The certificate itself wasn't anything special, but the 300,000-ryō reward was pretty nice. But at this point, Kitazawa didn't really care about 300,000 ryō anymore. He already had plenty of income, more than enough to live comfortably.
After the meeting ended, Kitazawa returned to Class 1-A.
The first period was still The Will of Fire. But compared to last semester, the content was much deeper.
Before, it was simply learning what the Will of Fire was. Now, it was understanding the Will of Fire.
"Before class ends, I have an announcement."
The bell rang, but unlike before, Kitazawa didn't take his book and walk away.
All of Class 1-A turned to him curiously.
"I said at the start of the semester that I would temporarily act as class rep, and at the end of the semester we'd choose someone more suitable."
Kitazawa smiled. "Now the semester has ended, and it's time for me to step down."
"Kitazawa-sensei, who's the new class rep?"
Naruto couldn't hold back and blurted out.
"You."
Kitazawa looked him straight in the eyes and answered directly.
"Hah? Me?"
Naruto was stunned.
"Any objections?"
Kitazawa looked at the students. "If not, the position belongs to Naruto."
"No objections!"
Kiba immediately raised his voice. "I support Naruto as class rep!"
"Bro!"
Naruto's eyes watered.
"I support him too."
Chōji smiled.
"No problem."
Shikamaru and the others nodded.
Over the past semester, Naruto's performance was obvious to everyone. He was strong, enthusiastic, and reliable. Perfect class rep material. Plus, there wasn't much benefit to the job. If anything, it was exhausting.
"Thank you, everyone!"
Naruto gave a big thumbs-up. "In the name of youth, I swear I won't let you down!"
"From today on, Naruto, you're the class rep. Work hard."
Kitazawa picked up his book and left.
"Sasuke-kun!"
Sakura ran to Sasuke and invited him, "Let's go to the training field together!"
"Sorry."
Sasuke stood up. "I already made plans with Naruto."
"Huh?"
Both Naruto and Sakura made the exact same face. What do you mean? Explain yourself!! Is he asking me to fight?!
Naruto got excited and ran after him.
"Hey! Wait for me!"
Sakura gritted her teeth. Losing to Ino was fine, but losing to Naruto was absolutely unacceptable.
"I don't know if I should pity Sasuke or Sakura," Shikamaru sighed. "Or maybe I should pity myself."
He already knew Sasuke's comment was just an excuse to ditch Sakura. And he pitied himself because he had to go to Kitazawa's special training.
"What's going on with those three?"
Yakumo asked, she didn't know much about their situation.
"It's a long story," Ino laughed. "I'll tell you later."
"Typical fake-friend behavior," Shikamaru muttered.
"Time to train, Shikamaru."
Ino glared at him.
"…."
Shikamaru wilted instantly.
"Good luck!"
Yakumo waved.
With Tsunade treating her health now, she didn't need to do Kitazawa's special training anymore. All she needed was to improve her Genjutsu Kekkei Genkai.
Kitazawa couldn't help her there.
"Let's go, Hinata."
Ino took Hinata's hand and walked off, Shikamaru dragging behind them like a dead vegetable.
Ninja Academy Training Field
Kitazawa stood there thinking about new training plans.
And suddenly, four glowing lines of text appeared before him:
[Class rep can no longer contain your talent. Create the first Student Council in Ninja Academy history.]
[Mission: Thunder from Clear Skies: Recruit the academy's elite and form a complete Student Council. Become President.]
[Reward: Lightning Nature + Master-Level Lightning Style Nature Transformation.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa froze.
A Student Council? That was unexpected.
But that reward was insanely good. Master-level Lightning Style Nature Transformation meant…
With this one reward, he could instantly rival or even surpass Hatake Kakashi in Lightning Style. He could probably even recreate Cloud Village's Lightning Chakra Mode.
He accepted without hesitation.
And according to the system, the better the reward, the harder the mission. Would the obstacle be Hiruzen Sarutobi?
To form a Student Council in the academy, he'd need the principal's approval. If Kitazawa demanded to be president himself… Hiruzen might get suspicious.
Are you trying to make a New Konoha?
And with Sasuke and Shikamaru as members, it would basically be a future version of Konoha. Better settle his relationship with Tsunade first before pushing anything too far.
But preparations could begin. A full school selection tournament sounded good.
The system wanted an official and complete council, not something half-baked.
"Kitazawa-sensei!"
Naruto arrived first, with Sasuke and Sakura behind him. Soon Hinata, Ino, and Shikamaru appeared as well.
Naruto Uzumaki arrived first. Behind him were Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura. Not long after, Hinata, Ino, and Shikamaru also appeared.
"Sasuke, how's your Sharingan progress?"
Kitazawa asked after a moment's thought.
"Eight or nine out of ten," Sasuke replied confidently.
Because he awakened his Sharingan at six, Fugaku and Itachi Uchiha had both made time for him, giving him special training.
"Good," Kitazawa nodded slightly, "Go to the artificial lake to practice Fire Style chakra nature transformation."
"Okay,"
Sasuke replied, unsurprised. Kitazawa was an outsider when it came to the Sharingan and couldn't possibly understand it.
Besides, he had already mastered the one-tomoe Sharingan, so he definitely needed to strengthen his Fire Style training.
"I'll go first," Sasuke said, not wasting any time, turning and heading towards the school's artificial lake.
"Shikamaru, your training continues as usual," Kitazawa paused, then said, "but you didn't have any special training during the summer vacation, so you need to intensify it."
Shikamaru's eyes widened at this. Sculpting shadows is hard enough as it is, why make it even harder? Is this the price of having too much fun during summer vacation?
"Ino, you'll train with Shikamaru,"
Kitazawa said with a smile. "Your task is simple: constantly distract him."
"???"
Shikamaru was full of questions.
Isn't Ino's distraction just using the Mind Transfer Technique? In other words, he has to multitask. He has to control Yin Style chakra to sculpt shadows while simultaneously competing with Ino for consciousness.
"This training method is good," Ino blinked and said, "Shikamaru, I won't hold back."
Nara Shikamaru hesitated.
"What about me?"
Sakura asked, puzzled. She used to train with Yamanaka Ino, but now she's alone.
"I'll teach you a new medical ninjutsu," Kitazawa replied.
He was teaching according to her aptitude. Sakura and Ino both underwent special training throughout the summer. But the former had a higher aptitude for medical ninjutsu.
It wasn't that Ino lacked talent, but rather that the secret techniques were generally quite difficult to learn.
Medical ninjutsu, on the other hand, offered Sakura a considerable number of C-rank and D-rank techniques.
"Finally, I can learn new medical ninjutsu!"
Sakura's eyes lit up, her face beaming. Ino was somewhat envious, but there was nothing she could do; they were learning different ninjutsu.
"I'll have my shadow clone teach you."
Kitazawa formed hand seals, creating a shadow clone.
"Okay, Kitazawa-sensei."
Sakura didn't care whether she was being taught the main body or shadow clones; it was all the same.
"Let's begin training," Kitazawa said, then looked at Hinata Hyuga and said, "Your training today is sparring with me."
A morning of practicing Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms wouldn't yield much improvement. And the best way to cram was through actual combat.
"Okay," Hinata nodded obediently. She'd do whatever Kitazawa said.
"Let's go over there."
Kitazawa led Hinata Hyuga to a secluded corner.
The battle began. Hinata activated her Byakugan, pushed off with her foot, and her body shot out like a white streak of light.
She raised her hands and directly used Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. Her small palms struck Kitazawa, one after the other.
Kitazawa's response was simple: he also struck out with two palms. The four palms collided. The chakra surging from their palms also clashed. In an instant, an invisible wave of energy rolled in.
Hinata Hyuga was momentarily dazed. It was as if he wasn't sparring with Kitazawa, but with Hyuga Hiashi.
The reason was simple. There weren't many ninjutsu that released chakra from the palm; the most typical was Gentle Fist.
Could someone not from the Hyuga clan learn Gentle Fist? Hinata recalled Kitazawa's usual instruction and understood.
Her face tensed, she didn't hesitate and continued striking. But as she expected, each strike was ineffective.
After ten strikes, Hinata was about to continue when suddenly her body trembled, and a look of surprise appeared on her face.
When did this happen? Hinata felt that the flow of chakra within her body had completely stopped.
Kitazawa stepped forward, grabbed her hand, and rolled up her sleeve. Four red dots appeared on Hinata once fair arm. These four red dots were caused by Kitazawa, and they represented chakra points.
"Kitazawa-sensei, you…"
Hinata opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.
"You want to ask me why I know Gentle Fist?"
Kitazawa placed two fingers together on her chakra points and said with a smile, "I learned it from you."
"Huh?"
Hinata eyes widened. But the re-flow of chakra proved Kitazawa's words were true. Only ninjas who had mastered Gentle Fist could know how to press pressure points.
"Don't tell anyone about this."
Kitazawa released her arm and joked, "If your father finds out, I might die."
"I won't!"
Hinata Hyuga quickly promised, "Even if I die, I won't tell a second person, including Father!"
"It's not that serious."
Kitazawa patted her head and said with a smile, "Let's continue training."
Given his current relationship with Tsunade, learning Gentle Fist wasn't a capital offense. After all, it wasn't like transplanting a pair of Byakugan.
But avoiding trouble was always better; he wasn't strong enough yet. After Kitazawa reminded Hinata Hyuga, given her personality, she certainly wouldn't say anything.
It was noon.
"Hinata, go home now, take a shower and rest. Then come back to school for your afternoon sparring session,"
Kitazawa said, looking at Hinata, who was covered in sweat. Although he hadn't used his full strength, it was still higher than Neji's.
It was already remarkable that Hinata had managed to stay awake all morning.
She had to spar with Neji in the afternoon, so it wasn't suitable to schedule any more sparring training, lest she be too exhausted to spar.
"Th-thank you, Kitazawa-sensei,"
Hinata said, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand, panting.
Her bangs were completely soaked and stuck together.
"I'll take you home,"
Kitazawa nodded slightly.
"No...no need,"
Hinata instinctively didn't want to trouble Kitazawa.
"It's alright, it's on my way,"
Kitazawa explained. "I'm going to Konoha Hospital anyway."
His shadow clones were enough for Sasuke and Shikamaru's sparring. He only had one sparring session in the afternoon, and he couldn't waste the rest of the time.
Hinata Hyuga didn't refuse again upon hearing this.
Kitazawa escorted her all the way to the Hyuga clan's residence before turning to leave.
Hinata stood at the door, watching his figure gradually disappear before turning away.
"Why are you back so early today?"
Hiashi Hyuga asked, sitting on a stone chair in the courtyard with Hanabi in his arms.
"Sister!"
Hanabi called out immediately.
"I just finished my special training with Kitazawa-sensei,"
Hinata replied. "He told me to go home and rest, and that I only need to attend the practical training class this afternoon."
"Why is there special training after the start of the semester?"
Hiashi asked, frowning slightly.
For various reasons, he wasn't satisfied with Kitazawa.
"It's... because I have to spar with Neji-nii in the practical training class,"
Hinata hesitated for two seconds before answering truthfully.
"Oh?"
Hiashi suddenly became interested.
From childhood, Neji had always surpassed Hinata in talent and strength.
To prevent Hinata from losing confidence, Hiashi hadn't even let Neji be her sparring partner anymore.
But… it's hard to say now.
Hinata Hyuga's progress is just too great.
"Go and rest," Hiashi Hyuga waved his hand and said.
He had already planned to sneak away to the Ninja Academy to watch the practical training session.
Although Hiashi Hyuga felt that her strength had surpassed Neji, seeing is believing, and only by fighting could one know.
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the last class.
Class 1-A and Class 2-A arrived at the school's playground on time.
Kitazawa suddenly felt a jolt in his heart, sensing someone spying on him not far away.
This feeling… was the Byakugan.
Could it be Hiashi Hyuga?
How could the dignified head of the Hyuga clan have fallen to the point of climbing trees?
"There will be a sparring session before class today,"
Kitazawa said bluntly, "Please, Hinata Hyuga and Neji Hyuga, come forward."
Neji Hyuga was stunned for a moment, then stepped out of the line. He hadn't expected the sparring session to come so early; he thought Kitazawa and Hinata Hyuga would drag it out.
Theoretically, the longer it takes, the greater Hinata's chances of winning. But Neji believes talent can't be caught up in time.
Hinata took a deep breath and walked to face Neji.
"What's going on?"
Naruto asked curiously.
"Have you forgotten?"
Shikamaru reminded him, "After our class's friendly match with Class 2-A, Neji challenged Hinata."
"No recollection," Naruto scratched his head.
"I have some recollection," Ino recalled, "Back then, Kitazawa-sensei used Hinata's newly awakened Byakugan as an excuse to postpone the match until next semester."
"Isn't that now?"
Sakura looked at the two and asked, "Both have Byakugan, who will win?"
"I feel Neji has a better chance of winning," Ino said hesitantly.
"It's going to be a tough battle for Hinata," Shikamaru nodded in agreement.
"Not necessarily," Naruto said confidently. "I believe in Kitazawa-sensei's special training!"
"A year's gap isn't easy to overcome," Kiba shook his head. "Besides, Neji is a genius."
"Let's watch the spar," Sasuke said calmly.
Who won or lost wasn't important to him.
What mattered was that he could learn about the Byakugan and Gentle Fist through this match. He had already decided to challenge Neji after Neji's victory to avenge last semester's defeat.
"Form the opposing hand seals," Kitazawa reminded them.
"You're nervous," Neji said calmly. "Under my pressure, your gaze shifts to the upper left, indicating you're recalling past experiences."
"You…"
Hinata trembled upon hearing this.
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow. Wasn't this what Neji Hyuga said to Hinata Hyuga during the Chunin Exams in the original work?
Good heavens!
So he's already learned psychological warfare tactics at such a young age?
"The fact that you have this thought means you've already accepted defeat,"
Neji continued. "Just like before, countless times you've lost."
"I am indeed reminiscing about the past,"
Hinata clenched her fists, her eyes revealing an unprecedented determination, and said, "But I don't believe I will lose!"
Had her gaze changed?
Hyuga Neji said in a deep voice, "Then let me see how much you dare to say such a thing!"