Tuesday.
After breakfast, Mizuki called out to Iruka to head to the Ninja Academy together.
"I wonder if Kitazawa-senpai will come to work today," Iruka sighed. "I substituted for his class yesterday and got nothing but complaints."
Though the students of Class 1-A didn't say it outright, Iruka could clearly sense their disappointment that Kitazawa wasn't the one teaching. It all came down to one fact—his teaching skill simply didn't measure up to Kitazawa's.
"He didn't show up yesterday?" Mizuki looked surprised.
The class match between the two classes was coming up this Friday, and Kitazawa was still acting so casually? Had he already decided he couldn't beat Class 2-A and given up?
"Yeah," Iruka nodded slightly. "He took a day off."
"Looks like our class is winning this Friday, then," Mizuki smiled. Someone who truly wanted to win wouldn't take a break at such a critical time.
"You never know," Iruka murmured, recalling yesterday's practical lesson.
Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, even Haruno Sakura—they had all shocked him. Are first-year students always this strong now?
But he knew the truth—only Class 1-A was like this. Because they had a teacher named Kitazawa.
"How long have you even known Kitazawa?" Mizuki frowned. "Don't you trust your good friend?"
"I—I do trust you," Iruka replied awkwardly.
"…" But Mizuki could hear the lack of conviction in his tone. Damn that Kitazawa…He clenched his teeth bitterly.
The two reached the teacher's office building.
"Mizuki, Iruka." A middle-aged man walked over and handed them a document. "This is a notice just issued by the principal."
Mizuki took the notice and glanced at it—instantly, he froze like he'd been struck by lightning.
"What?" Iruka's face was filled with disbelief. "Kitazawa-senpai actually became a Special Jonin?"
The notice was brief—it simply stated that Kitazawa had passed the Special Jonin examination. The reason it had to be formally announced was that it impacted his role and treatment at the academy.
In the shinobi world, everything ultimately came down to strength. It would be inappropriate for a Special Jonin to continue as a regular academy teacher.
In terms of the previous world's standards, Kitazawa would now be considered a senior instructor, or even a professor.
"So he took a day off yesterday to participate in the Special Jonin exam," the middle-aged man added before walking off to deliver more notices elsewhere.
"I remember that since the founding of the Academy, less than ten have been promoted to Special Jonin through teaching expertise alone…" Iruka muttered, slowly coming back to his senses.
"It's… shocking."
Those who were great teachers often lacked combat ability, and those with power rarely taught. Even if they did, they weren't always good at it.
These factors combined made Special Jonin or Jonin teachers a rarity at the Academy—most were just Chunin.
Mizuki instinctively clenched the paper in his hand, his expression twisted. Why the hell does Kitazawa get to become a Special Jonin? He must've pulled strings!
In Mizuki's mind, Kitazawa's strength wasn't anything special—he had always assumed he was weaker than himself. So this promotion? It had to be favoritism from Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The more Mizuki thought about it, the more convinced he became. Bitterness and frustration swelled within him.
Iruka noticed Mizuki's expression and instinctively took a step back. That small step hit Mizuki like a second blow.
"I'm going back to the office," Mizuki growled through clenched teeth. Before Iruka could reply, he turned and left.
Soon after, loud angry shouts echoed from inside.
---
Kitazawa walked down the street, lost in thought about new jutsu ideas. After finishing grilled fish with Kurenai yesterday, he returned to the village and ran into Tsunade, who had just come out of the casino broke.
With no money left, Tsunade decided to create new jutsu to earn some, dragging Kitazawa and the others into a brainstorming session.
After an entire afternoon and evening of discussion, they settled on two development directions—symptom relief and root treatment.
Symptom relief involved easing emotional pain, like emotional substitution techniques.
Root treatment aimed to erase trauma itself, such as memory-erasure techniques.
Of course, treatment would depend on the patient's choice.
The fourth jutsu they finalized was memory erasure. While similar jutsu existed in the shinobi world, they were mostly used for infiltration or interrogation. To make them suitable for therapy, they'd need to be heavily modified.
Kitazawa was still deep in thought when he reached the academy. As soon as he entered the teacher's wing, he was greeted with enthusiasm.
"Congratulations, Kitazawa!"
"Kitazawa-senpai, you're amazing! Please guide us more from now on!"
"You're the first teacher in five years to be promoted to Special Jonin!"
Kitazawa responded politely, and only after five extra minutes did he finally reach his office. Seeing the announcement on his desk, he realized Sarutobi Hiruzen had publicly promoted his status.
That old man sure knows how to make a move, Kitazawa thought. But he understood why.
Hiruzen clearly wanted him to raise Naruto and the others into inheritors of the Will of Fire.
The moment he strayed from that path, all the benefits would vanish.
Kitazawa knew clearly—power was everything. Still, now that he had been promoted, he wouldn't reject it—after all, the salary and benefits were better.
"Kitazawa-sensei." Hinata and Ino walked into the room.
"Where's Sakura?" Kitazawa asked, pulling out the breakfast he'd brought.
"She already ate and went to the training ground with Sasuke," Ino answered.
"Not surprising." Kitazawa smiled. "Alright, let's eat."
"Sensei, why didn't you come yesterday?" Ino took a bite of her rice ball. "You have no idea how much we missed you!"
Hinata nodded slightly in agreement. But when Kitazawa looked at her, she quickly lowered her head shyly.
After breakfast, the three headed to the training ground. Ino went to join Sakura for water-walking training.
Kitazawa created a shadow clone to train Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu, while he helped Hinata with leaf-concentration practice.
Half an hour later, he suddenly froze.
[Current Mission: Learn a B-rank jutsu within half a month.]
Mission Reward: 10% Senju Clan bloodline.]
[Mission complete. Reward issued.]
[Senju bloodline detected. You have automatically acquired Yang Release.]
Kitazawa instinctively clenched his fist. As expected, this world revolved around bloodlines. Even just 10% of Senju blood was enough to bring noticeable changes.
First, he gained Yang Release. Second, his chakra increased by roughly one-fifth. Third, his physical strength, stamina, and healing had all improved slightly.
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P@atreon/Arvinstorm (45+ Advanced Chapters)