"Kitazawa-sensei, where did you find a summoning beast that huge?" Naruto asked, buzzing with excitement.
"Sensei, are there more like that?" Kiba blurted. "I want one too!"
"Kiba, if Mom hears you say that, she'll beat you so bad you won't get out of bed," Hana said, half laughing, half exasperated. The Shiromari looked terrifyingly strong, but she still preferred the Haimaru Trio she'd raised herself.
"I'm just curious—don't tell Mom!" Kiba hunched his shoulders and backed down fast.
"Summons are mostly luck," Kitazawa cut in, tone firm. "Finding a second one like that would be hard even for me. And your own strength matters most—stop fixating on external crutches."
"Sensei is right," Kiba nodded hurriedly. "I'm not jealous at all!"
"Huh? Then why did you just—" Naruto started, before Kiba clapped a hand over his mouth.
"I was joking," Kiba said solemnly.
"If Kiba doesn't want it, then Sensei—if you ever find another summon like that, give it to me!" Ino slid up, grabbed Kitazawa's arm, and beamed.
Hinata pursed her lips without thinking when she saw that.
"We'll talk about it later," Kitazawa said. "Right now, your priority is next week's monthly exam. Remember, the lower ranks get challenged by other classes."
"Oh, right!" Kiba tensed up. "I do not want to get kicked out of the Advanced Class!"
"Same!" Naruto grinned. "I want to be classmates with you all forever!"
"Why the sudden sentimentality?" Tenten deadpanned. "I'm getting a bad feeling."
"Youth is about facing challenges head-on!" Rock Lee clenched his fists. "I welcome challengers from other classes!"
"So you're predicting you'll place dead last?" Tenten shot back.
Lee scratched his head, embarrassed. He did fine in practicals, but his theory was a disaster—add it up and he ended up at the bottom.
"With our strength, we won't get booted," Shino said calmly.
"Alright, go train." Kitazawa stopped on the academy field. "Neji, you stay."
Sasuke and the others headed off to their groups to train with Maruboshi Kosuke, Hatake Kakashi, and the rest.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Neji said, curious. Was this a one-on-one to teach him a new jutsu?
"Today's still practical sparring—but targeted." Kitazawa smiled. "You want to beat Naruto, right? I'll fight you using Naruto's jutsu."
Neji felt genuinely moved. To him, that seemed unfair to Naruto; the fact Kitazawa would go that far for him spoke to what kind of teacher he was.
A second later, though, things felt… odd: Kitazawa used the Transformation Technique and turned into Naruto. It looked weird.
"Come on," Kitazawa waved him forward.
Neji surged in.
"Multi-Shadow Clone Technique!" Kitazawa shouted, splitting into thirty clones.
Neji's eyes sharpened, but he didn't slow down. Because Kitazawa "called his jutsu" like Naruto does, he'd given away his real body's position.
Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!
Neji reached the real body and struck with both palms without hesitation.
"Good—decisive." Kitazawa held his ground and then called, "Leaf Whirlwind!"
He snapped a kick out.
Neji actually felt a rush of satisfaction as he slapped the ankle aside—powerful enough to force Kitazawa back two steps. He gritted his teeth and slammed another palm into the chakra point at Kitazawa's lower leg.
A dull thud. Kitazawa felt the chakra in his right leg seize. He pulled it back quickly, but the unfamiliar imbalance left his center of gravity off.
Neji moved in to capitalize—but he'd forgotten the clones.
"Leaf Double Whirlwind!"
Twin spinning kicks scissored in from left and right. Neji had no choice but to guard. In that instant, the real Kitazawa drove an elbow up and knocked him to the ground.
Neji's head rang. After a few seconds he forced himself up.
"That's how I think Naruto would respond," Kitazawa said evenly. "If you tie up the real one, he'll probably trade hits with you, then let his clones finish the job."
"What should I do?" Neji asked, open and earnest.
"Either drop him in a flash, or feint," Kitazawa said.
"His taijutsu isn't weak. It's hard to finish him before his clones react," Neji admitted after a beat.
"Good—you've got a clear read on yourself," Kitazawa said, satisfied. "Then feint."
"How?"
"Simple idea: stall him, then use Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm when you get the opening." Kitazawa patted his shoulder. "Ninja battles are information battles. He doesn't know you've learned Vacuum Palm."
Neji fell silent, thinking. It wasn't so different from his last strategy against Naruto—the difference was that he hadn't had Vacuum Palm then.
"Easy to say, hard to do," Kitazawa went on. "You'll need to survive longer against Naruto and his clones closing in."
"Understood."
"And besides the Multi-Shadow Clone, you have to be ready for his Rasengan," Kitazawa added. "Rasengan hits like a truck. Strictly speaking, it's trickier than the clones."
Neji's face tightened. The point was simple: Rasengan was more direct and more lethal. If it landed, he'd have to yield.
"But Rasengan has a weakness: it can't be thrown." Kitazawa smiled. "Next, I'll imitate how Naruto hides the Rasengan in different ways, and you'll crack each one."
Neji's heart jolted. This really was precision sparring for him. If he still couldn't beat Naruto after this, he'd be letting Kitazawa down. He straightened, fully focused.
Kitazawa chuckled at how serious he looked. Anyone else might get countered badly by such targeted prep—but Naruto was slippery: he progressed too fast. Right now he wasn't an unstoppable stat monster; once he mastered the Nine-Tails' power, though, everything Neji learned today could become moot. And it wasn't just Neji; apart from Sasuke, no one their age could really stand on equal footing with Naruto. That was for later, though.
Night fell.
Outside Konoha, in a Root underground facility.
Even after hours, the place was a hive of activity. Uchiha Itachi slipped soundlessly into the records room. There was a barrier on the door—only Root operatives could open it. Itachi's solution was simple: use his Mangekyō Sharingan to control a Root ninja, walk in, and have the puppet keep watch.
Faced with rows of files, he exhaled. Finding Shigaraki Tanuki's lab had been a pain. Root had too many bases, each airtight. Worse, Root members bore the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal; he couldn't just ask questions. Even a Root member under Mangekyō control would trigger the seal and alert Shimura Danzō.
Fortunately, Itachi's skills were formidable. After tailing several operatives over time, he finally narrowed it down to this facility.
He stepped up and began to read. The deeper he went, the colder he felt. Root's research projects were each more monstrous than the last—most of them human experimentation.
He frowned in thought. Anything that could draw Tsunade's personal attention had to be extraordinary. As awful as these were, he felt like he was still missing something.
He formed seals and split into three shadow clones. Four sets of eyes scoured the archives—and soon found something different.
"Gozu Tennō. Lead researcher: Shigaraki Tanuki. Top Secret."
The title made Itachi's heart jump. He flipped the file open.
A failed experiment log. Over and over: "Experiment failed on [date], cause: chakra runaway and explosion." The subject was a summon beast called a Nue.
"Explosion?" Itachi murmured. He'd already dug into Shigaraki: the person Kitazawa wanted him to investigate. Shigaraki was on leave and recuperating at a Root base with severe injuries—caused by an explosion, according to treatment records.
"Feels like this is it," Itachi said under his breath, suddenly energized. At last, a real lead.
"If there are experiments, there must be a lab," he said, leaving the papers to sweep the underground base. After several circuits, he found nothing tied to Gozu Tennō.
"Not here? Or hidden?" He figured the latter was more likely and frowned. If so, almost no one knew about it. The best plan was to wait for Shigaraki's return.
"Looks like I'll need a few more days." Itachi wasn't in a rush. Kitazawa hadn't set a deadline, and Itachi wanted this done perfectly—to leave Tsunade with a good impression.
Time flew. In a blink, a new week arrived.
Tuesday morning, Kitazawa hit the academy field right on schedule and, as usual, checked the Advanced Class's progress.
Fastest mover: Haruno Sakura. She'd learned Water Release: Wild Water Wave and started on Water Release: Water Formation Wall.
Next was Uchiha Sasuke. He'd gotten a handle on Leaf-Style kenjutsu; after the monthly exam, he'd probably be ready for Leaf-Style: Willow.
Kitazawa's shadow clones stayed in lockstep with him—he'd learned Leaf-Style himself and only needed Willow to finish his system task.
Naruto, Hinata, Yakumo Kurama, and Kiba hadn't changed much.
Thinking that over, Kitazawa headed to the artificial lake. There, Inuzuka Hana and Akimichi Chōji were practicing water-walking.
"You two, over here," he called after watching a bit.
They stopped and came over.
"After a month of training, your chakra control has improved a lot. Time for the next phase," Kitazawa said with a smile.
"Finally?" Chōji wiped sweat from his brow, looking relieved. Tree-climbing and water-walking had been torture for him. He was heavier; keeping balance cost more chakra.
Hana didn't mind as much. As an upper-year, her basics were stronger than Chōji's, so those drills were comparatively easy.
"Chōji, next you'll learn the Partial Multi-Size Technique," Kitazawa said after a moment. "You can go home and do a couple days of focused training."
He couldn't personally teach the clan secret; that was for Akimichi Chōza.
"With your current control, I'd say two weeks tops to learn it," Kitazawa added, face turning stern. "If you take longer, no chips at school."
"What?" Chōji's eyes went saucer-wide. Taking away chips was worse than death.
"I'll master Partial Multi-Size!" he declared after a stunned beat, brimming with resolve.
"Sensei, what about me?" Hana asked, eager. Watching Kiba power up had piled on the pressure. As the older sibling, getting passed would be mortifying—and, barring surprises, it was going to happen soon; she'd seen Kiba training with the Three-Headed Hellhound.
[Current Mission: Help Inuzuka Hana develop a new technique.]
[Reward: +10% Senju bloodline.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa was about to answer when the mission prompt crashed his train of thought. Siblings, huh—triggering the same mission as Kiba. A delightful surprise, though: ten percent Senju bloodline was basically free power.
Why would inventing a new jutsu give Senju blood, though? Tobirama, maybe—Konoha's most prolific jutsu inventor.
His mind raced. What new technique for Hana? Kiba had gotten the Hellhound because he lacked a ninja hound.
Hana already had hers and could train the clan secret, Human Beast Combination Transformation—the inspiration behind the Hellhound and Three-Headed Hellhound. Having her learn Hellhound would be backwards. And it wasn't "new."
His gaze dropped to the Haimaru Trio at Hana's feet. He clicked his tongue. Hana's two go-tos were Fang Over Fang and Four Legs Technique.
But Fang Over Fang only worked with Hana plus Haimaru; the other two couldn't join. So… could they create a Quadruple Fang Over Fang?
"Hana, I can modify Fang Over Fang for you," Kitazawa said.
"Eh?" She blinked. As far as she was concerned, Fang Over Fang was already perfect.
"It's great, but the creator didn't account for one thing," Kitazawa smiled. "You have three hounds."
Normally an Inuzuka worked with a single partner; Hana was the outlier.
"You mean…?" Her face lit with hope.
"Exactly. I can rework it so you and the Haimaru Trio spin together."
"Thank you, Sensei!" Hana burst out, thrilled.
"Woof! Woof!" The trio barked happily.
"I've got a concrete plan. Give me the Fang Over Fang scroll, and I'll teach you the new version tomorrow," Kitazawa said. "For today, keep water-walking."
"Yes, Sensei!"
Kitazawa left two shadow clones, took the Fang Over Fang scroll back to his office, formed seals, and made two more clones. For ten percent Senju bloodline, he was going to grind out Quadruple Fang Over Fang tonight.
Night deepened. Only Kitazawa's office lights still burned in the academy.
[Current Mission: Help Inuzuka Hana develop a new technique.]
[Reward: +10% Senju bloodline.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa smiled at the three lines hanging in the air. As the Senju blood increased, his body shifted—day's fatigue vanished; his chakra cap jumped by about a fifth.
He tightened his fist. By his estimate, an average Senju had maybe two or three "bars" of chakra. Look at Tsunade: setting aside the Yin Seal, her normal reserves weren't that far above Kakashi's—speaking of late-era Hokage Kakashi, not early days.
Hashirama and Tobirama were outliers; if every Senju were like them, the clan wouldn't have faded.
Besides chakra, the bloodline also boosted recovery and stamina.
He stowed the Quadruple Fang Over Fang notes, stood, and stretched. It was late; Kurenai was probably waiting.
With another ten percent Senju blood added, he could go home and "stress-test" that stamina.