Kitazawa gave a small nod.
Hinata hadn't infused any of her own chakra when she fired the bow—meaning what they'd just seen was the bow's raw power. But the real selling point wasn't power; it was speed.
At eight hundred meters, the arrow hit almost instantly.
Kitazawa figured that aside from jōnin and a few stronger chūnin, most shinobi wouldn't even be able to react. In a true ambush, even some weaker jōnin might get taken out before they knew what happened.
And speed nicely patched a bow's usual weaknesses.
"Since we've got the bow, let's head back to Konoha today." Kitazawa paused. "Neji, your bow will take another half month. I'll hand it over then."
Hyūga Neji nodded, eyes bright with anticipation.
According to Kitazawa, all four bows were forged from shards of the Box of Ultimate Bliss. In other words, his bow would be the same grade as Hinata's. With something this strong in hand, he might be able to gun for the top spot in the genius class again. With a bit of luck, maybe even beat Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto.
In terms of pride, Neji was honestly a lot like Sasuke—he couldn't stand being second to anyone.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei!" Hinata said gratefully.
She loved the bow—partly because it made her stronger, and partly because it was a gift from Kitazawa. But with something this valuable, paying him back felt impossible.
"You can give it a name," Kitazawa said, ruffling her hair.
"A name…?"
Hinata fell into thought.
"No rush. We can think as we walk."
He withdrew his hand, exchanged a quick word with Uchiha Itachi, and set off with the four students.
By nightfall they were in the Land of Wind. As before, Kitazawa used Wood Release: Four-Pillar House. After dinner, he took Hinata down to the nearby river.
The other three students didn't sleep either; they kept training and studying jutsu on their own.
"Hand me the bow," Kitazawa said, holding out his palm.
Hinata immediately placed it in his hand.
Kitazawa pinched the string and slowly drew it back. A Yin-Release arrow took shape on the string, but he didn't let go. He wanted to test a bow-style secret technique.
The first technique: Spiral Arrow.
He thought of the Rasengan—a chakra set spinning and highly compressed. Set the compression aside, and the principle matched Spiral Arrow pretty well.
With a thought, chakra seeped from his hand, ran along the Yin-Release arrow, and quickly coated it.
He sighted on a fish in the river, then released.
The Yin-Release arrow shot out and, driven by the chakra, began to spin like mad.
Boom!
The instant it punched into the water, the rotational force whipped the river into a spray of waves. The fish he'd targeted simply blew apart.
Hinata stared, stunned.
So the bow could be used like this too?
[Current Mission: Create an original bow-style secret technique.]
[Mission Reward: Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
Right on cue, as always.
Kitazawa read the three lines floating before his eyes and digested the flood of information jamming into his mind. He wondered if there'd be follow-ups tied to this chain of tasks.
"I'm calling it Spiral Arrow," he told Hinata.
The principle was simple: use chakra to spin the Yin-Release arrow. Learning it, though, wasn't simple at all. It didn't require nature transformation, but it did demand solid chakra control and chakra shape transformation.
Kitazawa could toss it off because he had master-level chakra control and shape transformation. Hinata didn't.
Fortunately, she had the Byakugan. With its help, shaping chakra would be much easier. For example, Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists—Hinata's original technique in the source timeline—relied on chakra shape transformation.
"Give it a try."
After half an hour of explanation, Kitazawa returned the bow.
Hinata nodded, a little nervous. Under his guidance she drew the string. Chakra welled into her small hands and covered the string.
She loosed. The Yin-Release arrow flew, but the expected spin didn't appear; it just hit harder than usual.
She froze, then glanced at Kitazawa, a bit embarrassed.
"If you nailed it on the first try, I'd be out of a job," Kitazawa said, giving her cheek a gentle pinch. "Again."
Hinata exhaled in relief, smiled, and raised the bow once more.
An hour later, Kitazawa called a stop.
Drawing and firing while shaping chakra—keeping two plates spinning at once—was much more exhausting than normal practice.
"That's it for today," he said, noticing the faint tremble in her arms. "Best to rest fifteen minutes for every half hour of training."
"I understand, Kitazawa-sensei."
Her arms—especially the right—were already aching and numb. Any more and she probably couldn't even pull the string.
"Give me your hand."
Kitazawa took her wrist. "Don't move."
Soft green chakra bloomed to life.
Warmth spread through Hinata's arms. "Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei," she said, cheeks a little warm.
"Alright, go rest."
He let go with a smile.
They returned to the wooden house. Neji and Tenten were still at it. Kitazawa glanced up and spotted Konan sitting on the roof, long legs dangling in the air. He knew why she was there: to say goodbye before heading back to the Akatsuki.
He pushed the door open. Without electricity, the room was dim. He set a candle on the table and lit it with Fire Release.
"Turn in early," he said with a little smile. "No need to rush the archery—we'll keep at it back at school."
"Good night, Kitazawa-sensei," Hinata said.
Kitazawa closed the door and climbed to the roof.
"Kitazawa," Konan greeted, standing when she heard his footsteps.
"Heading back to the Akatsuki tonight?" he asked bluntly.
"Mhm."
"Alright."
He didn't add anything else. Konan stepped back; paper rose in a cloud and shaped into white wings behind her. She leapt into the air, spread them wide, and flew toward the Akatsuki.
"Must be nice to be able to fly," Kitazawa murmured.
Night deepened. Kurama Yakumo, Neji, and the others stopped training and turned in. The next morning, after breakfast, they hit the road again.
As before, the trip took about three days. They'd set out the previous Friday; by the time they returned to Konoha it was Sunday of the new week. Six days traveling round trip plus three days in Takumi for reforging—nine days total.
[Current Mission: Secretly take control of Takumi and become its master.]
[Mission Reward: Summoning: Triple Rashōmon.]
[Mission Completed. Reward Granted.]
He'd also managed to clear a system task on the road—more precisely, Uchiha Itachi had helped him do it.
Once he gained Summoning: Triple Rashōmon, he understood why Orochimaru used three gates and Senju Hashirama could summon five: chakra reserves.
Rashōmon ate chakra like crazy. For a top-tier jōnin or even most Kage, three gates was about the limit. Only someone with Hashirama-class chakra could bring out five.
Naturally, more chakra meant stronger defense. In the original story, Summoning: Fivefold Rashōmon could even deflect the trajectory of a Tailed Beast Bomb fired by a Susanoo-armored Nine-Tails—and that was under Uchiha Madara's control.
Kitazawa couldn't manage Fivefold yet, but Triple Rashōmon was plenty. He also now had Onefold and Twofold by default. In theory, if his chakra were sufficient, he could jump straight to Fivefold.
"Go get some rest," Kitazawa waved the students off. "I'll announce this month's exam rankings tomorrow morning."
No need to ask—he knew the other five student squads had already finished their missions and were back. His team was, unsurprisingly, last.
Once he'd seen Neji and the others off, he headed for the Hokage Building. He'd been away for a while, had even clashed with the Artisans' village—he should report to Tsunade.
Outside the Hokage's office, he raised his hand to knock when an ANBU named Haru stepped in front of him.
"Kitazawa-sama," Haru hesitated two seconds. "Inside is the Hokage's shadow clone."
"A clone?" Kitazawa chuckled. "Figures she knows her clones won't do the paperwork either."
Shadow clones had independent wills. If the original didn't want to work, the clones usually didn't either.
"Hokage-sama left an hour ago," Haru added. "She didn't say where."
Where else? The casino, obviously.
Kitazawa left the building and headed for the Konoha Casino.
Since opening, business had been booming—new games and great service. Other houses had tried to copy it, but they were always a step behind and it showed.
Kitazawa went straight to the second floor. A glance left and right and he spotted Tsunade. She wasn't at a table today—she was on the slots.
He walked up behind her. She was so focused she didn't notice him until he tapped her shoulder.
"Who—?!"
She jumped, then sighed in relief when she saw him.
"You look like someone with a guilty conscience," Kitazawa said with a wink. "If I'd known, I would've brought Shizune-senpai."
"You wouldn't dare," Tsunade shot back, glaring.
"Don't you want money?"
He leaned down, close. "It was my money to begin with," she muttered, eyes sliding back to the slot. "And I'm feeling lucky today."
"Then let me." Kitazawa wrapped his hand over hers. "Don't move. I'll pull."
A little tremor ran through her. The heat from his hand felt both uncomfortable and oddly unfamiliar.
Right then, the machine jolted. Three sevens lined up.
Coins gushed out in a silver waterfall.
"Well? Pretty good luck, right?" Kitazawa grinned at her.
Tsunade suddenly remembered a long-ago bet at a slot machine: if Kitazawa won, she'd do him a favor—saving Nono and Kabuto.
"So-so," she said stiffly.
"Want to play yourself?"
"Hold on. When did you get back?"
"Just now."
He sat beside her—but didn't let go of her hand, idly playing with it. Her skin was smooth and soft. He couldn't help admiring the Yin Seal—no matter the age, it kept you at peak condition.
Then he thought of himself. He'd learned the Yin Seal at twenty-one. Which meant, until the day he died, he'd look twenty-one.
Now that was… fantastic.
"What did you need?" Tsunade asked, letting him knead her hand, face unchanged.
"Just a mission report."
Kitazawa ran through everything that had happened over the past few days.
"You took over Takumi?"
That surprised her. The village had been cutting corners on Konoha's gear; teaching them a lesson was justified. But taking control felt off—un-Konoha-like.
"It was a strategic move," Kitazawa said. "Controlling Takumi guarantees our ninja tools won't have supply issues."
"And the other villages?"
"If they catch wind of it, they won't just let it slide."
"Relax. Konoha won't be seen meddling with Takumi." Kitazawa shook his head. "I simply had Itachi plant a genjutsu suggestion in the Four Celestial Symbols Men."
"Mangekyō Sharingan, huh?" Tsunade blinked, then nodded. "In that case, the other villages won't notice easily."
"I thought you'd scold me for acting on my own."
"You did it for Konoha, and they were in the wrong first," she said, then added a warning: "Just don't turn into Shimura Danzō."
She suspected he'd used the Box of Ultimate Bliss as bait. Even so, Konoha clearly held the moral high ground. And she was biased—after things had gone this far, she wasn't about to blame him.
"I'm not that kind of person," Kitazawa said, face serious.
"Mm." Tsunade drew her hand back. "You've just gotten in. Go rest."
"You're not gambling?"
"I'm gambling, not you," she snapped. "My luck isn't that bad!"
"Got it."
He planted a quick peck on her forehead, stood up, and bolted.
"Do you have a death wish?!"
Tsunade froze for a couple seconds, then exploded—but Kitazawa was already gone. She curled her lip, then looked back at the slot machine.
"Let's see if your 'lucky kiss' actually works," she muttered.
Monday arrived.
Just as Kitazawa expected, his squad was the last to make it back.
"Kitazawa-senpai," Iruka Umino said, coming up to meet him.
"Morning, Iruka."
"These are the scores from the Third Hokage and the others. I've put them into a single list—just missing your four students." He handed over a scroll.
"Thanks."
Kitazawa read it over. Plenty of perfect scores this time, but Nara Shikamaru wasn't one of them. Looked like first place would go to Hyūga Neji yet again.
He rolled up the scroll and walked over to Sarutobi Hiruzen, Hatake Kakashi, and the rest.
"Well? Who's first?" Chen Baojun asked curiously.
"Hyūga Neji," Kitazawa said.
"Neji again, huh?" Hiruzen chuckled. "Kitazawa, don't play favorites."
"Lord Third, I'm always fair and impartial," Kitazawa answered solemnly.
If he were biased, Hinata would be the one taking first.
"I believe you," Hiruzen said lightly. He didn't think Kitazawa would rig something like this—no point. Whoever took first didn't change anything for Kitazawa. It's not like he got a bonus if Neji or Sasuke topped the list.
At nine a.m., Kitazawa wrapped up his chat with Hiruzen, Kurenai, and the others, then faced the genius class. He picked up the score sheet and began announcing the rankings.
"Another monthly exam without first place," Kiba Inuzuka sighed. He already knew his mission score, so he wasn't surprised.
"If you bump your written rank a few spots, your chances get a lot better," Inuzuka Hana advised.
"Pass. That's even harder," Kiba waved frantically.
"Same!" Rock Lee threw a thumbs-up. "Youth is so bitter!"
"…," Kiba's mouth twitched. You're dead last on the written every time—how are you this confident?
"Congrats, Neji!" Tenten beamed.
"Only because Sasuke's not here," Neji said coolly. "I still have to keep pushing."
"Let's push together, Neji!" Rock Lee chimed in again. "That's youth!"
~~~
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