Shinnō's body bent like a bow. He could almost hear his own ribs snapping as his organs shifted and tore under the immense impact.
"Pff—!"
A mouthful of blood mixed with chunks of organ matter sprayed from Shinnō's mouth.
His body shot backward like a cannonball, smashing through seven trees in a row before crashing straight into the snake swarm.
The venomous snakes seized the chance to tear into him, their fangs sinking deep into his flesh.
Dust and smoke filled the air.
The rain kept falling, washing the blood off the ground.
Kurenai and Genma stared, dumbstruck.
Kiyohara had sent Shinnō flying with a single punch.
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed unnaturally bright.
He was stunned that Kiyohara had something akin to Tsunade's "monster strength."
He studied the metallic sheen still fading on Kiyohara's body.
"Earth Release: Earth Spear… trained quite well."
Then Orochimaru walked toward the wreckage Shinnō had carved out.
Even as the snakes tore at him, Shinnō's body was regenerating at a frightening speed.
Muscle writhed nonstop. Broken bones knit back together. Ruptured organs repaired themselves.
That recovery rate was beyond ordinary medical ninjutsu.
Even the Mystical Palm Technique couldn't heal that fast.
"Body Activation… really is interesting," Orochimaru commented.
"Heh. Kids these days are strong," Shinnō said, rubbing his abdomen.
His forbidden technique's greatest boost was regeneration. The rest was comparatively mediocre.
But Shinnō believed that once he fully mastered the Zero-Tails, he'd get a massive upgrade.
"Looks like… I'll have to come settle accounts later."
He knew he couldn't win today.
That young shinobi had absurd strength and an iron-hard body—if he kept fighting, he might actually die here.
Especially with Orochimaru still watching like a predator.
Shinnō slammed a foot down. A trench several meters long cracked open, and the snakes' bodies all burst apart.
He gave Orochimaru and Kiyohara one last look, then turned and disappeared into the rain, vanishing into the forest after a few bounds.
Orochimaru didn't chase.
Who knew whether Shinnō had backup waiting?
There were no Konoha reinforcements here. The enemy was hidden, they were exposed—it wasn't worth the risk.
Letting Shinnō run meant he could keep refining the forbidden technique… and be harvested later.
Besides, their goal had already been achieved:
They'd collected Karōrō's corpse sample.
"Kiyohara-kun, you always manage to surprise me," Orochimaru said, turning back.
"Just luck. He underestimated me," Kiyohara replied.
The metallic tint on his skin gradually faded back to normal.
Orochimaru gave a noncommittal smile and walked to Karōrō's body.
He pulled a scroll from his sleeve, formed seals, and sealed the corpse inside.
"Mission complete. Back to Konoha."
...
The rain finally stopped. The clouds broke, and sunlight poured through the gaps.
Kiyohara's team stepped onto Land of Fire soil, the damp chill replaced by dry warmth.
"Land of Fire really is better," Genma stretched.
"Stay in Land of Rain too long and you start feeling moldy."
Kurenai nodded, then looked at Kiyohara.
"That last punch… was insane. You sent a guy using the Eight Gates flying. How did you do that?"
"Just a trick," Kiyohara said simply.
"His attack pattern was too one-note—pure brute force. I prepared my defense in advance and countered at the moment he struck. I caught him off guard."
It kind of made sense, but Kurenai and Genma weren't idiots.
They could tell that punch wasn't "just a trick."
Still, shinobi etiquette meant respecting privacy.
If Kiyohara didn't want to explain, they wouldn't press.
Orochimaru walked at the front in silence.
In his mind, he kept replaying the fight—instant hardening, immovable defense, the power to launch a Sixth-Gate opponent with one blow…
"Can Earth Spear really reach that level?" he wondered.
"No… I've heard there's a Takigakure rogue who uses Earth Spear, but their defense was nowhere near that. A modification? Or… Kiyohara's Magnet Release?"
Orochimaru recalled Kiyohara's earlier Magnet Release usage.
There was also one more possibility: Kiyohara had developed some body-reinforcement bloodline ability.
That felt the least likely—so unlikely it bordered on impossible.
Orochimaru initially dismissed it.
But even a tiny probability was still a probability.
He glanced back at Kiyohara.
With Kiyohara's understanding of Earth Release, creating something new wasn't completely unimaginable.
...
A few days later — Konoha.
The familiar Hokage Rock came into view. The gate guards recognized Orochimaru and let them through with respectful bows.
"You all go rest. I'll report to the Hokage Tower," Orochimaru instructed, then looked at Kiyohara.
"I'll report your performance as it is. I'm sure Sarutobi-sensei will take special notice of you."
Kiyohara nodded and thanked him. He split off from Kurenai and Genma and returned home.
After washing away the fatigue, he sat by the bed and began sorting the gains from this mission.
First: full inheritance of Steel Release.
Now his understanding of Steel Release had reached Karōrō's level—maybe beyond.
For the same defense, he only needed about seventy percent of Karōrō's chakra cost.
Second: increased chakra reserves.
His chakra was definitely at the threshold of elite jōnin now.
And if his chakra control kept improving, he could raise his efficiency even further.
"Still not enough…" Kiyohara clenched his fist.
"Against true Kage-tier monsters, I'm still weak. Shinnō only retreated because he underestimated me and wasn't in perfect condition. If he were fully prepared, the outcome wouldn't be so certain."
He rubbed his chin.
His foundation was already strong—his biggest limitation was simply time.
How long had it been since Kannabi Bridge?
And yet his strength had multiplied several times over.
Give him more time—even without another "future"—and he could consolidate everything and step into a higher tier.
"But I can still improve my mobility," he murmured.
His defense was solid; if he raised his mobility too, his survival chances would jump again.
He already had a direction in mind:
a combined development path for Steel Release and Magnet Release.
Could a steel-hardened body act as a metal conductor?
Kiyohara was thinking when a voice interrupted him.
"Kiyohara! The mission pay came in!"
Kurenai held up a small coin pouch, smiling.
"Let's go eat yakiniku! Genma's coming too."
Kiyohara hesitated, then declined.
"Sorry, Kurenai. I want to train a bit."
She looked disappointed, but quickly nodded in understanding.
"Alright. Next time then. But don't push yourself too hard—rest matters too."
"I will."
After she left, Kiyohara changed into training clothes and went to Training Ground Three.
Konoha had dozens of training grounds—used for daily practice, drills, and even Chūnin Exam venues.
Most were deep in the village's rear, basically forest environments.
It was already dusk. Training Ground Three was empty.
The sunset dyed the sky orange-red. Training posts cast long shadows across the grass.
Kiyohara walked to the center, closed his eyes, and began circulating chakra.
First, he focused Steel Release into his core—chest, abdomen, back.
Chakra slid beneath his skin, and those areas darkened, taking on a metallic sheen.
It looked like his upper body had been cast from black metal.
Now the key step.
A steel-hardened body should be an excellent conductor.
That was simple physics: metal conducts far better than human tissue.
What if he magnetized himself?
Kiyohara began guiding Magnet Release chakra.
Black iron sand seeped from his thermos, but instead of forming weapons, it circled his body in ring-like coils.
Then he tried to build an electromagnetic field inside his body.
Not just "moving metal with magnetism"—but turning himself into a "living electromagnet."
Chakra ran through a specific internal circuit, generating a stable magnetic field.
The first few attempts failed.
The field was too weak, or unstable, or the chakra cost spiked out of control.
But Kiyohara didn't stop.
He adjusted the flow paths again and again—polarity, field balance, the way hardened zones interacted with the field.
Two hours later, with the moon already high, he finally felt something change.
His body formed a faint, strange connection with the surroundings—metallic minerals in the earth, charged particles in the air, all brushing the edge of his perception.
Even more bizarre:
his hair began to float slightly, like he was underwater.
His toes lifted off the ground.
Only a centimeter.
Only three seconds.
But he had hovered.
"It works," Kiyohara's eyes flashed with excitement.
Magnetic levitation was, at its core, using magnetic force to offset gravity.
What he'd done was magnetize himself, then control how his field interacted with the planet's field to generate lift.
Of course, this was still the roughest, earliest step.
Real flight was still far away.
And the control requirements were brutal—he had to maintain Steel Release hardening, Magnet Release field stability, and fine chakra precision all at once. One slip and it collapsed.
"Not enough proficiency. My control still needs to climb," he concluded.
"But the direction is right. If I master this, my mobility will leap."
Flight was rare.
And in a world where speed and positioning decided life or death, even the first hint of it was priceless.