Konoha's Substitute Literature

At this moment, inside Kiyohara's tent.

"Finally, I can relax a little."

Kiyohara let out a long breath.

A few days ago at Kannabi Bridge, his nerves had been stretched to their breaking point.

Renegade Kiyohara could at most help him scout for nearby enemies, but it was difficult to detect traps that had been buried in advance.

One had to realize that if you stepped on a trap, even the Sannin couldn't save you.

For example, Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki; one second Orochimaru was watching him, and the next, he was blown away by an Explosive Tag, leaving not even a whole corpse behind.

Therefore, Kiyohara was not at all surprised that his future self could die by an Explosive Tag.

"Orochimaru is the person in charge of this stronghold, after all."

The spirit body of Renegade Kiyohara drifted out, his tone filled with a sense of melancholy.

Regardless of everything else, Orochimaru had been his direct superior for decades.

"By the way, didn't Orochimaru give you the power of the Cursed Seal? I remember that guy Mizuki had one."

Kiyohara asked suddenly, out of curiosity.

Orochimaru's subordinates all shared a distinct characteristic: they were all marked with Cursed Seals.

It could be said that regarding the system of Cursed Seals, Orochimaru was at the forefront of the ninja world.

"I have one, but do you really think your body could withstand it?"

Renegade Kiyohara glanced at Kiyohara. It wasn't that he looked down on himself, but when possessing Kiyohara, he could feel that this physical body had a capped potential.

Many techniques weren't actually things no one had thought of; rather, their limits were locked by "physical talent."

Take the principle of the Rasengan, for example: it involves condensing Chakra in the palm, causing it to flow in different directions and compressing it to form a "Chakra sphere" of high rotational density.

Do you really think that in the thousands of years of the ninja world, Namikaze Minato was the only one who thought of that?

What truly shackled ninjas was their innate physical body; if your "physical talent" wasn't up to par, no matter how ingenious your ideas were, you couldn't execute them.

"Then what kind of Cursed Seal do you have now?"

Kiyohara asked curiously.

The chances of him learning it now were low, but if he merged with Renegade Kiyohara, perhaps he would be able to withstand the Cursed Seal?

"The Earth Cursed Seal, though it requires Jugo Cells to act as a medium."

Renegade Kiyohara said.

The series of Cursed Seals developed by Orochimaru could not escape an underlying logic: the Jugo Cells, which were born with the ability to absorb natural energy.

"That works, I suppose."

Kiyohara nodded, then immediately had Renegade Kiyohara dictate the details, which he recorded onto a scroll.

At this stage, Orochimaru likely hadn't developed the Cursed Seal yet. Even shortly before his defection, the version he gave to Anko Mitarashi was still an initial version, unable to even trigger the second state.

Thump, thump.

Just as Kiyohara was putting away the scroll, a knocking sound came from the tent flap.

"Enter."

Kiyohara said.

A moment later, the curtain was lifted, revealing a face covered by a black mask.

It was none other than Kakashi.

"It's so late, is something the matter, Kakashi?"

Kiyohara asked.

At this time, Kakashi had already pulled his ninja headband down to cover his left-eye Sharingan.

If his body weren't still so young, he would already look like the man known in later generations as the Copy Ninja Kakashi.

"I... wanted to discuss Lightning Release ninjutsu with you."

Kakashi's voice was somewhat hoarse, or perhaps the inner turmoil he felt had nowhere else to go.

Because within the entire squad, Kakashi had noticed that only Kiyohara used Lightning Release ninjutsu.

Namikaze Minato played with the Flying Thunder God, Nohara Rin used medical ninjutsu, Kurenai Yuhi specialized in genjutsu, and Genma Shiranui preferred using ninja tools like Senbon.

Only Kiyohara had demonstrated both Earth Release and Lightning Release ninjutsu.

So, whenever there was free time, Kakashi would chat with Kiyohara.

"It's so late, this isn't really a good time..."

Kiyohara subconsciously looked up at the crude alarm clock hanging in the tent; it was already ten o'clock at night.

Ten o'clock at night was a delicate time.

At this hour, one could be a loner practicing their craft with one hand.

One could also be a normie out with a girlfriend, discussing the future of life.

But it certainly shouldn't be ten o'clock at night, with a man walking in looking melancholic, asking to discuss ninjutsu.

If Nohara Rin had come at this hour, Renegade Kiyohara would have certainly stayed up to keep her company.

But it just had to be Kakashi...

Could it be that Konoha had its own version of substitute literature?

He hoped Kakashi wouldn't mistake him for another Obito.

Kiyohara subconsciously glanced back at the Renegade Kiyohara floating in mid-air, noticing his expression was somewhere between tense and relaxed, looking remarkably like Dali Wang.

He looked like he wanted to laugh but was holding it in.

"Is it already that late?"

Kakashi was stunned for a moment.

His mind had been entirely occupied by thoughts of Obito, so he had neglected the time.

"Then I'll come back tomorrow."

With that, Kakashi turned to leave.

"No need, sit down and let's talk."

Kiyohara waved his hand.

Of course, he knew Kakashi was a normal person; he was just letting his imagination run wild.

"I feel that the Chidori technique is imperfect, but with the help of Obito's Sharingan, its flaws have become minimal."

Kakashi began to explain his understanding of Chidori.

Kiyohara nodded from time to time.

Your Chidori is quite fast, but your Sharingan compensates for that perfectly.

Kakashi's mastery of Lightning Release was undoubtedly higher than his own; he just wanted someone to confide in.

Coincidentally, he could also listen to a genius's train of thought, learn more, and improve his own Lightning Release proficiency.

As he listened, Kiyohara realized that Kakashi was pouring everything out all at once.

Listening to these fragmented words, Kiyohara summarized them in his mind, feeling that if he listened a little longer, he could piece together exactly how to train in Chidori.

Now, Kiyohara was eager for Kakashi to talk more so he could learn even more.

"So Kiyohara, you're also very interested in Lightning Release ninjutsu?"

Kakashi asked.

"Of course."

Kiyohara nodded.

Many traditional ninjas believed that among the five elemental attributes, Wind Release was the representative of the greatest lethality.

But such thinking carried a naive beauty.

Compared to simple wind, the possibilities of Lightning Release were much higher—electricity generating magnetism, magnetism generating electricity, and even touching upon the essence of all things in the universe, namely the four fundamental forces.

"Electromagnetic force" was just one of them.

If he could reach that level, Kiyohara could fiercely rotate his magnetic field and fire off a Railgun.

However, these were all just Kiyohara's hypotheses; he couldn't achieve any of them yet.

But that didn't stop Lightning Release ninjutsu from having a bright future.

"Then we can discuss this more in the future."

Kakashi nodded slightly.

After venting, his mood had indeed improved significantly, and he had also organized his own understanding of Lightning Release ninjutsu.

Moreover, Kakashi noticed that although Kiyohara mostly listened, the questions he occasionally raised were full of unique insights.

"Thank you, Kiyohara."

After saying this, Kakashi began to walk out.

Kiyohara watched Kakashi's retreating figure, rubbing his chin.

If he fused with Renegade Kiyohara, it would increase his talent and certain base stats.

If his base stats were high enough, would he be able to see the speed of Chidori even without a Sharingan?