A flood of information poured into Kitazawa's mind.
In one go, he had mastered Fire Style: Heavenly Prison and Fire Style: Great Fire Heavenly Prison.
Though both were classified as Fire Style jutsu, in essence they were sealing techniques—meant not just for damage, but for restraint.
Especially the Great Fire Annihilation, which was one of the rare jutsu capable of binding giant creatures.
In the shinobi world, the bigger a beast, the harder it was to subdue.
Most ninjutsu simply lacked the scale or power to contain them.
Kitazawa took out his Summoning Storage Scroll and sealed the two bandit leaders' corpses inside.
Such scrolls couldn't hold the living—but corpses were another story.
After stowing the scroll, he swept through the bandit camp one last time before heading toward the cliff where Mizuki had fallen.
Looking down, he could faintly make out the man's body.
Without hesitation, Kitazawa leapt off the cliff—
—a Leap of Faith.
Wind roared past his ears, tossing his hair and clothes upward.
As the ground rushed closer, he clapped his hands.
"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"
Chakra surged and blasted downward, creating a burst of counterforce.
His fall slowed, his descent cushioned.
Kitazawa twisted midair and landed lightly at the base of the cliff.
He approached Mizuki's corpse.
In the anime, Naruto's Rasengan often looked non-lethal—but that was only because his enemies were far from ordinary.
Mizuki, though, was just a standard Chūnin.
Struck through the heart by a Rasengan, he had died instantly.
Kitazawa unrolled another storage scroll and sealed Mizuki's body away.
With the mission complete, he turned back toward the Hidden Leaf Village.
An hour later, he stood before the Hokage's Tower.
Normally, a squad would simply report their mission's completion at the Mission Hall—but since his teammate had died, he was required to meet directly with the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Come in," came the old voice from inside.
Kitazawa entered and bowed. "Lord Hokage."
"Ah, Kitazawa," Hiruzen said with a faint smile. "What brings you here on a Saturday?"
"It's like this…"
Kitazawa recounted everything—from the bet with Class 2-A's instructor, to the mission with Mizuki, and finally Mizuki's attempt to hire rogue ninja to assassinate him.
"What?"
Hiruzen's expression darkened. "Mizuki dared to do such a thing?"
In the Leaf, many rules existed—but none more absolute than never killing a fellow Leaf ninja.
Even Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin and Hiruzen's own student, had been branded a traitor for conducting experiments on Leaf shinobi.
Of course, that rule was… flexible for the higher-ups—so long as nothing leaked.
Danzo Shimura, for example, had performed no fewer human experiments than Orochimaru, yet he was still alive and well—
because no one could prove it.
But Mizuki was merely a Chūnin, with no power or backing.
Even if Kitazawa hadn't killed him, he would have spent the rest of his life rotting in prison.
That, likely, was why the system had marked his mission as "overcompleted."
"Lord Hokage," Kitazawa said, taking out the scroll. "Mizuki's corpse is sealed inside."
"His corpse, huh?"
Hiruzen examined the scroll, visibly relieved.
In truth, whether Mizuki lived or died didn't matter much to him.
What he cared about was whether Kitazawa had lied—or worse, turned disloyal.
With Kitazawa's skill as a teacher, the Leaf had no one to replace him.
If he went rogue, Naruto and his classmates would be devastated.
But bringing back Mizuki's body proved Kitazawa's sincerity.
Hiruzen stood, moved to the open space in the office, and unsealed the scroll.
Mizuki's lifeless body appeared before them.
"You learned the Rasengan?" Hiruzen asked in surprise.
When Tsunade had reported that Kitazawa traded for the Rasengan scroll, both she and Hiruzen had thought it a wasted opportunity.
After all, not everyone could master the Fourth Hokage's signature technique.
"Just lucky," Kitazawa replied humbly.
Hiruzen chuckled. "Luck alone doesn't teach you the Rasengan."
He shook his head and sighed. "With your talent, staying a teacher at the academy feels… wasteful."
"There are plenty of stronger ninja in the Leaf," Kitazawa said with a confident smile. "But when it comes to teaching—none can beat me. I'm exactly where I belong."
Hiruzen laughed. "Fair enough."
After resealing Mizuki's body, he looked back at Kitazawa.
"According to procedure, Mizuki's body will be sent to the Intelligence Division for memory extraction."
"I understand," Kitazawa said calmly.
Hiruzen nodded. "What are your current plans for Naruto?"
"For taijutsu, he's training under Might Guy," Kitazawa replied. "So I'm focusing on live-combat drills."
"Combat training, hmm? Sensible." Hiruzen nodded approvingly. "If that's all, you may go hand in your mission."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
At the Mission Hall, Kitazawa collected the full 150,000 ryō reward for a B-rank mission involving two Chūnin-level targets.
With Mizuki dead, the payment was his alone.
Money was money—no reason to refuse it.
Though he wasn't poor, extra funds never hurt.
His biggest earnings still came from Hinata Hyūga's generosity, but that was another story.
As he exited the Hokage's Tower, Kurenai Yuhi rushed up.
"You're back! Are you hurt? What happened?"
Kitazawa spread his hands. "Do I look hurt to you?"
"Mizuki didn't attack you?" she asked, scanning him over before sighing in relief.
"He did—and even hired two rogue Chūnin. But they're all corpses now."
"They deserved it," Kurenai huffed. "I'm just glad you're safe."
"I already handed Mizuki's body to Lord Hokage," Kitazawa said, lightly poking her cheek. "It's over now—don't dwell on it."
"Mhm." She nodded softly.
"I'll be reading upstairs," he added. "Let me know when Lady Tsunade arrives."
He headed up the stairs. Half his assigned reading still remained—and with only a week left, he needed to hurry if he wanted to finish Tsunade's task.
By Sunday morning, he expected another quiet day of study or research—
but an unexpected visitor arrived.
"Kitazawa."
It was Haru, an ANBU operative. "Lord Hokage requests your presence."
Could it be—had Mizuki's death drawn suspicion?
He thought for a moment. No, impossible.
He had acted entirely in self-defense.
If this were trouble, Haru wouldn't have been this polite—she'd have come in with cuffs.
"Understood."
He followed her back to Hiruzen's office.
"Kitazawa," said the Third, "the Intelligence Division confirmed Mizuki's guilt. His death was his own doing."
"Glad to hear it."
Now he could rest easy. Mizuki was officially history.
"Since Mizuki was the homeroom teacher for Class 2-A," Hiruzen continued, "who do you think should replace him?"
"I'll leave that to your judgment, Lord Hokage."
"Would you consider taking the position temporarily?" Hiruzen asked with a smile.
Kitazawa froze for two seconds, then shook his head.
"I'm afraid I can't, sir. I'm focused on Class 1-A—I simply don't have the time."
Of course, time wasn't the real issue.
The system recognized him as Class 1-A's instructor.
If he switched to Class 2-A, the stupid thing might assume he'd changed classes—and he couldn't risk losing Naruto, Sasuke, and the rest of his best "mission triggers."
"I understand," Hiruzen said, still smiling. "You'll only need to oversee the new teacher, not teach directly."
"The new instructor will be a man named Teraishi."
Kitazawa frowned slightly. That name… sounded familiar.
Then it hit him—Teraishi was a member of Root, Danzo Shimura's secret faction.
In the original timeline, he'd only appeared once—sent to capture Kabuto on Danzo's orders.
A bad sign.
"He's from Root," Hiruzen confirmed, as if reading his thoughts. "Danzo originally wanted him to replace you as Class 1-A's teacher, but I refused. I reassigned him to Class 2-A instead."
Kitazawa sighed inwardly.
"Don't worry," Hiruzen said. "The academy is still under my authority."
He knew Danzo's reputation well—feared and despised in equal measure.
"Your mission," Hiruzen added, "is simply to observe Teraishi. Once Danzo realizes it's a dead end, he'll pull him back."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
It wasn't a dangerous job.
For all Danzo's arrogance, Hiruzen still held the upper hand.
Besides, Kitazawa doubted he was Danzo's true target.
More likely, it was Yakumo Kurama, whose powerful Genjutsu Bloodline Limit made her a tempting prize—and whose clan had long fallen from grace.
As he turned to leave, glowing text appeared before his eyes:
[As a genius, you must dominate the Ninja Academy. Class 2-A will be your first step.]
[Mission: Defeat Class 2-A's strongest—Neji Hyūga.]
[Reward: 10% increase in Byakugan purity.]
[Accept mission?]
Kitazawa blinked.
"Wait, what?! This counts too?"