"Kitazawa, long time no see."
Lifting her slender, beautiful legs wrapped in white bandages, Yuhi Kurenai walked up to Kitazawa.
"Not that long—we just met last week."
Kitazawa's gaze fell on the bandages around her hands.
In his previous life, he'd always been curious about why Yuhi Kurenai wrapped bandages around her thighs and hands.
"Kitazawa, I'd like to ask you for a favor."
A smile appeared on Yuhi Kurenai's fair face.
Kitazawa was somewhat surprised.
Although both Yuhi Kurenai and he were chunin, there were still differences between chunin.
She possessed hereditary ninja techniques.
Her father was Yuhi Shinku, one of Konoha Village's rare genjutsu jonin.
If Yuhi Kurenai was a peak chunin at the pinnacle of perfection, half a step away from jonin, then Kitazawa was a beginner-level chunin.
"I recently became a private tutor."
Yuhi Kurenai spoke with a troubled tone, "But this student is very disobedient, so I wanted to learn from your experience."
Kitazawa pondered her words thoughtfully.
In the original story, Yuhi Kurenai was the team leader for Hyuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba.
But she had another student named Kurama Yakumo.
She possessed a special genjutsu kekkei genkai that could make illusions become reality.
Genjutsu belonged to Yin Release, and when Yin Release power was too strong, it caused constant problems with her body.
For safety reasons, her parents didn't let her study at the ninja academy, instead hiring Yuhi Kurenai as a private tutor.
But she was obsessed with becoming a ninja.
After being rejected repeatedly, a Yin Release monster named Ido was born in her heart, and in her loss of control, she killed her parents.
The Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen sensed Kurama Yakumo's danger and ordered Yuhi Kurenai to eliminate the monster within her.
"You've been voted the most outstanding teacher at the ninja academy three years running."
Yuhi Kurenai clapped her hands together and bowed slightly, "Please, old classmate!"
Just as Kitazawa was about to speak, a blue light screen appeared before his eyes.
[Current Task: Help classmate Kurama Yakumo return to the ninja academy.]
[Task Reward: Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow—this could actually trigger a task?
But more tasks never hurt, so he chose to accept.
"No problem."
Kitazawa agreed, "I'm quite confident in my teaching abilities."
"Thank you. With your help, I feel much more at ease."
Yuhi Kurenai patted her chest.
"Come find me tomorrow after school."
Kitazawa thought for a moment, "I'll share some teaching experience with you then."
"Alright."
Yuhi Kurenai nodded and smiled cheerfully, "I'll treat you to drinks tomorrow night."
"Sounds good."
Kitazawa said without ceremony, "We won't go home until we're drunk."
"You've never out-drunk me since we were kids. I'll probably end up taking you home again."
Yuhi Kurenai said with a smug expression.
"The past is the past, the present is the present."
Kitazawa said stubbornly.
"Then I look forward to your performance."
Yuhi Kurenai reached out and punched him lightly, "I'm leaving. See you tomorrow."
Kitazawa watched her walk away and couldn't help but shake his head.
He and Yuhi Kurenai were childhood friends—they'd been in the same class since age six, and they'd known each other for fifteen years now.
Besides her, his other classmates included Hatake Kakashi, Sarutobi Asuma, Uchiha Obito, and Nohara Rin.
But most of them had died in the Third Shinobi World War, and the grass on their graves was probably ten feet high by now.
Without a doubt, Kitazawa was a transmigrator.
After writing "Have you ever been a ninja? Some things are written carelessly and assumed" in the comment section of a Naruto fanfiction called "Lurking in Konoha, Part-time Hokage," he found himself in Konoha.
Since both his parents were chunin of Konoha Village, he was sent to the ninja academy to study when he turned six.
Unfortunately, his talent was mediocre.
He barely managed to graduate at thirteen and become a genin, only to hear news of his parents' deaths.
Kitazawa recognized the harsh reality.
Shouting about bonds and friendship while charging at Uchiha Madara—that was something only protagonists could do.
He was cannon fodder among cannon fodder, so he resolutely changed careers to become a teacher.
At the ninja academy, Kitazawa mainly taught the Will of Fire and Konoha's history, occasionally teaching practical courses like the Three Basic Techniques.
Building on the foundation of the Will of Fire, he proposed the theory that "The Hokage is the sun, and the Hokage's kindness can never be fully repaid."
Because of this, he had been selected as the ninja academy's most outstanding teacher for three consecutive years.
Of course, his teaching skills were also excellent.
Kitazawa pondered for a moment, then instead of returning to school, he headed north.
With Umino Iruka handling registration, he didn't need to worry.
"System, display my character panel."
Kitazawa suddenly thought of something and mentally commanded.
[Name: Kitazawa]
[Age: Six years old]
[Ninjutsu: Clone Technique, Substitution Technique, Transformation Technique, Body Flicker Technique, Wind Release: Gale Palm, Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique]
[Evaluation: What they call genius is just the threshold to see you. You are a born ninja, destined to become the strongest.]
Kitazawa rolled his eyes.
He suspected this system was being passive-aggressive.
A twenty-one-year-old genius ninja? If word got out, even the Uchiha would laugh for three days and nights.
But seeing the age on the panel, he understood—this system wasn't lying, it was running its program on a bug.
Kitazawa remembered a saying: if a bug works, don't fix it.
Training Ground at the Edge of Konoha Village
Kitazawa stopped and formed hand seals.
A large amount of chakra gathered in his throat, and as he opened his mouth to spit, a massive fireball with a diameter of five or six meters emerged.
The air twisted from the terrible heat, raising waves of hot air.
BOOM!
The fireball crashed into the ground, immediately charring a large area black.
"This system really isn't bad."
Kitazawa was stunned for a moment, then broke into a satisfied smile.
The power of a ninjutsu depended on the user's chakra and proficiency level.
Kitazawa had seen many ninjas use Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, but none had the impressive power his displayed.
Without exaggeration, if he had enough chakra, he wouldn't be inferior to Uchiha Madara.
This was the value of the system directly maxing out proficiency.
...
Hokage Office
Sarutobi Hiruzen opened a scroll.
The scroll recorded Uzumaki Naruto's experiences throughout the day.
When he saw that Kitazawa had made contact with Uzumaki Naruto, he couldn't help but fall into thought.
Soon, he recalled Kitazawa's file.
An ordinary chunin, but one with unique insights into the Will of Fire.
"He probably doesn't know Naruto's true identity."
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded slightly.
When others feared Uzumaki Naruto like a tiger, Kitazawa could treat him fairly, which showed he truly practiced the Will of Fire.
"I wonder what Naruto will learn."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's face showed anticipation.