After the light faded, only a single dim point remained, which slipped into the urn inside Kiyohara's mind.
He tried "knocking" on the urn with his thoughts, but there was no response at all.
Rogue Kiyohara did say he'd fade with time… no telling how long that'll take, Kiyohara thought.
He stopped dwelling on it and turned his attention back outward.
The whole fusion process had felt long from the inside, but in the real world it hadn't even taken a full second of dazed stillness.
When he opened his eyes again, there was a subtle shift in his aura.
The proctor, who had just been about to leave, paused mid-step and glanced back at him with a faint frown.
For a moment, he sensed something different about the boy.
But the feeling vanished as quickly as it came. Kiyohara still stood there, looking no different than before.
Must've been my imagination, the proctor thought, shaking his head in amusement.
Probably just the natural change in presence from fighting hard and being promoted. After all, to grow your spiritual energy you have to temper your will and learn more; it wasn't strange for someone who'd just come out of a tough battle with new insights to see their chakra bump up a bit.
He didn't overthink it and turned away to continue handling the rest.
Kiyohara stepped down from the platform and walked toward the base of the stands.
Most of the audience was already streaming out, people heading in every direction.
Kurenai and Genma came down from the seats and joined him on the way out.
"Was this selection specially arranged?" Kurenai asked.
Chūnin exams were usually held on fixed dates every year.
This one's timing was off the usual schedule—more like something decided on the fly.
"No idea," Kiyohara said, shaking his head.
He was just a lowly genin—no, chūnin now. How would he know what the higher-ups were planning?
"Aren't you going to treat us to a celebratory meal?" Genma asked, senbon still in his mouth, half joking.
His eyes still carried genuine happiness for his teammate.
"I will—once I've paid off my loans," Kiyohara said.
Right now he was "broke" in the most literal sense.
He still owed a fat chunk in loans; on top of that, getting his chakra metal reforged into a weapon would cost a lot too.
He was in a state of serious financial stress.
"You… have loans?" Kurenai stared, eyes widening.
She'd never met a ninja who was actually in debt.
"Yeah. I prepped some things," Kiyohara said with a small nod.
Most of the money had gone into forbidden enhancers.
He'd briefly considered selling the formula, passing it off as a "family secret medicine."
But the effect was too good; once the wrong people noticed, it'd be trouble.
Shimura Danzō could run human experiments with Orochimaru right under Hiruzen's nose all to chase more power. If he learned Kiyohara had something like this, odds were high he'd show up banging on the door to "confiscate" it in the name of justice.
Kiyohara had no desire to cross paths with Danzō this early. No need to take that risk.
Better to keep running missions, looting bodies, and making side money.
Once he was strong enough, he could think about selling the formula and profiting then.
"I see…" Kurenai gave him a look.
She couldn't help wondering just how little confidence he'd had in that mission, to prep so much—and even take out loans.
"Alright, fair enough," she nodded at last.
If he had debts hanging over him, there was no reason to push for extra spending now.
After a bit more small talk, Kiyohara excused himself, saying he needed to train hard before his next deployment.
He headed alone toward his slightly run-down house on the village's edge.
Back in the familiar, shabby home, he didn't waste time. He went straight to the tiny yard.
The setting sun painted the yard in warm gold, but it couldn't hide how bare it was.
Kiyohara ignored that. He wanted to see how much he'd actually improved.
He hadn't inherited any new jutsu this time—but in terms of talent, the gain was huge.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled a standard kunai from his pouch.
Time to test Lightning Release: Lightning Stream.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Stream!"
His left hand blurred through seals as his right gripped the kunai. He channeled refined Lightning chakra precisely into the blade.
Crackle crackle!
Brighter than before, arcs of lightning quickly wrapped around the kunai's edge.
This time, he felt the chakra flowing through his meridians more smoothly—and the once-restless Lightning nature responded far more obediently.
It was hard to put into words, almost like instinct.
Some people only need a glance at a math problem before the solution springs fully-formed into their minds.
Others stare at it half a day and can only write "solution" at the top.
Talent really was that cruel.
"The bottleneck on my physical talent… just broke," Kiyohara murmured, watching the lightning dance around the blade, a flicker of joy in his chest.
So he could finally experience what it felt like to be a "little genius," instead of a mediocre civilian.
If he stacked enough of these fusions, he might actually become the strongest Lightning Release user in shinobi history.
His gaze shifted to the stone block in the corner of the yard.
It was about a meter across—a slab he'd dragged home for Wind Release practice.
Without hesitating, he hefted the crackling kunai and threw it.
Whoosh—crack!
The kunai turned into a streak of blue light, flying much faster than ever before. It slammed dead-center into the stone.
With a thunderous impact, it didn't embed itself… or shatter the rock.
It drilled straight through.
The stone now had a fist-sized hole in the middle, the edges smooth and blackened as if scorched and polished at once.
The kunai didn't stop, either—it buried itself deep into the dirt wall behind the stone. Only half the handle still jutted out, vibrating slightly as the fading lightning flickered off.
Kiyohara stared at the charred hole, eyes lighting up.
This power was far beyond what he'd had before.
He could also feel how much better his control had gotten over throwing force, angle, and maintaining Lightning chakra after it left his body.
"Alright, let's try Wind next."
He dispelled the Lightning Stream, retrieved the kunai, and stowed it, then formed another set of seals.
Dog–Horse–Bird…
His fingers flashed, his cheeks puffed slightly.
Whoosh—
A blast of wind roared from his mouth, driving straight upward.
He didn't aim at the yard wall; he didn't feel like paying to repair it.
The wind climbed higher and higher, whistling through the air.
Kiyohara could clearly feel that the chakra cost this time was lower, but the Wind Release's strength had risen to a whole new level.
~~~
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