But Obito had also become wary of Black Zetsu.
That thing was far too good at manipulating people. If he let his guard down even a little, he could easily end up getting played.
And in the end, this was supposed to be Madara's "manifested will."
"Is that so, Obito?"
Black Zetsu's tone was noncommittal.
Even so, he personally thought very highly of Obito.
The reason was simple: an eye technique like Kamui was on a level even the Flying Thunder God couldn't match.
Just the ability to ignore all ninjutsu and taijutsu attacks was already monstrous enough.
Obito glanced at Black Zetsu and said no more. His figure slowly vanished into space.
…
Iwagakure, Tsuchikage's Office.
Onoki's face was dark as he stared at Roshi standing before him.
Roshi's left sleeve hung empty.
And for a shinobi, losing an arm had a massive impact.
Their hand seal speed would be far slower than everyone else's.
"You couldn't retrieve the severed arm?"
Onoki asked.
"There wasn't time. If I'd stayed to look for it, I might not have gotten out alive."
Roshi shook his head.
Even someone as stubborn as him had to admit that Kiyohara was strong. Kiyohara's Water Release had almost completely locked him down.
"I'm a jinchuriki, so even with a missing arm, I'm better off than an ordinary shinobi."
As he spoke, crimson tailed beast chakra slowly spread from the stump of his arm, gradually forming a phantom chakra limb.
"I can still use this to form hand seals."
Roshi continued.
But no matter what, that method was never going to be as good as a real arm.
"Kiyohara is really that strong?"
Onoki frowned.
He was genuinely curious about that.
After all, he had never personally seen Kiyohara fight.
Roshi lowered his head and said through clenched teeth,
"That Konoha brat… his chakra reserves are enormous. Like a shinobi from the Senju clan."
Roshi shook his head.
Hearing that, Onoki's brows knit tighter.
This brat with Uchiha blood in him reminded him of a nightmare from decades ago.
That man had been just as outrageous.
"That brat used Water Release to create an entire lake and forcibly extinguished my sea of lava."
Roshi dispersed the chakra arm, and his sleeve fell empty once again.
Several Iwa higher-ups stood on either side, exchanging looks.
After a long silence, one of them finally spoke.
"Tsuchikage-sama, should we… send the Five-Tails jinchuriki to try?"
Onoki fell silent for a moment before answering,
"…Enough."
"Enough?"
That high-ranking shinobi froze.
"That's it? Kitsuchi is still in their hands, and Roshi lost an arm."
"And what do you want us to do?"
Onoki turned to look at him.
"Send more troops? Our supply lines are already broken. Do you have any idea how many shinobi we've already lost? If we keep fighting, what will Iwagakure have left?"
He walked back down to the ground, clasped his hands behind his back, and stopped in front of the map.
"Contact Konoha. Sound out their position."
Onoki said.
"See if they're… willing to agree to a ceasefire."
The office fell silent.
Everyone knew what that meant.
Iwagakure was about to bow its head.
…
Konohagakure, Hokage Tower.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his broad desk, his pipe sending thin trails of white smoke curling into the air.
Spread across the desk was a freshly delivered war report, packed tightly with lines of writing.
But every line described the same thing.
"The Four-Tails jinchuriki lost an arm… Iwagakure voluntarily withdrew…"
he murmured, unable to suppress the curve of his lips.
"Good. Very good."
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, seated on either side, exchanged a glance.
"Hiruzen."
Koharu spoke, hesitation in her voice.
"Kiyohara really did render a great service this time, but have you considered what it means for an Uchiha to reach this level of prestige? Couldn't that…"
She trailed off without finishing the sentence.
But the meaning was obvious enough.
Hiruzen's brows drew together slightly.
Before he could reply, the office door was shoved open.
Danzo Shimura strode in, his lone eye sweeping across the room before settling on Hiruzen.
"Hiruzen, I heard Kiyohara's done it again?"
His voice was hoarse, full of restrained anger.
"An Uchiha kills the Mizukage in open battle, captures the Tsuchikage's son, and severs the Four-Tails jinchuriki's arm… and you think that's normal?"
Hiruzen took a slow drag from his pipe and exhaled.
"And why wouldn't it be?"
"Of course it isn't!"
Danzo stepped up to the desk and planted both hands on it.
"Have you forgotten what Tobirama-sensei believed? The Uchiha clan is evil by nature!"
"Danzo!"
Homura suddenly cut in.
His brows were tightly furrowed, his voice edged with displeasure.
"Tobirama-sensei did say those things. But he also chose Kagami as one of the Hokage's guards. How do you explain that?"
Hokage guards were no ordinary position.
Danzo choked on his words for a second.
"Kagami was an exception."
In the end, that was all he could say.
"And why can't Kiyohara be an exception too?"
Hiruzen took the opening.
He set down his pipe and fixed Danzo with a steady look.
"Kiyohara is now Tsunade's student. He's inherited Konoha's Will of Fire. He's one of the village's rising generation."
Hiruzen paused, his voice growing heavier.
"Danzo, what exactly is it you're so worried about?"
"Hmph. Don't forget Uchiha Madara."
Danzo shot back.
Madara had defected from the village and even tried to return and destroy Konoha.
If Hashirama Senju hadn't stopped him outside the village, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"That was another era, Danzo."
Hiruzen replied.
Listening to him, Danzo felt as if Hiruzen had already been completely brainwashed by the Uchiha.
Bang!
He slammed the office door hard behind him as he left.
Every single time, they ended up arguing over Kiyohara.
After all, Kiyohara had already raided one of his research bases.
So now, no matter how Danzo looked at Kiyohara, he found him intolerable.
And with Uchiha blood in the boy's veins—a bloodline Danzo believed carried an original sin from birth—his hatred only deepened.
Hiruzen looked at the slightly trembling door and let out a sigh.
"When it comes to the Uchiha, he's always like this."
Koharu murmured.
"Let him be."
Hiruzen picked his pipe back up.
"At least Konoha won again."
How could someone who had repeatedly earned such great merit for Konoha possibly be evil?
And on top of that, Kiyohara had always been modest and respectful. He was nothing like the other Uchiha.
…
Kumo Front, Konoha Camp.
Rin Nohara sat under a large tree, head lowered, holding a palm-sized notebook in her hands as she wrote intently.
The tip of her pen scratched softly across the paper.
"Rin, what are you doing?"
A voice came from above her.
Rin looked up and saw Kakashi standing in front of her at some point, both hands in his pockets.
"Ah… I'm taking notes."
"Notes?"
Kakashi raised a brow.
"What kind of notes?"
"Notes on Water Release medical ninjutsu."
Rin replied.
"Kiyohara-kun has taught me a lot. I'm afraid I'll forget, so I've been writing it all down…"
"Rin just wants to spend more time with Kiyohara, right?"
A booming voice suddenly cut in.
Both of them turned their heads at once.
Might Guy had somehow wandered over too. He stood there with his hands on his hips, his big white teeth gleaming in the sunlight.
"After all, if you have a shared topic, you'll have more chances to spend time together and talk!"
Guy said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Truthfully, he had the same idea. That way he could spend more time with Kiyohara too, discussing taijutsu together and burning the flames of youth.
"I-I'm not…"
Rin's voice suddenly faltered, and her eyes started darting around.
Kakashi glanced at her, then looked over toward Kiyohara in the distance, where he was talking with a few other shinobi.
"Good luck, Rin."
Under his mask, Kakashi wore a warm, approving smile.
He genuinely thought things between Kiyohara and Rin had potential.
Guy stepped in too and gave her shoulder an enthusiastic pat.
"That's right! Youthful romance should burn brightly too! Rin, I support you!"
"Y-you two…"
Unable to handle it anymore, Rin turned and hurried off at a small run.
…
Half a month passed in a blur.
The weather gradually grew hotter.
For most of that time, Kiyohara had been following the Hyuga clan's guidance and training in Gentle Fist.
"Again?"
Hyuga Kiyohara's spirit emerged from within him and floated beside him.
"Yeah."
Kiyohara opened his eyes.
The instant those black pupils opened, they turned into a pale, luminous white.
At its core, Daytime Tiger was an air cannon formed by compressing air with extreme speed after opening the Seventh Gate.
Meanwhile, Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm released chakra from the palm to form a shockwave.
Seventh Gate, Gate of Shock… open!
Blue steam shot into the sky.
Kiyohara's skin turned red, and veins rose along his forehead, neck, and arms.
He raised his right hand.
Through the Byakugan's vision, he could clearly see the chakra within his body becoming violent and unstable.
That was the difficult part.
To use Daytime Tiger, he had to open the Seventh Gate. But once the Seventh Gate was open, controlling chakra itself became extremely hard.
It surged wildly through his chakra network.
All Kiyohara could do was force it into line as best he could, then use Gentle Fist through it.
Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm!
He struck out with one palm, producing a massive shockwave.
In the Seventh Gate state, any taijutsu he used was dramatically amplified.
"Daytime Tiger uses chakra to compress air. Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm uses chakra to directly create a shockwave."
"If I compress the air first, and then once it reaches a certain point, inject chakra into it—so that the compressed air and the chakra explode at the same time…"
"When the compressed air bursts, it creates a shockwave. When the chakra bursts, it creates a shockwave too. If those two shockwaves overlap, the power should multiply many times over."
After half a month, Kiyohara's thoughts on the matter had become much clearer. He had a basic framework now.
Or rather, the principles behind the two techniques weren't all that complicated.
The real difficulty lay in chakra control and sheer proficiency.
…
By evening, Kiyohara returned to camp.
The moment he reached his tent, a figure stepped forward to meet him.
It was Kurenai Yūhi.
There was concern on her face, her brows slightly drawn together.
"Kiyohara, were you training all afternoon?"
She looked at him closely.
There were still traces of sweat at his temples.
"Yeah."
Kiyohara nodded.
"I recover fast. See?"
He casually wiped his forehead.
The sweat evaporated in his palm, turning into a thin wisp of white steam.
Kurenai froze for a second, then looked even more distressed.
"Even if you recover fast, you can't push yourself like that…"
she muttered quietly.
"Do you want… me to heat some water for you? A bath might help."
Kiyohara looked at her.
Kurenai had grown taller and more mature over the years—honestly, even more so than in the original story.
Beneath that light red ninja outfit, the curves of her body were already unmistakable.
The places that should have shape did, and the places that should be full absolutely were. She was nothing like the shy girl she had once been.
Kiyohara figured it was probably because the war had dragged on so long, making her older than in the original story, and because she had inherited the White Snake's power.
She was already very close to that mature older-sister aura.
Kiyohara found himself thinking—
Wasn't she already at the point where she could be "picked"?
He and Kurenai weren't children anymore, and before he knew it, all this time had already passed.
"No need to heat water."
Kiyohara suddenly reached out and wrapped an arm around her waist.
Kurenai let out a startled cry. Before she could react, the scenery around them began to warp.
In the next instant, the two of them were standing in a familiar room.
Wooden walls. Tatami flooring. And outside the window, the streets of Konoha.
Tsunade's house.
Kurenai's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked around.
"T-this is Konoha?"
She turned to stare at Kiyohara.
"Your Flying Thunder God… can cover a distance like this?"
"More or less."
Kiyohara smiled.
"As long as you have enough chakra."
Kurenai parted her lips, wanting to say something, only to realize she had no idea what to say.
From the Kumo front all the way back to Konoha—how far was that?
A Flying Thunder God that could cross that kind of distance…
The way she looked at Kiyohara now carried a trace of outright admiration.
Then she suddenly thought of something, and her face turned bright red.
"Y-you… why did you bring me back to Konoha?"
"Weren't you the one who said something about a bath?"
Kiyohara replied as though it were obvious.
"There's a bathroom right here."
Still holding her, he started walking toward it.
Kurenai's face turned even redder.
"W-wait… I can walk by myself…"
Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum, but she didn't struggle.
Kiyohara pushed open the bathroom door and set her down.
It wasn't big, but it was neat and clean.
White tiles. A wooden tub. Bath bottles lined up in the corner.
"What are you spacing out for?"
Kiyohara gave her a light swat on the hip.
Kurenai's eyes widened, and she immediately swatted him back in the same place.
"That makes us even."
She planted her hands on her hips.
Kiyohara just smiled.
Then he reached out and gently lifted her chin.
Kurenai was forced to raise her head and meet his gaze.
Then Kiyohara lowered his head.
And kissed her.
At first, Kurenai's body went stiff.
Even though it wasn't their first kiss.
She always got nervous.
But it didn't take long for her to relax, and before long she was even starting to find her footing.
Just when things were starting to turn hazy and she was beginning to sink into it, Kiyohara abruptly stopped and stepped back.
"You…"
Kurenai stood there for a moment before recovering.
She wanted to say something, but felt too embarrassed to put it into words.
So all she could do was stare at him with those wide red eyes.
"Take your bath first. I'm a good man, remember?"
Kiyohara smiled.
Kurenai froze, then lightly punched him in the chest.
That made it sound like she was the bad one here, when he was clearly the one who started it.
"Come on, Kurenai."
Kiyohara said.
Over this period, his understanding of the Flying Thunder God had improved too.
That meant he no longer needed to use intermediate markers along the route—jumping first to another point in the Land of Fire and then warping to Konoha in stages.
Now he could do it in one go.
Of course, what Kiyohara really wanted right now was a different kind of "one-step finish."
"Okay…"
Kurenai didn't refuse.
At this point, their relationship was already that of a couple.
If anything, their progress had actually been slow.
For ordinary villagers, people their age were already being pressured to marry.
After all, back in the Warring States Era, the average lifespan had only been around thirty. The villages had only existed for a little over sixty years, and people's ideas hadn't fully shifted yet.
"I'll go in first."
Kiyohara went into the bathroom to run the hot water.
There was a large bathtub in there, easily big enough for two people to soak in together.
A proper soaking tub was basically standard in Konoha.
And since this had once been part of the Senju clan's old estate, it had been built especially well.
Water splashed steadily into the tub, and before long the room filled with warm steam.
Kurenai stood there in the haze, took a deep breath, and slowly lifted her hands.
Her light red outer robe slid down, revealing her pale back.
A moment later, she was standing there in the steam.
Kiyohara looked at her.
The rising steam blurred the view, but that was the advantage of good eyesight—Kiyohara could still see clearly.
The soft lines and curves of her body were unmistakable.
Under his gaze, Kurenai felt heat spread through her from head to toe.
She turned around, giving him her back, and hurried into the tub, sinking down into the hot water until only her head remained above the surface.
"…Stop looking."
Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.
Kiyohara smiled.
He undressed as well and stepped into the tub.
It was large enough for the two of them to lie side by side.
Kurenai curled up in a corner, hugging her knees, with only her shoulders and head above the water.
Her face was red as a boiled shrimp.
"I'll wash your back."
Kiyohara declared that back-scrubbing was a fine shinobi-world tradition and shouldn't be forgotten.
This was different from bathing with Tsunade before.
That had been in a large mixed hot spring.
This was a bathtub. With two people in it, they were practically pressed together.
And unlike a hot spring, there was nothing here to hide behind.
"Alright…"
After a brief struggle with herself, Kurenai accepted his offer.
She straightened her back, then turned around so her back faced him.
Kiyohara picked up a towel, soaked it in hot water, and gently started wiping down her back.
Kurenai's body trembled a little, but she didn't pull away.
The warmth of his hands came through the towel.
Bit by bit, she relaxed.
Kurenai closed her eyes and let herself sink into that warmth.
Before long, diligent Master Kiyohara finished washing her back.
And while he was at it, he very naturally took care of a bit more than just her back.
Since she was already here, Kurenai could only let him continue.
"I… I'm getting out first…"
she said softly.
She tried to rise, but Kiyohara gently pressed a hand to her shoulder.
"You're not going to wash my back too?"
Kiyohara asked.
Kurenai froze.
She turned her head and met his smiling eyes.
"…You jerk."
she muttered under her breath.
But she still took the towel and moved behind him.
Kiyohara's back was broad, with smooth muscle lines and firm contours visible beneath the skin.
Kurenai's face reddened all over again.
She took a breath and began to wash him.
Kiyohara closed his eyes and felt those small hands moving across his back.
Well, not just small hands.
Since they were in a bathroom, having something soft brush against him too was perfectly reasonable, wasn't it?
After all, that was the only way to get really clean.
~~~
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