CHAPTER 147: CHAPTER 147

"You’re the one who’s weak—getting tipsy after two rounds and passing out."

Kitazawa shook his head as he said it.

He’d planned to use this drinking game to probe Tsunade’s thoughts, but the match had ended after only two questions.

Suspicion flickered in his eyes.

’Is she... pretending?’

After a brief hesitation, he bent down and scooped Tsunade into his arms.

If she didn’t want to talk, he wouldn’t push. Besides, he’d already accomplished his goal.

Right now, Tsunade was like Schrödinger’s cat—perhaps by tomorrow she’d decide to face her hemophobia.

They stepped out of the izakaya.

A knock sounded moments later.

Shizune opened the door, only to freeze at the sight of Kitazawa carrying Tsunade.

"Lady Tsunade drank too much, so I had no choice but to bring her back," Kitazawa explained.

"Take her to her room," Shizune said, stepping aside.

"Understood."

Kitazawa carried Tsunade to her bed. Her guard was completely down; he found his gaze lingering for a second longer than he intended.

"I’ll be going, Shizune-senpai."

With that, he headed next door to Yuhi’s place.

It was Tuesday afternoon—no classes. With Tsunade out cold and Shizune unable to leave for the hospital, Kitazawa decided he’d spend the rest of the day practicing Wind Release. After a morning full of kids shouting, he could use the change of pace.

Back in Tsunade’s room...

"Hmph. All men are the same."

Tsunade stretched languidly, eyes snapping open.

With her strength, she’d naturally noticed Kitazawa’s wandering gaze. Strangely, she wasn’t especially angry about it.

"Lady Tsunade... were you pretending?"

Shizune reentered, her expression shifting as she took in the scene.

"That kid’s sharp. I agreed to his drinking game, but this was the only way to dodge him," Tsunade said, swinging her legs off the bed.

"What game?"

"Nothing." Tsunade turned toward the window.

She couldn’t quite sort out her own thoughts.

If she truly didn’t care about Konoha, she would have left already. Instead, she stayed—hesitating.

At the izakaya, after Kitazawa’s very first question, she’d realized what he was after. And she had chosen to evade.

’Am I worse than Naruto?’

Naruto could charge headlong into a hopeless fight without hesitation. She... couldn’t. Not anymore.

The next day—Wednesday.

Kitazawa arrived early at the First-Year Teachers’ Office.

"Kitazawa-senpai?" Iruka blinked in surprise. Morning visits from him were rare.

"Iruka, gather all the teachers for a meeting at 12:40," Kitazawa said from the doorway.

"Got it," Iruka replied, curiosity obvious but unvoiced.

With the monthly exams over, Class 1-A was calm again—except for Sasuke. The boy was training with grim, unrelenting focus, clearly stung by his fourth-place finish. No new mission appeared for Kitazawa though; Sasuke still had a clear personal path forward.

Kitazawa’s own plate was already full.

"Kabuto, your Wind Release: Gale Palm is improving fast," Kitazawa remarked later.

"I don’t have exams, so I’ve been focusing on it these past two days," Kabuto replied modestly.

"You can move on to a new jutsu next week," Kitazawa said, handing him a scroll. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. I’ll teach you now in case I can’t make it back from a mission this weekend."

Kabuto nodded, no objections. His solid foundation made him easier to train than Naruto or Sasuke.

Kitazawa explained the technique, demonstrated once, then guided Kabuto through the first attempts.

Noon came. After lunch with Hinata, Kitazawa headed to the meeting room.

"I called you here to announce something," he began without preamble. "We’re forming a student council."

"What’s that?" Iruka asked.

"An organization of students, run by students," Kitazawa said with a smile. "Hokage-sama has already approved it."

That shut down further questioning—orders from the Hokage left little room for debate.

He outlined the plan. Teachers murmured praise. Kitazawa half-suspected they were buttering him up, but the compliments still gave him a flicker of pride.

"For now, I’ll act as president," he concluded. "Each class needs to select two or three members. Submit the list tomorrow."

That afternoon, in the training field...

"Kitazawa-sensei!" The students greeted him warmly. Even the aloof ones like Sasuke and Neji had come to respect his teaching.

Before starting, he shared the student council plan.

"I want in!" Naruto shouted instantly.

"Me too!" Kiba barked. "And I’m gonna be president!"

"I got first place in the exam, so obviously I should be president!" Naruto grinned, giving a thumbs-up. "We’ll build a School of Youth!"

Kitazawa nearly lost his composure. ’School of Youth? Why not rename it Seigaku and start playing tennis?’

"I support you, Naruto!" Lee declared, trembling with tears in his eyes. "If the entire school follows the Path of Youth, I could die without regrets!"

"No way!" Ino shivered at the thought. Green jumpsuits everywhere would be a nightmare.

Hinata quietly shook her head. Unless Kitazawa himself requested it, she wasn’t going anywhere near one of those jumpsuits.

"The president’s position is mine."

Sasuke’s declaration came without warning, his tone calm yet absolute.

His reasoning was simple.

The student council consisted of the academy’s top students, and its president had authority over them. If he became president, he would effectively be at the pinnacle of the Ninja Academy’s hierarchy. That would bring immense prestige to the Uchiha name—and as a bonus, it would keep one loud-mouthed troublemaker in check.

"Huh?"

Sakura blinked at him, genuinely surprised. Sasuke rarely showed interest in anything outside training, so his ambition for the presidency was unexpected.

"I support you, Sasuke," Shikamaru said without hesitation.

Wearing green jumpsuits was tolerable. But bringing in Might Gai’s brand of youthful

torture training? Absolutely not. That had to be stopped.

"The student council’s still in the trial stage—no elections for now," Kitazawa said, raising a hand to quiet them. "Sasuke, Neji, Naruto, and Rock Lee—you four will join."

"That’s awesome!" Naruto pumped his fist. "The Youth Academy is within my grasp!"

"Naruto! I’ll help you achieve it!" Rock Lee added, eyes sparkling. "For youth!"

"Sasuke-kun, please," Sakura said with sudden urgency, "you have to stop them."

"Go, Sasuke!" Ino, surprisingly, sided with Sakura.

Shikamaru, Kiba, and Shino voiced their support as well.

Even Hinata, though silent, subtly leaned toward Sasuke’s side.

"..."

For the first time since entering the academy, Sasuke found himself with a crowd of supporters—not because of his strength, but because they were desperate to keep Naruto’s youth revolution from taking over.

Kitazawa could only feel torn between laughter and despair.

Thanks to Naruto’s grand speeches about youth, the entire class had split into two factions: the Youth Faction and the Anti-Youth Faction.

But a more troubling thought crossed Kitazawa’s mind.

If Hiruzen’s ideal candidate for president was Naruto... could the Ninja Academy actually turn into a full-blown Youth Academy?

The mental image was so horrifyingly vivid, he dared not dwell on it.

"Alright, class time," Kitazawa announced, clapping his hands.

The students divided naturally—most lined up for Clone Technique and Konoha-ryū drills, while a smaller group, including Sasuke, trained independently.

Kitazawa’s gaze followed Naruto, and a thought struck him.

In the original timeline, Naruto had bonded with the Nine-Tails only after countless trials together—it wasn’t something that happened overnight. But here, within the academy, such events wouldn’t happen on their own.

How could he push that bond forward?

He remembered the unofficial Uchiha Madara story he’d told Naruto before. He seemed quite interested in that... maybe it was worth testing again soon.

Creating two Shadow Clones, Kitazawa headed to an open space to practice Fūton: Shinkūha.

By the end of the day, Wednesday’s practical class wrapped up.

When Kitazawa returned to Kurenai’s home, it was still early. Tsunade and Shizune hadn’t arrived yet.

Kurenai sat on the sofa, legs crossed, a brush in hand as she sketched on a large sheet of parchment. It wasn’t a scroll—it was a map. She was carefully planning the route from Konoha to the Grass Country, as per standard ninja protocol before a mission.

"You’re back—mmph!"

Her words were muffled as Kitazawa closed the distance in his own way.

They made out for a while before parting.

"What are you doing?" she asked, giving him a sidelong glance.

"What? Shy already?" Kitazawa teased.

"I’m not some little girl. But you interrupted my work," she retorted, voice laced with mock annoyance.

"Oh, really?" His expression said he didn’t quite believe her.

Kurenai’s eyes narrowed. She set the map aside, stood, and shoved him onto the sofa.

"I should teach you a lesson."

She straddled his lap, hands pressing him down, her top shifting slightly as her chest rose with her quickened breaths.

"And how exactly will you teach me?" Kitazawa asked, hands sliding to her waist.

Her body stiffened as she realized how close they were. His hand traced down to her thigh.

"D-Don’t touch me there!" she blurted, flustered.

He didn’t listen. The softness and warmth of her bare skin—tempered with the strength of a kunoichi’s training—was intoxicating.

"You—!" With a growl, Kurenai leaned forward and bit his neck.

"Are you a puppy now?" he gasped.

"That’s for touching me without permission," she said, cheeks flushed as she stood.

"I was just admiring beauty," he replied innocently, touching the fresh tooth mark she’d left.

"One day, I’ll bite you back," he warned with a half-smile.

"You’ll never get the chance!" she shot back, retreating toward the stairs with light, quick steps.

Kitazawa couldn’t help but chuckle. ’And she says she’s not a little girl...’

Moments later, Shizune’s voice called, "We’re back!"

"Lady Tsunade," Kitazawa said after a pause, "Hokage-sama asked me to tell you something about Naruto."

"What is it?" she asked.

"He said Naruto broke Yakumo’s genjutsu yesterday because he drew on the Nine-Tails’ chakra."

Tsunade blinked. "He told you that? ... That old man is getting too comfortable sharing classified information."

Her tone made it clear she wasn’t pleased.

"There’s one more thing," Kitazawa said quickly. "Kurenai and I have a mission to the Grass Country this weekend."

"Mission? From Hiruzen?"

"No, just a B-rank assignment," he explained.

"Where’s Kurenai? I want to talk about jutsu information with her."

"I’ll get her."

He brought Kurenai downstairs, then left them to their discussion while he resumed wind-style training.

Two days passed quickly, and Saturday arrived.

Kitazawa’s finalized list of student council members—forty in total, drawn from each class—was already posted. But for now, council business could wait.

The real priority was the mission to Grass Country.

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