Along the way, Rin was unusually lively. She kept asking Tsunade questions about medical ninjutsu, and although Tsunade's attitude stayed lazy, she answered each one.
Rin listened seriously, nodding often.
Kiyohara also listened closely—this kind of knowledge was extremely useful for understanding fine chakra control.
On the march, Kakashi and Kiyohara handled point duty.
Kakashi summoned his eight ninken, and Kiyohara's Body Flicker speed proved genuinely useful—he could scout quickly and report back.
Even without help from any future self, Kiyohara could still recon the area on his own.
Rin, meanwhile, carefully watched for usable herbs along the route. Whenever they paused to rest, she'd gather a few and tuck them into her medical pack.
"This purple cloudgrass has great hemostatic properties," Rin said, showing Kiyohara a small violet flower.
"With chakra, it can speed up wound recovery."
Kiyohara asked curiously, "What's the difference between medical ninjutsu and ordinary herbal medicine?"
Rin explained patiently, "Medical ninjutsu uses chakra to directly stimulate cell division and regeneration—fast, but it consumes a lot. Herbal medicine uses plant properties to support healing—slower, but steadier. A great medic should be skilled in both."
Tsunade, walking behind them, heard the conversation and let the corner of her mouth lift slightly, seeming pleased with Rin's explanation.
By nightfall, the four camped beside a small stream.
The fire crackled, lighting their faces.
Tsunade slipped off her heeled sandals and rubbed her sore ankle.
She wore light-blue capri pants; the tight fabric outlined the full curve of her legs. Her bare toes—rounded and pale—looked oddly cute in the firelight.
Then Tsunade went down to the stream. The cuffs of her pants slid up, exposing smooth calves as she dipped her legs and feet into the water.
Kiyohara glanced a couple of times and noticed Tsunade's toenails were painted red—same as her fingernails.
He also rinsed his feet.
Shinobi basically lived on their feet, so most shinobi footwear was sandal-like. If it were fully enclosed, some people's sweaty-foot smell would be unimaginable.
"Hm…"
Kakashi was on watch.
They rotated shifts, and it was his turn.
Kakashi's sense of smell was better than most, and he'd caught something off.
"Kiyohara—do you feel anything strange?" Kakashi asked once Kiyohara finished rinsing, his expression serious.
"Something off…?"
Kiyohara flicked his hand. Iron sand surged out of the thermos at his waist.
It thinned into a mist, spreading outward like fog.
This was a technique he'd discovered recently.
In the shinobi world, there were countless ways to hide presence and conceal form—like Iwa's Camouflage Technique, or Moonlight Hayate's Transparency.
Sure enough, when the iron-sand mist drifted over a certain spot, it began coating something.
A shape grew clearer—a creature at least several meters long, resembling a chameleon.
A giant summon.
"Watch out! A summon is attacking!" Kiyohara shouted, immediately readying for battle.
Summons came in two types: those contracted to a shinobi, and wild ones living naturally in the world.
And among them, size and class varied.
But generally speaking, the larger the summon, the stronger it was.
A summon from one of the Three Great Sage Regions could fight chūnin or even jōnin on its own.
A powerful summon could boost a shinobi tremendously.
"ROAR!"
The invisible chameleon realized the iron-sand mist clinging to it and grew agitated.
It opened its huge jaws, fangs bared, and lunged for Tsunade—the closest target.
Tsunade's combat instincts reacted instantly. Chakra flooded into her right fist, and without even looking, she punched back over her shoulder.
"Monster Strength!"
Boom!
A terrifying shockwave ripped the air. The half-transparent body took the punch dead-on.
"SKREE!"
A sharp, pained screech rang out. The creature flew backward and slammed into the forest edge over ten meters away, snapping a small tree.
Its invisibility broke, revealing green scales. Its shoulder area was visibly caved in—bones shattered—and blood poured from its mouth and wound.
That was the power of Monster Strength.
Kiyohara's eyelid twitched. In raw power, even the Fourth Raikage wouldn't beat Tsunade.
If she wanted, one punch on a human shinobi could turn them into pulp.
But in the instant the creature bled and became visible, Tsunade's body suddenly stiffened.
Her face went ghost-white. Nausea surged into her eyes, and her body trembled.
Her hemophobia had triggered.
"Tsunade-sama!" Rin cried, not understanding at first, rushing to support the wobbling Tsunade.
The chameleon was badly wounded, but its ferocity flared.
It struggled back up, red eyes locked onto Tsunade's compromised state, and lunged again!
Crackle!
Lightning erupted in Kakashi's hand as he dashed forward, Chidori shrieking.
The piercing thrust punched through the chameleon's scales—
But the size difference was too great. The strike didn't do enough to stop it.
While Kakashi held it off, iron sand surged in Kiyohara's hands, condensing rapidly.
Compressed iron sand sparked with tiny arcs.
This time, Kiyohara didn't flatten it into a coin.
Before, he'd needed Magnet Kiyohara's help.
Now, with full Magnet Release inheritance and some of Magnet Kiyohara's experience, he could do it himself.
And days of practice had improved his precision.
The iron-sand sphere reshaped—into a spindle.
Pointed at both ends, thicker in the middle.
A classic aerodynamic form; fish bodies were often spindle-shaped to reduce drag.
A coil of iron sand spun around Kiyohara's arm. He lifted his hand.
Bang!
The spindle-shaped slug fired like a bullet.
Its initial speed exceeded 600 meters per second.
At this speed and range, Kakashi could only barely track the shot through his Sharingan.
Thwack!
Blood sprayed.
The iron-sand slug tore through the chameleon's scales and buried itself deep inside.
The creature howled miserably, its forward momentum broken as it tumbled onto the ground with a fresh blood-hole, losing most mobility.
Even a small projectile, with that kinetic energy, shredded dozens of centimeters of tough flesh.
Kiyohara glanced at the wound. His Magnet Release depth and destructive force still didn't match Tsunade's single punch.
"Stronger than the coin, but still room to optimize," he thought.
Then he formed seals.
Iron sand wrapped over the chameleon's body.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Binding.
It was too huge—Kiyohara's iron sand could only coat it in a thin layer—but short-term control was enough.
"What are you doing, Kiyohara?" Kakashi asked, breathing hard after firing two Chidori.
With the Sharingan constantly draining him, he quickly pulled his forehead protector down, closing the left eye into low-consumption mode.
"I'm going to make it my summon," Kiyohara said.
He'd wanted a flying summon, but an invisibility-type wasn't bad either.
If he hid under its body during stealth work, wouldn't that be "invisibility by proxy"?
He suspected the chameleon's invisibility worked via skin and scale-based light refraction—meaning anything under it, or potentially even inside its mouth, might be concealed too.
"You're going to subdue it?" Tsunade asked, eyes still shut, face angled toward them.
She didn't want to see the blood.
"Yes. I have a blank summoning scroll," Kiyohara replied.
A single blank scroll was enough to establish a contract. The real work was "taming" it afterward—breaking its wildness over time.
Even summons "bought" through deals were just skipping the fight; they still required the creature to accept you eventually.
Kiyohara bit his finger, wrote his name on the scroll, collected the chameleon's blood, and scribbled "invisibility chameleon" as a temporary label.
The name was just a tag—the blood was what mattered.
Most modern summoning relied on blood as a medium, which was why shinobi bit their finger before casting.
Summoning itself was only a C-rank jutsu, and the blank scroll he purchased included the method.
"Summoning Art: Blood Contract!"
Sealing patterns spread across the chameleon. Kiyohara felt a faint connection form.
It was still weak—he understood that this reflected the caster's understanding of summons and space-time principles.
If someone mastered it deeply enough, they could reverse it—
Reverse Summoning, pulling themselves to their summon's location.
That was how Naruto reached Mount Myōboku.
Kiyohara exhaled.
Naruto only needed to sign because the Myōboku contract scroll already had the toads' acceptance built in.
Kiyohara's blank scroll, on the other hand, required him to suppress the chameleon with Magnet Release just to secure the initial contract.
"Now we grind the wildness down slowly," Kiyohara said, releasing the binding.
The chameleon gave a miserable cry, then turned invisible again and bolted into the dark.
Kiyohara didn't chase.
The contract existed. As long as he had the scroll, he could summon it using blood as a medium whenever he needed.
Summon it, beat it down, teach it—repeat. Kiyohara didn't think it would take too long.
Summons had intelligence, but it varied widely. Some were as clever as adults; some were closer to toddlers.
"Tsunade-sama, are you okay?" Rin asked, guiding Tsunade farther away.
Rin couldn't help wondering if Tsunade couldn't stand blood—
But that idea sounded absurd.
Tsunade was the greatest medical ninja alive. How could she fear blood?
"Kiyohara-kun, Kakashi—are you okay?" Rin turned to them.
Kiyohara shook his head. "I'm fine, Rin. Go take care of Tsunade-sama."
Rin insisted on checking both Kiyohara and Kakashi anyway. Only after confirming they were uninjured did she finally relax.
"That was too dangerous. That summon's invisibility is awful—if you hadn't used Magnet Release to break it—"
Kiyohara smiled lightly. "Kakashi detected it first. Tsunade-sama crippled it. I only got the chance after that."
It was true. If Kiyohara had run into it alone, subduing it would've been much harder.
Tsunade's condition improved slightly once she didn't have to see blood. With her eyes still closed, she spoke toward them:
"Not bad, brat. That summon's invisibility is valuable. Raise it properly."
Kiyohara nodded and stored the summoning scroll.
After that scare, they set up camp again in a more concealed location.
Rin carefully boiled water and even made Tsunade a calming herbal tea.
"Tsunade-sama, please," Rin said, handing her the cup.
"Thanks, Rin," Tsunade replied.
Kiyohara set up a perimeter alarm using thin copper wire—nearly invisible to the naked eye. If touched, it would immediately alert him, preventing another surprise intrusion.
Kakashi had the eight ninken hold positions and monitor the surroundings.
Night fully settled. Stars scattered across the sky.
By the campfire, Tsunade had mostly recovered. She watched Kiyohara on watch and suddenly said:
"Kiyohara. Your Magnet Release use today was solid—but your chakra consumption is still too high."
Kiyohara turned. "Please advise me, Tsunade-sama."
Tsunade sipped tea. "Bloodlines are powerful, but you can't rely on them blindly. Fine chakra control and proper allocation are the foundation."
She glanced at Kakashi.
"Kakashi has the same issue. His Lightning Release burns too much chakra—and his reserves look smaller than yours."
Tsunade could tell immediately.
Kakashi fell silent.
His reserves weren't small by normal standards, but the Sharingan drain—and comparison to Kiyohara—made him look stingy.
Kiyohara nodded.
She was right. In today's fight, he'd burned chakra aggressively to win fast. In a prolonged battle, that style would punish him.
"Thank you for the guidance," Kiyohara said.
Tsunade gave a small nod and didn't elaborate further.
Later, Rin and Tsunade slept first—both in their sleeping bags.
Kakashi and Kiyohara stayed up, the two of them watching the fire crackle and listening to faint insects in the distance.
"Here. Top off your stamina," Kiyohara said, tossing Kakashi some beef jerky.
It was specially dried—drop it in hot water and it swelled several times over, rich in protein.
Better than eating bugs and trying to calculate "this is X times beef protein," when the beef itself was already far denser.
"Thanks," Kakashi said, soaking it in his bowl like soup.
Once it softened and expanded, he tasted it.
Not bad.
He glanced at Kiyohara, puzzled.
Kiyohara never seemed to treat his own stomach poorly.
His house might be minimalist, but his food was always high quality—not wasteful, just efficient for recovery.
Kiyohara leaned back against a tree, watching the firelight reflected on his face.
"By timing… it should be about now."
Today was the last day.
And right as he thought that, the familiar voice sounded in his mind:
[Please receive your will and urn. Properly bury the remains.]
It's here.
Finally.
Kiyohara's heart surged with excitement.
These days, the most thrilling moment every month was the instant a new Willbook arrived.