Chapter 75

AN : The 3rd ARC is complete. Check it out on my [email protected]/noviceauthor777 ------------------------------------ Tuesday. After breakfast, Mizuki waved Iruka Umino over as they headed for the Ninja Academy together. "I wonder if Kitazawa-senpai’s coming in today," Iruka said with a sigh. "I covered his classes yesterday, and the kids absolutely hated it." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking sheepish. "They didn’t say anything outright, but I could tell they were disappointed it wasn’t him teaching." Mizuki blinked. "Wait. He didn’t come to work yesterday?" Iruka nodded. "He took the day off." Mizuki frowned. The friendly match between their classes was coming up on Friday, and Kitazawa was skipping work? Could it be... he’d already given up on beating his class? A grin spread across Mizuki’s face. "Looks like our class is winning the friendly match for sure." "That’s not necessarily true," Iruka said quietly, remembering the intense training session from the day before. Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura... each one had surprised him with unexpected skill and power. ’Are kids these days all this strong?’ No—he realized. It was just the kids from Class 1A. Because they had Kitazawa. "How long have you even known Kitazawa?" Mizuki snapped. "Don’t you trust your good friend?" "I... I trust you," Iruka said, but his voice was uncertain. Mizuki narrowed his eyes, hearing the hesitation loud and clear. ’Damn that Kitazawa... I can’t stand him!’ By the time they reached the faculty office building, Mizuki was still scowling. "Mizuki. Iruka." A middle-aged instructor approached them, holding some papers. "This is the new notice from the principal." Mizuki took the sheet, gave it a glance—and felt as though a bolt of lightning had struck him. "What?!" Iruka gasped, reading over his shoulder. "Kitazawa-senpai actually made Special Jōnin?" The notice was brief but explosive: Kitazawa had passed the Special Jōnin assessment. The principal had sent it out because it directly affected staffing and salary structures at the academy. After all, in the ninja world, strength commanded respect—and a Special Jōnin wasn’t just a regular sensei anymore. In modern terms, Kitazawa had basically become a "senior instructor" or even a professor. "He took yesterday off for the assessment," the middle-aged instructor explained. Then he moved on to distribute notices to other offices. Iruka slowly exhaled. "Since the Academy was founded, I think fewer than ten people have ever been promoted to Special Jōnin for their educational skills alone..." He trailed off, looking rattled. "That’s... incredible." Most good senseis lacked serious combat ability. And the truly strong shinobi usually didn’t bother teaching—or if they did, they weren’t necessarily any good at it. Those realities meant the Academy had only a handful of Special Jōnin or Jōnin instructors. The majority were Chūnin. Mizuki clenched the paper so tightly it crumpled in his fist, his expression twisting into something ugly. ’Why him?’ In Mizuki’s mind, Kitazawa had never seemed particularly strong. He’d always assumed Kitazawa was weaker than himself. ’He must’ve pulled strings... Hokage-sama probably went easy on him...’ The longer Mizuki stewed on it, the more convinced he became. Resentment and bitterness tangled inside him like barbed wire. Iruka, noticing Mizuki’s dark expression, instinctively stepped half a pace back. That tiny movement hit Mizuki like a blade. ’Even Iruka doesn’t believe in me...’ "I’m going back to the office!" Mizuki snapped through clenched teeth. Before Iruka could reply, Mizuki spun on his heel and stormed away. Moments later, the sound of frustrated yelling echoed from the faculty room. Kitazawa walked down the bustling street, his mind already occupied with ideas for new ninjutsu. After sharing grilled fish with Kurenai the day before, he’d returned to the village—only to run into Tsunade emerging from the casino, looking thoroughly defeated. She had, unsurprisingly, gambled away every last ryo. With no other option to replenish her funds, she’d roped him into brainstorming sessions about medical ninjutsu. They ended up discussing possibilities all afternoon and well into the evening, finally arriving at a preliminary direction: There would be two approaches—treating the symptoms and treating the root cause. Treating symptoms meant easing the pain of psychological trauma—Jutsus to displace negative emotions, for instance. Treating the root cause was more radical, such as erasing memories altogether. Of course, which approach to use would always depend on the patient’s choice. The fourth ninjutsu they planned to develop was memory erasure. In the ninja world, plenty of Jutsus already existed for infiltrating or manipulating memories, but all of them were designed as weapons—tools for espionage and interrogation, never for healing. To repurpose such Jutsus as therapy, extensive modification would be necessary. Kitazawa mulled over the challenge as he walked. Before long, he reached the academy. As soon as he stepped inside the main office building, he was met by an unusual wave of enthusiasm from his colleagues. "Congratulations, Kitazawa!" "Kitazawa-senpai, you’re incredible! Please look after us from now on!" "You’re the first sensei promoted to Special Jōnin in the past five years!" He greeted everyone patiently. By the time he reached his own office, he was nearly five minutes behind schedule. A folded notice sat neatly on his desk. ’So the old man decided to make it public,’ Kitazawa thought,recognizing Hiruzen’s handwriting. He couldn’t help a faint smile. He knew perfectly well why the Hokage had broadcasted the news. Hiruzen wanted him to shape Naruto and the others into heirs of the Will of Fire. But he was equally aware that all this trust—and all these privileges—would vanish the moment he strayed from the village’s ideals. ’In the end, power is the only thing that truly matters.’ Still, if the promotion meant better pay and more resources, he certainly wouldn’t refuse. "Kitazawa-sensei?" He turned as Hinata and Ino walked into the room. "Where’s Sakura?" he asked, setting down the breakfast he’d brought. "She already ate and went to train with Sasuke," Ino reported. "Not surprised," Kitazawa said with a smile. "Come on—let’s eat." "Kitazawa-sensei, why weren’t you here yesterday?" Ino asked as she bit into her rice ball. "You don’t know how much we missed you!" Beside her, Hinata instinctively nodded in agreement—only to look down shyly when Kitazawa’s gaze landed on her. After breakfast, the three of them headed out to the training ground. As usual, Ino hurried off to join Sakura for tree-climbing practice. Kitazawa created a shadow clone to work on the Great Dragon Fire Jutsu, while he stayed behind to guide Hinata with leaf-catching exercises. Half an hour passed. Then, all at once, he felt a strange stillness inside himself—a pause, as if the world had momentarily held its breath. Mission Complete: Learn a B-rank ninjutsu within half a month. Reward: 10% Senju Clan bloodline acquired. As the notification echoed in his mind, a rush of unfamiliar energy coursed through him. Kitazawa instinctively clenched his fists. ’So this is what it feels like...’ Even a mere tenth of Senju lineage was enough to transform him. First, he’d awakened Yang Release. Second, his chakra reserves had expanded by at least a fifth of his own chakra. Third, every aspect of his physical constitution—his strength, stamina, and recovery—had improved noticeably. ’This world really does revolve around bloodlines.’ He exhaled slowly, feeling the changes settle into his body. And for the first time, he sensed that his journey had only just begun.