The moment Mizunashi fell, Future Kiyohara smoothly relinquished control of Kiyohara's body. The tension in his limbs bled into a wave of weakness as he exhaled.
That final clash had drained him.
Even though the fight was short, having his body taken over and pushed to its physical limits left Kiyohara winded. He glanced at the corpse of the Mist swordsman, still twitching slightly.
'So even basic sword techniques can be that strong…'
Kiyohara was stunned by how much Future Kiyohara had achieved without flashy ninjutsu or kekkei genkai—just pure, honed technique.
"How come I've never seen you fight like this before?"Genma scratched his head, bewildered.
As the mist finally began to disperse, revealing the battlefield, Kiyohara casually replied:
"Couldn't afford a sword before."
Then he squatted down and started looting the corpse like a seasoned scavenger. Without even looking up, he added:
"Whoever made the kill gets the loot. No objections, right?"
Genma opened his mouth… but closed it again.
Kurenai, remembering Kiyohara's loan situation, suddenly understood why he was always the first to rummage bodies.
Kakashi watched silently as Kiyohara expertly stripped the fallen Mist ninja of valuables—including a finely-forged tachi, rare tools, and a decent sum of ryo.
"You can take my share too."
Kakashi said it offhandedly. Honestly, he didn't care about the cash.
Kiyohara gave him a side glance—figures. Everything Kakashi wore was high-end.
'Rich bastard.'Kiyohara muttered inwardly.'Not everyone gets a legendary father and three Sannin godparents.'
Within minutes, he had racked up:
5–6 million ryo in cash,
Several Explosive Tags and useful tools,
And a high-quality tachi worth at least 30 million ryo on the black market.
Combined with his savings…?
He had enough.More than enough.
Kiyohara's heart raced. With this, he could finally forge a personalized chakra-conducting sword.
He sealed the goods into scrolls with exaggerated care. The second wish of Future Kiyohara—to craft a proper sword—was finally within reach.
And once that happened?
"My strength will spike again…"
It made sense. Most people had to spend years learning from a master, surviving war zones, or stumbling through trial and error just to grow stronger.
But him?
He had future versions of himself feeding him real-time, proven training from their own blood-soaked experience.
No guessing. No waste.Just efficient, correct progress.
"Let's go."Kakashi's voice broke the moment.
He noticed Kiyohara's satisfied smirk.
'Is he just… happy because he made money?'
Kiyohara fell back into step with the group. The rest of the journey was uneventful—they reached the secondary supply base and handed off the goods without incident.
"We couldn't have done it without you and Kakashi,"Rin said sincerely.
"You're wrong," Kiyohara grinned. "Without you, we wouldn't have had the guts to fight up front."
Rin blinked.
She expected some "we're all comrades" kind of line—not… praise.
"It's because we have a skilled medical ninja like you that we can fight without hesitation."
That… caught her off guard.
Everyone else always focused on her looks—Obito especially. Kakashi only cared about the mission.
But Kiyohara?
He noticed her skills.
Not her face. Not her presence.Her value.
Rin looked up at him, her lips curling into a small smile.
"Thank you."
"Just speaking the truth."
Kiyohara knew well—Rin was a prodigy. Maybe even more so than Sakura in the future.
She already knew Mystic Palm, an A-rank medical technique Sakura only learned after years under Tsunade.
And Rin had done it without elite mentorship.
"Say… could you teach me a bit of medical ninjutsu sometime?"Kiyohara asked.
After talking to Future Kiyohara, he confirmed his chakra attributes were Yin and Yang—which meant he qualified for healing techniques.
"Come by my tent tonight,"Rin offered.
After they returned to their original base, she'd be free.
"Thanks, Rin."
Perfect. Kiyohara needed to offload his loot anyway.
There was a small town nearby—a supply hub for Konoha during the war.
He planned to sell the valuable gear and commission the forging of his sword.
With chakra-forging tech, and Konoha's semi-modern infrastructure, he estimated the process would take a single day.
"Tomorrow…"He murmured."It begins."