Since it was already late, Kitazawa didn’t go to see Tsunade. Besides, he still needed to come up with a suitable excuse.

Time moved to the next day, Friday.

As usual, Kitazawa split into two Shadow Clones to guide the Genius Class’s training while he himself headed to the artificial lake at the Ninja Academy.

After mastering Earth Release: Earth Wall, Kitazawa had shifted his focus to Water Release ninjutsu. He only had one Water Release task left, but the two remaining techniques he hadn’t yet learned were both A-rank.

Between Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique and Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave, he chose the former because it consumed comparatively less chakra.

In terms of appearance, Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique was somewhat like Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique — one spat a massive ball of water, the other a massive ball of fire.

But the Great Waterfall Technique was far deadlier; the water sphere it produced resembled an actual great waterfall.

Kitazawa practiced for half an hour before stopping when he noticed Maruboshi Kosuke approaching.

“Kitazawa, I didn’t expect you to also know Water Release,” Kosuke said with some surprise as he walked forward. “And at such a high level.”

Since Kitazawa was studying an A-rank Water Release technique, it meant he had already learned many lower-level ones.

Within Water Release alone, he already had at least Chunin-level strength, and if he mastered this A-rank jutsu, he would reach Jonin-level.

“Kosuke-senpai, you flatter me,” Kitazawa said with a smile. “Is there something you need me for? Trouble with teaching?”

“It’s about finding students from before. After about two weeks of observation, I’ve identified two promising ones,” Kosuke explained. “They have enough talent to inherit my Water Release and swordsmanship.”

“Which two students are they?” Kitazawa asked, curious.

“Sakura Haruno and Uchiha Sasuke,” Kosuke replied.

Kitazawa raised an eyebrow. Unexpected — yet reasonable.

Sakura, with her Earth and Water attributes, possessed chakra control ranking third among the Konoha 12. Meeting both conditions — Water Release affinity and strong chakra control — made her a natural candidate.

As expected of one of the original heroines, her luck was excellent. But it wasn’t just luck; her own strength was the main factor.

Sasuke, of course, needed no explanation. In the original story, after defecting from Konoha, he carried a Kusanagi Sword at his waist.

Swordsmanship was his most frequently used attack style aside from Fire Release and the Sharingan, and he had even studied under Orochimaru — far beyond the difficulty of Konoha-style swordsmanship.

“Kosuke-senpai,” Kitazawa said after a moment of thought, “if you intend to formally take them as students, it might be somewhat difficult.”

Sakura would probably agree, but Sasuke definitely wouldn’t.

“It’s fine,” Kosuke said calmly. “I’m not a Team leader, and I won’t demand anything. As long as they’re willing to learn, that’s enough.”

“All right then,” Kitazawa nodded. “I’ll call them over now.”

He had no reason to refuse, and neither did Sakura or Sasuke.

Sakura would be getting a huge advantage for free — already learning medical ninjutsu and now gaining Water Release as well — her potential wouldn’t be much worse than her original counterpart.

And Sasuke had a chance to grow stronger; he wouldn’t miss it.

“Kakashi,” Kitazawa whispered when he found him, explaining Kosuke’s wish to teach Sasuke swordsmanship.

“Sasuke,” Kakashi called out after listening.

“Kakashi-sensei,” Sasuke responded, finishing his Lightning Release chakra nature transformation practice. “Kitazawa-sensei.”

Kakashi had originally planned to teach Sasuke some low-level Lightning Release this week, but a previous conversation with Kitazawa had changed his mind.

Since Sasuke wanted a Lightning Release technique that could counter the Rasengan, Kakashi was preparing to teach him Lightning Release: Chidori directly — but for that, Sasuke’s chakra nature transformation needed further refinement.

“Kosuke-senpai wants to teach you Konoha-style swordsmanship,” Kitazawa said. “Do you want to learn it?”

“But I’m learning Lightning Release.” Sasuke frowned slightly.

Compared to Konoha-style swordsmanship, he wanted to learn a Lightning Release jutsu that could rival Rasengan sooner.

“Don’t underestimate Konoha-style swordsmanship,” Kitazawa replied with an easy smile. “Kosuke-senpai created an S-rank jutsu called Konoha Style: Willow.”

Konoha Style: Willow combined swordsmanship and genjutsu. From that perspective, it suited Sasuke well — besides Fire Release, the Uchiha’s greatest strengths were Sharingan and genjutsu.

“S-rank?” Sasuke’s eyes lit up slightly. “Then I’ll learn it.”

“You’re such a mercenary,” Kitazawa said, lightly tapping him on the head.

Sasuke gave an embarrassed smile.

Kakashi subconsciously glanced at him. That expression again?

Sasuke looked like a typical Uchiha — proud, but more composed than Uchiha Obito.

Kitazawa then took Sasuke to find Sakura.

“I want to learn!” Sakura agreed without hesitation.

During several previous monthly practical exams, she had complained that medical ninjutsu wasn’t tested, leaving her no chance to show her skills.

If she learned Water Release ninjutsu, she could shine in the exams — especially to compete once again with Ino.

“Mm.” Kitazawa nodded. “Follow me.”

“Sasuke-kun, are you also learning Water Release?” Sakura asked eagerly.

“No,” Sasuke replied. “I’m learning swordsmanship.”

“From whom?” Sakura pressed.

“The same person as you,” Sasuke answered casually.

“That’s great!” Sakura exclaimed. “Then we’ll be senior and junior disciples from now on!”

“…,” Sasuke’s mouth twitched. Although he wanted to refute, he couldn’t find a reason.

The three quickly arrived at the artificial lake.

“Call him Kosuke-sensei,” Kitazawa reminded them.

“Kosuke-sensei.” Sasuke and Sakura said in unison.

“Good, good, good!” Kosuke laughed heartily, clearly very pleased.

Kitazawa didn’t leave. He planned to take this opportunity to learn Konoha Style Swordsmanship himself.

[As a genius, one should possess extraordinary learning ability.]

[Current Task: Learn Konoha Style Swordsmanship without accepting Maruboshi Kosuke’s direct instruction.]

[Task Reward: Dance of the Crescent Moon.]

[Accept?]

Kitazawa scanned the prompt and was immediately surprised. Why was the task reward Dance of the Crescent Moon instead of Konoha Style: Willow?

It seemed the system’s requirement to learn Konoha Style Swordsmanship already included Leaf Style: Willow.

Under normal circumstances, Konoha Style Swordsmanship did not include Konoha Style: Willow because it had been created personally by Kosuke. Especially since the system specifically mentioned learning without Kosuke’s direct instruction.

Dance of the Crescent Moon was somewhat similar to Konoha Style: Willow — also a secret technique of Konoha Style Swordsmanship — an A-rank sword technique.

In the original work, only Gekkō Hayate and Yūgao Uzuki had ever used it. Considering that Yūgao created a secret sword technique called Oborozukiyo(Hazy Moon Night), perhaps Dance of the Crescent Moon had been created by Gekkō Hayate.

Regardless, since a system task was triggered, Kitazawa would definitely accept it.

He came back to his senses; Kosuke had already begun teaching. Kitazawa formed hand signs and created a Shadow Clone. He would have the clone teach Sasuke, while he went to instruct Sakura.

Thanks to Kitazawa’s special training, both Sakura and Sasuke already had sufficient foundations. Kosuke didn’t beat around the bush and had them directly begin learning Water Release and Konoha Style Swordsmanship.

For Water Release, Kosuke first taught the Water Release: Water Bullet Technique — a C-rank, introductory ninjutsu for Water Release users.

Kitazawa stroked his chin. Although Kosuke had learned Water Release from Senju Tobirama, he hadn’t actually learned everything.

In the original work, it was only clearly stated that he knew two Water Release ninjutsu taught by Tobirama: Water Wall and Water Dragon Jutsu.

Kitazawa thought he could teach Sakura after Maruboshi Kosuke finished; it should trigger the corresponding system task.

He didn’t disturb them; instead, he created another Shadow Clone. He set one clone to learn Konoha Style Swordsmanship while he himself practiced Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique.

Kosuke didn’t mind Kitazawa’s quietly learning. After all, Kitazawa was Tsunade’s student. Given his status, learning Konoha Style Swordsmanship was actually very simple — he only needed to ask Tsunade or Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Time slowly passed, and soon it was time for school to end.

“If you two are free on the weekend, you can also come find me,” Kosuke said. After becoming a Ninja Academy teacher, he no longer took missions, so he was free.

“Okay, Kosuke-sensei!” Sakura immediately looked at Sasuke after speaking. If he could also go, then they could enjoy their time together.

“I’ll see,” Sasuke said ambiguously.

The reason Sakura planned to seek out Kosuke on the weekend was that she felt she couldn’t learn everything and didn’t have enough time. After all, she also had to study the more difficult Medical Ninjutsu.

Sasuke was different. He found learning Konoha Style Swordsmanship very easy and didn’t need any extra tutoring.

More importantly, he wanted to spend the weekend with Uchiha Itachi and others, and also train in Sharingan and Genjutsu.

On the training ground, after Kitazawa said, “See you next week,” the students of the Genius Class excitedly turned and ran off. The next two days were for fun.

Kitazawa secretly thought it was a pity. Although the ninja world had computers, there was still no internet. Otherwise, he could have played some games.

He glanced at the sky and walked toward the casino. He already had an idea of how to set up Danzo and planned to find Tsunade. But it was only five o’clock; she would definitely be at the casino.

There weren’t many casinos in Konoha Village, only a few. Kitazawa quickly found Tsunade and Shizune.

Tsunade sat at the gambling table with a gloomy expression, practically having “I lost” written on her forehead.

“Lady Tsunade.” Kitazawa walked up.

“Kitazawa? Why are you here?” Tsunade glanced at him, her attitude softening.

Shizune, holding Tonton, looked surprised. From her perspective, this reaction didn’t fit Tsunade’s character. Normally, Tsunade would immediately ask Kitazawa for money to keep gambling heavily.

Did something happen between these two?

“Lady Tsunade, I came to ask you something.” Kitazawa paused, then said with a smile, “But there’s no rush — you can gamble first.”

“No need, I’ve already lost everything anyway.” Tsunade stood up and said, “Let’s talk at home.”

Shizune’s eyes widened at her words. Tsunade today was too straightforward, making her temporarily unable to believe it.

Normally, even if she lost all her money, she would still find a way to get money from Shizune, and the two would often argue for a long time. Situations like today had almost never happened before.

The three of them returned home. Of course, it wasn’t Kurenai’s home but Tsunade and Shizune’s temporary residence.

As soon as Tsunade got home, she kicked off her sandals, walked to the sofa, and collapsed onto it. Her thick cushion of fat compressed and deformed with her movement. This spectacular sight made Kitazawa’s eyelids twitch.

One could only say that Tsunade was at her tallest when lying down, and also when lying on her stomach.

Rina Uzumaki walked over, picked up her high-heeled sandals, and placed them on the shoe rack.

“Speak.” Tsunade rolled over and squinted at Kitazawa.

“Yesterday, Senior Nono and I performed surgery on a patient at Konoha Hospital,” Kitazawa said, sitting opposite her and looking at her face. “This patient is named Shigaraki Tanuki — a Root researcher.”

If he didn’t look at Tsunade’s face, his gaze would inevitably be drawn to the other massive objects.

“He was seriously injured — a kind of explosion injury,” Kitazawa said slowly. “But before he was sent to Konoha Hospital, he had already been treated by Root Medical Ninja.”

“What kind of treatment?” Tsunade immediately caught the crucial point and asked.

“It was a treatment to erase traces,” Kitazawa replied. “Danzo doesn’t want us to know the cause of the explosion.”

“It’s normal for Root to have secrets, but the Old Man’s patience has its limits. We can’t keep bothering Danzo again and again.”

Tsunade sat up, crossed her arms, and spoke with a hint of warning in her tone. With her movement, the pressure on her clothes increased, giving the illusion that they were on the verge of bursting.

Kitazawa nodded. He understood Tsunade’s unspoken meaning.

An ordinary secret wasn’t worth her intervention and would make Hiruzen Sarutobi feel she was making too much of a fuss.

“Although Root’s medical ninja cleaned it up very thoroughly, I still found some clues,” Kitazawa said after a pause. “I don’t know exactly what it is, which is why I came to ask you.”

“Oh?” Tsunade became interested, crossed her legs, and wiggled her foot.

“The thing that caused the explosion was biological tissue — more precisely, cellular residue,” Kitazawa said in a deep voice.

“Are you saying that some kind of cell caused a violent explosion?” Tsunade’s first reaction was disbelief. After all, no biological cell could possess such immense power.

“I also find it perplexing,” Kitazawa echoed.

Tsunade frowned slightly, lost in thought.

A moment later, her heart jolted as she thought of her grandfather, Senju Hashirama. After his death, his cells still possessed terrifying vitality.

Furthermore, because Wood Release was of great significance to Konoha Village, the higher-ups had once conducted Wood Release experiments — essentially injecting Hashirama’s cells into shinobi to try to gain control of Wood Release.

At that time, it was done on a voluntary basis. But all of the shinobi who participated died without exception, so Hiruzen Sarutobi called off the experiments.

Tsunade knew about these experiments because Hiruzen had sought her consent at the time.

But with Danzo’s personality, he would never stop because of this; he would definitely continue the Wood Release experiments in secret. Hashirama’s cells, after absorbing chakra, would grow and swell wildly, causing explosions.

Tsunade couldn’t help but frown. She should have thought of it sooner, but because of her hemophobia, she had been wandering and avoiding things in the shinobi world, so she had automatically ignored this matter.

Now that she had returned to the village, however, she would never allow Danzo’s desecration of Senju Hashirama’s corpse.

After all, Hashirama’s cells could only be obtained from his remains. As the First Hokage — the shinobi who established Konoha Village — how could he be treated like this?

“I’m going to ask the Old Man for clarification!” Tsunade subconsciously stood up.

She had no way of knowing what Root was researching; she could only go to Hiruzen Sarutobi — unless she forcefully broke into Root’s experimental base. But doing so would easily alert the enemy, causing Root to destroy or transfer the experiment.

“What did Lady Tsunade think of?” Kitazawa looked at her, feeling a little nervous.

Whether he was Tsunade’s confidant or truly trusted depended on whether she would answer his question.

“This matter… I can tell you,” Tsunade said after hesitating for two seconds.

Although she hadn’t officially acknowledged Kitazawa as her student, in her heart, it was already a given. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be qualified to know such highly classified matters involving Hashirama’s cells and the Wood Release experiment.

“Shizune.” Tsunade waved her hand.

Shizune understood and left the living room with Rina Uzumaki and Karin.

“This matter starts with my grandfather, Senju Hashirama,” Tsunade sighed. “Do you know about Wood Release?”

“The First Hokage’s Wood Release is well-known throughout the ninja world,” Kitazawa said in a deep voice.

“Precisely because of this, Konoha Village wanted to regain Wood Release,” Tsunade slowly explained the whole story.

Kitazawa raised an eyebrow, realizing she didn’t know about the Wood Release experiments that Orochimaru and Danzo had conducted.

But this was normal, since she wasn’t in the village at the time, and Orochimaru’s defection wouldn’t have been publicly tied to Wood Release experiments. Tsunade only knew he had defected because Hiruzen discovered him conducting human experiments.

“This Shigaraki Tanuki is Root’s top researcher, so it’s very possible Danzo had him research the First Hokage-sama’s cells,” Kitazawa analyzed.

“Hm.” Tsunade nodded. “I think so too.”

Danzo’s reputation for doing evil things once again played a role. Regardless of whether he did it or not, he was the most likely suspect.

“But I don’t think it’s appropriate to directly approach Hokage-sama, because we don’t have direct evidence — it’s all speculation,” Kitazawa suggested. “I think we should first send someone to investigate Shigaraki Tanuki.”

“As a researcher, Shigaraki Tanuki would definitely be well-protected by Root, and his experimental base is also unknown.” Tsunade rubbed her temples. “Even for an Elite Jonin, it wouldn’t be easy to find out.”

“I have a candidate,” Kitazawa said after a moment’s thought. “Uchiha Itachi.”

“Can he do it?” Tsunade’s tone carried suspicion.

She didn’t know that Uchiha Itachi had already awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan. In her eyes, he was indeed a super genius, already an Anbu squad leader at thirteen — but genius or not, thirteen was still very young and not suited to this kind of investigative work.

“He’ll definitely be fine,” Kitazawa guaranteed.

“Alright then.” Tsunade looked at him, then suddenly smiled. “I trust you.”

—

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