"Yes?"
Kiyohara nodded slightly.
Looked like things wouldn't stay calm much longer.
Which suited him just fine—he needed the pressure to sharpen himself.
Whether the enemy was Mist or Sand didn't matter much right now.
What he needed most was a whetstone.
He was still short on real combat experience; only by stacking enough battles could he truly handle all kinds of situations.
Magnet Kiyohara's second wish was to defeat Pakura.
Pakura of Scorch Release—also known as the "Hero of Sunagakure."
She was also, as far as Kiyohara knew, the only top-tier fighter in history to get killed by shuriken…
Even if she wasn't yet at her peak, beating her would still be a monumental task. He'd have to get much stronger.
"Just grinding basics isn't enough. Only real combat tests what you've actually mastered. Wanna spar with swords?" Kakashi asked.
It had been a long time since he'd used his father's sword techniques.
After Obito's death, Kakashi had basically stopped using a blade—fighting with ninjutsu and kunai instead.
Kiyohara's interest stirred.
Kakashi's kenjutsu came straight from his father, the White Fang. He might be rusty, but the foundation was still there.
It was just that his first real opponent in that style had also been a skilled swordsman—and that fight had shattered his short sword.
Sparring with Kakashi now was a perfect way to test his recent progress.
He also wanted to see how far his swordsmanship had come without using Leaf-Style: Willow.
And he'd been training Konoha Body Flicker for a while now too. Time to actually use it.
"Sure," Kiyohara agreed without hesitation.
The two of them picked a relatively flat patch of ruins as a sparring ground.
Kurenai and Genma, having heard the news, came to watch.
Rin stood a bit further back, ready to heal either of them if things went sideways.
Her A-rank medical ninjutsu, Mystical Palm, made her one of the top medics on this line.
Most medical ninja only knew B-rank or C-rank techniques.
That alone said plenty about her talent.
"Kakashi, huh…"
Magnet Kiyohara floated out of Kiyohara's body.
"In my timeline, Kakashi and I were enemies," he said.
"Well, if you were born in Suna, that makes sense," Kiyohara replied.
For shinobi, alliances are just words.
Their true loyalty is to only one thing: the village.
Every ninja is raised to believe the village is supreme—and trained to treat completing missions as a core purpose in life.
Kakashi borrowed a standard blade from another ninja.
Kiyohara drew his own—now repaired and fitted with a ring on the hilt for attaching wire.
"I'm coming, Kiyohara," Kakashi said.
Before he'd even finished speaking, his form blurred.
Kiyohara's blurred as well, drifting lightly backward and to the side, leaving only a cluster of slowly spinning leaves where he'd been.
From a distance, it looked like he'd vanished and scattered into a swirl of leaves.
Leaf Body Flicker.
Schk!
Kakashi's short sword cut through the afterimage—the leaves only.
His assault didn't pause. His wrist rolled, blade snapping up in a rising slash aimed at Kiyohara.
A classic White Fang thrusting pattern.
Kiyohara's sword didn't meet it with a block; instead, he countered, tip stabbing straight toward Kakashi's wrist to force him to defend.
Ding-ding-ding-ding!
In moments, flashes of steel crisscrossed the open space, figures weaving in and out.
Metal rang again and again.
Eventually, they broke apart and reset the distance.
"A bit rusty," Kakashi said.
Use something and you improve; stop, and you regress.
That was true of everything.
He'd put most of his effort into Lightning Release; naturally, his swordsmanship had suffered.
"You're already very strong, Kakashi. You're just not used to that sword," Kiyohara said, shaking his head.
Kakashi had grown up under Sakumo's guidance; his kenjutsu was unquestionable—it was he who'd walked away from that path.
Obito's Sharingan—was it a gift to push Kakashi higher, or just a shackle chaining him down?
In the final battle, his performance had been impressive—but that was with both Mangekyō eyes plus a Six Paths buff, courtesy of Obito. Hardly a reproducible scenario.
Right now, his Sharingan was just a normal single-tomoe—and one that drained chakra 24/7.
"With that, warm-up's done," Kakashi said.
White chakra light began to shimmer around his blade.
Chakra was flowing.
In Sakumo's hands, his short sword had always glowed with white chakra.
Now, so did Kakashi's.
"Alright," Kiyohara replied, tightening his grip on his own hilt.
Vmmm.
Lightning arced from the guard up along the blade, wrapping it like flowing water.
Chakra metal was a special high-efficiency conductor that even amplified infused chakra.
Whatever element you imbued it with, the weapon became a truly lethal instrument.
No wonder the price stayed sky-high.
They clashed again.
But this time, the pressure was completely different.
"Oh?"
A rare spark of seriousness appeared in Kakashi's dead-fish eye.
He could feel it—Kiyohara's swordsmanship had improved again since even their last real fight.
He couldn't help wondering: if his father were still alive, would he see Kiyohara as a once-in-a-generation sword genius?
He kept moving, regardless.
The light from his blade spilled outward, crisscrossing into a net of silver arcs—like moonlight woven into steel, pressing down on Kiyohara.
Kiyohara's blade drew smooth arcs in response; every cut left faint blue sparks in the air and a hint of scorched smell.
The duel climbed into a full boil.
Kiyohara watched Kakashi with his forehead protector slanted over his left eye.
He knew that the longer this dragged on, the worse it'd get for Kakashi.
The man had a Sharingan and wasn't using it—just letting it drain chakra in the background.
Sure enough, Kakashi's chakra burned faster than his.
Kiyohara waited for the right moment—when Kakashi's guard dipped just slightly—and struck.
Clang!
Their blades collided with a sharper ring, and they passed each other, both coming to a stop with swords sheathed.
A spar was, after all, meant to stop short.
Kiyohara's breathing was heavier now, sweat beading on his forehead, the skin between his thumb and forefinger tingling from the impacts.
Kakashi's breath was also a little rough.
That last blow had nearly knocked the sword from his hand.
"Kiyohara, you're improving really fast," Kakashi admitted.
He'd felt it—pressure.
The "genius" who'd always been called such suddenly realized Kiyohara wasn't far behind him at all.
No one had ever matched him in raw talent before.
But now… he couldn't place Kiyohara below himself anymore.
"Still a long way to go," Kiyohara said, steadying his breathing.
He knew that if Kakashi had opened his Sharingan and fought at full tilt from the start, this would've been a much tougher match.
Kurenai watched, eyes shining. She hadn't expected Kiyohara's strength to have grown to this level.
Rin let out a relieved breath, smiling happily.
"Alright. Let's get back to work," Kiyohara said, checking the time on the little clock in his tool pouch.
Personal downtime was always short.
They still had to patrol the old Uzushio site constantly to prevent Mist shinobi from landing.
~~~
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