Tsunade knew exactly what Sarutobi Hiruzen was aiming for. His intent was a little too obvious.
"I'll need people to help me," she said after two seconds of silence.
"No problem." Seeing her agree, Hiruzen smiled. "Anyone in Konoha is at your disposal."
"…" The corner of Tsunade's mouth twitched. Since when were you this willing to hand over the reins?
"Commendations are a big deal—don't drag it out," Hiruzen reminded her after a beat.
"I know." Tsunade thought for a moment. "Within a week I'll have a proper rewards plan."
"A week sounds about right." Hiruzen was satisfied. Tsunade might grumble at first, but once she agreed, she'd do it right.
"Did the Hidden Mist say when their envoy is coming?" Hiruzen turned to her.
"Next month. No exact day."
"Then who do we send to negotiate on our side?" he asked with an easy smile.
"…" Tsunade suddenly had a bad feeling.
"I think Tsunade-sama is the best choice," Nara Shikaku said at once, catching the drift.
"This war was won under Tsunade-sama's command. If she leads the talks, Konoha will get more out of it," Yamanaka Inoichi added.
"Last time she negotiated with the Mist, she hit every objective," Akimichi Chōza chimed in.
"Agreed," Aburame Shibi and the others said in chorus.
"Since everyone's nominating you, I'll leave it to you then, Tsunade," Hiruzen said, playing his part.
Tsunade was speechless—and almost laughed. What a clumsy bit of theater.
"There's still time. We'll decide later," she said flatly.
Hiruzen was about to press her, then thought of something and let it go. There was plenty of time for Tsunade to finish the Hokage process. If she became the Fifth Hokage, it wouldn't be appropriate for her to negotiate with the defeated Mist anyway. No need to give them that much face.
The only question was where to start with making her Hokage.
"We'll leave it pending," Hiruzen said, coming back to himself.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, a little surprised. She'd expected him to lock someone in—or at least wring a provisional yes out of her. Letting go so quickly made her suspicious, though she couldn't put a finger on why.
"Ibiki, we captured a fair number of Mist nin. Have Interrogation extract as much intel as possible without harming them," Hiruzen ordered after thinking it over.
They'd have to trade the prisoners back sooner or later, but before that they needed to squeeze out their value—while keeping them alive. Even if the Mist found out, there wasn't much they could do about it; they wouldn't pick a fight over that.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Morino Ibiki said, standing.
Kitazawa glanced at him on instinct. A Konoha special jōnin good at interrogation—he first showed up in the original work as proctor of the first Chūnin Exam. But what Kitazawa thought of was his younger brother, Morino Idate.
Manipulated by Aoi Rokusho, Idate had stolen the Second Hokage's Sword of the Thunder God. In the end both Idate and Aoi became Konoha missing-nin, with Aoi taking the Raijin to the Hidden Rain.
When Kitazawa reforged the Kiba blades and sent them to Kakashi, he'd already considered giving the Sword of the Thunder God to Sasuke.
He rubbed his chin. Had the "Idate and Aoi steal the Raijin" plot happened yet? If it had, great—he'd just go take it back. He was already planning to gift Samehada to Naruto; the Raijin could go to Sasuke. Equal treatment.
Of course, he couldn't leave the others empty-handed. Kitazawa planned to pick a few trophies from this war as gifts for his students. He'd downed plenty of Mist shinobi over the past two and a half months, including jōnin, so the haul was large. He didn't need most of it; better to use it to build rapport.
"The shinobi who fell in this war are heroes of Konoha," Hiruzen went on. "This Saturday we'll hold a collective funeral at the Memorial Stone. All shinobi are to attend."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," came the unified reply.
"Inoichi, you handle the arrangements," Hiruzen said to Yamanaka Inoichi. "Anything related to costs will be reimbursed by the village."
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Inoichi understood immediately. A funeral needed flowers—the Yamanaka ran many florists. They were a natural fit. Of course, there was plenty more to prepare.
One item after another was assigned. Before they knew it, the meeting had run for two hours.
"That's all for today," Hiruzen said, standing once everything was delegated. He left the conference room, and the other jōnin drifted out after him.
"Can't even breathe after a war ends," Tsunade muttered, frowning and biting her thumb.
"That just means the capable get more to do," Kitazawa said with a smile.
"What are you smiling at? You're not getting out of this." Tsunade turned to him. "You're off teaching for a week. You'll be assisting me."
"Yes." Kitazawa blinked, then nodded. "Since it's Tsunade-sama's order, I'll get it done if it kills me."
As for returning to the Academy—he hadn't taught for two and a half months already. What's another week?
"That's more like it," Tsunade said with a small curl of her lip. "Don't worry, it's not just you. I'll have Shizune, Shikaku, and the others help too."
"Got it," Kitazawa said.
"Start tomorrow," Tsunade said, glancing out the window. "I'll call you when I head out."
They'd reached Konoha at ten in the morning. Two hours of meetings put them at noon. Making people work without a half-day's rest would be inhumane.
And, more importantly, Tsunade wanted to hit the casino. She'd stayed off gambling for a full two and a half months. Only she knew how she survived that.
"All right—see you tomorrow." Tsunade stood and headed out. At the door she suddenly stopped.
"Here. Consider it payment for your help this week," she said, flicking something his way.
Before Kitazawa could react, a dark blur cut through the air. He caught it without thinking—and froze at the warmth in his palm. He looked down.
A pendant necklace. A green crystal hung from it.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth—he'd recognized it. The First Hokage's necklace, a relic of Hashirama Senju and Tsunade's most treasured keepsake. The green crystal held Hashirama's chakra. In the original story, it could even suppress Naruto's Nine-Tails rampage.
Getting this necklace meant Tsunade had truly acknowledged him. The problem was, everyone who'd earned her acknowledgement had died—Naruto had even "died" once.
Which is why fans called it the "death necklace."
Kitazawa shook his head. Tsunade was already gone; he'd lost the chance to hand it back. Besides, returning a gift like that would get him killed on the spot.
"I've got a system, after all. Tough life—I'll survive it," he thought, and put the necklace on. His clothes completely hid it; at a glance you'd never notice. Not like on Tsunade.
He paused. Actually, it hadn't been obvious on her either—or at least he hadn't paid much attention. There were more… eye-catching things to look at.
[Current Mission: Make your squad's name during this war.]
[Reward: A kekkei genkai and its associated jutsu.]
[Mission Complete. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa's brows rose at the three lines that popped into view. Finally done? He'd thought the system would pay out when the Mist surrendered, but apparently it waited until they got back to Konoha.
[Your squad's popularity during the war was sky-high—practically everyone in Konoha knows you.]
[Based on the fame assessment, you receive Magnet Release and nine Magnet Release techniques.]
A flood of information poured into his head. He stood there blankly for several minutes, absorbing and digesting it.
His first reaction: massive profit. Nine Magnet Release techniques in one go—no exaggeration, he'd basically mastered Magnet Release outright.
Magnet Release, put simply, manipulates metal—iron or gold—via magnetism. Quite a few shinobi use it in the original: the Third and Fourth Kazekage from the Sand, and Toroi from the Cloud. The novels even say Gaara inherited Magnet Release from his father, the Fourth.
The Third and Fourth Kazekage's versions differ: the former controls iron; the latter, gold. The nine techniques he'd received came from the Third Kazekage: Iron Sand Drizzle, Iron Sand Wall, Iron Sand Wings, Iron Sand World Method, and so on.
They called the Third the strongest Kazekage. He died in a frustrating way, but his strength was real—once turned into a puppet, he became a terrifying weapon in Sasori's hands. A solid Kage-level shinobi.
Kitazawa felt like he'd become another Third Kazekage himself. Compared to before, his power had jumped significantly. Magnet Release could attack and defend—and fly. Very well-rounded.
With that, his war-related system missions were all complete. A solid haul. Those two and a half months weren't wasted.
As he walked, he organized his next steps. First: help Tsunade finish the commendations—and quietly get her a Hyūga jōnin as a bodyguard.
Second: return to teaching at the Academy. The war was over; if he wanted to trigger missions, he'd have to rely on Sasuke, Naruto, and the others again.
Third: Danzo. He wouldn't be able to hold back for long; he'd go after Tsunade the first chance he got. The timing was the only unknown. Maybe he and Tsunade should set a trap and lure him out? Worth considering.
Fourth: system missions. He didn't have many left—seven. He'd start with the one to modify the medical forbidden technique "Body Revival." If things went well, he could create a limb-regrowth jutsu within two weeks. Then he'd talk to Tsunade about promoting it to maximize impact—and the mission reward. Whatever it was, it shouldn't be shabby; a limb-regrowth technique maxed out both usefulness and influence.
Fifth and sixth were related: find Sasori for puppets, and take the Sword of the Thunder God back from Aoi Rokusho. Aoi was with the Hidden Rain now—effectively under Akatsuki. Kitazawa figured he could talk to Konan. She'd even told him last time to reach out if he had a request.
Kitazawa arrived at the Hyūga compound.
"Kitazawa, what brings you here?" Hyūga Hiashi came forward to greet him. Not exactly warm, but far friendlier than before.
"Clan Head Hiashi." Kitazawa smiled. "Tsunade-sama would like Hyūga Kaori to assist her."
He couldn't exactly say, "We're worried Tsunade might be put under genjutsu, so please lend us a Hyūga as a bodyguard." The timing helped: at the jōnin meeting that morning, Hiruzen had said Tsunade could mobilize Konoha shinobi—ostensibly for commendations work. Hyūga Kaori was a female jōnin Kitazawa had worked with briefly on the front.
"Of course," Hiashi agreed without hesitation. Hiruzen's stance was clear: Tsunade would be the Fifth Hokage. The Hyūga had no reason to refuse a chance to build goodwill with the future Hokage.
"Wait a moment. I'll summon her now," Hiashi said, sending a messenger.
Before long, Hyūga Kaori arrived. "Kitazawa-sama," she greeted.
"No need for the honorifics," he said, repeating the request.
"I understand. When do we start?" Kaori asked. Naturally, she had no objections.
"Right now," Kitazawa said after a thought. "I'll take you to Tsunade-sama."
They said goodbye to Hiashi and headed for the casino. How did Kitazawa know Tsunade was there? He was guessing—she'd bolted a little too eagerly earlier, and only one thing made Tsunade react like that: gambling.
Sure enough, they found her at a table, happily placing bets.
"Tsunade-sama," Kitazawa said, introducing, "this is Hyūga Kaori."
Tsunade blinked, remembering his earlier suggestion about a Hyūga bodyguard—and surprised he'd moved so fast.
"Tsunade-sama," Kaori said with a bow.
"Mhm." Tsunade nodded. "Stick with me for now."
"Don't stay out too late, or Shizune will be mad," Kitazawa reminded her. Shizune had taken the wounded from the war to the hospital, so she wasn't with Tsunade.
"So much nagging?" Tsunade waved him off. "Don't bother me."
"Don't forget," Kitazawa added.
"I know!" Tsunade shot him a glare.
Hyūga Kaori blinked. Their dynamic was… odd. What student talks to a teacher like that?
Kitazawa left the casino and headed for the Academy.
Out on the field, the Advanced Class was training.
"Kitazawa-sensei is here!" Inuzuka Kiba spotted him and shouted, thrilled.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Uzumaki Naruto dropped his training and sprinted over. Kiba, Ino, Hinata, and the others followed. Only a few diligent ones looked at Kakashi.
"Ten minutes rest," Kakashi said. He'd been covering Kitazawa's classes—he had seven chakra natures and knew most jutsu, so he was a natural fit.
"Kitazawa-sensei, you're finally back!" Naruto grinned.
"Yeah!" Kiba chimed in. "We've been thinking about you every day!"
Hinata nodded in agreement.
The students swarmed around Kitazawa, chattering all at once.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto suddenly remembered. "Did you really beat the Fourth Mizukage?"
Sasuke looked over too.
"I took him down together with Tsunade-sama," Kitazawa said with a smile.
"Amazing!" Everyone gaped. Even as a team effort, if you were weak you wouldn't even qualify to join a fight at that level.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Sasuke asked, curious, "who's stronger, the Fourth Mizukage or the Hokage?"
"The Hokage," Kitazawa answered without hesitation. If word got out otherwise, people would question his loyalty—and honestly, based on the original, Hiruzen was stronger.
"Then I really have to become Hokage!" Naruto clenched his fist, fired up.
Kitazawa couldn't help smiling. Power rankings were a hot topic in any world.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Ino ran to the front, hopeful, "when are you coming back to teach us?"
"Next week," he said. "I've got a few things to handle this week."
"Eh? Next week?" Ino's face fell.
"I'll still drop by when I can," Kitazawa said, ruffling her hair.
~~~
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