"I think so too."
He paused, then added,
"And I'm going to make it change colors as freely as firecrackers, until its explosions look better than anyone else's."
Akatsuchi looked at him and scratched his head.
He had no idea what this little apprentice was thinking.
Still, seeing how happy Deidara looked, it probably wasn't a bad thing, right?
"Come on, let's go. Master's still waiting."
He grabbed Deidara and tugged him forward.
Deidara let himself be pulled along, but his mind was still full of those images.
One day, he thought to himself.
One day, he would create that kind of art too.
He would make Kiyohara acknowledge his art.
At this point, Deidara had already started seeing Kiyohara as the guide who had opened the door to a new world of art for him.
…
A few days later, Konoha.
Hokage Tower.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his broad desk, smoke curling lazily from the pipe in his hand.
Tsunade and Kiyohara stood before him, giving a full report on everything that had happened during their trip to Iwagakure.
"…That's about it."
Tsunade stepped back after finishing.
Hiruzen nodded.
"You've both worked hard."
He set down his pipe, and his gaze landed on Kiyohara.
"I heard you handled a bit of an incident while you were in Iwagakure?"
Kiyohara knew he was referring to Deidara.
"A kid playing around with clay bombs. It didn't cause any real trouble."
Kiyohara replied calmly.
Though from the look of things, Deidara had probably been completely sold on him.
After all, Deidara had respected even Sasori deeply enough to call him "big brother," because he saw Sasori as a fellow artist.
It was just that Deidara pursued art through explosions, chasing "art of the moment," while Sasori pursued it through human puppets, chasing "eternal art."
Now that someone even more in tune with him than Sasori had appeared, it was only natural that Deidara would be excited.
Hiruzen smiled.
"You handled it well. No conflict broke out."
"You should both go get some rest. I'll make sure this mission is properly entered into the records."
Hiruzen said.
Using Kiyohara was becoming easier and easier.
And on top of that, the boy could even bring out Tsunade's enthusiasm.
If Kiyohara went on a mission, Tsunade often followed.
Otherwise, with the way Tsunade liked to slack off and take it easy, she was honestly hard to motivate.
"Yes, sir."
The two of them turned to leave.
At the door, they ran into someone coming in.
Danzo Shimura.
He wore a dark expression as he brushed past them without even greeting them.
Kiyohara, however, greeted him.
"Lord Danzo."
Kiyohara said.
He had carefully stored away all the Sharingan that good old Danzo had "generously donated" to him. Those were practically extra lives.
He even felt like wandering around outside a bit more sometime, just to see if he could raid another one of Danzo's bases.
You could never have too many Sharingan.
"Hmph. Uchiha brat."
Danzo snorted and walked straight past him.
He had no good feelings toward Kiyohara, especially now that he had racked up another achievement.
The moment he thought about it, the self-control he had cultivated over so many years nearly snapped.
And Orochimaru still hadn't delivered any real results.
At this rate, Danzo was starting to think Kiyohara had a better shot at becoming Hokage than Orochimaru did.
Click.
The office door shut.
Danzo walked up to the desk, planted both hands on it, and fixed Hiruzen with his one eye.
"Hiruzen, do you have any idea what you're doing?"
Hiruzen lifted his pipe and took a slow drag.
"Danzo, say what you came to say."
"Say what I came to say?"
Danzo let out a cold laugh.
"Iwagakure came asking for peace, and you just agreed that easily?"
"No reparations, no territorial concessions, and you just let them go?"
"Do you understand what that means?"
Hiruzen exhaled a cloud of smoke.
"It means the war is over."
"The war is over?"
Danzo's voice rose.
He had come here today to force Hiruzen to bleed a little. This was the perfect chance to make Hiruzen promise to step down.
"So many of our shinobi died. So many supplies were spent. And now we just let it go?"
"And what exactly do you want to do?"
Hiruzen looked at him.
"Keep fighting?"
"Of course we keep fighting. We can still win more!"
Danzo slapped the desk.
"Iwagakure is already at its limit. That old man Onoki is just trying to buy time!"
"If we push a little harder, we can crush them completely!"
His words were aggressive.
But in truth, what he wanted was to prolong the war and give Orochimaru more chances to earn merit.
Because once peace came, it would become much harder to rack up achievements.
"And then?"
Hiruzen asked.
"And then?"
Danzo froze for a second, not understanding what Hiruzen meant.
"Then we can…"
"Can what?"
Hiruzen cut him off.
"Keep letting people die? Keep burning through our strength?"
He set down his pipe and stood up.
"Danzo, have you actually calculated it? If we keep fighting, how many more people do we lose?"
"Iwagakure may be at its limit, but what about us?"
"Our supply lines are stretched too. Our shinobi are stretched too."
"If we keep going, both sides end up crippled."
Danzo clenched his fists.
"That still doesn't mean we should just let it go!"
"Do you know what people are saying outside?"
"Konoha actively sought peace and gave up reparations. Once that gets out, people will think we were afraid of Iwa!"
Hiruzen looked at him.
"So what you care about is how other people see it?"
"I care about Konoha's dignity!"
Danzo's voice echoed through the office.
"Hiruzen, you're too soft!"
"You're always like this—hesitating, overthinking, holding back!"
"You were like this back then, and you're still like this now!"
Hiruzen remained silent.
Smoke rose slowly from the pipe, blurring his face.
After a long moment, he finally spoke.
"Danzo, do you know what the biggest difference between you and me is?"
Danzo paused.
Hiruzen looked at him.
"You'll sacrifice anything for victory. I'm the one who steps on the brakes when it matters."
Danzo's expression changed.
"You—"
"That's enough."
Hiruzen cut him off.
"The treaty has been signed. This matter ends here."
"And I'll take responsibility for it."
Hiruzen said.
Take responsibility?
What kind of responsibility?
A surge of delight flashed through Danzo's heart.
Could it be Hiruzen was really willing to…
"Danzo, I will resign from the position of Hokage over this. Of course, that will be after the war ends. But on the very day the war ends, the process to choose the new Hokage will begin."
Hiruzen said, drawing on his pipe.
Even though he had already considered that possibility, hearing it confirmed without a shred of doubt still sent a rush of joy through Danzo.
After all, everyone knew the Third Hokage was old now and might step down for a Fourth Hokage.
The end of the war had always seemed like the most likely time.
But would he step down one year after the war? Two years? No one knew. Even though Hiruzen was old, his strength was still there.
Now that he had heard it directly, the heavy stone in Danzo's chest finally lifted.
Danzo was about the same age as Hiruzen. If things dragged on any longer, he'd grow too old himself.
"Hmph. Good. At least you have some awareness, Hiruzen."
Danzo tried to keep his expression calm as he turned and left.
But this time, he even bothered to close the door behind him.
At this point, the real key to ending the war was Kumogakure.
If Kumo could be dealt with, Kirigakure would no longer be much of a threat.
Peace was close.
"I need Orochimaru to rack up more achievements in this last stretch of war."
Even in his delight, Danzo felt a strong sense of urgency.
At the very least, Orochimaru's record had to look better than that brat Kiyohara's.
Danzo thought to himself.
…
Training Ground Three.
Kiyohara held up a pinch of white clay between his fingers.
This was clay he had collected himself.
Even without prepared clay, Earth Release chakra could still produce a certain amount of workable clay on its own.
But nature had all kinds of high-quality clay deposits, and using those gave much better results.
Some clay absorbed chakra very quickly. Some was difficult to mix with chakra at all.
Different clays also produced different explosive effects and different variations in power.
For example, in the Land of Wind, near the border with the Land of Rivers, there was an ordinary village called Pottery Village that exported all kinds of ceramics and had plenty of clay.
In Akatsuki Hiden, Sasori and Deidara had even gone there together to collect clay.
"Let's test it first."
Kiyohara took out some clay and poured chakra into it. The clay immediately began to change.
"Explosive Clay: Centipede."
The clay in his hand became a white centipede.
It crawled along the ground.
"Ha."
As Kiyohara formed a seal, the white centipede blew apart with a pop.
"Not bad."
Kiyohara rubbed his chin.
He could actually increase the blast even more by stuffing a few explosive tags into the clay.
"I just don't know how Deidara turned his palms and chest into mouths."
Kiyohara shook his head.
Deidara didn't possess a bloodline limit, so those extra mouths had to be the result of his own body modifications.
Once those mouths took in clay, they injected chakra into it, making the process far faster than doing it by ordinary means.
"My chakra control is strong enough that I'm basically comparable to Deidara with those mouths anyway."
Kiyohara kneaded another lump of clay in his palm and fed chakra into it, creating a new batch of explosive clay.
To make explosive clay detonate, the key was mixing Fire Release chakra and Earth Release chakra into it, using the clay as a carrier.
If that process happened directly inside the body, it would become the Explosion Release bloodline limit—like Gari of Iwa.
This time, Kiyohara shaped the clay into a huge white bird.
Because his chakra reserves were so massive, the explosive clay creations he made were naturally enormous.
"Kiyohara!"
A familiar voice called out from ahead.
He looked up and saw Kurenai standing there, waving to him.
Her long hair fell over her shoulders, and her cheeks were slightly flushed from running over.
"Kurenai, huh."
Kiyohara said.
When he and Tsunade had gone to Iwa to sign the treaty, the shinobi who had previously been fighting Iwa had already begun returning to Konoha in batches.
Once they had rested, they would be reassigned to the Kumogakure front.
Kurenai was part of that batch.
She had come back two days before Kiyohara.
Today was Kiyohara's first day back.
"What are you doing here?"
Kurenai asked.
"Looking for you."
She pressed her lips together in a smile.
"Lady Tsunade said you'd gone to the training grounds, so I came to see."
Her gaze landed on the giant white bird behind him.
"What's that?"
"Clay."
Kiyohara said.
"Clay I bought and shaped into a bird."
"Clay?"
Kurenai blinked.
"It looks huge."
"It can move too."
Kiyohara turned around, and the giant bird lowered its head like a living slide.
"Huh? It can do that too?"
This was Kurenai's first time seeing clay like this.
"Come on."
Kiyohara stepped up first and held a hand out to her.
Kurenai took his hand and climbed up.
The two of them stood on the bird's back, and a moment later, it spread its wings and rose into the sky.
"All this clay has my chakra mixed into it, so I can control it."
Kiyohara explained.
The actual amount of clay was small. It had only expanded because of the massive amount of chakra packed into it.
"I see."
Kurenai looked down at the scenery below, then out toward the distant village.
"It really feels like you can do everything, Kiyohara."
Kurenai sighed.
After not seeing him for a little while, he had somehow learned another strange new thing.
"Not really."
Kiyohara shook his head.
"There's still a lot I can't do."
"Like what?"
Kurenai tilted her head at him.
Kiyohara thought for a moment.
"For example… giving birth."
Kurenai's face instantly turned red.
"Wh-what kind of nonsense are you saying?!"
She punched him lightly.
Kiyohara only smiled and didn't dodge.
"Come on."
He guided the giant bird back down and put away the clay once they landed.
"Time to head back."
Kurenai nodded and fell into step beside him.
The two of them walked side by side through the evening streets, their shadows stretched long by the setting sun.
After a few steps, Kurenai suddenly spoke.
"Kiyohara."
"Yeah?"
"That clay… could you make one for me too?"
Kiyohara turned to look at her.
"What do you want clay for?"
"To keep at home."
"You said my genjutsu and Wind Release are working together better and better, right? If I add explosives too, maybe I could develop a new tactic."
Kiyohara thought it over, then nodded.
"Sure."
As long as he didn't turn the clay into explosive clay, it wouldn't explode.
If he was just shaping it, then it was basically the same as making a figurine.
"But you'll have to give me a couple of days. I still want to keep studying the properties of these clays."
"Okay!"
Kurenai smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.
The two of them continued walking.
After passing through an alley and turning the corner, the gate to Tsunade's house came into view.
"See you tomorrow."
Kiyohara said goodbye to Kurenai.
…
Tsunade's house.
Kiyohara pushed open the entryway door, and a wave of fragrance drifted out.
"You're back?"
Tsunade's voice came from the kitchen.
Kiyohara changed his shoes and walked in.
Tsunade stood at the stove wearing an apron.
Because her chest was so full, the apron looked decidedly overworked. Kiyohara glanced at it and found himself wondering whether it could actually hold out.
Would it burst open with a snap?
The quality didn't look especially reliable.
"You're cooking yourself, Sensei?"
Once he turned off his auto-aim, Kiyohara noticed something simmering in the pot, steam rolling up from it.
"What, not allowed?"
Tsunade turned and shot him a glare.
"Go wash your hands and get ready to eat."
Kiyohara smiled and turned to wash up.
By the time he returned to the table, several dishes had already been laid out, along with a steaming bowl of miso soup.
Basically, whatever you ate, it was expected to come with a bowl of miso soup. That was just custom in the shinobi world.
Tsunade untied her apron and sat across from him.
Shizune came downstairs too.
She had returned from the battlefield as well.
"Eat."
Once everyone was seated, Tsunade gave the word.
Kiyohara picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth.
"Your cooking keeps getting better, Sensei."
"Of course."
Tsunade lifted her chin proudly.
"Who do you think I am?"
The three of them ate quietly.
Then Tsunade suddenly set down her chopsticks.
"Kiyohara."
"Yeah?"
"Do you think… the old man made the right choice this time?"
Kiyohara looked up.
Tsunade was looking at him.
She had personally gone to those negotiations, and never once had a negotiation felt that effortless.
After all, Konoha had given up reparations, so naturally Iwa wanted the deal badly. Both sides agreed right away, and all they had to do was sign paperwork.
"Giving up reparations and ending the war just like that… people out there really are talking."
Kiyohara rubbed his chin.
"What do you think, Sensei?"
"I'm asking you."
Tsunade glared at him.
Kiyohara smiled.
"I think Lord Hokage made the right call."
"Oh?"
Tsunade raised a brow.
"Why?"
"Because there was no point in continuing the war."
Kiyohara set down his chopsticks.
"Iwa was at its limit, and so were we."
"If we kept fighting, both sides would just end up crippled."
"Instead of letting more people die just to save face, it was better to cut losses when we still could."
He paused.
"And with the war over, the shinobi who survived get to go home. And the ones who already died… won't keep dying for it."
That was genuinely how Kiyohara felt.
Though asking for absolutely no compensation was still pretty ridiculous. At the very least, they should have pushed for more benefits.
But Hiruzen was still Hokage right now.
Kiyohara guessed that within a few days, everyone in the village would hear about his retirement.
That would plunge the village into a swirl of hidden currents.
A village was a giant cake.
And that cake had already been divided up, with every piece belonging to someone.
Now the one who had been dividing the cake was stepping down, and a new one would soon take over. Naturally, that meant a lot of benefits would get dragged around.
Take Minato Namikaze, for example. If Minato took office, civilian-born shinobi would definitely find it easier to rise.
"You really do think clearly, kid."
Tsunade picked her chopsticks back up and resumed eating.
…
A few days later.
Konoha officially received notice that Hiruzen Sarutobi would step down, with the retirement date set for the day the war ended.
"So they're finally choosing a Fourth Hokage?"
Fugaku Uchiha set down the kunai he had been maintaining.
He was already planning to call a meeting in the secret chamber beneath Naka Shrine.
"Father, do you want to become Hokage?"
At the side, Itachi Uchiha had overheard him.
"A shinobi who doesn't want to become Hokage isn't a good shinobi."
Fugaku shook his head.
"In the past, I wouldn't have even considered it. But now that the relationship between the village and the Uchiha is easing up, it's not impossible that an Uchiha Hokage could appear."
There was obvious excitement in Fugaku's voice.
Becoming Hokage was his greatest goal.
"Then the one in the clan with the best chance should be you, Father?"
Itachi asked.
"Not necessarily."
Fugaku shook his head.
There was someone else whose chances were very high too.
"Kiyohara. Among the Uchiha, he's also someone who could very well become Hokage."
Fugaku said.
~~~
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