"Too bad it's not a defensive jutsu."
Kiyohara couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed.
He remembered there was an Earth jutsu called Earth Release: Earth Spear. It sounded like an offensive technique, but in truth it hardened the user's skin.
Kakuzu had used it to outright tank exploding tags.
"Whether you have defensive jutsu isn't important. When you used Magnet Release: Rotating Magnetic Field earlier, you were like a younger version of me—clumsily shouldering that power with your flesh alone.
Once you truly master it, you'll realize it's not you moving… it's the magnetic field around you pushing you. You'll be faster than lightning," Magnet Kiyohara said.
His thinking was simple: if the enemy could never land a hit, defense was irrelevant.
Kiyohara hadn't had Magnet Release before, so Magnet Kiyohara had only been able to give him a crude taste of it.
Once Kiyohara's body adapted to Magnet Release, he'd be able to manipulate the field properly—pulling strength from the planet's own magnetic field and achieving something like "magnetic levitation."
At that point, his speed would surpass many Body Flicker specialists.
"I see," Kiyohara said quietly.
He hadn't considered that angle.
He didn't know how far Magnet Kiyohara had perfected this jutsu in his prime. The more refined, the less strain on the body.
But the stronger the body, the more power it could withstand.
It seemed he'd have to complete the second wish to fully unlock Magnet Release.
He touched his chin thoughtfully.
In that light, Magnet Release: Rotating Magnetic Field really was promising.
If he could turn its speed from a flaw into an advantage, it would be a huge asset in combat.
In the shinobi world, all ninjutsu bowed to speed.
Minato had become a legend for one main reason: the speed of Flying Thunder God.
If Kiyohara later acquired Swift Release on top of Magnet Release… he honestly didn't dare imagine just how fast he could become.
After a short pause, he put the Earth jutsu scroll away and went to find a few med-nin, trading for some high-quality soldier pills.
These special pills had fewer side effects and restored more chakra—right now, they were the best possible supply.
Of course, they also cost money.
He still had a pile of gear he hadn't sold yet—the loot from recent fights. He planned to move it for cash later.
Pakura won't let her disciple's capture slide. Most likely, she'll use the chaos of Mist's full-scale assault as cover to try a rescue or revenge, he thought.
So priority one is surviving that invasion. Only then can I fish for Pakura in the chaos.
After thinking it through, he weighed the bag of pills in his hand, then tucked it into his pouch and headed back.
They'd cost him 20,000 ryō; you get what you pay for.
On the way back to his squad's post, he ran into Rin, hurrying toward the med tent.
"Rin," Kiyohara called to her.
"Kiyohara?" she stopped, a tired but gentle smile on her face.
"Is there some mission we need to coordinate? Or… is your hand getting worse?" she asked, glancing instinctively at the hand that had been pierced by Masaru's bone blade and healed under her care.
Kiyohara shook his head and pulled out a small bracelet woven from pale-purple string, threaded with a single brown bead of natural wood grain.
He held it out to her.
He'd made it on the boat ride back using bits of grass and wood from the Land of Fire shore.
In the shinobi world, summons were enormous creatures—and so were many of the plants in the richer chakra zones.
Kiyohara always felt this was due to natural energy. In the three great holy lands, where nature energy was densest, plants grew in downright bizarre ways.
The common feature?
Big. Very big.
"This is for you. Happy birthday, Rin," he said.
Rin froze.
She blinked her large eyes, looking between Kiyohara and the bracelet in disbelief.
Today was her birthday.
Even she had nearly forgotten in the grind of battles and long shifts. Kakashi hadn't mentioned it either…
She hadn't expected Kiyohara to not only remember, but to have prepared a gift.
"Th–this… Kiyohara, thank you," she said, carefully taking the bracelet and gently running her fingertips over the smooth wood bead, a little dazed.
"I never thought anyone besides my family would remember my birthday. Even Kakashi didn't…" she murmured.
Kiyohara said:
"The island's been busy. Kakashi… probably just got overwhelmed with missions and forgot."
"Yeah… probably," Rin nodded.
She herself had almost forgotten.
"How did you even know it was today?" she asked.
"Back in Academy, I saw it once when they were recording student information," he said casually.
In truth, he'd seen it in a databook in his previous life—November 5th.
"I see," Rin said.
She thought back and realized that probably had happened.
She slipped the bracelet onto her wrist. The pale-purple string made her skin look even fairer.
"Thank you so much, Kiyohara. I'll treasure it," she said.
Then she added:
"So… how's your medical ninjutsu coming along? Anything I can help with?" She wanted to do something for him in return.
"If possible, I'd like you to teach me jutsu that heal internal organs," Kiyohara said.
...
Meanwhile, at the Mountain Graveyard—
"Obito, do you see now? This is the world you cherished—these are the comrades you were willing to die for," Madara's aged voice echoed through the cavern.
Obito's lone Sharingan stared hard at the image in front of him—relayed and processed through White Zetsu's techniques.
He'd long since realized the old man wasn't simple.
Despite his age, Madara commanded mysterious creatures like Zetsu and seemed to know everything happening outside.
He was definitely no ordinary rogue ninja.
From the way older shinobi reacted to his name, Obito had always known Uchiha Madara was something terrifying.
But that didn't matter right now.
All he could see was the scene before him:
In Konoha's camp, Kiyohara handed Rin a bracelet, and Rin smiled at him.
He couldn't hear the words clearly, but in that warm scene, Rin was showing another man a smile he'd never seen before.
That smile was sharper than any kunai.
It stabbed straight into Obito's heart.
"No… no way… Rin… she…" his voice was hoarse, raw with pain and disbelief.
He couldn't accept it.
After his "death," Rin's life seemed to move on—and she was smiling like that at someone else.
He didn't want that.
He wanted her to think of him, only him, always.
She'd said she would watch him forever.
A replacement?
Even if he really had died… couldn't she at least wait ten years?
He dies one day, and the next there's someone new?
He felt cold.
Unwanted thoughts crawled over him, his scalp tingling with a sickly sense of betrayal.
"Everyone can be replaced, Obito," Madara said quietly, watching him.
Slowly, step by step, he was tugging on the darkness in Obito's heart.
Then he'd give it that final, crushing push—
And Obito's Mangekyō would awaken.
Only then would the stage reach its true climax.
"Listen carefully, Obito: so-called bonds crumble under time and reality," Madara said.
~~~
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