Kiyohara put away his kunai, reached out a hand to Obito, who was lying on the ground, and said,
"Looks like I won."
Kiyohara's tone was calm.
Obito had Uchiha blood, and he had his own Ash Box as well.
Everyone had a bright future ahead of them.
It was just that Kiyohara had a slight edge over him for now. As for the future, perhaps he would gain even greater advantages.
As long as he drew a powerful future version of himself at random and fulfilled that person's final wish, Kiyohara would soar.
Of course, the more powerful that future version was, the harder it might be to fulfill his final wish.
Obito lay on the ground, looking at Kiyohara's outstretched hand before glancing at Rin, who was watching with concern. His face instantly flushed red.
This was a disgrace to the Uchiha!
Fortunately, Obito had long been used to being dead last. Back at the Ninja Academy, he had grown accustomed to losing to others.
The first time he took the Chunin Exams, he had even lost to Might Guy.
In the end, Obito managed to talk himself through it. He resentfully grabbed Kiyohara's hand and got to his feet, muttering,
"...Damn it. I'll definitely win next time!"
Namikaze Minato looked at Kiyohara, the admiration in his eyes growing stronger. He smiled gently and said,
"An excellent strategy and excellent shuriken techniques, Kiyohara. Your actual combat ability far surpasses that of an ordinary Genin."
Speaking of that, Namikaze Minato was also somewhat curious as to why Kiyohara had not taken the Chunin Exams.
"With your strength, shouldn't you be able to pass the Chunin Exams easily?"
"I was busy training before, so I didn't have the chance to take them."
"I see."
Namikaze Minato nodded.
However, it was wartime now. Chunin promotions did not necessarily have to follow the standards used during peacetime.
If someone performed well enough, it was not impossible to promote them to Chunin ahead of schedule as an exception.
"Kiyohara, if this mission succeeds, you should be promoted directly to Chunin, right?"
Namikaze Minato said.
As the Jonin leading the team, he knew very well how difficult this mission was.
Looking at his students, he felt a measure of guilt.
This was not a mission they should have been carrying out.
But Konoha could only do this now.
The situation at the front had already become extremely dangerous. Konoha had reached a critical moment that would determine its survival.
If they successfully cut off Iwagakure's supply line this time, it would give the village a tremendous advantage in its war against Iwagakure.
Precisely because Iwagakure also believed no one could possibly break through, this mission could only be entrusted to an ordinary squad.
If ninjas who were too powerful went over, Iwagakure's reconnaissance ninjas would inevitably notice them and send reinforcements.
"Yes."
Kiyohara nodded to show that he understood.
After the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, if he became a Chunin, his strength would probably see a massive surge.
His ability to survive the coming war would also increase greatly.
As long as he was not killed, Kiyohara could receive more help from versions of himself who had died across different timelines.
If he kept snowballing like that, he would be far more composed when facing the crises ahead.
The Nine-Tails Incident, the Konoha Crush, Pain's Assault, the Otsutsuki invasion, and so on.
At any of those turning points, if he was too weak, he would never make it past.
Before long, Namikaze Minato left first.
The mission was scheduled to depart three days later in the afternoon.
He was busy every day and had many matters to handle.
After Namikaze Minato left, Kakashi walked over to Kiyohara.
"You're pretty good. Looks like you won't affect this mission."
Kakashi spoke blandly.
Ever since his father's death, he had cared about only one thing.
That was obeying the ninja code and completing the mission no matter what.
A ninja who could not complete a mission was trash.
Based on the strength Kiyohara had displayed, he would not drag everyone down and lower the chances of completing the mission.
"Mm."
Kiyohara nodded.
Kakashi was in his obsessive phase right now. No matter how much anyone said, it would be useless.
Experience was the best teacher. One lesson was enough.
The Battle of Kannabi Bridge would also become a turning point that changed Kakashi.
But in the original story, it was merely a brief dawn before he stepped into darkness. After killing Rin with his own hands, he had become so devoid of any desire to live that he had even considered suicide.
Honestly, if Kakashi had been called Uchiha Kakashi instead of Hatake Kakashi, he could at least have awakened his own Mangekyo for fun.
Not only would that keep him from damaging his kidneys, it would also let him reach a whole new level.
"Kakashi, want to train together?"
Rin asked.
Ninjas could not afford to slack off. They had to train constantly to keep their strength from declining.
Once they got used to comfort, even the slightest regression during a mission could get them killed.
"No."
Kakashi answered concisely.
He planned to train alone. He had recently succeeded in developing a particularly powerful technique.
He could use the time before completing it to refine it a little further.
Kakashi became a Jonin the day before the mission.
Kakashi's actual strength was only at the level of a newly promoted Jonin.
His current situation was somewhat awkward.
He had failed to properly inherit his father Hatake Sakumo's swordsmanship, and he had also failed to master Lightning Release ninjutsu.
No matter how powerful Chidori was now, it had a fatal flaw.
It required dynamic vision like the Sharingan to control it. That was why, in Boruto, after losing his Sharingan, Kakashi developed Purple Electricity, a Lightning Release technique of the same level that did not require the Sharingan.
At a critical moment, Kiyohara figured he would still have to rely on Renegade Kiyohara possessing him.
Though he had only recently become a Jonin as well, there were differences even among Jonin.
The experience accumulated through more than thirty years of training and battle was not something Kakashi could compare to.
"Kakashi's just like that."
Obito rested his head on his hands.
At this point, he did not know that Kakashi's father had been slandered by his former comrades and had taken his own life.
He only felt that Kakashi was being overly dramatic.
"I also think it'd be better for everyone to focus on targeted training separately during these last few days."
Genma Shiranui picked up the senbon that had fallen to the ground, wiped it clean, and placed it back in his mouth.
It had fallen because he had been so shocked by the strength Kiyohara had just displayed.
"Good point."
Kiyohara agreed.
With three days left, Renegade Kiyohara could still help him improve his strength a little.
After saying goodbye to the others, Kiyohara quickly headed home.
Once he arrived home, Kiyohara looked at the ninjutsu scroll in his hand and immediately felt a headache coming on.
Sometimes, even with a teacher's explanation, he still had to practice over and over until he became proficient.
It was easy for his eyes to understand while his hands failed to keep up.
In other words, it looked easy at first glance, but fell apart the moment he tried it.
And the issue of chakra reserves was also something that required steady accumulation over time.
Unless he immediately fulfilled a second final wish and fused with Renegade Kiyohara.
"By the way, do you have any fast ways to get stronger?"
Kiyohara asked.
Logically speaking, his future self in his thirties had already become a rogue ninja, so he should know quite a few crooked methods... no, painless shortcuts for quickly improving strength.
"There is one. Take drugs."
Renegade Kiyohara said.
How could you get stronger without doping?
Hearing that, Kiyohara remembered that during the three years Sasuke had spent with Orochimaru, he had taken quite a few forbidden drugs as well.
It was just that Orochimaru cherished Sasuke's body greatly, and those forbidden drugs did not cause much harm. They had not made Sasuke's head pointy.
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