Especially when she thought about how Kakashi was standing just on the other side of the wall, while she herself had taken off her upper clothing here.
Even though she was still wearing undergarments and nothing had actually been exposed, Rin nevertheless felt a strange sense of awkwardness.
In the end, she closed her eyes and nodded lightly. "I'm fine, Kiyohara-kun. Go ahead."
Kiyohara carefully inserted the tweezers along the edge of the wound, gripping the tiny fragments embedded inside and removing them bit by bit.
During the process, the wound was inevitably tugged, bringing waves of sharp pain. Rin clenched her lower lip tightly, fine beads of sweat seeping out on her forehead, yet she never once let out a cry of pain.
Kiyohara's movements were swift and steady, minimizing her suffering as much as possible.
Before long, several grains of sand and gravel were cleared out and discarded onto the gauze at the side.
Next, he used cotton soaked in alcohol to meticulously disinfect the inside and surrounding area of the wound. The icy sensation and the sting of the alcohol made Rin draw in a soft breath despite herself.
"All right. The foreign objects are all removed, and the disinfection is done."
Kiyohara let out a breath of relief and put the tools away.
"Rin, next I'll use the Mystical Palm."
Only then did Rin finally relax, feeling the pain in her back ease considerably.
She gathered her chakra, a warm green glow blooming in her palms, and reached behind herself, placing her hands over the wound on her back.
Under the exquisite effects of advanced medical ninjutsu, the wound began to truly heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. The redness and swelling gradually faded, fresh flesh regenerated, and in the end, only a faint pink mark remained.
This mark, with the passage of time, would also slowly disappear.
Such was the formidable power of the A-rank medical ninjutsu known as the "Mystical Palm Technique."
Rin gently rolled her shoulders, feeling much lighter, the previous stiffness and dull ache completely gone.
"Thank you, Kiyohara-kun."
Rin quickly put her clothes back on and turned around. Though a blush that had yet to fully fade still lingered on her face, her eyes had already returned to their usual gentleness. She spoke gratefully, "If it weren't for you, the wound might have worsened."
"It was nothing,"
Kiyohara replied with a faint smile as he packed the medical tools away again.
"We're comrades. Looking out for each other is only natural."
At this moment, Kakashi's voice came from the other side of the wall. "Rin, how is it?"
"It's already fine, Kakashi!"
Rin answered quickly, her voice brimming with renewed energy.
Hearing this, Kakashi dispelled the Earth Flow Wall, and the earthen barrier slowly sank back into the ground.
All Earth Release jutsus relied on chakra to be maintained; without chakra, they were no different from ordinary soil.
Kurenai and Genma also looked over with concern and noticed that Rin's complexion had become much rosier.
"Since Rin's injury has been taken care of and we've rested enough as well," Kakashi said, glancing at the sky, which had grown even darker.
"Let's hurry and continue moving."
The group wasted no more time. Rising to their feet once again, they turned into several swift silhouettes that merged into the dimly lit forest, racing toward the western coastline.
Fortunately, their luck along the rest of the route was quite good. The path was unobstructed, and they encountered neither ambushes nor Mist shinobi.
While traveling, Kakashi looked toward Kiyohara. After learning that Kiyohara had likely awakened a Kekkei Genkai for the sake of protecting his companions, Kakashi found himself understanding him more and more.
He even felt a kind of resonance.
"So your bloodline limit… what does it do? Control magnetism?"
Along the way, the usually taciturn Kakashi took the rare initiative to strike up a conversation.
As they leapt continuously from branch to branch within the forest, using the trees to propel themselves forward, they talked.
"According to Lord Orochimaru, my Kekkei Genkai seems to be called Magnet Release. I also feel that it has something to do with magnetism,"
Kiyohara replied.
He had long been laying the groundwork for revealing Magnet Release, even going so far as to openly practice Earth Release ninjutsu in front of many people.
Earlier, in order to protect Rin and ensure his own survival amid the chaos, he had reasonably displayed Magnet Release for the first time. This would pave the way for him to use this power more freely in the future.
At the very least, Orochimaru did not particularly care how Kiyohara's Magnet Release had awakened. What he valued was not the process, but the result.
"Magnetism, huh—"
Kakashi murmured, seeming to grasp something.
"Then what can your magnetism do?"
Genma asked.
"It can do this."
Kiyohara refined his chakra and condensed magnetic force, using it to attract iron sand. With that magnetic pull, he casually snatched the senbon that Genma had been holding in his mouth.
"Huh?"
Genma was startled and hurriedly grabbed his senbon with his hand.
Kiyohara then released his control over the iron sand.
The greater the distance and the larger the amount of iron sand involved, the more chakra it consumed.
As they chatted, several hours quickly passed.
Soon, they encountered the escort team protecting the Hyūga main family.
Aside from a large number of ordinary shinobi, there were at least thirty members of the Hyūga branch family alone.
Yet among the Hyūga main family, there were only a mere three people.
Two of them were familiar faces Kiyohara had seen before—Hyūga Ginka and Hyūga Nobuhiko.
The moment they appeared, the escorting shinobi became highly alert.
Only after Kiyohara proactively produced the secret order given to him by Orochimaru did they finally lower their guard.
"Come with us,"
Konoha jōnin Takada Kenji said.
"This isn't a place to stay for long. It probably won't be long before the Mist shinobi push in."
Takada Kenji paused, then continued.
"We need to move quickly."
Kiyohara nodded.
He couldn't wait to leave this troublesome place as soon as possible.
If they were unlucky enough to run into the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist like Might Guy's group had, Kiyohara had no idea whether Might Duy would be able to arrive in time.
After all, among them, there was no Might Guy, Might Duy's son.
The unit continued advancing, the shadow of war making the overall atmosphere within the group heavy and oppressive.
"That's— the shinobi from before."
Hyūga Ginka was wearing Konoha's traditional green flak jacket, though her generous figure still stretched the fabric into a noticeable curve.
"It does seem to be him,"
Hyūga Nobuhiko also recognized Kiyohara.
They had thought that Kiyohara had already died on this battlefield.
The casualty rate in this war was simply too high. Many people who exchanged greetings in the morning were buried in the earth by nightfall.
"Hm?"
Because she was constantly scouting for possible Kirigakure ambushes, Hyūga Ginka had kept her Byakugan activated.
She could see the chakra flowing within Kiyohara, and it seemed different from before.
Mixed within it was some other kind of chakra.
That chakra appeared slightly darker in color than the rest, almost black, as if it were a special type of chakra.
"What is that?"
She felt a bit puzzled.
But what confused her even more was that Kiyohara's overall chakra volume had grown stronger.
Could this person be a genius born of war, much like Lord Minato?
Hyūga Ginka's delicate face showed uncertainty for a moment.
"What's wrong?"
Hyūga Nobuhiko looked at her curiously, noticing that she kept glancing toward the rear of the group.
"It's nothing,"
Hyūga Ginka shook her head.
Forget it—just don't offend Kiyohara. As for whether they could draw him in, that would depend on fate.
As a member of the Hyūga main family, she naturally tended to consider the interests of the Hyūga clan in everything she did.
If they could recruit a genius early and form a good relationship, that would be a great boon for the Hyūga clan.
However, not long after they ventured deeper into the forest, an extremely massive surge of chakra suddenly erupted.
The earth itself trembled, the momentum overwhelming.
Kiyohara immediately looked in that direction.
At this point in time, there was only one person capable of unleashing such an enormous, awe-inspiring amount of chakra—
Might Duy!
The final swan song using the strongest taijutsu—
The Eight Gates!
(End of Chapter)