The Warring States Sealing History recorded the location where Uchiha Hikari had been sealed.
"The sealing technique used on Uchiha Hikari is pretty interesting."
Kiyohara stroked his chin.
Hikari had been called a "weapon of war," but in truth, she wasn't all that different from an ordinary Uchiha.
The only real difference was that her ocular powers were absurdly overpowered—she could even transplant other people's eye techniques.
But those abilities didn't grant longevity.
Hikari had been sealed for so long, yet when her seal was released in Boruto, she still appeared as a young girl.
That alone was enough to show that the sealing technique used on her back then had the effect of freezing time.
As for how long it could freeze time, or how long the effect lasted, Kiyohara had no way of knowing.
"I should make some preparations before I go."
That was his conclusion.
The reason was simple: he had the Sharingan. To outsiders, that made him a man with Uchiha blood.
And the person Hikari hated most was the Uchiha clan.
Up until the moment she was sealed, Hikari had either been locked away in an Uchiha prison or dragged out to fight for others. She had never lived a normal life.
So once she was freed, she immediately sided with the antagonist and decided to make the world feel pain.
After looking through the recorded sealing techniques for a while, Kiyohara returned to Tsunade's house.
"You're back?"
Tsunade's voice was a little slurred.
Kiyohara walked over and sat down beside her.
"You've had quite a bit to drink, Sensei."
Tsunade gave a soft snort.
"I'm in a good mood today."
She set down the sake bottle and leaned back, her whole body sinking into the soft sofa.
Her full hips pressed deep into the cushion, shaping a heavy, rounded silhouette.
The pale blue fabric stretched tight, faintly outlining the curve underneath.
Tsunade raised her eyes to look at Kiyohara.
"So, brat. Now that you're Hokage, how does it feel?"
Kiyohara looked at her.
That beautiful face was flushed from the alcohol.
"It's alright."
Becoming Hokage didn't excite him nearly as much as he had expected.
Honestly, it didn't even compare to the feeling of fulfilling that lingering wish and inheriting that legacy.
To Kiyohara, Hokage was just a position.
Power was the real core of everything.
As long as he had power, even if he founded a new village from scratch, plenty of people would still follow him.
"Just alright?"
Tsunade raised a brow.
"If I said it felt amazing, that'd sound too arrogant."
Kiyohara smiled.
"That's true."
Tsunade felt that he had a point.
She straightened up and leaned closer.
"Then today we celebrate!"
There was excitement in her voice.
"I'll take you to the casino. We're going to win big!"
Kiyohara had no idea how to respond to that.
Win big?
Not losing big would already be an achievement.
"Isn't there any other way to celebrate?"
he asked.
"What else is there?"
Tsunade shot back.
Kiyohara's gaze drifted to her lips, slightly parted and still moist with sake.
The next second, he leaned in.
And kissed her.
Tsunade's whole body stiffened.
Her eyes widened, filled with disbelief.
This brat…
He was getting bolder by the day.
Instinctively, she tried to push him away.
But Kiyohara's arm was wrapped too tightly around her, and her struggling did nothing.
The taste of sake mingled between their lips, mixed with the scent that always clung to him.
That scent made her head spin.
Tsunade thought, anyway, it wasn't even the first time something like this had happened with Kiyohara.
If she really counted it, she was the one robbing the cradle here.
And before she knew it, the strength of her resistance had already weakened.
She had no idea how long it lasted before Kiyohara finally let her go.
Tsunade's chest rose and fell sharply, her beautiful face dyed completely red.
She glared at him, her eyes full of embarrassed irritation.
Then she lifted one bare foot.
And stomped down on his foot.
Hard enough to make the gesture count—
but in reality, the force was so light it was almost negligible.
The soft sole of her pale foot rested on the top of his foot, warm and yielding.
Kiyohara lowered his gaze to look at it.
The arch was beautiful, the toes round and neat, and the red polish on her nails reflected faintly in the light.
At that moment, Tsunade's golden-brown eyes still held that flustered annoyance, but mixed with something harder to name.
Kiyohara looked at her.
His arm was still wrapped around her waist, and through that thin layer of clothing he could feel how firm and soft it was.
He didn't loosen his grip.
Instead, he tightened it.
Tsunade's breathing grew faster.
She could feel his hand slowly moving at her waist.
The warmth of his palm pressed through the fabric, carrying a sensation that was hard to describe.
Her whole body unconsciously tensed.
"Y-you brat…"
Her voice came out unsteady.
"Enough… enough…"
Kiyohara didn't answer.
He only kept looking at her.
His gaze moved slowly down from her face.
To her lips.
They were still faintly swollen from the kiss.
Then lower.
To her collarbone.
That pale line appeared and disappeared at the edge of her collar.
And then lower still.
To her chest.
The sleeveless top stretched tight there, outlining a full, generous curve.
Tsunade noticed where he was looking, and her face burned even hotter.
Kiyohara couldn't help—
"What… what are you doing…"
She tried to push him away again, only to realize his arm was like iron.
Then—
Footsteps came from outside.
Tsunade's body froze.
She immediately shoved Kiyohara away and hurriedly fixed her clothes.
She pulled her collar back into place, smoothed down the hem of her skirt, and tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear.
She tried to steady her breathing, and the redness in her face slowly began to fade.
The door opened.
Shizune walked in.
Tonton was in her arms, and there was a puzzled look in her eyes.
"Lady Tsunade, I'm back."
Then she looked at Tsunade.
"Huh? Lady Tsunade, why is your face so red?"
Tsunade stiffened.
"…I drank too much."
She turned her face away and didn't dare look at Kiyohara.
Shizune blinked and looked at him.
Kiyohara sat there on the sofa, perfectly calm, sipping tea as if nothing had happened.
Shizune scratched her head.
Something felt strange.
But she didn't think too much about it.
Tsunade really had drunk a lot, so a red face wasn't unusual.
"Lady Tsunade, you should drink a little less."
She bent slightly near Tsunade.
"I'm going to bathe Tonton."
"…Go ahead."
Tsunade's voice sounded unnatural.
Shizune headed for the bathroom with Tonton in her arms.
The door closed.
Silence returned to the living room.
Only Kiyohara and Tsunade were left.
Tsunade drew a deep breath, turned her head, and glared at him.
Embarrassment still lingered in those golden-brown eyes, along with a trace of caution.
Looking at her like that, Kiyohara smiled slightly.
"Why are you so tense, Sensei?"
"You—!"
Tsunade gritted her teeth.
"You just wait, brat!"
Kiyohara smiled.
Then he stood.
"You should get some rest, Sensei."
He turned and walked toward the stairs.
Before she could react, he had already disappeared around the corner.
His footsteps gradually faded away.
Tsunade remained sitting on the sofa, chest still rising and falling hard.
The flush hadn't fully left her beautiful face.
This rebellious disciple has absolutely no respect for his elders.
That was what she thought.
But strangely enough, she didn't dislike it that much.
If Shizune hadn't suddenly come back, Tsunade didn't even know how far things would have gone.
This time, Shizune had interrupted things.
But next time?
…
Upstairs.
Kiyohara's room.
He sat at the desk and took out that black chakra magnet stone from a sealing scroll.
The stone had already turned deep purple, and a tiny dragon-shaped shadow could faintly be seen swimming inside.
He raised a hand and spread his fingers.
Chakra flowed from his palm and seeped into the stone.
Purple-black mist rose from its surface and gathered into a small floating cloud above his hand.
That was Mōryō's chakra.
Kiyohara observed it carefully.
Just as he had expected, this chakra was unusual.
Unlike ordinary chakra, it wasn't pure.
It was mixed with all kinds of negative emotions.
Anger, fear, greed, hatred…
All of those emotions had condensed together into this unique chakra.
"Born from the darkness inside human beings…"
Kiyohara stroked his chin.
No wonder Mōryō could never truly be destroyed.
As long as humanity existed, and as long as those negative emotions existed, it would revive again and again.
But that wasn't what interested Kiyohara right now.
What interested him was the nature of this chakra.
Yin Release.
At its core, this chakra was a special kind of Yin Release chakra.
It was very similar to the Uchiha clan's ocular power, yet also different.
The Uchiha's eye power was condensed spiritual energy.
This chakra was condensed negative emotion.
But in the end, both belonged to the domain of Yin Release.
"So Dark Medical Ninjutsu is basically a specialized form of Yin Release medical ninjutsu…"
Kiyohara thought it over.
Traditional medical ninjutsu was primarily Yang Release.
It used Yang chakra to stimulate cellular regeneration, accelerate healing, and replenish vitality.
But Mōryō's Dark Medical Ninjutsu was different.
It used Yin chakra to forcefully alter the flesh, breaking the body's natural limits.
The ninjas of the Land of Demons, after absorbing Mōryō's chakra, had undergone grotesque mutations.
Their strength surged. Their regenerative power surged. Even their chakra reserves surged.
"If…"
A thought flashed through Kiyohara's mind.
If he could gain control over that Yin chakra, keep its advantages, and discard its drawbacks—removing the side effects of bodily distortion—
Then what would happen?
One possibility immediately came to him.
Chakra Mode.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode wrapped the entire body in Lightning chakra, enhancing speed and offensive power.
Lava Release Chakra Mode wrapped the body in Lava chakra, granting it the heat of magma.
So what if he wrapped the body in Yin Release chakra?
What kind of effect would that have?
"Using Dark Medical Ninjutsu to develop a Yin Release Chakra Mode…"
In theory, it seemed completely possible.
Yin chakra could strengthen spiritual energy, sharpen sensory perception, increase resistance to genjutsu, and even directly affect other people's consciousness.
If he could coat his whole body in Yin chakra and form a kind of "Yin armor"…
Then how strong would his resistance to genjutsu become?
He might even be able to directly affect the consciousness of those around him through that armor.
Kiyohara suddenly thought of chakra armor and considered experimenting in that direction.
"Worth trying."
He refocused his attention on the purple-black chakra cloud.
First, he needed to understand the exact properties of that chakra.
He pulled a small cage out from the desk drawer.
Inside, a white mouse was curled up in the corner.
Kiyohara raised a hand.
A thread-thin strand of purple-black chakra drifted out from his palm and slowly seeped into the mouse's body.
The mouse's body suddenly went rigid.
Then it began to tremble.
Its originally black, glossy eyes started glowing faintly purple.
Its body began to swell.
Muscles bulged under the skin, and its bones gave off faint cracking sounds.
In only a few breaths, the tiny white mouse had grown to more than twice its original size.
It raised its head, those purple-glowing eyes fixed on Kiyohara.
Kiyohara watched it closely.
He could feel the mouse's life force rising at an astonishing rate.
But at the same time, its sanity was vanishing just as quickly.
Replacing it was something raw and singular—
frenzy.
The mouse began throwing itself against the cage over and over.
Once. Twice. Three times.
The metal bars rang out with heavy clangs.
Kiyohara watched for a while, then raised his hand again.
A gentler stream of chakra poured from his palm into the mouse's body.
This was his own chakra, mixed with Asura's Yang power.
That chakra entered the mouse's body and began to push back against the purple-black Yin chakra.
The mouse's movements gradually slowed.
Some clarity returned to its glowing eyes.
Its body also began to shrink, returning to its original size.
In the end, it collapsed inside the cage, panting heavily.
Still alive.
Kiyohara withdrew his hand and studied the mouse.
But its life force had been drained heavily in the process, and it now looked years older.
"So it can be suppressed…"
Kiyohara thought.
Asura's Yang power was perfectly suited to balancing the negative effects of that Yin chakra.
If he could find the exact balance point, then there should be no downside of burning away so much vitality.
Then Kiyohara pulled out several more mice.
…
By evening, a number of familiar faces had arrived at Tsunade's house.
They were all people Kiyohara knew well.
The table was now covered with food, steaming hot.
Kakashi leaned against the wall, his usual dead-fish eyes fixed on Might Guy, who sat beside him happily stuffing sushi into his mouth.
Kurenai sat at Kiyohara's side, her red eyes occasionally flicking toward him.
Rin sat across from them, quietly talking with Shizune about something.
Tsunade sat at the head of the table, a cup in hand, a faint smile on her face.
"Come on, everyone. Let's celebrate Kiyohara becoming Hokage!"
She raised her cup.
Everyone else followed.
Only Kiyohara and Tsunade were drinking alcohol; the others had fruit juice.
"Cheers!"
The drinks went down, and the atmosphere grew even livelier.
Might Guy jumped to his feet, strode over to Kiyohara, and slapped him hard on the shoulder.
"Kiyohara!"
His eyes shone with excitement.
"I knew your youth would burn this high one day!"
Kiyohara answered,
"It's thanks to everyone's support."
Kakashi offered his congratulations too.
"Looks like I'll have to start calling you Hokage-sama now."
Kiyohara shook his head.
"Just call me Kiyohara."
Kakashi paused, then smiled and nodded.
"Alright."
"Kiyohara-kun, congratulations."
Rin congratulated him too, though there was a little trace of sadness in her tone.
"Um…"
She hesitated.
"Kiyohara-kun… does this mean you'll be even busier from now on?"
Kiyohara nodded.
"Probably, yes."
He didn't think that phase would last too long, though. He was already considering hiring a few secretaries to help handle administrative work.
"I see…"
Rin's little face immediately showed disappointment.
By the time the gathering was ending, Kurenai finally tugged Kiyohara into a corner in a secretive way.
"Kiyohara."
She looked up, her red eyes fixed on him.
"I have a gift I want to give to our future Hokage."
Kiyohara raised a brow.
"What kind of gift?"
Kurenai pressed her lips together.
"Tonight… come to my house."
Her voice was so soft only the two of them could hear it.
Kiyohara looked at her.
There was a sly smile in those red eyes.
"Alright."
He understood immediately.
Most likely Kurenai's father wasn't home again.
Every time Kiyohara went to Kurenai's house, it gave him the same feeling as parking a hearse outside someone's home.
Rin, who was about to head back, watched them whispering together in the corner and felt puzzled.
What are Kiyohara-kun and Kurenai talking about?
She thought about it for a while, but couldn't figure it out.
In the end, she only found herself wondering what excuse she could use to spend more time with him later.
…
After washing the dishes with Shizune, Kiyohara returned to his bedroom and looked at the clock.
When it reached 10:30, he focused on the Flying Thunder God kunai he had left at Kurenai's house.
Whoosh.
His figure appeared in Kurenai's room.
Kiyohara stood at the entrance to her bedroom.
"Kurenai?"
He could sense that she was still in the bathroom.
As soon as he called out, the bathroom door opened.
Kurenai stepped out wearing a thin nightdress.
It was pale red and so sheer it was almost transparent.
Her long, straight legs were faintly visible beneath the fabric.
And at the same time, Kiyohara noticed a few other things worth appreciating.
Kurenai stood there and simply let him look.
Her cheeks were slightly red, but she made no effort to hide.
"Do I look good?"
she asked softly.
Kiyohara walked over to her.
He lifted her chin gently with one hand.
"You do."
Then he gave her a light tug, and Kurenai fell into his arms. The two of them ended up sitting down together at the edge of the bed.
Kiyohara's hand came to rest on her leg.
Even through that thin layer of fabric, he could feel the smoothness and elasticity of her skin.
Kurenai's breathing began to quicken.
Then suddenly, she caught the faint scent of another woman on him.
It felt strangely familiar, like she had smelled it somewhere before.
"Why do you smell like another woman?"
Kurenai asked.
"Maybe it's Shizune's or Tsunade's."
Kiyohara's heart skipped, but he answered casually.
"Is that so?"
Kurenai narrowed her eyes a little. Since Kiyohara lived with Shizune and Tsunade, it made sense that their scent might rub off on him.
Surely there couldn't be anything going on between teacher and disciple, right?
Kurenai immediately ruled out Shizune, since in Kurenai's eyes, Shizune's figure wasn't as good as hers.
"Oh, right. Let me show you this."
Kiyohara changed the subject at once with a casual laugh.
He knew perfectly well it was Tsunade's scent clinging to him, and he had no intention of continuing that topic.