He was a person who valued fairness.
Since the enemy used invisibility to cheat, Kiyohara decided to bring the enemy down to his level: Blindness.
"I can't see you, and now you can't see me."
Kiyohara closed his eyes. The lime powder still hung thick in the air, an irritant to anyone with open eyelids.
But Kiyohara didn't need physical eyes.
'Come out, my Stand!'
The spiritual body of the Missing-nin emerged behind him, floating like a phantom guardian.
"Target is at your 10 o'clock," the spirit whispered directly into his neural link. "He is wiping his eyes. He's about to form signs to re-apply camouflage."
"Got it."
Kiyohara nodded. He moved with the confidence of someone watching a third-person camera.
He pulled two shuriken from his pouch.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The weapons cut through the grey fog, homing in on the sound of the enemy's breathing.
"Damn it!"
Taiseki heard the whistle of steel and was forced to abandon his hand seals to dodge.
He rolled to the right, tears streaming from his burning eyes. Every time he tried to focus chakra to mold a jutsu, a Kunai or shuriken would interrupt him.
'Is this guy completely unaffected?'
Taiseki clenched his teeth. The lime was agonizing. If he didn't wash it out soon, he would be permanently blind.
But Kiyohara moved through the dust like a ghost.
Bang!
Kiyohara threw another handful of powder, increasing the density of the cloud.
"Can you really be called a Ninja?!" Taiseki screamed, his voice cracking. "Fighting like this... it's dishonorable!"
"I apologize," Kiyohara replied calmly, his voice echoing in the cave. "A Ninja is a killer, not a samurai. You played the assassin; I played the chemist."
'Honor? Go tell that to my shuriken.'
Kiyohara gripped a shuriken and infused it with Wind Release. The air currents swirled around the metal, turning it into a buzzsaw.
Thwack.
"Gah!"
Taiseki cried out as the wind-enhanced blade sliced into his shoulder.
"Kakkō!"
Taiseki couldn't hold back anymore. He screamed for his partner deeper in the cave.
"Help me! I'm pinned down!"
But the answer wasn't a reassuring shout. It was a bloodcurdling scream from the depths of the cavern.
'Kakkō... lost to those brats?'
Taiseki's heart sank.
The Inner Cave.
"What happened?" Kiyohara asked the spirit.
The Missing-nin glanced toward the back of the cave, peering through the rock walls.
"Kakashi took a slash to the left eye protecting Obito," the spirit reported grimly. "He's blind on that side. But the trauma... it triggered Obito."
"Obito has awakened the Sharingan. Straight to Two-Tomoe."
"Is that so..." Kiyohara nodded slightly.
It was happening exactly like the history books said. Kakashi loses an eye; Obito unlocks his potential.
Kiyohara wondered about "Destiny."
Naruto was the Child of Prophecy. The timeline seemed to possess a rigid elasticity, always snapping back to the key events no matter how much Kiyohara flapped his butterfly wings.
'My current strength is too weak,' Kiyohara realized. 'The wind I stir is too small to blow away the boulder of fate.'
The Finale.
"Hmph."
Taiseki yanked the shuriken from his shoulder. He knew Kakkō was in trouble. He had to finish this now.
"I'll crush you!"
Taiseki slammed his left hand into the wall. Rock gathered around his fist, forming a massive, hardened gauntlet.
Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique (Doton: Kengan no Jutsu).
He charged blindly, guided by Kiyohara's breathing.
"He's using Rock Fist," the Missing-nin warned, his voice disdainful. "Half a step left. Duck."
Kiyohara obeyed instantly.
Whoosh.
The massive stone fist grazed his hair, the wind pressure buffeting his face.
"Now. Lightning Release: Earth Flash."
Kiyohara's hands slapped the ground.
CRACKLE!
A web of blue lightning erupted from his palms, traveling up Taiseki's legs and into his rock armor.
Lightning degrades Earth. The structural integrity of the Rock Fist shattered, crumbling into pebbles.
"This brat... still has chakra?"
Taiseki stumbled back, his arm numb.
Kiyohara staggered too. He was running on fumes. The forbidden drug's boost was fading, and the headache was returning.
"Too slow," the spirit whispered. "Right hand. Kunai. Three inches up. Strike the elbow joint."
Kiyohara didn't think. He thrust.
Squelch.
The Kunai buried itself in the soft tissue of Taiseki's elbow, severing the tendon.
"Argh!"
Taiseki fell to his knees, his arm useless. He stared up at the blurry figure of the Genin.
"How... you're just a Genin..."
Kiyohara didn't answer. Speaking would reveal his position.
RUMBLE...
Suddenly, the entire cave shook violently. Dust rained from the ceiling.
"Kakkō has released Earth Release: Rock Lodging Destruction," the Missing-nin warned urgently. "The cave is collapsing."
It was a suicide tactic. Bring the roof down to bury everyone.
"Everyone! Run to the exit!"
Kakashi's voice echoed from the depths.
Kiyohara didn't hesitate. He summoned the last dregs of his chakra.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
He blasted the air outward, clearing the lime fog and the falling debris from the tunnel entrance.
"Move! Move!"
Kiyohara sprinted out first, securing the exit.
Kurenai and Genma followed close behind, coughing in the dust.
Then came the others.
Kakashi was running, but he was slow. His left eye was a bloody ruin, creating a massive blind spot on his left side.
CRACK.
A massive rock fell from the ceiling, plummeting into Kakashi's blind spot. He didn't see it.
"Kakashi!"
Obito saw it.
He didn't think. He didn't weigh the pros and cons.
He lunged.
He shoved Kakashi out of the kill zone.
BOOM.
The earth shook as the boulder slammed down.
When the dust settled, only silence remained.
Kiyohara turned back.
He saw Kakashi on the ground, safe.
And he saw Obito... or rather, the right half of him.
The other half was buried beneath tons of rock.
Kiyohara closed his eyes.
'Destiny is a heavy thing.'
....
.....
.....
Support my patreon
patreon.com/ImmortalDaoWriter