September 1st, registration day.
Kitazawa stood in the open space behind his house, forming hand seals. Wood Release: Silent Strangle Jutsu!
A tree branch appeared, wrapping around the tree in front of him. Calling it a branch wasn't quite right—it was more like a living vine.
Kitazawa nodded slightly.
He had basically mastered his Wood Release: Silent Strangle Jutsu and could now move on to the next technique: Wood Release: Great Forest Jutsu.
Its effect was to extend multiple wooden vine branches from the arm to capture targets.
Tsunade had given him three Wood Release Ninjutsu.
He planned to confront her and tell her he had synthesized Wood Release once he learned Wood Release: Great Forest Jutsu.
Kitazawa turned and walked toward the Konoha Orphanage.
Kimimaro, Tayuya, Jugo, and Haku were already waiting. All four of them would be joining the Genius Class as transfer students.
"Teacher Kitazawa." Haku was the first to greet him enthusiastically.
Kimimaro and Jugo followed closely behind. Only Tayuya remained reluctant, her expression defiant as always.
Kitazawa didn't mind; once she witnessed the monstrous geniuses like Sasuke and Naruto, she would start questioning her life choices.
He planned to implement a traditional combat exam for the first Monthly Exam of this semester.
After all, with the addition of Kimimaro and the others, eighteen students needed to be re-selected for missions.
And, of course, to complete his system mission.
"Good morning, everyone!" As soon as Naruto entered the Genius Class classroom, he greeted everyone enthusiastically.
"You're late, Naruto." Kiba looked at him and said, "You're the last one to arrive among us."
"I thought today was registration day, and I'd be happy to see you all, so I happily ran two extra laps." Naruto scratched his head as he spoke.
Kiba was immediately dumbfounded. Are you even human?!
"Don't we see each other every day?" Akimichi Choji mumbled while chewing on potato chips, his voice a bit muffled.
Except for Sasuke and Sakura, they had all spent the summer vacation at the Ninja Academy.
"Summer vacation and the start of school are different," Naruto said with a serious expression.
"As expected of Naruto." Shikamaru clasped his hands behind his head and said lazily, "No one can match this diligence."
"I don't think it's a matter of diligence." Ino shook her head and exposed the truth in one line, "It's his physique."
"Indeed." Aburame Shino agreed.
Naruto's physique was the strongest he had ever seen—not just among his peers, but even compared to some Jonin.
"Sasuke." After Naruto returned to his seat, he turned to Sasuke and asked, "How was your summer vacation?"
"Alright." Sasuke said calmly, "Defeating you is not a problem."
This summer, besides learning Lightning Release with Kakashi, he had also deliberately caught up on theoretical knowledge.
He had narrowly missed first place in the last semester's final exam, which was a theoretical test.
"As expected, you are my lifelong rival!" Naruto gave a thumbs-up, his teeth sparkling. "From your words, I can feel the burning youth!"
Sasuke's mouth twitched. Where is the burning? Where is the youth?
"Sakura, what about you?" Ino felt that Sakura was a bit unusual today.
She thought for a moment and found the reason. After Sasuke spoke, Sakura didn't agree or offer any poisonous words as usual.
"Defeating you is not a problem," Sakura said, imitating Sasuke's tone.
"You're not Sasuke; if you want to defeat me, just saying it isn't enough." Ino brushed her golden hair behind her ear and said nonchalantly.
"This time is different." Sakura said confidently, "My Water Release is no longer inferior to your Genjutsu, and I've also learned how to deal with Genjutsu."
Ino's eyes narrowed involuntarily. She felt threatened.
"Are you two forgetting something?" Tenten said with a smile, "You don't need to spar right now; victory and defeat are achieved through missions."
The last semester had already proven one thing—doing missions didn't necessarily mean the strongest person would get a perfect score.
"Teacher Kitazawa is here, and he has four students behind him." Neji saw Kitazawa and Kimimaro through the window.
"Have you seen them before?" Kiba stood up, looked them over, and asked.
"Is that Haku?" Inuzuka Hana was a bit surprised to see Haku.
"Sis, you know him?" Kiba asked in surprise.
"I, Hinata, and Shino went on a mission to the Land of Water before, and the target of the mission was this Haku—the little boy on the far left."
Inuzuka Hana explained, "He's from the Land of Water and possesses the Ice Release Bloodline Limit."
"He's a boy?" Sakura's eyes widened.
"Ice Release? Is it powerful?" Naruto asked curiously.
"With Ice Release, can you make your own popsicles and ice cream?" Choji asked, his face full of envy.
"I don't know either." Hana shook her head and said, "Teacher Kitazawa just mentioned it to us, but didn't elaborate."
"What about the other three?" Kiba asked again.
"Never seen them." Hana replied, "I've only seen Haku."
"That white-haired little boy's demeanor looks a lot like Sasuke's." Ino suddenly noticed something and said.
"They all give off a cool vibe." Shino adjusted his glasses and said, "I just don't know how strong they are."
"They're definitely not my opponents." Sasuke glanced at them and said.
His basis for judgment was simple—he didn't recognize them. If they were geniuses as strong as him, they would have already been famous.
"Teacher Kitazawa!" As soon as Kitazawa entered the classroom, Naruto immediately shouted.
The others also greeted him one after another.
Kimimaro and the others subconsciously observed them.
"They don't look like much." Tayuya pouted and whispered.
She was afraid Kitazawa would hear her and give her another flick on the forehead.
But with Kitazawa's strength, he could hear even the quietest whisper.
"Byakugan." Kimimaro suddenly spoke.
Tayuya and Jugo's gazes immediately fell on Neji and Hinata. They had naturally heard of the Hyuga Clan's reputation.
It seemed these two might be the strongest in this class.
"Teacher Kitazawa." Naruto couldn't help but ask, "Are they new students?"
"That's right." Kitazawa nodded and said, "These four will join the Genius Class starting today."
"They're really new classmates?" After his surprise, Naruto excitedly asked, "To be able to join the Genius Class directly, are they very strong?"
"Defeating you is not a problem." Tayuya snorted coldly and said.
"That sounds familiar." Kiba paused, then said, "Sasuke and Sakura said that earlier, too."
"She's very confident, daring to say she'll defeat Naruto." Tenten smiled and said.
She didn't believe there was a genius more monstrous than Naruto among their peers.
Kimimaro, Jugo, and Haku were relatively silent due to their personalities. Tayuya's blunt words immediately caught everyone's attention.
After all, in their eyes, only those with strength would dare to say such things. Coupled with Tayuya being brought by Kitazawa, some misunderstandings naturally arose.
"We can have a youth-filled spar sometime!" Naruto didn't mind her tone, gave a thumbs-up, and said, his teeth sparkling.
…? Tayuya was a bit confused for a moment.
Why emphasize youth so much? And why are your teeth so dazzling? What's with your pose and clothes?
"The four of you, introduce yourselves." Kitazawa stepped aside and said, "Talk about your hobbies and dreams, and so on."
Kimimaro and the other three stood still, but eventually, Haku stepped forward.
"Hello everyone, my name is Haku." Haku politely smiled and said, "I don't have any hobbies for now; my dream is to become an excellent ANBU Ninja."
"Dream of becoming an ANBU Ninja?" Shikamaru said with some confusion, "That's a very unique dream."
"Everyone wants to be Hokage, so suddenly having someone want to be Anbu is indeed very different." Kiba nodded and said.
Sasuke subconsciously glanced at him. He always felt that Haku carried some burden.
Because his brother was once an ANBU Ninja, and he had seen some of them before, each gave off a mysterious feeling.
"What is Anbu?" Naruto scratched his head and asked.
"Haven't you seen them? You should have, actually. They're a group of Ninja wearing masks, directly under Hokage-sama." Shikamaru explained.
"Oh!" Naruto's face lit up with understanding, and he said, "I have indeed seen them!"
"Haku, you sit next to Kiba." Kitazawa glanced around and instructed.
"I am Kiba." Kiba immediately raised his hand and said.
Haku nodded and walked to the seat beside him to sit down.
"My name is Jugo. I like small animals, and my dream, if I had to say, is to be an ordinary person."
Jugo stepped forward and said in a deep voice.
Kitazawa seemed thoughtful.
In the original story, Jugo had the ability to understand animal languages, which was why he liked to be with birds and other creatures.
As for being an ordinary person, he probably meant he didn't want to go berserk again because of his constitution and become a murderer.
"An ordinary person?" Ino and Choji subconsciously looked at Shikamaru.
"Why are you looking at me?" Shikamaru said lazily, "A dream—anything is possible."
Actually, he was quite surprised. Someone actually had a dream similar to his.
However, after the last life-and-death crisis, he had realized that he couldn't be an ordinary person; he could only be a Ninja.
"Jugo, you sit next to Shino."
Kitazawa felt that his personality was somewhat similar to Aburame Shino's; both were relatively taciturn.
Shino raised his hand in acknowledgment. Jugo walked over and sat down.
"I am Tayuya." Tayuya stood in front of the podium and said, "No hobbies, no dislikes... nothing much."
She originally wanted to say she disliked Kitazawa, but he glared at her, and she immediately changed her mind.
"You sit next to Naruto," Kitazawa said after a brief thought.
With Tayuya's sharp tongue, only Naruto wouldn't mind. It was a good opportunity for her to experience that terrifying power of youth.
He just hoped she wouldn't get infected and suddenly start wearing a green jumpsuit one day.
"Tayuya-san, over here! Over here!" Naruto enthusiastically called out.
"..." Tayuya felt a glare.
In Otogakure, everyone was very indifferent. The reason was simple: they were constantly fighting—even their best friends and family.
Over time, Tayuya had grown accustomed to this cold atmosphere.
But the Genius Class gave her a completely different feeling. She felt out of place and found it difficult to blend in with them.
"My name is Kaguya Kimimaro." Kimimaro was the last to introduce himself, and he said the least, only stating his name.
"Kaguya?" Neji and Hinata subconsciously showed surprised expressions.
Because the Kaguya Clan and the Hyuga Clan had a certain relationship.
But ever since the Kaguya Clan's demise, they had lost contact.
In the original story—or more accurately, in the anime—it was even mentioned that Hyuga Hanabi went to the Land of Water to visit relatives of the Kaguya Clan.
Either there was a conflict between the anime and the manga, or there were still survivors of the Kaguya Clan.
Kitazawa felt the former was more likely.
"Didn't the Kaguya Clan perish? Is he a survivor?" Shikamaru's mind was filled with doubt, but he didn't ask.
After all, bringing up such a thing would be poking at someone's pain.
"Kimimaro, you sit with Neji." Kitazawa thought for a moment and said.
Kimimaro said nothing and walked down from the podium.
"Next, we'll start registration. After registration, you can leave once you've collected your textbooks for this semester."
Kitazawa reminded, "Classes officially start tomorrow, so don't be late."
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei!" Everyone answered in unison.
After registering them, Kitazawa left the classroom.
Distributing textbooks was Iruka's job. As for Hiruzen and Kakashi, neither of them came.
"Want some potato chips?" Choji looked at Tayuya and the others and asked.
"No, thank you." Haku shook his head and said.
Tayuya smelled the aroma of the potato chips and subconsciously swallowed. There were no potato chips in Otogakure, and she had never seen them before.
"I still have snacks here." Ino noticed her expression and smiled, pulling out a handful of snacks from her bag.
Tayuya was momentarily stunned.
"Don't be shy, we're all classmates." Ino picked out a chocolate and placed it in her hand.
Tayuya hesitated for a few seconds, then unwrapped the chocolate. She took a bite—and her eyes immediately widened.
"Ino, why do you carry so many snacks with you?" Sakura asked while picking up a lollipop.
"Kitazawa-sensei gave them to me last time. I haven't finished them."
Ino said with a beaming smile, "Kitazawa-sensei said I made great progress, so he gave me a big bag of snacks!"
"What's there to be proud of?" Sakura rolled her eyes and said, "Everyone has received snacks from Kitazawa-sensei."
Tayuya's expression stiffened when she heard the name Kitazawa. But the taste in her mouth made her unable to stop, so she didn't spit it out.
"I've also eaten ramen cooked by Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto said excitedly.
"What?" Ino's eyes widened, and she asked, "Why haven't I eaten it?"
"I... I've eaten bento made by Kitazawa-sensei." Hinata said with courage.
Tayuya listened, her heart filled with doubt. Why was that annoying Kitazawa so popular?
Not just Kitazawa, but this Genius Class too—it felt too lax, completely incomparable to the cruelty of Otogakure.
Tayuya snorted lightly. What kind of powerful geniuses could be born in such an environment?
"You guys eat too." Ino grabbed a handful of snacks for Haku, Kimimaro, and Jugo.
"Are you trying to bribe your teammates in advance?" Shikamaru asked with a smile.
"Bribe whom?" Ino glared at him and said, "They don't know about the team assignments yet. Besides, if I were to bribe anyone, it would be Kitazawa-sensei."
"What team assignments?" Haku asked curiously.
"It's like this," Ino explained the ins and outs of the practical exam team assignments to him.
"I see." Haku said worriedly, "I wonder if I can make it into the top eighteen."
"Isn't getting into the top eighteen very simple?" Tayuya said, eating chocolate, "I'm definitely going to be in the top three!"
"Do you have any Bloodline Limits?" Shikamaru asked with great interest.
"I don't." Tayuya shook her head and said proudly, "But I can use Summoning Jutsu and Genjutsu."
"Is that so?" Shikamaru was momentarily stunned.
Then why are you so confident?
Ino, Tenten, Neji, Shino, and others also felt confused.
"Are you surprised?" Tayuya snorted lightly and said, "At this age, you probably don't know any Ninjutsu."
Theoretically, this was true; under normal circumstances, a group of six or seven-year-old students hadn't even mastered the Three Basic E-Rank Techniques.
But now, with Kitazawa, let alone the Three Basic E-Rank Techniques, some of them had even learned two A-Rank Ninjutsu.
"What level is the Genjutsu you've mastered?" Shikamaru asked again.
"B-Rank!" Tayuya raised her chin slightly and said very proudly.
Ino blinked. She was also learning B-Rank Genjutsu.
"Then what are your Summoning Beasts?" Tenten asked curiously.
"Are you trying to scout me?" Tayuya suddenly became alert.
"By understanding each other, we can cooperate better once we become teammates." Shikamaru smiled and said, "You can also ask us for information."
"Nothing to ask. Anyway, you can't beat me."
Tayuya said indifferently, "My Summoning Beasts are three Doki, and they can coordinate with my Genjutsu."
She then explained in general terms.
"That sounds so cool!" Naruto immediately exclaimed, "I want Summoning Beasts like that too!"
Sasuke, Neji, Shino, and Shikamaru subconsciously began to analyze.
Undoubtedly, Tayuya was indeed a genius among her peers. B-Rank Genjutsu—if one wasn't careful, it would be easy to fall victim to it.
And her Summoning Beasts, just by hearing about them, were clearly not ordinary Summoning Beasts; they sounded like some kind of Yin Release creation—like demons from hell.
Kimimaro's eyes flickered.
He had already noticed that the Genius Class members' reactions were very calm before hearing about the Summoning Beasts.
This indicated that they had also mastered quite a few Ninjutsu.
Tayuya was still too naive. When the Monthly Exam came, she would probably suffer a terrible defeat.
Haku was different from Tayuya.
He had been rescued by Kitazawa and trusted him greatly, so he would not underestimate his students.
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P@atreon/Arvinstorm (40+ Advanced Chapters)