"Kitazawa-sensei, what's our mission this time?"
Yamanaka Ino darted forward to Kitazawa's left, hugged his arm, and leaned over to flash a smug look at Haruno Sakura.
"So childish," Sakura sniffed.
"To the Land of Rivers," Kitazawa answered. "Our target is a missing-nin from Iwagakure named Shigenobu—a jōnin."
"A jōnin?" Ino and Sakura blurted out together, eyes wide.
Only Kaguya Kimimaro remained calm. In truth, he was much like Root's Aburame Torune—he obeyed orders without asking why. And when it came to Orochimaru's orders, he executed them unconditionally.
"With your current strength, if you coordinate properly, taking down an ordinary jōnin isn't a problem," Kitazawa said, ruffling Ino's hair. "No need to be so shocked." He'd already had Anbu look into Shigenobu: a very average jōnin—the kind who would've been one-shot by Namikaze Minato in the Third Great Ninja War.
"Still feels hard," Sakura muttered after thinking it through, looking troubled. She wasn't as optimistic as Kitazawa. She and Ino were at best chūnin level; their only path to victory was Kimimaro plus tight teamwork.
"What's so hard about it? If Kitazawa-sensei says we can do it, we can!" Ino clenched her fist, brimming with confidence.
"We've got a day before we reach the Land of Rivers," Kitazawa said, tapping Ino on the forehead. "Use it to figure out how the three of you will coordinate. Be cautious against a jōnin—don't get cocky."
"I knooow!" Ino beamed at him, then tugged Sakura off to strategize with Kimimaro. "Strategize" was generous—Kimimaro barely spoke. Thankfully, Ino and Sakura understood his abilities well enough to plan around him.
The Land of Rivers borders the Land of Fire; by dusk they'd crossed the border. Kitazawa didn't rush to hunt down the missing-nin. He let them rest for the night.
Next day.
A small grove in the Land of Rivers. Kimimaro, Ino, and Sakura were each hidden in the trees, only their eyes visible as they watched the distance. They were waiting for Kitazawa. Shigenobu lived in a nearby town, but fighting inside town meant too many variables and civilian risk. Better to ambush in the grove. Kitazawa would lure Shigenobu out.
"He's coming!" Ino spotted a fast-moving figure.
"Stick to the plan," Sakura said at once.
Kimimaro nodded.
The figure stopped at the grove's edge. It was Shigenobu. He glanced around, frowning. Where did his pursuer go?
Just then, a flurry of petals drifted out of the grove. Shigenobu blinked—then caught the scent of explosive tags. He quickly formed signs; an earth wall rose in front of him.
Boom!
Ino's custom "ninja blossoms"—petals rigged with tags—detonated at once. The earth wall shuddered and spiderwebbed with cracks. Shigenobu immediately sprang back.
As the wall broke apart, ten white streaks lanced toward him at high speed. His heart lurched—what were those? He whipped both arms and sent a storm of kunai. Steel rang on the white streaks; his kunai were knocked aside, but sheer quantity bought him a block.
Then he got a clear look and his pupils tightened. Bones?
In that instant of distraction, a water dragon materialized out of nowhere, roaring in with a mass of spray.
"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spear!" Shigenobu reacted fast; his chakra thrust up spiking earth, spears rising to skewer the dragon.
The water dragon jolted, climbed to slip past the spikes, then accelerated straight at him.
"Nice chakra control," Shigenobu thought, already flashing through signs. "Earth Release: Earth Substitution!" His earthen double shattered under the dragon's impact while he used the opening to retreat, reappearing a short distance away.
He eyed the grove without entering. Too perfect for traps. After a beat, he spun on his heel. If they'd set an ambush here, they wouldn't want him escaping. Turning to leave should force them to make the first move and keep him clear of traps.
A splitting whistle cut the air.
"Called it," Shigenobu thought, slamming his hands together. "Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon!" He pivoted and punched the ground. The earth cracked; soil surged up and rolled forward like a muddy torrent.
"Shikotsumyaku?" He lifted his head toward his attacker and stared, surprised. The Kaguya clan's Dead Bone Pulse had a reputation nearly on par with the Sharingan and the Uchiha. He recognized it at once.
"Why is there a Kaguya shinobi—and why attack me?" he frowned. No time to ponder. As the earthen flood was about to engulf Kimimaro, a water dragon slammed down in front, locking it in a momentary stalemate.
"Dance of the Camellia!" Kimimaro leapt from the water dragon's back, drawing a bone blade from his left arm. In a blink the air filled with blade afterimages and a shrieking wind.
Shigenobu's breath caught at the pressure. He raised a wall—"Earth Release: Earth Wall!"—which lasted a second before it exploded. That was his cue.
"Earth Release: Rock Bullet!" He opened his mouth; chakra-hardened stone shot out like a cannon shell at Kimimaro. Kimimaro crossed his forearms; bone burst from his arms to meet the projectile.
Boom!
The force sent Kimimaro skidding backward through the air.
"So you're only a chūnin," Shigenobu snorted. After that brief exchange, he'd pegged Kimimaro's level. If he were a jōnin with Shikotsumyaku on top, he would've already seized the advantage.
While Kimimaro was still tumbling back, three Sakuras appeared.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!" The middle Sakura halted and formed signs. The Sakuras on her left and right vaulted forward, closing fast on Shigenobu.
"Where'd these brats come from?" Shigenobu muttered, glancing around. Both Kimimaro and Sakura were way too young. There had to be a supervising teacher—the one who lured him out, most likely. With no sign of that jonin, he focused on the immediate threat.
"Earth Release: Earth and Stone Dragon!" He'd barely finished the seal when the Sakura on his left flung a fresh scatter of petals. He ignored them and poured out chakra. The ground heaved as a dragon of earth and stone erupted skyward. The opposing water dragon was much smaller; it shattered on impact. The earth-dragon plowed on toward Sakura.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!" Sakura threw up a water wall and lunged aside.
By then, the other Sakura had reached Shigenobu.
"Huh?" Shigenobu realized something was off. Weren't there two shadow clones? Where'd one go?
He snapped a kick; the Sakura before him popped into smoke. He frowned and scanned around. Petals materialized out of thin air, swirling close and robbing him of sight for an instant.
A faint whistle of wind. Shigenobu looked up—Ino was dropping from above.
"So that's where you were," he sneered.
"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!" Ino locked eyes with him and cast the prepared genjutsu. His face went slack for a heartbeat, then he snapped free almost instantly.
"Earth Release: Rock Bullet!" Chakra gathered in his throat; a stone round formed in his mouth. Ino spun away without hesitation—her job was done.
A roar of wind. Kimimaro appeared at his back.
"Dance of the Camellia!" The bone blade flashed.
An earth wall shot up—a breath of relief—and then froze on Shigenobu's face as the blade punched straight through the wall and drilled into his heart.
He gaped; blood welled out. As the wall cracked and fell, he finally noticed how Kimimaro's form had changed—no longer quite human.
Cursed Seal of Earth: State Two.
Earlier, his earth wall had held off the Dance of the Camellia for a full second, so he'd assumed it would work again. But State Two had juiced Kimimaro's speed and power far beyond that.
Kimimaro didn't hesitate; he slashed once more. Shigenobu's eyes shut. He toppled backward into endless sleep.
"We won!" Ino cheered, thrilled.
"We… actually killed a jōnin?" Sakura stared, incredulous. She'd expected a grueling fight, but in practice she'd fired off three water techniques and they'd won clean.
"Ninja battles are battles of intel," Kitazawa said. "You beat him because he didn't know your information. He didn't understand Kimimaro's cursed seal or Shikotsumyaku, so he made the wrong call when Kimimaro struck from behind."
Sakura nodded as she came back to herself. "Right."
"And my genjutsu!" Ino flicked her blonde fringe, hands on hips, smug.
"My water release and your genjutsu drew his attention," Sakura shot back.
"But my genjutsu did more," Ino huffed.
"All right, enough—you all did great." Kitazawa chuckled and patted Ino's head, cutting off the brewing spat.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" Ino nuzzled his hand like a cat and asked hopefully, "So how many points do I get this time?"
"Relax. A very high score," Kitazawa said.
"What about me? Can I beat Ino's score?" Sakura blurted.
"Based on just now, how could you score higher than me?" Ino protested at once.
"You two are at it again," Kitazawa laughed. "You'll get the same score."
"Well, since Kitazawa-sensei says so, I'll graciously accept a tie—for this time," Ino said, giving Sakura a look. "Next time I'll definitely beat you—once I master… uh…" She nearly blurted out "Ninja Art: Mind Butterfly," but remembered what Kitazawa had just said about intel and quickly changed tack.
"Not that easy!" Sakura shot back, unafraid. She'd guessed Ino was learning a new technique, but she was learning new water jutsu too—no reason she'd lose.
"Mission accomplished. We head back the way we came." Kitazawa unsealed a summoning storage scroll, stowed Shigenobu's corpse, and turned to leave. Kimimaro, Ino, and Sakura hurried after him.
They reached Konoha on Monday morning.
"Rest up today. Classes resume tomorrow," Kitazawa said. "If the other squads are already back, we'll post rankings tomorrow."
"Yes, Kitazawa-sensei," Kimimaro, Ino, and Sakura answered in unison.
Kitazawa nodded and headed for the Hokage Building. He filed the mission at the Mission Desk, then went to the Hokage's office. Last time he'd seen Tsunade, that kiss had cut their conversation short; then he'd left on the mission the next day, so he'd put this off until now. It wasn't urgent, though.
"Tsunade-sensei," he said, pushing the door open.
"When did you get back?" Tsunade asked evenly.
"Just now." Kitazawa stepped up and handed her a jutsu scroll.
"What's this? Your mission report?" she asked, puzzled.
"You'll see," Kitazawa said with a smile.
Curious, Tsunade unrolled it. After a couple of lines she realized it described the Cursed Seal of Earth. Why show her that? She read on—and only when she reached the sealing-technique additions did it click.
Orochimaru's original Cursed Seal of Earth had two states—two "limits," really—but very few safeguards. Kitazawa's revision added eight layers of restriction. Unlocking the first three had no adverse effects. Unlocking the first six matched the old State Two in output, with side effects from prolonged use. The last two were special.
If a user began to lose control, the seventh restriction would trigger automatically and forcibly cancel the curse state. If the user faced life-threatening danger, the eighth restriction could be opened—like the Death Gate of the Eight Gates—surrendering control to unleash everything in a final burst to defeat the enemy. If you're on death's door, side effects no longer matter—it's your last dance.
"Once Orochimaru finishes the modifications, combine them with your Eightfold Cursed Seal of Earth and Konoha can field a full Cursed-Seal Unit!" Tsunade looked up, visibly excited.
The Five Great Villages all had special units—Suna's puppet corps, Iwa's demolition corps, and so on. Strictly speaking, Konoha had none, aside from clan-based formations like the Byakugan-led sensory teams. With the Cursed Seal, Konoha could build a dedicated unit whose baseline would be elite chūnin or special jōnin once transformed.
"That's what I had in mind," Kitazawa nodded.
"You've earned more credit for Konoha," Tsunade said with a smile—then paused. She'd been about to ask what reward he wanted, but remembered what he'd asked for last time.
"So—who should lead this Cursed-Seal Unit?" she asked instead, setting the scroll down.
"Tsunade-sensei, answer me this first," Kitazawa said. "Who do you think should be allowed to join?"
She blinked, thinking. In theory, anyone could take the seal for a power-up—but that wasn't realistic, or necessary.
"What's your take?" she asked, noting how calm he looked.
"Select genin, chūnin, and special jōnin—especially those who've hit their ceiling," Kitazawa said plainly.
"That's exactly right," Tsunade's eyes lit up. Those least at risk from side effects were the ones stuck at a bottleneck. They'd gladly accept. High-level jōnin—Hiruzen, Kakashi, Kitazawa himself—wouldn't. Too little upside for too much strain on body and mind.
"Back to the commander question," Kitazawa went on. "Kimimaro is ideal, but he's too young. After him: Mitarashi Anko and Shiranui Genma."
"Works for me," Tsunade agreed after a brief think. Anko already bore the Cursed Seal of Heaven; putting her in charge was a natural fit.
Genma was a special jōnin whose ceiling was basically fixed—give him the Cursed Seal and have him assist Anko, and no one could object.
He'd even served as Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato's bodyguard; in the original course of things, he would have guarded Fifth Hokage Tsunade as well. By special jōnin standards, he was among the best.
~~~
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