"You?"
"It's easier to focus when I'm standing," Kiyohara said.
Seeing that, Kakashi could only sit and continue explaining the Lightning Release he'd just mentioned.
The jutsu was called Lightning Release: Lightning Stream.
Its principle was to coat ninja tools with Lightning chakra.
"So it's chakra flow," Kiyohara understood immediately.
Chakra Flow was a high-level technique. Plain, non-elemental chakra could attach to bodies or objects fairly easily—but once you added nature transformation, it became much harder.
Otherwise, every ninja would slap their element onto a kunai before throwing it.
Shisui's Uchiha Style: Dance of the Sun Halo did exactly that—coating a short blade with Fire chakra via a special jutsu, and turning each swing into a flaming arc.
Kiyohara had infused Wind chakra into his shuriken before—that was the same idea, just done crudely. Pure infusion, without a dedicated jutsu to refine it.
"Right. Once you cast Lightning Stream, the arcs become much stronger," Kakashi said.
He pulled a kunai from his pouch and demonstrated.
Crackle—
Lightning wrapped around the kunai, pale blue arcs flickering along the blade.
Sure enough, it looked far more potent than the raw Lightning infusion Kiyohara had been using.
"Here's the training method. Take your time with it," Kakashi said, producing a scroll—the Lightning Stream jutsu.
Kiyohara was about to ask why he carried that around when Kakashi explained:
"I've been researching jutsu in this area myself, so I brought this scroll along. It's something my father left behind—but it's only a C-rank technique," Kakashi said.
That jogged Kiyohara's memory.
In the future Kakashi really would learn a similar application—Kunai Raikiri, channeling all the power of Raikiri into a kunai, giving the blade Raikiri-level cutting power and letting him throw it.
"Thanks, Kakashi," Kiyohara said, taking the scroll and patting him on the shoulder.
Too genuine. What else could he say?
"It's nothing," Kakashi shook his head.
Talking with Kiyohara helped him too.
And it was only a C-rank. Kakashi figured Kiyohara would eventually have the ability and opportunity to get it anyway.
While they were still discussing Lightning techniques, an Anbu appeared at the door.
He informed Kiyohara of the time and place for the chūnin selection exam.
"Then you'd better train hard these next few days," Kakashi said, waving as he left.
"Chūnin selection, huh…"
Kiyohara rubbed his chin.
Plenty of time.
They didn't need a written test—just sparring with other genin.
And if things really got ugly? He had Rogue Kiyohara. Worst-case, he'd let "future him" step in.
He really didn't believe any current-era genin could handle a true jōnin.
He'd survived this mission again and again by relying on Rogue Kiyohara's possessions at critical moments.
No matter how strong the others were, they couldn't bridge that gap.
Not everyone's a reincarnated Naruto or Sasuke.
...
Two days flew by.
Kiyohara poured almost all his effort into mastering Lightning Release: Lightning Stream and combining it with his Shuriken Lightning Conduction technique.
With Rogue Kiyohara's guidance, his progress was blisteringly fast.
It was like having a 24/7 personal tutor—max efficiency.
Aside from eight hours of basic sleep, plus eating and bathroom breaks, he barely left the house.
Kakashi didn't disturb him either; he knew Kiyohara had the exam coming.
He still hadn't reached perfect control, but it was more than battle-ready.
At last, the day of the chūnin selection arrived.
In the bath.
"So today's the day, huh…"
Kiyohara wiped his face, slicking his black hair back from his forehead as hot water rained down from the shower, steaming against his back.
The warmth traced the faint lines of muscle on his back and ran down to his feet.
"Still too skinny. I need some taijutsu training," he muttered, looking down at himself.
Almost all shinobi had some muscle; only those who really let themselves go ended up pudgy.
The thought brought Anko to mind.
In Boruto, she'd gone from a hot, black-stockinged big sister to a full-on auntie—Mitarashi "Sweet Potato" instead of Mitarashi Anko.
"I wonder if there's a future version of me who trained taijutsu or has a relevant bloodline limit," he thought.
If he pulled in a physically gifted "Yotsuki Kiyohara" or "Senju Kiyohara," his taijutsu progress would skyrocket.
According to the Willbook, Kiyohara was the anchor, and countless futures branched outward from him like limbs from a tree root.
Rogue Kiyohara was just one branch—a future that happened to look a lot like his current timeline: a civilian.
But that didn't mean everything else would stay the same.
There might be versions of him with bloodline limits.
Because—he was a transmigrator.
His birth wasn't fixed. He could have been dropped anywhere.
Which meant time might not be "linear," like: now "civilian" -> future 1 "rogue-nin" -> future 2 "taijutsu specialist," all futures branching from a single civilian starting point.
Instead, it might be a probability model of time. The current him was an overlapping state of many possibilities—a convergence point of countless parallel timelines.
In that view, "future" was more accurately "possible branches."
In other words, the Willbook might not be anchoring the current body—it might be anchored to Kiyohara's existence.
The Willbook's power let Kiyohara stand where he was now and still reach up to pluck fruit from anywhere on the tree.
Because in essence, they all shared the same root: Kiyohara, the transmigrant.
"Still, it's all speculation for now," he thought.
To really know, he'd need more Willbooks and more urns.
He had a feeling that once he fulfilled Rogue Kiyohara's wishes, another Willbook might arrive.
Rogue Kiyohara was already steadily fading; only inside the urn could he avoid it.
What would happen after merging… Kiyohara didn't know.
Rogue Kiyohara might vanish, or keep "living" like this.
"Kiyohara, it's your chūnin selection day—why aren't you on your way yet?"
Faintly, through the bathroom vent, he heard Kurenai's voice outside.
~~~
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