"Haha, good! Go back and rest first. I'll have someone calculate the mission rewards and war merits as soon as possible."
Jiraiya laughed loudly.
Kiyohara didn't stay any longer. After a brief rest with his squad, he set out for the coastal camp in the Land of Rivers.
…
Several days later, at dusk.
Land of Rivers coastal camp, main tent.
Tsunade was frowning as she looked over the latest intelligence on Kirigakure's movements spread across the table.
Shizune was organizing medical reports nearby, while Nohara Rin was helping check the medicine inventory.
The tent flap was lifted.
Kiyohara appeared at the entrance, with Kurenai and Kakashi behind him.
As for Asuma Sarutobi, he had remained on Jiraiya's side with the rest of their squad.
"Sensei, we're back,"
Kiyohara said.
Tsunade jerked her head up. The moment she saw Kiyohara, the tightness in her brow immediately eased, though she still complained,
"You brat, so you do know how to come back. While you were gone, I could feel the camp's food quality dropping in a straight line."
Kiyohara smiled.
"I'll cook right away."
"Now that's more like it."
Tsunade snorted and stood up, walking over to Kiyohara. She seemed about to smack him on the head like usual, but suddenly stopped.
She tilted her face up slightly, her golden-brown eyes carefully examining his forehead.
The diamond-shaped mark of the Strength of a Hundred Seal was already more than halfway formed.
Seeing this, Tsunade leaned even closer, almost pressing up against his forehead. Her warm breath brushed across his skin.
"Your Strength of a Hundred Seal…"
"It'll probably be finished in about another month."
Tsunade clicked her tongue in amazement.
That kind of speed really was one of a kind.
At this distance, Kiyohara could smell the faint scent of alcohol on her, mixed with the clean fragrance of medicinal herbs.
She was leaning in too close—her striking curves were practically about to brush against his chest, and a few strands of her blonde hair swept across his chin, leaving an itchy tickle.
"Maybe my chakra control improved again recently,"
Kiyohara gave a reasonable explanation.
"And I picked up some new insights on the Kumogakure front."
"New insights?"
Tsunade raised a brow.
A ninja's training really only relied on two things: mind and body.
If someone was tempered through battle, their spiritual energy would be refined, and their chakra would grow a little as well.
But that growth was limited by physical talent.
In other words, everyone's upper chakra limit was already fixed from the start. Later training could only bring them closer and closer to that ceiling.
Without training, they might never even come close to reaching it.
Looking at it that way, Tsunade felt that this brat Kiyohara's physical talent was absurdly good.
She lifted a finger and tapped his firm chest.
It hurt a little.
Tsunade's strength really was something else.
"Oh, right, Sensei. Jiraiya-sama asked me to pass a message to you."
Kiyohara said.
Tsunade froze.
"What message?"
"He said the five hundred thousand ryo you borrowed from him in Tanzaku Town should be paid back now."
Tsunade's expression stiffened instantly, then visibly flushed red.
"Ji-rai-ya…!"
Her fist clenched with cracking sounds, and veins bulged on her forehead.
"That idiot—I'm not saying I won't pay him back. How dare he have a kid pass along something like that? Next time I see him, I'm tearing that white hair of his right out."
Tsunade felt that Jiraiya really was the type who'd climb onto the roof if you didn't beat him down for three days.
How dare he say random nonsense to her precious little lamb.
What if he corrupted the kid too?
"All right, all right. Go cook. I've still got work to do here."
Tsunade rubbed her forehead and turned away.
She had been swamped these past few days, constantly sending people out to track Kirigakure ninja, then coming back to approve all kinds of paperwork.
On top of that, anything related to medical care in the rear lines passed through her hands as well.
"All right, Sensei."
Kiyohara could tell how tired Tsunade was, and he planned to make her something good to eat.
After all, even though he was technically a vice-captain, Kiyohara had always acted like a hands-off boss.
Tsunade had handled a lot of extra paperwork for him. Otherwise, he probably would have had even less time to train.
"Sensei, what do you want for dinner tonight?"
Kiyohara asked as he opened the tent flap, glancing back over his shoulder.
Tsunade turned at the question. Her anger still hadn't fully faded, but she instinctively swallowed.
"…Stewed chicken. Make it spicy."
"Got it."
Kiyohara headed toward the temporary stove area outside the tent, and Kurenai silently followed along to help.
…
Several days passed.
Kiyohara left the Konoha camp alone and headed east, deeper into the mountains.
The farther he went, the fewer signs of human presence there were.
Eventually, he stopped at an open area backed by a sheer cliff, with a deep ravine in front of it.
"Storm Release…"
Kiyohara fused Lightning and Water chakra together, refining Storm Release chakra.
Then, with a thought, he released it according to the chakra flow path he had previously copied from Hiruko.
The Storm Release chakra shot into the sky—not exploding, but spreading rapidly like ink diffusing into clear water.
In the blink of an eye, it formed a thick black thundercloud about ten meters wide high above the ground.
The cloud layer was dense, and dark blue arcs of electricity flickered restlessly along its edges.
"Storm Release: Thunder Cloud Inner Wave."
Kiyohara lowered a finger.
Crackle… boom!
Several deep blue lightning beams dropped vertically from the black cloud layer and struck the ground.
Only then came the air-splitting roar.
At the point of impact, the hard rocky earth instantly exploded into a charred black crater.
White smoke hissed from the stones around the edges.
Even more frightening, the lightning strike wasn't a one-time attack. That black cloud kept churning, sending down a second wave, then a third, blasting rock fragments into the air.
A moment later, the thundercloud slowly dispersed, leaving behind nothing but a massive scorched crater.
A satisfied look flashed through Kiyohara's eyes.
Storm Release: Thunder Cloud Inner Wave created a dense black storm cloud nearby, then unleashed lightning to strike the enemy.
To accomplish the same thing with another technique, you'd first need to fire a Fire Release jutsu into the sky, using the hot flames to create rising air currents and form thunderclouds.
Only then could you call lightning down.
The famous Lightning Release: Kirin worked that way.
But with this move, Kiyohara could skip all that setup. And on top of that, it could also wrap around his body like Chidori Current, preventing enemies from getting close.
"Now let's try replacing Lightning Release Chakra Mode with Storm Release Chakra Mode."
Kiyohara moved on to his second training exercise.
This was also the one he had spent the most time on over the past few days.
He dispersed the remaining Storm Release chakra in his hand.
In an instant, a ripple like water spread across the surface of his body, and fine electric arcs clung to him like soft fabric.
At first glance, it almost looked as though his clothes were shimmering under flowing water.
But anyone who came close would be burned by the dense electric arcs.
Kiyohara clenched his fist. He could still feel the stimulating effect of Lightning Release on his cells.
And the burden on his body had actually been reduced.
More than that, he had a faint sense that his body's upper limit for withstanding natural energy had also risen slightly under this new mode, along with the improvement in his physique.
He continued training for a while longer, until he had used up more than half his chakra, before heading back toward the Konoha camp.
But before that, he first made a stop at the place where he was researching cloned Samehada.
After the results with Prototype No. 1, Kiyohara had spent the past few days producing a second-generation Samehada as well.
These new Samehada clones had become much better at absorbing chakra.
Still, none of them could match the original Samehada, the base template.
Kiyohara could only leave further refinement for the future.
He took out a fish from inside, placed it in a wooden bucket, and carried it back toward the Konoha camp.
Kakashi, who was in the middle of reading a dirty novel, suddenly felt his heart skip.
Someone had walked up behind him without him noticing at all.
He had just gotten to the good part—there was no way someone saw that, right?
Just as cold sweat started breaking out on Kakashi's back, he realized it was Kiyohara.
He instantly relaxed.
So it was just Kiyohara.
Kiyohara had been the one who first got Kakashi into reading dirty books in the first place, so Kakashi was pretty comfortable around him.
These days, the only things Kakashi dared read openly were books that looked dirty but actually weren't.
The genuinely dirty stuff, he only dared read in private.
"Oh, it's you, Kiyohara."
Kakashi closed the book.
"I've got something for you,"
Kiyohara said.
"Oh?"
Kakashi lifted a brow.
Kiyohara handed him the wooden bucket.
Inside, the water was clear, with a layer of fine sand at the bottom. A little silver-gray fish about the length of a palm was swimming inside, lazily swishing its tail.
Its eyes were large, and its scales were covered in backward-pointing barbs. Whenever it opened its mouth, rows of sharp fangs could be seen.
But its teeth had a metallic look to them, as if its whole mouth were lined with metal.
"This is…"
Kakashi crouched down and examined the fish carefully.
He could sense chakra inside the little thing.
"It's a clone I made. You can think of it as a second-generation version."
Kiyohara crouched down as well.
The first generation had merely survived. The second generation could already withstand some chakra.
Now Kiyohara planned to give this fish to Kakashi so Kakashi could feed it chakra regularly and use it in battle.
That way, after gathering data from it, Kiyohara would be able to make an even better third generation.
"This fish combines the cellular traits of the Binding Fish Clan and Samehada. I tested it already—it has Lightning affinity, so it'll suit you especially well."
Kiyohara explained.
Summoning beasts had chakra affinities too, and naturally the Binding Fish Clan did as well.
The experimental product Kiyohara created had inherited that trait.
"Try signing a summoning contract with it first."
Kiyohara took out a blank summoning scroll.
"All right."
Kakashi hadn't expected him to prepare even that, so he bit his fingertip and began writing the contract in blood.
Once everything was done, Kiyohara had Kakashi feed it chakra.
After trying it, Kakashi discovered that the little fish transformed into a straight-edged short blade about thirty centimeters long.
"If you keep feeding it, it'll adapt more and more to your chakra. And it can also absorb part of the enemy's chakra and feed it back to you."
Kiyohara said.
It was still only a weakened version of Samehada's chakra absorption, but the potential was obvious.
Kakashi tested it by infusing a trace of Lightning Release chakra. The blade trembled lightly, and the chakra flow through it was smooth.
It wasn't quite as good as chakra metal, but Kakashi could clearly feel a mild, pleasant sensation of feedback returning to him.
With a casual swing, a thin streak of lightning shot from the blade and left a scorched mark on a tree trunk not far away. It handled more naturally than a kunai.
Kakashi's eyes lit up.
This thing… worked that well?
Father!
Back then, your sword just wasn't fast enough—or ruthless enough.
With this, he wouldn't have to worry so much about his chakra limitation anymore.
And it wouldn't break nearly as easily either, unlike his father's blade, which would snap after a few serious uses.
Once Kakashi stopped feeding it chakra, the short blade turned back into a little fish and happily swam in a circle inside the bucket.
"…Not bad."
Kakashi's evaluation was brief.
But the light in his eyes showed that his satisfaction was far greater than those two words.
"Glad you like it. Want to give it a name?"
Kakashi thought for a moment.
"I'll call it Ganmaru."
He looked at Kiyohara, paused, and added,
"Thanks."
Kiyohara waved a hand.
"It's fine. I'm heading out—still got things to do."
…
After saying goodbye to Kakashi, Kiyohara returned to his own tent.
The new sword he had previously sent back to Konoha to be forged had arrived today.
It was tightly wrapped up and stored in a wooden box, the lid branded with the emblem of a Hidden Leaf-licensed smith ninja.
When Kiyohara opened it, his new ninja sword lay inside.
The scabbard was black, with a faint matte texture and no unnecessary decoration at all.
Kiyohara grasped the hilt and slowly drew it.
A cold flash of light spilled out.
The blade was straight as a ruler, a shape better suited for thrusting and high-speed slashing.
It was about eighty centimeters long, with a moderate blade width. Its material was a fusion of the reforged Executioner's Blade, chakra metal gifted by Asuma Sarutobi, and several rare alloys added by the smith.
Kiyohara flicked the blade lightly with a finger.
A crisp ring followed.
"You really do get what you pay for,"
Kiyohara sighed.
Use different materials, and the result really was completely different.
This was like trading a bird gun for a cannon. It was far superior to his old blade.
As he fastened the new sword at his waist, he felt at once that it matched his whole presence.
He had only just finished tidying up when Kurenai's voice came from outside the tent.
"Kiyohara, are you in? Tsunade-sama wants you to come over."
Kiyohara answered, then lifted the flap and stepped out.
Kurenai was standing right outside, and she immediately leaned in to look at his new sword.
"It feels heavier than the old one."
"It definitely is."
Kiyohara nodded.
The Executioner's Blade had been massive, and all of that had been reforged into a single straight sword.
If someone else tried to swing Kiyohara's sword, they would probably be out of breath after only a few swings.
But for him, it suited him even better.
He had tremendous strength, and his previous sword had felt a little too light and floaty.
…
Inside Tsunade's tent.
Nohara Rin was using Mystical Palm Technique on a cherry blossom bud meant for training.
Tsunade stood nearby with her arms crossed, her blonde ponytail swaying lightly over her shoulder.
Today she was wearing only a fitted black shinobi tank top, showing off her pale arms and collarbone.
From time to time, Tsunade gave Rin a few pointers.
Aside from fish, using medical ninjutsu on plants like this was also a very common training method.
"Keep your chakra output steadier. Don't let it rise and fall… yes, just like that…"
Shizune was crouched nearby, holding the ever-sleepy little pig, Tonton, in her arms.
Tonton grunted twice and shifted into a more comfortable position.
Lately, there had been times when people looked at it like emergency rations.
Only in Shizune's arms did it seem to feel truly safe.
When Kiyohara entered, Tsunade turned her head.
"Nice new sword,"
Tsunade said.
"I think so too."
Kiyohara smiled.
"But what did you want me for, Sensei?"
Kiyohara asked.
Tsunade looked him up and down a few times. Then, suddenly, she raised her right hand, clenched it into a fist, opened it again, and rolled her wrist. A slightly teasing smile appeared on her beautiful face.
"Come on. Let your teacher inspect the results of your recent training."
She pointed to a wooden table nearby.
"Arm wrestling. You got the guts?"
"Huh?"
Rin stopped her practice and looked over in confusion, blinking as her eyes moved back and forth between Tsunade and Kiyohara.
Then, seemingly thinking of something, her cheeks turned red and she blurted out softly,
"Kiyohara-kun, good luck!"
"Hm?"
Tsunade spoke.
Rin immediately shrank back like a startled rabbit and hurriedly corrected herself in a tiny voice.
"Ah… Ts-Tsunade-sama, good luck…"
Shizune couldn't help letting out a small laugh and quickly covered her mouth, though her shoulders kept shaking.
The pig in her arms got startled and gave an annoyed snort.
Kiyohara felt a little helpless, but seeing the eager look in Tsunade's eyes, he knew there was no dodging this one.
He wanted to see for himself too—after inheriting part of the Yotsuki clan's physique, just how far his raw physical strength had risen.
"All right."
Kiyohara walked over to the table and extended his right hand as well.
Their hands clasped.
Tsunade's hand was a size smaller than his, but her fingers were long and strong, with a warm, smooth touch.
Kiyohara's hand was larger, his knuckles distinct, and from years of training and gripping swords, his palm had developed a thin layer of callus.
"Ready…"
Shizune temporarily served as the referee.
"Go!"
Almost at the exact moment the word left her mouth, the muscles in both their arms tensed at once!
The wooden table instantly collapsed into pieces.
"No good."
Kiyohara shook his head.
The table couldn't withstand the force between him and Tsunade.
"Let's change locations."
Tsunade said.
She led him outside and found a large rock, signaling that they would arm wrestle there instead.
"All right."
Kiyohara took his stance again and clasped hands with Tsunade.
Then, after Shizune gave the signal, both of them exerted force.
Their locked arms stayed suspended above the rock, trembling slightly.
Tsunade frowned faintly. She hadn't used Monster Strength at the start—she had only wanted to test Kiyohara's base strength—but what she felt in her palm surprised her.
This brat's grip strength and arm strength had clearly risen another level!
That kind of power simply didn't belong to a ninja his age.
Kiyohara was equally startled.
Even without using Monster Strength, Tsunade, as a descendant of the Senju clan and a woman whose body had been honed through countless battles, still far surpassed ordinary people in raw physical foundation.
As the two of them held in stalemate, they watched each other's faces.
In the end, Kiyohara couldn't help asking,
"Why are we doing arm wrestling, exactly?"
"Well… if you perform well, I'll teach you Monster Strength."
Tsunade said it casually.
"Really?"
A flicker of delight crossed Kiyohara's face.
"Since when have I ever lied to you?"
Tsunade's wrist suddenly pressed harder.
Kiyohara very much wanted to say, You still haven't paid back that money you mentioned.
But in the end, he said nothing.
He was still waiting to learn Monster Strength.
If he mastered Tsunade's Monster Strength, then his physical power would rise to another whole level again.
~~~
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