"Not bad. I've grasped some of the basics, at least."
Kiyohara said calmly.
He walked over to the side, where a small wooden tub had been placed. Inside were several fish he had caught from a nearby stream. One of them had a very obvious gash along its side fin, clearly injured by accident earlier.
Kiyohara extended his right hand, palm facing downward, hovering it above the wounded fish.
In the next moment, a stream of green chakra slowly flowed out from his palm, gently enveloping the injury.
Wrapped in the soft green chakra, the originally pale wound on the fish's fin began to squirm and knit together at a speed visible to the naked eye.
A few minutes passed, and the wound had healed significantly.
'So quick to pick it up…'
Shizune thought to herself.
If she remembered correctly, Lady Tsunade had only taught Kiyohara this medical ninjutsu not long ago.
To reach this level just through self-practice?
That could only mean one thing—Kiyohara possessed talent in Yang Release, and not a small amount of it either.
"By the way, when do we set out?" Kiyohara asked.
"Three days from now."
"I understand."
Kiyohara nodded slightly.
It seemed that on the very first day of the mission, he would receive the "last will" of his another self.
Fortunately, the difficulty of this escort mission wasn't very high.
At present, the interior of the Land of Fire had yet to be invaded by Mist, and conflicts with Suna and Kumogakure were mostly breaking out along the borders.
By the time the Land of Fire was pushed into chaos and invaded deep into its territory, it should be during the Sunagakure battle at Kikyo Pass.
"Then who are the other two people?" Kiyohara asked.
"Lady Tsunade chose Hatake Kakashi and Nohara Rin."
"Rin, huh."
Kiyohara nodded slightly. Familiar faces were always easier to get along with.
'Uchiha Madara should be planning to abduct Rin within the next few months. I'll need to keep an eye on Kirigakure's movements.'
Kiyohara thought silently.
A storm was brewing.
The next day arrived, with three days still remaining.
Kiyohara continued his cultivation without interruption.
Today, his main focus was genjutsu.
After his battle with Shisui, he had come to realize that genjutsu was currently his greatest shortcoming.
If Shisui had used a Sharingan genjutsu against him, it really would have been troublesome to deal with.
—
Unlike the Uchiha clan or the Kurama clan, ordinary shinobi did not possess kekkei genkai that enhanced genjutsu abilities.
What they could rely on was repeatedly falling into genjutsu, thereby improving their resistance to it.
In plain terms—getting beaten up.
The essence of genjutsu was mental attacks achieved by manipulating the flow of chakra within a living being's brain nerves.
That was why shinobi genjutsu could affect all creatures that possessed chakra, and even ordinary humans still had chakra within their bodies.
It was simply very sparse, only enough to maintain normal life.
The Ninshu founded by the Sage of Six Paths focused more on sharing one's own chakra—using his chakra as both seed and key—allowing others to awaken and excavate their own chakra.
That was why, thousands of years ago, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya used the "Infinite Tsukuyomi" to extract chakra from living beings, transforming them into White Zetsu at the same time.
"Alright then, Kiyohara, here I come."
Kurenai maintained her hand seals as she spoke.
"Go ahead."
Kiyohara nodded slightly.
"Okay."
Seeing this, Kurenai began to cast genjutsu on Kiyohara.
Invisible Yin Release chakra spread outward, and Kurenai's chakra directly invaded Kiyohara's body through his eyes.
Most genjutsu were activated through the five senses, and vision was the most common medium of all.
Kiyohara felt his vision blur slightly. The surrounding trees seemed to come alive, thick branches writhing like giant pythons as they surged forward and wrapped around him, binding him tightly in an instant. A powerful sense of restraint washed over him.
Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!
"A B-rank genjutsu—"
Kiyohara was a little surprised.
Very nice. Now it's bondage play.
Kurenai was only a chūnin, yet she could already use a genjutsu that ordinary genjutsu-type shinobi usually wouldn't master until becoming jōnin.
Sure enough, having a family inheritance in genjutsu—and a father who was a genjutsu expert—made all the difference.
"Then—it's time for me to resist."
Kiyohara mobilized the chakra within his body. His mental strength, several times stronger than that of ordinary shinobi, transformed into Yin Release chakra and forcefully shattered the false perception constructed by the genjutsu.
"Kai."
As the word left his mouth, the distorted scenery before his eyes shattered like glass. The illusionary branches binding his body vanished instantly, and he remained standing exactly where he was, completely unharmed.
Kurenai panted lightly, her face filled with astonishment.
"You—you broke it just like that? That's way too fast!"
She had only just learned this jutsu herself, and her chakra wasn't enough to bring out its full power, but breaking free should still have taken some effort.
"Well—maybe my spiritual strength is just naturally bigger than most people's."
Kiyohara replied.
Mine's really big—just bear with it.
With every future inheritance adding to his spiritual strength, once they stacked together, unless he ran into the Uchiha's Sharingan, other genjutsu users really wouldn't pose much of a threat to him.
Over the next period of time, Kurenai cast several different genjutsu on Kiyohara, including the Hell Viewing Technique.
The results were largely the same.
Kiyohara's speed in breaking genjutsu remained astonishingly fast.
"Seriously fast…"
In the end, Kurenai stopped, leaning weakly against a tree trunk. She looked at Kiyohara—whose expression remained calm, with only a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead—and couldn't help but mutter softly.
Without a corresponding kekkei genkai, yet possessing such outrageous resistance to genjutsu—this completely defied common sense.
"How can a man be said to be fast?"
Kiyohara shook his head and also paused to rest.
He still needed to push his genjutsu-breaking speed even further.
Because in battles between shinobi, a single second could decide many things.
After continuing to train with Kurenai until the afternoon, Kiyohara bid her farewell and headed to a nearby town that served as a transit point.
"Boss, I'm here to repay my previous loan."
Kiyohara placed a thick stack of bills on the counter.
It was about time for repayment—he needed to return fifty thousand ryō first.
This was the loan he had taken from the village. The money used to make the forbidden medicine during his last encounter with a rogue shinobi had come from that loan.
The merchant in front of him was a manager from the lending company.
They also had operations here.
The shop owner, sporting a goatee, smiled as he counted the money. "Kiyohara, you've been doing pretty well lately, huh?"
Kiyohara didn't say much, his gaze sweeping over the shelves. "Also, I want a blank summoning scroll, and a large-capacity sealing scroll."
The shop owner's eyes lit up. "Oh? That's a big purchase!"
He turned around and took two scrolls out from the cabinet behind him.
"The summoning scroll is ninety thousand ryō. The high-grade sealing scroll—"
Kiyohara's mouth twitched. This was practically most of the savings he had accumulated over several months of missions, plus a large chunk of his loot.
But he knew these were necessities.
With a summoning scroll, he could attempt to find a summoning beast and sign a contract.
And the large-capacity sealing scroll directly affected his future efficiency in making money.
Sometimes, even when there was equipment everywhere, being unable to carry it away because of capacity limits was the most painful thing of all.
After paying, Kiyohara looked at the few tens of thousands of ryō left in his wallet and couldn't help sighing. "Anything related to space-time is ridiculously expensive."
He didn't dare imagine how much money that rich lady spent on her piles of sealing scrolls and shinobi tools every day.
While packing the items, the shop owner laughed. "Space-time ninjutsu and sealing techniques are among the most profound fields to begin with. These scrolls aren't easy to make—high prices are only natural."
Kiyohara nodded and carefully stored the two scrolls away.
He understood that in the world of Naruto, space-time technology was practically black-tech. This investment was unavoidable.
Three days later, early in the morning, Kiyohara arrived on time outside Tsunade's tent.
Kakashi and Rin were already waiting there. Rin had a medical pack on her back and a bright smile on her face.
"Good morning, Kiyohara."
Rin greeted him softly.
"Morning."
Kiyohara replied.
Rin nodded, excitement flickering across her face.
"Lady Tsunade said we needed a medical shinobi to accompany the team, and I've made some progress in medical ninjutsu recently. As a medical shinobi, Lady Tsunade has always been my idol."
Now that she had the chance to get close to her idol and even carry out a mission together, how could she not be excited?
"Kakashi, we're working together again."
Kiyohara said.
That was how it was during wartime—teams were often broken up and temporarily reorganized.
"You're strong, so we probably got assigned together for that reason."
Kakashi replied.
After that, he squatted down to check the shinobi tools in his pack.
"Since everyone's here, come in."
Shizune noticed the group outside and called out.
Hearing this, Kiyohara and Rin lifted the tent flap and entered, only to see Kakashi still standing outside.
Kakashi told them to go in first and call Lady Tsunade—he'd be right in.
Inside, Tsunade was still lying on the bed, her golden hair scattered messily across the pillow.
One fair, voluptuous long leg was sticking out from under the blanket, the slender ankle gleaming faintly.
"Lady Tsunade, it's time to depart."
Shizune reminded her softly.
She had already been inside waiting for quite some time.
"Mmm—five more minutes—"
Tsunade mumbled indistinctly, burying her face into the pillow.
Shizune glanced helplessly at Kiyohara and Rin, then raised her voice slightly. "Lady Tsunade, Kiyohara and the others are already here!"
Only then did Tsunade reluctantly sit up, rubbing her sleepy eyes and yawning. "Alright, alright—got it. I was already up earlier, but then I went back to sleep."
She scratched her messy golden hair.
After Tsunade finished getting ready, she handed Kiyohara a large sealing scroll and had him carry it.
"It contains some of the supplies that need to be transported this time. We might as well do it together."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade."
Kiyohara accepted the large sealing scroll and slung it onto his back.
The size of the scroll was roughly the same as the one Naruto carried on his back in Sage Mode.
Kiyohara guessed it probably contained experimental instruments and medical supplies.
Kakashi also came in from outside, having only delayed for a few dozen seconds.
Tsunade glanced at him, thinking that Kakashi was starting to look more and more like Hatake Sakumo.
But Sakumo's death had been an absolute mess.
In Tsunade's opinion, if the old man had controlled public opinion in time, things might not have turned out that way.
"Let's go. Mission start."
"Yes, Lady Tsunade."
The group responded in unison.
The four of them left the camp together, heading toward a rear stronghold within the Land of Fire.
(End of Chapter)