Orochimaru's modification was aimed at raising the success rate of implanting the Cursed Seal of Earth.
In terms of difficulty, it was far harder than Kitazawa's own modification, so it also took much longer.
The Eightfold Cursed Seal of Earth is actually simple in principle: it's the Cursed Seal of Earth combined with sealing techniques.
Any skilled sealing specialist could reproduce the Eightfold version; the only question is how long it would take.
Of course, top-tier sealing ninja are rare—whether in Konoha or any other village.
Time slipped by.
After the monthly exam, the Advanced Class went back to its usual training routine, and nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Konan had already returned to Konoha, but over in the Land of Rain, the workshops were in full swing producing silver jewelry.
Half a month later, Kitazawa was summoned by the Anbu and headed to the Hokage's office.
"There are two things," Tsunade said with a smile as Kitazawa approached. "First, Orochimaru has successfully improved the Cursed Seal of Earth."
She finished speaking and handed him a scroll.
Kitazawa unrolled it and began to read.
He had already learned the Cursed Seal of Earth through his system, so he could follow everything on the scroll.
"Orochimaru-sama really is a genius," Kitazawa sighed.
Since Orochimaru had returned to Konoha, it wasn't right to call him by name. He was Tsunade's teammate and a generation above Kitazawa, after all.
"He was always the brightest in our class," Tsunade said with a shake of her head. "It's a pity he went astray."
"The improved seal has a ninefold increase in success rate, and more importantly, a failure no longer means death—at worst, serious injury," Kitazawa said as he closed the scroll. "Starting today, we can schedule the Cursed Seal Unit candidates to receive the seal one by one."
"And that brings me to the second thing," Tsunade said, patting a thick stack of papers on the desk. "Which ninja should join the Cursed Seal Unit. This is the preliminary list Anko gave me—one hundred ninja in all."
Kitazawa glanced at it.
"'Files'" was generous—these were basically a hundred résumés, or personnel dossiers.
"You want me to choose?" he asked, flipping through a few pages.
"There wouldn't be a Cursed Seal Unit without you," Tsunade said with a nod and a smile. "You should pick."
"I don't think we need to pick. Let them all receive the Cursed Seal of Earth; whoever succeeds joins," Kitazawa said after a moment's thought. "There's still a significant chance of failure. We might not even get sixty in the end."
"Fair point," Tsunade said, then gave instructions: "Set up a schedule so they go to Orochimaru at fixed times to receive the seal. Once they succeed, they report to you."
"Got it. I'll have Anbu notify them," Kitazawa said, then suddenly thought of something. "Has anyone in the Sealing Corps learned the Eightfold Cursed Seal yet?"
After he developed the Eightfold Cursed Seal of Earth, he'd given it to the Sealing Corps' jōnin to study.
If a jōnin could learn it, it would take some of the load off him.
"It's only been half a month, and the Eightfold Cursed Seal is hard," Tsunade said, giving him a side-eye. "You think everyone's as gifted as you?"
"True," Kitazawa chuckled, then added, "I'm working so hard here, Tsunade-sensei. Don't I get anything for my troubles?"
"There's… there's no such thing as an advance reward," Tsunade said, eyes sliding away. "We'll talk once the Cursed Seal Unit is up and running."
"Alright, I'll take the IOU," Kitazawa said with a nod. "Anything else? If not, I'll start the arrangements now."
"That's all. Off you go," Tsunade said with a wave.
Kitazawa left the Hokage's office and returned to the Anbu base.
"Kitazawa," Konan said, standing up from the sofa where she'd been reading.
Lately, when she had nothing else to do, she would read the books Kitazawa gave her to build up her understanding of economics.
"Uchiha Itachi stopped by just now," she said as she walked to his desk and picked up a scroll. "He left this for you."
Kitazawa had already guessed what it was.
To be honest, getting it this late was a bit unexpected.
It seemed Mui and Hōzuki Castle had done an excellent job keeping the Box of Ultimate Bliss under wraps.
He vaguely remembered the Box sitting in some dark chamber.
"Konan," Kitazawa said, handing her the list of candidates for the Cursed Seal Unit, "have an Anbu squad notify four people a day to go to Orochimaru."
Implanting the Cursed Seal takes a lot of time and effort.
Four a day might sound low, but for Orochimaru it was still a heavy lift.
Still, he was the best person for the job—no point making a fuss over it.
Konan didn't ask questions, took the scroll, and left.
Kitazawa unsealed the scroll from Itachi.
The contents were extremely detailed.
Itachi had practically turned Hōzuki Castle inside out, even marking the exact location of the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
No wonder it took so long.
Then again, if it had been anyone else, it would've taken far longer—maybe half a year or more without finding the Box at all.
On this point alone, Itachi's ability was the best in Anbu.
Kitazawa nodded, satisfied.
He'd bring Itachi along when the time came, let him see with his own eyes as Sasuke awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan—that would be Itachi's "thank-you."
Itachi was an Uchiha, and Sasuke's older brother besides.
And if Sasuke awakened three tomoe before turning eight, Itachi would probably grin for three days and nights.
Fugaku and the others would likely react the same way.
The greater Sasuke's talent, the higher the Uchiha's hopes of producing a Hokage.
That obsession had been there since Konoha's founding; once they scented a real chance, they'd stop at nothing.
"Kitazawa," Konan said, reappearing in less than thirty seconds. "It's all arranged."
Kitazawa rubbed his brow. It was going to be a grind.
Four people a day meant twenty-five days to get everyone implanted with the Cursed Seal of Earth.
For those twenty-five days, he'd probably have to apply the Eightfold Cursed Seal every single day.
Thankfully, the Advanced Class now had enough instructors that things wouldn't fall apart if he wasn't around.
"Want me to give you a massage?" Konan asked in her usual calm tone.
Ever since that lap-pillow incident, gestures like this had become routine.
From her perspective, it was a kind of exchange.
She had learned a great deal from Kitazawa, after all.
"Thanks," Kitazawa said—no reason to refuse.
Konan moved behind him, placed her hands at his brow, and gently pressed with slender fingers.
Feeling the warmth of her palms, Kitazawa's thoughts drifted to the monthly exam in half a month—more precisely, the end-of-term exams.
This time, he hadn't triggered any related system quests, so there was no need to "nudge" anything. They could proceed normally.
The only suspense was whether Yamanaka Ino would challenge Haruno Sakura.
Her Ninja Art: Mind Butterfly was almost complete; by December she'd definitely have it down.
Given Ino's personality, a challenge was only a matter of time.
If it didn't happen during finals, it would be in December—no later than that.
All Kitazawa had to do was wait.
Oh, and team assignments.
With no system quest, he didn't need to overthink those.
He'd just grab any three students and pick up a mission at the desk.
For now, the priority was the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
It involved three system quests at once.
But before that, there was one more thing to handle.
Several students were due for a change in their training content.
Inuzuka Kiba, for example.
His Earth Release nature transformation had reached the point where he could try Earth Release: Earth Fang Bullet.
Put simply, Earth Fang Bullet meant infusing Earth-style chakra into the Fang Bullet to boost its power.
Relaxing a little, Kitazawa went over the plan.
Half an hour later, he checked the time, said goodbye to Konan, and headed to the Academy.
No sooner had he reached the training field than Aburame Shino came up to him.
"How's the mutant kikaichū experiment going?" Kitazawa asked first.
"Please take a look, Kitazawa-sensei."
Shino held out his hand. A black kikaichū rested there.
Unlike a normal kikaichū, it had a pair of unusually shaped wings.
"It can ride created wind currents to accelerate," Shino said after a brief pause. "But only with wind-style techniques that generate wind."
Kitazawa nodded.
Wind techniques broadly fall into two types.
One is like Wind Release: Gale Palm—emphasizing speed and pressure to whip up strong gusts.
The other is like Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets and Vacuum Blade—focusing on cutting and offensive properties.
In that second case, the "wind" isn't just air; it's more like a blade or a shell.
"There's another kikaichū," Shino said, producing a second black Insect.
This one's body had a layer of what looked like very hard shell.
"I've named the first the Windspeed Insect, and the second the Windborne Insect," Shino said, reining in his excitement.
"You can call wind-style done for now. What kikaichū do you plan to experiment with next?" Kitazawa asked, as three lines of text surfaced before his eyes.
With two kinds of wind-type kikaichū developed, Shino's system quest had completed.
[Current Mission: Help Aburame Shino cultivate kikaichū with resistance to Wind Release.]
[Reward: Gain +10% resistance to Wind-style damage.]
[Host has completed the mission. Reward granted.]
By now, Kitazawa had 10% resistance to wind, water, and fire damage.
Which, in a pinch, mattered.
Against an evenly matched opponent, 10% damage reduction could flip the outcome.
Not that Kitazawa often met evenly matched opponents these days.
"Lightning Release," Shino answered after thinking a moment.
[Current Mission: Help Aburame Shino cultivate kikaichū with resistance to Lightning Release.]
[Reward: Gain +10% resistance to Lightning-style damage.]
[Accept?]
Exactly the mission he expected.
"While I'm at the Academy, come borrow this sword from me every day," Kitazawa said after accepting, taking out his blade, Thunderclap.
Thunderclap was reforged from the Kiba blades and could draw lightning.
Because that ability was inherent to the weapon, non-lightning shinobi could theoretically use it too.
"Besides that, you can ask Lord Third, Kakashi, and Sasuke to help out," Kitazawa added with a smile.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei," Shino said, taking Thunderclap and starting his new mutation experiment.
After watching him go, Kitazawa called Kiba over.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Kiba said, greeting him first.
"Pause your Earth Release nature-change drills and switch to learning Earth Release: Earth Fang Bullet," Kitazawa said, straight to the point.
"Awesome!" Kiba's face lit up.
Forget Naruto, Sasuke, and Yakumo—just Sakura, Ino, and Tayuya were putting him under huge pressure.
If he didn't level up, he'd fall behind fast.
"I'll demonstrate once," Kitazawa said.
He formed hand seals, chakra gathering in his throat, and spat out a boulder-like mass of earth.
Boom!
The earthen shell slammed down and spider-cracked the ground, leaving a deep pit.
Kiba's eyes sparkled.
With that kind of power, a hit on an unprepared shinobi would probably knock them out cold.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei!"
"Don't thank me yet. Infusing Earth chakra sounds simple, but it's a full step harder than what you've done so far," Kitazawa said seriously. "If you want to learn it, you'll have to put in twelve-tenths effort."
"I understand, Kitazawa-sensei," Kiba said, sobering and getting focused.
Because it was the first lesson, Kitazawa split off a shadow clone to teach him.
He himself walked over to Kimimaro and the others.
Kimimaro, like Jūgo, had already received the Eightfold Cursed Seal of Earth.
As long as he didn't remain in Second State for extended periods, it wouldn't accelerate his kekkei genkai illness.
He was also receiving treatment now.
Two days a week he stayed at Konoha Hospital under the care of a whole team of medical-ninja—truly VIP treatment.
Kitazawa glanced at Tayuya with her flute, then let his gaze settle on Haku.
"Ice Release: Ice Rock Ramparts!"
Walls of ice sprang up around Haku.
Kitazawa nodded.
After this much training, Haku had gotten the basics of Ice Rock Ramparts down.
"Haku," Kitazawa called.
Haku immediately dispelled the ice walls and came over.
"This is your second Ice Release technique," Kitazawa said, taking out a scroll and handing it to him.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei."
Haku unrolled it.
It recorded an Ice Release called Blasting Ice Crystals.
It created ice crystals with chakra; upon impact, the crystal would burst, and the shards would cut like blades.
Haku's eyes shone when he finished reading.
It was an offensive ice technique.
If he learned it, his strength would surge.
He was getting closer to his dream of becoming a top-tier Anbu.
Kitazawa formed seals and, as with Kiba, split off another shadow clone to teach Haku.
Though he didn't use Ice Release himself, mastering one art made it easier to teach others.
Once he had left the Advanced Class in the hands of his clones, Kitazawa left the Academy and found a secluded place to train Wood Release.
Nativity of a World of Trees was too loud; if he wrecked the Academy, that would be… suboptimal.
As the sun set and the bell rang, the Advanced Class wrapped up for the day and headed home.
Naruto, Sasuke, Yakumo, Hinata, and a few others gathered instead.
"Kitazawa-sensei's Birthday Operation—Second Meeting, begin!" Kiba announced loudly.
It was the "second" because the first was last year.
Which meant Kitazawa had been teaching them for almost two years now.
Compared to last time, the second meeting had new faces: Kimimaro, Tayuya, Jūgo, Haku, and more.
"I didn't want to come," Tayuya muttered. "Kimimaro and Jūgo dragged me!"
Kimimaro wanted to thank Kitazawa for treating his illness.
Jūgo wanted to repay him because the Eightfold Cursed Seal had solved his bodily hazard.
"You're already here, so take part," Ino said with a smile.
She'd known Tayuya long enough to read her—habitually tsundere, and you often had to invert whatever she said.
"Same agenda as last time," Shikamaru said, very serious. "One: where we eat. Two: what gifts we give."
"We already did the yakiniku place. I say we switch it up," Sakura said.
"I know a great izakaya," Ino said after thinking. "Our Ino–Shika–Cho old man eat there all the time."
"That works," Choji agreed. "I've been there with my dad—everything's delicious."
"Izakaya it is!" Kiba declared with a grand wave.
No one objected; there were nods all around.
"As for gifts, one rule: no duplicates," Shikamaru reminded them.
"I've got nothing," Tenten said, wincing.
Neji, Sasuke, Shino, and the rest all sank into thought—they weren't sure either.
"Think on it at home. We've got time," Shikamaru said after a moment. "We'll meet again after finals."
Heads nodded; everyone dispersed.
Time flowed on.
December arrived quickly.
The Advanced Class finished finals without a hitch.
Sasuke reclaimed first place and practically floated when he walked, thrilled.
Kitazawa, meanwhile, got a small power-up.
[Current Mission: Complete the modification of the Forbidden Medical Technique: Body Activation.]
[Reward: Water Release: Severing Wave.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa exhaled slowly.
After so much work, he finally finished his modification of the Forbidden Medical Technique: Body Activation. Yang Release Chakra Mode had been born.
On top of that, he'd obtained Water Release: Severing Wave.
Water Release: Severing Wave was arguably one of Tobirama Senju's strongest water techniques—powerful enough to slice through even the God Tree's roots.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 100 Chapters Ahead of Others!