"Let's go over there," Kiyohara said, letting out a small breath.
He'd burned about half his chakra earlier, and after inheriting the legacy, he'd slowly recovered a portion.
Kurenai nodded and called for Genma to move out again.
A few hundred meters passed quickly.
The three of them arrived at a wrecked section of the camp—tents torn up, scorched, and scattered.
A lot of prisoners had been held here, but only one had successfully escaped: Maki, the beloved student Pakura had come for.
That girl who looked a lot like Rin had been lucky enough to have someone powerful risk everything to save her.
As for the other captives—without a backing that strong, some had died in the collateral chaos.
Others who tried to run in the confusion had been caught and dragged back.
Kiyohara could feel the three Magnet Release techniques he'd just inherited settling into him like instinct—ready to be refined through practice later.
"Hey, kid. You."
Someone called out to him.
Kiyohara turned and saw Shirakumo Hayama approaching, one hand still clamped over a scorched arm. His face twitched from pain, but his eyes were full of open admiration.
"Nice work, kid!" Shirakumo said, thumping Kiyohara's shoulder hard.
"If your jutsu hadn't forced Pakura to split her attention and lose her rhythm, we'd have taken far more casualties. What was that technique? The range was insane."
Kiyohara answered, "Jōnin Shirakumo—it was Magnet Release."
"Magnet Release?"
Shirakumo blinked, then his expression cleared, surprise flashing in his eyes.
"So you're the one they were talking about—the Magnet Release user in the village. No wonder you live up to the rumors."
He'd only heard whispers before; now the rumor finally had a face.
Just then, a messenger shinobi sprinted up.
"Chūnin Kiyohara! Tsunade-sama requests you come to the main tent."
Kiyohara scanned the area and realized Tsunade had disappeared at some point.
Katsuyu remained behind, still splitting and moving among the wounded.
At that moment, a small slug crawled past Kiyohara's feet, climbed to Shirakumo's injury, and began healing his burned arm.
"Then I'll be going, Jōnin Shirakumo," Kiyohara said.
"Upgrading" someone's title like that was a common sign of respect—people used phrases like "Jōnin Namikaze" or "Jōnin Minato" in the same way.
"We'll wait outside, Kiyohara," Kurenai said, waving.
"Okay. It shouldn't take long," Kiyohara replied.
He was curious what Tsunade wanted.
Praise, maybe?
But Tsunade likely wasn't the commander here—so why summon him personally?
Thinking as he walked, he nodded once more to Shirakumo and headed toward an intact tent in the direction the messenger indicated.
The faint scent of herbs drifted from inside, a sharp contrast to the blood stench outside.
Tsunade sat in a broad wooden chair cushioned with padding, Shizune supporting her.
Her full hips sank naturally into the soft cushion.
It looked like she'd just steadied herself after the hemophobia episode; her face was still pale, but much better than earlier.
Pakura's Scorch Release had dried bodies into mummies, but blood still existed—dark, dried streaks.
Even that was enough to make Tsunade uncomfortable.
Kiyohara entered and bowed politely.
"Tsunade-sama."
She lifted her gaze and, for the first time, truly studied him.
Kiyohara took the chance to quietly observe one of the legendary Sannin up close.
Long blonde hair tied into a ponytail, a purple diamond mark on her forehead.
Even in a relatively loose jōnin vest, the fabric was stretched tight across her chest—tight enough that Kiyohara honestly wondered if the buttons might pop at any moment.
"The biggest in the shinobi world," indeed.
She leaned back with lazy composure, radiating the lush, mature allure of an adult woman even while doing nothing at all.
"Hm," Tsunade replied through her nose.
She adjusted her posture, making her "presence" even harder to ignore, then looked Kiyohara over.
"That move you used just now wasn't bad. Hitting from that far with that kind of accuracy and power—even as a sneak shot—is impressive."
"You flatter me, Tsunade-sama. I just got lucky and happened to land the hit," Kiyohara said modestly, lowering his head.
Tsunade raised a brow, clearly unconvinced it was mere luck.
But she didn't press the point.
Instead, she pivoted to what she really wanted.
"Kiyohara, right? Let me ask you something. When you were moving around the Uzushio ruins… did you notice—or did you see—a cemetery? A lot of Konoha headstones lined up together."
Kiyohara's heart stirred.
He understood immediately.
Dan Katō.
Dan had once been very close to Tsunade. But before anything could progress, he'd died in the Second Great Ninja War—his internal organs destroyed.
Even Tsunade couldn't conjure intact organs out of nothing.
Medical ninjutsu at this stage was still mostly about "closing and healing."
Once damage passed a certain threshold, there was no bringing someone back.
It seemed likely Dan's body hadn't made it back to Konoha at all.
"Tsunade-sama, I did pass through an area during my mission where I saw many Konoha graves," Kiyohara answered honestly.
He remembered a section of Uzushio with scattered, makeshift headstones—one small corner of war's cruelty.
But he hadn't checked for Dan's name specifically.
"And… was there one named Dan Katō?" Tsunade asked.
A faint light flashed in her eyes. Her hand tightened on her knee, knuckles whitening.
"Did you notice a headstone that said Dan Katō? Or… what's that cemetery like now? Has Mist damaged it?"
Tsunade asked quietly.
For years, she'd visited it annually.
She'd always left Dan among the other fallen, unwilling to disturb his rest by moving him.
But this year, Uzushio had fallen to Mist.
As she spoke, Shizune's expression turned intensely attentive.
Dan was Shizune's uncle; that connection was why she'd been allowed to remain beside Tsunade and become her apprentice.
Shizune was talented, but not top-tier—she couldn't inherit Tsunade's true core system, the combat-medic style built around the Strength of a Hundred Seal.
Kiyohara's answer confirmed Tsunade's fear: Dan's grave was likely still out there in Uzushio.
She wanted to know if his resting place was intact.
"Tsunade-sama, I only caught a quick glimpse. I didn't check each headstone name. And now most of Uzushio's ruins are occupied by Mist, so I don't know whether it's still intact," Kiyohara replied carefully.
Tsunade's eyes sharpened.
"Then what if I ask you to go check it for me?"
She finally spoke her request.
She hadn't expected Uzushio to be overrun like this—nor for Mist to commit that many troops at once.