"Kitazawa-sensei told me to find you!"
Uzumaki Naruto stepped closer, grinning.
"Oh?"
Kyuubi's interest stirred. "Don't tell me—another secret tale about Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama?"
"Nope."
Naruto relayed Kitazawa's instructions word for word.
"Duel Monsters?"
Kyuubi tilted its massive head. "Is it actually fun?"
"I… don't know."
Naruto scratched his cheek, laughing awkwardly. "I forgot to ask."
"Hmph. Sounds arrogant already."
Kyuubi snorted. "Fine. I'll lend you my chakra—but if it's boring, I'm taking it back."
"Thanks, Kyuubi!"
Before Naruto could say anything else, Kyuubi exhaled.
A violent gale erupted as a torrent of dark-red chakra surged straight into Naruto's body.
His consciousness was forcibly expelled from the seal space. When he snapped back to reality, chakra exploded skyward around him, rattling the air.
Nearby trees shook violently, leaves scattering in every direction.
Kitazawa stared at Naruto—now cloaked in roaring chakra—and fell silent.
So this is what it looks like when someone has too much chakra.
And Kyuubi clearly hadn't even tried—this was casual, effortless.
What a shame Sasuke wasn't here.
If he'd seen this, his Mangekyō might've awakened on the spot.
"Whoa!"
Naruto stared at himself in awe. "That's… a LOT of chakra!"
"That's not the point," Kitazawa said calmly. "What matters is whether you can control it."
The excitement slowly faded from Naruto's face as he focused.
"You'll train chakra control the same way as before—tree climbing," Kitazawa said, forming seals with one hand. "But this time, you'll use Kyuubi's chakra."
A Wood Dragon erupted from the ground, stretching upward like a towering blade.
"A Tailed Beast's chakra is far wilder than ours," Kitazawa continued. "It's stronger—but far harder to rein in."
"Kitazawa-sensei!"
Naruto's eyes shone. "I climb that?"
"Mm."
Kitazawa nodded. "Reach the top, and your training is complete."
There was another reason for the setup.
If Kyuubi's chakra ran out of control, the Wood Dragon could suppress it instantly—protecting both Naruto and Konoha.
Kitazawa still remembered how, in the original timeline, Jiraiya had nearly died during Naruto's chakra-control training.
"Got it!"
Naruto pumped his fist. "The training of youth begins now!"
Kitazawa gave a faint nod.
He didn't leave. Instead, he practiced the Flying Thunder God nearby, occasionally offering guidance.
A full day passed.
Naruto made no real progress.
He couldn't even coat the soles of his feet with Kyuubi's chakra.
But that was expected.
Kitazawa hadn't planned for quick results—he only needed Naruto to borrow chakra reliably by the mid-term exam two months away.
Partial transformation could wait.
Even borrowing Kyuubi's chakra alone, Naruto could already bulldoze the genius class.
And when that happened… Sasuke's reaction would be interesting.
If that still didn't awaken his Mangekyō, Kitazawa might have to get creative.
Time flowed quietly.
Another month passed.
After prolonged negotiations, Konoha and the Hidden Mist finally reached a mutually acceptable agreement over the Six-Tails Jinchūriki, Utakata.
Acceptable—but only because the Mist had no choice.
Nine o'clock in the morning.
After a casual walk through the Academy, Kitazawa arrived at the Hokage Building.
"Right on time," Tsunade remarked, glancing at the wall clock.
"Being early wouldn't help," Kitazawa replied lightly.
"How wouldn't it?"
She pointed at the mountain of documents. "You could've helped me."
"Tsunade-sensei," Kitazawa said patiently, "you're the Hokage."
"And if I don't seize every chance to slack off, I'll regret it," Tsunade replied shamelessly.
"…."
Kitazawa's mouth twitched.
Truly, shamelessness was invincible.
"Time's up," Tsunade said, standing. "Let's head to the conference room."
Kitazawa didn't move—he simply held out a hand.
Tsunade blinked, rolled her eyes, then stepped forward and hugged him.
He wrapped an arm around her, leaned down, and pressed a light kiss to her forehead.
After a brief moment, he let go.
"You're impossible," Tsunade muttered, though the smile at her lips betrayed her as she walked ahead.
The conference room was already full.
Every Konoha and Hidden Mist representative involved in the negotiations had arrived, waiting only for Tsunade.
As for Kitazawa—
He was just there to occupy a chair.
"Hokage-sama."
Ao rose and bowed.
"Enough pleasantries—let's sign," Tsunade said briskly, already reaching for the documents.
"Hokage-sama."
Shikaku stepped forward and handed her two scrolls. "These are the finalized terms."
"Mm."
Tsunade skimmed them once, picked up her pen, and signed without hesitation.
Mei had not come in person, so Ao signed on behalf of the Hidden Mist.
With the final signatures in place, the negotiations ended. What remained was execution.
Per the agreement, Konoha would retain custody of the Six-Tails Jinchūriki, Utakata, until all conditions were fulfilled.
Ao wasted no time. He gathered the Mist delegation and left immediately.
If anything went wrong now, the loss wouldn't just be political—it would be catastrophic.
As they walked back, Tsunade spoke again.
"How's Naruto doing?"
"Smoothly," Kitazawa replied with a chuckle. "You know him—he even managed to befriend Kyuubi."
"For a Jinchūriki, that's a blessing," Tsunade said, nodding. Then her expression grew serious. "But don't forget—Kyuubi could still run wild."
No matter how close their bond, Kyuubi had been stripped of freedom.
And nothing bred resentment like captivity.
Yet releasing the Kyuubi was unthinkable.
Unless Konoha produced another God of Shinobi capable of suppressing all nine Tailed Beasts at once, keeping or freeing the Kyuubi made little difference.
"I know."
Kitazawa pushed open the Hokage office door. "If Kyuubi ever runs wild, I'll make sure no one gets hurt."
"Mm."
Tsunade believed him.
She had seen his Wood Release.
"Tsunade-sensei," Kitazawa paused. "When Ao and the others return, let me know."
She nodded.
She knew exactly what he was after—the method that allowed a Jinchūriki to survive Tailed Beast extraction.
Truth be told, she wanted it too.
"Go train," she said. "We'll talk later."
Kitazawa turned and left.
An hour later.
"Here."
Tsunade handed him a scroll.
"What do you think?" Kitazawa asked as he accepted it.
"Feasible," she replied after a moment's thought.
Kitazawa unrolled the scroll and read carefully.
It detailed a method developed in the Hidden Mist: how a Jinchūriki might survive the extraction of a Tailed Beast.
Once sealed, a Beast's chakra intertwines with the host's life force. Remove it entirely, and the body collapses.
The solution was deceptively simple—leave behind a fragment of the Tailed Beast's chakra.
Over time, the host's body would stabilize, recover its independence, and return to being an ordinary ninja.
Kitazawa rolled the scroll shut, thinking of Killer B.
In the original timeline, B survived extraction because Gyūki left behind a severed tentacle.
By that logic, Utakata's teacher had been right—just maddeningly abstract.
He hadn't even explained it properly to his student.
The shinobi world was full of geniuses like that.
Rasa came to mind.
He had taken a child who could have grown into a hero and instead forged Gaara into a weapon.
And yet—later, Gaara lived just fine without Shukaku.
"This method will work," Kitazawa said quietly. "And it can be improved."
"How?" Tsunade asked, intrigued.
"In theory," Kitazawa replied, "you don't need a fragment of the Tailed Beast at all. Enough Yang Release chakra should suffice."
Tsunade shook her head.
"Very few shinobi possess chakra on that scale."
Even a fragment of a tailed beast dwarfed most ninja's reserves.
Still—he wasn't wrong.
Yang ckakra governed vitality itself. With enough of it, even the freshly dead could be revived.
Lost limbs. Mortal wounds. All reversible.
"…You might actually pull it off," Tsunade said, studying him.
"Then I'll just have to work harder," Kitazawa replied calmly.
His chakra was indeed immense.
Still, with the Dragon Vein and an improved Life Reincarnation Technique, restoring a Jinchūriki post-extraction would take minutes, not miracles.
"Put it away," Tsunade said, stretching. "Let's hope we never need it."
"I have another idea," Kitazawa said, rolling the scroll shut. "Free the other half of Kyuubi—from the Shinigami's stomach."
Tsunade snorted.
"You think I haven't thought of that? It's impossible. That's the Reaper Death Seal."
"I know."
Kitazawa smiled faintly. "Using it costs the caster their life."
The Shinigami didn't bargain.
It took the target's soul—and the user's, too.
That was why Kyuubi's Yin half remained trapped forever.
"If you know that, why bring it up?" Tsunade asked, rolling her eyes.
"Orochimaru created a forbidden technique," Kitazawa said evenly. "Living Corpse Reincarnation."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow.
"And I've never heard of it because…?"
"It was his deepest secret," Kitazawa lied smoothly. "I found traces of it by accident."
"And what does it do?"
"It allows the user's soul to possess another body," he said. "True immortality."
Tsunade's breath hitched.
Immortality.
Shinobi were lucky to reach fifty.
She had dismissed Orochimaru's ravings before—but now…
"…A truly forbidden technique," she murmured, steadying herself.
The room fell silent.
Living Corpse Reincarnation blatantly defied the natural order.
It required abandoning one's own body entirely.
After shedding body after body… would the soul that remained still be the same person?
"It's forbidden," Kitazawa reminded her calmly, "but it can retrieve the other half of Kyuubi's chakra."
Tsunade drew a sharp breath.
Brilliant as she was, she immediately grasped the implication.
If—before the Shinigami finished claiming the soul—the user transferred themselves into another body through Living Corpse Reincarnation, death itself could be cheated.
The cost would be nothing more than flesh.
"…Orochimaru won't part with his original body so easily," Tsunade said, doubt flickering in her eyes.
"If you offer him a superior vessel," Kitazawa replied after a pause, "he won't hesitate for a second."
He continued evenly,
"That's why Otogakure hoards prodigies. He's searching for the perfect container."
Understanding struck her like lightning.
So that was it.
The reason Orochimaru obsessively gathered talent—children, geniuses, anomalies—was never loyalty.
They were candidates.
"Then I won't provide him one," Tsunade said firmly.
"I wouldn't ask you to."
Kitazawa was unfazed.
"Orochimaru already has another solution."
Tsunade blinked.
"…Clones?"
"Exactly."
Kitazawa nodded. "Let him grow one himself."
She frowned.
It was… disturbingly practical.
She had long restricted cloning to organs for injured ninja—but a single artificial body?
"That can be monitored," Kitazawa added, reading her thoughts.
"And the Shinigami holds more than Kyuubi's other half."
Tsunade's expression darkened.
Inside the Shinigami also lay Minato Namikaze's soul.
Ordinarily, souls passed on to the Pure Land.
But those devoured by the Shinigami were trapped forever.
A cruel, twisted exception.
Kushina Uzumaki rested in the Pure Land.
Minato remained sealed away.
Even in death, husband and wife were kept apart.
"…Do it," Tsunade said quietly. "I'll approve it."
"I'll have Itachi keep watch," Kitazawa added thoughtfully.
Since returning to Konoha, Orochimaru had been unusually compliant—but forbidden jutsu and cloning could easily awaken old ambitions.
"Mm."
Tsunade nodded.
"I'll go speak with Orochimaru now," Kitazawa said, turning to leave the Hokage Office.
Artificial bodies wouldn't be completed overnight.
Let Orochimaru work.
When the time came, they would reclaim Kyuubi's other half.
In truth, doing it now would be foolish anyway.
Naruto was still too young.
Handling half of Kyuubi already pushed him to his limits—adding more would be reckless.
Kitazawa soon arrived at Orochimaru's laboratory.
Yakushi Kabuto straightened instantly.
"Kitazawa-sensei."
"Kabuto," Kitazawa said calmly, "step outside. I need a private word with Lord Orochimaru."
"…Understood."
Kabuto bowed and withdrew without hesitation.
Orochimaru watched him go, golden eyes cold and unreadable.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Lord Orochimaru," Kitazawa smiled faintly, "would you like a perfect vessel?"
The air shifted.
"…What are you implying?"
Orochimaru's pupils narrowed, predatory and sharp.
He was certain he'd never spoken to Kitazawa about Living Corpse Reincarnation.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Kitazawa shrugged lightly.
"Otogakure has gathered far too many prodigies."
Silence followed.
Then Orochimaru spoke again.
"I'm a prisoner," he said coolly.
"Why help me now?"
"Because this is a transaction," Kitazawa replied.
"Oh?"
Orochimaru's interest sparked.
"And what do you want?"
"Are you familiar with the Reaper Death Seal?" Kitazawa asked.
Orochimaru smiled thinly.
"Of course."
"I want you to use it," Kitazawa said, "to release the Fourth Hokage's soul."
Orochimaru blinked—then laughed softly.
"…How fascinating."
Understanding dawned almost immediately.
"My payment," Kitazawa continued casually, "is the Chimera Technique."
Orochimaru scoffed.
"Hiruko's forbidden jutsu?"
He waved it off.
"That technique is incomplete. It can't succeed."
"You underestimate him," Kitazawa shook his head.
"He's closer than you think."
For the first time, Orochimaru frowned.
"Konoha will also permit you," Kitazawa added, "to create one artificial human."
No more. No less.
Orochimaru didn't hesitate.
"…Deal."
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