Since it was still early, Kitazawa headed back to the Ninja Academy.
He didn't go to the training field right away, but made for a corner on the south side.
From a distance came the crackle of electricity, punctuated now and then by Uchiha Sasuke's muffled grunts.
Walking up, Kitazawa saw Sasuke wreathed head-to-toe in lightning.
Lightning-nature chakra training?
Kitazawa paused, then glanced up at Hatake Kakashi perched in a tree, wholly absorbed in the book in his hands—Icha Icha Paradise.
"Kakashi."
Kitazawa vaulted up to him.
"What is it?" Kakashi tucked the book away without a ripple.
"You've been training Sasuke for almost two weeks. How's his talent for Lightning Release?" Kitazawa asked with a pleasant smile.
"Not bad," Kakashi said after a two-second silence.
"Looks like my eye for talent is decent," Kitazawa nodded.
Coming from someone like Kakashi, "not bad" meant "excellent." And indeed, it was. He was one of the story's leads for a reason—his aptitude spoke for itself. Maybe not the single best Lightning Release user in the world, but easily top five.
"When can he start learning actual Lightning Release jutsu?" Kitazawa asked, watching Sasuke take the shocks.
"Next week he can pick up some basic ones," Kakashi said after thinking it over.
"What about your Lightning Release: Chidori?" Kitazawa followed up.
"Chidori?" Kakashi frowned slightly. "He's not ready."
"Sasuke's goal is to beat Naruto," Kitazawa reminded him.
"No wonder," Kakashi muttered, finally understanding why Kitazawa was pushing Chidori—clearly to counter Uzumaki Naruto's Rasengan. Then he felt a twinge of irony: Rasengan was his own teacher's creation—Namikaze Minato.
"I'll see what I can do," Kakashi said after a beat. Sasuke really was suited for Chidori; if he could handle it, Kakashi didn't mind teaching him.
His left hand rose unconsciously to his covered eye. The Sharingan had been a gift from Uchiha Obito, but he himself wasn't an Uchiha. In a sense, he owed the clan. Teaching Sasuke Chidori could be a way to square that debt.
"I've been studying Lightning Release lately," Kitazawa said casually. "Think I could learn Chidori?"
"Chidori's a thrusting assassination technique. Without a Sharingan, you won't just miss—controlling it cleanly is hard," Kakashi said after a brief start. "Even if you learn it, you won't use it well."
"Not necessarily," Kitazawa said, brimming with confidence. "I can modify it."
In the original story, plenty of jutsu branched off from Chidori, and once you shifted the form, you didn't rely as much on Sharingan.
The one Kitazawa valued most was Chidori Current—instead of concentrating lightning in the hand like Chidori, you diffuse it across the whole body, a Lightning Release that fuses offense and defense.
To him, it was more practical than straight Chidori; he didn't lack for pure offense. Honestly, he could probably work out Chidori Current himself—his lightning-nature change was already at a master level.
"…" Kakashi hesitated. Chidori was an A-rank Lightning Release; modifying one wasn't necessarily any easier than inventing it. In his impression, Kitazawa's strengths were medical ninjutsu, Wind, and Fire—not Lightning.
"When I teach Sasuke Chidori, you can sit in," Kakashi decided in the end.
"Thanks. But I'm a believer in fair trades—I can't just learn your Chidori for free." An idea struck Kitazawa and he grinned. "I've got an idea for an S-rank Lightning Release. Want to hear it?"
"S-rank Lightning?" Surprise crept into Kakashi's tone. S-rank ninjutsu were rare in any element—single-element S-ranks usually numbered fewer than five.
"If we can complete it, it's definitely S-rank," Kitazawa promised.
"Then why not just invent it yourself?" Kakashi countered. If Kitazawa pulled that off, he'd be a sensation in the village.
"My bandwidth's limited," Kitazawa said lightly. "And when it comes to Lightning in Konoha, you're the top specialist."
"The Hokage's Lightning Release is stronger than mine," Kakashi shook his head.
"The Hokage is busier than I am—hard to get time with him," Kitazawa said. "If you're interested, let's co-create this S-rank Lightning Release."
"I am… a little curious," Kakashi admitted after two seconds. "And I've got time. Let's hear it."
No shinobi could resist the lure of an S-rank technique.
"Lightning Release: Kirin," Kitazawa said after a small cough.
Yes, he was borrowing Sasuke's future idea. But realistically, Sasuke wouldn't come up with Kirin for years—maybe close to a decade from now. Better to have Kakashi develop it early, teach it to Sasuke later, and shave off a mountain of time.
Kitazawa didn't know the seals, but he knew the principle: Kirin was called the pinnacle of Lightning Release because it harnessed natural lightning—its drawback being the weather. No thunderclouds, no jutsu. You could, however, make the weather.
In the original, Sasuke used Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique to superheat the air, creating strong updrafts that formed cumulonimbus clouds; those clouds then birthed lightning.
Sasuke would guide that lightning down with Chidori or other Lightning Release, shaping it into a Kirin that crashed from the heavens—cataclysmic power.
"That's… a brilliant concept," Kakashi's eye lit up as he listened.
"So? Want to give it a try?" Kitazawa said, hinting, "You know I'm pretty busy."
He really was—Earth Release, sealing, Water Release… his schedule was packed. He didn't have time to co-develop Kirin.
"Alright," Kakashi nodded. "I'll experiment when I can."
[Current Mission: Co-create Lightning Release: Kirin with Hatake Kakashi.]
[Reward: Chidori Current.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa couldn't help a soft "huh." Even this triggers a quest? Not a bad thing—he could derive Chidori Current himself, but it would take time, and the system's reward would come fully mastered.
"If you hit any roadblocks, come find me," Kitazawa chuckled. "I'm pretty confident in my Lightning Release."
Kakashi… wasn't entirely convinced. If he were that confident, he wouldn't be handing an S-rank Lightning idea to someone else.
"Keep reading Icha Icha. I'm heading out," Kitazawa said, dropping from the tree.
"It's not Icha—" Kakashi started to protest, but Kitazawa was already gone. Shaking his head, Kakashi pulled out a notebook. He'd need to study Kirin carefully—Kitazawa had only given him the principle.
Kitazawa reached the training field.
Hyūga Hinata spotted him first. She was about to stop practicing the Shadow Clone Technique when Kitazawa shot her a look—she promptly kept going.
He turned to Yamanaka Ino next. The scene there was almost poetic: amidst a flurry of pink petals, she snatched one from the air, poured chakra into it, and flicked it. The petal shot forward and embedded itself in a tree. Kitazawa nodded, satisfied—she'd likely master Ninja Art: Ten Thousand Flowers Profusion soon.
Uzumaki Naruto and his shadow clones sat on the ground nearby, each holding a leaf, fidgeting. Clearly, his wind-nature chakra training wasn't going smoothly.
Kitazawa suspected the Nine-Tails was meddling. In any case, let Naruto grind for now; once Tsunade's hemophobia was cured, they could tell him about the Nine-Tails, and his power would leap again. The Nine-Tails really was the ultimate cheat code.
He offered pointers to Yakushi Kabuto, Aburame Torune, Uchiha Izumi, and the others; then headed to a secluded spot on the north side.
A rank odor—equal parts foul and strangely fragrant—wafted over.
Kitazawa looked at the bug hive in front of Aburame Shino. Encircled by flames, a steady stream of kikaichū tried to break through.
"How's it going?" Kitazawa asked.
"Please take a look, Sensei," Shino extended his hand. Resting there was a black-with-red kikaichū.
"You did it?" Kitazawa was surprised.
"Halfway," Shino explained. "I discovered it three days ago. It endured three seconds in the flames."
"Three seconds is a long time—enough to swing a fight," Kitazawa arched a brow.
"Unfortunately, there's only one," Shino adjusted his glasses. "With two, I could try breeding them."
Forcing evolution through fire wasn't a long-term plan; the ideal outcome was a true genetic mutation—offspring with innate fire resistance. That would mark real success.
"Where there's one, there'll be two," Kitazawa smiled. "You'll see more variants soon."
"Agreed," Shino said, returning to work—molding chakra to generate and replenish kikaichū.
After making a round, Kitazawa returned to the field. Time for his own special training: sealing arts. With two weeks of winter break left, he wanted to learn three basic sealing techniques.
He'd already mastered the Finger Carving Seal. Between the String Light Formation and the Sealed Binding Formation, he chose the former.
Its effect was simple: create a barrier that traps targets inside so they can't leave—usable solo or with a team.
He stood still and formed seals. Chakra flowed from his feet into the ground. Three concentric circles of black formulae spread out from him.
In the original, Iruka Umino had used the String Light Formation on Naruto—only for Naruto to break free moments later. It looked impressive, but in practice, it wasn't much—just a low-level sealing jutsu.
The sun dipped; dusk fell. Sasuke, Naruto, and the others wrapped up training and headed home.
Kitazawa, however, called out to Hinata.
"Kitazawa-sensei." Hinata looked up at him. After a day's training, sweat beaded on her brow, dampening and tousling her hair. Paired with the Hyūga training outfit, she had a crisp, gallant air—yet with a youthful charm that was more cute than fierce.
"For you." Kitazawa produced a summoning storage scroll and held it out.
"What is it?" Hinata took it on reflex.
"Snacks from the Fire Capital," he said after a beat. "Consider it a birthday present."
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei!" Hinata's heart leapt—she'd thought he'd forgotten.
"You gave me a rare ninja blade, but I haven't found anything of equal value for you yet," he said, ruffling her hair. "No rush—I'll get you something truly fitting later."
"To me, this is equal value," Hinata smiled, cradling the scroll.
"Helping count the money after being sold—that's you," Kitazawa laughed, shaking his head.
"They can't beat me," Hinata said with a tilt of her head.
"You really are adorable." He tapped her forehead. "I'll walk you home."
"Mm!" Hinata bounced along beside him, hugging the scroll, while he chatted about the sights of the Fire Capital.
"See you, Kitazawa-sensei!" Hinata finally, reluctantly, went inside.
The next day arrived.
The third week of winter break officially began; with today, three days remained until New Year. Kitazawa planned two more days of training, then time off—making students train through the holiday would be a bit inhumane.
For the next two days, he focused on just one thing: practicing the String Light Formation.
Two days passed, and it was December 31—the last day of the year.
First thing in the morning, an unexpected delight:
[Current Mission: Help Hyūga Hinata master the Shadow Clone Technique during winter break.]
[Reward: Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
The Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm wasn't a huge deal for Kitazawa personally, but for Hyūga it was important: it patched Gentle Fist's short-range limitation and had superb stealth—an invisible chakra shockwave.
Rubbing his chin, Kitazawa mused: if Hinata had mastered Shadow Clone, Hyūga Neji probably had too. Neji had a mission next term to defeat Naruto. What to teach him? The freshly acquired Vacuum Palm seemed perfect.
Given Naruto's current situation, his power probably wouldn't change much this break—his wind-nature training was slow.
With a surprise Vacuum Palm, Neji might just take him. Best to have Hyūga Hiashi teach it once, then Kitazawa could fine-tune—saving a lot of trouble.
"Y-you're awake?" Kurenai murmured, twisting lazily as she draped a pale thigh across him.
Kitazawa glanced down and quickly looked away. The Dark Forest principle was ruthless—like a bottomless abyss; stare too long and you'd fall.
"Time to get up, Kurenai." He hugged her soft body and gave her a couple of light swats.
"L-let me sleep a little longer…" She lifted her head, kissed him, then burrowed back into his arms.
He pinched her nose gently; a moment later, she woke.
"Going to the Academy today?" she asked, sitting up to stretch.
"No. I gave them two days off," Kitazawa said, openly admiring her elegant, unadorned form.
"Good. Then come shopping with me—let's buy what we need for dinner," Kurenai said. He'd invited Tsunade and Shizune to celebrate New Year together; prep was in order.
"Mm." Kitazawa nodded. Wherever you were, the New Year mattered. In the shinobi world, the last day was called Ōmisoka, and you ate soba to cross into the new year.
"What do you want for breakfast?" Kurenai asked, tracing his well-trained chest with her fingers.
"I'm easy," Kitazawa said—and counter-teased.
"Pervert!" she yelped, clutching her chest as she grabbed his wrist. Shooting him a glare, she hopped out of bed and dressed. Kitazawa chuckled—some sensations really were… memorable.
Just then—boom.
Kitazawa blinked, threw on clothes on instinct, and went to the window. Following the sound, he spotted a white-haired ninja planted headfirst in the ground.
A quick look at the distinctive outfit and hair was enough: Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin. Back in the village? Made sense—it was the holidays. But judging by this posture, Tsunade had just punched him clear across the street.
Thinking it through, Kitazawa stepped outside—only to see Tsunade, expression blank, dusting off her hands.
"Good morning, Tsunade-sama," he called.
"Mm. Morning," she replied, her tone softening when she saw him. "Just taught an oblivious idiot a lesson."
"What's going on?" Jiraiya sat up and saw Tsunade chatting and laughing with a handsome young shinobi.
~~~
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