The Future Young Kiyohara

A new future!

Sure enough, beside the Ash Box marked with the scratched-out headband symbol representing Renegade Kiyohara, a second Ash Box appeared amidst a ripple in the air.

This new Ash Box possessed a dull, metallic luster, and upon its lid was the emblem of a sharp Tachi.

"A Tachi?"

Kiyohara inexplicably thought of the Tachi-wielder.

He shook his head and tried to tap on the Ash Box with his mind.

"Are you there?"

Kiyohara asked tentatively.

Even though it was a future version of himself, it was hard to say what kind of temperament he would have, given the influence of different worlds, experiences, and timelines.

"It seems I have... died, then."

A phantom spirit emerged from the Ash Box.

This spirit appeared to be in his early twenties, his posture as upright as a pine tree.

His features were seven or eight parts similar to Kiyohara's, but the lines were more rugged, and his brow carried a sense of tempered determination, as if no hardship could ever shake him.

"You must be the me from the past."

The new Kiyohara quickly grasped the situation, realizing he had been sent to another version of himself by the Last Words Book.

"Right, I am the past you. Are you a practitioner of Kenjutsu?"

Kiyohara asked curiously.

In the ninja world, blades and swords were often conflated; the concepts were blurred, and one could call it either swordsmanship or blade technique.

"You could put it that way."

Young Kiyohara nodded.

"A commoner's Chakra is naturally scarce, so I apprenticed under Master Maruboshi Kosuke to practice Konoha-Style Kenjutsu: Willow..."

His voice carried a crisp, metallic resonance, unlike the world-weary tone of Renegade Kiyohara.

"Later, I died at the hands of the Kirigakure ninja Ao. His Byakugan could perfectly perceive the muscle movements of my strikes; he was very difficult to deal with."

"I see..."

Kiyohara listened quietly as Young Kiyohara introduced himself.

He also understood this version of the future: his Chakra levels were similar to his own before he had taken any forbidden drugs.

Thus, he had taken a different path, choosing to devote himself to the study of the sword and making use of every last drop of Chakra.

Many Kenjutsu techniques required the consumption of Chakra, but they relied even more on pure skill.

"So, what is your last wish?"

Although it was a bit of a pity that this future version didn't possess a Kekkei Genkai, it would still be excellent if he could inherit Young Kiyohara's swordsmanship.

One had to realize that when a ninja ran out of Chakra, all they could rely on were their blades, fists, and feet.

And don't let the fact that Maruboshi Kosuke was a perpetual Genin fool you; he simply didn't want the promotion to Jonin, but in reality, he was far more formidable than the average Jonin!

Being able to apprentice under Maruboshi Kosuke meant this future self of his must have possessed a wealth of precious knowledge.

These were exactly the things he, who had nothing, needed most.

"I have only two last wishes. The first is for you to avenge me."

Young Kiyohara spoke up.

Damn it, to think he actually dared to kill him!

This Ao from Kirigakure was truly asking for death!

"Fine, I will avenge you."

Kiyohara nodded.

Right now, Ao of Kirigakure had not yet transplanted the Byakugan and was nowhere near his future strength.

Killing the one who killed him—seeking revenge was only natural.

"What is the second one?"

Kiyohara continued to ask.

Young Kiyohara said:

"I want you to forge a ninja blade that can perfectly channel Chakra and amplify the power of my Kenjutsu. A major factor in my defeat was that my blade snapped."

"..."

Seeing this, Kiyohara nodded slightly.

It was a done deal.

The future that appeared this time actually had conditions much simpler than the final wishes of Renegade Kiyohara.

Because wanting to become a Chunin meant first completing the mission at Kannabi Bridge, which could be described as maximum pressure.

As for his current final wish, Kiyohara was already in the process of preparing for it.

The Chakra Metal was already prepared; he only needed to save up enough money and find a craftsman to forge a ninja blade.

The other one was not particularly difficult either; the current Ao was just a commoner like him.

In the original story, he appeared many times, mostly because he was the first ninja to transplant a Byakugan, and his mastery of the Byakugan was decent.

Kiyohara felt that if things went quickly, he might be able to resolve this within the month.

During this period, Kirigakure seemed to be planning an offensive.

As long as the final wishes were completed quickly enough, the speed at which he could merge different futures would also increase.

Kiyohara was looking forward to it; could he roll a version of himself with a Kekkei Genkai in the next future?

He set a small goal first: complete it within these next one or two months!

If that failed, Kiyohara planned to let Young Kiyohara take over the fight.

In a sense, he would be able to exert greater strength than Renegade Kiyohara.

Because he relied on technique.

"But, my past self... your body is far too weak."

Young Kiyohara's spirit hovered to the side, his brows slightly furrowed as he criticized without reservation.

"Think about it. If you run out of chakra in a protracted battle, or encounter an enemy capable of interfering with or absorbing chakra, the only things you can rely on are this tempered physique and the combat skills honed over many years."

Facing this "future self" who possessed a cold temperament and demanded strict standards, Kiyohara could only compose his mind and respond earnestly:

"I understand. So, how should I begin?"

"The foundation of swordsmanship lies in the grip, footwork, and power generation. First, find something suitable to replace a ninja blade and practice the most basic swings, chops, slashes, and thrusts."

Young Kiyohara spoke up.

Hearing this, Kiyohara scanned the streamside and quickly locked onto a piece of hardwood branch that had been washed smooth and straight by the current, with a moderate thickness.

He walked over, picked it up, and weighed it in his hand. Feeling the weight and length were appropriate, he was just about to use a Kunai to trim it slightly and carve it into a simple wooden sword for practice.

"Wrong."

Young Kiyohara's voice rang out. His ethereal arm lifted, pointing toward an object half-buried in the grass not far away.

That was no piece of wood, but a dark gray stone rod about 1.5 meters long and as thick as two fists.

Judging by its appearance, it must have broken off from a rock face. It was quite heavy, requiring at least two hands to barely lift it.

"Use that to swing. It builds strength."

"Practice with this thing?"

Kiyohara widened his eyes, almost thinking he had misheard.

He pointed at the stone rod, which looked more like a tool for ramming earth or a material for a small bridge pier.

In his mind, an image of a certain one-armed hero accompanied by a giant eagle, wielding a heavy Xuan Iron Sword, flashed uncontrollably.

However, he had neither a severed arm nor an eagle.

"When you get used to the weight and inconvenience of this stone rod day after day, and carve the correct way to generate power into your bones, you will find that switching to a real ninja blade in the future will feel as light as nothing."

Young Kiyohara seemed to have much more perseverance than Kiyohara.

Listening to Young Kiyohara's words, Kiyohara thought about it carefully, and it did indeed make sense.

In the original story, Rock Lee actually used a similar training method, though he wore heavy weights filled with iron blocks on his body.

In the following days, aside from routine patrols, occasional short-distance supply transport, and squeezing in time to practice "Wind Release: Gale Palm,"

Kiyohara would carry that heavy, eye-catching stone rod to a relatively flat open space at the edge of the camp to conduct what Young Kiyohara called "basic swordsmanship training."

"Kiyohara, are you... practicing a new taijutsu?"

Nohara Rin noticed Kiyohara's black, large, and hard... thick stone rod, and was very curious as to why he would keep swinging this thing.

"Yeah, that's right."

Kiyohara nodded.

Every time he raised his hand, the shadow of the thick stone rod would cast a black silhouette over Nohara Rin's face.

Don't misunderstand; this was because of the sunlight shining from behind.