So a lot of shinobi don't actually have any way to deal with enemies in the air.
If Kiyohara could truly master flight, it would be hugely beneficial—both for pursuing enemies and for escaping when things went south.
He tried again. This time he hovered for five seconds, rising three centimeters off the ground.
Then a third time, a fourth, a fifth…
Every attempt improved.
The hover time lengthened, the height increased, and the chakra cost gradually dropped.
Only when his chakra was nearly depleted did Kiyohara finally stop.
That feeling—getting stronger bit by bit—was intoxicating.
...
At the same time, deep beneath Konoha, in the Root base.
Shimura Danzō sat in a dim room, his remaining left eye fixed on an intelligence scroll.
Candlelight danced on the table, casting his shadow on the wall—twisted and grotesque.
"Kiyohara… proficient in Earth Release and Wind Release, awakened Magnet Release, and during the Land of Rain mission he sent an enemy using the Sixth Gate flying with one punch…"
Danzō's fingers tapped the tabletop with heavy thuds.
"That Orochimaru bastard didn't report this to me of his own accord. So he's got ideas."
He sneered.
"Fine. As long as he keeps cooperating on experiments, I've got leverage. Even if he becomes Hokage someday, he'll still be bound by my strings."
He set the scroll down and looked at the Root operative kneeling on one knee before him.
"Continue monitoring Kiyohara. Record who he interacts with—especially any political leanings."
"Yes."
"And watch how often he meets with Orochimaru. Report immediately."
"Understood."
The Root operative withdrew without a sound, as if he'd never existed.
Danzō closed his eye and calculated.
Kiyohara Shin's potential was now worth serious attention.
If he matured, he could become a blade for Root. Even if not, he could not be allowed to fall fully into Orochimaru's hands.
Konoha's future had to be held by the right person—by Shimura Danzō.
As for Orochimaru… that man obsessed with forbidden techniques and immortality was ultimately just a chess piece.
Once his talents were fully exploited, there would be a way to dispose of him.
...
The next morning, Kiyohara returned to Training Ground Three.
Last night's maglev practice had burned a huge amount of chakra, but after a full night's rest he'd recovered to about seventy percent.
He could also feel his chakra ceiling had ticked up again—another small step in the ongoing transformation brought by inherited "assets."
The blending of mental energy and physical energy wasn't instantaneous; it took time.
His body was getting stronger little by little through that process, until it hit the next physical ceiling again.
Today he planned to practice combining Earth Release and Wind Release.
Earth Release for obstacles and defense, Wind Release for ranged offense and acceleration—together they opened up a wide tactical range.
Later, he'd head deeper into the forest to continue training flight, somewhere more secluded.
Just as he formed seals to cast Earth Wall, a voice came from behind him.
"Kiyohara-kun… training this early?"
Kiyohara turned and saw Uchiha Shisui.
Shisui still looked gentle as ever, but Kiyohara caught something else—confusion buried deep in his eyes.
And Shisui's chakra… it was far stronger than the last time they met.
"Shisui."
Kiyohara nodded in greeting.
"You here to train too?"
"…Yeah. Something like that."
Shisui walked up beside him and looked at the training posts in the distance.
"There are things I can't sort out lately. Training helps clear my head. I didn't want to train inside the clan, so I came here."
Kiyohara could tell Shisui had something weighing on him, but he didn't press. He simply followed the conversation.
"Yeah. When you train, all you have to focus on is completing the technique. The rest fades out for a while."
"Yeah…"
Shisui's voice fell, then he looked at Kiyohara.
"Kiyohara-kun… can we spar? I want to see where I'm at now."
Kiyohara thought for a beat, then nodded.
He wanted to test himself too.
His clash with Shinnō had been brief—Shinnō backed off because Orochimaru was there.
"Sure. But point-to-point."
Shisui nodded, and a three-tomoe Sharingan surfaced in his eyes.
They stepped back until they stood twenty meters apart.
"Ready?" Shisui asked, forming the Seal of Confrontation.
"Let's go."
Kiyohara formed it as well.
The instant the seal completed, they both moved.
Kiyohara's hands flew through seals—faster than before, because his chakra control had improved too.
Hand speed wasn't the only limiter; guiding chakra cleanly mattered just as much.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"
Spiked stone lances erupted from the ground beneath Shisui.
But Shisui vanished—reappearing at Kiyohara's left.
"So fast…"
Kiyohara's brow tightened. Shisui had gotten stronger.
Shisui didn't use a ninjutsu. He drew the short blade on his back and slashed for Kiyohara's neck.
Wind-nature chakra wrapped the blade, sharpening it further.
At the same time, black iron sand surged from Kiyohara's thermos and turned into dozens of spikes that shot toward Shisui.
Shisui had to parry—his blade flashing like a curtain, knocking every spike away.
But the iron sand didn't fall. It regrouped midair into chains that whipped for Shisui's ankles.
"Magnet Release…"
Shisui felt Kiyohara's control had risen too. He sprang lightly upward, clearing the chains.
While airborne, he formed seals.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
Dozens of fireballs burst forth from different angles, sealing off every normal escape route.
Kiyohara didn't dodge. He brought his hands together.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
A heavy wall rose, blocking the fireballs.
Flames burst across the wall, smoke and dust billowing.
But Shisui didn't stop.
He appeared above the wall and formed seals at high speed.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire!"
A massive fire dragon poured from his mouth and slammed down toward Kiyohara behind the wall.
The heat alone was intense.
Kiyohara could feel it.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Great Spear!"
Black iron sand surged upward into several massive spears, colliding head-on with the fire dragon.
The front layers of iron sand melted under the heat, but the dragon was pierced and broken apart.
Through the smoke, Kiyohara rushed forward—right hand raised, fingers together like a blade, stabbing for Shisui's chest.
A metallic sheen covered his fingertips: partial Steel Release hardening.
Shisui brought his blade up to block.
Clang!
Metal struck metal.
Shisui's wrist jolted from the impact, his grip stinging.
He used the recoil to retreat, three-tomoe Sharingan locked on Kiyohara.
Kiyohara also paused, watching Shisui.
They were both measuring each other.
Kiyohara thought: Shisui must have awakened Mangekyō—there was no way his speed, power, and reactions had jumped this much otherwise.
At the same time, Shisui was unsettled by how quickly Kiyohara had advanced.
His Magnet Release control was already razor-sharp, his taijutsu had jumped a tier—and that finger hardening looked like an advanced Earth-based reinforcement technique.
He'd seen Iwa shinobi use something similar, but he didn't know exactly which one Kiyohara was using.
"Kiyohara-kun… that technique just now—what was it?"
"Earth Release: Earth Spear," Kiyohara answered.
"But lately I've been trying to develop Steel Release, so I've been tweaking things."
He said it casually, deliberately planting the idea that he'd been "working toward" this—so it wouldn't feel abrupt later.
Bloodlines weren't limited to just one, after all—Mei had two.
"Steel Release…"
Shisui thought for a moment, then nodded without digging further.
He sheathed his blade, and the Sharingan faded away.
"Let's stop here. If we keep going, we might not be able to pull it back."
Kiyohara also reined in his chakra. The iron sand returned to the thermos, and the metallic tint vanished.
They moved to the shade at the edge of the training ground and sat down.
After a moment of silence, Shisui spoke again.
"Kiyohara-kun… what do you think comrades and bonds really are?"
Kiyohara looked at him.
He was certain now—Shisui had awakened Mangekyō.
In canon, the only thing that could leave Shisui this kind of lost was losing a close friend.
In Itachi Shinden, Shisui had told Itachi why he awakened: the darkness he'd hidden inside himself—jealousy, even if only for an instant—had led to hesitation, and that hesitation had gotten his friend killed.
"I don't know for sure," Kiyohara said quietly.
"But… comrades are the people you'd trust with your back. And bonds are connections you don't cut loose, even when things get hard."
Shisui lowered his head.
"I had a friend. He was even more talented than me… always ahead of me. I envied him…"
Kiyohara didn't interrupt. He just listened.
"It was my fault he died," Shisui's voice shook.
"Looking back, that jealousy was ridiculous. If I'd moved then… he might still be alive. We'd still be training together. Still working for the Uchiha future…"
"You can't change the past," Kiyohara said. "But you can still choose the future. If your friend could see you now, he wouldn't want you to drown in guilt forever."
Shisui went quiet, thinking.
They talked a little longer about training and technique, then parted ways.
Kiyohara could tell Shisui's confusion hadn't fully lifted.
But there was only so much he could do.
Uchiha "spirals" weren't fixed with a few sentences.
...
A few more days passed.
Kiyohara's grasp of "flight" improved steadily.
Now he could maintain a hovering state for several minutes just above the ground.
He was still far from agile aerial combat, but as a surprise movement option—or a way to break contact—it was already taking shape.
The precision required also sharpened his chakra control considerably.
That afternoon, Kiyohara had just left Orochimaru's chlorine-scented lab near the village edge, still carrying a faint medicinal smell.
He was about to head home, clean up, and continue training, when an Anbu operative in an animal mask appeared soundlessly in front of him.
"Kiyohara-jōnin. The Hokage urgently summons you. Report to the Hokage's office immediately."
Kiyohara's heart tightened—but his face stayed calm.
"Understood."
Yesterday, he'd received the official paperwork.
He was now a fully recognized jōnin.
Inside the Hokage's office, the air was heavy.
Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind the desk, brow furrowed, smoke curling from his pipe.
Besides him, Orochimaru was present—and so were Kurenai and Genma. Even Might Guy was here.
"Kiyohara. You're here."
Hiruzen gestured for him to come closer.
"Hokage-sama. Orochimaru-sama."
Kiyohara nodded to Kurenai and Genma as well.
Guy flashed a bright thumbs-up and a toothy grin in greeting.
"There is an urgent mission," Hiruzen said, getting straight to it, sliding a scroll across the desk.
"At the Green Hills outpost on the Land of Grass border, an unknown force attacked last night. A medical team—five medical-nin on routine rounds—was captured.
Enemy identity and purpose are unknown, but they moved fast and quietly. The outpost guards only managed to send a distress signal."
Medical-nin… captured?
Kiyohara felt a cold weight drop into his stomach.
In war, medical-nin were protected—and targeted.
Orochimaru's hoarse voice followed.
"Based on witness reports, the attackers used powerful Water Release, coordinated smoothly, and looked trained—nothing like ordinary missing-nin. There's a strong chance they're Mist shinobi who infiltrated the area."
Kiyohara's chest tightened.
Bad.
A trigger event.
And then Orochimaru produced the list of missing medical-nin.
Kiyohara's eyes found the name instantly.
Nohara Rin.
Their mission was to head to Land of Grass, reinforce the outpost, and rescue the captured medical-nin.
The details had shifted compared to canon…
But the key didn't change.
Rin had still been taken.
~~~
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