A New Future!

To balance the sudden surge of spiritual energy as much as possible, Kiyohara began training in taijutsu.

However, neither he nor Renegade Kiyohara were genuine taijutsu specialists.

Therefore, Kiyohara could only perform basic exercises.

"Hey, you..."

Kurenai Yuhi only then noticed that Kiyohara was wearing nothing but a pair of loose shorts, his upper body exposed, sweat tricking down the faint contours of his muscles.

How could he... be so careless!

Having been raised with good manners, Kurenai Yuhi quickly lowered her eyes, not daring to look again.

Being shirtless alone would have been fine, but paired with Kiyohara's handsome face, the feeling was suddenly different.

She felt her heart skip a beat.

"What's wrong?"

Kiyohara raised an eyebrow.

His physique could only be described as normal, perhaps even a bit lean.

After all, ninjas engage in a massive amount of exercise every day, so a toned body develops naturally.

"It's nothing."

Kurenai Yuhi bit her full lower lip, adjusted her mindset, and tried hard to imagine Kiyohara's bare upper body as a radish.

"The mission location is the front line in the east of the Land of Fire."

After a long moment, Kurenai Yuhi said.

"The east?"

Kiyohara rubbed his chin.

The only places to the east of the Land of Fire would be the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water.

"Southeast?"

Kiyohara asked.

"Mm."

Kurenai Yuhi nodded.

Hearing this, Kiyohara frowned slightly.

The southeast—that would be the Land of Water.

If Uchiha Madara wants to stir up trouble, it should still take a few months, which is enough time for me to develop.

Kiyohara pondered to himself.

The original story didn't explicitly state the timeline, but one could tell from Obito's hair that at least several months had passed.

During these months, once Obito recovered basic mobility, Uchiha Madara would likely set a trap, having White Zetsu manipulate Obito into leaving.

The time before that would be Kiyohara's opportunity.

In another twenty-some days, it will have been a month; I hope the Last Words Book arrives.

Kiyohara's thoughts raced, but he remained calm on the surface, continuing to ask Kurenai Yuhi for further details.

This mission was much easier than the last one; they were responsible for transport.

This made Kiyohara nod involuntarily; this was a normal mission that matched their strength.

Being thrown into the Kannabi Bridge mission right away was no different than facing a boss immediately after finishing the tutorial.

"I will go to the assembly point tomorrow."

Kiyohara said to Kurenai Yuhi.

"Then don't forget."

After saying this, Kurenai Yuhi hurried away.

There's no time to forge a ninja sword...

Kiyohara rubbed his chin.

After thinking about it, he decided to save his money first and go for a better setup in one go the next time he returned to the village.

Before then, he would just make do with a Kunai.

After all, even if he had a sword made, he didn't know any swordsmanship; it would just be more durable, and daily maintenance was also a significant expense.

The next day.

Kiyohara packed his things and arrived at the assembly point.

It was still the gate of Konoha, and Kiyohara even saw two ninjas standing guard.

However, they were not the two famous gatekeepers of Konoha's future.

This mission still involved their squad, and the team leader was still Namikaze Minato.

This was because the team leader who had been reassigned to them previously had stepped on an Explosive Tag and sacrificed his life.

The few who arrived first saw Kiyohara and immediately waved to greet him.

Kiyohara looked over and saw that Kakashi, Nohara Rin, Kurenai Yuhi, and Genma Shiranui were already fully prepared, waiting only for him.

"Kiyohara, I heard about your performance this time. You did very well. This is a ninjutsu scroll granted to you by the village as an extra reward."

Seeing that Kiyohara had arrived, Namikaze Minato reached into his bag and took out a scroll.

"A scroll?"

Kiyohara took it and saw that it was a Wind Release ninjutsu named "Wind Release: Gale Palm".

Like the "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough" he already knew, it was a C-rank ninjutsu, perfectly suited for the learning level of a chunin.

Generally, these letters indicated the difficulty of learning the ninjutsu, rather than its power.

However, the harder a technique was to learn, the more powerful it tended to be.

"Thank you, Lord Minato."

Kiyohara spoke up.

He hadn't spent his battle merits on ninjutsu yet, so this was essentially a free gift—it would be foolish to refuse.

At the same time, Kiyohara knew that this was because his outstanding performance last time had made the higher-ups consider cultivating him.

After all, Kiyohara was not one of those naturally evil ninja clans that faced racial discrimination...

"Let's move out."

Seeing that Kiyohara had accepted it, Namikaze Minato signaled for the group to set off together.

The destination... the Eastern Front!

Several more days passed, and along the way, Kiyohara noticed that members of the Hyuga clan were becoming increasingly common.

He knew this meant they were nearing their destination.

Most of Konoha's main force and the Uchiha clan were responsible for dealing with Kumogakure, while the remaining Hyuga and other main units were responsible for Kirigakure.

Ao of Kirigakure would eventually steal a Byakugan from a member of the Hyuga main family, causing the first instance of a Byakugan leaking from Konoha.

However, this also caused the Hyuga clan's rules to become even more stringent, as everyone realized that transplanting a Sharingan required a high-spec host, otherwise, the constant chakra drain would be unsustainable.

Yet, transplanting a Byakugan had almost no such side effects, instantly opening the door to a new world...

"Your mission from here on out is to garrison this place, responsible for guarding or transporting supplies in the vicinity."

After Namikaze Minato returned from negotiating with the ninja in charge of this logistics base, he spoke to Kiyohara and the others.

"Understood."

Kiyohara was the first to respond.

This mission was perfect for him.

If he could just lay low here for another two weeks, he could see if a "Last Words Book" would appear.

Moreover, he could use this time to practice "Wind Release: Gale Palm".

Only after a second future appeared and he had a certain level of security would Kiyohara feel confident.

Right now, he was incredibly anxious.

"This kind of mission?"

Genma Shiranui scratched his head, feeling that it was quite simple.

"This is the normal difficulty."

Kiyohara shook his head.

If it weren't for Renegade Kiyohara, after the Kannabi Bridge, it would either be him collecting others' corpses or others collecting his.

With Kurenai Yuhi and Genma Shiranui involved, it would be very difficult for them to survive.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, two weeks passed.

Kiyohara had spent these two weeks very uneventfully.

After merging with Renegade Kiyohara, his talent for Lightning Release had improved significantly.

Even without anyone to guide him, he had quickly self-taught "Wind Release: Gale Palm".

Beside a stream near the encampment.

This was where the ninja fetched water for cooking, as well as for bathing and washing clothes.

Kiyohara faced the river surface and performed hand seals, forming the Wu and Chen seals before finally clapping his hands together.

A gust of wind flowed out from Kiyohara's pressed palms, striking the surface of the stream.

Whoosh!

In an instant, the water in the stream dipped downward, revealing the pebble-strewn bed beneath.

A fish that failed to dodge in time was instantly caught in the wake of Kiyohara's power and blown onto the bank, where it flopped about.

"Looks like I can add a side dish to tonight's meal."

Kiyohara thought to himself.

Just as he intended to pick up the fish and head back to boil some soup to improve his diet, an electronically synthesized female voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

[Please collect your last will and testament and your Ash Box, and properly inter your remains.]

It's here!

Joy flickered in Kiyohara's eyes.

Counting the time, today marks exactly one month!