[NSSSG] [ARC-02] Chapter : 76

The sun hung low on the horizon, painting the sky in streaks of orange and crimson.

Kitazawa dismissed the students of Class 1A, then made his way to the training ground.

“Kitazawa-sensei!”

Sasuke, Hinata, Ino, and Sakura paused their training and gathered around him.

“Sasuke, starting tomorrow, you’ll move on to practicing manipulating shuriken with moving targets,” Kitazawa said, turning to the dark-haired boy.

As an Uchiha, Sasuke had picked up the basics of the Jutsu in record time.

'If only he’d awakened his Sharingan', Kitazawa thought. 'He’d master it in under an hour.'

The Sharingan truly was a cheat code in the ninja world, overwhelming ordinary shinobi with ease.

After all, Kakashi Hatake had copied over a thousand jutsu thanks to a single Sharingan eye, while most shinobi considered themselves lucky to learn a few dozen ninjutsu in a lifetime.

“Understood, Kitazawa-sensei,” Sasuke replied, nodding firmly.

Kitazawa shifted his gaze to Hinata.

Among the four, she trained the hardest by far. Her Byakugan was right on the cusp of awakening—it just needed the right spark.

Yet Hinata’s gentle, introverted nature kept her unaware of how close she was to a breakthrough.

Kitazawa planned to enter her in the upcoming friendly match against Class 2A. A bit of real combat pressure might be exactly what she needed to push her Byakugan over the threshold.

Of course, he had no intention of matching her against Hyūga Neji.

Despite Hinata’s growth, she’d stand little chance against Neji at this stage, and Kitazawa refused to risk a loss that might send her retreating back into her shell.

Still, he knew the day would come when she’d have to face Neji—the shadow over her heart she’d eventually have to overcome.

“Sakura, Ino,” he said, turning to the two girls, “you’re nearly finished with your water-walking training. Once the friendly match is over, it’ll be time for something new.”

“What kind of new training?” Ino asked eagerly, eyes shining.

Kitazawa smirked. “Ino, hasn’t your father started teaching you the Yamanaka Clan’s secret Jutsus?”

Ino pouted slightly. “My dad keeps saying my basics aren’t solid enough yet. He promised he’d teach me later.”

“Well, in a few days, go talk to your dad again,” Kitazawa said with a knowing smile. “It’s time you started learning those Jutsus.”

Clan secret Jutsus were specialized ninjutsu—and like any ninjutsu, they rested on three foundations: chakra control, chakra shape transformation, and chakra nature transformation.

Ino’s chakra control was good enough now that she could at least begin dabbling in her clan’s arts. She might not master them right away, but a basic grasp was certainly within reach.

“Really?!” Ino’s voice leapt an octave, delight lighting up her face.

Her biggest motivation for training was to surpass Sakura, and she hadn’t expected this unexpected opportunity.

Kitazawa nodded firmly. “Mm.”

“What about me?” Sakura blurted out, unable to keep quiet any longer.

Unlike the others, she wasn’t born into a shinobi clan and had no inherited jutsu waiting to be unlocked.

“So—what kind of jutsu do you want to learn?” Kitazawa asked, his tone gentle.

“I… I want to learn medical ninjutsu!” Sakura declared after a short pause, her voice bubbling with excitement.

Part of her inspiration was Tsunade, her idol.

And part of it—well, she couldn’t deny she liked the idea of healing an injured Sasuke. 'Then maybe', she thought mischievously, 'he’d be completely at my mercy…'

“Sakura!” Ino hissed, shooting her friend a sharp look.

As the Yamanaka Clan heiress, Ino knew very well how incredibly difficult medical ninjutsu was to learn.

No matter how talented Kitazawa was, he was still “just” a chunin-level instructor. How could he possibly teach medical jutsu?

If he did know medical ninjutsu, he’d be working at Konoha Hospital, not teaching a bunch of kids.

She spoke up quickly, trying to save Sakura from embarrassing herself—and Kitazawa—from impossible expectations.

“You can,” Kitazawa said calmly.

In fact, Sakura’s wish fit perfectly with his own future plans.

He’d been searching for a chance to demonstrate his interest—and talent—in medical ninjutsu to Tsunade. Teaching Sakura might be the perfect opportunity.

“That’s amazing!” Sakura squealed, practically bouncing with joy.

“Huh?!” Ino’s eyes went wide, her entire worldview briefly shuddering.

'The world’s gone crazy,' she thought.

'Since when can a regular academy sensei teach medical ninjutsu? That’s not how the ninja world works!'

【Current Mission: Help Sakura Haruno learn her first Medical Ninjutsu.】
【Mission Reward: Chakra Scalpel.】
【Accept?】

Kitazawa felt a thrill of surprise as the mission prompt appeared in his mind.

'Chakra Scalpel…'

It was a B-rank medical ninjutsu, capable of precisely extracting toxins or even performing organ transplants—a jutsu normally reserved for elite jōnin-level medical specialists.

He couldn’t help the grin tugging at his lips.

'Looks like things are about to get interesting.'

“Alright, for the next two days, keep training as usual,” Kitazawa announced, clapping his hands. “Let’s focus on winning the friendly match against Class 2A first.”

“See you tomorrow, Kitazawa-sensei!”

The four students chorused their farewell before scattering to their own tasks.

After leaving the academy, Kitazawa headed straight to Kurenai’s house.

“Tsunade-sama isn’t here yet,” Kurenai said with a sigh, collapsing onto the sofa. “We can start discussing things ourselves.”

“Is Yakumo here? I’ve got something I’d like to ask her,” Kitazawa said, remaining standing. His gaze lingered appreciatively on Kurenai’s figure.

Today she’d reverted to her usual attire—a white outfit with red sleeves, showing off her slender legs against pale skin.

“Up on the rooftop,” Kurenai said, pointing a finger upward.

“I’ll go find her first,” Kitazawa said with a small smile, making his way up the stairs.

When he stepped onto the rooftop, he found Yakumo seated in front of an easel, brush in hand.

She was painting the silhouette of a tree visible a short distance away.

“Kitazawa-sensei,” Yakumo said, noticing him and greeting him warmly.

“Yakumo, have you ever heard of Hyūga Neji?” Kitazawa asked without preamble.

“I know of him,” Yakumo replied, nodding. “He’s supposed to be a genius from the Hyūga Clan.”

Kitazawa folded his arms. “Our class has a friendly match with Second Year Class A this Friday,” he explained. “Do you want to spar with Neji?”

“Me?” Yakumo blinked in surprise, then hesitated. “Can I really do that?”

Kitazawa chuckled. “You don’t seem to realize your own strength,” he said. “Even your current Genjutsu: False Surroundings would give most shinobi a headache.”

Yakumo’s Bloodline Limit made her illusions exceptionally dangerous.

The terrifying thing was that without external help, it was nearly impossible for someone caught in her genjutsu to dispel it.

There were only two ways to break free from genjutsu:

One, by dispelling it yourself—if you were aware you were trapped and could disrupt your chakra flow.

Or two, by receiving help from an ally—either because you didn’t realize you were under genjutsu, or because it was a special genjutsu like the Uchiha’s Sharingan, which was notoriously difficult to break alone.

The Uchiha’s Sharingan was so overpowered partly for this reason: most people caught in its illusions simply couldn’t escape on their own.

Yakumo’s Bloodline Limit was frighteningly similar.

So long as Neji didn’t manage to close in for taijutsu, Yakumo could very well be unbeatable.

“…Then I’ll try,” Yakumo finally said after a moment of hesitation.

Though she’d never fought seriously before, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse Kitazawa, who had always been there for her.

Half an hour later, Tsunade and Shizune arrived, and everyone gathered to discuss the development of new medical ninjutsu.

Several memory-sealing Jutsus already existed in Konoha, and they could all serve as reference material.

Unfortunately, Kitazawa had never learned any of them firsthand.

After contributing what he could to the discussion, Kitazawa slipped out to a quiet spot behind the house.

From his pouch, he pulled out a set of balloons he’d bought earlier.

'Time to try it for real', he thought. 'I’m going to create a Rasengan with my own hands.'

After all, the steps for learning the Rasengan were well documented in the original timeline:

• Stage one: burst a water-filled balloon by spinning chakra inside it.

• Stage two: pop a rubber ball a hundred times tougher than a regular balloon.

• Stage three: abandon all props and condense the spinning chakra directly in one’s hand, maintaining its shape and force.

Each stage was exponentially more challenging.

Kitazawa held up a balloon sloshing with water and focused his chakra into it. Immediately, the water inside began swirling chaotically.

【As a genius, you should master ninjutsu on your own.】

【Current Mission: Master the Rasengan without anyone’s help.】

【Mission Reward: Konoha Body Flicker Jutsu.】

【Accept?】

Kitazawa raised an eyebrow, a spark of excitement lighting his eyes.

“Well, now… this is getting interesting.”