Hiruzen stood up, set down his pipe, and patted Kiyoshi on the shoulder. Regarding the Uchiha issue, Hiruzen had suffered from a headache for a long time.
Later, Hiruzen came up with a solution.
And that was to disintegrate them from within!
Throughout history, powerful forces were rarely defeated by external enemies; more often than not, they perished due to internal strife. During the thousands of years of the Warring States Period, this cycle had repeated countless times. Even now, with the Five Great Nations and the "One Country, One Village" system, the reality remained the same.
The Uchiha were not a monolithic entity; they were still divided into Dove and Hawk factions. In that case, he simply needed to support a representative of the Dove faction within the clan and help them gain significant power. Once that happened, the conflict between the Uchiha and the village would naturally diminish, or the clan might even choose to yield proactively.
"If you encounter any difficulties within the clan, come to me."
Having said that, Hiruzen Sarutobi pulled out a sealing scroll and handed it to Kiyoshi. It contained several tens of thousands of ryo—equivalent to the rewards for completing several missions.
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
Kiyoshi accepted it, putting on a look of profound gratitude. In the eyes of others, he was still that cash-strapped Uchiha. No one knew that the Priestess of the Land of Demons was providing him with financial support.
Speaking of which, it was about time to use the excuse of "treating the Land of Demons" to visit the Priestess. Her daughter would be named Shion in the future. Adding a prefix and calling her "Shion Uchiha" seemed like it would be quite fitting.
After a few more encouraging words, Hiruzen dismissed him, and Kiyoshi took his leave.
...
Sushi Shop.
"Sis, you're back!" Atsui shouted immediately.
"Mm." Samui nodded faintly, her pretty face showing no emotion.
Whenever she thought of Kiyoshi's methods and his skill in manipulating chakra, Samui's mood soured. Atsui vaguely felt that something was wrong. Her aura had changed. In the past, though Samui was cold on the outside, her heart was warm. Now, it felt as though even her heart had turned to ice.
'Is it just because she's in a bad mood?'
Atsui watched his sister walk into the back lounge. Before long, the door was shut tight, and the sound of bathing could be heard.
"Bathing again," Atsui scratched his head. Every time his sister returned from Kiyoshi's place, she went straight to take a bath. 'Did they go somewhere for a walk?' Atsui thought for a long time but couldn't come up with an answer.
...
The following day.
"Progress is at 5%."
Kiyoshi closed the panel. The [[Medical Jonin (Purple)]] Trait was progressing faster than he had imagined. At this rate, he would master the Trait in less than a month.
"My chakra reserves have also increased significantly."
Kiyoshi felt his ocular power continuously nourishing his body, making his physique more condensed and sturdy than ever before. Samui had contributed quite a bit to the increase in his ocular power.
Between the Lightning Style tempering, Moryo's restoration of his flesh, and the various factors of his natural physical development, Kiyoshi's chakra volume was growing with explosive momentum.
'My current chakra reserves would rank quite high even among the Uzumaki or Senju clans,' Kiyoshi thought.
Naruto's natural chakra was actually four times that of Kakashi; the "hundred times" figure only applied when the Nine-Tails' restrictions were lifted. Kiyoshi currently possessed about 4.5 "Kakas" of chakra.
This value was a quantitative analysis derived from his sparring matches with Kakashi. Using a projected adult Kakashi's chakra as a standard unit, "1 Kaka" was the baseline. There might be errors in the calculation, but the difference shouldn't be too large.
'It's still not enough. Only when Naruto's chakra was combined with half of the Nine-Tails did Hashirama say Naruto was almost catching up to him.'
One could only imagine the staggering amount of chakra Hashirama possessed. That volume played a vital role in his ability to team up with Madara to pacify the chaotic world and realize his ideals.
Even without [Wood Style], his [Water], [Fire], and [Earth] styles would have been just as formidable. In the later stages of the shinobi world, if you weren't playing with unique mechanics, you had to play with raw stats.
Of course, combat experience and talent were also crucial; otherwise, one would end up like Kaguya. Despite having the Byakugan's 360° insight, she still let Sakura land a successful sneak attack.
"Kushina's house..."
Kiyoshi packed a few things and set out. Yesterday evening, Kakashi had found him and asked if he wanted to go to Kushina's place together. Minato-sensei had mentioned that Kiyoshi knew her, so they might as well go as a group. Kiyoshi had readily agreed; it had been a while since he'd seen her.
...
Kushina's House.
"Kiyoshi, you're here too?"
As soon as Kushina opened the door and saw Kiyoshi, she beamed.
"I brought you some new videotapes."
Kiyoshi shook the tapes in his hand while glancing at her. Some new movies had been released recently, and he had copied them all. Kushina was wearing home clothes, her vibrant red hair cascading down her back.
"Awesome!"
Kushina excitedly waved the ladle in her hand. As she moved, her chest rose and fell; she wore a green apron over a white short-sleeved shirt, outlining her rounded curves. With summer arriving, the villagers' clothing had become lighter. Kushina was no exception. She radiated a sense of warmth, like gentle sunlight.
She had been wondering when to go see Kiyoshi, and hadn't expected him to come over on his own. Kushina stepped aside to let him in.
"You guys chat; I'll be right back."
Kushina hurriedly put the tapes away as if they were treasures and ran back to the kitchen to keep busy. One could vaguely see Rin Nohara helping her out.
"Kiyoshi."
Kakashi sat in the living room and spoke to him. He peeled an orange, removing the white pith, and asked Kiyoshi if he wanted some.
"No thanks." Kiyoshi shook his head.
"Why did Kiyoshi come too?" Obito grumbled under his breath. To be honest, Obito didn't understand why Kiyoshi seemed to have such a good relationship with Kushina. They only knew her well because of their connection to Minato-sensei.
Kiyoshi sat calmly on the sofa, summoned the white snake, and stroked its little head. Rin saw Kiyoshi enter, and the hand she used to chop vegetables stiffened, nearly cutting herself.
"Be careful," Kushina said.
"Mm," Rin nodded, her mind in a whirl. Seeing that scene yesterday had caused her image of Kiyoshi to crack. Or rather, she felt like he had become a stranger.
Before long, the busy sounds in the kitchen faded. Rin brought the dishes to the table, and Kushina came out to call everyone to eat.
"Rin is quite domestic, isn't she?" Kiyoshi remarked at the table.
"Hehe, Rin is definitely the best!" Obito grinned like a fool, his mind wandering to who knows where.
"No, no, it's all thanks to Sister Kushina," Rin waved her hands hurriedly, insisting she had only helped a little. Facing Kiyoshi, her movements were stiff and awkward.
She looked like she wanted to say something but held back. The atmosphere between the two was somewhat bizarre, though the others simply assumed they hadn't seen each other in a while.
During the meal, Kiyoshi cracked jokes from time to time, making Kushina burst into laughter.
"By the way, Kiyoshi, do you have time later?" Rin asked after a moment of silence.
Kiyoshi's personal business was his own; as long as he was normal when he was with her, it was fine. Besides, those sorts of things were only human nature.
***
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