9:00 a.m.
Kitazawa stepped into the Hokage's Office right on time.
He walked over to the window and pulled open the curtains.
Sunlight flooded the room in an instant.
It was already August; Konoha had fully entered summer. Even though it was only nine in the morning, the sun was blazing, bathing the entire village in a bright, clear light.
Kitazawa let his gaze linger on the village for a moment before turning away and taking his seat behind the Hokage's desk.
It had been over half a month since he took up the mantle of Sixth Hokage.
During that time, nothing major had happened in the ninja world—or in Konoha.
Everyone was simply waiting for the Akatsuki's next move.
The other hidden villages hadn't made any large-scale actions either, but beneath the surface, they were far from quiet.
Kitazawa casually picked up a file from the top of the stack on his desk.
It detailed the minor movements of the other villages. In short, they were all preparing for war.
The major hidden villages were purchasing ninja tools and stockpiling all kinds of wartime supplies.
Konoha had earned a considerable amount of money from this.
That was thanks to the major villages buying large quantities of ninja tools from Takumi Village.
As for Takumi, Kitazawa had already brought it under his secret control back when he was forging the Moon-Chasing Bow and the other bows.
Naturally, Konoha itself was also amassing war supplies.
The other villages believed Konoha was preparing to deal with Akatsuki—when in truth, those preparations were aimed at them.
After finishing the report, Kitazawa set it aside and picked up a second file.
This one was from Hitashi Hyuga.
The Engineering Department had been successfully established with the support of the Hyuga clan.
Kitazawa paused in thought, then reached for a pen.
Now that the engineering department was up and running, it was time to let the villagers and shinobi of Konoha know it existed.
He planned to have them use Earth Release to completely renovate all the roads in the village.
As for the cost, he would have Konoha's merchants shoulder it.
After all, once the roads were improved, they would be the ones to benefit the most.
Once that project was complete, they could move on to promoting railways and airships, gradually building a full transportation network.
After writing his reply, Kitazawa placed the file to one side.
Shizune would come by shortly to collect it and handle the notifications.
He picked up the third file.
This one concerned the Economic Department.
It, too, had been successfully established and was already functioning.
Kitazawa skimmed through the report, then set it down.
The Economic Department had taken over Konoha's commercial affairs, which were already on the right track, so there wasn't much he needed to interfere with personally.
There was room to add new industries, of course, but there was no urgency.
Within Konoha alone, there weren't many businesses that could be expanded on a large scale.
Once the Land of Fire as a whole was stabilized, there would be plenty of ventures to develop.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
Kitazawa looked up.
"Kitazawa-sen—Hokage-sama."
Iruka stepped inside. He had almost used Kitazawa's old title out of habit, but caught himself and corrected it immediately.
"Iruka, long time no see," Kitazawa said with a small smile.
This was their first time meeting since he became Hokage.
"Hokage-sama." Iruka stepped forward and handed over a file. "This is the list of students applying for the Genius Class for the next semester."
"Time really flies," Kitazawa sighed. "It's almost a new semester already."
He took the file, opened it, and glanced through the names.
As expected, he didn't recognize a single student.
Strictly speaking, none of these students had appeared in the original story.
But that was normal.
After Hyuga Hanabi and Konohamaru Sarutobi entered the academy, there had been a long, empty stretch in the manga where the Ninja Academy simply wasn't shown. The next batch of notable talent wouldn't appear until the children of Sasuke's generation.
"The new semester starts September 1st—half a month from now."
After finishing his reading, Iruka looked up and asked, "Hokage-sama, will you attend the opening ceremony?"
"If I have time, I'll go," Kitazawa answered after a moment's thought.
He had attended many opening ceremonies in the past, but since becoming Hokage, he hadn't gone to a single one. He really should show his face at least once.
"Alright," Iruka said with a nod.
"You may go now." Kitazawa put away the file and waved him off.
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Iruka bowed and turned to leave.
Left alone, Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
He'd been buried in Konoha's affairs lately and hadn't visited the Ninja Academy, so he had no idea how the Genius Class was doing now.
With that thought, his figure blurred and vanished from the Hokage's office, reappearing at the Ninja Academy.
It was summer vacation, so regular classes were on break, but the Genius Class students were still training. Even so, the grounds were much quieter than before; fewer than ten students were scattered across the field, focused on their own practice.
Kitazawa's eyes swept over Hanabi, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon.
Hanabi was still drilling Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
Konohamaru , having learned Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning, was now working on Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet.
Moegi and Ise Udon had completed their Chakra control training and begun learning Ninjutsu. Moegi was studying Water Release: Water Hail, while Udon was learning Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique.
Kitazawa nodded to himself.
Their progress was quite good.
Especially Hanabi.
Her talent in Gentle Fist was no weaker than Hinata's or Neji's.
But Hinata and Neji had already gone beyond relying solely on Gentle Fist.
"Hanabi," Kitazawa called.
Hearing his voice, Hanabi immediately ran over.
Unlike Hinata at her age, Hanabi wore her hair long, giving her a more ladylike appearance—but in truth, the sisters' personalities were complete opposites.
"Kitazawa-sensei," Hanabi asked with a bright smile, "how was my Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms just now?"
"Not bad." Kitazawa casually took out a lollipop. "A reward for you."
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei!" Hanabi quickly unwrapped the lollipop and popped it into her mouth.
"Take this as well." Kitazawa produced a summoning storage scroll and handed it to her. "You can open it once you've mastered Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms."
"What's inside?" Hanabi blinked, eyes full of curiosity.
"It's a bow. It's called the Demon Slaying Bow," Kitazawa replied.
Like the Moon Chasing Bow and the Life Feather Bow, the Demon Slaying Bow also had a Yin Release monster sealed within it—Moryo, from the Land of Demons.
"Thank you, Kitazawa-sensei!" Hanabi's excitement burst out all at once.
She knew exactly how powerful the bows Kitazawa gave out were; she only had to look at Hinata and Neji's weapons to understand. She had wanted one for a long time but hadn't dared to ask. A bow like that might not even have a third copy, she had thought.
She hadn't expected to receive one herself in the end.
"You can't use it yet," Kitazawa reminded her with a faint smile.
"I'll work hard!" Hanabi clutched the summoning scroll tightly, her voice brimming with determination.
"Then continue your training."
Kitazawa reached out and patted her head. "If there's anything you don't understand, go ask your sister."
"Kitazawa-sensei, can I ask you?" Hanabi's eyes flickered as she spoke.
"You can ask me too," Kitazawa replied with a nod.
"I got it!"
Hanabi carefully put away the scroll, then skipped off toward the training grounds.
Watching her go, Kitazawa felt her personality was a little different from in the original story.
On second thought, it made sense.
Back then, she'd had to constantly compete with Hinata, and that pressure had always been there.
Now, that burden didn't exist. No wonder she seemed so relaxed.
Kitazawa shifted his gaze to Gaara and Fū.
Both of them were still immersed in training.
He considered calling out to them, then decided against it. Better not to interrupt—besides, if he went over, they'd probably start asking when they could leave.
Leaving them to their practice, Kitazawa returned to the Hokage's office.
He spent another half hour working through the remaining documents on the desk. When he finally finished, he stood up to leave, then paused and formed a shadow clone.
This time, he was planning to be away longer than usual, and he didn't want anyone searching for him and finding nothing.
Once Konan joined the Anbu, he wouldn't need to do this anymore. She could handle relaying messages for him.
With that arranged, Kitazawa used the Flying Thunder God and jumped to a nearby training field.
He stepped forward and extended his hand.
Chakra surged out, undergoing nature transformation, and seven completely different strands of chakra manifested in front of him.
Kitazawa took a deep breath and tried to merge them, aiming to eventually form a Truth-Seeking Orb.
But it was clearly not that simple.
He worked at it for a long time, yet still couldn't even grasp the basics.
With a small sigh, he lowered his hand and glanced up at the sky. It was almost the end of the workday.
After thinking it over, Kitazawa used the Flying Thunder God again, this time flashing to the Hidden Rain Village.
He steadied his breathing, then looked at Konan.
She stood by the window, silently watching the endless drizzle over Amegakure.
Kitazawa walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
Konan glanced back at him, said nothing, and relaxed into his embrace. Her smooth, graceful back rested against his chest, and her rounded hips pressed lightly against his thighs.
"When will your Akatsuki organization make its move?" Kitazawa asked.
"Next week," Konan answered coolly. "I plan to tell Nagato about your meeting in three days."
"Thanks."
Kitazawa's right hand slid up and gently pinched her cheek twice.
"I don't know if he'll agree," Konan said after a brief hesitation.
"He'll agree," Kitazawa chuckled.
Nagato, in his current state, still believed himself a god. There was no way he'd turn down the invitation. If he refused, people would only say he was afraid.
"Then where do you plan to meet him?" Konan asked, slightly taken aback.
"In the Desert of Evil, in the Land of Wind," Kitazawa replied after thinking for a moment. "I'll get there first."
The Desert of Evil was completely uninhabited, making it the ideal place for their battle.
He called it a 'meeting,' but Nagato wouldn't be persuaded without being beaten down first.
Arriving ahead of time would simply give Nagato a chance to sense his presence and confirm he had indeed come alone.
Konan understood the implication and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
She realized that Kitazawa and Nagato were alike—both extremely confident, convinced of their own invincibility.
This wouldn't be resolved with words alone.
All Konan could do was hope that, in the end, things would turn out well.
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