It looked like becoming a Chunin was urgent.
Kiyohara picked up the scroll, stowed it in his ninja tool pouch, shut his eyes, and lay down on the bed to sleep.
There wasn't much entertainment in the outpost tents.
Of course, it wasn't as if there was no entertainment at all.
The poor played with cars, while the rich played with watches.
If I had no money, I'd just make do myself.
If he really wanted entertainment, he could always find some.
But after traveling all day, Kiyoha was exhausted in both body and mind.
If he still had the energy, he would have chosen to train after entertaining himself.
Unfortunately, even if he continued practicing ninjutsu now, it would not have much effect.
Chakra was a mixture of spiritual energy and physical energy. If broken down further, it ultimately became the most basic unit: stamina.
So chakra could not be refined excessively. The body needed time to recover.
Since he could neither train nor find any entertainment, Kiyohara could only lie in bed and wait for the recall order to return to the village.
The next day at noon, while Kiyohara was still asleep, he suddenly heard someone entering.
He reacted immediately, cracked one eye open, and instinctively reached for his ninja tool pouch.
When he saw that it was Kurenai Yuhi, Kiyohara quietly withdrew his hand and continued pretending to sleep.
"This guy actually looks pretty good when he sleeps."
Kurenai Yuhi crouched down and looked at Kiyohara's face.
She found that even while asleep, his face was pleasing to look at.
He was on an entirely different level from Sarutobi Asuma, who was always pestering her.
Sarutobi Asuma dressed like a delinquent, had father-son conflicts with the Third Hokage, and only seemed to grow more mature-looking with age.
Kurenai Yuhi suspected that once Sarutobi Asuma grew up, he would definitely have a face full of beard.
Just as Kurenai Yuhi was about to poke Kiyohara's cheek, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked at her.
"It's not nice to take advantage of me in secret."
Kiyohara said.
Boys had to remember to protect themselves when they were out and about too.
"Huh?"
Kurenai Yuhi was clearly stunned. Meeting Kiyohara's dark eyes, her ruby-like eyes blinked.
She had never expected him to be awake, much less to have seen what she had just been doing.
"I... I just saw that it was already noon and came to wake you up for lunch. Lord Minato said our recall order would arrive this afternoon."
Kurenai Yuhi pinched the corner of her clothes, finding an excuse for her actions.
"Is that so?"
Kiyohara nodded, got up, and stretched.
They could return to Konoha this afternoon. He wondered how much of his loan he could repay this time.
Thinking of the spoils that filled an entire Sealing Scroll, Kiyohara could not help smiling.
Like an old farmer who had worked hard all year and was looking upon his harvested crops, he wore the smile of a bountiful harvest.
Those Iwagakure shinobi really were not bad.
They had given him battle achievements and money too.
"What are you thinking about? Why does your smile look so strange?"
Kurenai Yuhi asked when she saw Kiyohara suddenly smiling for no reason.
"I'm thinking about you."
Kiyohara answered casually.
Then he picked up the cup on the crude wooden table in the tent, took a drink of water, and headed outside.
"Where are you going?"
Kurenai Yuhi asked.
"To the bathroom."
Kiyohara looked puzzled.
If the first thing you did after getting up was not use the bathroom, then what were you getting up for?
"Alright, stop talking. I'm heading out."
With that, Kiyohara lifted the tent flap and left.
He was a Sigma man.
And as a qualified Sigma-man shinobi, he would never fall into a woman's trap.
There could be lewdness, but it could not delay him from going to the bathroom.
"This guy..."
Watching Kiyohara walk away, Kurenai Yuhi gritted her teeth.
She had no idea why Kiyohara never played by the rules.
If she asked Sarutobi Asuma something, he would answer with a foolish grin.
When Kiyohara returned, he found that Kurenai Yuhi had not left yet.
"Lord Minato asked me to give this to you."
Kurenai Yuhi took out a stack of cash.
Kiyoha immediately felt that Kurenai Yuhi had become a few degrees prettier. Even the way her eyes curved was adorable.
She should have said she was here to bring money. What a fuss this had turned into.
Kiyohara then took the bills and began counting them.
War was a special period.
There was no need for every mission to be handed in at the Hokage Office Building, or the efficiency of completing missions would be far too low.
Many times, the outpost commander had the authority to issue rewards and promptly soothe the shinobi's body and mind.
Kiyohara's body and mind were being soothed right now. The weight of the money in his hands gave him a solid sense of security.
"Hmm... Ours counts as a joint A-rank mission. After deducting the village's commission, our share comes to one hundred and thirty thousand ryo."
Kiyohara calculated it once and found that it was just right.
Originally, he had not been qualified to take part in this mission, but they had been so short on manpower that they made do with him.
After all, their real role had been as bait. Namikaze Minato had done the most work.
Kiyohara did not need to be particularly strong. He only needed to draw attention and buy time.
Just as Kurenai Yuhi was about to say something, Kiyohara's tent flap was pulled open again.
"Let's go. The recall order is here. We're heading back with Kakashi and the others."
Genma Shiranui spoke, the Senbon clenched in his mouth bobbing as he did.
Seeing this, Kurenai Yuhi pressed her lips together and followed him outside.
After several more days of travel, Kiyohara finally returned to Konoha.
But he knew he would have to return to the battlefield for more missions in just a few days, so he absolutely had to secure the Chunin rank.
"We're back."
Nohara Rin looked at Konoha, seeming somewhat dazed.
They had left with lighthearted moods, but returned carrying a certain heaviness.
Obito had fallen into eternal sleep in a foreign land.
"I have something to do, so I'll be leaving first."
After exchanging a few pleasantries with the others, Kiyohara took his Sealing Scroll and headed for a ninja tool shop.
The newer the ninja tools were, the higher their resale value. The older they were, the less they fetched.
Kiyohara was desperately short on money now. Besides repaying his loan, he needed to forge a ninja tool.
He planned to have the Chakra Metal taken from Kakkō made into a long sword.
Something similar to Sasuke's Kusanagi Sword would do.
Of course, Kiyohara guessed that Sasuke's Kusanagi Sword was probably made from the finest material. It had been used for so long in the Fourth Shinobi World War without even chipping. Its quality was maxed out.
"Alright, Kiyohara. See you next time."
Nohara Rin waved.
Kakashi, meanwhile, gave Kiyohara an inexplicable look.
Kiyohara felt that Kakashi meant they should spend more time exchanging ideas when they were free.
"Ah, I can finally relax."
Genma Shiranui scratched his head. He planned to sleep properly for several days.
"Red, where are you planning to go?"
Genma Shiranui noticed that Kiyohara had already left first, while Kurenai Yuhi was still staring at his retreating back.
"My father said he wants to teach me some stronger Genjutsu. I'm going home to practice Genjutsu."
"Senior Shinku, huh."
Genma Shiranui nodded.
It was said that Kurenai Yuhi's father, Yuhi Shinku, had exceptionally profound attainments in Genjutsu.
There were even rumors that he could reflect the Uchiha clan's Genjutsu despite possessing no Kekkei Genkai whatsoever.
He could be said to have become a representative figure of civilian Genjutsu users.
"Then I'm off too."
Soon, the group that had returned to the village together dispersed on the spot and blended into the bustling crowds on the streets.
"This shop is really a rip-off."
Kiyohara held a bag of money containing the resale payment for the Shuriken, Kunai, Explosive Tags, and other items he had sold.
"My review is that it's worse than a secondhand marketplace."
Kiyohara shook his head.
The owner kept trying to lower the price. If Kiyohara had not been so short on money, he definitely would have taken the goods outside the village to sell.
"No merchant is without cunning."
Renegade Kiyohara said.
If Kiyohara were in that position, he would lower the price too.
He did not believe his past self would refrain from doing so.
"Forget it."
Kiyohara waved his hand.
He had sold everything for seventy thousand ryo in total, and Kiyohara felt that was not bad.
That was already half of his mission reward.
As the saying went, murder and arson brought gold belts, while repairing bridges and roads left no corpses behind.
Kiyohara felt that if he wanted to make money, he still had to rely on this kind of fast cash.
Once his strength increased, would he not be able to loot even more corpses?
Namikaze Minato had said that he had already submitted Kiyohara's Chunin application, which meant the assessment would be held within the next few days.
Usually, assessments arranged through internal recommendation were merely formalities, but Kiyohara still intended to train more just in case.
What if something went wrong?
Caution kept the ship sailing for ten thousand years.
"It seems you're even more cautious than I was."
Renegade Kiyohara could not help sighing as he watched Kiyohara being so careful.
If he had been as cautious as his past self, perhaps he would not have stepped into that Explosive Tag trap and died.
"After all, my future self died to an Explosive Tag. No other way of dying could surprise me now."
Kiyohara said.
High-end ingredients often required only the simplest cooking methods.
Every time a Last Words Book appeared, it represented one more way he could die in the future.
Infinite futures meant infinite ways to die.
"I'm going back to train."
After buying some daily necessities, Kiyohara carried his things back to his shabby little home.
Hokage Office Building.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked over the intelligence reports on his desk.
One was a report of a major victory on the battlefield, and another was a Chunin application recommended by Namikaze Minato.
The applicant on that form was none other than Kiyohara.
Beneath this Chunin application was a thick stack of others, but Kiyohara's had been placed in the most prominent position.
Attached to it was his family background, blue-background portrait photo, personality, habits, and other basic intelligence.
"Kiyohara, huh? Some good seedlings have emerged among the civilians this time."
Sarutobi Hiruzen could not help nodding.
Compared to members of shinobi clans, he preferred using civilians.
The reason was simple. Unless shinobi clan members were absolutely loyal, they could easily put their clan's interests first.
When the interests of the clan conflicted with those of the village, what would they choose?
"Shika."
Sarutobi Hiruzen called out.
An Anbu ninja wearing a mask suddenly appeared in the Hokage's office, kneeling on one knee.
Purple markings ran across her mask, resembling deer antlers.
Within the Anbu, all ninjas had to forget their real names while on missions and use only code names.
"Go arrange Kiyohara's Chunin Exams. Set them for three days from now and have him take part in the selection alongside the other outstanding genin from this war."
Sarutobi Hiruzen said.
Some people accomplished nothing in times of peace, while others stood out amid the turmoil of war.
So this was what it meant when people said that turbulent times created heroes.
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
Shika accepted the Chunin application form Sarutobi Hiruzen handed her and went to handle the matter.
The Anbu was also an organization directly under the Hokage's command and handled many confidential matters.
Anything involving ninja ranks was naturally among those confidential matters.
After Shika left, Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his brow.
There was bad news alongside the good.
The situations on the battlefronts in other regions were still unclear.
Most crucially, another highly sensitive matter had arisen concerning Kakashi.
An outsider had transplanted a Sharingan!
The Hyuga Clan had even created something as extreme as the Caged Bird Seal—a system practically equivalent to slavery—to prevent the Byakugan from being leaked.
Sarutobi Hiruzen still did not know the Uchiha Clan's stance on this matter.
He only hoped the Uchiha Clan would not cause trouble and create more problems at such a critical point in the war.
"I still need to put more effort into cultivating the village's younger generation."
Sarutobi Hiruzen picked up his pipe, took a puff, and slowly exhaled.
Namikaze Minato had used many words of praise in Kiyohara's report.
That gave Sarutobi Hiruzen some ideas.
If Kiyohara was truly outstanding, could he be cultivated as a second Namikaze Minato?
After all, a genin who had performed so prominently in an A-rank mission was exceptionally outstanding even among the other genin applying to become Chunin.
Kiyohara's home.
Though old, shabby, and cramped, it still had a small courtyard.
Kiyohara stood in the courtyard, holding a shuriken with a thread of copper wire tied to it, nearly invisible to the naked eye.
"Copper wire still isn't as easy to use as rubber cord."
Kiyohara said.
He was practicing an advanced application of Shurikenjutsu: tying a line to the shuriken so it could be retrieved afterward.
It could also be made to curve under certain circumstances, making the shuriken more flexible to control.
"This is to help you adapt to the technique you'll learn later."
Renegade Kiyohara said.
Rubber cords or steel wires were usually tied to shuriken, but those rubber cords were specially made and exceptionally resilient.
However... most such rubber cords could not withstand high temperatures.
"You haven't forgotten the Uchiha Clan's Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique, have you?"
Renegade Kiyohara continued.
"No."
Kiyohara shook his head.
Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique had appeared in the original story when Sasuke took part in the Chunin Exams.
It used a wire held between hand seals as a guide, then launched flames at the opponent, which would burn directly along the wire.
"That's right. This technique can be used not only with fire, but with lightning as well."
Renegade Kiyohara said.
Copper wire was a metal conductor with relatively low resistivity.
Using this method to activate the technique would yield twice the result with half the effort.
"Fine. I'll keep trying."
Kiyohara flung a shuriken toward a wooden board in the courtyard. Instead of grazing past its edge, the shuriken flew onward, and Kiyohara flicked his wrist.
The shuriken instantly curved, wrapped around the board several times along the copper wire, and bound it tightly.
The next moment, Kiyohara formed hand seals, and a stream of Lightning Release chakra traveled along the copper wire.
Crackle!
Faint arcs of electricity appeared on the copper wire, scorching rings of black burn marks into the wooden board.
"What should this technique be called?"
Kiyohara looked at the technique and decided to name it Lightning Release: Shurikenjutsu Guided Lightning Technique.
Not bad. His talent for naming things was better than Namikaze Minato's.
Kiyohara felt satisfied.
Before you continue