"It looks... very tiring. This method is unique."
Rin Nohara stared at Kiyohara.
He was drenched in sweat, his chest heaving. But what caught her eye was the massive, thick Stone Staff he was gripping.
The sun was behind him. The shadow of the erect, girthy pillar stretched out across the grass... and landed directly across Rin's face.
"It's fine. You get used to it," Kiyohara said, his voice strained.
He subtly shifted his hips, angling the stone rod so the shadow moved off Rin's face.
'Awkward,' he thought. 'Very awkward.'
"It trains core strength," he explained, keeping a straight face. "It unifies the waist and legs."
In reality, it was just brute force endurance. The Swordsman Spirit insisted on it.
"Is that so..." Rin nodded, pulling out a handkerchief.
She stepped forward and gently wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Oh right. The mission. We need to transport supplies to Outpost 4. It's ten kilometers out."
"I heard Hidden Mist activity is high there," Rin added, her expression darkening.
"Understood."
Kiyohara accepted the cloth.
'The Mist,' he thought. 'The perfect place for an ambush.'
The team assembled at the gate.
Kakashi was leading them. Since becoming a Jonin, he had taken over command of the transport details.
"Kiyohara," Kakashi walked over, checking his gear. "How is the Lightning Release training?"
"Decent. I've mastered the flow."
Kiyohara nodded. Between the Lightning Flow and Minato's Gale Palm, his arsenal was expanding.
"Good," Kakashi said, his visible eye serious. "We will likely encounter Mist ninja. Don't be careless."
He paused, then added with intense gravity:
"Those who break the rules are scum. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. I have prepared for this."
Kiyohara felt a chill.
It wasn't fear of the enemy. It was the way Kakashi looked at him.
It was the look of a man trying to save a ghost.
'He's projecting,' Kiyohara realized. 'He sees Obito in me. He's terrified of losing another teammate.'
"Ahem," Kiyohara cleared his throat. "My Ninja Way is also to protect my comrades."
"Let's go," Rin called out.
The squad moved through the dense forest. The canopy blocked out most of the sunlight, casting the world in twilight.
'How long to learn the Konoha-Style: Willow?' Kiyohara asked internally.
The Willow (Yanagi) was Maruboshi Kosuke's masterpiece. An S-Rank Kenjutsu that blended sword strikes with Genjutsu, creating phantom blades that were impossible to block because they didn't exist—until the real one cut you.
"Your Spiritual Energy is strong," the Swordsman Spirit replied. "That boosts your Yin Release. You'll learn fast."
"Two months."
"Two months?" Kiyohara frowned as he jumped from branch to branch. "That's too long."
On a battlefield, two months was a lifetime.
'I need to speed this up,' he decided. 'If I forge the sword and fulfill your wish, I'll get the full inheritance immediately.'
"Something's wrong."
The Swordsman's voice cut through his thoughts.
"Three o'clock."
"Halt!" Kiyohara signaled.
The team froze. Kakashi, Rin, and Genma landed in a defensive formation.
"Direction?" Kakashi whispered, his hand going to his Kunai.
His sensing skills were average—better than a Chunin, but he wasn't a sensor type.
"There," Kiyohara pointed.
As he spoke, the air changed.
Humidity spiked. The temperature dropped.
Wisps of milky white mist curled around the tree trunks.
Within seconds, the wisps became a wall. The forest disappeared. Visibility dropped from fifty meters to ten. Then five.
"Hidden Mist Technique (Kirigakure no Jutsu)," Kiyohara hissed.
"It's over," Genma muttered, the senbon in his mouth still. "I can't see a thing."
The mist didn't just block vision; it dampened sound and scattered light. They were blind.
"I'll clear it," Kiyohara stepped forward.
Ram. Snake. Tiger.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
WHOOSH!
A powerful gale erupted from his mouth.
The wind tore a tunnel through the fog, revealing the trees for a hundred meters.
But before they could move, the mist surged back. It rolled in like a living thing, filling the void instantly.
The chakra in the air was heavy. This wasn't natural weather; the enemy was maintaining it.
"It didn't work..." Kiyohara frowned.
But he didn't panic. He had a sensor that didn't rely on eyes.
"It's useless!"
A cold, mocking voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere.
"Konoha fools! This is the domain of the Mist! How could a C-Rank Wind Release blow it away?"
The voice sneered.
"In this heavy fog, even the Sharingan is blind. You are already dead."
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