formed hand seals and created a shadow clone.
He sent the clone toward the Cloud Village to observe the battle between the Akatsuki and the Cloud.
Meanwhile, the real him stayed with Hinata to research Goku's partial transformation.
Time passed little by little.
By noon, Kitazawa received the shadow clone's memories.
The battle between the Akatsuki and the Cloud had already ended.
The battlefield was chosen at the Valley of Clouds and Lightning.
In the original story, that valley was Killer B's training ground—hidden and hard to find.
Killer B's fight with Sasuke happened there.
But this time, the Valley of Clouds and Lightning was far more lively.
On the Cloud's side, besides Killer B, there were the Fourth Raikage, Mabui, Yugito Nii, Darui, and many other jōnin.
Weaker ninja weren't brought along—showing up would just be suicide.
On the Akatsuki's side, they paid an enormous price: Nagato's Six Paths of Pain all moved out.
On top of that, there were five more members.
Konan protected Nagato's true body.
Mukade and four others—including Tobi—advanced with the Six Paths to attack the Cloud.
Kitazawa only recognized three of them; the remaining two were newly recruited elite jōnin who were never mentioned in the original story.
Even though the Cloud had more jōnin, they still lost.
The main reason was simple: Nagato was too strong.
The Fourth Raikage was powerful too, but not well-rounded.
His advantage was speed.
In raw power, he wasn't even above Tsunade.
He didn't have Sage Mode, nor did he know the Third Raikage's Hell Stab One-Finger Nukite.
And he also lacked intelligence on the Six Paths of Pain.
Because of that, he couldn't break through Nagato's defenses and could barely even get close.
His signature Lightning Release Chakra Mode was also countered by the black rods.
Those rods were created with Yin–Yang Release, and they could disrupt a target's chakra.
In the original story, even Naruto became unable to move after being hit by them.
If he hadn't lost control and surged to eight tails, he wouldn't have been able to break free.
In short, the Cloud's defeat wasn't undeserved.
They received an even harsher beating than Konoha did in the original story.
Kitazawa suspected it had something to do with him.
Because the Akatsuki wanted to concentrate their forces against the now-overwhelmingly powerful Konoha.
Before that, they needed to capture all the other jinchūriki.
Still, the Cloud was luckier than Konoha had been in the original story—
because Nagato didn't use Super Shinra Tensei.
Even so, the Cloud's jōnin suffered terrible casualties—its worst loss since the village was founded.
Time came to the second day.
Kitazawa had already formed an initial idea for Hinata's partial transformation.
At most, it would take half a month to finish refining it.
But calling it "partial tailed-beast transformation" didn't feel appropriate anymore—he planned to name it Yin Release Chakra Mode.
Later, on that foundation, he could create something like a Yang Release Chakra Mode version of Yin Release Chakra Mode.
Then Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and the others could use it as well.
"Kitazawa-sensei!"
Naruto's excited voice rang out.
With a bang, he dashed out of the waterfall.
Kitazawa instinctively sized him up.
There wasn't any obvious change, but he could still see the difference.
The chakra inside Naruto had become much more stable.
"We're going back to Konoha."
Kitazawa smiled. "The ninja world is pretty lively right now."
After a full day of word spreading, news of the Cloud's crushing defeat was surely common knowledge.
Flying Thunder God flashed—three of them returned to the Ninja Academy in Konoha.
"You two go to class."
After saying that, Kitazawa headed to the Hokage's office.
"Did you find Turtle Island?"
After confirming he was safe, Tsunade finally relaxed.
"Naruto has already completed Turtle Island's training."
Kitazawa smiled.
"That fast?"
Tsunade was surprised.
She'd assumed Kitazawa had only just found the island—she didn't expect Naruto to have finished the training already.
"Probably because Naruto's talent is high."
Kitazawa paused. "Next, he can try to fully master the Nine-Tails' power."
"If Naruto becomes a perfect jinchūriki, it'll greatly reduce the pressure on Konoha."
Tsunade nodded.
She meant the Akatsuki.
Now that the Cloud had been crushed, everyone knew the Akatsuki's next target was Konoha.
"How are the other villages doing?"
Kitazawa asked casually.
"Just like we predicted."
Tsunade snorted. "They're all waiting to see what happens between Konoha and the Akatsuki."
Kitazawa wasn't surprised.
Because in the original story, the Five Kage Summit happened after Pain invaded Konoha.
Back then, all five major villages had been attacked, so they naturally united.
Notably, Tsunade was in a coma then—Danzō served as acting Hokage at the summit.
But now, Konoha was still unharmed.
If everyone united now, Konoha would hold an overwhelming advantage—possibly even becoming the leader.
The other villages would never accept that.
"This is intelligence on Akatsuki members."
Kitazawa took out a scroll.
He had written it last night.
It mainly contained information on Nagato and Tobi.
"Rinnegan?"
Tsunade glanced at it and was instantly shocked.
"If nothing unexpected happens, the Akatsuki's leader is that student Jiraiya once took in."
Kitazawa added.
"I never thought he wasn't dead… and that he'd become the enemy of the entire ninja world."
Tsunade steadied herself, took a deep breath, and kept reading.
When she reached the Six Paths of Pain, she frowned, her expression turning extremely heavy.
"No wonder… the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths."
After a long silence, Tsunade asked, "Are you confident?"
Even though she trusted Kitazawa's strength, reading about the Rinnegan still made her waver.
"What do you think?"
Kitazawa raised his hand and gave her peach-like rear a smack.
Her full hips rippled from the impact.
Tsunade glared at him, but her earlier worry was gone.
If he was still messing with her at a time like this, then he clearly had absolute confidence.
"So this is that mysterious masked man with Wood Release?"
Tsunade asked when she reached the information on Tobi.
"That's him."
Kitazawa smiled. "Kakashi even cut off one of his arms."
"Who is this guy, and why is he targeting Konoha at every turn?"
Tsunade asked, confused.
Whether it was Wood Release or the Sharingan, both were deeply connected to Konoha.
She had a feeling this masked man was probably from Konoha.
"I don't know."
Kitazawa shook his head. "I heard Akatsuki members call him 'Tobi.'"
"Never heard of him."
Tsunade searched her memory but found nothing.
"Probably a fake name."
Kitazawa didn't tell her directly that Tobi was Obito Uchiha.
Mainly because he couldn't explain how he knew.
Besides, there was no need.
He wasn't going to "redeem" Obito like the original story and let him atone.
For someone like that, the best solution was to kill him.
"So the key is Nagato and this mysterious Tobi."
After reading the scroll, Tsunade said.
The other Akatsuki members were strong, but nowhere near Nagato and Tobi.
"Yeah."
Kitazawa nodded. "Once we deal with them, the Akatsuki falls apart on its own."
"Send the notice. We're holding a jōnin meeting tomorrow."
Tsunade thought briefly, then decided.
"A jōnin meeting?"
Kitazawa paused. "I think it's enough to just notify Konoha's upper leadership."
"It's not only about the Akatsuki."
Tsunade smiled. "It's also about changing the Hokage."
"You really can't wait even a second, huh?"
Kitazawa complained.
"A wonderful retirement life is waving at me. How could I not be in a hurry?"
Tsunade shot back.
"…"
Kitazawa's mouth twitched.
Fair point. I can't even argue.
"How about we hold the Hokage succession ceremony next month? The procedures take about a month to complete."
Tsunade had clearly thought it through. "And you can have the Advanced Class students graduate early this month."
"Mm."
Kitazawa nodded.
There were only half a month left until final exams this term.
Now, the finals could simply be turned into graduation exams.
And "early" wasn't actually that early—about two semesters, roughly nine months.
In fact, most of the Advanced Class students were already twelve.
Only someone like Hinata, born in the latter half of the year, wasn't twelve yet.
"Go call Jiraiya over."
Tsunade looked at the scroll. "He's Nagato's teacher. He should know first."
Kitazawa wasn't surprised.
He turned, went to the door, and relayed the order to the Anbu operative Haru.
Before long, Jiraiya rushed over.
"This is the intelligence Kitazawa gathered on the Akatsuki."
Tsunade raised the scroll.
Jiraiya immediately took it.
After a single glance, it was like he'd been struck by lightning.
Because he saw a name that should never have appeared: Nagato.
"How is that possible?"
Jiraiya blurted out. "Wasn't Nagato dead?"
"The intel you collected back then was clearly forged by Nagato on purpose—so you'd believe the three of them had died."
Tsunade said gravely.
"How did they become like this?"
Jiraiya stood there blankly, asking in disbelief.
In his memory, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan had all possessed beautiful ideals, always working for peace in the ninja world.
But the Akatsuki now were the exact opposite—actively shattering peace and throwing the world into chaos.
"I'm going to the Hidden Rain Village to find them!"
Jiraiya said at once.
"No!"
Tsunade stopped him. "The Akatsuki are enemies of the ninja world now. Going to the Hidden Rain is extremely dangerous!"
"I'm their teacher. Nothing will happen!"
Jiraiya said instinctively.
"Don't forget their objective."
Tsunade frowned. "If you go now and get captured, you'll be hurting Konoha."
Jiraiya stopped in place.
He clenched the scroll, hesitation on his face.
"The Akatsuki have already captured the Two-Tails and the Eight-Tails. It won't be long before they come to Konoha for the Seven-Tails and the Nine-Tails."
Tsunade continued. "When that happens, you'll have your chance to ask him yourself."
Jiraiya let out a long sigh.
Back then, he'd placed the most hope in Nagato—he'd even believed he was the Child of Prophecy.
After all, Nagato possessed the legendary Rinnegan of the Sage of Six Paths.
Jiraiya finished reading the scroll and left in a daze.
His once-proud student had started a war that swept across the ninja world—an enormous blow for him.
After Jiraiya left, Kitazawa didn't stay either.
He returned to the Anbu and had Haru and the others notify all jōnin in the village to attend tomorrow's meeting.
A new day.
Nine in the morning.
All of Konoha's jōnin had arrived.
Although no one had been told in advance, they all guessed this meeting was about the Akatsuki.
After all, everyone already knew the news of the Cloud's crushing defeat.
"I'm announcing the first matter."
After taking her seat, Tsunade swept her gaze across the room and spoke slowly. "We will begin the selection of the Sixth Hokage."
"What?"
The crowd erupted in shock.
They'd expected discussion on how to deal with the Akatsuki—who would have thought it was about choosing the Sixth Hokage?
Only Tsunade and Kitazawa knew about this.
Even Jiraiya, Uchiha Fugaku, and Hyūga Hiashi were caught off guard.
"Tsunade."
Jiraiya stood up. "This is Konoha's most critical moment. It's not suitable to change Hokage right now."
"Precisely because Konoha is in danger, we need to replace me with a Hokage stronger than I am, to stabilize the situation."
Tsunade shook her head.
The moment she said that, almost everyone turned to look at Kitazawa.
With Tsunade's strength, the only person in Konoha who could reliably beat her was Kitazawa.
Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Uchiha Fugaku wouldn't dare claim for certain they could defeat Tsunade.
As for Sarutobi Hiruzen—he'd already served as Hokage before.
~~~
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