After calling out that one word—"Master"—a powerful wave of humiliation surged through Samui's heart.
She let out a muffled groan and bit the tip of her tongue. The sharp pain and the taste of blood finally let her break free from the lingering effects of the genjutsu.
"It was genjutsu!"
"I was caught in a genjutsu!"
Samui hurried to explain that those words had not been her true intention.
Good lord, Kiyohara had just slapped that accusation right onto her head.
Absolutely vicious.
Once again, Samui gained a whole new understanding of just how low Kiyohara could go.
"It really was Sharingan genjutsu… she was under genjutsu!"
The Kumogakure jonin immediately reacted, but the chill in their hearts only deepened.
Samui was Killer B-sama's student, yet she had been controlled to that extent in a single exchange?
Just how terrifying had this Uchiha's genjutsu skill become?
Kiyohara paid no attention to the shock and fury around him.
The moment Samui's "Master" fell from her lips, the black urn in his mind—the one embedded with a lightning insignia—suddenly shook violently!
The lid slid open without a sound, and Yotsuki Kiyohara burst into laughter like a man who lived purely for the fun of it.
Then a glowing orb floated out of him.
The orb flowed straight into Kiyohara's body.
It was the same familiar process as always.
Kiyohara felt his mental world expand once again.
Put simply, his spiritual world had grown larger.
If anyone were to enter Kiyohara's inner world, they would find it several times larger than that of an ordinary person.
Kiyohara couldn't help but think—if Orochimaru ever tried to use the Living Corpse Reincarnation Technique on him, wouldn't he be dumbfounded?
After all, even Sasuke with just a three-tomoe Sharingan had already been too much for Orochimaru's spirit to withstand. Orochimaru had been devoured by Sasuke's genjutsu backlash and failed on the spot.
'My spiritual energy… increased again.'
Kiyohara thought to himself.
First came some fragmented images.
They weren't complete scenes, mostly just moments charged with strong emotion.
But Kiyohara's already vast spiritual energy wasn't affected by them in the slightest.
Then came the explosive increase in his chakra reserves.
His chakra pathway system felt like a riverbed being widened, and the total amount of chakra he could contain surged upward like crazy.
Before this, Kiyohara's chakra reserves had been around 11.5 units. After another round of transformation, they had risen to 11.6.
Now that value began climbing again, reaching 13.1.
A full one-and-a-half jonin's worth of chakra!
And Yotsuki Kiyohara still had a second unfulfilled wish, meaning Kiyohara had not even inherited everything yet.
Kiyohara guessed this was because he had inherited part of his physical vitality as well.
'But it's still short of a true Yotsuki bloodline. I probably only inherited part of it.'
Kiyohara understood immediately.
It had to be the chemical reaction caused by the rise in physical energy that was making his chakra grow faster than before.
Even if it was only part of the Yotsuki clan's bloodline, it still greatly increased the activity of Lightning Release chakra in his body.
The bottleneck had been broken.
Kiyohara could clearly feel that the limits of his body had been shattered.
If he trained in taijutsu from now on, his growth would be much faster.
Back when Kiyohara practiced Lightning Release Chakra Mode, he had always felt there was an invisible barrier preventing any deeper fusion between lightning and flesh.
That was the "little bit short" Yotsuki Kiyohara had been talking about.
Now, that barrier shattered on the spot.
His muscle fibers began rearranging themselves, growing denser. His bones gave off a faint sense of reinforcement.
The Yotsuki clan's hereditary physical toughness, honed over generations, was now quietly reshaping the very foundation of Kiyohara's body.
This wasn't some explosive, temporary boost.
It was optimization at the most fundamental level.
Faster neural transmission. Greater explosive force. Stronger endurance.
'Right. Even though I forgot to ask Yotsuki Kiyohara what his chakra attributes were, they're probably Lightning and Water.'
Kiyohara kept watching Kakashi and the others deal with the Kumogakure ninja while simultaneously receiving the inheritance.
That was because his affinity for both Lightning and Water had just been elevated again.
And that included… Storm Release.
Kiyohara had a feeling that at any moment, he could fuse those two chakra natures together and create Storm Release chakra.
All of this sounded lengthy in description, but in reality, it happened in less than an instant.
Samui's lips were still moving as she explained to the other Kumogakure ninja why she had just spoken like that.
Kiyohara noticed that, in his eyes, Samui's movements had become a little slower again.
He could even see the soft little tongue moving inside her mouth.
Frame by frame, as if time had been deliberately slowed.
Then Kiyohara slowly raised his right hand and spread his fingers.
Crackle!
Pale blue arcs of electricity leapt from his fingertips—but this time, they looked completely different from before.
They were no longer just straight, explosive electric sparks. Instead, they flowed between his fingers like blue streams of water.
This… was not Storm Release.
Or rather, it was a state just before true Storm Release.
Kiyohara had not perfectly fused the two chakra natures into the laser-like kekkei genkai known as Storm Release.
Instead, like a composite ninjutsu, he was allowing the two chakra natures to interfere with each other.
That way, others would not suddenly realize he had mastered Storm Release. They would only think his mastery of Lightning and Water Release was exceptionally high.
Of course, once enough time had passed, there would be no need for Kiyohara to hide it anymore. He could reveal it openly and directly.
But not yet. For now, he still needed to lay some groundwork.
Those fluid-like electric arcs gradually spread across Kiyohara's entire body.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode!
But this time, the lightning armor covering his body had changed.
What had once only been a dense electric net clinging to the surface of his skin now suddenly expanded outward, turning into a flowing azure thunder armor about half a finger thick.
Lightning flowed across its surface like liquid, and behind his shoulders, two fluttering, illusory capes formed naturally out of pure electricity!
From a distance, the blue glow lit up the side of Kiyohara's face.
Kiyohara looked at his current form.
It felt a little like Naruto's Kurama Mode—except his was blue, and it lacked the black sealing patterns.
"What… is that?"
Asuma, who had just shaken off a Kumogakure chunin, happened to turn back and see this scene.
Kiyohara's copying of Lightning Release Chakra Mode had already been made public by Kumogakure. It was now well-known intelligence.
Asuma had seen some Konoha ninja use Lightning Release Chakra Mode before, but he had never seen anything like this.
Kurenai also froze for a moment. For some reason, her heartbeat skipped, and her cheeks grew warm. She quickly looked away and refocused on the enemy in front of her.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Dash!"
Samui's figure turned into a streak of blue lightning and crossed ten meters in an instant. Her short blade, wrapped in blinding lightning, stabbed straight for Kiyohara's throat!
This strike was launched in fury, surpassing her usual level.
Unfortunately, in Kiyohara's eyes, it was still slow.
Kiyohara shifted sideways.
Samui's blade tip scraped past the side of his neck.
Her wrist turned, changing the thrust into a slash that swept toward his waist.
At the same time, lightning gathered at the fingertips of her left hand, and three Lightning Release shuriken shot silently toward Kiyohara's lower body.
An electric flash sparked beneath Kiyohara's feet as he dodged them.
A liquid mass of crackling electricity shot from Kiyohara's hand.
This was the product of coating Lightning Release chakra with a layer of Water Release.
Perhaps because inheriting Storm Release had changed his physique, this kind of move came much more naturally to him now than it would have before.
Samui quickly hurled several shuriken from her pouch, each one infused with Lightning Release chakra.
Unfortunately, her lightning shuriken were pierced straight through by Kiyohara's water-like electric arc.
At that exact moment, a Kumogakure ninja hiding on the flank saw his chance and completed his hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Beast!"
A blue beast of lightning, formed entirely of chakra, roared as it lunged for Kiyohara's back. Its massive maw of electricity opened wide, about to tear him apart.
Kiyohara lightly stomped his right foot.
Boom!
The ground shook violently.
Centered on the point where he stepped, the rocky ground within a three-meter radius was struck as if by an invisible giant hammer, and the entire surface was ripped upward.
Broken rock, dirt, and bits of grass shot into the air, blocking the Thunder Tiger's path and completely disrupting that Kumogakure ninja's line of sight and any follow-up hand seals.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
Kurenai seized the opening. Her hands flew through seals, and a powerful spiraling burst of wind shot from her mouth toward that Kumogakure ninja.
Slash!
The wind blades sliced into flesh.
The Kumogakure ninja screamed as a deep wound, so severe bone could be seen, opened across his chest.
'In this state, the boost to my body is greater than before too.'
Kiyohara assessed his current condition inwardly.
Of course, the price for that was faster chakra consumption.
But for a chakra tycoon like Kiyohara, that was still well within acceptable limits.
The next instant, Kiyohara vanished.
Szzzt!
A blue blur flashed past.
Samui only felt her vision blur for a moment, and Kiyohara had already appeared beside the wounded Kumogakure ninja.
At some point, the bandages on Samehada had been partially removed. Blue lightning, the same color as Kiyohara's armor, leapt wildly across its dark blade.
With one swing, the Kumogakure ninja was split in two.
Kiyohara pulled Samehada back, and the lightning on its blade instantly evaporated all the blood on it.
Then he turned to look at Samui.
That single glance made her feel a suffocating pressure.
The remaining Kumogakure ninja were terrified out of their wits.
Two jonin and several chunin had been either killed or gravely injured in such a short time, and the enemy's main force hadn't even fully exerted itself yet!
Kiyohara… was not someone they could fight head-on.
One Kumogakure chunin tried to make a last desperate gamble. His hands flashed through seals, and he spat out a massive rock of compressed stone and earth.
"Earth Release: Rock Gun Technique!"
The projectile howled toward Kiyohara.
Kiyohara casually waved his left hand.
The gourd at his waist trembled slightly, and a stream of golden sand poured out, instantly forming a thick wall of gold dust in front of him.
Boom!
The stone cannon slammed into the gold wall with a heavy crash, but failed to leave even the slightest crack.
And then, after taking the hit, the gold wall twisted and reshaped itself into a giant golden hand that slapped outward!
The Kumogakure chunin only had time to let out half a scream before the massive golden hand crushed him flat.
The last three remaining Kumogakure ninja stood back to back, their faces full of despair.
Samui's hand holding her blade trembled slightly.
And just then—
"You bastard~! How dare you lay a hand on my student!"
Along with that rap-like shout, a man wearing a Kumogakure forehead protector and sunglasses appeared in the battlefield.
Killer B!
The Eight-Tails jinchuriki, Kumogakure's "Killer Bee," had finally arrived.
"Bee, be careful."
Inside him, the Eight-Tails Gyuki's deep voice rumbled.
"This guy's chakra… something's wrong with it. That lightning just now was definitely not normal Lightning Release. And the bloodline inside him feels very complicated."
"Yo~ you felt it too~?!"
Killer B responded in rap cadence inside his mind.
"But whatever his deal is, if he hurt Samui, he's gotta pay the price, yeah~!"
He sounded relaxed, but his body had already entered a combat-ready state.
Kiyohara looked at the suddenly arrived Killer B, and a trace of understanding flashed through his eyes.
As expected. Since Samui was Killer B's student, she definitely carried some kind of emergency signal or tracking formula.
"You little Uchiha brat,"
Killer B said, his voice still carrying a rhythmic beat.
"Ready to face the fury of Killer Bee~?"
Kiyohara did not raise Samehada in front of him. Instead, the blue lightning on the blade grew even fiercer.
Killer B stopped talking. Both hands snapped backward.
"Acrobat!"
Seven swords were drawn at the same time!
There was a blade at his elbows, knees, shoulders—even in his mouth.
With seven swords controlled all at once, Killer B charged at Kiyohara.
This was the A-rank taijutsu that made Killer B famous, the very technique that would one day corner Uchiha Sasuke and drive him into desperation!
Kakashi's Sharingan spun, trying to capture the sword trajectories, but the rapid chakra drain made him feel dizzy.
Too fast—and completely irregular.
Asuma and Kurenai could only see a blur of silver light.
Kiyohara's three-tomoe Sharingan, strengthened again by the added spiritual energy from Yotsuki Kiyohara, could still track Killer B's movements.
The elbow lifting one blade upward… the knee thrusting another sword forward…
Samehada became a streak of blue thunder and struck toward the long blade thrust out by Killer B's right knee.
At the moment Killer B shifted forms, there was a brief gap in the transfer of force.
Clang!
Samehada's tip struck the tsuba of that blade, lightning exploding out around it.
Killer B immediately felt the force transmitted through his right knee shift off-center, throwing his whole rhythm into disorder.
Samehada then slid past the thin sword that had been whipped out from Killer B's left shoulder, sparks flying. The blade reversed, and Kiyohara slammed the hilt hard toward Killer B's chin.
Killer B jerked backward, using the blade clenched in his mouth to block upward.
Clang!
The collision rang out sharply.
Killer B used the momentum to leap back, his brows deeply furrowed.
He saw through it?
The first time anyone faced his Acrobat style, it was almost impossible for them to instantly read its pattern—let alone pinpoint a flaw and counterattack with precision.
"Bee, don't get careless. Use that."
Gyuki warned him from within.
Killer B regripped two of his main swords and poured chakra into them.
"Lariat Thunder Blade!"
The blades buzzed violently!
High-frequency vibration waves visibly distorted the air, and the Lightning Release chakra along the blades became even more active.
The "sharpness" of this technique surpassed even many Wind Release techniques.
Killer B lunged forward again, crossing his twin blades in a slash.
Kiyohara's gaze sharpened.
Now he could more or less understand the pressure Mangekyo Sasuke had faced against Killer B.
The difference was that Kiyohara was nowhere near as battered as Sasuke had been.
Kiyohara tightened his grip on Samehada's hilt, layering Fire Release chakra on top of the Lightning Release chakra already infused into it.
Clang!
The blue-red Sword collided fiercely with Killer B's vibrating lightning blades, shockwaves erupting with every clash.
The ground was carved into deep trenches by the aftershocks.
Killer B could feel it clearly—Kiyohara's blade was getting heavier, and faster.
Crack.
A crisp sound rang out.
A tiny fracture appeared on the blade in Killer B's left hand.
"What?"
Killer B's pupils contracted.
That sword wasn't on the level of one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, but it was still a finely crafted Kumogakure weapon. And now it had actually been damaged in a direct clash?
Just how destructive was that Sword?
And how was this guy's Lightning Release so authentic?
He was even more skilled with it than many Kumogakure ninja Killer B had seen.
Could it be that the true Kumogakure orthodox line was in Konoha?
The thought hit Killer B like the world's worst joke.
An outsider had mastered lightning to this level.
"Bee, you can't keep clashing head-on."
Gyuki spoke again.
Killer B nodded. He knew exactly what Gyuki meant.
If this exchange continued, his swords might break.
And once he lost his weapons, he'd only be able to dodge—he wouldn't be able to meet Kiyohara's attacks head-on anymore.
That left only one option: Tailed Beast Transformation.
But if he did that, it would be very easy to hurt his fellow Kumogakure ninja.
Because once he entered that state, his destructive power would rise sharply, and it would be difficult to keep from injuring the ninja around him.
He had to retreat.
Killer B made the call immediately. His twin blades slashed out in a cross, forcing Kiyohara back half a step, and then he vanished with Body Flicker, grabbing the still-dazed Samui in one hand.
"Samui, move!"
The Eight-Tails' chakra erupted from within Killer B.
A dark red tailed beast cloak instantly covered his whole body, and a single chakra tail appeared behind him.
"Water Release: Ink Shot!"
Killer B opened his mouth and spat out a massive lump of thick black ink mixed with Eight-Tails chakra.
The ink burst in midair and turned into a rain of black droplets that covered the sky.
By the time the black rain scattered, Killer B and Samui had already vanished into the darkness deep within the gorge.
As for the few remaining Kumogakure ninja, they had all been dealt with by Kurenai and the others while Kiyohara was fighting Killer B.
So in the end, Killer B had only managed to save Samui.
Kiyohara dispersed the Sword wrapped around Samehada, and the azure lightning armor covering his body slowly faded as well.
He looked in the direction Killer B had disappeared.
His objective had already been achieved.
Samui had called him "Master," Yotsuki Kiyohara's wish had been fulfilled, and the inheritance of power had gone through successfully.
More importantly, he had also inherited Storm Release.
That meant the Storm Release techniques he had previously copied from Hiruko would finally be useful.
"Clean up the battlefield,"
Kiyohara said.
"Our mission objective was to destroy the supplies. That part is already done."
He paused for a moment.
"Split up the supplies inside those scrolls. Either bring them back to exchange for merit, or keep what you can use yourselves."
His meaning was obvious.
As long as Kumogakure didn't get them, that counted as "destruction."
Everyone's eyes lit up.
In wartime, supplies meant life.
These Kumogakure provisions were good quality, especially the soldier pills and specially made kunai—real, tangible benefits for any ninja.
Before long, the battlefield had been cleaned up.
Everything valuable was sorted and sealed into storage scrolls, while the corpses were dealt with using simple Fire Release.
"Withdraw."
Kiyohara gave the order.
The squad's figures vanished quickly into the night, racing back toward the Konoha camp.
…
The next morning, at Konoha's main camp on the Kumogakure front—
Jiraiya stood at the entrance and saw Kiyohara and the others return without a scratch.
He had already received a secret message from the forward reconnaissance ninja and knew that Kiyohara's squad had not only successfully ambushed the Kumogakure supply team, but had also killed multiple jonin, and even briefly fought the arriving Eight-Tails jinchuriki Killer B before forcing him to retreat!
That result was even more dazzling than expected.
"Good work!"
Jiraiya strode forward and slapped Kiyohara hard on the shoulder.
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he lowered his voice and showed a faint grin.
"Oh, right. When you get back and see Tsunade, ask her this for me… the five hundred thousand ryo she borrowed from me in Tanzaku Town last year—when exactly is she planning to pay it back? I won't even count the interest, but the principal should at least get some kind of answer, right?"
Kiyohara: "..."
"Got it. I'll pass it on."
Kiyohara nodded.
~~~
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