Kiyohara took her hand instead.
"Do you want to keep flying?"
Kurenai Yuhi's irritation vanished at once, and her eyes lit up.
"Yes!"
After all, this was a rare experience.
Deep down, most people really did dream of flying.
This time, Kiyohara wasn't just hovering. He truly took flight.
He wrapped an arm around Kurenai's waist, a steadier hold than just holding hands, then continued refining chakra. The two of them glided through the night sky like birds.
They passed through the clouds, and the bright moonlight poured down unobstructed.
From this height, the endless mountain range below looked like a vast expanse of dark ink.
Only the campfires beneath them offered even a trace of light.
Kurenai stared, completely captivated.
Kiyohara, on the other hand, didn't have many extra thoughts about it.
He flew often enough already, and in his previous life there had even been airplanes, so flying itself didn't move him all that deeply.
The ninja world had things similar to planes too—airships, floating fortresses, and the like. Unfortunately, Konoha had none of them.
So this was Kurenai's first time ever looking down from such a great height.
"It's so high up."
"We could go even higher, but if we do, it'll get really cold."
Kiyohara shook his head.
He had enough chakra to keep climbing, and he personally wasn't all that bothered by the cold.
But Kurenai's body wouldn't be able to handle it.
Kiyohara could feel her trembling slightly as they rose higher and higher.
Her body was pressed tightly against his, her figure on full display.
People in the ninja world developed especially fast.
And with the war lasting years longer than in the original story, Kurenai had had even more time to mature.
That made Kiyohara, who previously hadn't been especially interested in her, begin to feel a little interested after all.
His personal type had always been mature women.
"Kiyohara, thank you."
Kurenai spoke softly.
"For what?"
"For showing me all this."
Kurenai turned her head to look at him.
Under the moonlight, her eyes seemed brighter than the moon itself.
"I've never... I've never seen a view like this before."
Kiyohara looked at her.
The moonlight outlined her face in silver, while her eyelashes cast fine shadows over her eyelids.
Her lips were slightly parted, and each breath turned to white mist in the cold night air.
Kurenai looked back at him too.
It felt like Kiyohara had never been this close to her before.
Her throat bobbed unconsciously.
At that exact moment, a gust of wind swept through and scattered the surrounding clouds.
Kurenai leaned in and lightly brushed her lips against his.
When she pulled back, her cheeks were so red they looked ready to drip blood.
She didn't dare look at him. Her gaze drifted elsewhere, and her fingers unconsciously twisted the hem of her clothes.
Kiyohara froze for a second, then smiled.
"Does this count as you taking advantage of me?"
"Isn't that the kind of thing a girl is supposed to say?"
Kurenai murmured in protest, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
"Then say it again."
Kiyohara leaned in a little closer.
Kurenai huffed and stubbornly said, "I... I was blown by the wind just now. I just accidentally bumped into you..."
"Really?"
Kiyohara arched a brow, then lowered his head and kissed her.
Kurenai's eyes widened, and both hands instinctively grabbed the front of his flak jacket.
She could feel his breathing...
And then her mind began to blur.
Her breathing turned ragged, her body trembled slightly, and she went soft in his arms as if she were melting.
After who knew how long, Kiyohara finally let her go.
Kurenai leaned against his shoulder, breathing hard, her gaze unfocused, her cheeks flushed, her lips glistening with moisture.
"This is what taking advantage really looks like," Kiyohara whispered into her ear.
Kurenai couldn't say a word. She just buried her face in his shoulder, too embarrassed to look at him.
…
At the same time, back at the camp, Asuma Sarutobi crawled out of his tent with a thick blanket in hand.
The temperature had dropped sharply that night, and he was worried Kurenai might be cold.
Ninja were stronger than ordinary people, of course, but being more comfortable was always better.
He walked to the front of Kurenai's tent and called quietly, "Kurenai? Are you asleep?"
No answer.
Asuma waited a moment, then called again, but still got no response.
After thinking it over, he figured she had already fallen asleep, so he gently set the blanket down at the entrance to the tent.
"Kurenai, I'm leaving the blanket here. Put it on if you get cold."
He was just about to leave when he suddenly felt that something was above him.
Asuma looked up.
High in the night sky, two blurry figures floated far overhead, moonlight outlining their silhouettes.
They were too far away to make out clearly, but one of those figures...
It was Kiyohara.
Asuma was almost certain of it.
In the entire team, only Kiyohara could fly.
Then who was the other one?
Kakashi?
Right, Kakashi had asked Kiyohara before about flying with Lightning Release. Maybe Kiyohara was demonstrating it for him?
The explanation sounded perfectly reasonable to Asuma.
He imagined Kiyohara carrying Kakashi through the sky while the two of them discussed the principles of ninjutsu, and somehow...
It actually looked pretty harmonious.
Asuma shook his head, throwing away the strange thought.
He looked back up at the night sky. The two figures were still there, motionless, as though they were admiring the scenery.
I'm so jealous, Asuma thought.
If only he could fly too.
Just imagining himself taking Kurenai into the sky like that was enough to make his heart race.
Unfortunately, he couldn't fly.
Asuma sighed, gave the figures in the night sky one last look, then turned and returned to his tent.
The blanket had already been delivered. If Kurenai got cold, she'd use it herself, so there was no need for him to worry.
…
The next morning, Asuma woke up to the smell of breakfast cooking by Akimichi Tōdō.
He crawled out of his tent, stretched lazily, and instinctively looked toward Kurenai's tent.
The blanket was still right where he had left it, untouched.
Just then, Kurenai also stepped out of her tent.
She looked to be in excellent spirits, her complexion rosy, her eyes bright, and her long hair carefully tied into a high ponytail.
"Morning, Kurenai," Asuma greeted her.
"Weren't you cold last night? I left a blanket at your tent entrance, but it looks like you never touched it."
Kurenai froze for a moment and looked toward the blanket by the entrance. Then she seemed to realize what he meant.
"Oh... last night, I... I wasn't cold. I was actually kind of warm."
"Warm?"
Asuma scratched his head in confusion.
The temperature had obviously been very low last night. He himself had used two blankets.
Ninja could strengthen themselves with chakra, and their bodies were much tougher than ordinary people's.
But at the end of the day, they were still human. If it got too cold, they could still catch a cold, and they could still shiver from the chill.
That was why compact blankets were essential for certain missions.
"Yeah, maybe I was just sleeping too deeply."
Kurenai answered vaguely, her gaze drifting away.
At that moment, Kiyohara also came out of his tent, organizing his ninja tool pouch.
When Kurenai saw him, her cheeks flushed almost imperceptibly, and she quickly turned and headed toward the river to wash up.
Asuma watched her back and felt that something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Breakfast was simple porridge and pickles. Akimichi Tōdō's cooking wasn't as good as Kiyohara's, but it was still solid enough, and the porridge was soft and fragrant.
Kiyohara's verdict was that the Akimichi clan really were born food lovers.
If you could eat, you knew how to cook.
A lot of people in their clan were pretty good in the kitchen.
Everyone sat in a circle and ate in silence.
Kakashi still looked half asleep as usual.
He had spent the previous night reading a book to pass the time—a dirty novel Kiyohara had recommended to him.
At first, Kakashi hadn't been interested in that kind of thing at all. He'd thought it was a ninja's disgrace.
But after taking a look for himself, he had been shocked to discover an entirely new world.
As a result, he got completely absorbed in it.
Kiyohara glanced at the dark circles under Kakashi's eyes and more or less guessed what had happened.
At first, he had only wanted to see whether Kakashi, without the depression he had in the original story, would still get hooked on dirty books.
The result was obvious.
Kakashi was a secretly horny type.
After breakfast, Kiyohara took out a map.
"At this pace, we should be able to pass through the hilly region this afternoon and reach our destination."
He pointed to a line on the map.
"Anything we should watch out for on the way?" Kakashi asked.
"There are occasionally rogue ninja around this area, but they're all small fry."
Kiyohara folded the map away.
"As long as we stay alert, it shouldn't be a problem."
After eating and packing up the camp, the group set out once again.
Whenever they stopped to rest, Kiyohara continued practicing Lightning Release.
He tried gathering lightning chakra into more parts of his body.
He even started experimenting with condensing lightning chakra into his eyes.
The result was two beams of electricity shooting out.
In response, Kiyohara named the technique Lightning Release: Electric Eyes.
Unfortunately, the power wasn't all that impressive. It was more entertaining than practical.
Since it involved such a crucial part of the body as the eyes, he didn't dare channel too much chakra there.
Kurenai sat under a tree, watching Kiyohara train, her gaze somewhat dazed.
The memory of last night still swirled through her mind—that kiss, that feeling, and the breathtaking shock of looking down on the earth from high above...
"Kurenai?"
Asuma Sarutobi's voice pulled her back to reality.
"Huh? What is it?"
"Are you okay? You've been spacing out this whole time."
Asuma asked with concern.
"I'm fine. I was just thinking about something."
Kurenai hurriedly shook her head.
At that moment, Kiyohara looked off in one direction.
"Someone's approaching."
Kakashi immediately snapped his book shut and activated his Sharingan.
A few seconds later, he sensed them too.
Three chakra signatures were approaching from the east. They weren't moving very fast, as though they were searching for something.
"Rogue ninja?" Kakashi asked in a low voice.
"Most likely."
Kiyohara stood up.
"I'll deal with it. You stay with the camp."
"Be careful."
Kiyohara nodded, and his figure flashed away, disappearing into the forest.
The three rogue ninja were dressed in worn-out shinobi clothes, carrying various ninja tools, but their chakra felt weak. At best, they were around chunin level.
They were searching through the forest as if looking for something.
Kiyohara didn't bother hiding. He landed directly in front of them.
All three jumped in shock and immediately took up fighting stances.
But when they saw that Kiyohara was alone and looked so young, they relaxed.
"Kid, hand over your money and ninja tools, and we'll let you live," the scar-faced one at the front snarled viciously.
He planned to strike first and drew the sword at his waist.
Kiyohara said nothing. He simply lifted his eyes.
Then he used the technique he had only mastered that very day.
Whoosh!
Two beams of electricity shot out from Kiyohara's eyes.
One of the ninja didn't have time to dodge and was hit in the neck. Blood sprayed out instantly.
The other two rogue ninja's expressions changed drastically.
As they tried to resist, Kiyohara's figure vanished from where he stood and reappeared behind Scarface in the next instant.
His hand chopped lightly at the back of the man's neck. Scarface let out a muffled grunt and collapsed limply to the ground.
The third one tried to run, but Kiyohara flicked out two shuriken, striking the backs of his knees.
The man screamed and crashed to the ground. Before he could get back up, Kiyohara bound him tightly with wire.
Kiyohara crouched down and checked their ninja pouches.
There was nothing valuable inside—just some ordinary kunai, shuriken, and a few explosive tags.
Their mission scroll, however, was interesting.
It recorded the approximate locations of several Kumogakure outposts. The information wasn't detailed, but it at least proved that these three weren't just random rogue ninja. They were scouts hired by some other force.
Kiyohara pocketed the scroll, then tossed the three men beneath a tree and temporarily sealed their chakra with a sealing technique.
Hiring rogue ninja was a common enough method.
The Land of Earth had secretly hired the Akatsuki before, after all.
For a great nation, ninja were far more valuable than money.
By paying a certain amount, they could get outsider ninja to do their work and reduce casualties among their own people. To them, it was clearly a very worthwhile trade.
After that, Kiyohara used Sharingan genjutsu to control them and force out some information.
Once he had learned enough—and finished looting what they had—he ended their lives and headed back toward Kurenai and the others.
During wartime, people like these rogue ninja were among the worst offenders.
Official ninja weren't allowed to burn, kill, and plunder, but rogue ninja had no such restraints.
When a civilian village had the bad luck of running into them, the usual outcome was total annihilation.
When Kakashi saw him return so quickly, he raised an eyebrow.
"Taken care of?"
"Yeah. Three rogue ninja. They seem to have some connection to Kumogakure."
Kiyohara handed over the scroll.
Kakashi skimmed through it quickly.
"Distribution of Kumogakure outposts... so they've been scouting us too."
"Normal," Kiyohara said, unsurprised.
"During war, gathering intelligence is routine."
Kakashi nodded and handed the scroll back to him.
After resting a bit longer, the group set out again.
The rest of the journey went smoothly, and around six-thirty, they arrived at Konoha's outpost.
It was a camp built in a valley. Smaller than the one in the Land of Rivers, but with excellent defensive fortifications.
Watchtowers, trap zones, barrier formulas—everything was in place.
There were roughly five hundred ninja stationed at the camp. Most of them were regular forces, while the rest belonged to the medical and intelligence divisions.
Kiyohara handed the escorted supplies over to the man in charge of the outpost, a middle-aged jonin named Yamanaka Isui.
He was Yamanaka Inoichi's clansman and also the team leader for Asuma Sarutobi's squad.
"Good work."
Yamanaka Isui took the inventory list and checked it over quickly.
"You didn't run into trouble on the way, did you?"
"Nothing major. It's already been dealt with," Kiyohara said.
Yamanaka Isui nodded, but his gaze lingered on Kiyohara a little longer.
Of course he had heard Kiyohara's name before. His recent achievements on the Kirigakure front had already spread through Konoha's upper ranks.
But seeing him in person was still surprising.
He was too young—far too young to look like someone capable of killing members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
"You should all get some rest first. Your lodgings have already been arranged," Yamanaka Isui said to the group.
"Kiyohara-kun, later on we may need you to attend a meeting."
"Understood."
Kiyohara inclined his head.
He was no ordinary jonin now. He held an official post.
So it was perfectly normal for him to be called in when a meeting was held.
After a few brief words, Kiyohara turned and left.
His lodging for the night was a set of adjoining tents. The conditions were rougher than in the Land of Rivers, but they were still clean enough.
He had just put down his luggage when he heard someone calling to him from outside.
"Kiyohara, so you're here."
The voice was familiar.
Kiyohara lifted the tent flap and saw a familiar face.
Uchiha Tekka.
He was wearing the Uchiha clan's traditional high-collared robe, with a ninja sword strapped across his back.
"Tekka," Kiyohara greeted him.
"Your reputation just keeps getting bigger and bigger."
Uchiha Tekka walked over.
"Killing members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, taking the Executioner's Blade and Samehada... not bad, kid. You've really brought glory to the Uchiha."
Kiyohara smiled but didn't respond.
As his strength grew greater and greater, the Uchiha clan's attitude toward him had steadily reversed as well.
The old saying about how no one asks about you when you're poor, but distant relatives appear once you're rich, still applied even in the ninja world.
Uchiha Tekka didn't mind and continued on his own.
"I got transferred to this front line half a year ago. I thought it'd be easier over here, but those maniacs from Kumogakure are even more troublesome than Kirigakure. You have no idea—they keep pulling suicide attacks at the drop of a hat, like their lives mean nothing."
"That's always been Kumogakure's style," Kiyohara said.
"Yeah. A bunch of lunatics."
Uchiha Tekka shook his head, then lowered his voice.
"But it's good that you're here. Jiraiya-sama is the commander on this front, and lately he's been planning a counterattack. He needs manpower."
"I probably won't be staying here long."
Kiyohara shook his head.
His main reason for coming here was the mission to escort supplies.
At most, he would rest here for two or three days before he had to return to the Land of Rivers.
During those two or three days, Kiyohara had better complete Yotsuki Kiyohara's final wish.
"Fair enough."
Uchiha Tekka thought it over. Kiyohara was apparently also the vice-captain on another front line.
Not being able to stay here long was understandable.
"Shisui isn't here?" Kiyohara asked.
He was curious how well Shisui had adapted to his Mangekyo Sharingan by now.
Shisui had awakened it relatively early, so his body would gradually adapt to the feedback of that eye power. It wasn't something that could be done overnight.
"He just left yesterday, actually. He should be back once he finishes his mission."
Uchiha Tekka scratched the back of his head.
"Got it."
Kiyohara waved a hand, signaling that he wanted to rest.
Seeing that, Uchiha Tekka tactfully took his leave.
Once he was finally alone in the tent, Kiyohara sat on the crude bedding and began sorting through his thoughts.
When he attended the meeting later, he could gather more intelligence on this front.
Darui was about the same age as Kakashi.
So right now, he was still just a teenage ninja, and his mastery of black lightning was probably limited.
"I wonder when Kumogakure actually started researching their chakra cannon."
Kiyohara stroked his chin.
~~~
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