The following examinations passed without incident. With his Byakugan, Hyuga Tetsu easily defeated his opponent without question.
The Hyuga Clan had not been able to proclaim before the entire Allied Shinobi Forces, after the Uchiha Clan's extermination, that "the Hyuga Clan is the strongest clan" without reason.
Though their top-tier fighters might be absent, they had a reliable baseline.
For the Sharingan to awaken, one had to either lose a relative or friend—or lose one's parents.
With training, ninety-nine percent of the Hyuga Clan could awaken their eyes. Those who could not were sent off to the Kohyuga Clan.
Itachi Shinden stated that this clan was a distant branch of the Hyuga Clan. Apart from the atavistic Kohyuga Mujie, none of them could awaken the Byakugan anymore.
"Still, the Byakugan's evolution path... is far too vague."
Kiyohara shook his head inwardly.
The Byakugan's evolutionary leap was too great, with no transitional stage at all.
It went directly from the Byakugan to the Tenseigan, which could slice the moon in half with a single blow.
The Sharingan, on the other hand, had both minor and major stages before finally reaching the Rinnegan.
But... those powerful experts who wielded the Sharingan well often had only a thin single page left in their family register.
Before long, after the final match had also decided its victor, the chief examiner gathered everyone in the center of the grounds.
The genin who had passed the examination stood in a row, most of them wearing excited, expectant expressions.
Standing among them, Kiyohara listened as the chief examiner began his customary speech promoting the spirit of the Will of Fire.
Being promoted to chunin merely meant becoming a slightly higher-ranking tool.
Unless one entered Konoha's core management or held real authority in a certain department, even jonin were, before the village's immense war machine, little more than elite "employees" who carried out missions.
Once the chief examiner had finished his remarks, he began calling names one by one, handing out the green vests representing chunin status and brand-new Konoha forehead protectors.
The shinobi forehead protectors were the same as those received upon graduating from the academy, except their cloth bands were longer.
When Kiyohara's name was called, he stepped forward steadily and solemnly extended both hands beneath the chief examiner's approving gaze.
A cool sensation touched his fingertips.
The chief examiner personally placed into his hands a dark green chunin vest of tough material, as well as a shinobi forehead protector whose metal plate, symbolizing Konoha shinobi status, gleamed beneath the sunlight.
In addition, a document serving as proof of his chunin status was handed to Kiyohara as well.
Kiyohara could not help marveling at the efficiency. The name was probably the only thing freshly printed; everything else must have been prepared long ago.
When he took it, he could still feel the residual warmth of the ink.
From this moment onward, he could be considered a recognized chunin of Konoha.
At the same time, Kiyohara suddenly sensed something and looked toward Renegade Kiyohara.
Renegade Kiyohara's illusory spirit body had begun to emit a soft, pure radiance.
The light was not dazzling. Instead, it carried a warm feeling, like winter sunlight.
His once slightly translucent features seemed to become clear for an instant within that glow.
Kiyohara seemed to see the faintest yet incomparably genuine curve at the corner of his mouth—a smile of laying down all burdens and finally finding rest.
That gave Kiyohara some insight.
A final wish, a final wish—it was, in truth, the greatest obsession one had held in life.
In a sense, Renegade Kiyohara's existence truly resembled the "earthbound spirits" or "ghosts with unfulfilled wishes" described in certain tales: held back by powerful obsessions, only able to move on once their wishes were fulfilled.
However, this "ghost" of his was not heading to any Pure Land. Instead, everything he had left behind was returning to Kiyohara himself, his "anchor."
"My final wish is fulfilled... From now on... take care of yourself..."
Renegade Kiyohara's consciousness gradually dispersed into a point of light, and his words became fragmented.
The next moment, that warm radiance silently merged into Kiyohara like snowflakes falling into a fire.
Like countless rivers returning to the sea, like weary birds returning to the forest.
Everything was utterly natural, without the slightest rejection, as though it had always been meant to happen.
Kiyohara stood where he was, carefully experiencing this wondrous sensation.
There was no earth-shaking display—only a quiet inner transformation.
The first thing he felt was a marked improvement in his spiritual state.
It was as though a somewhat muddy pool had been filled with clear spring water, becoming instantly transparent and pure.
His thoughts seemed to move faster, and his senses became sharper. The surrounding sounds, currents of air, even the faint murmurs of distant spectators all became much clearer.
More importantly, he could distinctly feel that his total amount of "spiritual energy" had undergone a substantial leap!
This larger, more condensed spiritual power naturally stirred his physical energy into greater activity. As the two intertwined, the total amount of chakra he could refine rose accordingly.
This tangible, immediate growth was enough to significantly improve both his endurance in battle and the number of times he could use ninjutsu.
There were also changes to his talents.
He felt that his talent for Lightning Release and Wind Release had grown stronger.
Points that had once been vague now became clear, while inspiration emerged one after another.
He had also gained a deeper understanding of chakra nature transformation.
If he turned around and relearned Lightning Release: Ground Flash now, Kiyohara could achieve his current results in less time.
Then, several fragments of memory surfaced.
In that timeline, Renegade Kiyohara had lived a life completely different from his own. There were cold reflections from test tubes and cultivation tanks in the Orochimaru base where he had spent many years, scenes of him being pursued, and complicated, indescribable feelings toward Konoha...
These imprints of Renegade Kiyohara's life fell one after another like shattered puzzle pieces.
Fortunately, there were very few of them—only several scenes in total.
Kiyohara let out a breath of relief.
Good. It would not have any impact on him; he was still the dominant one.
If memories had merged as well, then too many futures would inevitably become shackles that caused him to lose himself.
He had only been here for a little over ten years. Faced with futures that had lasted decades, or even longer, he would inevitably be weathered by the passage of time.
It could very likely inflict a tremendous impact on his current consciousness and personality, perhaps even causing confusion over the question of "Who am I?"
"Orochimaru over there seems even more obsessed with human experimentation. That's why he developed so many forbidden drugs, and Renegade Kiyohara obtained some as well."
Kiyohara thought to himself.
From those few scenes, he could also tell that those worlds were like parallel worlds. Not only would he change—the Ninja World would change too.
It did have something of a roguelike feel.
No matter what, after a moment of daze, Kiyohara opened his eyes again.
His second final wish—to become a legitimate chunin—had officially been fulfilled!
Kiyohara could not help looking forward to what his next future self would be like.
Before you continue