Kiyohara was organizing his gear in front of his tent. Hearing footsteps, he looked up and saw a tall figure in an Anbu mask following behind Kakashi.
The Anbu uniform hugged the man's solid musculature, his shoulders broad—at first glance, he really did give off a dependable "elite Anbu" aura.
"You're here?" Kiyohara said.
Kakashi nodded and stepped aside half a pace, his voice muffled through the face covering.
"Guy, say hello."
"Got it."
Might Guy nodded.
"Take the mask off. No outsiders here," Kiyohara said.
Guy raised a hand to the edge of the mask and slowly removed it.
Beneath the standard Anbu animal mask was a bold-browed, wide-eyed face.
Without that eye-searing green jumpsuit, Guy looked… unexpectedly serious.
"Captain Kiyohara!"
Guy spoke, his voice ringing like a bell.
"Anbu member Might Guy, reporting for duty!"
That shout instantly wiped out half the "elite" vibe.
"…"
Kiyohara stared at him for a moment before continuing.
"Does the uniform fit?"
Guy rolled his shoulders and looked himself over.
"Honestly? I'm not used to it. The fabric… it's too tight. I feel restricted when I move."
Then he flashed his signature white-toothed grin.
"My training suit is way more comfortable! That's the outfit youth deserves!"
Kakashi rolled his eyes beside him.
Of course, nobody could see it behind the mask, but the sheer aura of resignation said everything.
"You'll get used to it," Kiyohara said. He walked to the small table inside the tent and spread several scrolls out.
"Anbu isn't like the regular forces. There are rules you need to know. We'll start with the basics."
For the next half hour, Kiyohara explained Anbu operational standards in detail—how to hand off intelligence without leaving traces, how to encrypt communications with Anbu-specific code phrases, the proper format and taboos for mission reports, and when identity exposure was permitted versus when concealment was mandatory.
Guy listened attentively, nodding from time to time.
"Most important…" Kiyohara looked at him.
"Anbu emphasizes stealth. Your taijutsu style… may need a little adjustment. I'm not asking you to change how you fight—just to rein it in on certain missions."
Guy straightened his back, chest rising as he took a deep breath.
"I understand! Be hot-blooded when it's time to be hot-blooded, be covert when it's time to be covert—this is youth's duality! Like day and night, light and shadow!"
Kiyohara and Kakashi exchanged a look. They both had the exact same thought:
Let's hope he really can do that.
"Oh, right." Kiyohara remembered something.
"Has your Anbu codename been decided?"
"Not yet." Guy shook his head. "Kakashi said you'd decide, Captain."
Kiyohara thought for a moment.
"Let's go with 'Black Beast.' Or just Beast for short. It fits the codename style and matches you."
"Black Beast…" Guy repeated it, eyes growing brighter and brighter.
"Perfect! Outside Anbu I'm the 'Azure Beast.' In Anbu I can be the 'Black Beast'!"
He was thrilled. "Beast" was short, clean, and sharp—but Guy liked the full title even more. Dressed in black like this, he really did resemble a black beast.
Kakashi cleared his throat.
"Don't be loud. Anbu is supposed to be low-profile."
"Yes—low-profile hot-bloodedness!" Guy declared.
Kiyohara rubbed his temples. His squad was going to be… very distinctive.
…
By evening, Kiyohara checked on the wounded in the medical sector, then headed toward an isolated tent in the rear of the camp.
Uzumaki Karin's tent sat in a quieter area, with a simple soundproof barrier set around it.
He lifted the flap. Warm yellow light spilled out, revealing a clean, simple interior.
Karin sat cross-legged on a cushion with several old sealing scrolls spread out before her—yellowed pages, worn edges, clearly ancient.
Hearing his steps, she looked up, short red hair falling around her shoulders.
When she saw Kiyohara, she smiled gently.
"Kiyohara-kun, perfect timing."
"Karin-nee." Kiyohara sat across from her.
"Any questions about sealing?" Karin asked.
Kiyohara was handsome, and he'd saved her life, so she'd always treated him kindly.
"A few." He nodded.
Karin was an Uzumaki, and she'd studied under Kushina for a while. The fact she'd been deployed as emergency sealing support in case Rin lost control meant she was no lightweight.
Future Karin would possess techniques like Adamantine Sealing Chains, Mind's Eye of the Kagura, and Bite Healing; as her mother, Karin naturally wasn't weak either.
(Karin's Mother name is also Karin… I've been really confused)
And canon had shown her using Bite Healing, which implied her bloodline was pure—certainly more so than Naruto's mixed heritage, since Naruto mainly inherited stamina and chakra.
"What is it?" Karin asked curiously.
So Kiyohara voiced his questions. Karin answered them one by one.
After about ten minutes, Kiyohara asked:
"Does Karin-nee happen to know a sealing technique that can cancel summoning contracts?"
He lifted his eyes to her, genuinely curious whether she knew it.
"You mean the Contract Seal, right? There are several similar techniques, but the one most commonly used is the Contract Seal."
Karin explained.
The Contract Seal could seal the bond between a summoner and a summon, effectively severing their contract. Extremely useful, but very hard to learn.
And it was a hard counter against shinobi who relied on summons.
For example, if you severed Hanzō's contract with his giant salamander, his overall combat power would drop.
"Mm." Kiyohara nodded.
That was exactly what he meant—Minato knew it too. He'd used the Contract Seal to sever Obito's control over the Nine-Tails.
"It's not hard," Karin said softly. "I can teach you."
Kiyohara blinked. He hadn't expected her to just… teach it.
He immediately started learning like a starving man.
With his enhanced mental energy, he remembered everything after hearing it once.
"Did you really memorize it?" Karin hesitated, her pretty face full of doubt.
"Really," Kiyohara assured her. "My memory's ridiculous."
"I see." Karin nodded.
Then she suddenly said:
"Kiyohara-kun… could you bite me?"
"…?"
Seeing his confusion, Karin hurried to explain.
"Just a light bite—don't use much force."
"These days I've been studying my body. I think my blood and cells have a special healing effect. Earlier, a female patient was in so much pain she accidentally bit me, and I noticed her recovery sped up. I want to confirm… if you get hurt, can my blood help you recover quickly?"
Kiyohara understood immediately.
The Uzumaki physique was special; in canon, Karin could heal others through biting.
It seemed Karin had begun to awaken to her ability's real "use case"—an instinctive awakening.
But she hadn't fully confirmed it yet—Bite Healing.
And Kiyohara suspected not every Uzumaki had it. Kushina, for example, never displayed it.
"I get it." It wasn't a big request; helping was fine.
But he still warned her:
"Karin-nee, don't let this ability get out. Only use it for people close to you. If it becomes public, you'll have injured people lining up every day."
His gaze turned serious.
If even Hatake Sakumo could be stabbed in the back by people he saved, then someone like Karin—who could heal with a bite—was even more vulnerable.
If she got tired and wanted rest, people might guilt-trip her into continuing.
Because the effect was too good.
Even Tsunade, cut cleanly in half, could be restored quickly by biting Karin in canon.
Karin thought about it and agreed.
"I won't go around talking. Only trusted companions will know."
"Good." Kiyohara nodded.
He also realized she'd implicitly included him among "trusted companions." Sharing this kind of information was itself a gesture of trust.
"So… where do I bite?" Kiyohara stroked his chin.
He was curious whether biting different body parts changed the recovery effect.
Biologically speaking, the easiest bite would be the softest, fattiest place—
"My arm," Karin said, cheeks faintly pink. She rolled up her sleeve, revealing a pale forearm.
Her skin was white and smooth.
She extended her arm toward him.
"Try it."
Kiyohara pulled out a kunai and made a tiny cut on the back of his own hand, then leaned in and lightly bit Karin's forearm.
Soft.
That was his only honest review.
"Mm…"
Karin felt strange.
During the day, when a female patient bit her, she hadn't felt anything like this.
But now, with Kiyohara right there, something oddly fluttery rose in her chest.
Then Kiyohara noticed his hand wound healing rapidly.
In just a few blinks, it looked as if it had never been there.
He silently marveled.
No wonder Sasuke took Karin everywhere.
"The effect's great." Kiyohara released her arm and showed her his hand.
Karin sensed it too—her chakra had dipped slightly.
That chakra must have flowed through the contact point into Kiyohara, repairing the wound.
They chatted a little longer. When the night grew late, Kiyohara stood and left.
…
Around midnight, the camp held only patrol footsteps and the muted moans of the wounded.
Kiyohara had just finished his Soft Physique Modification training—his joints made soft click-click sounds after the specialized stretching, and his flexibility was clearly improved.
He wiped sweat off with a towel, about to rest, when a shrill alarm suddenly pierced the night.
It cut through the sky like a blade.
Then came the hoarse shout of a scout.
"Enemy attack—southeast! Large Suna force!"
Almost at the same time, the distant horizon flared with ominous teal light—
dozens of massive Wind Release techniques tearing through the air.
Green cyclones formed kilometers away, like mythic serpents waking, and surged toward the Konoha camp.
The wind hadn't even arrived yet, but the pressure already made tents snap violently. Ropes tightened. Poorly secured tents flipped outright, their contents swept skyward.
"All units, defend!"
Jiraiya's voice boomed across the camp through an amplification technique, instantly stabilizing the panic.
"Jōnin, assemble—construct a combined Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Kiyohara threw on his coat and sprinted out of his tent.
Outside was chaos—shinobi poured out from every direction. Some were half-dressed, some only held kunai, some were still tying on their forehead protectors.
The first dozen jōnin gathered on the southeast edge and began forming seals together.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
Dozens of thick earthen walls erupted from the ground, each five to six meters tall, linking together under chakra guidance.
In an instant, a gigantic "city wall" rose—twenty meters tall, three meters thick—blocking the camp's front.
This was an A-rank defensive technique created by combining multiple B-rank walls: Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall of Ten Thousand Ri.
Its effect was far stronger than a single shinobi's version—enough to withstand most conventional ninjutsu barrages.
But Suna's assault far exceeded expectations.
The moment the first wave of Wind Release struck, a shrieking tearing sound filled the air.
Teal wind blades—countless invisible knives—slammed into the wall from every angle. Rock fragments sprayed. Dust clouds billowed.
Cracks spread across the wall's surface like spiderwebs.
"Second wave—reinforce!" a jōnin shouted.
Too late.
The second, third, and more waves came with almost no gaps.
Razor wind mixed into the cyclone, continuously hammering the wall already near its limit.
Finally, on the fourth impact—
BOOM!
A breach opened. The wall collapsed from the center.
The upper portion shattered into chunks of stone; the lower section trembled, fissures racing outward.
"Fall back—find cover!"
"Medical team—wounded here!"
Boulders rained down—some as large as millstones, others fist-sized.
Konoha shinobi who couldn't dodge in time screamed.
Arms snapped. Heads split. Blood looked stark under moonlight, soaking into the soil.
And then Kiyohara arrived.
Black markings crawled over his skin.
Curse Mark Transformation — Stage One!
In that instant, his physical stats surged across the board.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
This wall was different from anything before.
It rose over ten meters high, nearly two meters thick—far harder than a standard wall.
A massive shield of earth slammed up at the collapsing gap, stabilizing the line.
At almost the exact same time, Suna's fifth wave roared in.
Teal wind blades hit Kiyohara's wall.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Deep, heavy impacts rang out.
But the wall didn't budge—only shallow dents appeared on its surface.
"That's—!"
"It's Kiyohara! Jōnin Kiyohara!"
Someone recognized him.
Rumors about the young genius had been everywhere, but seeing it with their own eyes was different.
That wall standing firm against the hurricane was proof enough.
"What are you staring at?!"
Jiraiya barked without turning.
"Don't stop!"
The shout snapped everyone awake.
More jōnin formed seals, raising more walls behind Kiyohara's, linking them into a layered defense.
Just as the new barrier neared completion, Suna's sixth wave arrived.
This one was even denser—teal light lit half the sky, like dozens of wind dragons roaring at once.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
When the last wind blades finally faded…
Kiyohara's wall still stood.
"Kiyohara!"
Yūhi Kurenai and Nohara Rin rushed in from the side, fully geared—forehead protectors tight, pouches positioned for fast draw.
Kakashi followed close behind, his visible eye sweeping the area, kunai in hand.
"You okay?" Rin asked urgently, scanning Kiyohara's body for injuries.
Kiyohara shook his head.
"Suna's main force hasn't shown itself yet. That was a coordinated ninjutsu barrage—testing our defenses and draining chakra and stamina."
Before he could finish, dense footsteps and battle cries erupted from the forest outside the camp.
"Prepare to engage!"
Jiraiya's order carried a sharper killing intent now.
And then—like a black streak—a figure flashed from behind, charging straight at the first Suna squad emerging from the trees.
It was Might Guy.
He hadn't even had time to change out of his Anbu uniform.
"Konoha's Black Beast—has arrived!"
"Leaf Whirlwind!"
With a booming shout, Guy's kick launched the front Suna shinobi into the air.
The impact was brutal—you could hear ribs crack.
The man shot backward like a cannonball, snapping three thick trees before crumpling, motionless.
Guy spun, core twisting, and swept a whipping roundhouse.
Two more Suna chūnin took it to the side—rib fractures audible even over their screams.
"What speed is that?!"
"Anbu? Konoha's Anbu has a taijutsu monster like this?!"
"Careful—might be an Eight Gates user! Don't block it head-on!"
The Eight Gates weren't a secret. Their reputation had spread ever since Might Duy's battle against the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
But the higher gates were so hard to master that only a handful ever reached them.
~~~
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