"Hehe, time to report the situation here to Madara."
White Zetsu tightened his sleeves, covering the bit of pale skin that was showing.
"Kiyoshi, huh… I have to tell Madara about this guy. He's a bit too outstanding." White Zetsu chuckled.
He had infiltrated Kirigakure on Madara's orders, waiting for the opportune moment Madara had spoken of.
The aged Third Mizukage of Kirigakure was already under Madara's control.
A considerable number of White Zetsu had infiltrated the vast Kirigakure.
…
Mountains' Graveyard
In the dim space, the walls slowly writhed. A pale white figure emerged from within.
"Madara-sama, the artificial human from Kirigakure told me…"
White Zetsu's figure emerged from the ground.
The other artificial beings had already transmitted the information to him through telepathy.
Kiyoshi's growth rate had reached an astonishing rank.
His talent was many times greater than Obito, whom Madara had taken a liking to.
White Zetsu didn't know why Madara cared about him so much.
"You wouldn't understand."
After listening to White Zetsu's report, Madara's face which was full of wrinkles, twitched, revealing a pair of scarlet Sharingan.
These weren't his own eyes.
His Rinnegan had already been invested in the plan, currently far away in the Land of Rain.
Kiyoshi was good, so good that even Madara was surprised. But that was all there was to it.
What he needed was someone prone to extremes. Someone who could quickly turn from love to hate.
The deeper the love, the thicker the hate would be when that time came.
Kiyoshi was too calm. This personality was suitable for other clans, but for the Uchiha clan, it was purely a negative influence.
With such strong resilience, whether he could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan was unknown.
"The chosen one is still Obito. But we can try to win Kiyoshi over." Madara spoke and paused for a moment.
If his current body loses the chakra supplied by the Gedo Statue behind him, he will die before long.
He had experienced too many battles in his youth, and now he was plagued with hidden injuries in his old age.
He will only choose Kiyoshi if something happens to Obito. His body didn't have much time left.
"Understood, Madara-sama."
White Zetsu chuckled, burrowed into the wall, and swam away through the earth.
Feeling White Zetsu's presence grow more distant, Madara looked up at the dark ceiling.
"Kiyoshi, huh?"
Madara savored the name. He had known about Kiyoshi's affairs in Konoha a long time ago.
But that wasn't the first time he had heard the name. The first time he knew of it, he was still very young.
When he was reading ancient books, he had found some sporadic events from the ancient books.
And there appeared a person named Kiyoshi in them.
It was just that the time was separated by thousands of years, and it was no longer verifiable.
In the darkness, Madara sat on the stone seat and fell into slumber once more.
…
Summer passed and winter came, the battle deadlocked.
The climate changed from hot to cold.
Kiyoshi breathed out a mouthful of white air, watching the Hyūga clan members walking past from time to time.
The Uchiha stronghold here had merged with the Hyūga clan a few months ago.
"You can rest for a day today."
Yashiro patted Kiyoshi on the shoulder.
In the past few months, Kiyoshi had performed excellently, killing many Kirigakure ninjas whenever they attacked.
"Okay." Kiyoshi nodded.
This war would last for several years. This was just the beginning.
After receiving his ration for the day, Kiyoshi walked out of the stronghold.
Fire Release Genin, Medical Genin, Genjutsu Genin, Sealing Genin, Swordsmanship Genin, Wind Release Genin, etc, he had upgraded all of them to their Chūnin counterpart.
Through merits, Kiyoshi also exchanged for some Water Release ninjutsu, obtaining [Water Release Genin (Green)].
He only needs the final Upgrade of [Water Release Genin (Green)] to combine all the Chunin traits he currently possesses.
"Hopefully, it will give me a purple Trait."
Kiyoshi closed the trait panel.
Now, his foundation was incomparably solid, and the many bonuses had made his body even more perfect.
The increase in training speed was actually an increase in adaptability in a certain aspect.
The chakra natures in the ninja world can be inherited, indicating that they are all things at the genetic rank.
Kiyoshi's genes were constantly being optimized and changed. In addition to adaptability, his resistance to some ninjutsu was also increasing.
What it would eventually become, Kiyoshi didn't know either.
No one in the ninja world had ever been in his situation.
If he had to say, the process of the Ōtsutsuki planting the God Tree and completing their own evolution through the Chakra Fruit was very similar to Kiyoshi.
The formation of the Chakra Fruit is the condensation of a huge amount of energy and genetic information.
After all, it records the information of all the creatures that had ever died on the ground.
"Time to do the experiment."
Kiyoshi pretended to rest by the river near the stronghold, avoiding the Hyūga's vigilance, and walked outwards.
As an insider, Kiyoshi was very familiar with their guard positions, and avoiding them wasn't too difficult.
'The timing is also ripe for Natsu. It's time to harvest.' Kiyoshi thought to himself.
It had been more than two and nearly three years since he had come to Konoha.
Natsu is now fifteen or sixteen years old, and can be harvested.
The bodies of ninjas develop very quickly. After all, the number of cells in their body is multiple times greater than those of normal people in his previous life.
They can't be viewed according to the old concepts.
Natsu wasn't much different from an eighteen-year-old girl.
Legally compliant, biologically compliant.
He could even propose marriage to Natsu now and there would be nothing socially or morally or legally wrong with it. Of course, Kiyoshi wouldn't do that.
He already had a preset candidate for marriage.
Natsu, at this stage, could be regarded as a supplement for his dōjutsu.
As for whether she would be given a title, that would be a matter for the future.
…
"Kiyoshi killed a lot of Kirigakure ninjas again?" Ginka frowned.
In addition to the war between the Land of Water and the Land of Fire, wars had also broken out in other countries.
The entire ninja world was now in chaos, with mutual infighting. Many places were filled with ninjas fighting and a scene of turmoil, especially in small countries.
Wandering ninjas dared not cause chaos in large countries, so they went to small countries to burn, kill, and plunder.
"That's right."
Natsu nodded respectfully, with a faint palm print on her face.
Having come here, the main family was naturally still the main family.
The branch family needed to protect the main family. Where there were people, there would be classes.
"Come, come over here."
Ginka's noble and beautiful face suddenly showed a smile.
She beckoned, asking Natsu to sit next to her, warming Natsu from the cold.
Natsu was terrified, knowing that this was Ginka's disguise.
But if she didn't obey Ginka, she would probably immediately turn hostile.
"Natsu, you are his classmate. Please say some good words for me."
Ginka breathed softly, her rosy lips carrying fragrant warmth.
"Yes…"
Listening to Ginka's request, or rather, order, Natsu nodded sadly.