Chapter 152: Chapter 152

Kitazawa returned to the 1A classroom after the meeting.

Karin was already chatting with Ino and Naruto, and from the looks of it, they had quickly become friends.

Kitazawa wasn’t surprised. What kind of malicious intent could a bunch of six- or seven-year-old kids really have? Besides, Karin wasn’t like Hinata, who struggled with shyness; her personality was closer to Tsunade’s or even Sakura’s in the original story—straightforward and bossy.

“Class is starting.”

He tapped the podium lightly, and the classroom immediately fell silent.

Karin blinked in surprise. The authority in his presence was unquestionable—every student sat up straighter, no trace of reluctance on their faces. Even the perpetually lazy Shikamaru looked attentive.

Their first lesson was on the Will of Fire.

At first, Karin thought she wouldn’t be able to follow along—she was a transfer student, after all, with no formal schooling. But the more she listened, the more engrossed she became.

’So this is what a sensei from one of the Five Great Villages is like?’

’Truly terrifying!’

“…Karin, come to my office.”

Kitazawa dismissed the class and called her out before leaving.

“I’ll be back later—I’m going to see Kitazawa-sensei,” Karin told Ino and the others.

“We’ll be training at the grounds,” Ino said with a grin. “If you need us, come find us.”

“Sasuke-kun and I are at the Artificial Lake!” Sakura quickly chimed in. “You should stop by too!”

She often helped at the hospital, but whenever Kitazawa wasn’t around, she would sneak off to the lake—partly to practice medical ninjutsu, and partly to steal glances at Sasuke.

“Hey, don’t forget me!” Kiba added loudly. “I’ll be there too, working on Water Walking!”

Karin nodded, her chest warming.

Back in Kusa, she and her mother had spent their lives locked away, friendless and isolated. Now, all of a sudden, she had people waiting for her. It felt like a dream.

After leaving the classroom, she headed for Kitazawa’s office.

“Come in,” his voice called after her knock.

“Kitazawa-sensei.” She stepped inside.

“How was your first day at school?” Kitazawa asked with a gentle smile.

“It felt… really good,” Karin answered sincerely. “Everyone’s been kind, and Sensei’s lessons are amazing.”

“If you ever run into trouble, come to me right away,” he said with a nod. Then his tone shifted slightly. “But you’ve already missed quite a bit—it’s the second semester, after all. You’ll need to catch up.”

“I understand,” she agreed quickly.

“For now, you won’t be attending regular classes. Once you’ve made up for what you missed, you’ll join the rest.” Kitazawa casually picked up a textbook. “Come with me—we’ll head to the training ground.”

“Eh?” Karin froze. ’Tutoring at the training ground?’

“It’s too quiet in my office,” Kitazawa explained, as if reading her mind. “You’ll feel more motivated with Ino and the others around.”

Karin was stunned. ’He really thinks of everything… Kitazawa-sensei is incredible.’

She wasn’t used to this warmth. In Kusa, kindness didn’t exist—everyone was cruel.

When the two arrived at the training ground, Ino’s eyes widened.

“Karin?” she said in surprise.

Shikamaru immediately took the chance to slack off, dropping his stance. Hinata kept training, though her gaze drifted toward them. Neji gave a single glance before ignoring them completely.

Kabuto, however, approached first.

“She’ll be with you for her make-up lessons,” Kitazawa explained.

He unrolled a summoning scroll and pulled out a desk and chair. Karin hurried to sit down.

“This is the first semester’s material,” Kitazawa said, placing a stack of textbooks before her. “Read through it first. My shadow clone will guide you.”

On her own, Karin’s progress would be slow. But with his clone, she’d learn faster than in normal classes.

“Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei.”

The pile of books made her head spin, but she didn’t complain. After the nightmare of Kusa, even studying like this felt wonderful.

“You all keep training,” Kitazawa reminded the others, his gaze lingering on Shikamaru, who had been itching for a break. With a sigh, Shikamaru resumed practicing the Shadow sewing Technique.

“Kitazawa-sensei!” Kabuto spoke up. “I’ve already learned Gale Palm and Great Breakthrough

.”

“Impressive,” Kitazawa nodded. Two C-rank jutsu in just half a month—solid progress.

“I’ll teach you a third one now,” he said after a pause. “But it’s B-rank, so it won’t be easy.”

He pulled out a shuriken and infused it with chakra.

“Wind Release: Shuriken!”

The weapon whistled through the air, slicing cleanly through a rock.

“This is your next challenge,” Kitazawa explained. “If you can’t manage it yet, focus on refining your chakra nature transformation first.”

“Yes, sensei.” Kabuto drew a deep breath and prepared himself.

After half an hour of guidance, Kitazawa left a shadow clone to oversee him. Kabuto’s strong foundation and control meant he didn’t need constant supervision.

“Kitazawa-sensei!” Hinata finally spoke up, unable to contain herself.

He walked over, gently patting her head. “What’s wrong? Having trouble?”

Hinata shook her head, her lips curving shyly. “No… I can already perform twelve consecutive palms!”

Kitazawa chuckled. “So you’re asking me to praise you?”

Her face turned scarlet, and she lowered her head, fidgeting with her fingers.

“You’ve made remarkable progress,” he said warmly. “Your strength is enough to qualify for the Chūnin Exams.”

Hinata’s heart fluttered at the praise. “It’s all thanks to your guidance, sensei!”

“Don’t get carried away. Keep pushing toward mastering the Sixty-Four Palms,” Kitazawa said, lightly pinching her cheek.

“Mhm!” She nodded with determination.

Once satisfied with her progress, Kitazawa moved on. Passing through two tree-lined paths, he finally reached Naruto.

Or rather—a horde of Narutos.

Dozens of clones, drenched in sweat and barely standing, were still struggling with Rasengan training.

The third stage was brutal, and since Naruto hadn’t resorted to shortcuts like in the original story, his progress was slower than ever.

“Enough, Naruto. Rest for a bit,” Kitazawa called out.

“Kitazawa-sensei?” Naruto’s eyes lit up with surprise.

“Dismiss the clones first,” Kitazawa sighed. The sight of so many green jumpsuits nearly gave him a headache.

Naruto quickly made the seals. With a series of pops, the clones vanished, their memories crashing back into him. He staggered and collapsed, pale-faced.

Kitazawa winced. ’Monster… If it were me, recalling that many clones might kill me outright.’

“Here, water.” He handed over a bottle.

“Thanks, sensei…” Naruto chugged it down gratefully.

Kitazawa glanced at the boy’s stomach. ’I wonder if the Nine-Tails ever eavesdrops out of boredom?’ It had been locked in that dark space for years; maybe listening was its only entertainment. Then again, it could just be napping.

“Wait here a moment,” Kitazawa said suddenly.

“Huh?” Naruto blinked, confused, but before he could ask, Kitazawa disappeared. Moments later, he returned—with Sasuke.

“Sasuke, activate your Sharingan.”

“…What?” Sasuke’s expression darkened in confusion. Called here just for this? Still, he obeyed, his scarlet eyes glowing as the air grew tense.

Inside Naruto’s seal space—

The Kyuubi stirred from its slumber.

“An Uchiha…?” Its deep voice rumbled with hatred.

Few things angered it more than those cursed eyes.

“Oh, it’s just that brat.” Recognizing Sasuke, the fox lost interest. He was weak—hardly worth its attention.

Back outside, Kitazawa smiled. “Naruto, how about during this break, I tell you the story of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and Uchiha Madara?”

“That sounds awesome! I wanna hear it!” Naruto perked up immediately.

“Uchiha Madara?”

Wasn’t that the strongest Uchiha in the entire clan’s history?

Even Sasuke’s eyes flickered with interest at the name.

“Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara?” he murmured.

The Nine-Tails gave a low snort. Just hearing those names made its massive body shudder.

Back then, it had been peacefully asleep when Madara suddenly tore it away, shackled its will, and dragged it to war.

The beast had always thought itself invincible, the peak of living power in the shinobi world—until Madara subdued it with nothing more than a single glance.

At that moment, the Nine-Tails had no doubt: Madara was the strongest shinobi alive.

But then came Hashirama Senju, even more outrageous.

“You’re too strong, so you’ll have to be sealed!” Hashirama had declared, pinning it to the earth with just one hand.

The memory still left the Nine-Tails with a lingering bitterness.

“The Warring era stories are ancient,” Kitazawa began lightly. “I wasn’t there to see them myself. Just bits of wild folklore I’ve picked up. So don’t take them too seriously.”

He smiled faintly. “Whose tale do you want first?”

“Hashirama Senju!” Naruto shouted instantly.

“Uchiha Madara,” Sasuke said at almost the same moment.

Kitazawa chuckled. “Then we’ll start with Madara. Don’t look so disappointed, Naruto—most of his stories are tied directly to Hashirama anyway.”

Naruto gave a quick nod, then patted the ground beside him. “Come on, Sasuke, sit.”

After a reluctant pause, Sasuke sat down.

“According to unofficial records,” Kitazawa began, his tone lowering conspiratorially, “Madara never cried once after birth. His father, Uchiha Tajima, laughed with joy and declared his son a ’Gift from the god of war.’”

“Why was that something to celebrate?” Naruto asked, confused.

“Because the world back then was chaos,” Kitazawa explained. “Only the strongest survived. Even geniuses like Madara and Hashirama couldn’t protect all of their brothers.”

Sasuke frowned. “Not crying doesn’t sound like anything special. I thought you’d say his birth shook the heavens—petals falling, chakra storms, something worthy of legend.”

Kitazawa coughed. “Well… when Tajima finally lifted Madara in his arms, the boy did cry. But it wasn’t the cry of a normal baby.”

Sasuke blinked. “Then what kind was it?”

Kitazawa deadpanned: “It was a girl’s cry.”

“Ah?!”

Naruto, Sasuke, and even the Nine-Tails jolted in unison.

“So,” Kitazawa continued smoothly, “Madara was raised as a girl for years. Wore skirts and all.”

“???”

Sasuke’s face darkened. No. Impossible.

Madara might have betrayed Konoha, but in the clan’s memory, his image as an indomitable force had never faded. To hear this now… it felt like his world was collapsing.

“No wonder!” Naruto exclaimed. “So that’s where the Sexy Jutsu came from!”

He recalled an earlier “unofficial record” Kitazawa had shared—Madara transforming into a beautiful woman to trick Hashirama.

If he thought about it, wasn’t that the prototype of the Sexy Jutsu?

“???” Sasuke slowly turned toward him. Don’t tell me… the Sexy Jutsu actually originated from Madara himself?!

“Hahahaha!”

The Nine-Tails roared with laughter, slapping its belly inside the seal. Never in its wildest dreams had it imagined such a backstory for Uchiha Madara.

“Fine,” Sasuke muttered darkly. “Then what about Hashirama Senju? He must have some embarrassing tales too.”

The Nine-Tails perked its ears instantly.

Kitazawa nodded. “Hashirama and Madara were rivals, but also friends. Do you know what their very first contest was?”

Naruto’s eyes blazed. “It must’ve been an epic duel! A clash of fiery spirit!”

Sasuke gave a firm nod. The two strongest shinobi in the world—their first fight had to be legendary, like their final battle at the Valley of the End.

Kitazawa, however, shook his head. “No. Their first contest… was to see who could pee farther.”

“…What?”

Naruto’s jaw dropped.

Sasuke’s mouth twitched. ’Even at three years old, I wouldn’t have played something that childish…’

The Nine-Tails howled with laughter, its chakra thrashing the sealed space until it grew turbulent.

Naruto clutched his stomach. “Ow—! I think I ate something bad, I’m getting gassy!”

Kitazawa raised a brow. “Let me check.”

Naruto lowered his hands obediently. Kitazawa placed a glowing palm over his stomach, and green chakra flared as he probed.

He quickly detected the churning sealed space.

“Nothing serious,” he said, pulling back. “Just rest a while.”

But inwardly, he smirked. The Nine-Tails wasn’t sick—it was simply laughing so hard it nearly knocked itself out.

“So, who won in the end?” Naruto asked eagerly.

Sasuke sighed. ’Why does it even matter?’ Still, he glanced at Kitazawa, curious despite himself.

“Hashirama,” Kitazawa said without hesitation. “Because Madara had one fatal weakness—he couldn’t go if anyone was standing behind him.”

Sasuke stiffened. “…So someone helped Hashirama?”

“Indeed. The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, teleported behind Madara with the Flying Thunder God. Instant defeat.”

Sasuke’s eyelid twitched. ’The Flying Thunder God… used for that? Really?’

And wasn’t that two against one?! Shameless Senju!

The Nine-Tails was in tears from laughter.

Naruto clutched his stomach again. “Ahh! Not again!”

Kitazawa clapped his hands. “That’s enough unofficial history for today. Back to training. Maybe next time, I’ll share more.”

Of course, that was a lie. He intended to wait a long while—the Nine-Tails might just break its silence first, desperate to hear more ridiculous “truths” about Madara and Hashirama.

Sasuke sat stiffly, his expression tangled and grim.

Naruto, however, was grinning ear to ear.

——————

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