As for Pakura, Sunagakure chose the second condition: to sign a ten-year non-aggression pact and remain neutral in any conflict between Konoha and either Iwagakure or Kirigakure, while providing limited support if necessary.
That meant Konoha's western front would enjoy stability for at least the next ten years.
Though to Kiyohara, it all felt rather absurd.
Suna was practically made up of professional backstabbers.
An alliance existed to be betrayed.
Of course, a ceasefire really was the consensus between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind for the time being, and the best possible outcome.
The draft agreement still needed to be formally signed by the two Kage, but the results achieved at the negotiation table had already left Hiruzen Sarutobi extremely satisfied.
That evening, after the preliminary agreement was signed, Tsunade took Kiyohara to the casino.
"Finally, I can relax a little."
Tsunade stretched lazily, making her already gorgeous figure look even more pronounced.
The soft flesh that seemed on the verge of spilling free wobbled like pudding.
"For the past few days, my head's been filled with treaties and clauses… it's driving me insane," Tsunade complained.
"It's over now, Sensei," Kiyohara said, trying to comfort her.
Sometimes he felt like he was the teacher and Tsunade was the student.
"I need to treat myself properly after all that."
Tsunade made it clear that the whole ordeal had worn her out.
Soon enough, she confidently made her way to her usual dice table, with Kiyohara standing beside her.
"Place your bets, no more changes!"
The dealer lit up the moment he saw the fat sheep had arrived and excitedly began shaking the dice cup.
He was already thinking about what he would have for dinner tonight.
After all, all the expenses would be covered by the gambling money Tsunade-sama was about to lose!
Once it started, Kiyohara occasionally gave Tsunade pointers on how to bet from the side.
Over these days, Tsunade's gambling skills had not improved much, but Kiyohara's had gotten noticeably better.
With his immense spiritual energy, his mind was exceptionally quick. Even without the Sharingan, he learned anything fast.
With Kiyohara's help, Tsunade won five rounds in a row, and the pile of chips in front of her quickly turned into a small mountain.
"Kid, your luck's pretty good," one of the gamblers beside them said enviously.
Without Kiyohara, Tsunade definitely would have lost horribly.
"It's the good luck my student brings me."
Tsunade proudly threw an arm around Kiyohara's shoulders, completely unaware that the movement pressed her softness against his arm.
Kiyohara's body stiffened for a moment, but he soon relaxed again.
He kept his attention fixed on the dice cup, while multitasking.
Inside his body, lightning-style chakra was slowly circulating through his chakra pathways, tempering his muscles and bones according to the chakra flow method of the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
Both Steel Release and Earth Release: Earth Spear could only strengthen the skin.
That meant the muscles, bones, and internal organs beneath had to be trained by Kiyohara himself.
Only by strengthening both inside and out could he avoid serious injury.
Otherwise, techniques like Gentle Fist, which dealt internal damage, could directly injure him from within.
Although he had the White Snake's Power and the Mystical Palm Technique, which could heal him in a short time, that would still affect the flow of battle.
After all, in the ninja world, the Gentle Fist was not exclusive to the Hyuga clan. They were simply the most famous for it.
Likewise, there were many taijutsu styles under the broad category of Strong Fist, not just the Eight Gates.
Thanks to Kiyohara's powerful chakra control, he guided the lightning chakra through his entire body like fine electric currents. With each cycle, his cells became a little more active, producing a faint transformation in his body.
On the surface, he was merely accompanying Tsunade at the gambling table.
Inside, however, he was undergoing intense training.
Three hours later, Tsunade finally stopped, thoroughly satisfied.
She had won some money. It was only a drop in the bucket compared to her debt, but it was enough to put her in an excellent mood.
"Come on, Kiyohara. Go with me to check the mission board."
Tsunade took Kiyohara straight to the Hokage Building.
She browsed the mission listings, while Kiyohara looked toward the other side, where some long-term and special missions were posted.
Before long, he found what he was looking for.
[B-rank Investigation Mission: A large sea monster suspected to be a summoning beast has appeared in the coastal waters near the Land of the Sea, attacking fishing boats. Ninja are needed to investigate and drive off or eliminate the creature. Mission reward: 400,000 ryo.]
"Sensei, this one."
Kiyohara pointed at the mission sheet.
Tsunade leaned in for a look.
"The Land of the Sea… it's on the way, all right. We'll take it."
She went to the counter to handle the paperwork.
The chunin on duty straightened up respectfully the moment he saw Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama, this mission requires at least two jonin or special jonin to take it as a team."
"My student and I will go."
Tsunade pointed at Kiyohara.
"We're more than strong enough."
The chunin glanced at Kiyohara and only then recognized him as the increasingly famous Kiyohara whose reputation had spread far and wide recently.
Even among jonin, there were differences in strength.
The stronger jonin could easily crush several ordinary jonin of the same rank.
Kiyohara clearly belonged to the former category.
The chunin nodded and made the record.
"Understood. The mission deadline is one month. Please depart within three days."
By the time they left the Hokage Building, the sky had already gone dark.
Lanterns along the street gradually lit up one by one.
"Finally, I can get out of the village and get some fresh air."
Tsunade took a deep breath of the night air.
"Political negotiations really aren't for me."
"You did very well, Sensei," Kiyohara said.
"This agreement is very favorable to Konoha."
"That's because the old man forced me into it."
Tsunade curled her lip, though there was laughter in her eyes.
"But if I was able to help, then I guess I didn't waste my time being his student."
As they passed the market, Kiyohara stopped.
"Sensei, head back first. I'll buy some ingredients. How about we celebrate tonight?"
"Celebrate?"
Tsunade's eyes lit up.
"I want chicken!"
"Got it. We'll have a big chicken dinner," Kiyohara said.
Tsunade's love of chicken could only be described as being on the same level as her love of alcohol.
Before long, Tsunade had gone off humming to herself.
Kiyohara entered the market and started picking out ingredients for the evening meal.
The chicken had to be firm and meaty. The vegetables had to be fresh. And they needed to restock some seasonings too.
"Kiyohara-kun?"
A familiar voice came from behind him.
Kiyohara turned around and saw Rin Nohara standing by a produce stall, holding a bag of strawberries.
She was wearing a white coat, her hair loosely tied behind her head, looking like she had just finished work with the medical unit.
"Rin."
Kiyohara glanced at what she was carrying.
"Buying strawberries?"
"Yeah. They've been really sweet lately."
Rin walked over and casually opened the bag.
"Want to try one?"
Kiyohara did not refuse. He picked up a bright red strawberry and put it into his mouth.
"They really are sweet."
The two of them were standing very close.
Close enough that Rin felt as though Kiyohara had leaned in toward her.
Watching him eat the strawberry, her cheeks suddenly turned faintly red.
That gesture… felt a little too intimate.
But Kiyohara did not seem to think anything was wrong, and she was too embarrassed to say anything.
"How have you been lately?" Kiyohara asked.
"How's your control over that power inside you?"
At that, Rin shook her head, forcing down the flush on her face.
"It's much better than before. I've also exchanged for a few water-style ninjutsu."
She raised her right hand, and a layer of blue chakra appeared in her palm.
That was her own chakra.
But as Rin continued channeling chakra, traces of red began mixing into the blue.
The chakra of tailed beasts was always red. That was a shared characteristic among the nine tailed beasts.
Only when they were combined into the Ten-Tails did it become a pale blue-white color.
Kiyohara ate another strawberry.
Then he looked at Rin's slightly flushed cheeks and suddenly said, "Your chakra control has improved a lot. Want to head to Training Ground Three and give it a try?"
"Right now?"
Rin blinked, the strawberry bag in her hand swaying slightly.
"Yeah. It's the perfect chance to test the results of your recent training."
Kiyohara smiled.
"I could use the exercise too."
He wanted to use the Sharingan to get a look at the jutsu Rin had exchanged for with her war merits.
And while he was at it, he could fleece a little more value out of the opportunity—well, no, guide Rin in her ninjutsu.
After hesitating for a moment, Rin nodded.
"Okay."
The two of them walked side by side toward the training ground on the eastern side of the village.
"In a moment, you can go all out. I'll control my strength."
Rin turned her head to look at him. Under the lantern light, Kiyohara's side profile was half-bright, half-shadowed, his features sharp and distinct.
She suddenly remembered the things she had heard in the medical unit a few days ago—about the battle in the Land of Rain, and the rumors of Kiyohara taking Hanzo's iaijutsu slash head-on.
The boy before her looked no different from the one in her memories, but Rin knew he had already gone very far—so far that she now had to look up at him.
This was what people called… a genius.
Rin felt that anyone born into the same era as Kiyohara would, in the end, be overshadowed by his brilliance.
After all, people usually only remembered the one at the very top.
"Kiyohara-kun…"
Rin spoke up.
"The thing in the Land of Rain… was it true?"
"What part?"
"I mean… the part about you defeating Hanzo."
Kiyohara shook his head.
"It wasn't just me. I had help from the Akatsuki members, Nagato's summoning beasts, and support from Tsunade-sensei. I just did what needed to be done."
Though, to be fair, he had not even used his true full strength at the time.
If Kiyohara had wanted to, he could even have had Toad Kiyohara help him refine chakra to improve his endurance.
Hanzo of the Salamander had already grown old. If it came down to chakra reserves alone, he probably could not even match Kiyohara anymore.
Hanzo's real strength lay in his battle experience, swordsmanship, and poison.
Unfortunately for him, Kiyohara had medical ninjutsu and had separately inherited both Sasori's and Tsunade's expertise in the use of poison.
So against Kiyohara, Hanzo was basically out of options.
Kiyohara-kun really is so modest, Rin thought.
He had accomplished something that significant, yet never bragged about it.
That kind of quality was especially rare among ninja—particularly among the sort of geniuses who became arrogant the moment they achieved anything.
"But everyone says you were the one who blocked Hanzo's iaijutsu slash," Rin insisted, curiosity in her eyes.
Kiyohara did not deny it. He only said calmly, "That was to save people. If I'd stepped back then, the Akatsuki members behind me might have died."
As they spoke, Training Ground Three came into view. It was a wide, open training field with fine sand covering the ground and dozens of wooden posts and targets set up around it.
The two walked to the center of the field and stopped ten meters apart.
"Go ahead," Kiyohara said.
"You attack first."
Rin took a deep breath and formed hand seals in front of her chest.
Her training as a medical ninja had made her used to observing first and acting second.
She looked at Kiyohara. He was standing there casually, without any obvious stance, yet somehow gave off the feeling that there was no angle from which to attack him.
"Then… here I go."
The moment she finished speaking, Rin's hands flew through seals.
Dragon – Ox – Rabbit.
Three seals were completed in less than half a second.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
She bent forward and expelled a surging wave of water.
It was not an especially offensive jutsu, but it had broad range, and the water rushed toward Kiyohara like a tide.
At the same time, Rin's left hand stayed hidden behind her back, with three kunai already tucked between her fingers, using the water style to conceal the trajectory of her thrown weapons.
Kiyohara watched the incoming water and formed seals as well, faster than Rin—so fast that the changes in his fingers were almost impossible to follow.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A blazing fireball three meters wide burst from his mouth.
The moment the fireball collided with the wave, a piercing hiss rang out, and huge amounts of white steam exploded outward, instantly enveloping the area.
The steam was scorching hot, forcing Rin to retreat a few steps and squint her eyes.
At that moment, three kunai shot through the steam, targeting Kiyohara's upper, middle, and lower lines all at once.
The timing was perfect—right at the instant his vision should have been obscured.
But Kiyohara seemed to have anticipated it.
He did not even look. He merely shifted his body slightly, and the three kunai passed by, grazing the edge of his clothing.
Thunk, thunk, thunk.
They embedded themselves in the wooden post behind him.
Immediately afterward, Kiyohara raised his right hand, and between his index and middle fingers he caught a fourth kunai that had come flying in silently.
That was Rin's true killing move. The first three had only been feints.
"Nice tactics," Kiyohara commented, lightly tossing the kunai back.
Rin caught it, her heart tightening.
She had known Kiyohara was strong, but she had not expected him to be this strong. With his vision completely obscured, even the Sharingan should not have been able to see clearly.
Had he really dodged everything using only his perception?
Was this the intuition forged through countless life-and-death battles?
"Keep going," Kiyohara said.
Rin nodded.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Chakra surged through her body, and a water dragon rose from the ground in front of her.
The dragon was lifelike, making it obvious that Rin's chakra control was excellent.
With a silent roar, the water dragon lunged at Kiyohara.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!"
The fireballs Kiyohara released spread out like blooming flowers, each one crashing into the dragon's body.
Water and fire collided, and a series of explosions echoed out one after another, filling the air with steam again.
But this time Rin did not stop. She had already begun preparing her next jutsu while casting the Water Dragon Bullet.
At the moment the steam was thickest, Rin slapped both palms against the ground.
"Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique!"
This had originally been Kirigakure's signature jutsu, but through its long war with Kiri, Konoha had managed to seize some of Kirigakure's water-style techniques as spoils.
It was just that these were extremely difficult to learn, and in most cases only Kiri ninja could truly master them.
Even when Konoha ninja obtained them, very few managed to learn them.
"So it's the change brought by the Three-Tails? Rin Nohara's talent for water release has actually become this high…"
Kiyohara stroked his chin.
It seemed that the Three-Tails' affinity for water release had been steadily altering Rin's body.
Just like Roshi had learned Lava Release from the Four-Tails, Son Goku.
Before long, dense mist spread outward from Rin as the center. This was not ordinary mist, but a special fog infused with tailed beast chakra.
Within it, her perception would be enhanced, while the enemy's senses would be disrupted.
The mist rapidly spread, reducing visibility to less than thirty centimeters.
Rin's figure flickered in and out within the fog, as if she had merged with the environment.
Standing in the mist, Kiyohara closed his eyes.
The Sharingan could see through many illusions and deceptions, but a purely physical water mist like this required a different kind of response.
He quietly focused on his perception: the movement of the air, the distribution of moisture, the fluctuations of chakra…
Left side!
Kiyohara instantly turned and raised his right hand. A water arrow grazed past his palm, leaving behind a shallow white mark on his skin.
It was an attack formed from highly compressed water—fast and highly penetrating.
Kiyohara could sense Rin moving through the mist, constantly changing positions. Every attack came from a different direction. Sometimes it was a water arrow, sometimes a water whip, and sometimes even water bullets shaped like kunai.
The pace of the attacks was fast, with almost no gaps.
But Kiyohara dodged every single one.
Honestly, this mist would have been useful against the old Kiyohara.
But now, it was not that effective anymore.
If he wanted to, he could enter Cursed Seal mode or borrow Toad Kiyohara's Sage Mode at any moment.
That would drastically heighten his sensory perception, allowing him to locate Rin even without using his eyes.
Right now, Kiyohara was simply playing along with Rin so he could copy her water-style jutsu and save himself some war merits.
He wanted to stockpile enough war merits so he could later exchange them for the forbidden techniques recorded in the Scroll of Seals.
Three minutes later, Rin stopped using water-style ninjutsu.
The mist began to dissipate, and her figure reappeared, breathing a little hard.
Using so many jutsu in succession had put a considerable strain on her chakra, especially one requiring such delicate control as the Hidden Mist Technique.
"Why…?"
She looked at the completely unharmed Kiyohara, confused.
"How were you able to dodge everything? You shouldn't have been able to see in the mist."
Kiyohara opened his eyes.
"I wasn't using my eyes. Every one of your attacks created air currents. The sound of the water arrows cutting through the air—those were enough for me to judge their trajectory."
"But you already did very well."
Kiyohara felt that even if it was small, it was still cute.
"You're using your water-style ninjutsu skillfully, and your attack rhythm is good too. Now, try that."
"That?"
"The power inside you." Kiyohara looked directly into her eyes. "The Three-Tails' chakra."
Rin's body trembled slightly.
She lowered her head, her fingers tightening unconsciously.
"I… I'm still learning how to control it."
"That's exactly why you need more practice."
Kiyohara walked up in front of her.
"If you lose control, I'll stop you."
He continued, "Go ahead."
"Okay."
Rin took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
Inside her, that sleeping power began to awaken.
The first thing to change was the color of her chakra.
Within the blue chakra surrounding her body, a thread of crimson quietly emerged, like ink dropped into clear water, slowly spreading outward.
Next came the change in texture.
Her originally gentle, flowing chakra became violent, like boiling magma. Every surge carried a searing force.
Rin's brows knit together. She could feel the resistance of that power—the urge to devour everything.
She had to suppress it with her will and guide it.
Even though the Three-Tails had already reached an agreement with Kiyohara, this step was still something Rin herself had to endure.
That was why becoming a jinchuriki depended on the quality of the vessel. Not just anyone could become one.
"I'm ready," Rin said.
The next instant—
Her speed increased by several times over, to the point where she almost became an afterimage.
This was not the Body Flicker Technique. It was purely an explosive boost in physical ability. With the tailed beast chakra enhancing her, her muscular strength and nervous system response speed both rose dramatically.
Rin's small fist was wrapped in both moisture and crimson chakra.
Kiyohara raised a hand to block.
After entering Tailed Beast Chakra Mode, Rin's strength really had increased.
But compared to Kiyohara himself, she still fell a little short.
"Not bad!"
Kiyohara praised her as he shot out his left hand to grab her wrist.
Rin quickly retracted her fist, pivoted, and swept a leg at Kiyohara's lower body.
The two of them exchanged blows rapidly in the training ground. Kiyohara did not use ninjutsu, responding only with taijutsu.
Because while they were in the mist just now, he had already copied the water-style techniques worth copying.
As long as he got a close enough look, Kiyohara could copy them on the spot.
"Don't rush, Rin," Kiyohara said.
~~~
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