"That kid… is that Iron Sand… is he using Magnet Release?!"
Kidohyou's eyes widened in disbelief.
But beyond that, one thing gnawed at him even more—
Kiyohara's speed and strength were not normal.
'What kind of monster… no, what kind of technique is that? That's not ninjutsu!'
He'd heard of Magnet Release from the Hidden Sand and Hidden Cloud… but this wasn't like any version he'd ever seen.
"You—what the hell are you using?"
Kidohyou couldn't help but ask aloud.
"Magnet Release. The power of magnetic fields. Pretty wild, huh?"
Kiyohara calmly turned his gaze on him, the remnants of the iron sand still swirling faintly in the air around him.
With the giant spider defeated, Kidohyou could no longer churn out swarms of spiders.
And Kiyohara already knew what this clan was capable of—secret techniques passed down only within their bloodline, impossible to imitate from the outside.
In Naruto, secret arts like these often stemmed from bodily mutations or inherited chakra traits—like the Uchiha and Hyuga clans' eyes, or the Kaguya clan's bones.
He already had intel on this type of opponent.
And right now, Kiyohara had the edge in speed, power, chakra reserves, and battlefield knowledge.
Even if it came down to it, he could swap in Steel Kiyohara as backup, just like he had with Magnet Kiyohara before.
Sure, the recoil from borrowing a future version's bloodline limit would put massive stress on his body—but surviving came first.
"Magnetic field…?"
Kidohyou scoffed. "You expect me to believe that?"
He wasn't the most well-educated ninja—but he wasn't that easy to trick.
"You little brat—go to hell!"
Kidohyou snarled.
This time, what he spit out wasn't spider silk—it was golden glue-like slime that gleamed like molten metal.
His six arms moved rapidly, shaping the golden fluid into tools and weapons.
Kiyohara raised an eyebrow.
He recognized it instantly: one of the Spider Clan's signature techniques—
"Spider Sticky Gold".
A special metal secreted like sweat or spit, malleable at first, then rapidly hardening into steel-like toughness.
It could be shaped into kunai, armor, or wires—basically DIY ninja tools on the fly.
Kiyohara sighed. Man… that would save so much money on ninja gear.
He still needed to absorb iron sand from the surroundings, after all.
Magnet Release converts chakra into magnetism, which could still be disrupted by chakra-disruption techniques.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A gust of fierce wind erupted from Kiyohara's mouth.
Leaves and dust surged forward, slamming into Kidohyou's golden projectiles—and possibly scattering hidden webs.
Kiyohara vanished.
He used repulsion to accelerate again—moving with blinding speed.
Kidohyou countered with a massive wall of white spider silk, dense enough to block the wind technique.
Then came the retaliation.
Six arms fired webs from every angle—creating a massive, cage-like formation meant to trap Kiyohara like a bird in a snare.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!"
Black needles exploded outward from Kiyohara in every direction like a torrential rain.
A clatter of metallic impacts echoed as the iron sand needles collided with the tough spider webs—many were caught or repelled, but several tore holes through the formation.
—
I can't let him get close!
Kidohyou's expression shifted.
He gripped a tree trunk and began leaping rapidly through the forest canopy, moving like an actual spider.
Kakashi and Rin held their breath.
"That speed… that power…"
Kakashi's Sharingan could barely keep track.
Any thoughts of using Fire Release were discarded—he couldn't risk hitting Kiyohara.
Rin, without a Sharingan, could only see two blurred shadows flickering between the trees.
—
Kidohyou fired webs with uncanny precision.
His entire fighting style was optimized for mid- to long-range suppression.
Kiyohara's answer was brutally straightforward.
With a surge of chakra, he stamped the ground hard enough to crack it.
Then he blasted forward.
A single, straight-line assault.
He barreled through the sticky spider webs, sheer speed and magnetic repulsion clearing a path as he charged directly at Kidohyou.
"!?"
Kidohyou's pupils shrank.
He stopped moving—pulled all six arms in front of him like a shield.
"Secret Technique: Sticky Gold Armor!"
A golden liquid oozed out of his pores and quickly hardened into armor that covered his body like a steel shell.
In sunlight, it gleamed coldly—a natural defense against chakra transmission and soft-style attacks like the Hyuga's Gentle Fist.
He was confident.
Even if Kiyohara's last punch KO'd his spider summon, this armor could take it.
He'd bait the punch, then launch webs point-blank!
"Careful, that armor's got something weird about it!"
Kakashi's voice rang out.
But Kiyohara's punch was already coming down.
There was no glowing chakra, no blinding light.
Just a faint distortion in the air.
A magnetic field.
A field that bent space and weight around his fist.
Boom.
Kidohyou's expression froze.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
Crack.
The supposedly unbreakable Sticky Gold Armor… shattered.
"AAGHH!!"
He screamed.
His six arms twisted unnaturally. His ribs fractured audibly.
He flew backward like a cannonball, smashing through several trees before crashing into the ground.
Dust flew.
Then silence.
Only the wind rustling the leaves.
—
Rin stood frozen.
Kiyohara still held his punch stance.
The enemy was now lying in a heap—possibly dead.
One punch…?
Just one?
Kakashi slowly lowered his forehead protector to conserve chakra, staring at Kiyohara with quiet awe.
Even he was shocked by that raw force.
Rin finally regained her voice.
"Kiyohara… are you okay?"
He exhaled slowly, letting the magnetic field around him fade.
"I'm fine."
He turned and walked back toward them.
"Let's get you free first."
A blade of iron sand extended from his palm like a scalpel. He carefully sliced the webs holding Rin in place.
Without Kidohyou's chakra to sustain them, the threads were already weakening.
They snapped easily under the cutting edge.
"You've definitely gotten stronger," Kakashi remarked.
He'd seen how Kiyohara had changed since entering the battlefield—reflexes, chakra flow, instincts.
Daily growth.
That's how it felt.
He was strong before—but now? He was scary.
Rin thanked him quietly.
Then turned toward the fallen enemy.
"Is he… is he still alive? Should we bring him back for interrogation?"
"He's breathing." Kiyohara nodded.
"Rin, try to stabilize him. He might have valuable information."
"Understood."
She hurried to the man's side.
The caved-in chest, the shattered armor—just how hard had that punch been?
Her hands lit with green healing chakra.
Meanwhile, Kakashi walked to Kiyohara.
"That punch… that was part of your Magnet Release too?"
"More or less."
"It's… interesting."
From above, Steel Kiyohara appeared, floating like a ghost.
"That new technique—did you inherit that too? Or was it your own invention?"
"A different future version of me. He specialized in this."
Kiyohara replied calmly.
The captured Kidohyou should earn him merit points.
And based on his gear, he might have been collaborating with Hidden Stone.
Plenty of intelligence to dig out.
"I can't promise he'll survive," Rin said, inspecting the internal trauma.
Kiyohara's punch had shattered his organs.
"Doesn't matter," Kiyohara replied.
"Leave the rest to the Interrogation Corps. Even corpses can talk."
Ninja corpses were treasures.
They could reveal clan secrets, chakra types, medicines used—even bloodline limits.
That's why most villages cremated or sealed their dead.
To prevent information leaks.
Naruto, Kakashi, and co. learned that the hard way in the Land of Waves, when they were tricked by Haku's fake corpse ploy.
—
Rin nodded silently and continued stabilizing Kidohyou's vitals.
He was lucky—barely clinging to life.
Kiyohara searched the man's belongings.
"Poor bastard."
Aside from a few thousand ryō, some preserved food, and spider-crafted gear that crumbled without his chakra, there was nothing.
No armor. No quality tools. Just makeshift equipment.
Kiyohara shook his head.
"Low-level henchman with a big mouth… still worth a commendation, though."