Kiyohara didn't linger any longer. He turned and headed straight for his assigned tent, eager to seize the moment and study his newly acquired Lightning Release ninjutsu.
A few days later, as rotation orders were issued, Kiyohara's squad left the northern outpost and returned to the southeastern coastline of the Land of Fire for frontline garrison duty.
The atmosphere here was becoming increasingly suffocating. One could already see dozens of ninja wrapped in bloody white bandages, their expressions somber and fatigued. The remaining able-bodied shinobi were fully armed at all times. They either carried ninja swords strapped to their backs, hoisted Fūma shuriken on their shoulders, or walked alongside their Summoned Beasts. No one dared to be even slightly careless.
All signs indicated that a massive, full-scale invasion was drawing closer.
It wasn't just veteran adults; even some Genin who had recently graduated from the Ninja Academy, barely tall enough to reach Kiyohara's chest, were hauling sandbags to build military fortifications and transporting logistics supplies. Generally speaking, newly graduated Genin were assigned to the rear. Only experienced veterans were sent to the meat grinder—that was exactly how it had been for Kiyohara during his initial deployment.
"I wonder when the Hidden Mist will finally invade," Rin Nohara sighed, looking out at the dark ocean.
All the ninja knew the enemy armada was waiting just over the horizon, capable of launching an amphibious assault at any moment. But they could only dig in and hold their ground. If this coastal fortress fell, the front line would spread rapidly inland, and the entire war would enter its most brutal, devastating phase.
"Who knows," Kiyohara shook his head.
'According to the original plotline, this coastal fortress is destined to fall,' Kiyohara thought to himself. 'Fugaku Uchiha bringing a four-year-old Itachi to the battlefield for "experience" happened in the interior of the Land of Fire. That brutal exposure to mass casualties was the psychological catalyst that broke Itachi's mind.'
'It's no longer the Sengoku period, yet Fugaku was so eager for his son to succeed that he applied crushing pressure directly onto a toddler, hoping he would quickly become the flawless weapon he envisioned. It can only be said that with an abnormal, obsessive father, there will inevitably be an abnormal, obsessive son.'
'Perhaps Sasuke—the only one who could withstand the pressure—turned out relatively normal because he inherited more of Mikoto's temperament.'
"Let's go hand in the mission report," Kiyohara said, pulling his attention back to the present.
The heavy footsteps of armored shinobi, whispered tactical discussions, and the sharp ringing of weapons being sharpened swirled around Kiyohara's ears, mixing with the salty scent of the sea air.
The climax of the Third Great Ninja War was fast approaching. Once this defensive line broke, Madara Uchiha would likely execute his final plan. And once the Land of Fire's borders were compromised, the already fatigued Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure would all swarm like vultures to bite fiercely into the rich meat of the interior.
"Let's go," Kakashi's expression became much more serious. Seeing the newly graduated Genin working in the mud was a grim reminder: they were essentially deploying children. But this was war.
After finalizing their mission handover at the command tent, Kiyohara bid farewell to Kakashi and Rin. He chose to spend his entire free time mastering the Lightning Release: Angry Thunder Arrow as quickly as possible.
Kiyohara already possessed the raw combat strength of a Jonin. With his stacked, multi-timeline talents, it should only take a few days of grinding to master a Jonin-level jutsu.
As the saying goes, what truly restricts a ninja's progression is their physical limit. If one possessed Naruto's absurd Uzumaki physical endurance and massive chakra reserves, one could master any ninjutsu instantly by using a thousand Shadow Clones to grind the required muscle memory day and night.
Thanks to inheriting several futures, the bottlenecks and constraints of Kiyohara's physical body were being violently shattered one after another.
In the following days, to devote himself entirely to his training, Kiyohara politely asked Kurenai Yuhi not to visit him.
"Lightning Release—!"
Kiyohara formed the complex sequence of hand seals. The chakra in his coils flowed rapidly along the specific meridian pathways described in the classified scroll, finally converging in the center of his right palm. Blue electricity crackled wildly, slowly condensing into the distinct, lethal shape of several jagged arrows.
With a sudden, violent thrust of his palm, the lightning arrows shot out with a deafening hum, crossing ten meters instantly.
BOOM!
Several charred, smoking craters exploded on the surface of a massive boulder, showering the area with debris. However, the absolute piercing power of the lightning arrows seemed slightly lacking. Halfway through their flight, a portion of the compressed energy dissipated into the air, causing them to crater the surface rather than penetrate completely through the hard rock.
"The condensation speed of the chakra can be faster. The stability of the shape transformation needs to be structurally reinforced, and the sharpness of the nature transformation isn't focused enough..." Kiyohara panted heavily, wiping the fine sweat from his forehead caused by the intense mental strain.
He discovered that as his spiritual energy increased, his ability to micromanage chakra control also improved significantly. This gave him a profound insight: to master high-level ninjutsu quickly, raw power means nothing without microscopic chakra control. And for fine operations, immense spiritual concentration is mandatory.
'A few more repetitions, and I should be able to fully stabilize the Angry Thunder Arrow,' Kiyohara thought to himself.
Steel Release Kiyohara's dying wish only required him to learn a B-rank Lightning Release ninjutsu. There was no requirement to master it to perfection. Successfully executing it without it dissipating mid-flight meant he had crossed the threshold.
Throughout the entire afternoon, Kiyohara relentlessly ground his execution in the forest. Steel Release Kiyohara occasionally floated out of Kiyohara's body, nodding slightly in approval as he watched his past self. It was estimated that before long, this boy would shine with his own terrifying light in the Third Shinobi World War.
It wasn't until dusk arrived, draping a layer of deep purple shadows over the mountain forest, that he finally achieved perfection.
"Lightning Release: Angry Thunder Arrow!"
Kiyohara formed the seals in a blur. This time, as he thrust his hand forward, several flawlessly condensed, deep blue arrows of electricity shot out without a single wasted spark!
Chi-chi-chi!
The distant boulder, already riddled with shallow craters, instantly gained several perfectly smooth, bottomless holes drilled straight through its center. Tiny electric snakes danced and flickered around the edges of the holes, making faint crackling sounds.
'It's done!' Kiyohara was overjoyed.
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara's Lightning Release talent and his own natural affinity stacked perfectly. Combined with his monstrous spiritual energy, he had mastered a complex, Jonin-level Lightning jutsu in just a few days.
"The speed of your progress is vastly faster than I calculated," Steel Release Kiyohara's illusory spirit body emerged from a ball of light. It slowly floated toward Kiyohara, and the moment it touched his forehead, it merged silently into his soul.
Kiyohara's entire body violently shuddered. It wasn't a tremor of pain, but an overwhelming sensation of being physically and mentally enriched. It was as if a parched, cracking desert had suddenly received a torrential downpour; his mind became terrifyingly clear.
His spiritual energy skyrocketed once again.
Simultaneously, Kiyohara felt his genetic affinity for Earth and Yang Release fundamentally mutate. Earth Release techniques and Medical Ninjutsu theories that were difficult to comprehend yesterday suddenly became simple, logical equations. It was like his neurological pathways had physically broadened.
Not only that, Kiyohara felt an incredibly warm, powerful current instantly sweep through his limbs and bones, deeply nourishing his flesh.
'Not bad. Another massive spike in Yang Release vitality,' Kiyohara noted. He had previously inherited a Yang boost from the young adult Kiyohara, so he recognized the sensation.
But this time, the Yang Release seemed to trigger a true, qualitative mutation in his biology. For a long time, Kiyohara's spiritual energy had far exceeded his physical energy due to multiple timeline inheritances. Now, the boundless vitality brought by the Yang Release frantically nourished every single cell in his body. His muscle fibers became vastly denser and more elastic. The blood flowing through his veins carried a terrifying amount of biological vitality.
His physical energy surged at an unprecedented rate, finally mixing flawlessly with his monstrous spiritual energy. The two blended together like milk and water.
At this exact moment, both the "quality" and the "quantity" of his chakra saw a massive, violent expansion.
'Three times... I possess at least three times Kakashi's total chakra volume!' Kiyohara calculated, stunned. He hadn't expected to jump directly from 2.2 Kakashis to a solid 3.0.
'If the bloodline fully merges and mutates over the next week, how much more will it add?' Kiyohara felt a deep sense of anticipation. After completing the second dying wish (defeating another Steel Release user) and achieving total assimilation, both his spiritual and physical energies would spike again.
'I wonder which clan inherently possesses more chakra, the Uzumaki or the Senju?' Kiyohara thought, rubbing his chin. If only he could get either of those bloodlines.
In the original work, there was always a debate about exactly how many times Naruto's chakra reserves outscaled Kakashi's. The TV version established that Naruto, while actively suppressing the Nine-Tails, had four times Kakashi's chakra; without suppressing it, he had a hundred times more. In the manga version, that remaining 96x was explicitly chakra leaking from the Nine-Tails itself.
'Naruto has to possess a baseline higher than just 4 Kakashi otherwise, he couldn't sustain that kind of apocalyptic jutsu squandering,' Kiyohara deduced.
Just the Uzumaki Naruto Two Thousand Barrage theoretically requires splitting into a thousand solid clones, each performing physical combat maneuvers. Naruto used standard blue chakra for that, meaning it was entirely his own reserves. If the Nine-Tails only provided 96 times the chakra of an elite Jonin, Naruto in Nine-Tails Chakra Mode wouldn't have been able to supply chakra cloaks to the entire Allied Shinobi Forces and casually spam Tailed Beast Balls.
'However, ordinary Uzumaki clansmen are certainly not as biologically ridiculous as Naruto,' Kiyohara reasoned. Naruto was the reincarnation of Ashura Ōtsutsuki, and Minato Namikaze specifically engineered a backdoor in the Eight Trigrams Seal. This allowed the Nine-Tails' raw chakra to passively leak out and filter into Naruto's own coils, subtly expanding his natural reserves for over a decade.
'The road ahead is long. I must continue to expand my reserves to achieve absolute Ninjutsu freedom,' Kiyohara resolved.
One "Ka" could yield roughly four standard Chidori strikes. Three "Ka" meant twelve. Compared to Naruto casually dropping a thousand Shadow Clones, each holding a Rasengan, he was still leagues behind.
"Not bad. Your raw chakra volume has already surpassed what I possessed at my absolute peak while alive," Steel Release Kiyohara's lingering consciousness echoed in his mind.
In the Ninja World, there are generally only three ways to permanently increase baseline chakra: taking forbidden drugs, undergoing genetic modification, or sealing a Tailed Beast into your core. Otherwise, there was the Edo Tensei, which granted infinite, regenerating chakra.
"I know," Kiyohara nodded slightly, clenching his fist. He carefully savored the transformative changes, feeling the raw, heavy power filling his meridian system. "Cheaters" are always a minority in this world, and Kiyohara could now confidently consider himself equipped with a minor cheat system. In his current age bracket, few peers could even dream of matching his specs.
After feeling the violent expansion of his chakra level off, Kiyohara focused his attention on the technical blueprints that had just flooded his mind.
* Earth Release: Earth Spear: A technique that hardens any part of the body using Earth chakra, serving as a lower-tier, vastly inferior substitute for Steel Release.
* Earth Release: Rock Staff: Condenses ultra-hard stone rods from the earth for mid-range melee strikes.
* Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall: The classic, foundational defensive jutsu.
"Phew..." Kiyohara let out a long breath of turbid air.
He looked around. After confirming the forest was completely deserted, he walked toward an isolated clearing to test his new genetic mutation. He had to ensure his Steel Release wasn't observed by any lurking spies.
He reached out his right hand. Two completely different attributes of chakra—Earth and Yang—flowed rapidly through his meridian system. They violently collided and permanently fused into an entirely new, entirely unique physical state.
Steel Release!
A layer of grayish-brown color appeared on the tip of Kiyohara's right index finger. Instantly, the color deepened, turning into a pitch-black texture with a cold, terrifying metallic sheen. It looked exactly as if his fingertip had been transmutated into solid, military-grade steel.
'Is this the Steel Release? A true genetic fusion of Yang and Earth?' Kiyohara stared at his pitch-black finger. It felt incredibly dense and cold, but miraculously, its actual physical weight hadn't increased much, preserving his mobility.
'It looks exactly like Armament Haki from that manga in my past life,' he thought dryly.
Tseng!
He drew his Tachi with his left hand. A cold light flashed in the dusk as he ruthlessly hacked down directly at his hardened right index finger without hesitation!
CLANG!
Although he pulled his swing slightly to avoid accidentally amputating his digit, the pitch-black skin produced the deafening, ringing sound of heavy metal colliding. The razor-sharp, chakra-conductive blade was firmly repelled by the Steel Skin, failing to leave even a microscopic white scratch on the black surface.
What his finger felt was the solid, dull sensation of kinetic counter-vibration, not the sharp agony of lacerated flesh.
'It's flawless... so, what is the maximum coverage range?'
Kiyohara's thoughts shifted, and the specialized chakra surged outward. His entire right palm, along with his wrist and forearm, was instantly covered in that layer of pitch-black, impenetrable metallic luster. As he swung his arm, the sound of it cutting through the air was audibly heavier and more violent.
He continued to push the chakra: his chest, his back, his legs. The dull, black steel spread across his skin like flowing liquid metal. Whether it was his "little head" or his "big head," Kiyohara tested them all, covering them entirely with the tough, steelified armor.
However, when he attempted to direct the Steel Release chakra directly into his corneas, he felt a sharp, stinging pain and sluggishness. His eyeballs conveyed a biological sense of absolute rejection and fragility.
Kiyohara immediately aborted the process. 'The eyes... the soft tissue cannot be transmutated without blinding myself.'
Feeling the rapid, massive drain on his chakra reserves required to maintain a full-body coating, Kiyohara instantly deactivated the majority of the steelification, keeping only his right arm hardened for further kinetic testing.
He walked up to a solid boulder. His steelified, pitch-black right fist clenched tightly. Without using Magnet Release: Magnetic Field Rotation to accelerate, he threw a brutal, straightforward punch, relying purely on his base physical strength and the absolute hardness of the steelification!
BANG!
Amidst a deafening crunch, Kiyohara's bare fist effortlessly smashed a deep, spider-webbed furrow into the solid rock. Although it didn't completely pulverize the boulder, Kiyohara was deeply satisfied. If he had punched solid granite with normal flesh and bone without the cushioning of a magnetic field, his hand would have instantly shattered into a bloody mess.
'Excellent defense. Extreme resistance to physical blunt force and slashing attacks,' Kiyohara analyzed clinically. 'Resistance to Lightning Release is catastrophically weak due to the electrical conductivity of metal, which requires testing. My biological tolerance to extreme high temperatures, corrosive acids, and other special attacks while armored remains unknown...'
While summarizing the data, Kiyohara rapidly flashed the steelified parts on and off under his skin, drilling his reaction time to engage localized hardening—a single finger, the bridge of his nose, his neck, his elbows.
By mastering instantaneous, localized armor deployment, Kiyohara knew his absolute survivability in a lethal warzone had just skyrocketed.
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