While Kiyohara was looting, Swordsman Kiyohara also turned into a point of light and slipped back into the urn in his mind, becoming neighbors with Rogue Kiyohara's urn.
Kiyohara glanced inward and couldn't help feeling it was a bit creepy.
Naruto had a big cage in his body for the Nine-Tails.
Great—was his own insides going to turn into a memorial hall?
"Whatever."
He shook his head and focused back on reality.
He walked over and used a kunai to destroy Ao's brain, then put the kunai away.
That was to prevent Kiri from using any post-mortem scouting techniques to extract intel from Ao's mind.
In the shinobi world, the dead really could "talk."
Not only that, Kiyohara also damaged Ao's body to keep anyone from clearly seeing what attacks had finished him.
You could never be too careful.
"Not bad—Ao's sword is pretty good too."
He finally picked up Ao's fallen blade, stripped off his jōnin armor, and then grabbed his tool pouch, which still contained a bag of special soldier pills.
"In a way, these aren't that different from forbidden enhancers," Kiyohara thought as he checked them carefully for poison before storing them in a sealing scroll.
There were many types of soldier pills; these chakra-amplifying ones placed heavy strain on the body.
Taken long-term, they left lasting side effects.
That's why, in later arcs, Naruto, Sasuke, even Sakura and others rarely used that kind of pill.
"Quite a lot of exploding tags, though. More than twenty," he noted, digging through the pouch.
The rest was basic stuff: steel wire, shuriken, kunai.
There was also a telescope and a map.
Kiyohara worked quickly; the entire looting process took less than thirty seconds.
After long experience, he had a very efficient routine.
"Time to head back."
As he retraced his steps, on the other side of the battlefield, Mei was hauling a pale-faced Ranmaru through the thick mist at full speed.
"Ranmaru, don't stop," she urged.
The red eye's bloodline was similar in function to the Byakugan—one could even call it its nemesis.
But the reason Kiri still coveted the Byakugan, despite having the red eye, was that red eye placed a massive burden on its user's body.
It left them frail, with poor combat capability.
Even marching during wartime was a serious strain for someone with the red eye.
Just as they were about to fully leave the battlefield, a figure appeared ahead of them.
Kakashi.
"Stay here," he said quietly, holding a kunai.
Mei's heart tightened.
Normally, she wouldn't be afraid. But not now—not with Ranmaru in tow, and with the possibility of Konoha reinforcements appearing behind them at any moment.
"Lava Release: Melting Apparition Technique!"
She unleashed her bloodline limit again, spewing a thick stream of acid.
Kakashi's Sharingan spun, capturing the spread of the acid. He retreated rapidly while throwing a kunai tagged with an exploding note.
Boom!
Explosions rocked the area. Water vapor and acidic mist billowed outward.
Hidden by the blast, Mei didn't linger. She spun and sprinted after Ranmaru, disappearing back into the fog.
Kakashi swept his arm to clear the lingering mist and smoke, his Sharingan cutting through the chaos as it faded.
He could just barely make out Mei and Ranmaru rapidly retreating, then disappearing beyond his range.
He stood there in silence for a moment.
Tactically, he should pursue—try to capture or kill the red eye user.
But reason told him otherwise. The main battlefield's situation was unknown. Kiyohara had gone off alone with Ao—his survival uncertain. Rin and the others could still be in danger.
"Prioritize comrade safety."
He made his choice, sheathed his kunai, and consciously closed his left eyelid to reduce the Sharingan's drain.
Then he turned and sprinted back the way he'd come.
Obito, I really have changed a lot, he thought.
He touched his left eye without thinking. Sometimes he thought he saw "hallucinations."
Dark flashes in that eye, as if someone were in a cave.
...
Back at the main battlefield—
With Mei and Ranmaru successfully gone and Ao lured away, the remaining Mist ninja were either quickly cleaned up when Kakashi returned, or scattered and fled into the fog.
The battle seemed to be over.
But victory didn't descend.
The air was full of the smell of blood, damp mist, and a faint scorched scent—oppressive enough to make breathing feel heavy.
Rin, Ginka, Genma, and an exhausted Kurenai gathered together.
Nobuhiko lay nearby. His injuries had been stabilized with emergency treatment.
Everyone's gaze kept drifting to the depths of the fog where Kiyohara and Ao had disappeared.
Rin clasped her hands tightly over her chest, occasionally rising onto her toes, trying to see through the mist.
The feeling that she might lose another comrade left her feeling helpless.
Obito had vanished from their world much the same way.
Kakashi leaned back against a tree—a tree with shuriken embedded in it and thin wires still attached.
All Kiyohara's work.
Kiyohara's display of strength had exceeded his expectations, but Ao had been a Mist jōnin who'd even swallowed a powerful, dangerous enhancer at the end. The outcome… was hard to guess.
Ginka stood off to the side in silence, her soaked white uniform clinging to her curvy frame, chill biting down to the bone.
Her proud face was now full of complicated emotion—and a quiet sigh.
Genma carefully collected his scattered senbon, wiping each one clean before resting where he stood.
According to Kakashi, the shinobi interfering with the Byakugan had already left, so the Hyūga could resume proper sentry duty.
Kurenai steadied her breathing. She'd pushed herself so hard she could barely stay standing, but her red eyes never left the direction Kiyohara had gone.
The heavy silence rose like a tide, threatening to swallow them all.
Just as Kakashi drew a deep breath to say something—
Rustle… rustle…
Footsteps.
As the thick white fog slowly thinned, a familiar figure emerged, step by step.
Kiyohara.
He looked even more battered than when he'd left. His uniform was torn in several places, his face streaked with blood and dirt, complexion pale.
But he was there—alive—in front of them again.
"Kiyohara!"
Rin's worried expression cracked and softened, relief washing over her.
"Are you okay? Badly hurt?" she asked.
"I'll live. Just tired," Kiyohara said.
Kakashi walked over, scanning him with his "dead fish" eye. When he confirmed nothing critical was wrong, his shoulders loosened a little.
"Good. You made it back," he said.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 70 Chapters Ahead of Others!