A new day.
Kitazawa walked into the Hokage's office together with Tsunade.
Today, they were selecting squad leaders for the graduating students of the Advanced Class.
In the past, this work was always handled personally by the Hokage.
After all, in the ninja world, the teacher–student bond is taken extremely seriously.
That bond represents the inheritance of power and techniques.
With a strong mentor, a ninja can often rise in a single leap.
Take Namikaze Minato, a civilian-born ninja—if he hadn't become Jiraiya's student, he never would've learned the Flying Thunder God Technique.
And for students from major clans, their assigned teacher can involve power and interests even more directly.
Like Ino–Shika–Chō.
For generations, Ino–Shika–Chō's squad leader had always come from the Sarutobi clan.
Tsunade didn't sit in the Hokage's chair. Instead, she sat down on the sofa.
Kitazawa sat beside her and, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, rested his left hand on her thigh.
Through her trousers, he idly kneaded the muscle there.
Compared to Kurenai and Konan, Tsunade's figure was more mature and full, her legs carrying a heavier, richer softness.
Kitazawa liked it—liked the way she could lie back on the bed while he stood, holding her thighs in his hands.
"Jōnin are limited in number," Tsunade said, not bothering to react to his wandering hand. "How many jōnin squad leaders do you think the Advanced Class should get?"
Squad leaders could range from chūnin at the minimum to jōnin at the top.
But it was impossible for every squad to be led by a jōnin.
In the original structure, only the most elite graduating squads had jōnin leaders.
Kitazawa fell into thought.
Because of the ripple effects he'd created, the Advanced Class now had far more top-tier students than before.
Strictly speaking, the top twenty-one all deserved jōnin leadership.
Even Chino and Hotaru, who joined later, had the potential to reach jōnin level.
"Seven," Kitazawa finally answered.
"That's the most jōnin squad leaders a single class has ever needed," Tsunade said with a small laugh.
"This is the list of potential squad leaders I put together," Kitazawa said, casually producing a scroll.
Tsunade glanced at it—and found it absurdly long. More than fifty names, all of them at least special jōnin in strength.
"Did you write down every suitable ninja you could think of?"
"Pretty much," Kitazawa replied. "The Advanced Class graduates all deserve good teachers."
Tsunade suddenly thought of something and looked at him. "Are you going to be a squad leader too?"
"I am," Kitazawa said. "I'm going to form a new 'Three Legendary Sannin of Konoha.'"
"So your students are Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata?" Tsunade asked. She'd heard him mention this "new trio" before.
"Yeah," Kitazawa nodded.
"In terms of both strength and status, there are only a handful of ninja in Konoha qualified to lead those three," Tsunade said, agreeing. "You really are the best choice."
Naruto was the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki.
Sasuke and Hinata were heirs to two of Konoha's greatest clans.
Putting those three on one team raised the bar for a squad leader to an extreme—outside of Kitazawa, finding a second candidate would be almost impossible.
Hiruzen, Tsunade, and Jiraiya could do it too, but they belonged to an older generation, and it wouldn't fit as well.
"As for the remaining six jōnin," Kitazawa said after thinking, "five are already decided: Kakashi, Asuma, Yamato, Guy, and Kurenai."
In the original lineup, Asuma Sarutobi, Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, and Kurenai Yūhi were all jōnin squad leaders.
Yamato had once served as a temporary leader as well.
Now, with more students overall, he could take a squad from the start.
"I have an idea for the last jōnin," Tsunade said with a knowing smile. "Mitarashi Anko."
Kitazawa blinked, surprised.
After a moment's thought, he realized it really could work.
Originally, Anko was a special jōnin—but because of the changes Kitazawa had triggered, after Orochimaru returned to Konoha, she became the commander of the Cursed Seal Ninja Unit.
With the Cursed Seal of the Heaven empowering her, her strength had already surpassed ordinary jōnin.
More importantly, the Advanced Class included three students with cursed seals.
Kimimaro, Jūgo, and Tayuya.
Tayuya hadn't received the Cursed Seal of the Earth yet, but in the original circumstances, she would have had it—Kitazawa planned to give it to her shortly.
Having Anko lead the former Sound trio made perfect sense.
In temperament, she was far more open and straightforward than Orochimaru ever was.
"Then it's her," Kitazawa agreed.
Tsunade noticed something and asked, "What about Gaara and Fū? Aren't they graduating too?"
"For now, they won't be assigned a squad leader," Kitazawa explained. "We'll talk after the tailed-beast situation is handled."
"Fair," Tsunade said, roughly guessing his reasoning.
Neither Gaara nor Fū had truly become full members of Konoha yet.
"Then next we'll discuss how to assign the students," Kitazawa said. "Let's start with Kurenai. Her squad will be Yakumo, Kiba, and Karin."
In the old arrangement, Kurenai's students were Hinata, Kiba, and Shino.
To be honest, a genjutsu specialist like Kurenai didn't naturally match a team of scouts and sensors.
Now that Hinata was on Kitazawa's own team, she obviously couldn't be assigned to Kurenai anymore.
Kiba could stay—he could continue handling tracking and recon.
Karin didn't even need explaining: she was both a medic-nin and a sealing specialist, and if her sensory gifts awakened further, she'd become even more terrifying.
But with just those two, the squad's offensive power would be thin—adding Yakumo balanced that out.
With genjutsu talent at a level that only a handful of ninja in the world could resist, Yakumo filled the missing "attack" slot cleanly.
That made the squad well-rounded: sensing, control, damage, and healing, all covered.
"You're really good to Kurenai," Tsunade said, lifting an elbow and bumping him in the side.
"With a clear conscience, I'm good to you too," Kitazawa said, lifting his hand and placing it right over her chest.
He immediately felt the shape of the necklace against his palm.
"During work," Tsunade said without hesitation, slapping his hand away, "you must show the Hokage proper respect."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kitazawa said, blinking. "Then do you have any suggestions for Kakashi's students?"
Originally, Kakashi's team was Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura.
Now, only Sakura remained unassigned.
"You're the Advanced Class teacher," Tsunade said, tossing the question back at him. "You should be the one making suggestions."
"Kakashi is one of the rare ninja proficient across many natures," Kitazawa said after a short pause. "He can lead almost anyone. I'd give him Shino, Chino, and Sakura."
Shino had become far more complete than before—an elite jōnin in all but name, able to fit anywhere.
Chino didn't have the Sharingan, but her Ketsuryūgan was similar in several ways; Kakashi could guide her well.
And Sakura—no explanation needed: a medic-nin who also trained in Water Release.
Like the previous team, it was balanced: sensing, control, damage, and healing.
"That works," Tsunade nodded.
"Asuma will lead the new generation of Ino–Shika–Chō, as usual," Kitazawa continued.
He chose not to break up Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji.
All three had received major upgrades in their capabilities; they could easily carry a team.
Asuma was a solid person, too.
And splitting Ino–Shika–Chō from the Sarutobi connection would only create unnecessary rumors and political noise.
In the ninja world, strength ruled.
Kitazawa didn't care about alliances on paper.
"Anko is the head of the Cursed Seal Unit," Kitazawa went on. "Her students should ideally have cursed seals too—Kimimaro, Jūgo, and Tayuya."
"That leaves Yamato and Guy," Tsunade reminded him.
Kitazawa fell into thought again.
In the original lineup, Guy's students were Neji, Tenten, and Lee.
He hadn't wanted to change that—but if he didn't, Yamato's squad would look noticeably weaker by comparison.
Once Neji's group was set aside, the remaining unassigned students were things like Shion, Haku, and Hotaru.
After thinking it through, Kitazawa finally decided to split things for balance—mainly because he trusted Guy's strength to stabilize any configuration.
"Guy's squad will be Haku, Hotaru, and Rock Lee," Kitazawa said slowly. "Yamato's squad will be Neji, Tenten, and Shion."
Mixing them like that made the overall power distribution more even.
And honestly, Guy wasn't the best fit for Neji and Tenten anyway—he couldn't teach them much.
Neji's path centered on Gentle Fist and specialized archery-style techniques.
Tenten specialized in summoned weaponry and contracts.
Neither aligned closely with Guy's taijutsu focus—moving them to Yamato's squad wouldn't hurt their development.
The only one who truly couldn't be moved was Lee.
Lee was a taijutsu specialist; paired with Haku's Ice Release and Hotaru's Water Release, the squad had both close-range and long-range capability.
Of course, the strongest member of that squad was Guy himself.
With the Eight Gates fully opened, his strength approached the very top of the ninja world.
"I don't have any objections," Tsunade said, accepting the plan.
"Then we'll handle the remaining students and divide them into squads," Kitazawa said with a smile.
The rest weren't on the level of the top twenty-one, but anyone who made it into the Advanced Class still had strong talent and skill.
Their squad leaders would no longer be jōnin, but special jōnin.
Half an hour later, every student in the Advanced Class had been assigned.
The final squads would be announced on the day of the graduation exam.
"Tsunade-sensei," Kitazawa said, a thought surfacing. "I suggest we hold the Advanced Class graduation exam at the Konoha Arena."
The Konoha Arena was the same venue used for the third stage of the joint chūnin exams.
It was large and could accommodate a huge audience.
As the place where the Advanced Class would make their name, it was perfect.
"Do whatever you think is best," Tsunade said, waving it off.
The venue was a small matter.
"Then I'm heading out. See you tonight," Kitazawa said, standing.
"Mm," Tsunade replied.
After he left, she finally moved to the Hokage's chair.
Kitazawa used Flying Thunder God and reappeared at the Ninja Academy.
He called Tayuya over and placed the enhanced Cursed Seal of the Earth on her.
It went smoothly.
If she could handle the original version, she certainly wouldn't fail a safer, refined variant.
After that, Kitazawa headed to the Anbu base.
He casually picked up the documents on the desk.
The hottest topic across the ninja world right now was the Akatsuki capturing the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails from Kumogakure.
The first document in his hands detailed Kumo's current condition after that crushing defeat.
A significant number of their jōnin had died, but since Akatsuki's goal was the tailed beasts, the village itself hadn't been devastated.
In short: most of Kumogakure's core strength was still preserved.
In addition, the Fourth Raikage hadn't died.
Mabui had saved him with the Heavenly Transfer Technique.
Heavenly Transfer was a space–time technique normally used to teleport objects.
To teleport a person, the ninja needed an extremely strong body.
In the original record, only the Third Raikage, Fourth Raikage, and Tsunade could endure it.
Kitazawa stroked his chin.
For him, it was good news that the Fourth Raikage survived.
Because the Fourth Raikage's survival would almost certainly trigger a corresponding system mission.
He opened the second document and raised an eyebrow.
The other four great villages had begun coordinating with each other—intentionally moving without involving Konoha.
"Moving without" wasn't quite accurate.
More precisely, the four villages were forming a coalition first, planning to let Konoha join only after Konoha suffered a loss to Akatsuki.
Kitazawa smiled and didn't bother reacting.
Once he became Hokage, he had no intention of convening a Five Kage Summit anyway.
He picked up the third document.
This one was also about Akatsuki.
Because of Kitazawa's orders, Anbu was monitoring them but had not entered the Land of Rain.
As a result, the intelligence was vague.
It stated that after capturing the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails, Akatsuki returned to the Land of Rain and had taken no visible action since.
Kitazawa's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
At this point, Akatsuki was most likely using the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to absorb the tailed beasts.
They were only missing the Seven-Tails and Nine-Tails.
His gaze sharpened.
He had no intention of rescuing those jinchūriki.
What he cared about was the Demonic Statue.
Once it absorbed seven tailed beasts, its power would surge.
Even as an incomplete Ten-Tails, it would still become a massive threat.
That meant he needed to find a way to complete the system mission of forming the new "Three Legendary Sannin of Konoha."
Kitazawa thought of the graduation exam.
Once Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata's team was officially confirmed, Tsunade could help publicize it.
The only concern was timing.
He didn't know exactly when Akatsuki would move against Konoha.
With that thought, Kitazawa immediately stood and used Flying Thunder God.
He arrived in Konan's room in Amegakure.
But Konan wasn't there.
He wasn't surprised.
She was almost certainly assisting the rest of Akatsuki with the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals to help the statue absorb the tailed beasts.
That was also why he hadn't teleported directly to her side.
Kitazawa wasn't in a hurry. He sat on the edge of the bed and began thinking through an alternate version of Yin Release Chakra Mode—one that didn't rely on a tailed beast.
With Yang Release Chakra Mode as a foundation, designing Yin Release wasn't quite as difficult.
But the effects would definitely be different.
Time passed.
Around noon, the door opened.
Konan saw him and, for once, a flicker of genuine happiness rose in her heart.
She quickly walked over.
Kitazawa patted his thigh.
Konan obediently sat on his lap.
Kitazawa reached out and loosened her Akatsuki cloak, revealing the fitted outfit beneath.
He rested a hand against her abdomen in a familiar, intimate way.
Konan kept her usual cool expression, allowing his closeness without protest.
"When is Akatsuki planning to go to Konoha?" Kitazawa asked bluntly.
"About two months," Konan answered.
Kitazawa nodded.
That matched his estimate—absorbing tailed beasts took time, especially now that Akatsuki's lineup was incomplete and their newer recruits were weaker.
Two months was excellent news for him.
He had more than enough confidence to complete the system mission of forming the new Konoha trio.
And not just that mission.
He could also finish the mission tied to Naruto awakening the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
When that happened, the Uzumaki bloodline would grant him even more chakra.
"Thanks," Kitazawa murmured, his touch shifting to a gentler, reassuring closeness.
Even through her steady composure, Konan's breathing became slightly uneven—subtle, but real.
Kitazawa's eyes drifted to her lips.
Tsunade and Kurenai didn't indulge him the way Konan did, and he'd missed that particular kind of uncomplicated intimacy.
He eased back, and Konan looked up at him, immediately understanding what he wanted.
A little later, when the moment passed, Konan leaned into him again, resting against his chest—quiet, tired, but still composed.
Before leaving, Kitazawa sighed softly and spoke in a lower voice.
"Do you remember what I told you before?"
Konan rolled her eyes at him.
"Before you go to Konoha, arrange a private meeting with Nagato for me," Kitazawa said. "Don't inform a second person."
Konan froze.
So he knew about Nagato?
Then again, it wasn't strange—Nagato had exposed the Rinnegan during the attack on Kumogakure.
Jiraiya could piece together the identity and pass it to Konoha.
Konan gave a small acknowledgment, forcing her mind away from the looming question of what would happen if Nagato and Kitazawa fought.
Half an hour later, Kitazawa helped her settle back onto the bed, tucked her in, and brushed a hand over her hair.
"I'm leaving. See you next time," he said.
With that, he vanished.
Konan closed her eyes, exhausted, and fell into sleep.
Another new day.
Kitazawa arrived early at the Ninja Academy.
With graduation approaching, the Advanced Class students had been showing up earlier and earlier—training on the field before dawn.
Kitazawa swept his gaze across them.
He didn't assign new training.
Only half a month remained.
This period was for review—solidifying the jutsu and secret techniques they'd already learned.
Even the standard version of Yin Release Chakra Mode, he decided, could wait until after graduation for Ino and the others.
The semi–tailed-beast version for Hinata and Neji, however, could still be taught in time, so he did.
The Cursed Seal of the Earth for Tayuya was also done because it could still be used in the graduation exam.
"Naruto," Kitazawa called after watching for a while.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto ran over immediately.
"I'm taking you to Turtle Island," Kitazawa said straight to the point.
Flying Thunder God activated.
In the next instant, Kitazawa and Naruto arrived at Turtle Island.
The guards were still the same four Kumogakure jōnin as before.
Kitazawa had already placed them under control with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, so he ignored them and led Naruto through the waterfall.
Behind the curtain of water was a hidden space like a temple, with statues lining both sides.
"Naruto," Kitazawa said, stopping. "In a moment, I'll loosen Kurama's seal. Your job is to take his chakra from him."
"Got it, Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto raised a thumb and nodded hard.
He didn't have absolute confidence he could overpower Kurama—but that was fine. He'd trust his will and push forward anyway.
Kitazawa decided not to mention Kushina and Minato ahead of time.
Seeing was believing.
Once Naruto met them, he'd understand the chain of cause and effect on his own.
Kitazawa had only one goal: to extend the time Kushina and Minato could remain present for as long as possible.
Naruto's childhood had been brutal.
It was time he received something back.
"Let's begin," Kitazawa said, placing a hand on Naruto's forehead.
He had already mastered the Nine-Tails' seal, so undoing it was easy.
And with Turtle Island's suppression field, even loosening the seal wouldn't cause the jinchūriki to lose control.
In truth, Turtle Island wasn't necessary.
With the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and Wood Release, Kitazawa's ability to suppress tailed beasts far surpassed the island's.
If Kushina and Minato didn't appear, he would intervene personally.
The seal released.
Kurama immediately sensed the shackles were gone.
Even though his relationship with Naruto wasn't terrible, freedom was freedom—he bolted without hesitation.
Naruto blocked him, his chakra surging out to seize Kurama's power.
A drawn-out struggle began.
Kitazawa activated the Byakugan, watching the shifting currents of chakra inside Naruto.
At first, the two forces were evenly matched.
But Kurama was the strongest of the tailed beasts, and when his hatred erupted in full, Naruto began to falter under the pressure.
~~~
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