The class bell rang.

As Kitazawa stepped into the classroom of Second-Year Class A, the once-bustling students immediately fell silent.

The room quieted so abruptly that it felt like you could hear a pin drop.

“Hello everyone, I’m Kitazawa,” he greeted with a warm smile. “From today onward, I’ll be teaching your Will of Fire and Ninjutsu classes.”

“Awesome! It really is Kitazawa-sensei!”

“Teacher Kitazawa, we’ve been looking forward to you!”

“Only two subjects? I wish you could teach more!”

Hearing their excited chatter, Kitazawa raised an eyebrow in surprise. Mizuki’s body isn’t even cold yet, and you’ve already moved on?

Then again, he understood—these were just kids. They hadn’t formed any strong bond with Mizuki, who had always maintained a distant attitude.

In contrast, Kitazawa was already well-known—especially after the friendly match where he led First-Year Class A to defeat them. They were genuinely convinced of his ability.

“Alright, everyone, take out your textbooks,” Kitazawa said, picking up a pen. “Today’s lesson will be on the Will of Fire.”

Compared to first-year classes, the Will of Fire course for second-years was much deeper in content. But for Kitazawa, a seasoned instructor, handling any level of curriculum was second nature.

The lesson flowed smoothly, and before long, the bell rang again.

Class ended quietly, and Kitazawa took his leave.

As for his task to defeat Neji, he planned to handle that during the upcoming Ninjutsu class.

“Class is already over?”

“That’s the first time I’ve felt a class go by so fast!”

“There’s finally hope in the classroom again!” The students of Class A couldn’t help but talk excitedly.

“Compared to Mizuki-sensei, Kitazawa-sensei is on another level.” Tenten turned to look at Neji and asked, “What do you think, Neji?”

“He’s fine,” Neji replied calmly and honestly.

Knowing Neji’s usual attitude, Tenten understood that such a neutral evaluation was actually very high praise coming from him.

“I feel like I understand so much more now!” Rock Lee clenched his fists in enthusiasm. “Is this the power of youth!?”

“…” Neji and Tenten exchanged helpless glances.

After finishing the Will of Fire class, Kitazawa returned to his office.

He still had another important task today—assembling the June monthly exam questions for each grade.

Since this wasn’t linked to a system mission, Kitazawa wasn’t too invested in it. Even Naruto had taken a break from practicing mock exams.

Kitazawa reviewed the sets of questions submitted by the other teachers, then created a shadow clone.

The clone headed to the artificial lake behind the ninja academy.

Kitazawa arrived to observe his students in training.

Shikamaru was dodging low-grade ninjutsu hurled at him by the shadow clone version of Kitazawa, practicing reflexes and decision-making under pressure.

Nearby, Sasuke was spitting fire.

After some focused practice, his Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique had taken form.

Now he could finally produce something resembling a fire dragon—albeit a rather small one.

A baby dragon, really, Kitazawa mused.

Beside him, Sakura sat cross-legged, reading a thick medical scroll with laser focus.

If reading could be called a form of training, then Sakura was undoubtedly the most diligent of them all. In fact, she might even be progressing faster than Kitazawa himself.

She really did live up to her portrayal in the original timeline—first place in the written exams and a knack for medical studies.

It’s about time to start teaching her basic medical ninjutsu next week, Kitazawa thought.

By then, Tsunade would be teaching him, and he’d be teaching Sakura. A neat little learning chain.

His gaze drifted toward Ino, who was focused on perfecting her Mind Body Switch Technique.

Finally, he approached Hinata.

Kitazawa gently grasped her wrist, raised it a few centimeters, and said, “That last move—your posture wasn’t quite right.”

“S-sorry, Teacher Kitazawa…” Hinata responded, a little embarrassed.

“It’s fine. Mistakes are part of learning. Just fix them and move on.” He stepped back to watch as she adjusted her stance, now visibly more determined.

Hinata’s expression turned serious, her eyes focused as she continued her practice—graceful, calm, and quietly persistent.

—

Afternoon arrived.

On the training ground, Second-Year Class A stood in orderly lines.

“I’m not very familiar with your strengths yet,” Kitazawa said slowly, his gaze scanning across the group. “Since this is our first ninjutsu class, let’s start with some sparring matches.”

“Teacher Kitazawa, you’re going to spar with us?” Tenten raised her hand in surprise.

“Yes,” Kitazawa smiled, “I want to see your full strength.”

This was the method he had come up with to complete his objective: defeating Hyuga Neji.

“Alright. Step forward one by one, in order,” Kitazawa pointed to the student at the head of the first row. “You’re up.”

“Yes, sir!”

The nervous little boy walked forward, took a deep breath, and immediately performed the Clone Technique.

Three identical figures darted toward Kitazawa, leaping left and right in an attempt to confuse his vision.

Kitazawa responded with simplicity—one punch per clone.

“I… I surrender…” The boy collapsed to the ground, dizzy and disoriented.

“Your Clone Technique’s not bad,” Kitazawa offered a short evaluation.

Next up was a young girl. She began with the Transformation Technique, turning into a towering figure taller and more muscular than Kitazawa himself.

Unfortunately, while visually impressive, it was completely impractical—Kitazawa downed her with a single punch.

“Your Transformation needs a bit more work,” he noted with a nod.

First-year students generally only learned the Clone Technique. By the second year, they were also introduced to Transformation.

In the following matches, most students relied on one or the other, with only a few knowing basic elemental jutsu—and even then, only the lowest-tier versions.

Overall, Second-Year Class A was clearly stronger than the first-year class…but in terms of individual prowess, the Nine Little Monsters of Kitazawa’s Class A—like Uchiha Sasuke—still held the edge.

“Teacher Kitazawa!” Rock Lee somersaulted through the air, landed dramatically, and gave a thumbs up. “Let’s have a battle filled with youth and passion!”

Kitazawa replied with a silent kick.

“Huh? Was that the Konoha Whirlwind?” Rock Lee’s eyes lit up.

“Konoha Whirlwind!” He charged forward with a spinning kick of his own.

Bang! Kitazawa’s counterforce sent him skidding backward even faster.

“Incredible!” Lee grinned as he picked himself up—and launched forward again.

“Konoha Whirlwind!” A kick first, then a punch aimed at Kitazawa’s chest.

Kitazawa evaded smoothly, caught Lee’s wrist mid-strike, and twisted. Lee’s momentum caused him to stumble forward, right into a follow-up kick that sent him rolling back.

“Again!” Lee shouted, shaking off the blow and diving in once more.

“Rock Lee’s improved a lot,” Tenten commented from the side.

Neji raised an eyebrow in quiet agreement. But the gap between them was still wide.

“Alright, let’s stop here.” Kitazawa finally disengaged.

He had already gauged Lee’s level—a little below Naruto without Shadow Clones, but in terms of pure taijutsu, perhaps the top in both classes.

“Teacher Kitazawa.” Tenten stepped forward, cupping her fists respectfully. “Please instruct me.”

Kitazawa suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.

From her name, hairstyle, and outfit, Tenten radiated the aura of a classical martial artist. The Naruto world was full of such influences: Eight Trigrams, Golden and Silver Brothers, Banana Fan…

“Come,” Kitazawa flipped his wrist and drew two kunai.

Tenten unrolled her summoning scroll, launching dozens of ninja tools into the air.

Kitazawa hurled his two kunai forward. They vanished into the flurry of flying weapons.

Tenten narrowed her eyes, searching for the intruding kunai.

Her gaze sharpened—she spotted them—and flicked out several shuriken with precision.

Clank! Kitazawa’s kunai were knocked from the air, landing at her sides.

Tenten smirked victoriously, reaching for her next scroll—but her expression froze. The kunai she’d knocked down suddenly bounced up.

Suspended by faint rubber cords, they curved in midair and darted straight toward her.

Tenten’s pupils shrank.

Shuriken manipulation technique?! Wasn’t that an Uchiha specialty?

Realizing she was surrounded, Tenten quickly shouted, “Teacher Kitazawa, I quit!”

“Next,” Kitazawa recalled his kunai calmly.

“Teacher Kitazawa.” Neji stepped forward, calm and composed.

Kitazawa returned his gaze with a faint smile. Finally, the real target is here.

Neji spread his arms and activated his Byakugan.

In the next instant, he vanished with a flicker of speed—Body Flicker Technique—closing the gap in a blink.

When he reached striking range, his palm thrust out toward Kitazawa’s abdomen, aiming to block his tenketsu.

Kitazawa didn’t move—he simply caught Neji’s wrist mid-strike.

He’s fast! Neji’s expression changed as he twisted his arm to escape and swung low, aiming for the thigh.

But Kitazawa’s knife-hand chop came down instantly, striking Neji’s right wrist.

Neji felt a sudden chakra blockage in his arm. It lasted only a moment, but it broke his flow.

A fluke? Did he just strike my tenketsu? Neji’s expression tightened. He pivoted right and launched another palm strike with his left.

Kitazawa smiled faintly, clenched his right fist, and met the palm head-on.

Thud! A jolt ran through Neji’s entire left arm.

Before he could retreat, Kitazawa grabbed his hand and flipped him over with a swift shoulder throw.

Neji’s balance was off, his arms still unresponsive, and he crashed to the ground.

Sitting up quickly, he stared at Kitazawa in stunned silence. Every step, every strike had been precisely countered. It was as if Kitazawa knew the Gentle Fist better than he did.

Impossible. Kitazawa wasn’t Hyuga. He didn’t have the Byakugan. So how could he counter Gentle Fist so perfectly?

“Are you alright?” Kitazawa offered a hand.

“Thank you, Teacher Kitazawa,” Neji took the hand and stood. “You’re incredibly strong.”

It sounded like typical post-sparring politeness. But Kitazawa could tell—this was a proud genius conceding defeat.

[Current Task: Defeat Hyuga Neji, the strongest student in Second-Year Class A.

Task Reward: Byakugan Purity +10%.]

[Mission Complete. Reward Granted.]

“Your current strength still falls short,” Kitazawa added with a smile. “If you slack off, Hinata might surpass you next semester.”

Neji’s face twitched ever so slightly.

In the original story, Naruto beat sense into Neji before talking him down. That approach worked best with proud prodigies like him.

—

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P@atreon/Arvinstorm (45+ Advanced Chapters)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep