"Sasuke-kun."Yamanaka Ino stepped forward and greeted him.
Uchiha Sasuke ignored her completely, fully focused on maintaining the chakra beneath his feet.
Finding herself snubbed, Ino didn't say anything more. Instead, she turned to look at Hyuga Hinata.
At this moment, Hinata was already suspended halfway up the tree, her feet firmly planted against the trunk. Her expression was utterly serious, and her short blue hair hung straight down due to gravity.
Seeing this, Ino's competitive spirit was unexpectedly stirred.
Since Sasuke wasn't paying her any attention, she would finish the tree-climbing exercise before him.
With that thought in mind, she immediately concentrated chakra into her feet and began climbing upward.
Kitazawa observed for a while, then revealed a look of surprise.
Among the three of them, Hyuga Hinata actually had the strongest chakra control.
Was it because of the Byakugan?
The Hyuga clan's fighting style relied on using the Byakugan to see the flow of chakra inside an opponent's body, then striking vital points with Gentle Fist to sever that flow.
Once hit, chakra circulation would be disrupted, reducing the opponent to little more than an ordinary person—naturally leaving them helpless.
But to accurately strike those points, an extremely deep understanding of chakra was required.
Uchiha Sasuke was a genius, but his chakra control was slightly inferior in comparison.
In the original story, even Haruno Sakura completed the tree-climbing exercise earlier than he did.
Just then, Ino let out a startled cry and began falling.
Kitazawa stepped forward and caught her.
The soft body fell into his arms, making Ino feel strangely like some kind of lifelike collectible figurine.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei,"Ino exhaled in relief, her heart still pounding.
"It's nothing."Kitazawa bent down and gently set her back on the ground.
"…?"Sasuke glanced over instinctively, a question mark practically appearing on his face.
I fell yesterday—why didn't you catch me?
Because I'm a guy and should tough it out?
"Huh… Hinata can climb that high?"After steadying herself, Ino looked at Hinata, who was already close to the top, and couldn't help exclaiming in amazement.
But in the very next moment, Hinata lost her balance and fell.
Ino froze for a second, then stuck out her tongue awkwardly.
She really had meant it as a genuine compliment.
Kitazawa reacted instantly and caught Hinata.
"Th-thank you…"Hinata said softly, her face tinged with red.
"If you sense that you can't hold on, jump down early,"Kitazawa said as he gently patted her head."Don't push yourselves too hard."
Boom!
Before anyone could properly react to Ino and Hinata's falls, the next person to crash down was Sasuke.
"I'm fine,"Sasuke said calmly, suppressing the embarrassment as he met their gazes.
He brushed the dust off his clothes and immediately turned back to climb again.
Even if he didn't care about Ino or Hinata, he could still feel the pressure.
The Uchiha always had to be ahead—never behind.
Ino and Hinata soon rejoined the training.
Kitazawa watched, offering guidance as he went, occasionally catching them when they fell.
Time passed quietly, and the dismissal bell finally rang.
"You three finish this climb, then head back. I'll go notify the others,"Kitazawa said, leaving them and returning to the training field.
"Kitazawa-sensei!"Uzumaki Naruto ran up excitedly."I hit the moving target!"
"Well done."Kitazawa glanced at the target in the distance.
Although Naruto hadn't hit the bullseye, managing to hit a moving target within a single class period already put him ahead of most students.
"Hehe."Naruto grinned happily at the praise.
"Class is over. Head home safely,"Kitazawa clapped his hands."Dismissed."
"Goodbye, Kitazawa-sensei!"The students scattered instantly.
Anyone who wasn't eager to leave school clearly had issues with their mindset.
"Sensei, what are we learning next combat class?"Naruto asked.
"Physical training,"Kitazawa replied after a moment's thought.
"Running?"Naruto's eyes lit up.
"There will be running,"Kitazawa said, surprised."You're interested in that?"
"I want to become the fastest ninja in the shinobi world!"Naruto clenched his fist."That way, I can surpass the Fourth Hokage!"
"So that's it…"Kitazawa finally understood.
Naruto had most likely heard about Namikaze Minato from Sarutobi Hiruzen.
[Your lifelong rival Uzumaki Naruto has challenged you to physical training. You accept generously.][Current Task: Take first place in physical training.][Task Reward: Leaf Strong Whirlwind.][Accept?]
Kitazawa let out a soft sound of surprise.
This was basically a free reward.
As a teacher, he would be participating in physical training anyway.
But wasn't his so-called lifelong rival supposed to be Uchiha Sasuke?Why had it suddenly changed to Uzumaki Naruto?
"See you tomorrow,"Kitazawa said goodbye to Naruto before heading back toward the tree.
Before he even arrived, he noticed something wrong.
Ino's face was pale, and she was leaning against Hinata.
Her left foot was on the ground, but her right foot was slightly raised.
"I'm fine,"Ino said proactively."I just twisted my foot a bit when I came down earlier."
"Sit down. I'll take care of it,"Kitazawa said as he walked over."Sasuke, Hinata—you can head home first."
"It's really not—ah…"Ino gasped midway through her sentence as pain shot through her foot.
"Enough, don't force it,"Kitazawa said, helping her sit down."I'm quite experienced with this kind of injury."
Back when he was a genin, medical-nin were in short supply.
Four-man squads without a single medic weren't rare.
In those situations, they had no choice but to treat injuries themselves.
As long as it wasn't severe, temporary treatment with medicine was usually enough.
"Thank you,"Ino stopped insisting.
After hesitating for a few seconds, she took off her shoe.
Kitazawa applied some bruise ointment to his palm, then gently held her ankle and rubbed it in.
Ino's gaze unconsciously fell on him.
This teacher was… really kind.
"Alright. When you get home, see a medical-nin. It'll heal faster,"Kitazawa said as he withdrew his hand.
"Mm."Ino pushed aside the random thoughts in her head and said gratefully,"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei."
"I'll carry you back,"Kitazawa said, turning around and crouching down.
Ino froze for a moment, embarrassed. Holding her shoe in her right hand, she wrapped her arm around his neck.
Resting on Kitazawa's back, she thought to herself that this teacher was truly a good person.
Kitazawa had no idea he'd just earned yet another "good guy" evaluation.
When they reached the Yamanaka flower shop, he set her down.
"Kitazawa-sensei,"Ino said with a smile, holding her shoes."See you tomorrow."