The next day—Monday.
With June beginning, the temperature in Konoha had risen quite a bit.
At the entrance of the Ninja Academy, a large group of students surrounded the bulletin board, looking at the overall grade rankings for the May monthly exam.
Kitazawa walked up for a glance. Just like last time, the top ten of Class 1-A were also the top ten for the entire year.
"Kitazawa."
Mizuki suddenly appeared and blocked his way. "What a shame your class didn't have a single perfect score."
He failed to show off last time—so he came back for round two?
Kitazawa smiled. "The Hokage has already agreed to my request and will be serving as the referee for Friday's friendship match."
Mizuki froze in place.
He wanted to accuse him of lying—but when it involved the Hokage, Kitazawa wouldn't dare lie.
Meaning… it was true.
Painful.
Mizuki felt like his bragging just turned him into a clown.
So what if there were more perfect scores?
Kitazawa was now the Hokage's favored student—his future looked limitless.
Mizuki could already foresee that in a few years, Kitazawa might become his superior.
"I'm heading to class. See you."
Watching Mizuki's face turn pale then green, Kitazawa couldn't help laughing.
As expected, joy built on someone else's suffering really hits differently.
Of course, Kitazawa was usually a kind person.
But Mizuki insisted on coming over—he thought he was stepping on a speed bump.
After first period, Kitazawa headed to the school's training field.
With him were Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuga, Ino Yamanaka, and Sakura Haruno—the four who skipped class together.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Sasuke asked impatiently, "what Fire Style Jutsu am I learning today?"
Yesterday's back-to-back compliments from Fugaku and Itachi had made him ecstatic all night—and now, he wanted more.
"You've already learned two C-rank Fire Style Jutsu. To improve further, you need to learn a B-rank Fire Style Jutsu—but that requires a lot of time."
Kitazawa thought for a moment. "With the friendship match coming up, I can teach you a jutsu that will quickly boost your strength."
"What is it?"
Sasuke asked immediately.
As long as it increased his strength, he didn't care if it wasn't a Fire Jutsu.
"The Manipulated Shuriken Technique."
Kitazawa said with a smile.
"I want to learn that!"
Sasuke's eyes lit up instantly.
Everyone knew the Uchiha clan had three signature skills: the Sharingan, Fire Style, and ninja tool mastery.
And the Manipulated Shuriken Technique originated from the Uchiha.
"The key to this technique is controlling the shuriken freely with near-transparent wires."
Kitazawa pulled out two shuriken.
He casually threw one—hitting a nearby tree dead-on.
Then, with a flick of both hands, the wire pulled the shuriken back, reversing its direction and landing it right at his feet.
"Practice with stationary targets first. Once you're used to it, switch to moving targets."
He handed Sasuke the two shuriken.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei."
Sasuke immediately began training.
"You three, start your practice too."
Kitazawa turned to Hinata and the others.
Hinata was practicing leaf concentration, while Ino and Sakura were practicing water-walking.
Kitazawa didn't stay idle either—he had a shadow clone head to a secluded spot to practice Fire Style: Dragon Flame Release Song Technique.
Time passed quickly, and soon, dusk arrived.
Just as Kitazawa was throwing leaves, three lines of text suddenly appeared before his eyes:
[Current Task: Help your classmate Sakura Haruno complete her water-walking training.]
[Reward: Healing Hands Technique.]
[Task completed. Reward issued.]
Kitazawa instinctively looked toward Sakura.
She stood with her hands on her hips, her face full of smug pride.
Across from her, Ino wore a frustrated and unwilling expression.
Clearly, tonight's winner was Sakura.
Kitazawa absorbed the information on the Healing Hands Technique—just as he expected, a weaker version of the Mystical Palm Technique.
He rubbed his chin. At this stage, Sakura and Ino no longer needed water-walking training.
But what should he teach them next?
"That's it for today's training."
Unable to think of a good next step, Kitazawa kept things as they were for now.
"Goodbye, Kitazawa-sensei!"
Sasuke, Hinata, and the others left one after another.
After leaving the school, Kitazawa headed toward Kurenai home.
They were meeting today to discuss the fourth jutsu for Yakumo.
When the door opened, Kurenai stood before him in a crimson dress.
Probably because she was at home, she wore that low-cut red dress again.
If he had to be honest—Kitazawa preferred her like this.
It accentuated Kurenai's graceful figure—especially that snow-white…
"Seeing such a beauty right after work wipes away all my fatigue."
Kitazawa smiled.
"Oh? Are you flirting with me?"
Kurenai crossed her arms.
With that motion, the dress tightened, making her curves even more noticeable.
"Not at all."
Kitazawa replied seriously. "I'm just stating a fact."
"Alright, get in here."
Kurenai shot him a sultry look and walked inside, swaying her hips with each step.
"Tsunade isn't here yet?"
Kitazawa asked, seeing the empty living room.
"She's probably at the gambling house."
Kurenai sighed helplessly.
After spending some time around Tsunade, she'd learned her habits too well.
"You'll get used to it."
Kitazawa sat beside her on the sofa.
A slight shift of his eyes was enough to catch a glimpse of her fair, delicate feet.
"So you really are a pervert."
Kurenai noticed his gaze and stepped on his foot.
She wasn't wearing shoes this time—Kitazawa could feel the soft arch of her foot on the top of his.
"You're welcome~"
Kurenai said with a playful smile.
She already had a favorable impression of Kitazawa, so she didn't mind teasing him.
"Next time, wear black stockings."
Kitazawa said with a straight face.
"...?"
Kurenai was defeated by his shamelessness—for a moment, she didn't know how to respond. He was always proper with others, yet with her, he'd become more and more cheeky recently.
A thought suddenly crossed her mind.
"What is it?"
Kitazawa waved a hand in front of her face when she zoned out.
"Nothing."
Kurenai snapped back and asked, "Are you free tomorrow?"
"I have the Special Jōnin exam tomorrow," Kitazawa paused, "but it shouldn't take too long."
"Wait, the Special Jōnin exam?"
Kurenai looked shocked.
"The Hokage said my ability meets the standard and approved my promotion."
Kitazawa said with a smile.
Kurenai was stunned. She had always believed herself to be a genjutsu prodigy, while Kitazawa's performance had been—average at best.
Yet when it came to rank advancement, she had fallen behind.
A subtle shift occurred in Kurenai's mindset. At that moment, she felt Kitazawa was no longer inferior to her.
"I'll go with you tomorrow."
Kurenai said after a moment's thought. "Once it's done, we can go stroll around town, then have lunch."
Kitazawa blinked.
That sounded… a lot like an invitation to a date.
Knowing Kurenai's personality, it just might be.
"Sure."
Kitazawa agreed immediately.