"Kitazawa-sensei, I want to challenge Sakura!"
Right after Kitazawa announced the final rankings, Yamanaka Ino raised her hand and spoke up.
Today was the last day of the term; if she didn't issue her challenge now, she'd have to wait until the new term after winter break.
Haruno Sakura glanced at her. She wasn't surprised at all—Ino had said more than once she was going to beat her.
"What do you think, Sakura?" Kitazawa came back to himself and asked with a smile.
"I accept her challenge." Sakura stepped into the ring.
Seeing that, Ino walked to face her. The two locked eyes, brimming with confidence.
"Spicy atmosphere. Who do you think wins?" Inuzuka Kiba asked, watching them.
"Hard to say," Tenten shook her head. "They're very evenly matched. It could go either way."
"I think Ino wins," Inuzuka Hana said by way of explanation. "She's the one issuing the challenge—she must be sure she can take it."
"Sounds reasonable," Kurama Yakumo said with a soft laugh, agreeing.
"Ino joined Kitazawa-sensei's new special training," Hyuga Hinata said with certainty. "She'll win."
Haku and Karin nodded without thinking. They trusted Kitazawa unconditionally.
"Sakura had new special training too," Tayuya snorted. "Kitaza—"
Hinata instinctively looked her way. Tayuya swallowed the rest of her words on the spot. She'd wanted to say that even if Kitazawa was amazing, he wasn't omnipotent—why assume Ino would win just because she trained under him? But something in Hinata's look gave her an inexplicable chill. A heartbeat later Hinata still looked as gentle as ever. Was it her imagination? The doubt lingered, but the moment had passed, and Tayuya said no more.
"The spar's starting. We'll know soon enough," Uchiha Sasuke said calmly.
"Sakura! Ino! You got this!" Uzumaki Naruto didn't overthink it—he cheered for both.
"Show us the bloom of your youth!" Rock Lee followed up, thumbs up.
Tenten and Neji Hyuga couldn't help shaking their heads.
"Begin," Kitazawa said, stepping aside.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!" Sakura formed seals and blasted a high-pressure stream at Ino.
"Ninja Art: Ten Thousand Flowers Profusion!" Ino neither dodged nor flinched; both hands flung out a storm of chakra flowers.
The "flowers" met the jet. Many were scattered at first contact, but more sliced through the water and, without losing momentum, fanned out to blanket the space around Sakura.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!" Sakura clapped her hands; water surged up and formed a wall around her. The blossoms smacked into it, kicking up ripples. When the last petals fell, the water wall still stood unshaken.
"Ninja Art: Moonlight Beauty!" A skyful of petals appeared, and Ino vanished from where she'd stood.
Sakura smiled to herself. She'd seen this move plenty of times; she could already guess Ino's next attack.
"Genjutsu Release!" Sakura dispelled the illusion and snapped her head up—sure enough, Ino was in midair.
"Water Release: Heavenly Weeping!" The instant Sakura spotted her, she opened her mouth. Water-style chakra condensed into three senbon in her mouth, then shot out and struck Ino in a blink.
With a puff, Ino burst into smoke and vanished.
"A clone?" Sakura's face changed; she hadn't expected that to be a clone.
Normally, the Clone Technique—one of the three basics—is easy to distinguish. But she'd assumed Ino was the real one and slacked on checking the details.
Sakura quickly scanned the field, annoyed that her first use of Heavenly Weeping hadn't landed as it should. Senju Tobirama developed that technique specifically for ambushes; Uchiha Madara once called it a "sneaky hidden weapon."
In truth, Ino felt a jolt of fear. Her plan had been to bait Sakura with a clone, but she hadn't expected to dodge Heavenly Weeping by pure chance. If she'd used her real body, she'd probably be hurt by now—and the spar might have ended there.
Sakura's eyes narrowed—she spotted Ino a short distance away, standing still with both hands raised.
"Mind Transfer Jutsu?" Recognizing the familiar hand sign, Sakura darted left without a word. As Ino's best friend, she knew exactly how dangerous that technique was. If the mental energy launched from those hands hit her, she'd lose control of her body. In theory she could fight back mentally to regain it—but that was extremely hard, especially against a Yamanaka specialist.
Only after opening a big gap did Sakura breathe again and look at Ino—who stood motionless, like a puppet.
"Missed?" Sakura's eyes brightened. If Mind Transfer didn't hit, the user's spirit couldn't return for a bit. In that window, Ino couldn't move.
Sakura surged forward, kunai in hand, aiming to finish the match.
"No—you fell for it!" Ino suddenly shifted her hands to target Sakura.
"Ninja Art: Mind Butterfly!" An invisible mental shockwave swept out.
"What—?" Sakura's eyes widened, but it was too late. A second later dizziness washed over her, her body stopped listening, and she toppled to the ground.
"I win!" Ino seized the moment, rushing up to her. She crouched and leveled a kunai at Sakura.
"…" Regaining consciousness, Sakura stared at the kunai and fell silent.
"Winner: Yamanaka Ino," Kitazawa declared.
"Ino came locked and loaded this time!" Kiba said, stunned. He figured he'd have ended like Sakura if it were him.
"Ino definitely prepared a lot. Sakura can't complain about this loss," Yakumo nodded.
"She used a clone to draw out Sakura's water style, then feinted to make her drop her guard and got a clean hit with ninjutsu," Neji added. "That last technique should be the new jutsu Kitazawa-sensei taught her."
"Looks a bit like Mind Transfer," Shikamaru mused.
"It's a Yin Release technique," Sasuke said, cutting to the point.
"Another secret art? Kitazawa-sensei really is too strong," Kiba sighed.
"And Yin Release is usually formless—your eyes can't see it. It's hard to dodge," Tenten said gravely.
Neji gave a small nod. Without the Byakugan, even he'd struggle to track a Yin Release technique's path. And only he and Hinata had Byakugan here; everyone else was one slip from ending up like Sakura.
Tayuya quietly let out a breath. Good thing Hinata's look had stopped her earlier—otherwise she'd be eating her words now.
[Current Mission: Help Yamanaka Ino defeat Haruno Sakura once.]
[Reward: Ninja Art: Mind Body Transmission.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
The three lines popped up right on cue in front of Kitazawa's eyes. For him, Mind Body Transmission was far more useful than Mind Transfer—same Yamanaka lineage, but better for his needs. And he could use it immediately; it didn't have obvious tells. Even if someone noticed, he could claim it as an original technique of his that merely resembled Mind Body Transmission. With his current standing, no one would question it.
He wanted it because it was simply convenient—great for both teaching and missions.
"Sakura." Ino sheathed her kunai and offered Sakura a hand.
"Hmph. I got careless this time. Next time you're the one losing!" Sakura grabbed her hand and stood.
"Next time's anyone's game!" Ino grinned, dusting Sakura off. Kitazawa's Mind Butterfly wasn't genjutsu; it wasn't so easy to crack. Still, next time would be tougher—Sakura would be ready, and her water style was no joke. That Heavenly Weeping just now had almost nailed her. But that was next time. For now, a win was a win—time to enjoy it.
"That's the end of the term. See you next semester," Kitazawa said, clapping to get everyone's attention. "Vacation!"
The Advanced Class burst into cheers. Winter break wasn't short, and with New Year in the mix it ran to about a month and a half—plenty of time to have some fun. Of course, a few wouldn't slack off even over the holidays.
Watching them leave, Kitazawa mentally listed his own winter-break to-dos: keep training Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees; deal with Hōzuki Castle and the Box of Ultimate Bliss; learn Yang Release Chakra Mode.
He'd already devised the mode, but hadn't learned it yet. It was similar in difficulty to the Lightning Release Chakra Mode—both B-rank. But "B-rank" didn't mean "easy." After all, in the Cloud, only the Third and Fourth Raikage had ever mastered Lightning Chakra Mode.
If it's just B-rank, why couldn't even the Fifth Raikage, Darui, learn it? The only explanation: the listed difficulty is low, but the requirements are high—or the prerequisites are hard to meet.
Same logic for Yang Release Chakra Mode. It had three prereqs: mastery-level Yang-nature transformation, an excellent physique, and a naturally large chakra pool.
As far as Kitazawa could tell, only he and Tsunade currently met the bar in Konoha. Yakushi Nonō, Yakushi Kabuto, Shizune, and Sakura had a shot in the future. He planned to learn it himself before talking to Tsunade—he still wasn't sure whether Yang Mode would actually deliver everything on paper.
Kitazawa left the Academy and headed home. He opened the door; Kurenai wasn't in the living room. He thought for a moment and went to her room. Looking in, he saw her standing by the window in a white sleep dress, bare feet visible. He could feel chakra fluctuating—Kurenai was practicing the Self-Cursing Seal.
He didn't interrupt. He sat on the bed to wait, and while he was at it, he started working on Yang Release Chakra Mode. The gist of the training was one sentence: use Yang-natured chakra to activate the entire body—like remodeling yourself from the inside out.
"You're back—why didn't you say something?" After a moment, Kurenai finished her practice and turned toward him.
"Nothing urgent," Kitazawa said casually.
"You're activating, aren't you?" Her eyes fell to his hands. His skin and muscle were subtly rippling—odd, but intriguing.
"Mm." Kitazawa nodded. "It's a Yang Release Chakra Mode I devised."
"Sounds like the Cloud's Lightning Chakra Mode," Kurenai said—its reputation preceded it.
"It's pretty similar," Kitazawa said, then looked at her. "Want to try something?"
"How?" she asked, puzzled. "I don't know Yang Release Chakra Mode."
"Put your legs here," Kitazawa said, patting his thigh.
Kurenai sat beside him and stretched out her smooth legs and delicate feet, gripping the edge of the bed for balance. The shift of her clothes revealed a pale hint of skin—graceful and alluring.
Kitazawa glanced at her, took her foot in his hand, and sent Yang chakra in. Kurenai's eyes widened; a soft sound escaped her. Warmth and comfort spread from her foot, making her toes curl. That was the difference between Lightning and Yang—if it were Lightning chakra, she'd be tingling all over by now.
Watching her, his hand moved up to the soft, full skin of her thigh. Kurenai instinctively closed her legs. Meeting his gaze, she bit her lip. "You're thinking about that again."
She said it, but her tone carried more anticipation than annoyance.
"What are you thinking, then?" Kitazawa patted her thigh.
Kurenai lay back and stopped looking at him. Soon she frowned, then pulled him into a hug and pressed his head to her chest. Yang chakra spread from her heart, gradually suffusing her whole body.
A new day. The first week of winter break.
Kitazawa let Kurenai sleep in. After breakfast, he went to the Academy. As expected, Naruto, Ino, Hinata, Shikamaru and the rest were there; Sasuke, Sakura, and Rock Lee were away training under Kakashi, Kosuke Maruboshi, and Master Chen.
Kitazawa set everyone to work—really just continuing their existing regimens. Only Ino's plan changed, or rather rolled back: now that she'd learned Mind Butterfly, she could go on with Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death.
For himself, he slated mornings for Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees and afternoons for Yang Release Chakra Mode.
Training days passed steadily.
December 21.
"Kitazawa-sensei!" At noon, Naruto and Kiba and the others crowded around.
"What is it?" Kitazawa already had a hunch but didn't call them on it.
"Hinata, you say it," Shikamaru coughed lightly.
"Um… Kitazawa-sensei, we'd like to treat you to lunch," Hinata said nervously under all the eyes.
"Where to?" Kitazawa ruffled her hair.
"There's a great izakaya near my house!" Ino piped up. "It's really good—I promise you'll love it!"
"Then let's go," Kitazawa said with a smile.
"Follow me!" Ino grabbed his hand and headed out. Hinata hesitated, then hurried after them.
"Do izakaya have instant noodles?" Naruto asked Shikamaru.
"Why would an izakaya have instant noodles?" Shikamaru shook his head. "You really do love that stuff."
"Fine once in a while," Choji said, offering Naruto his chips. "But I'll never get tired of chips."
"I'll never get tired of instant noodles either," Naruto said around a chip.
"I just like meat!" Ino beamed. "I'm ordering pork belly!"
"Seconded!" Choji's eyes lit up.
Kitazawa chuckled, listening to their running food debate all the way to their destination. Ino led them into a private room.
On the table sat a gigantic cake.
"Happy birthday, Kitazawa-sensei!" Ino, Hinata, Sasuke, Karin and the others said in unison.
"Thank you, everyone," Kitazawa said, warmed.
A boisterous lunch kicked off. After eating, he walked them home; that evening, there was another feast—smaller this time, just Tsunade, Kurenai, Shizune, Yakushi Nonō, Yakushi Kabuto, Uchiha Izumi, Aburame Torune and a few others. Karin, like Kitazawa, ended up at both meals.
"It's my birthday and somehow you drank the most," Kitazawa said, helping Tsunade to her room.
"Quit nagging," she huffed, pushing him away and plopping onto the bed. She looked at him, eyes going a little hazy, then shook her head quickly.
"Alright, get some rest." Kitazawa stepped closer, pinched her cheek lightly.
"Watch your manners," Tsunade glared.
"What, this?" He bent and kissed her on the forehead. "Sleep."
Tsunade froze for a beat, turned her head, and flopped back onto the bed. Her whole body gave a little shiver.
Kitazawa's eyelid twitched—was that on purpose? He shook his head, left the room, and went to help in the kitchen.
~~~
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