Tuesday.
The Advanced Class's first live-combat lesson of the new term.
Kitazawa arrived at the Academy right on time.
Once the students started training, he called over Kurama Yakumo, Jūgo, and Akimichi Choji—because it was time for the three of them to switch up their training.
"Choji, you've basically got the Expansion Jutsu down. You can move on to the next clan secret art," Kitazawa said after thinking for a moment. "Super Open Hand Slap."
Super Open Hand Slap builds on the Expansion Jutsu using partial expansion to make both hands enormous. One slap, and not just a ninja— even the ground—will cave in.
The only problem is Choji's limited chakra, so this will probably take a long time to learn. In fact, all of the Akimichi clan's secret arts burn through chakra. That's why the Akimichi are always eating—to stockpile it.
"Got it, Kitazawa-sensei," Choji said with a nod.
"I'll give you the next two days off. Come back once you've gotten the basics of Super Open Hand Slap."
Kitazawa couldn't teach that technique himself, so Choji would have to learn it at home. Choji was a bit reluctant—school was way more fun than home—but there was no helping it. If he wanted the new secret art, he had to go back.
After saying goodbye to Naruto and the others, Choji left the Academy.
"Jūgo, you should stick with taijutsu as your main focus," Kitazawa said, looking to him.
Most of Jūgo's combat strength comes from Sage Transformation—or rather, the Curse Seal of Earth. Now that he's been inoculated with the eight-stage Curse Seal of Earth, he doesn't have to worry about losing control.
In the original story, even in Curse Mark, Second State, he still fought with taijutsu—like Explosive Smash, driving his arm into the target, or Iron Arm Bind, grappling them with his forearms.
Since most of Jūgo's moves focus on the hands, he could learn the Leaf Whirlwind line of kicks to complement them.
"I'll start you on Leaf Whirlwind."
Kitazawa made a shadow clone and took Jūgo to find a tree. Trees make perfect posts—simple and convenient—and Konoha has plenty.
"Yakumo, you've learned Leaf-Style Kenjutsu. You can go back to your genjutsu kekkei genkai," Kitazawa said, turning to Kurama Yakumo. "Any ideas?"
"No," Yakumo said, shaking her head.
She'd already developed two genjutsu from her bloodline—Terror Dreamscape and True Illusion—but she had no lead for a third.
"I do have a suggestion." Kitazawa paused, then asked, "What's the essence of genjutsu?"
"A ninjutsu that interferes with the five senses to create illusions," Yakumo answered, puzzled why he was asking this.
"Most genjutsu nowadays operate through a single sense—sight, for example," Kitazawa said with a smile. "So what if a genjutsu could act through all five senses at once?"
"How could something like that exist?" Yakumo froze.
Controlling all five senses would leave the victim nowhere to run. Even if they realized they were trapped, they couldn't dispel it—when all five senses are puppeted, you're a marionette. Everything you see, hear, smell, and even think is controlled.
"Under normal circumstances, that kind of genjutsu shouldn't exist," Kitazawa said, ruffling her hair. "But your genjutsu bloodline can pull it off."
In theory, five-sense control should only appear as a Mangekyō Sharingan pupil technique. But Yakumo's genjutsu bloodline rivals the Mangekyō. And in the original story she uses precisely this kind of technique—Demonic Illusion: Five Senses.
"I get it. Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei." Yakumo's eyes lit up—she'd found a new direction.
"Go train," Kitazawa said, watching her head back to the field before turning to leave.
He had another task today: meet with Gato to discuss the new casino.
A short while later, he arrived at a massive shopfront. Gato had already bought it and was converting it into a casino.
Kitazawa went inside. Renovations had begun, but just barely; it would probably take one or two months to finish.
"Kitazawa-sama," Gato came over, all smiles. He didn't need to be on-site for something like this, but since he was meeting Kitazawa, he'd made the trip.
"Not bad," Kitazawa said with a nod. "I've got a few new games. Grab a pen."
They didn't wrap up until noon. After that, Kitazawa didn't need to micromanage—he'd just wait for opening day.
A month flew by.
Konoha's Forest of Death.
Kitazawa activated the Byakugan. Once he was sure no one was around, he flashed through hand signs.
Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!
His chakra surged out, blossoming into a torrent of life force.
In an instant, the earth heaved. The ground split open and countless roots and branches burst free, sprouting at high speed and swelling into towering trees. In a blink, a primeval forest unfurled before him. Packed in alongside the Forest of Death's original trees, it all looked dense to the point of bloated.
Just then, a bird crossed the sky. Kitazawa glanced up. A multitude of branches and vines came alive like a nest of serpents, engulfing it. When the bird was nothing but bones—and then nothing at all—the forest fell silent again.
Kitazawa nodded, satisfied.
Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees was a god-tier skill for clearing out trash mobs. Outside of jonin, most genin and chunin wouldn't survive a barrage of this many trees. Honestly, even a jonin could die if they slipped up.
"The only problem is the chakra drain," he muttered, releasing the technique. A long-absent fatigue washed over him. With his current reserves, he could fire it once without issue; twice was the limit.
[Current Mission: Learn Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees.]
[Reward: +2 "cards" to maximum chakra.]
[Mission Complete. Reward Granted.]
Kitazawa exhaled slowly. With two more "cards" of max chakra, the fatigue vanished at once.
"I need to trigger more chakra-related system quests," he said, rubbing his chin.
There was a pattern to these quests. From his past experience, the trigger had to be someone with a lot of chakra—like Naruto, Hashirama, or Kisame. Among his students, aside from Naruto, Karin had the most chakra. He could try to trigger system quests off the two of them.
Fortunately, the shinobi world was relatively peaceful right now. He had time to take it slow.
Kitazawa dusted off his hands and left the Forest of Death, heading for the Hokage Tower.
It was February 15. The Advanced Class's first monthly exam of the term had gone smoothly.
Hyūga Neji took first place overall—because Uchiha Sasuke didn't participate. Three-tomoe Sharingan was still too high-difficulty for an eight-year-old; a month hadn't been enough for him to fully master it.
With Sasuke absent, Neji placed third in the written test, and he'd earned a perfect score during the mission phase. All told, that put him at number one overall.
Nara Shikamaru was still first in the written test, but he'd been way too lucky on his mission—nothing happened the entire time. From the combat-exam perspective, good luck is actually bad luck—you can't get a perfect score without enemies.
As for the Takumi Village, nothing had happened there yet. When Kabuto set the fee for reforging the ninja tools at thirty million ryo, the Four Celestial Symbols Men agreed without hesitation.
They really did have the skills, too—they quickly dismantled the Box of Ultimate Bliss and were now in the forging stage. If the Takumi didn't stir up trouble, the four bows would take about two to three months to fully reforge.
Hokage's office.
Kitazawa raised a hand and knocked. As a rule, he always knocked—walking straight in might interrupt Tsunade. She was the Hokage now, after all, and busy. Unless it was noon or after hours.
"Tsunade-sensei," he said as he stepped in, once permission came.
"Oh, it's you," Tsunade said, immediately relaxing. She leaned back and stretched; the motion made her outfit… visually striking.
"What do you need?" she asked, noticing where his eyes wandered—but she was used to it and said nothing.
"Konoha just opened a new casino," Kitazawa said, getting straight to the point.
"Oh? How big?" Tsunade perked up.
"Much bigger," he said with a smile. "And the owner gave me a VIP card." He took out a card and handed it to her.
"Looks fancy," Tsunade said after a glance. The card was black shot through with gold—pure luxury.
"Why only you?" she asked, frowning.
"Not just me. Anyone in the village with a name—and money—got one."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Her face darkened. "Why didn't I get one? Does he think I'm broke?" Who leaked this? She was already thinking she should send ANBU to investigate.
"You got one too," Kitazawa said, chuckling. "I'm just being helpful and passing it along."
"You could've led with that." She shot him a look, then switched faces in an instant. "What's the VIP card do?"
"Two things: access to the VIP lounge and discounts," Kitazawa said.
"Discounts? At a casino?" Tsunade blinked.
"For example, if you lose a million, the house covers a hundred thousand," he said.
"That good?" Tsunade jumped to her feet, excited. "Let's go right now!"
"What about your work?" Kitazawa arched a brow.
"Shizune can handle it," Tsunade waved it off.
"With Shizune-senpai's temperament, she won't let you go without a decent reason," Kitazawa said. "What's your excuse?"
"No idea," Tsunade said, looking at him like it was obvious. "You tell her. I trust you can handle it."
"I can." Kitazawa held out his hand. "What's my fee?"
"I'm your teacher!" she glared. "You want payment for this too?"
"Yup," he said, shameless.
Tsunade hesitated for two seconds, stepped forward, and gave him a quick peck on the corner of his mouth. Then she pulled back, huffed, and said, "Well? Get going."
Having gotten what he wanted, Kitazawa didn't push his luck. He headed next door to the secretary's office.
After he left, Tsunade flopped into the Hokage's chair. She licked her lips without thinking, a little dazed.
"All set—let's go," Kitazawa said when he returned.
Tsunade had already put her game face back on. She stood and followed him out of the office.
Before long they arrived at the new casino: Konoha Casino—simple and direct.
"It's much cleaner and tidier than the others. And everyone's wearing kimono," Tsunade said the moment she stepped in, first impression: very good.
"Check it out, they've got grand-opening promos," Kitazawa said, pointing.
"They really know their business," Tsunade murmured, impressed at a glance.
"Hokage-sama! Kitazawa-sama!" A middle-aged man in a kimono approached.
"You're the owner?" Tsunade asked.
"Just call me Kintaro," he said with a broad smile. "You're our VIPs—please, upstairs."
"You lead," Tsunade said, curious about this VIP lounge—no other casino had one.
On the second floor, she stepped through the door and her pupils tightened. It was gilded and resplendent, more like a palace than a casino—though the gaming tables and machines everywhere reminded you exactly where you were.
"The VIP lounge offers free meals and drinks," Kintaro said. "We also provide interest-free loans."
Tsunade blinked. The first part was one thing, but the second—weren't they worried about deadbeats? Then again, anyone allowed into the lounge had already been screened. They could pay.
"If you need anything at all, our attendants will help," Kintaro said with a slight bow. "I'll leave you to it. Enjoy."
"Who's behind this place?" Tsunade asked after he left. "These moves aren't common."
No exaggeration—she'd been to casinos all across the shinobi world, and none of them could match Konoha Casino.
"I checked. A well-heeled shipping company from the Land of Fire," Kitazawa said—half true.
"As long as there's no problem," Tsunade said, then headed for the tables, barely holding herself back.
Kitazawa shook his head. Good thing the casino was his—he didn't have to worry about Tsunade losing.
He took a seat beside her and slid over a stack of cash. Tsunade dove into battle, laser-focused, as serious as if she were fighting the Fourth Shinobi World War.
After watching for a while, Kitazawa got bored and closed his eyes to practice Yang Release: Chakra Mode.
He didn't know how long he'd been at it when the smell of food drifted over.
"It's lunchtime. Want something?" he asked.
"Just grab me some onigiri or something," Tsunade said without looking up.
Kitazawa headed to the dining area. The setup was like a buffet from his past life—take whatever you wanted. He grabbed bread and milk, then returned. Tsunade ate two pieces of bread without taking her eyes off the table; Kitazawa finished the rest and glanced at her chips.
As expected, over half were gone.
He looked at Tsunade. Her attention was glued to the game; she didn't react to him at all.
On a whim, he reached out and rested his hand on her thigh. Even through the slacks he could feel the springy muscle. He kneaded lightly.
Tsunade frowned, shot him a glare, then went right back to the table. In the end, she let it slide.
Once he'd had his fill, Kitazawa resumed practicing Yang Release: Chakra Mode. He wanted to move his hand elsewhere—but that was too risky. As the saying goes, don't rush things; the same applied to his relationship with Tsunade.
By sunset, Kitazawa opened his eyes feeling warm all over. Other jutsu left him more and more tired as he trained; Yang Release: Chakra Mode was the opposite—the longer he practiced, the more energized he felt. That was the nature of yang chakra.
He looked at Tsunade and found a beautiful but stormy face. He didn't need to guess why: she'd lost again.
A glance at the table told the story—down a million ryo. Looked like he was the only one in the shinobi world who could afford to bankroll Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sensei, we should head back. Any later and Shizune-senpai will start to suspect," Kitazawa said.
"Buzzkill," Tsunade huffed, standing. "Next time I'm definitely winning."
Kitazawa couldn't help smiling.
"What are you smiling at?" she snapped, stepping on his foot.
"I mean, Tsunade-sensei, next time you'll absolutely win," he said solemnly.
"That's better." She let him off and walked out of the casino.
"How do you like this place?" Kitazawa asked, following.
"Pretty great," Tsunade said. "I just had bad luck today. Didn't win."
"You can come more often. You'll hit a winning day," Kitazawa said, winking.
Clearly, the casino was a success—Tsunade was hooked.
She took two steps, then suddenly looked back at him.
"What is it?" Kitazawa's heart skipped. Had she gotten suspicious?
"It's nothing," Tsunade said. She'd been about to bring up the thigh-touching incident, but thought better of it. Kitazawa was her bankroll. One day at Konoha Casino hadn't been enough. Next time she wanted to come out and play, she'd need Kitazawa's help again.
~~~
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