After the Monthly Exam concluded, the Genius Class returned to its usual tranquility.
Classes continued as usual, and work proceeded; the only remaining suspense was whether Sasuke could rush back before the final exams.
This semester was only three months long; two months had already passed, and the remaining Monthly Exam was the final exam.
Two more days passed, and after school on Wednesday, Kitazawa met Konan.
"Kitazawa." Konan proactively spoke, "The members of our Akatsuki have reached the designated location."
"I'll have my Shadow Clone accompany you." Kitazawa remained very cautious.
His relationship with Konan was currently good, but that didn't mean his relationship with Nagato was as well.
The currently darkened Nagato viewed Konoha Village as a thorn in his side.
"Mm." Konan nodded and said, "Thank you."
Kitazawa formed hand signs and created a Shadow Clone.
The Shadow Clone followed Konan away. After it disappeared, he withdrew his gaze and arrived at the Forest of Death.
School had just let out, and it wasn't time for dinner yet, so he planned to train for a bit longer.
After learning Wood Release: Four Pillar House, Kitazawa decided to learn Wood Release: Serial Pillar Houses Technique as well.
These two Wood Release Ninjutsu were essentially similar, so learning them would be quick; he could master them in one or two weeks at most.
An hour and a half later, Kitazawa stopped his movements, and three lines of text appeared before his eyes.
[Current mission: Help Nagato recover his legs.]
[Mission Reward: Improved version of One's Own Life Reincarnation.]
[Host has completed the mission, reward issued.]
Kitazawa stood still, processing the large amount of information that had suddenly appeared.
The effect of the original One's Own Life Reincarnation was to convert all of the caster's Chakra into life force, achieving the goal of resurrecting the dead.
Simply put, it was a one-for-one resurrection Jutsu. In addition, it could also bestow life force upon a human puppet.
Chiyo created this Ninjutsu with the goal of resurrecting her son and daughter-in-law. Ultimately, they did not use it, but she used this Jutsu to save Gaara, who had the One-Tailed extracted from him.
What Kitazawa received was the improved version.
He originally thought it would be modified to use other people's life force, with the caster merely acting as a conduit, but this was not the case.
Thinking about it carefully, it made sense; if it were modified that way, it would be too overpowered, and the reward wouldn't match the difficulty of the system mission.
The final improved One's Own Life Reincarnation was changed to sharing life force.
Everyone's life force is different; for example, the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan possess powerful innate life force.
The previous One's Own Life Reincarnation could only save one person, regardless of how strong the caster's life force was.
Now it was completely different; if the caster had enough life force, he could save many people.
In this respect, it was very similar to the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique of the Rinnegan.
However, there was one difference, and it was the most crucial point. That was the ability to terminate it.
If the deceased was already resurrected and the user's life force was not depleted, he could continue living without having to pay the price of his life.
Overall, it was quite good. This was because the One's Own Life Reincarnation used the Chakra converted into life force.
Kitazawa estimated that with his current Chakra, he could use the One's Own Life Reincarnation to save two people without dying, but saving three would likely cost him his life.
When Chiyo used the One's Own Life Reincarnation to save Gaara back then, she didn't have enough Chakra, and Naruto had to help her out. The exact amount wasn't clear, but it certainly wasn't small.
"I still need to increase my Chakra, huh." Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
He noticed a problem: only Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence had triggered a system mission, which rewarded him with two units of Chakra.
But neither Wood Release: Four Pillar House nor Wood Release: Serial Pillar Houses Technique had done so.
Could it be that he needed to learn high-level Wood Release Jutsu like Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees, Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique, and Wood Release: Wood Human Technique to trigger them?
The problem was that with his current Chakra, it would be difficult to learn such a high-level Wood Release.
This wasn't him undermining himself, as these high-level Wood Release techniques were indeed incredibly powerful.
For example, Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique, which in the original story suppressed the Nine-Tailed, immobilizing it.
Or Wood Release: Wood Human Technique, which in the original story was an existence that rivaled Uchiha Madara's Complete Body Susanoo.
This created a vicious cycle. Learning high-level Wood Release granted Chakra rewards, but without being given Chakra first, he couldn't learn them.
Kitazawa thought of Naruto. He wondered if Sasuke could put pressure on him after returning.
But he figured it would be difficult. Naruto wasn't afraid of Genjutsu, which meant Sasuke lost his biggest advantage.
Kitazawa let out a soft sound of surprise. He suddenly thought of a new type of Monthly Exam: introducing official Ninja.
This sounded rather incredible, but upon closer thought, it might just be possible.
The students in the Genius Class now, especially the top eighteen, generally possessed Chunin-level abilities or higher.
They only lacked experience compared to official Ninja, and experience was gained through combat.
Letting them spar with official Ninja would allow them to accumulate combat experience.
No, that wasn't the point. Kitazawa slammed his fist into his palm, excitement showing on his face.
Because he thought of his system mission regarding the New Konoha's Three Sannin.
For the New Konoha's Three Sannin to emerge, besides strength, the most important factor was fame.
If the students of the Genius Class could defeat official Ninja, wouldn't fame naturally follow?
Given enough time, the New Konoha's Three Sannin would naturally appear, and then he could receive the reward of Sage Art Wood Style: True Several Thousand Hands.
However, the specific implementation would require some planning. With this thought, Kitazawa headed towards Kurenai's home.
Halfway there, his Shadow Clone automatically dispersed, informing him of the details related to Nagato's treatment.
Overall, it went very smoothly. After all, Nagato had used so many expensive medicinal ingredients.
What surprised him, however, was Konan.
Konan used the excuse that although Nagato's legs were cured, they still required observation, and continued to stay in Konoha.
Because that way, if his legs had any issues, she could directly find Kitazawa.
---
The next day, Thursday.
After the morning classes concluded, Kitazawa arrived at the Hokage Office. As soon as he pushed the door open, he smelled a faint aroma of food.
"Why don't I see Shizune-senpai?" Kitazawa looked at Tsunade, who was eating lunch alone on the sofa, and asked.
She was leaning forward, and her clothing seemed precarious.
"She hasn't finished her work yet." Tsunade chewed on a fried shrimp and asked, "Do you have something urgent to discuss, coming to find me at this time?"
"It's not urgent." Kitazawa sat down across from her and said, "Let's eat lunch first."
After speaking, he pulled out a bento box.
"Want to try some?" Kitazawa opened the bento box and said, "I made it myself; it probably tastes a bit better than the cafeteria food."
"Let's eat together." Tsunade pushed her bento box to the center of the coffee table, then reached her chopsticks toward Kitazawa's bento box.
"What do you think of the strength of the Genius Class students?" Kitazawa picked up his chopsticks and asked.
"Does that even need asking?" Tsunade chuckled and said, "With their strength, they wouldn't have any problem participating in the Chunin Exams."
Especially Naruto, Yakumo, and Sasuke. If they were adults now, she could directly promote them to Jonin.
"Precisely because of this, I want to modify the content of the Monthly Exam." Kitazawa nodded and said.
"How will you change it?" Tsunade asked curiously.
The Monthly Exam already included mission performance as part of the assessment, and she couldn't think of any other way to change it.
"The students in the Genius Class are already very familiar with each other, but becoming a strong person requires fighting different Ninjas."
Kitazawa slowly explained, "I think we can invite official Ninja to spar with them to broaden their horizons."
"...?" Tsunade was speechless.
This didn't sound like a Ninja Academy Monthly Exam; it sounded more like the Chunin Exams.
No, the Chunin Exams probably wouldn't even have this level of intensity; it would have to be a Special Jonin or Jonin assessment.
"You might as well just let them graduate early." Tsunade complained, "Besides, the enemies you encounter during your missions are also official Ninja."
"They are still young, and since there is no Shinobi World War right now, we can let them stay in the Academy for two more years."
Kitazawa coughed lightly and said, "The battles during missions are usually melees, and one-on-one sparring is rare."
"Then let's proceed as you suggested." Tsunade thought about it and agreed.
The reason the Ninja Academy allowed geniuses to graduate early was that the Ninja Academy teachers were not skilled enough.
If the geniuses stayed at the Ninja Academy, they wouldn't learn more profound Ninjutsu, and their strength would stagnate.
But the Genius Class was different. Their teachers are Sarutobi Hiruzen, Kitazawa, Kakashi, Maruboshi Kosuke, Chen, Kurenai, and Iruka Umino.
Graduating would actually be a loss.
After all, in Konoha Village, even the strongest squad leader couldn't compare to the teachers of the Genius Class.
Tsunade's idea was very simple. As long as it didn't affect the geniuses' growth, anything was fine.
"I plan to try something new during this final exam, letting the top eighteen students participate." Kitazawa stated his idea, "We won't do missions; instead, they will spar with official Ninja."
"That works." Tsunade took a bite of rice and said, "If the results aren't good, cancel it immediately."
It was no exaggeration to say that the students of the Genius Class were the future of Konoha Village.
As the Hokage, she would not allow them to be affected in any way.
"I understand." After Kitazawa finished speaking, he suddenly paused slightly, as three lines of text appeared before his eyes.
[Current Mission: Achieve ten victories against official Ninja during the final exam.]
[Mission Reward: Compound Ninjutsu: Gentle Fist: Twin Lion Rasengan.]
[Do you accept?]
Kitazawa glanced at it and inwardly sighed with regret, as the reward was not Chakra.
However, Compound Ninjutsu: Gentle Fist: Twin Lion Rasengan was quite powerful; it was a combination of Rasengan and Gentle Fist: Twin Lion Fists.
As for Gentle Fist: Twin Lion Fists, he had already mastered it through the system previously.
Once he taught it to Hinata, he and his student could also use a passionate combination technique.
As for achieving ten victories out of eighteen spars, he was confident. After all, he was the one who decided whom to invite.
This system foolishly still thought he was a student of the Genius Class.
"There is one more thing." Tsunade raised her head and said, "Since you have learned quite a bit of Wood Release, you might consider publicly announcing that you can use Wood Release."
Wood Release held special significance for Konoha Village.
But ever since Senju Hashirama died, Wood Release had never appeared again in Konoha Village.
Announcing the news that Kitazawa had mastered Wood Release would bring many benefits.
First, it would announce that the Wood Release of Senju Hashirama, the God of the Ninja World, had found a successor.
Second, the residents and Ninja of Konoha Village would feel encouraged; having a Wood Release Ninja increased their sense of security exponentially.
Third, it would increase Kitazawa's prestige.
For Tsunade, the third point was the most important.
Because once Kitazawa's prestige surpassed hers, she could retire honorably and go play at the Casino every day.
Hokage? She hadn't wanted the job for ages!
"We can announce it, but words alone aren't enough."
Kitazawa thought for a moment and said, "I think we should find a suitable opportunity to use Wood Release in person to achieve the maximum effect."
If he didn't show off, what was the point of life? Of course, he wasn't just doing it to show off.
Based on his understanding of the system, this would inevitably trigger a related system mission, and perhaps the reward would be the Chakra he longed for.
"Although what you say makes sense, such an opportunity is hard to find." Tsunade was stunned for a moment, then said thoughtfully.
If it had been the war with the Hidden Mist Village before, that would indeed have been a perfect opportunity.
But the war had stopped now. Tsunade couldn't possibly initiate a war herself.
The risks of war were too great; if they lost, the flourishing Konoha would come to an abrupt halt.
The same was true for Kitazawa.
His current strength was not enough to be invincible in the Ninja World, and he could not afford the price of failure in war.
"It might be hard to find, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist." Kitazawa smiled and said, "Let's wait for now. If there really is no opportunity, we'll announce it directly."
"Mhm." Hearing this, Tsunade said nothing more.
After lunch, Kitazawa went to the ANBU Base again.
Resting his head on Konan's lap, he began contemplating his Wood Release unveiling plan.
There truly weren't any major events happening in the Ninja World right now, and he couldn't just casually run off to fight Nagato and the Akatsuki.
Moreover, the Akatsuki Organization didn't just consist of Nagato; there were also Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu.
Since there were no major plotlines from the original story happening, he should look toward the movie plots.
Kitazawa's heart stirred, and he thought of Mōryō from the Land of Demons.
Of his four bows, currently only two had spirits: Satori and the Zero-Tails. Mōryō could clearly serve as the spirit for the third bow.
In the original story, the abilities it displayed were somewhat similar to Satori's; it was also an immortal and indestructible monster.
Because of this, the successive Priestesses of the Land of Demons could only sacrifice themselves to seal Mōryō.
And Mōryō of the Land of Demons was also a very good stage for unveiling Wood Release.
First, its strength was considerable.
Second, the Land of Demons was a neutral country.
The former Priestess, Miroku, had specifically invited Ninja from the Five Great Villages to deal with Mōryō's Undead Army.
In other words, the audience was also present, and they were Ninja from the Five Great Villages.
[Current Mission: Let the Ninja World know the Power of your Wood Release.]
[Mission Reward: Five Cards of Chakra.]
[Do you accept?]
Seeing this, Kitazawa couldn't help but smile, thinking, Just as I expected.
He was truly becoming more and more familiar with the trigger rules for system missions.
[Current Mission: Defeat Mōryō.]
[Mission Reward: Edo Tensei(Impure World Reincarnation).]
[Do you accept?]
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow. He wasn't surprised that Mōryō could trigger a system mission.
Because Satori had triggered one before, what surprised him was that the mission reward was actually Edo Tensei.
Was it because Mōryō possessed a so-called Undead Army?
Well, why not?
When Kitazawa had nothing else to do, he could go to Hidden Mist Village and dig up the Second Mizukage, Hōzuki Gengetsu.
Because the Summoning Beasts, the Giant Clam, which he had Kado's shipping company look for, still hadn't been found.
Kitazawa closed his eyes and recalled the plot of the Land of Demons. The Land of Demons had no Ninja, but it had Priestesses.
Priestesses possessed special abilities, such as the current Priestess, Shion, who had the ability to predict the death of others.
In the original story, after she saw Naruto, she said he would die. However, Naruto did not die, thereby breaking Shion's one-hundred percent accurate prediction.
The power of the Priestess possessed by the Priestesses was not explained in detail in the original story, but it was mentioned that the Priestess's power and Mōryō were powers originating from the same source.
This was why Mōryō insisted on targeting the Land of Demons and its successive Priestesses.
It wanted to devour the Priestess's power and thus become an invincible existence in the Ninja World.
Judging from Mōryō's behavior, it looked very much like a Yin Release monster. But whether it was or not, Kitazawa would only know once he saw it with his own eyes.
How should he put it? Any power found in the Ninja World was basically one of two types.
One was the Chakra system originating from the alien Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. The other was the natural energy system inherent to the Ninja World itself.
The plot of the Land of Demons was not complicated; it was simply Mōryō leading its Undead Army in an attempt to devour the Priestess of the Land of Demons.
During the time of the Priestess Miroku, Mōryō had already been sealed at the cost of her life.
It was worth mentioning that Mōryō was sealed separately, with its soul sealed in the Land of Demons and its body sealed in the Land of Swamps.
Normally, it wouldn't be unsealed again until Naruto graduated, when he was about fifteen or sixteen years old.
The key figure in the unsealing was Yomi. Yomi was a follower of Mōryō and founded an organization called the Yomi Cult.
Through his persistent efforts, he found Mōryō's soul and unsealed it.
He used his own body to bear its soul, then awakened the Undead Army and headed toward the Land of Swamps.
The Land of Demons Priestess Shion thus requested aid from the Five Great Nations, and Konoha Village dispatched Hyuga Neji, Naruto, Sakura Haruno, and Rock Lee.
The final outcome was naturally a happy one. Shion did not sacrifice herself; she defeated Mōryō with the help of Naruto and his companions.
And in this movie, Naruto was once again favored by the heroine, Shion. At the end, she spoke words that were almost a confession.
She said she wanted to pass the Priestess's power to the next generation of Priestesses and asked Naruto to lend her his power.
But clearly, Naruto didn't understand, and the relationship thus ended inconclusively.
After thinking it through, Kitazawa had a rough plan. The first step, naturally, was to find Yomi.
Once Yomi unsealed Mōryō's soul, all he had to do was wait for the Land of Demons Priestess Shion's request for aid.
He could have the Anbu handle this matter.
Before that, the thing he needed to do was finalize the list of official Ninjas participating in the final exam.
He planned to divide the top eighteen students of the Genius Class into three groups based on their strength and invite Chunin, Special Jonin, and Jonin, respectively.
In addition, he could also invite some spectators.
That way, the Genius Class students' reputation for genius could quickly spread throughout Konoha Village.