"What is this?"
Uzumaki Naruto stared at the red chakra in front of him and asked on reflex.
"This is the Nine-Tails' chakra," Kitazawa explained. "It's sealed inside you, but it can hear us talking."
"Huh?"
Naruto scratched his cheek, suddenly embarrassed. "Sorry—I didn't mean to say you couldn't beat the First Hokage."
At his words, the red chakra suddenly pulsed faster and whipped about in the air.
Naruto rubbed his head and glanced at Kitazawa. Why's it freaking out even after I apologized?
Kitazawa couldn't help laughing, but just as he was about to speak, the red chakra shrank back.
He arched a brow, roughly guessing why. When Namikaze Minato sealed the Nine-Tails, he'd left a "gap." Normally that gap wouldn't let this much chakra leak through—unless Naruto allowed it. But the Nine-Tails, stung by hearing it wasn't as strong as Senju Hashirama, had forced a breakthrough, which was why so much red chakra had just poured out.
"What's going on?" Naruto asked blankly. "Did it accept my apology?"
"I'll take you to meet it," Kitazawa said, placing his hand on Naruto's forehead.
The Nine-Tails was sealed inside Naruto. To enter the seal, they'd have to go in as spirits—something tied to Yin Release. With his three-tomoe Sharingan and his skill in genjutsu, Kitazawa had no trouble sending Naruto into the seal space.
Naruto's vision blurred; the world dimmed around him. He reflexively closed his eyes, then opened them again—and a massive iron gate filled his view.
"Human!"
A voice dripping with hatred boomed. Endless chakra turned into a frigid gale that blasted toward him—yet it couldn't breach the bars.
With a deafening crash, a huge red head slammed against the gate. The Nine-Tails bared its fangs at him, teeth gleaming like knives. Behind it, nine tails waved through the air like giant tendrils.
Naruto instinctively stepped back. His first thought was just how big the Nine-Tails was—followed immediately by how vicious it looked. If the First Hokage really defeated a beast like this, just how strong was he?
For a moment, Naruto spaced out.
"Human, I'll kill you!"
The Nine-Tails' murderous aura flooded the entire seal.
"Why do you want to kill me?" Naruto asked, baffled.
"If I kill you, I'll be free!"
At the word "free," the killing intent in its eyes flared even hotter.
"No way. I can't die!" Naruto shook his head. "I still have to become the strongest Hokage!"
"The strongest Hokage?" The Nine-Tails' aura faltered, then it snorted. "Impossible for you."
It had experienced Hashirama's power firsthand. No one in the shinobi world could surpass him—unless the Sage of Six Paths came back to life.
"Why not?" Naruto flashed a thumbs-up, teeth sparkling. "Youth is full of infinite possibilities!"
"Because you could never beat Senju Hashirama," the Nine-Tails growled, bitterness leaking through. It had suffered too much at Hashirama's hands.
"Maybe I can't now, but that doesn't mean I can't someday!" Naruto said, full of confidence.
"Ignorant human," the Nine-Tails sneered.
"Sounds like you're really afraid of the First Hokage," Naruto said, head cocked.
"Ridiculous!" The Nine-Tails bristled as if someone had stepped on its tail. "I'm the strongest of all the tailed beasts—why would I fear him?"
The seal space shuddered violently. Red winds howled like the end of the world. Naruto started to worry—was the seal really stable? But nothing actually happened.
In the gloomy seal space, boy and fox stared each other down. The mood turned awkward. Just as Naruto opened his mouth to speak, his vision went black and he was kicked out.
He was back on the training field.
"How was it?" Kitazawa asked.
"It's… not easy to talk to," Naruto said after thinking it over.
"That's normal," Kitazawa said with a smile. "Chat with it when you're free. It can't hurt you."
[Current Mission: Inform Uzumaki Naruto of the Nine-Tails' existence.]
[Mission Reward: +0.5 "card" to chakra capacity.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Nothing glamorous—just solid. Kitazawa's total chakra was about to hit seven cards.
"Mm!" Naruto nodded vigorously. He'd been alone for so long that discovering a talkative Nine-Tails inside him actually felt kind of novel.
"Come on, let's head to the field," Kitazawa said.
They walked to the training grounds. The Advanced Class had finished training but hadn't left—per Kitazawa's earlier instruction to wait for him. Kakashi Hatake and Kosuke Maruboshi were there too.
"Next Thursday and Friday will be this term's first monthly exams," Kitazawa announced.
"Monthly exams again?" Inuzuka Kiba groaned. "Too bad I still haven't learned Fang Passing Fang."
Uchiha Sasuke frowned slightly. His Lightning Release: Chidori was still just short of complete. Compared to the last finals, he hadn't improved much. Naruto, though, was a different story—Kitazawa had given him the Sword Samehada. Sasuke had already lost to him at the last exam; this time his chances looked even worse. Fine. I'll bide my time. He could only hope to master Chidori soon.
"This time I'm adding a special kind of practical exam," Kitazawa said, smiling.
Everyone traded looks. The news came out of nowhere and caught them flat-footed. Kosuke Maruboshi and Kakashi exchanged a glance as well, surprised; they hadn't been told either.
"What kind of exam, Kitazawa-sensei?" Kiba shot up his hand. A "practical exam" meant fighting, in his mind—sparring with classmates, maybe even an all-class free-for-all?
"Missions," Kitazawa replied. "I'll lead teams with Kakashi and Kosuke-senpai so you can taste real shinobi life ahead of time."
It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment idea; he'd thought of it when he planned to seize the Sword of the Thunder God. He'd intended to take Sasuke on that mission—bringing three instead of one wasn't much different. A ninja's job is doing missions. Letting Sasuke, Naruto, and the others adjust early could only help.
There was another reason: the Advanced Class rankings had basically stabilized—especially the top twenty. The same faces kept trading blows: Naruto and Sasuke at the top, with the only suspense being who took first. But with Naruto's rapid power-up, even that suspense was fading.
The top three were pretty much locked in as Naruto, Kurama Yakumo, and Sasuke, followed by a fairly fixed group—Hyuga Neji, Hyuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and the rest.
"What?" Kiba's eyes widened. Everyone else looked stunned too. This kind of exam was unheard of. By Konoha rules, only full-fledged shinobi did missions. If Sarutobi Hiruzen were still Hokage, Kitazawa wouldn't even bring it up. But Tsunade was Hokage now—much easier to work with.
"Looks like I'm not retiring yet," Kosuke Maruboshi chuckled. He'd been wanting to stretch his legs and test out his new left leg anyway.
Kakashi was surprised, but not overly so. As a former Anbu, he was used to following orders. Kitazawa was now the Anbu Commander and the Ninja Academy's Vice Principal—Kakashi answered to him either way.
"I like this kind of exam!" Naruto said, fired up. He'd wanted to be a shinobi for ages, but didn't want to graduate early and leave Kitazawa's teaching. A way to do missions without graduating? He was thrilled.
"I can feel my youth burning!" Rock Lee clenched his fists, ready to charge out immediately.
"Great. More trouble," Nara Shikamaru muttered, seeing his future go dark. Missions were dangerous, time-consuming, exhausting, and could leave you camping in the wild for ten days at a stretch—torture for a world-class slacker.
"I'd better pack extra chips," Akimichi Choji said with a simple grin. As long as there were chips, he was fine anywhere.
"I think it sounds great," Yamanaka Ino beamed. "Even better if Kitazawa-sensei leads my team!"
Hyuga Hinata nodded in agreement.
Sasuke blinked, then his eyes lit up. In straight sparring, beating Naruto was tough right now. But in mission conditions, the outcome might be different—maybe he could take first again.
Hyuga Neji had a similar thought. Out on missions, the Hyuga's Byakugan was a huge advantage. Overtaking Naruto and Sasuke wasn't a fantasy.
"So how are teams decided?" Haruno Sakura asked, suddenly excited. "Can I team up with Sasuke?"
Sasuke's first instinct was to refuse, but he quickly rethought it—Sakura was a rare medical-ninjutsu type. With her on board, their squad might perform better.
"That brings us to the rules for this special practical exam," Kitazawa said.
First, only eighteen students could participate: six squads total, each with one instructor and three students. Kitazawa, Kakashi, and Kosuke would each lead two squads.
Second, missions would be capped at B-rank in principle—meaning only D- and C-rank missions were allowed. As strong as Sasuke and the others were—already near chūnin level—they were still young, and their mental resilience was limited.
B-rank and above often meant killing. Leave a trauma now and it could get ugly later. Start small and let them settle into shinobi life first.
To avoid a "Team 7 meets Zabuza on a C-rank" repeat, Kitazawa would have Anbu watching over them. If you've got authority, use it—he was the Anbu Commander now.
Third, team formation—the question Sakura had asked—would be either by random draw (the main method) or by instructor assignment.
Fourth, scoring. Students would be graded on their performance throughout the mission—bonus points for standout actions like spotting an enemy early—and final rankings would be based on total points.
"Got it? If you've got questions, raise your hand," Kitazawa said.
"What's the selection criterion for the eighteen?" Shikamaru's eyes turned, hand half-raised. "Overall class ranking?"
He was already calculating how to keep his score just low enough to miss the cut.
"No," Kitazawa said, shaking his head. "We instructors will pick based on your day-to-day training."
Shikamaru's face froze. So much for that. Kitazawa—or his shadow clones—watched him like a hawk during training; slacking was hard. There was no escaping this, and he wilted like a frostbitten eggplant.
Kitazawa couldn't help a wry smile. The kid really did try to slack at every turn—but the shinobi world was too harsh for that. In the original timeline, Shikamaru only woke up after Asuma's death. That wasn't likely now, so Kitazawa would just have to prod him along.
[New Mission: Take first place in the new practical exam.]
[Reward: Proficient-level Fire Release nature transformation.]
[Accept?]
As expected, a new system mission had triggered—and a good reward. Of the seven chakra natures he'd trained to "proficient," Fire Release was the last one missing; Lightning Release was the only one he'd pushed to "master."
"If there's nothing else, school's out," Kitazawa said after a pause.
"Bye, Kitazawa-sensei!" Naruto and the others called, then headed for the gate.
"Kosuke-senpai, Kakashi—sorry I didn't loop you in earlier," Kitazawa said to them.
"This is right up my alley," Kosuke said with a smile.
"A little fresh air sounds good," Kakashi replied evenly. He'd been slacking on training, but D- and C-ranks would be more like a pleasant outing for him.
"Great," Kitazawa said. "Once Thursday's theory exam is over, we'll kick off the new practical exam."
Those not selected would continue the usual practical training under Umino Iruka. Kosuke and Kakashi nodded—no objections.
"See you tomorrow," Kitazawa said, parting ways and leaving the Academy.
He headed toward Kurenai's place. Halfway there, he suddenly frowned—someone was tailing him. Oddly, they weren't even trying to hide, practically broadcasting their presence.
"Come out," Kitazawa said, stepping into a quiet alley. If it was an enemy, at least a fight here wouldn't endanger civilians. Still, he doubted it—very few people in the entire shinobi world would dare attack him openly inside Konoha.
"Kitazawa," a cool voice said.
A striking, expressionless face followed.
"Konan."
Kitazawa's surprise showed. He hadn't expected to see Konan in Konoha. This time, she wasn't wearing Akatsuki's black cloak with red clouds, but a Rain Village flak jacket.
He could guess how she'd gotten in—disguised as a Rain shinobi. In peacetime, ninja from different villages were allowed to travel; Konoha's police or Anbu would shadow them, but Konan must have slipped the net to meet him alone.
"What did you want with me?" Kitazawa asked with a smile. He thought of the Rain ninja Aoi Rokusho and the Sword of the Thunder God. If Konan needed something, perhaps they could make a deal. As for whether she cared about Rain ninja… well, call it Schrödinger's concern.
In the original story, a Rain kunoichi named Ajisai had just passed the chūnin exams and was sent on an S-rank mission, where she died and her body was turned into Pain's Animal Path.
Sending a chūnin on an S-rank was clearly unreasonable—almost like she'd been sent to die. And Aoi Rokusho was a Konoha defector; Akatsuki would care even less.
"I heard you created a medical ninjutsu that can regenerate severed limbs," Konan said evenly. She cared deeply about it, but the more she showed it, the more leverage she'd hand him.
"I did," Kitazawa said, mind jumping to Nagato. Only he could bring Konan all the way to Konoha. Long ago, Nagato's legs had been blown off by Hanzō's explosive tags.
"An Akatsuki member's legs are ruined," Konan said, calm as ever. "I want you to treat him. We can pay you handsomely."
"What exactly is wrong with his legs?" Kitazawa asked, face neutral. "I need details to know if I can help."
Konan briefly described Nagato's condition. She blamed the damage on some forbidden technique rather than the Gedo Statue draining his chakra and life force.
"That'll be hard," Kitazawa said gravely. "It's not just the legs—his life force has been consumed."
"You don't have to worry about the life-force issue," Konan said. As skilled as Kitazawa was, she doubted he could undo the Gedo Statue's harm.
"I can ignore other areas, but I can't ignore the legs," Kitazawa explained. "Limb regeneration works by consuming life force to regrow the organ."
"So you can't treat him after all?" Disappointment flickered through Konan's heart, though her face barely changed.
"Not necessarily," Kitazawa said with a smile.
"How would you treat him?" Konan asked before she could stop herself. With a sliver of hope, her expression finally shifted.
"His case is several times more complicated than a normal patient's," Kitazawa said. "Spelling out a cure right now would be dishonest. I need to examine him myself before I can lock in a treatment plan."
~~~
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