Soon, Kiyohara's awareness sank into his mind.
Unlike the earlier urn marked with Sunagakure's emblem, this new one had a gray-brown, stone-like texture. Clear as day on its surface was the symbol of Iwagakure—two overlapping rocks.
Kiyohara focused his will and touched the new urn.
A spirit appeared in his mental space—visible only to him—emerging from the urn.
"So even after I tried that hard to stay alive… I still died."
The new Kiyohara sighed heavily, sounding genuinely regretful.
He looked about the same age as the "Swordsman Kiyohara." He wore a brown-and-red Iwa-style outfit: his right arm bare, his left covered by a long red sleeve.
Both his exposed arm and his face were visibly tanned, like someone who lived constantly under harsh sunlight.
"You're the 'past me'?" the new Kiyohara asked first.
"Yeah," Kiyohara answered. "Looks like you've used the Willbook before?"
"I did, yeah… but it was ridiculous. The day after I got one future version of myself, I died the next day."
He sighed again.
"That's unlucky," Kiyohara said, curious. "How'd you die?"
"As you can see, I was an Iwa shinobi," the new Kiyohara said, pointing at his headband and outfit.
Then he paused and added, "And I had a kekkei genkai."
"!" Kiyohara's face brightened with excitement.
Another bloodline future?
That was perfect.
Even a "mid" bloodline could still be useful somewhere.
And even if it wasn't, Kiyohara felt like he was gradually patching together Ōtsutsuki genetics anyway.
A huge number of bloodlines in the shinobi world traced back to Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
She'd eaten a "Divine Tree fruit" (also called a "Chakra fruit"), packed with natural energy and massive genetic factors.
That was why so many bloodlines could awaken later.
Chakra could rewrite genes and hereditary factors—anything with even a little Ōtsutsuki connection tended to produce bloodlines.
Close descendants like Uchiha and Uzumaki, and more distant lines like the Kaguya clan.
"So what bloodline did you have?" Kiyohara asked, unable to hide his eagerness.
"It was… Steel Release," the new Kiyohara said.
His voice was deep and heavy, like stone grinding.
"Steel Release…"
Kiyohara remembered that this bloodline could harden the body against physical attacks—similar to Earth Release: Earth Spear, but stronger because it was a true kekkei genkai.
"Right," Steel Release Kiyohara continued, a self-mocking edge in his tone.
"My Steel Release could harden my body—and even my chakra—for extreme defense. It earned me decent standing in Iwa…
But relying too much on 'absolute defense' became my death."
He went on:
"I ran into an elite Kumo squad. I trusted my Steel Release and tanked their attacks. Aside from that, I was basically just a pure Earth Release user.
I forgot that Steel Release defense isn't absolute—it depends on chakra and on how deeply the user understands the technique."
"So that's how you died?" Kiyohara asked.
"Yeah," Steel Release Kiyohara nodded.
"The five natures counter each other. Earth is naturally countered by Lightning—unless the Earth user is overwhelmingly stronger."
He shook his head.
"In the end I ran out of chakra and couldn't maintain Steel Release. Lightning finished me. While I was dying… I could even smell my own meat cooking."
The grim humor made Kiyohara think of Deidara and Sasuke—Deidara's Earth-style explosives had been hard-countered by Sasuke's Lightning from start to finish. Pure matchup loss.
"So what are your wishes?" Kiyohara asked.
"Two," Steel Release Kiyohara said after thinking for a moment, voice firming.
"First: learn at least a B-rank Lightning Release jutsu. Screw it—if you can't beat them, join them. I want you to erase my regret and humiliate those Kumo Lightning users with Lightning of your own."
"A B-rank Lightning jutsu…" Kiyohara thought.
D-rank was genin-level difficulty, C-rank was chūnin-level, B-rank was jōnin-level.
He was just slightly short on the merit needed to exchange for a jōnin-level Lightning technique.
He'd recently traded his points for an Earth jutsu—Earth Release: Earth Spear.
If he hadn't, he'd have had enough.
But who could've predicted this?
"I'll do it," Kiyohara said. "What's the second wish?"
"The second: find and defeat at least one Iwa shinobi who also has Steel Release," Steel Release Kiyohara said.
"My Steel Release can't be weaker than anyone else's."
He added, "From the future I received, I heard that completing the first wish lets you inherit the bloodline. So finish my wishes, inherit Steel Release—and then doing the second one should be easier."
"That makes sense," Kiyohara nodded.
Compared to the borderline-unhinged Magnet Kiyohara, Steel Release Kiyohara seemed much more cautious.
He'd just gotten overconfident in his tankiness and paid for it.
Good—Kiyohara had just learned another potential future death.
He silently warned himself never to repeat that mistake.
Otherwise, getting stabbed once would be "humble and dead."
Kiyohara's awareness returned to reality. He opened his eyes, watching the firelight dance.
Steel Release—a powerful defensive bloodline—yet it still fell apart when chakra ran dry.
Bloodlines weren't invincible.
Balanced development and solid fundamentals mattered too.
"By the way—what Earth jutsu do you know?" Kiyohara asked in his mind.
Training a nature deeply improved understanding of that transformation. He wanted to squeeze a little value out of Steel Release Kiyohara.
"What do you want to learn?" Steel Release Kiyohara asked from behind him.
"Anything offensive?"
"I can teach you Earth Release: Fist Rock Technique first," Steel Release Kiyohara said, hovering behind.
If the "past" got stronger, then completing the wishes became more likely.
"Sure," Kiyohara agreed.
He finished the mental exchange. To Kakashi's eyes, Kiyohara had simply been staring at the campfire the whole time.
"Do I need to cut my sleeve open?" Kiyohara asked.
Fist Rock was an Iwa staple: coating the right hand—or a chosen limb—in rock through Earth chakra, forming a heavy stone arm for crushing blows.
Maintained by continuous Earth chakra flow, the hardness could surpass normal granite. That was why Iwa shinobi often kept the right arm exposed for convenience.
"No. Just use it normally," Steel Release Kiyohara replied.
Then he began explaining the underlying principles.
Kiyohara listened carefully.
"Kakashi, you sleep first. I'll take first watch," Kiyohara said out loud.
"Alright," Kakashi nodded.
They still had to travel early tomorrow. Splitting the night meant both could rest without hurting the next day's movement.
That was normal shinobi routine.
When it was time, Kiyohara ended his internal practice, woke Kakashi, laid out his sleeping bag, and rested.
...
The next day, the four-person squad continued traveling.
As he moved, Kiyohara repeatedly ran through the seal sequence for Earth Release: Fist Rock and the chakra-flow pattern for Earth transformation in his mind.
After several days, they finally reached a rear-line Konoha outpost one morning.
This base was larger than the earlier camp—better facilities, more like a small military fortress.
More shinobi were stationed here to rest and regroup, and the air was thick with tension.
On the way to the laboratory area with Tsunade, one figure caught Kiyohara's eye.
He was speaking with Tsunade, and his gaze occasionally swept over Kiyohara—an uncomfortable, probing look, like he was inspecting a rare specimen.
Hiruko.
Kiyohara's heart tightened. He recognized him immediately.
This guy hadn't defected yet?
By movie canon, Hiruko was a contemporary of the Sannin. His talent was nowhere near theirs, so like Orochimaru, he'd pursued a crooked path.
Later he would defect, develop the kekkei genkai-stealing Chimera Technique, and even place a curse mark on Kakashi.
Is he interested in me? Because the Magnet Release news spread? Kiyohara stayed alert and reminded himself to be careful around this man.
"Hm, Tsunade… research on cellular activity and chakra-nature affinity would progress faster with Orochimaru's cooperation," Hiruko said, adjusting his glasses, voice edged with obsession.
"He's the boldest researcher I've ever seen. Someday, Orochimaru might become the smartest man alive."
"The smartest… man?" Kiyohara couldn't help thinking, How can you assume Orochimaru's gender?
Tsunade clearly didn't care for the topic.
She was only here because Konoha desperately needed manpower and she couldn't bear to watch her grandfather's village crumble, so she'd come as rear-line medical support.
She frowned and cut him off.
"I need to analyze the antidote samples immediately. Where's the lab?"
"This way," Hiruko said, leading.
But the way his eyes lingered on Kiyohara didn't fully stop.
Before entering, Tsunade turned back and said to Kiyohara's group—and to Hiruko:
"You three wait outside. Don't come in without my permission. And you, Hiruko—don't interfere with my work."
"Understood," Hiruko said, spreading his hands.
Kiyohara and the others stepped out. As he left, he could still feel Hiruko's gaze fixed on his back.
Once they settled into their assigned temporary tent, Kiyohara rested briefly, then found an empty spot and began practicing Earth techniques.
Following Steel Release Kiyohara's guidance, he shaped chakra into Earth nature and spread it over his arm.
The process went fairly smoothly.
He'd inherited Earth aptitude through Magnet Kiyohara, so he wasn't learning from zero.
At noon, Kiyohara bit his finger and formed seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Poof!
White smoke burst—and the large green invisibility chameleon appeared in the clearing.
After days of rest, its wounds had mostly recovered.
"Summons really are thick-skinned," Kiyohara shook his head.
The moment it appeared, it instinctively tried to turn invisible and run.
But Kiyohara was ready.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!"
Fine iron sand shot down like rain, pinning the ground around it in a dense ring.
He didn't attack directly, but he severely restricted its movement. The iron sand's interference also weakened its camouflage.
"ROAR!"
The chameleon growled, eyes blood-red, glaring at him.
"Still not obedient," Kiyohara said, calm. Black iron sand rose again around him.
"Then we keep going—until you understand who the master is."
He didn't go for the kill. He controlled iron sand like a whip, lashing against its tough scales with heavy thuds.
You had to grind down a wild summon's feral nature before you could build true obedience.
When it finally stopped hissing and posturing at him, Kiyohara watched it expressionlessly, turning a small iron-sand slug between his fingers.
Taming summons was always carrot and stick.
He already had the stick. Later, he could find food it liked and use that as the carrot.
He recalled stories about summons.
Some nearby small countries supposedly had larger chameleon clans—massive ones like the giant chameleon Pain summoned, or the giant lizards Naruto and Kiba had once faced.
Those were "lizards," but in shape and ability they overlapped heavily with chameleons—some could even transform into an enormous fortress.
If there's a larger chameleon clan nearby… if I could contract a stronger individual, or guide this one to evolve…
The thought took root.
A summon's growth could feed back into its summoner.
But the best path was still finding its clan and contracting a stronger specimen.
After "physical persuasion" and chakra pressure, the chameleon's feral edge was temporarily suppressed, leaving it listless.
Kiyohara stopped while he was ahead, ended the summon, and sent it back.
~~~
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