Feeling the clear surge in his total chakra and that continuous rush of power, as if some internal shackle had just been shattered, Kiyohara couldn't help but let the corner of his mouth lift.
His maximum chakra, stamina, and even neural reaction speed had all received another concrete boost thanks to fusing with Magnet Kiyohara.
This almost-instant way of getting stronger made him genuinely happy.
If he were relying only on his own step-by-step training, who knew how many years it would take to reach this level?
He'd probably end up walking the same path as Rogue Kiyohara—following Orochimaru in pursuit of power.
But with the Willbooks, he could stack the work his future selves had already done.
At this rate, no matter what bloodline limit he faced, he could eventually surpass it.
As long as he stayed alive.
The longer he lived, the bigger the snowball would become.
Even if he only ever inherited "ordinary Kiyohara" futures, dozens or hundreds of such layers would be enough to trigger a qualitative change.
At the same time, techniques for using Magnet Release flowed into his mind.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Binding Coffin.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Spear.
These were all jutsu he'd seen in the original series.
The first wrapped the enemy in iron sand and suffocated them.
The second compressed iron sand into dense, spear-like projectiles to impale them.
Control-type and attack-type Magnet jutsu, respectively.
"I thought you only knew 'Magnet Release: Rotating Magnetic Field.' Didn't expect you to have normal jutsu too," Kiyohara said to his future self.
As powerful as Rotating Magnetic Field was, in his current body—with limited control and durability—it was still unwieldy.
Good thing Magnet Kiyohara also knew the standard iron-sand manipulation techniques.
"Still in the refinement stage," Magnet Kiyohara replied.
"…"
Kiyohara was getting used to his future self's bizarre thought patterns.
Honestly, if he'd used standard Magnet jutsu against Kaguya Masaru earlier, the fight might've been easier.
"Forget it…"
He said no more, instead quietly feeling out his new body while staying alert for any surprise attack.
If someone hit a vital spot right now, he'd still die.
"I've gotten stronger," he thought.
He could feel his body still transforming, steadily increasing in power.
"Who are you?!"
One of the Suna Anbu barked, kunai leveled at Kiyohara.
He wasn't wearing a green flak vest, and his Konoha forehead protector was hidden under his hair.
"Careful. This one's at least jōnin-level. Use a sealing technique to restrain him," another voice said.
It belonged to a kunoichi whose face somewhat resembled Rin. She was holding a massive sealing cloth.
Purple markings decorated her face as well, but her hair was covered under a Suna headcloth.
"A Sand-style sealing technique, huh…"
Kiyohara's interest ticked up a little.
Unlike Konoha, which inherited the Uzumaki sealing system, Suna specialized in cloth-based sealing methods.
Things like Cloth Binding Technique and Cloth Concealment.
He also knew something else: the girl in front of him was Pakura's… student.
That made things interesting.
He hadn't forgotten the second wish—defeat Pakura.
So for now, he'd keep this one alive.
He planned to interrogate her.
Maybe he could dig out some intel on Pakura's habits.
As he waited for his body to stabilize fully, he studied the group in front of him.
"Hmph. I'd advise you Konoha shinobi to surrender. That way you might at least be taken as prisoners. Otherwise…" snarled another Suna ninja, a jagged scar standing out at the corner of his eye, hands frozen in mid-seal, ready to launch a jutsu at any time.
"Be careful—they're Suna Anbu. Much stronger than the average ninja!" Yugao warned, still rattled behind her mask.
Her eyes stayed locked on Kiyohara.
Moonlight cut through the leaves and lit half his face.
A young, sharply handsome profile: straight nose, thin lips.
There was something oddly familiar about him—as if she'd seen him once in passing somewhere in the village.
But she couldn't quite place it.
All she knew for sure was…
He was good-looking.
Extremely.
"Give up?" Kiyohara repeated.
He flicked the blood off his sword and calmly reeled in his wires, retrieving the Fūma shuriken as well.
"Seems there's something you haven't understood," he said, hand slipping into his pouch and closing around a small sealing scroll.
"?"
Maki watched him warily.
The remaining Suna shinobi looked confused as well.
Even if this guy was jōnin-level, they still had the advantage.
They had a Suna jōnin, two Anbu, and the rest chūnin-level. Altogether, more than enough.
How could he still be so relaxed?
Looking at their mix of confusion, caution, and faint arrogance, Kiyohara shook his head, almost pitying them.
"I've listened to you spout nonsense long enough," he said, voice edged with mockery.
"You didn't think I was standing here still because I enjoy listening, did you?"
He pulled the scroll from his pouch and unrolled it.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
A cloud of smoke puffed out as piles of shuriken and tools summoned onto the ground.
At the same time, Kiyohara poured magnetic force into them.
"I was waiting to get stronger. What were you waiting for?"
He'd been receiving inheritance the whole time—chakra, talent, reflexes, all steadily breaking through old limits.
Every second, the strength of his future selves layered onto him.
He was getting stronger. Right here. Right now.
Then he moved.
In the next instant, both his arms blurred, and shuriken rained from his hands—a dense, torrential volley that covered almost every possible dodge route the Sand ninja could take.
"Sixty-plus in one throw? Is this guy's hand speed even human?!" one Suna Anbu yelled.
The Sand ninja were stunned.
The wounded one scrambled to find cover, while another gritted his teeth and tried to form seals for a Wind Release to blow them away.
But Kiyohara's barrage wasn't over.
Just as the wall of shuriken was about to engulf them, his ten fingers twitched again.
Between those seemingly random projectiles were countless nearly invisible wires.
At his command, they snapped together, weaving in midair into a vast net.
"Manipulated Shuriken Technique: Ensnaring Net!"
Schk-schkk-schkk!
His heightened reflexes let him control far more wires at once.
The magnetic force let him nudge the shuriken's flight midair to reshape the net as needed.
This was how he'd developed the technique.
The copper wires glinted coldly in the moonlight, edges razor sharp.
The net tightened.
Combined with the spinning shuriken, it shredded grass, stone, and branches alike without resistance.
Leaves blown into the net were sliced into neat, smooth little squares.
"Ahhh!"
The injured Sand ninja wasn't fast enough—
A swipe of wire took his arm clean off at the shoulder, blood spraying as he screamed.
"So strong…"
That was the only thought running through Yugao's mind.
~~~
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