On the academy training field, the Advanced Class students were working on their own drills.
Kitazawa's gaze settled on Kimimaro. With October already half over, it was time to think about next month's monthly exams.
Kimimaro had a system task to take first place in the practical exam. Obviously, that wasn't going to happen in a normal field test—he couldn't beat or even catch up to Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Even though Kimimaro's ceiling wasn't low and he had the makings of a Kage, some people were basically playing with cheats.
The only way was to clear a mission.
Kitazawa had originally thought of taking Kimimaro to do the Box of Ultimate Bliss mission, but Satori was too strong—nothing he could handle. If the performance wasn't good, it would be hard for him to justify a high score.
Looks like he'd have to go to the Mission Desk and find a jōnin of average strength to pair him with. As for the Box of Ultimate Bliss, Kitazawa decided to do it after the New Year; he worried Sasuke was still too young and his fundamentals weren't solid enough.
With that in mind, Kitazawa went to find Hatake Kakashi.
"In terms of fundamentals alone, Sasuke's already one of the standouts among his peers. It won't be easy to raise him further," Kakashi mused after a brief pause. "We could try Lightning Release activation—in the process it would also improve his Lightning chakra nature transformation."
Kitazawa offered, "Chidori involves Lightning activation, but it's limited to the hands. The Fourth Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra Mode is full-body activation."
"Besides that, have him join Guy's training." As a shinobi, fundamentals really boiled down to chakra reserves and physical conditioning.
"What are you up to?" Kakashi asked, puzzled.
"Helping Sasuke power up—see if we can get him to open the three-tomoe Sharingan," Kitazawa said plainly. No need to hide it. Once Sasuke awakened three tomoe, he wasn't the type to keep it secret; Kakashi would find out anyway.
"...?" Kakashi's mouth twitched. Do you hear yourself? He's only a kid and you want him at three tomoe already?
Then again… maybe it wasn't impossible. Something about this felt… delicate. He'd always assumed his record—becoming a jōnin at twelve—wouldn't be broken. Now it seemed inevitable. With the three-tomoe Sharingan, Sasuke would theoretically have jōnin-level combat power.
And the craziest part? Besides Sasuke, Naruto and Kurama Yakumo weren't far behind. In other words, his record might get shattered by three people at once. This was more fantastical than one of Jiraiya's novels.
"Sasuke's Lightning training has hit a bottleneck. Perfect time to switch it up," Kakashi nodded.
"Thanks, Kakashi," Kitazawa said. "Also, don't tell Sasuke—for now I don't want this affecting him."
"Got it." Kakashi headed toward Sasuke.
Kitazawa walked to the field where Master Chen's taijutsu group was training. He didn't interrupt, just watched from the sideline.
The students had clearly split into two batches—more accurately into Naruto, Rock Lee, and everyone else.
Naruto had been learning Leaf-Style swordsmanship and was almost through it. Kitazawa had been worrying about what to teach him next, but Master Chen's arrival solved that. Now both Naruto and Lee were learning Leaf Whirlwind.
Leaf Whirlwind, simply put, is a sequence of three spinning roundhouse kicks. In the original story, Master Chen used it to easily send Might Guy flying; in practice it isn't nearly that easy to master.
After watching for a while, Kitazawa headed to another nearby field. This one was for shuriken and kunai throwing, with rows of fixed targets.
Hyuga Hinata was drawing a bow. With her Byakugan open, she loosened her fingers; the arrow streaked out and punched the bullseye. With Byakugan's aid, becoming a dead-eye archer was trivial—what was truly absurd was how far Byakugan could see.
In the original story, Hinata could see as far as ten kilometers. Pair that with a powerful bow and, in Kitazawa's previous world, she'd be a terrifying sniper.
Besides Hinata, Kitazawa also had Neji practice archery when he had time. The Box of Ultimate Bliss was big enough to craft two bows easily.
How many they could actually make would depend on the situation later. Satori was only one entity and hard to split, but there were other Yin-style monsters in the shinobi world; with some searching, similar spirit-tools could be found.
As usual, after making a round of the Advanced Class training, Kitazawa started learning Wood Release: Great Forest Technique. He figured he'd need at most half a month before he could go to Tsunade, pretend he'd "synthesized" Wood Release, and lay the cards on the table.
Of course, the reason it was taking this long wasn't just that Wood Release was hard. He wasn't training "twenty-four hours a day"; a lot of his time was going into redesigning the Eight-Stage Cursed Seal of Earth. At the current pace, it would be ready next month. As for the Yang Release Chakra Mode, because it was harder and the cursed seal was taking priority, it would probably take another two months.
Half a month flew by, and November arrived. As usual, the first of the month was the written exam.
After breakfast, Kitazawa went to the academy. He and Iruka Umino handled the Advanced Class written exam; Sarutobi Hiruzen and Kosuke Maruboshi wouldn't be involved—they were field instructors, while Iruka taught theory.
As for Kitazawa, he was the academy's vice-principal and the Advanced Class lead—he handled everything.
"Why do shinobi have to study theory?" Tayuya sighed. "If you're strong enough to beat the enemy, isn't that all that matters?"
"What a very youthful question!" Rock Lee gave a thumbs-up. "I want to know too!"
Tayuya shot him a look. If not for Lee, she wouldn't have been last on the written test last time. Her poor score was understandable—she'd only studied for a month. What she couldn't understand was how Lee had studied for two years and still done worse than her one month.
"When you meet someone weaker, sure, you can steamroll them," Nara Shikamaru yawned. "But when they're stronger, you need theory and IQ."
"Then what's the point of learning the Will of Fire?" Tayuya asked.
"To become Hokage!" Inuzuka Kiba clenched his fist. "You can only become Hokage if you understand the Will of Fire."
"I'm from Otogakure. I don't want to be Hokage," Tayuya waved dismissively.
"Isn't the Sound Village part of Konoha now?" Ino Yamanaka turned to her.
"Konoha is Konoha. Sound is Sound!" Tayuya argued.
"Didn't you see the announcement?" Haruno Sakura said. "Orochimaru-sama has rejoined Konoha and is head of the Science Division."
"I…" Tayuya trailed off. She had seen it, of course, but mouthing off had become habit. As for going back to Sound, she knew that wasn't likely—and she didn't really want to. Konoha was way more fun, and the snacks never stopped.
"As long as we follow Orochimaru-sama, it doesn't matter where we are," Kimimaro said calmly.
"All that's too far off. Focus on today's written exam," Kiba shook his head.
"What's there to think about? First and second will be Shikamaru and Sakura again," Ino said in a tone of glorious resignation.
"Maybe, but third place often decides who ends up first overall," Kiba said seriously.
The overall ranking was written plus practical. With the new practical format, if you won third on the written, you were very likely to finish first overall. Last month's exam had proven it—Sasuke did exactly that. And in the mission segment, anyone could theoretically get full marks.
"...?" Shikamaru's mouth twitched. Are you assuming I can't get full marks in the practical? He couldn't beat Naruto or Sasuke, but there was a non-zero chance he could still max out his score.
"I could take first overall too!" Sakura huffed, indulging a fantasy. "Then Sasuke-kun and I would tie for first!"
"That's impossible," Ino shot back without hesitation.
"Anything's possible!" Sakura countered. "Haven't you lost to me before?"
"That's old story!" Ino said, brimming with confidence. "It won't be long before you're the one losing to me!"
"You joined Kitazawa-sensei's special training again?" Shikamaru raised a brow.
"That's right!" Ino declared. "Next time I'm definitely beating Sakura!"
"I'm training with Kosuke-sensei too—don't be so sure who wins," Sakura held her ground with her mouth, though she was already more cautious inside. Kitazawa always gave her the impression he could do anything. She decided that after this month's exam she'd ramp up her regimen. She could lose to anyone—except Ino.
At nine, Kitazawa walked into the Advanced Class classroom. The chatter stopped and everyone returned to their seats. They'd done this often enough; Kitazawa skipped the preamble and handed out the test.
For this month, Kimimaro was the only one with a system task, so he wasn't taking the written.
Sitting at the lectern, Kitazawa's thoughts drifted back to his Eight-Stage Cursed Seal of Earth—he was a hair's breadth from finishing the redesign.
[Current Mission: Redesign the Cursed Seal of Earth.]
[Reward: Cursed Seal of Heaven.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
When the bell rang, three lines of text flashed before his eyes. A flood of information poured into his mind.
The Cursed Seal of Heaven and Cursed Seal of Earth are the same class of seal, differing in effects and difficulty. From the original story, you could tell the Heaven seal was stronger—but the price was a higher bar for implantation and a very low success rate. In the end, only Uchiha Sasuke and Anko Mitarashi were bearers.
Knowing Orochimaru's personality, he surely tried to implant the Heaven seal on plenty of prodigies—every extra bearer was another potential vessel. Even so, only Sasuke and Anko made it.
After digesting the information, Kitazawa shook his head. No matter how you tweak it, the Heaven seal isn't suitable for mass deployment. You could try it on a few gifted types, but true geniuses don't really need it—at best it helps early on. Overuse messes with the body; if the talent never pays off, it feels like a bad trade.
The Earth seal, though, can be promoted—pick chūnin and jōnin who are already at their limit and form a cursed-seal unit.
"Turn in your papers and you're free to go. Remember: the practical exam is at nine tomorrow morning. We'll announce the team list then," Kitazawa said, snapping back to the room as he stood.
"Goodbye, Kitazawa-sensei." The students filed out. Kitazawa gathered the papers and headed for the office—but this time he wasn't going to grade them himself. He'd give them to Iruka and head to the Hokage Building, because he'd finished learning Wood Release: Great Forest Technique.
In the Hokage's office, he was waved in.
"Kitazawa, what brings you here? Isn't today the Advanced Class written exam?" The one who asked wasn't Tsunade—it was Shizune.
"It's done. Iruka's grading this one," Kitazawa replied.
"Then what do you need me for?" Tsunade stretched. "Shizune and I still have things to discuss."
"Just a minute," Kitazawa said, stepping up to them. He glanced around and finally focused on Tonton on the Hokage's desk. "Shizune-senpai, lend me Tonton for a bit." He picked the pig up and set it on the desk's edge.
"...?" Tonton stared at him, utterly confused.
"What are you doing?" Shizune blurted. "Don't you dare hurt her."
"Relax, it's fine." Kitazawa formed hand seals. His goal was simple: demonstrate Wood Release to Tsunade and Shizune. But Wood Locking Wall and Great Forest Technique were too flashy; only the Silent Killing Binding Technique was appropriate.
He extended his hand; a strip of wood sprouted from thin air and gently bound Tonton.
"Wood Release?!" Tsunade, who'd been half-paying attention, shot to her feet.
"How do you know Wood Release?" Shizune's eyes went wide, forgetting Tonton for the moment.
"I told you before—I've been trying to synthesize Wood Release," Kitazawa said with a smile. "A little while ago I got lucky and succeeded, then learned some Wood techniques."
Tsunade fell silent, face a little dazed. He had mentioned it long ago, but she'd never taken it seriously. Now he was suddenly telling her he'd actually done it—it felt like genjutsu.
"It can really be synthesized?" Shizune recovered, equal parts shocked and thrilled. "No one's ever done that!"
Since Hashirama's death, Konoha had repeatedly tried to recreate Wood Release. The experiments had yielded Yamato, barely. But actually synthesizing Wood Release—not even Tobirama or Hiruzen had managed it.
And Kitazawa was strong enough to matter. In Yamato's hands, Wood Release was just another kekkei genkai—he himself was at best elite jōnin. In Kitazawa's hands, it was different; he had Hokage-level strength. A Hokage with Wood Release—that would be Wood's true return to Konoha.
"You did well," Tsunade said after a deep breath to steady herself. Yamato's impact on her had been nothing like this—he was artificial. Kitazawa had synthesized Wood Release himself, essentially becoming a new first-generation bearer.
From him onward, his descendants might inherit it. That's part of what defines a kekkei genkai. And Kitazawa was her student. It was like Hashirama himself had blessed them so Wood Release could reappear in the hands of a Senju-line shinobi.
"How many Wood techniques have you learned?" she asked after thinking it over.
"Three," Kitazawa said.
"You learned three and only now tell me?" Tsunade rolled her eyes.
"I wanted to surprise you," he ad-libbed. "And learning three proves I really have a handle on Wood Release."
"Don't tell anyone yet," Tsunade decided after a moment. "Wait until you've learned most of the Wood techniques before we go public."
Wood Release was huge for Konoha, but bad news for other villages. They wouldn't allow another Hashirama to rise—someone would try to assassinate Kitazawa. He was strong, but constant harassment would still be a pain.
"Mm." Kitazawa nodded. He'd been thinking the same—and with only three techniques, it wasn't exactly impressive. Never mind Sage Art: True Several Thousand Hands; at least learn Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees first.
That was Hashirama's most famous move for a reason. Not that Nativity wasn't terrifying on its own—the Forest of Death in Konoha had been created with it. Its effect was to create a forest in an instant, with every part of it under the user's control.
Yamato had never learned it; in the original, he used Wood Release: Nativity of a Sea of Trees instead, similar in nature but much smaller in scale—his chakra was too limited.
Kitazawa felt that with his reserves he should be able to use Nativity of a World of Trees. Sage Art: True Several Thousand Hands, though? No chance. Next to Hashirama, his twelve "units" of chakra were laughable.
"Shizune, I'll leave this to you for now," Tsunade said, standing. "Kitazawa, with me."
"Where are we going?" he asked as they exited the Hokage Building.
"The Senju compound," Tsunade said, gazing at the Hokage Rock with a complicated expression. "There are some very important Wood techniques stored there."
Since returning to the village she'd been living in a house Hiruzen arranged for her, not the Senju residence. Seeing those familiar buildings and things would bring back memories of Nawaki and the others. With Kurenai and Kitazawa around, she'd just never gone back. She hadn't expected that Wood Release would be the reason.
Before long, they arrived. Tsunade walked silently to a house, unlocked it, and went in. Her eyes swept the room, a flicker of reminiscence crossing them. Kitazawa followed without speaking. He understood her mood—silence was better.
"Downstairs," Tsunade said, leading him to the basement. The moment they stepped in, Kitazawa noticed the sealing formulas carved all over the walls—every kind of seal, like the entire Uzumaki arsenal etched into the stone. In other words, the basement had defenses rivaling the Nine-Tails' cell. Obviously Uzumaki Mito's work.
"All of the Wood techniques are here," Tsunade said, stopping in front of a bookshelf. "You can learn them all."
"I'll start with Nativity of a World of Trees." Kitazawa scanned the shelves and pulled a scroll.
"Can you learn it?" Tsunade blinked. "I asked Yamato—he never managed it."
"I think so. I'll know after I try," Kitazawa said, not overpromising. His system Wood Release was, after all, the Yamato variant.
"Mm." Tsunade's voice drifted a little. "Nativity of a World of Trees is the jutsu that made Grandpa famous. I hope you can learn it."
"I'll do my best," Kitazawa said.
[Current Mission: Learn Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees.]
[Mission Reward: +2 chakra units.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa froze for a second. So generous? Previously the most he'd gotten was half a unit; two full units was a first. Then again, two units for mastering Nativity—just okay, not that generous. Learning it wasn't easy.
He would have preferred the system just hand him the technique. But it was what it was—he'd learn it. Even the Yamato version could be devastating if you had enough chakra. In the original, when White Zetsu Tobi possessed Yamato, he used Wood Release: Wood Golem Technique.
In other words, the gap between Yamato's Wood Release and Hashirama's was, in theory, just chakra.
"Go ahead and start," Tsunade said, snapping out of it. "If you want other Wood techniques, come find me." The basement was covered in seals; only she knew how to open it.
"Mm." Kitazawa stowed the Nativity scroll.
"It's noon—let's eat here today," Tsunade said, turning to go.
"I'll go buy groceries," Kitazawa said as they returned to the living room.
"Okay," Tsunade said, glancing around. "I'll clean up." The place hadn't been lived in for ages, and dust coated the furniture.
"If you head out, turn left for the market," she added.
"Got it. See you in a bit," Kitazawa said, stepping outside. On the quiet street he stretched. Now that he'd revealed Wood Release, his position in Konoha was rock-solid. Even if he defected, he might still stroll back in like Orochimaru. Not that he had any reason to—the people he cared about were all here.
At the market, he bought a chicken. Tsunade's favorite was tender chicken. After a moment's thought, he added a bottle of sake. With her tolerance, one bottle wouldn't interfere with work.
When he returned, the living room was spotless. Tsunade had taken off her tea-green outer coat and was sprawled on the couch, not caring about her image.
"So fast?" Kitazawa asked, eyeing the pale feet resting on the table.
"I used Shadow Clones," Tsunade replied, then sniffed the air, perking up. "You bought booze?"
"You can smell that?" Kitazawa asked, surprised.
"No aroma of alcohol escapes this nose," she said, very pleased with herself.
"Drink after we eat," Kitazawa said, heading for the kitchen.
Tsunade pouted, shifted her rounded hips, crossed her legs slightly, and reclined deeper into the couch. Eyes closed, at home—and with Kitazawa wielding Wood Release—she finally felt at ease. Konoha was thriving, and if all the Advanced Class truly grew up, the village might see its most glorious era.
Time slipped by. Since it was just the two of them, Kitazawa made one dish—tender chicken. He came out with bowls and chopsticks.
"Asleep?" He set things down and stepped to the couch, poking Tsunade's pretty cheek. She opened her eyes and met his. "Is lunch ready?"
Kitazawa nodded. She sat up; her sleeveless top drew taut as she leaned forward, neckline gaping just enough for pale skin to show. Kitazawa's gaze fell to the necklace around her neck—the Ocean's Heart he'd given her. Unfortunately half of it was blocked from view.
"Still looking?" Tsunade kicked him lightly and headed for the table.
"Since you have work this afternoon, I only bought one bottle," Kitazawa said, sitting across from her and taking out the sake.
"One bottle?" Tsunade frowned. "That's neither here nor there. Not satisfying."
"So… do you want it or not?" Kitazawa asked with a grin, already expecting this.
"You bought it, so of course I'm drinking it!" Tsunade grabbed the flask and took two long pulls.
"Have some decorum—you are the Hokage," Kitazawa chided, shaking his head.
"There's no one else here. Why bother?" Tsunade exhaled, smiling. "And you're not drinking."
"Now that you've started like that, how am I supposed to?" Kitazawa refused.
"Why not? Drink with me!" Tsunade glared, suddenly annoyed, thrusting the flask toward him.
"There's only one bottle. If I drink, what's left for you?" Kitazawa caught her hand, still smiling.
"Then why didn't you buy two?" Tsunade rolled her eyes. "And now you're judging me!"
"So that last part is the real issue?" Kitazawa's eyes dropped to her lips—now glossier and more sultry after the sake.
"It's nothing. Let's eat," Tsunade said, a tiny tremor in her chest as she noticed his gaze.
"Try the chicken." He passed her chopsticks.
She bit into a piece, chewed, and said, "Not bad—almost as good as the izakaya's."
"Come on, that's an exaggeration," Kitazawa chuckled. "I know my level."
"Your Wood Release—was it synthesized from Yang, Water, and Earth, like you said?" Tsunade shifted the topic.
"Yeah," Kitazawa nodded.
"Then your Wood should be way stronger than Yamato's?" her eyes gleamed.
"I've seen his. He's not at my level," Kitazawa said with confidence.
"Just as I thought," Tsunade smiled. "From today, Konoha truly has Wood Release again."
"You're piling the pressure on," Kitazawa joked.
"Pressure builds drive," she said, eyes settling on his handsome face. "And I trust you."
"Isn't it really because you want to retire early?" Kitazawa teased.
"That too," Tsunade admitted with a sigh. "You have no idea how exhausting Hokage is—seven days a week, no breaks."
"The New Year's almost here—you can rest a bit then," Kitazawa said.
"It's still a month away," she sighed again. Suddenly she remembered—December twenty-first was Kitazawa's birthday. He'd given her that expensive necklace on her birthday; she ought to return the favor. But what?
"A month goes by in a blink," Kitazawa smiled. "And Konoha doesn't really need you to worry right now."
"True," Tsunade said, taking a sip. "By the way, have you heard of Sage Mode?"
"Of course. The cursed seal is a low-grade version of it," Kitazawa said, brow lifting. "It comes from the three summoning great lands and lets you use senjutsu."
Senjutsu, simply put, are jutsu fueled by senjutsu chakra. With nature energy added, they're far more powerful than normal techniques. But to use it, you need Sage Mode. Learning it sounded simple—balance natural, spiritual, and physical energy in a 1:1:1 ratio—but training required extraordinary talent. In the original, only a handful ever learned it; even Sasuke, one of the main leads, didn't.
Kitazawa figured he probably didn't have the knack. Before the system, he'd been a very average chūnin.
"Right," Tsunade nodded. "Shikkotsu Forest has its own Sage Mode. Once you learn Nativity of a World of Trees, you can go train there."
"Okay," Kitazawa agreed without hesitation. Who would refuse that?
He waited a beat—just as he expected. Normally this was where a Sage Mode-related system task would pop up, but nothing showed. Which meant he wouldn't be able to learn it on his own—also fair. He'd let the system handle it later, save himself the time and the risk of turning to stone.
He wondered what the side effects of the Shikkotsu Forest variant were—petrification and frog-like changes were specific to Mount Myōboku.
After lunch, they returned to the office.
"Food and drink down—I'm taking a nap," Tsunade said lazily.
"Speaking of rewards—I learned Wood Release. Aren't you going to reward me?" Kitazawa asked.
"What do you want?" Tsunade looked up from the couch.
"Anything?" Kitazawa stepped closer, meeting her eyes. The office went quiet, the air between them turning faintly charged.
"Of course not," Tsunade said, eyes flicking away. "Only what Konoha can provide."
Kitazawa lowered his head and kissed her. Tsunade's eyes widened; she hadn't expected him to be so bold. They had kissed a few times before, but usually when she'd been caught off-guard—and she'd been the one to initiate.
"I've received my reward. Good afternoon," Kitazawa said, licking his lips as he stepped back, dodged her kick, and beat a hasty retreat.
Watching his back, Tsunade drifted into a daze.
At the building's entrance, Kitazawa thought, Now that was a rush. She hadn't pushed him away immediately—that meant they'd inched closer again. Smiling, he went home.
With nothing pressing that afternoon, he studied the Nativity scroll. There was no rank written on it, but it was definitely S-rank, with very high requirements.
Around five, Iruka stopped by with the written exam rankings. They were about the same as last month: Shikamaru, Sakura, and Sasuke took the top three. The biggest jump was Kimimaro, now up to nineteenth—Kitazawa was genuinely impressed. Jūgo and Tayuya hadn't moved much, still in the bottom five.
The next day was the practical. After breakfast, Kitazawa and Kurenai Yuhi headed to the academy. They were the last to arrive—Hiruzen, Kosuke Maruboshi, Master Chen, and Kakashi were already there chatting.
"Just in time," Kosuke said. "We've talked through which students we're taking this month."
"Is Kimimaro in one of your groups?" Kitazawa asked. "I want to take him out on a mission this time."
"No," they all shook their heads.
"All right, then we'll go with your groupings," Kitazawa said, unconcerned.
At nine, the Advanced Class lined up in their usual formation.
"Before the practical, I'll announce team assignments for the top eighteen," Kitazawa said, stepping forward.
Faces lit up—who your teammates and instructor were mattered to your final score.
"Team One is with me," Kitazawa said evenly. "Kimimaro, Yamanaka Ino, and Haruno Sakura."
The idea was simple: Kimimaro would be the primary attacker; Ino would provide control; Sakura would handle healing. Both girls had some fighting ability and could support Kimimaro—without stealing his thunder.
"Shame. It would've been perfect without Sakura," Ino sniffed. With Kitazawa as their instructor she was thrilled; having Sakura as a teammate, less so.
"Just don't drag me down," Sakura glared back.
"That's my line," Ino said, hands on hips. "I'm not who I used to be!"
"You two get along so well," Rock Lee sighed, moved. "Such burning youth!"
"What's good about this?" Ino and Sakura said in unison.
Hinata watched them, a little envious. She'd missed Kitazawa's team two months in a row—maybe next time?
"Quiet," Kitazawa cut off the bickering and continued. There were now six instructors for the class, one per team. Kurenai was a touch weaker than the others, so Kitazawa put Yakumo Kurama with her—Yakumo had originally been Kurenai's student, after all.
Along with Yakumo, Kurenai took Hinata and Tenten. Even against two or three jōnin, that group could put up a fight—and with Anbu covering them from the shadows, they'd be fine even without Kitazawa.
Hiruzen specifically asked for Naruto. Master Chen took Rock Lee. Only Kakashi and Kosuke had no particular requests.
"That's all for the team list," Kitazawa concluded. "You can head to your instructors now and pick up missions."
"Grandpa Third!" Naruto whooped and ran to Hiruzen. Sasuke, Shikamaru, and the others followed their own picks.
"Iruka, the remaining students are yours," Kitazawa said. This setup was the most time-efficient; they could wrap up the monthly exam in two or three days.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Ino jogged up to him.
"Let's go," Kitazawa said, ruffling her hair. With Kimimaro and Sakura beside them, he led the team toward Konoha's main gate.
~~~
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