"When I dropped out of your line of sight, weren't you worried I might be an enemy using Transformation Jutsu?"
Kiyohara joked half-seriously.
"No. I knew it was you," Kakashi replied, looking at him.
Transformation Jutsu was one of the Three Basic Techniques every genin had to learn.
It was widely used; in the hands of a true expert, it was almost impossible to see through with the naked eye.
But that required true mastery—and lots of practice.
Unless someone dedicated their whole life to specializing in it, its real value was limited. In most cases, it was easy to see through.
"As long as you're fine," Kurenai said.
Her red eyes lingered on him for a few moments before she looked away.
"What about that Mist ninja?" she asked softly.
"He looked like his enhancer backfired. When he tried to cast a jutsu against me, it failed and I managed to kill him by sheer luck," Kiyohara said.
He'd already cleaned up the evidence. No one would know what had actually happened.
"I see…"
Kurenai nodded lightly and walked closer.
With the open-toe design of her ninja sandals, Kiyohara could see her toes—neatly lined up, nails pale and soft, like small crescent moons.
Very… refined.
But Kiyohara wasn't in the mood to "admire" anything. He just wanted to get out of here and go digest Swordsman Kiyohara's legacy.
Power was only as good as how you used it.
Even Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, the so-called ancestor of chakra, lost in the end.
She had chakra reserves dwarfing Six Paths Madara's—enough to shock Sasuke.
And yet, she'd effectively "griefed" her own maxed-out account.
Here's a joke: a 360-degree Byakugan… that still couldn't see Sakura attacking from directly above.
"It's karma, really," Genma said around his senbon, not at all hindered from speaking.
Any drug that boosted chakra would come with side effects and strain the body.
Casting jutsu was a delicate process. A slight misstep under that strain and failure was inevitable.
"Let's head back," Kakashi said.
The intel they'd gathered was already enough to report in.
A shinobi capable of disrupting the Byakugan would definitely be taken seriously upon debrief.
Pushing deeper into the area wouldn't help much now.
The enemy was alerted and would shore up defenses.
"Hold on," Kiyohara said.
He eyed the eight or nine bodies on the ground and got to work.
Loot time.
"Anyone want any of this?" he asked, stuffing Mist armor into his scroll.
Seeing everyone still in shock and not answering, he turned back and kept moving his hands.
"Alright then, I'll take it all."
He worked fast; it didn't take long to pack everything up.
Money was a wonderful thing.
His chainmail underlayer had already saved him from several nasty cuts, but it was damaged and needed repair—or replacement.
Every mission, a ninja had a "battle damage ratio."
Basically, you calculated whether the pay could cover the expenditures.
If not, you looted to make up the difference.
With good luck, you might even find something like chakra metal and turn it into a fortune.
"…"
Kurenai gave him a small, exasperated glare.
This guy… honestly.
No "ninja spirit" at all—just a walking coin magnet.
Once Kiyohara finished, the trip back went relatively smoothly.
Before long, they were back at the outpost.
...
Konoha Forward Base, command tent.
In the dim light of the lamps, Orochimaru's pale, slender fingers held the fresh mission report.
When he read the section describing the red eye, his golden, serpent-like pupils constricted, flaring with intense interest.
"I've only seen it mentioned in scattered records… didn't think it actually existed," he chuckled.
And from the report, it looked like it was that kid Kiyohara who'd guessed it.
"In the shinobi world, there are very few ways to interfere with the Byakugan…"
He set down the parchment.
In his place, he might have suspected the red eye as well.
If it had been some kind of special barrier jutsu, it could potentially be mass-produced. If Kiri could jam the Byakugan on a large scale, this war would be far more difficult for Konoha.
"He lured Ao away and recognized the red eye. That means he has a decent amount of knowledge," Orochimaru murmured, licking his lips.
That was what he liked.
To him, genin who graduated after six years of Academy were… essentially semi-illiterate.
They had to patch in the bulk of their knowledge later.
Outside of medics, most ninja only knew how to fight and how to complete missions efficiently.
Rare bloodlines like this were considered "ancient history" and relegated to obscure texts, hardly studied by anyone.
"What's up, Orochimaru-sama?"
A Nara-clan ninja stepped in from the back of the tent, noticing Orochimaru staring at the report.
The Nara generally had high intelligence; aside from the Ino–Shika–Cho trio, many served as strategists.
This forward base was currently under the command of Nara Shikadan, Shikaku's cousin.
"Nothing. Just add 100,000 ryō to Kiyohara's mission pay and say it's my personal sponsorship," Orochimaru said.
Seeing someone a bit like himself always stirred a certain fondness.
Like spotting the one literate man in a crowd of people who'd never even seen a book.
Even if that one reader didn't have the highest degree, just being able to read at all made him rare.
"Understood," Shikadan said, taking the report and glancing at it.
So it was the squad that discovered the red eye today.
Then he left to handle it.
Orochimaru stayed, examining the map and dissecting the current situation.
He'd been redeployed to this front.
"Heh heh… this war should produce quite a number of bloodline corpses," he said, tongue sliding out to lick the corner of his mouth.
Perfect conditions for someone like him to quietly get rich. Every corpse was valuable material.
...
"Orochimaru's sponsorship?"
After submitting the mission, Kiyohara had gone back to his tent to rest. He'd barely slept long enough to recover a bit of his spirit and was just about to start digesting his "inheritance" when someone lifted his tent flap.
Kurenai.
"Yup. Didn't expect you to even catch Orochimaru's eye," she said, looking amazed.
"Honestly, why is it always me running messages? You should get out more sometimes," she added, tossing him a bag.
Inside was money.
She was starting to feel cursed; every time she stepped out, she ran into some superior who asked her to deliver orders to the rest.
"As courier fee, have a lollipop," Kiyohara said, pulling one out and handing it to her.
To be fair, she had been the one constantly reminding and updating him all these years.
They'd been classmates for a long time. And when she grew up… well, he wouldn't exactly complain about "further collaboration."
"?"
Kurenai stared at the candy.
He was sending her away with this?
What ninja could endure that kind of disrespect?
"Don't want it?" Kiyohara asked, starting to pull it back.
This was a limited edition. He'd meant to save it to snack on during breaks.
"I want it," she blurted quickly.
Her pride folded.
On missions, they were stuck with dry rations most of the time. A lollipop was a luxury.
~~~
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