In order to balance out the sudden, massive increase in his spiritual energy as much as possible, Kiyohara had started training in taijutsu.
However, neither he nor the missing-nin Kiyohara could be considered true taijutsu specialists. Thus, the only thing Kiyohara could do was some simple physical exercises.
"Eh, you…!"
It was only now that Kurenai noticed Kiyohara was wearing nothing but a pair of loose shorts, his upper body completely exposed. Sweat flowed down the faint outlines of his muscles as he trained.
How could he… be so casual?!
Raised with strict manners, Kurenai immediately lowered her gaze, not daring to look any further.
A bare chest alone was tolerable.
The problem was that his bare torso and that handsome face of his formed a lethal combination—
and instantly made everything feel completely different.
Her heart thumped once, hard.
"What's wrong?"
Kiyohara raised an eyebrow.
His physique could only be described as average—if anything, even a little on the thin side. After all, shinobi performed intense physical activities every day; a fit body was something that naturally formed from daily survival and missions.
"N-Nothing."
Kurenai bit her full, soft lower lip, adjusted her mindset, and desperately tried to imagine Kiyohara's naked torso as nothing more than a giant radish.
"The mission location is the eastern front of the Land of Fire," she finally said after a long pause.
"The east?"
Kiyohara stroked his chin thoughtfully.
If they were heading toward the east of the Land of Fire, that meant either the border with the Land of Lightning or the Land of Water.
"Southeast?" Kiyohara asked.
"Mhm."
Kurenai nodded.
Hearing this, Kiyohara frowned slightly.
Southeast… so it was the Land of Water.
'If Madara wants to make his move, he'll still need a few more months. That's just enough time for me to grow a bit,' Kiyohara thought silently.
The original story never made the precise timeline clear, but just by looking at Obito's hair, it was obvious that at least several months had passed.
During those months, once Obito regained enough mobility, Madara would definitely begin setting his trap—using White Zetsu to lure Obito outside.
Before that moment arrived… would be Kiyohara's chance.
Just a little over twenty days, and it will be another month. Hopefully another "last will" will come…
While his thoughts swirled nonstop, Kiyohara maintained a calm expression as he continued asking Kurenai about the details of the mission.
Compared to the previous assignment, this mission was much easier—they were only responsible for transportation.
Kiyohara couldn't help nodding.
This was finally a task suitable for their actual strength.
Being sent to Kannabi Bridge right at the start had been no different from facing a boss right after finishing the beginner's tutorial.
"I'll meet you at the mission location tomorrow," Kiyohara said.
"Then don't forget," Kurenai replied, and quickly left.
"There's no time to forge a proper ninja blade…"
Kiyohara rubbed his chin.
After thinking it over, he decided to save his money for now and upgrade to a much better weapon the next time he returned to the village.
Until then, he'd make do with kunai.
Even if he made a ninjatō now, he didn't know any kenjutsu. Maintenance alone would be costly.
…
The Next Day
After packing his belongings, Kiyohara arrived at the designated gathering point.
Just like before, it was Konoha's main gate. He even saw two shinobi standing guard though they were not the two legendary "Gate Guardians" the village would one day be known for.
Their squad remained the same, with Minato still serving as their jonin leader.
After all, their previous jonin leader who was originally assigned to them had stepped on an exploding tag and died, so Minato had taken over again.
Several early arrivals waved toward Kiyohara the moment they saw him.
It was Kakashi, Rin, Kurenai, and Genma, all fully prepared and ready to depart—just waiting for him.
"Kiyohara, I heard about your performance on the last mission. You did very well. This is a ninjutsu scroll from the village, consider it your additional reward."
Minato smiled and took out a scroll from his pouch.
"A scroll?"
Kiyohara accepted it and took a look.
It was a Wind Release jutsu, the Wind Release: Gale Palm.
Just like the Wind Release: Great Breakthrough he already knew, it was a C-rank jutsu—exactly the difficulty level expected of a chunin.
These alphabetical rankings generally referred to difficulty of learning rather than destructive power.
Of course, the harder the technique, the stronger it usually was.
"Thank you very much, Lord Minato."
Kiyohara bowed slightly.
He hadn't even used his military merit to exchange for any jutsu yet, so this was essentially free. No reason to refuse.
He also understood what this meant:
His performance in the last mission had made the upper ranks consider nurturing him.
After all, Kiyohara wasn't from some clans burdened by prejudice…
"Let's move out," Minato said once he saw Kiyohara put the scroll away.
Their destination:
The Eastern Front!
…
Several days passed. Along the way, Kiyohara noticed more Hyūga joining their ranks.
He knew, then, that they were close.
Most of Konoha's main forces and the Uchiha were deployed against the Hidden Cloud. The Hyūga and the remaining forces were assigned to counter the Hidden Mist.
It was during this period that Ao from the Mist would later steal a Byakugan from a certain Hyūga branch family member—causing the first recorded case of a Byakugan leaking outside the village.
This incident would later make Hyūga clan rules far more extreme—
because people would eventually realize that transplanting a Sharingan required high innate talent and chakra control; otherwise, the chakra drain would be unbearable.
However, transplanting a Byakugan had almost no such drawbacks.
It was like opening the door to a brand-new world…
"From now on, your mission will be to garrison this area and mostly guarding and helping transport supplies nearby."
After negotiating with the commander responsible for this logistics base, Minato returned and relayed the instructions to Kiyohara and the others.
"Understood."
Kiyohara was the first to respond.
This assignment suited him perfectly.
If he could lay low for two more weeks, he could see whether a "Last Will" message would appear.
He also had time to train Wind Release: Gale Palm.
Before a second future appeared… he had no sense of security.
Right now, he was extremely anxious.
"This type of mission, huh?"
Genma scratched his head, finding it quite simple.
"This is what a normal difficulty mission looks like," Kiyohara said with a shake of his head.
If not for the missing-nin Kiyohara merging with him, after the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, he would have either been the one collecting other people's corpses… or someone else would be collecting his.
With Kurenai and Genma included, survival would have been very unlikely.
…
Time passed quickly. Two weeks went by in a flash.
During these two weeks, Kiyohara's life had been very calm.
After merging with the missing-nin Kiyohara, his talent in Wind Release had grown significantly.
Even without a teacher, he quickly managed to master the Wind Release: Gale Palm on his own.
Near the camp, by a stream used by the shinobi for cooking, bathing, washing clothes, and fetching water, Kiyohara stood before the riverbank.
He formed the Dog and Dragon seals, then pressed his palms together.
A surge of wind burst forth from between his clasped hands, blasting toward the surface of the stream.
Whoosh!
In an instant, the water surface caved downward, revealing the smooth stones at the bottom of the stream.
A fish that failed to dodge in time was struck by the wind and flung onto the shore, flopping desperately.
"Looks like I can add something extra to dinner tonight."
Kiyohara murmured.
Just as he bent down to pick up the fish—planning to make some soup to improve his daily meals—
a familiar synthetic female voice suddenly echoed within his mind.
[Please retrieve your alternate self's last will and urn. Make sure to properly take care of their remains.]
It's here!
Kiyohara's eyes lit up instantly.
Calculating the time, today indeed marked exactly one month.
(End of Chapter)