The certificate didn't really matter, but the 300,000 ryo prize? That was pretty nice.
Not that Kitazawa cared much about it anymore.
These days, he had multiple income sources—he was doing pretty well financially.
After the meeting wrapped up, Kitazawa headed straight back to the Class 1-A classroom.
First period? Still the "Will of Fire."
Only this time, it went deeper than last term. Before, it was all about learning what the Will of Fire meant. Now it was about understanding it on a personal level.
"Before we wrap up, I've got something to announce."
As the bell rang, Kitazawa didn't leave with his usual "grab the textbook and go" routine.
The students all looked up, curious.
"At the start of last term, I said I'd temporarily take on the class monitor role until we found someone more suitable this semester."
Kitazawa smiled. "That time has come. I'm stepping down."
"Kitazawa-sensei, who's the new class monitor?" Naruto blurted out before anyone else could.
"You," Kitazawa said bluntly, looking straight at him.
"Huh?! Me?" Naruto looked stunned.
"Anyone got a problem with that?" Kitazawa turned to the class. "If not, then it's official—Naruto's our new class monitor."
"No complaints!" Kiba shouted. "I'm totally backing Naruto!"
"You're the best, bro!" Naruto looked like he was about to cry.
"I support him too," Chōji said with a big grin.
"I'm good with it," Shikamaru chimed in, followed by nods from the rest of the class.
Honestly, after the semester Naruto had—strong, helpful, always showing up—he deserved it. Plus, being class monitor didn't come with perks. If anything, it was extra work.
"Thanks, guys!" Naruto gave a thumbs-up. "I swear on my youth, I won't let you down!"
"Congrats, Naruto. From today, you're officially Class 1-A's monitor. Make us proud," Kitazawa said as he grabbed his book and walked out.
"Sasuke-kun!"
Sakura rushed over to Sasuke with an eager smile. "Wanna train together?"
"Sorry," Sasuke stood up. "I've already got plans with Naruto."
"What?" Sakura froze, stunned.
"Naruto," Sasuke said simply, then walked off, hands in his pockets.
"Huh?" Naruto and Sakura blinked in sync.
What does he mean? Is he challenging me or something? Naruto thought, eyes lighting up as he sprinted after him.
"Hey! Wait up!" Sakura shouted, frustrated.
She could accept losing to Ino… maybe. But losing to Naruto? No way.
"Not sure who to feel bad for—Sasuke or Sakura," Shikamaru sighed. "Or maybe myself."
He could see right through Sasuke's excuse—it was just a clever way to dodge Sakura.
And Shikamaru's bad luck? Kitazawa's special training was up next.
"What's their deal?" Kurama Yakumo asked. She didn't attend often and wasn't caught up on the class drama.
"Oh, that's a long story," Ino laughed. "I'll fill you in later."
"Classic fake bestie energy," Shikamaru muttered, seeing the way Ino was soaking it all up.
"Focus up, Shikamaru," Ino snapped, giving him a glare.
"…Right."
Shikamaru wilted like a dying plant.
"Good luck, everyone!" Yakumo waved them off.
Ever since Tsunade started treating her, she was excused from Kitazawa's training. Her job now was to develop her genjutsu, which wasn't something Kitazawa could really help with anyway.
"Come on, Hinata," Ino said, gently pulling Hinata's hand as they walked off.
Shikamaru reluctantly followed behind them.
At the training grounds, Kitazawa stood in place, thinking about what kind of training they'd be doing today—when suddenly, a holographic message appeared in front of his eyes:
[Class Monitor is no longer enough to contain your talent. Your next goal: establish the first-ever student council in the academy.]
[Current Mission: "Thunderclap" — Recruit the most elite students and form a fully functioning, official student council. Become the Student Council President.]
[Reward: Lightning Chakra nature and Master-level Lightning Release transformation.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa froze for a moment.
A student council? That was out of left field.
But that reward... yeah, that was tempting.
With master-level Lightning Release, he could rival—or even surpass—Kakashi overnight. He might even be able to recreate the Lightning Release Chakra Mode from the Cloud Village.
Without hesitation, Kitazawa accepted.
As usual, the better the reward, the harder the mission.
Would Hiruzen be the bottleneck? Starting a student council would definitely need the principal's approval.
And if Kitazawa named himself as the president? Hiruzen might start getting paranoid.
What are you trying to do, build your own Konoha?
Especially if Sasuke, Naruto, and Shikamaru were involved—it'd basically look like a future Konoha 2.0.
Still, Kitazawa figured it'd be smarter to make things official with Tsunade before rocking the boat too much.
But for now? He could at least start preparing—maybe host a school-wide selection tournament.
After all, the system asked for a full, proper student council. He couldn't just throw together a half-baked team.
"Kitazawa-sensei!"
Naruto showed up first, followed closely by Sasuke and Sakura. A minute later, Hinata, Ino, and Shikamaru arrived.
"Sasuke, how's your control over the Sharingan?" Kitazawa asked.
"Eighty, maybe ninety percent," Sasuke replied confidently.
Since awakening it at six, both his dad and Itachi had been personally training him.
"Good. Head to the artificial lake and work on Fire nature transformation."
"Got it."
Sasuke wasn't surprised. Kitazawa couldn't really help with the Sharingan, and with one tomoe already unlocked, focusing on Fire Release made sense.
"I'm heading there now," Sasuke said and left without wasting a second.
"Shikamaru, same drills as usual," Kitazawa continued. "But since you skipped summer training, we'll be turning up the difficulty."
Shikamaru's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Shadow-sculpting is already hard enough—now you're making it harder?!
This is what I get for enjoying summer...
"Ino, you'll train with him. Your job is simple: keep disrupting him."
"???"
Shikamaru looked like he just got hit by a genjutsu.
Ino's "disruption" meant using Mind Body Switch, so basically, he'd be multitasking—sculpting with Shadow Jutsu while mentally battling her for control of his own body.
"Interesting method," Ino said with a smirk. "No mercy, Shikamaru."
Shikamaru opened his mouth, but said nothing.
"What about me?" Sakura asked.
She used to train with Ino, but now she was on her own.
"I'm teaching you a new medical jutsu," Kitazawa said.
He was assigning training based on individual strengths.
Both Sakura and Ino had trained all summer, but Sakura clearly had stronger healing potential.
It's not that Ino lacked talent—just that her clan's secret arts were harder to master. Medical ninjutsu had tons of C- and D-rank techniques Sakura could learn.
"Finally! A new healing jutsu!" Sakura's eyes lit up, grinning ear to ear.
Ino looked a little jealous but didn't argue. They were on different paths.
"My shadow clone will train you," Kitazawa said, forming a clone with a hand seal.
"Works for me," Sakura nodded. Whether it was the real Kitazawa or a clone, didn't matter to her.
"Let's get started."
He then turned to Hinata.
"Your training today is with me."
There's only so much progress she could make practicing Sixty-Four Palms on her own. Real combat was the fastest way to grow.
"Okay," Hinata nodded obediently. She didn't question him.
"Let's head over there."
Kitazawa led her to a quiet, empty corner of the training ground.
The match began.
Hinata activated her Byakugan, launched off the ground like a flash of white, and immediately opened with Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
She struck at Kitazawa with quick, precise movements—small hands moving in rapid succession.
Kitazawa countered effortlessly, meeting her strikes with his own.
Their chakras clashed at the point of impact, creating an invisible shockwave.
For a second, Hinata was dazed. It didn't feel like she was sparring with Kitazawa... it felt like she was facing her father.
Few techniques used palm-based chakra output like Gentle Fist. How could someone outside the Hyūga clan do that?
Then she remembered Kitazawa's usual coaching—and it clicked.
She pressed on, face determined. But just as she expected, none of her strikes landed cleanly.
After ten strikes, she was about to continue—but suddenly froze.
Wait… what?
She felt her chakra flow completely shut down.
Kitazawa stepped forward, took her hand, and rolled up her sleeve.
Four small red dots had appeared on her arm—chakra points, and he had sealed them.
"K‑Kitazawa-sensei, you…"
"You wanna ask how I know Gentle Fist?" he smiled, tapping the points to release her chakra. "I learned it from you."
"W‑what?"
Hinata stared, stunned—but her chakra was flowing again. He wasn't lying. Only someone who truly understood Gentle Fist could hit pressure points like that.
"Don't tell anyone."
He let go of her arm with a grin. "If your dad finds out, I might not live to see tomorrow."
"I won't! I swear! Not even my father!" she blurted out.
"It's not that serious," Kitazawa laughed, patting her head. "Come on, let's keep training."
Learning Gentle Fist wasn't a crime, especially not with Tsunade backing him. He didn't steal a Byakugan, after all. Still, better to keep it quiet.
He trusted Hinata's character—she wouldn't say a word.
By noon, Hinata was drenched and exhausted.
"Head home, shower, rest," Kitazawa told her. "Just come back for the sparring class later."
He hadn't used full strength, but his power still surpassed Neji's.
Hinata lasting all morning? That was impressive.
She had a match against Neji in the afternoon, so he didn't want to drain her now.
"Th‑thank you, Kitazawa-sensei," Hinata panted, wiping sweat from her forehead. Her bangs were soaked and clinging to her face.
"I'll walk you home."
"N‑no, it's okay…"
"It's fine. I'm heading to Konoha Hospital anyway," he explained.
His shadow clones were watching the others, and he only had one class left that afternoon—no time to waste.
Hinata gave in and let him escort her.
When they reached the Hyūga compound, he turned and left.
She stood at the gate, watching his figure disappear before finally turning back.
…
"Back so soon?" Hiashi asked, sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard, holding Hanabi.
"Onee-chan!" Hanabi waved happily.
"I just finished training with Kitazawa-sensei," Hinata replied. "He told me to go home and rest—I only need to show up for the sparring class."
"Training again even though the new term's started?" Hiashi frowned. He wasn't exactly fond of Kitazawa.
"B‑because I'm sparring with Neji later this afternoon," she said, hesitating before speaking honestly.
"Oh?" Hiashi's eyes lit up with interest.
Neji had always been ahead of her in talent and strength. To protect Hinata's confidence, Hiashi had even stopped using Neji as her partner.
But… things might be different now.
Hinata's progress was undeniable.
"Go rest," Hiashi said calmly.
He was already planning to sneak off and watch the spar himself.
Even if he believed Hinata had surpassed Neji… seeing was believing.
…
Time flew by.
Soon, it was the final class of the day. Classes 1-A and 2-A gathered at the school's training field.
Kitazawa suddenly felt it—someone watching from a distance. The sensation of being tracked by a Byakugan.
Hiashi again? Man's really climbing trees to spy now?
"Before we start today's class, we've got a sparring match," Kitazawa announced. "Hinata Hyūga vs. Neji Hyūga."
Neji was caught off guard but stepped out of line anyway. He hadn't expected the duel to happen this soon.
He figured Kitazawa and Hinata would delay it a bit longer.
After all, time could help Hinata close the gap.
But from Neji's perspective, talent wasn't something you could catch up to with time.
Hinata took a deep breath and faced him.
"What's going on?" Naruto asked.
"Seriously? You forgot?" Shikamaru said. "After our class match with 2-A last semester, Neji challenged her."
"I don't remember that at all."
"I kinda do," Ino added. "Kitazawa-sensei said Hinata had just awakened her Byakugan, so he postponed it to this term."
"So… now?" Sakura looked at the two Hyūgas. "They've both got Byakugan—who wins?"
"Feels like Neji's got the edge," Ino hesitated.
"It's gonna be a tough one for Hinata," Shikamaru nodded.
"Don't count her out!" Naruto grinned. "I trust Kitazawa-sensei's training!"
"A year's difference isn't easy to close," Kiba muttered. "Neji's a prodigy."
"Let's just watch," Sasuke said coolly. He didn't care who won. He just wanted to learn about Byakugan and Gentle Fist.
And once Neji won, he was planning to challenge him and settle last semester's score.
"Form the seal of confrontation," Kitazawa called out.
"You're nervous," Neji said calmly. "Your eyes shifted top-left—you're remembering past defeats."
"You—" Hinata flinched.
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow. Wait, isn't that word-for-word what Neji said in the Chūnin Exams? Damn, he's already a master of psychological warfare?
"You thinking like that means you've already accepted defeat," Neji continued. "Just like all the other times before."
"…I was thinking about the past," Hinata said, her eyes suddenly sharp. She clenched her fists. "But I don't believe I'm going to lose!"
She's changed.
"Then show me what kind of strength makes you say that," Neji replied coldly.
~~~
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