"Madara. That Konoha brat, Kiyohara, who uses the Magnet Release, has altered his vector. He is currently heading directly toward Rin Nohara's coordinates."
White Zetsu seamlessly merged from the cavern wall and reported the real-time tactical situation to the ancient Uchiha.
Madara looked at the massive, jagged tunnel in the distance that Obito had violently blasted open just minutes ago. He slowly closed his withered eyes.
"The theatrical stage is finally reaching its climax," Madara murmured. A terrifying flash of blood-red light flickered in his ancient, scarred Sharingan.
Absolutely everything he had orchestrated over the past few months was meticulously designed to violently shatter Obito Uchiha's sanity and turn him entirely to darkness. To force the boy to awaken the true, apocalyptic optical power of the Uchiha Clan.
To this end, he had utilized Genjutsu to secretly control the Third Mizukage, issuing a suicidal order for the Hidden Mist to launch a massive, diversionary attack on the eastern coastline of the Land of Fire.
That localized war had served its purpose flawlessly: Kage-level powerhouses who might have possessed the speed to interfere with this kidnapping—including Minato Namikaze, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru—were all forcefully lured away to other regional fronts.
"As long as the grand plan is completed... I do not care how bloody the process is," Madara looked down at his own aged, shaking hands.
His physical biology didn't have much time left. The Gedo Statue was barely keeping his rotting organs functional.
He desperately needed to finalize a pawn who could seamlessly replace his identity and execute his will as soon as he died.
If Obito proved psychologically too weak and was unable to spontaneously awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan from this trauma no matter what, Madara would immediately abandon him and initiate a backup plan.
There were thousands of active bloodlines in the Uchiha Clan; he didn't have to hang himself on a single tree. But his biological clock was ticking down, and there simply wasn't enough time left to abduct and psychologically torture more candidates. Delays lead to variables.
The absolute best scenario was to successfully break Obito today.
"Go to the extraction scene. I need to observe the climax in real-time," Madara commanded.
He intended to physically hijack White Zetsu's optic nerves to watch the slaughter unfold on the battlefield.
"Yes, Madara," White Zetsu retreated and merged smoothly back into the stone wall.
Madara closed his eyes, but his psychological vision was not dark; instead, he was instantly, flawlessly connected to White Zetsu's subterranean field of vision miles away.
Kiyohara was currently leaping through the dense canopy, rapidly adapting his optic nerves to the suffocating influx of data provided by the Sharingan.
'It seems I have biologically inherited the genetic purity of the Uchiha Bloodline,' Kiyohara realized with deep satisfaction.
The chakra consumption required to keep the single-tomoe Sharingan permanently active was incredibly low. It was not the kind of parasitic, agonizing biological drain that would bleed a non-Uchiha like Kakashi dry in minutes. His coils recognized the eyes as his own natural organs.
"Not bad. You have flawlessly inherited my specific genetic markers," the ghost of Uchiha Kiyohara manifested, floating beside him in the mental space as he ran. The blood-red Three-Tomoe in the ghost's eyes rotated slowly.
"Then... do you possess the knowledge to cast Izanagi and Izanami?" Kiyohara asked internally.
Izanagi and Izanami were the ultimate, apocalyptic forbidden optical techniques of the Uchiha Clan that required highly specialized, secret training to even conceptualize.
For instance, in the canon timeline, Sasuke Uchiha had never undergone this classical training from the elders, so he didn't even know Izanagi existed, and he only learned about Izanami because Itachi physically demonstrated it to him during the war.
If the middle-aged Sasuke in Boruto had actually known how to cast Izanagi, he wouldn't have had his Rinnegan casually stabbed out by a Kunai. Trading a standard, replaceable Sharingan eye for a literal god-tier Six-Tomoe Rinnegan was a massively profitable tactical exchange no matter how you calculated the math. It was a tragedy of lost knowledge.
"I know the exact chakra sequence for Izanagi, but I was never granted clearance to study Izanami," Uchiha Kiyohara stated.
The ghost's handsome face was genetically identical to Kiyohara's current physical face, only it possessed that signature, lingering Uchiha melancholy.
"Teach me the exact sequence when we return to Konoha. And write down the seals for those advanced Fire Release and Lightning Release jutsu," Kiyohara demanded.
Regarding ninjutsu, he had just permanently inherited the foundational classic: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.
It perfectly plugged the glaring tactical gap of Kiyohara not possessing a Fire affinity. Among the five basic chakra natures, Fire inherently suppresses Wind, making it highly advantageous against specific enemy specialists.
"I will," Uchiha Kiyohara did not refuse the demand.
Kiyohara suddenly altered his vector, choosing the tallest, ancient redwood tree in the grid and running vertically up its trunk.
He stood balanced on the highest, swaying treetop, looking out over the vast, lush mountains and forests stretching below him in the twilight.
From time to time, thick black smoke and orange flashes of fire rose from a distant valley. That was where the tactical battle was converging.
Kiyohara's One-Tomoe Sharingan slowly began to rotate, aggressively scanning the geography below.
"Help me isolate the exact biometric signatures of Rin Nohara and Kakashi," Kiyohara ordered the ghost.
For the Sharingan, every structural increase in tomoe exponentially improves the base optical stats. The microscopic dynamic vision and structural insight of a mature Three-Tomoe eye are vastly superior to a newly awakened One-Tomoe.
"Hmm... let me sync with your optic nerve," Uchiha Kiyohara's spirit body floated up higher.
In the dim evening light, Kiyohara's physical Sharingan flared. It felt exactly as if a series of glowing red crosshairs were flashing rapidly within his eye sockets, aggressively capturing and filtering all environmental data.
"Coordinates confirmed. They are exactly three kilometers in that direction," the ghost pointed.
Kiyohara physically snapped his gaze to follow the vector.
The X-ray insight of the Sharingan is structurally inferior to the Hyuga's Byakugan, nor can it physically see through miles of solid rock. But compared to the naked, biological eye of an ordinary human, it was already an apocalyptic, dimensional upgrade.
Through the gaps in the distant canopy, Kiyohara finally locked onto the fleeing figures of Kakashi and Rin.
He also scanned the perimeter and spotted Kurenai, Genma, Ebisu, and Guy leading a group of terrified Medical Ninjas in the complete opposite direction, pushing toward the Konoha border.
As for Kakashi and Rin, the two teenagers were desperately retreating while fighting a grueling rearguard action. A massive swarm of Kirigakure Hunter-Nin and elite ANBU were in close, bloodthirsty pursuit right behind them.
"The situation is collapsing," Kiyohara noted coldly.
Kakashi was desperately throwing kunai tied with explosive tags, trying to collapse the valley walls to slow down the pursuers.
BOOM! BOOM!
The vanguard Kirigakure operatives were momentarily stalled by the explosions, but soon, heavy splashing footsteps echoed from the riverbed ahead of them.
A secondary Mist detachment had flanked them. They were completely surrounded.
"They've caught up again..." Kakashi gritted his teeth, stepping in front to physically shield Rin with his body.
"Rin, don't panic. If we can just break through this line, the Konoha reinforcements will locate us, and we will be back at the camp soon," Kakashi lied smoothly, his breathing ragged.
He was terrified that Rin would suffer a psychological breakdown and give up on herself, so he forced a positive tactical outlook.
It's just that the surrounding Kirigakure ANBU seemed completely tireless, chasing the two of them relentlessly like a pack of wolves hunting exhausted deer.
Kakashi's chakra and physical stamina were completely, dangerously redlined.
"The legendary son of the White Fang?! You're nothing special, brat!" A massive Kirigakure ANBU formed hand seals and fired a devastating barrage of hyper-compressed water bullets forward.
"Water Release: Water Hail!"
Kakashi's Two-Tomoe Sharingan spun, capturing the exact aerodynamic trajectory of the incoming liquid bullets. He desperately used his short sword to deflect the lethal shrapnel, his arms trembling under the kinetic force.
Immediately after that ANBU finished firing, another operative flanked Kakashi. A cracking whip formed entirely of highly pressurized water materialized in his hand, and he whipped it brutally toward Kakashi's throat.
"Water Release: Water Whip!"
Kakashi barely managed to block the water stream with his blade, but the Kirigakure ANBU simply retreated a step, laughing. They clearly intended to systematically wear Kakashi down until he collapsed from sheer exhaustion.
Kakashi realized this agonizing tactic instantly, and his expression beneath his blood-soaked mask turned completely grim.
"Kakashi..."
Looking at how Kakashi was desperately sacrificing his own body to shield her, Rin felt a crushing, suffocating guilt.
She felt exactly like a useless, pathetic burden. She was always like this—always getting violently captured by the enemy, always forcing her teammates to risk their lives to save her.
During the Kannabi Bridge mission, it was the exact same scenario. If she wasn't a fragile Medical Ninja but a lethal combat-specialist, perhaps she wouldn't have been so easily captured. Then Kakashi, Kiyohara, and Obito wouldn't have to constantly risk being slaughtered just to retrieve her.
"I... I am so pathetic and weak..." Rin felt this from the absolute bottom of her soul.
If only she were a little stronger.
It was a tragedy that it looked certain Kakashi was going to bleed to death here trying to protect her.
There were at least thirty veteran Kirigakure infantry and thirty elite ANBU surrounding the perimeter. With this level of concentrated firepower, even an Elite Jonin would find it physically impossible to escape.
They had officially become birds trapped in a bloody cage!
At both ends of the dark valley, the silhouettes of elite Kirigakure commanders slowly emerged from the mist.
The absolute leader was a tall, heavily scarred man carrying a strangely shaped pair of twin swords crossed on his back. His lips were thick, his skin was dark, and he possessed rare, moss-green hair.
"Finally caught you little rats," the man grinned sadistically.
He raised his hands, and the heavy bandages wrapped around his twin swords violently tore away inch by inch, revealing their lethal, jagged original appearance.
SNAP.
The unique prongs of the twin swords just lightly tapped together, producing a blinding, deafening arc of high-voltage electricity.
The blue electric arc illuminated the dim, rainy forest and cast a harsh light on Kakashi's pale, dying face.
"...Kiba," Kakashi recognized the legendary blades instantly, his lone eye widening in despair. "You are... Raiga Kurosuki of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen."
"Indeed I am, brat," Raiga laughed, his psychotic laughter echoing off the valley walls.
"I genuinely want to thank you for leading us on this hunt and helping us stall to complete the final surgical adjustments of the Jinchuriki. As a personal reward for your effort... I will graciously allow you to die painlessly, and I will personally officiate your funeral!"
He raised the strange twin swords, and as they collided violently again, a massive arc of lethal electricity lashed out like a whip toward Kakashi's chest.
Relying entirely on the dynamic vision of his Sharingan, Kakashi barely managed to dive into the mud, narrowly dodging the lightning strike.
"Oh? You actually transplanted an Uchiha Sharingan into your skull?" Raiga noticed Kakashi's strange red and black eyes and couldn't help but chuckle darkly.
So what if the brat possessed a stolen Two-Tomoe Sharingan? His chakra was completely empty!
Raiga began to aggressively clash his twin swords continuously, and arc after blinding arc of high-voltage electricity crackled violently, burning the oxygen in the air with a heavy, charred smell of ozone.
"Kakashi won't be able to hold on for more than thirty seconds," Kiyohara calculated coldly from his sniper perch three kilometers away.
He had only observed the tactical situation for a few seconds before realizing Kakashi had already fallen into an inescapable, lethal disadvantage. This was entirely expected. Kakashi had been fighting an unbroken, high-intensity rearguard action for hours; being able to simply remain conscious until now was a testament to his sheer, stubborn resilience.
"Then..."
Kiyohara slowly raised his right arm, extending it toward the distant valley.
He released a massive surge of chakra from the primary meridians in his arm, and an invisible, highly pressurized magnetic field violently surged outward.
The heavy iron sand stored in the gourd at his waist defied gravity, converging rapidly toward his outstretched palm. The sand aggressively compacted and molded itself, forming a perfectly aerodynamic, hyper-dense, spindle-shaped artillery projectile hovering just above his fingers.
The localized wind generated by the magnetic field whipped Kiyohara's long black hair wildly, making it roar around his face like a mass of dancing black flames.
CRACKLE!
The hyper-dense iron sand projectile suddenly sparked violently with blinding, pale blue electric arcs.
Generally speaking, the theoretical mastery of all elemental Ninjutsu is strictly divided into three stages.
The first step is "strengthening the nature transformation." For instance, injecting Wind chakra into a leaf until it physically cuts the leaf apart. For Kiyohara, it was the continuous, microscopic control of the magnetic polarity.
The second step is "exponentially increasing the instantaneous chakra output." Kakashi's Chidori involves violently activating the cells in his arm, allowing his biology to temporarily contain a massive surge of Lightning chakra, increasing the kinetic output to an astonishing level. However, an excessively large output can physically destroy the user's arm.
The third and final step is "flawless integration," perfectly controlling the technique without suffering biological blowback.
Right now, Kiyohara had officially reached this absolute apex level with his ultimate technique: Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Projectile (The Railgun).
The successive stacking of his genetic talents had caused his spiritual energy to continuously rise. This meant his microscopic focus was absolute, allowing him to effortlessly stabilize the violent electromagnetic forces.
As more and more raw chakra was aggressively injected into the system, the iron sand projectile continuously expanded in density, and a series of massive, circular electromagnetic coil rings formed from iron sand wrapped around it, acting as a barrel.
He held the charge until he felt the chakra consumption was perfectly maximized for penetration.
SWISH!
A blinding streak of absolute black light, accompanied instantly by a catastrophic sonic boom that shattered the tree branch beneath his feet, fired into the distance.
Driven by the violent, repulsive electromagnetic force and his massive chakra output, the hyper-dense iron projectile—traveling at exactly three times the speed of sound (Mach 3)—crossed the vast three-kilometer distance in a single, unblinking second.
In the exact microsecond before Kiyohara fired the electromagnetic sniper round, neither Raiga Kurosuki nor Kakashi had anticipated that someone was currently lining up a shot from three kilometers away.
At this exact moment, Raiga was thoroughly enjoying the psychological thrill of the hunt.
Years ago, the legendary Konoha White Fang had brutally slaughtered his comrades and sent the Seven Swordsmen running for their lives; now, he was finally going to collect the blood debt from the White Fang's pathetic son!
"Die, brat! Lightning Release: Lightning Dragon Tornado!"
Raiga raised his twin swords, intending to unleash his signature, apocalyptic ninjutsu to vaporize the boy.
RUMBLE!
A giant, blinding pillar of natural lightning with a diameter exceeding three meters descended violently from the storm clouds, striking directly toward the exact coordinates where Kakashi stood.
Before the lightning even arrived, the violent ionization in the air had already made Kakashi's hair stand on end, and his skin felt a terrifying, numbing sting.
He couldn't dodge!
Mortal alarm bells rang wildly in Kakashi's exhausted mind. Given his current empty chakra state, his legs physically refused to move. He was too slow.
Kakashi gritted his teeth, stepping firmly in front of Rin, preparing to take the apocalyptic hit entirely with his own body.
At the very least, in his final moments, he would fulfill his promise. To protect Rin. To honor Obito!
But just as the massive lightning pillar was about to completely vaporize them...
The spindle-shaped projectile drew closer.
1,000 meters. 500 meters. 100 meters...
In the exact next millisecond, the air pressure in the valley violently imploded.
SPLAT!
A massive, horrific spray of hot blood exploded, splashing heavily directly across Raiga Kurosuki's face.
His entire right arm, from the shoulder down—which had just been holding his legendary sword high in the air—was completely gone.
The apocalyptic Lightning jutsu he was casting instantly lost its chakra anchor and dispersed harmlessly into the clouds.
Accompanied by the overpowering, sickening scent of vaporized blood and ozone, Raiga fell into a state of absolute, paralyzed shock.
Wait... where is my arm?
He turned his head in profound, childlike confusion, discovering that his entire right limb had been violently blown into a fine, red mist of minced meat. The legendary Kiba sword was currently embedded deep in a tree trunk dozens of meters away, still sparking.
Besides Raiga failing to register the pain, Kakashi and Rin—who were standing directly in front of him—also completely failed to physically process what had just happened.
Even all sixty Kirigakure operatives present in the valley had failed to react.
Except for a tiny fraction of Kage-level shinobi who had actively tempered their physical biology to be indestructible (like the Raikage), the vast majority of ninjas were still squishy humans who would die instantly if their brain was destroyed.
Under Kiyohara's supersonic, Mach 3 sniper attack, they naturally found it biologically impossible to perceive the projectile before it hit. Even Six Paths Madara, when sneak-attacked from behind by Black Zetsu, had to honestly accept having his chest penetrated.
After all, "Sensory Perception" is an active biological ability; if an operative isn't actively scanning the horizon, they will never notice an artillery shell fired from three kilometers away until their body explodes.
"SOMEONE IS ATTACKING!"
The delayed, agonizing shock of pain finally registered in Raiga's brain, making him the first to wake from the daze. He screamed in agony, raising his remaining left hand, signaling the ANBU to enter a frantic state of maximum alert.
"Tch. The aerodynamic precision at this extreme distance is still a fraction of a degree off," Kiyohara noted clinically, watching Raiga scream through his Sharingan.
He had originally intended to blow Raiga's head completely off his shoulders.
The ocular vision of the Sharingan is terrifyingly strong; Sasuke with a mature Three-Tomoe could easily track Deidara's microscopic nano-bombs. Sarada could literally see microscopic viruses floating in the air.
Even though Kiyohara currently only possessed a One-Tomoe Sharingan, it functioned exactly as if he had surgically attached an advanced, 8x sniper scope to his optic nerves.
"It's time for the vanguard to enter the fray."
Kiyohara calmly deactivated his Sharingan to conserve chakra. He instantly activated the magnetic repulsion beneath his boots and stacked it flawlessly with the Konoha Body Flicker Technique to close the three-kilometer distance.
As his figure flickered through the canopy, he resembled a localized bolt of black lightning.
"HE'S INBOUND! SECTOR FOUR!" A sensory-type Kirigakure operative shouted in terror, pointing toward the treeline.
The unknown assailant had just utilized a classified, supersonic long-range jutsu to effortlessly sever the arm of a Seven Swordsman; such a terrifying threat was enough to make everyone draw their blades in a panic.
Kiyohara's physical figure closed the distance to the valley floor.
SPLAT!
A severed head flew cleanly into the air before Kiyohara's boots even touched the mud.
He casually slashed the head off the screaming sensory ninja with a single stroke; the sheer kinetic velocity of the blade stirred up a shallow wave of air pressure that knocked the surrounding operatives off balance.
Immediately after, the terrified Mist battalion felt exactly as if a starving, rabid wolf had just charged into a flock of trapped sheep.
With every single black flicker of Kiyohara's movement, an ANBU's life was violently extinguished.
"M-Monster..."
"This guy's speed is impossible!"
The remaining Kirigakure infantry and ANBU were paralyzed by shock, watching their comrades being systematically butchered.
And when Kiyohara finally paused his slaughter for a microsecond to take a breath, Kakashi and Rin realized with absolute, profound shock that the demon saving them... was actually Kiyohara!
'Kiyohara... has become a monster again...'
Rin felt that compared to just a month ago on the coastline, Kiyohara seemed to have evolved into an entirely different species. She felt exactly as if she and Kiyohara were existing on separate timelines with completely different evolutionary flow rates.
Every single time she encountered Kiyohara in combat, he had undergone an impossible, apocalyptic leap in power. There was only one word in the human dictionary that seemed tailor-made for Kiyohara: Genius!
"Kiyohara... you made it," Seeing Kiyohara physically standing between them and the army, Kakashi finally relaxed enough to dry-swallow a soldier pill, his legs shaking.
"Watch your six," Kiyohara stated coldly.
He didn't look back at them. He analytically scanned the surviving Kirigakure operatives who were cautiously, fearfully encircling him; he estimated there were roughly forty-five combatants remaining.
He drew his chakra-metal ninja sword. Black iron sand, as fine as industrial dust, rapidly wrapped tightly around the steel, extending and serrating the blade into a heavy, lethal cleaver.
"An Uchiha brat?! No... you do not possess the crest..."
Raiga Kurosuki clutched his bleeding stump, staring hatefully at Kiyohara. Seeing the boy's spiky black hair, the red eyes he had spotted earlier, and his cold, imposing aura, Raiga had momentarily mistaken him for an elite Uchiha assassin.
After all, for the arrogant ninjas of the Uchiha Clan, besides the Sharingan, their other primary tactical weapon was "acting incredibly cool." At all times on the battlefield, they aggressively paid attention to their own aesthetic style and terrifying imposition.
"My genetic lineage is irrelevant," Kiyohara slowly, casually raised his black sword, pointing it directly at Raiga's face.
"What is relevant... is that you should take your severed arm and run away right now."
"Arrogant scum! Do you really think you're an Uchiha?!" Raiga laughed in extreme, psychotic anger. He picked up his remaining Kiba blade with his left hand and aimed it furiously at Kiyohara.
"You are just a cowardly brat who got lucky with a sniper attack from the shadows! What the hell gives you the right to be arrogant to my face?!"
Raiga looked closely at Kiyohara's face beneath the rain.
He suddenly had a distinct memory of this specific face. Months ago, during the disastrous retreat from the Ruins of the Whirlpool Country, the Mist army had been chased like dogs by Might Duy's Eight Gates. Raiga's squad had accidentally passed by a retreating Konoha Genin team. At that time, he had glanced casually, and standing terrified among the civilian crowd was this exact boy.
But back then, the brat was just a weak ant who could only look up in terror at a Seven Swordsman.
And now... the ant wants to challenge him?!
"What is your name, brat? I always make sure to remember the names of the prodigies I slaughter," Raiga gripped the hilt of his remaining sword tightly, massive electric arcs faintly swirling around the steel.
"My name is only told to corpses."
"Hmph! DIE!"
Raiga crossed the ten-meter distance in an instant, his speed still terrifying despite his injury.
Kiyohara calmly stepped forward and met the brutal attack head-on with his heavy ninja sword.
CLANG!
The two heavy swords collided violently, and a blinding explosion of orange sparks and blue electric arcs detonated at the exact point of kinetic impact.
Raiga's pupils constricted in absolute shock.
What monstrous physical strength!
And... this brat's neurological movements... were impossibly fast!
In Raiga's veteran field of vision, every single micro-movement of Kiyohara's parry was terrifyingly, mathematically precise. There was zero wasted kinetic energy.
Suddenly, Kiyohara smoothly twisted his wrist, spinning his sword blade.
The solid iron sand forming the edge of his ninja sword suddenly, intentionally softened. It instantly dissolved into a fluid wave of countless iron sand particles that violently wrapped completely around Raiga's Kiba blade like a heavy, constricting whip.
Raiga's expression changed from anger to panic; this black iron sand had no fixed structural shape!
He hurriedly attempted to rip his sword back to retreat, but the magnetic iron sand followed the metal like a biological shadow, spreading violently up the steel blade directly toward his remaining arm.
"Ninja Art: Lightning Armor!"
CRACKLE!
A violent, high-voltage surge of lightning erupted outward from Raiga's body, utilizing the repelling magnetic polarity to forcefully blast the iron sand away from his flesh.
But at this exact, vulnerable microsecond of defense, Kiyohara had already lunged directly into Raiga's guard.
Kiyohara's right hand was thrust forward, his five fingers spread wide, his palm aimed point-blank at the dead center of Raiga's chest.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique."
HUM—!
A massive, highly compressed blade of aerodynamic wind erupted violently at point-blank range.
Raiga was blown brutally backward again. The sheer, armor-piercing kinetic force of the gale slashed completely through his flak jacket, and his heavy body crashed violently through a solid rock wall, embedding his bleeding form deep into the mountainside.