After a brief half-hour rest and confirming that there were no enemies in the surrounding area, the team set out once again.
Having experienced the incident involving Might Duy, everyone's actions became noticeably more cautious.
They even arrived at the coastline earlier than expected. Waiting for them there were ships prepared in advance to receive them.
One by one, everyone boarded the vessels, and the sea breeze, tinged with a salty, fishy scent, swept across them.
The ships slowly departed from the harbor, cutting through the rolling waves as they sailed toward another defensive base where the fighting was relatively calmer—
Namely, the coastline of the Land of Fire.
Kiyohara stood by the railing of the ship, looking back at the shoreline that was gradually receding into the distance.
If his strength had been even a little weaker, he might have ended up staying there forever.
"Next… it'll probably be the incident where Rin gets captured."
Kiyohara thought to himself.
The war between Konoha and Kirigakure would continue for quite some time yet.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen alone could not represent the entirety of Kirigakure's strength.
At the very least, in the near future, the Three-Tails' jinchūriki would very likely make an appearance.
In the original story, Mist's ANBU sealed the Three-Tails into Rin's body.
This step clearly did not involve a wild tailed beast.
Those Mist ANBU would never have been able to control a wild Three-Tails so easily.
It was far more likely that they performed a tailed-beast transfer, moving the beast from a Mist-affiliated jinchūriki into Rin.
Considering that Obito was able to use the Sharingan to control the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, for many years, with Madara's overwhelming ocular power, controlling Mist's ANBU—or even a jinchūriki—would hardly be a difficult task.
Konoha Village, Hokage Tower.
In battles between shinobi, intelligence was of paramount importance.
This was no less true during wartime.
A constant stream of messenger hawks and ninjas rushed back and forth within the village, delivering news from the front lines.
Coupled with certain secret techniques and ninjutsu capable of long-distance communication, the transmission of intelligence had become incredibly swift.
News of what had happened in the Land of Whirlpools reached Konoha's upper echelons almost immediately.
From their perspective, Orochimaru's order to retreat had been extremely wise.
Kirigakure possessed an overwhelming numerical advantage, as well as the home-field advantage of being surrounded by the sea. If the fighting dragged on, there was even the possibility of total annihilation.
That would have dealt Konoha a devastating blow.
Already critically short on manpower, Konoha could no longer afford excessive losses.
"So Duy… actually possessed such power—"
The news that Might Duy single-handedly crippled the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist naturally reached Hiruzen as well.
He was deeply surprised. The Eight Gates technique had been practiced by a small number of shinobi in Konoha and was not particularly secretive.
Otherwise, someone like Might Duy, a perpetual genin—would never have had access to it in the first place.
However, shinobi who truly persevered and trained it seriously were exceedingly rare.
"Hmph. Even if such power exists, so what? There's no one left in the village who can undergo that kind of training."
Danzō, known as the Darkness of the Shinobi World, looked at Sarutobi with his single eye.
The method was right there, plain to see, yet almost no one could replicate it.
Taijutsu, in certain situations, relied on talent even more than ninjutsu did.
Compared to this, what Danzō cared about far more were kekkei genkai.
"Hiruzen, for a Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai to appear in the village… that's truly strange."
Danzō narrowed his eye.
What puzzled him was that he had actually missed such a promising seed in the past.
In order to strengthen Root, Danzō had always conducted strict elite selection.
Only those with outstanding talent could enter the core of Root. The rest were relegated to the periphery, essentially considered auxiliary personnel.
This was why, to this day, the core members numbered only seventeen.
Many of these promising candidates had been recruited by Danzō through various means—temptation, coercion, and other methods that were far from humane—before undergoing unified brainwashing within Root.
Unfortunately for him, Hiruzen had obstructed the majority of his actions.
Even so, Danzō continued these efforts tirelessly. After all, Hiruzen couldn't block him at all times. Whatever slipped through became Danzō's opportunity.
"Danzō, what are you planning to do?"
Hiruzen cast him a calm glance.
He had already noticed Kiyohara during the Chūnin Exams. He hadn't expected that Danzō would end up noticing this promising seed as well.
"Heh heh, Hiruzen, I'm simply desperate for capable people."
Danzō laughed softly.
A civilian who suddenly awakened a bloodline limit, lacked clan-based thinking, and was still young—
Such a talent immediately caught his attention.
It was practically a blank slate, just waiting for him to lure Kiyohara step by step into corruption, guiding the darkness within his heart.
Turning him into a capable subordinate belonging solely to Danzō.
And who knew—perhaps he could even cultivate an entire Magnet Release clan?
"That won't be necessary. I already have my own arrangements for Kiyohara."
Hiruzen exhaled a puff of smoke and rejected Danzō's proposal without a second thought.
Danzō hadn't expected such a decisive refusal. His face stiffened as he snapped, "You're burying a genius like this!"
"I know what I'm doing."
"You'll regret this, Hiruzen!"
"That's enough, Danzō. I am the Hokage!"
Hiruzen slammed his hand firmly on the desk, his tone severe.
Danzō was truly becoming more and more reckless.
Hearing the word "Hokage" was like having a sore spot stepped on for Danzō.
Damn it—he had only been one minute late.
If he had arrived just one minute earlier, the position of Hokage would have been his!
Seeing that there was no way to reach an agreement, Danzō had no desire to continue speaking and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
This meeting had already discussed most of what needed to be addressed. The matter of Kiyohara awakening Magnet Release had simply been brought up last.
Thus, when Hiruzen saw Danzō leave, he didn't stop him.
"Troubled times indeed."
Hiruzen glanced at the door. If it broke, he planned to put it on Danzō's tab.
'Magnet Release, huh… that's something worth cultivating.'
He thought to himself.
Although Kiyohara had awakened a bloodline limit, in essence, he was still no different from a civilian.
Because he had no clan, and therefore no shackles binding him to clan-centered interests.
Hiruzen then picked up a report and began reading it—information regarding Kiyohara across three generations.
No matter how they investigated, the conclusion was always the same: Kiyohara's background was exceptionally clean.
Having returned to the Land of Fire's defensive line, Kiyohara finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Exhausted to the extreme, after following the unit through the handover procedures, identity verification, and the allocation of tents, he was finally able to lie down on a wooden bed and rest.
The night passed quickly.
In the morning, Kiyohara did not wake up naturally.
He sensed someone watching him—and even felt a finger poke at his cheek.
Without needing to think, he knew it had to be Kurenai.
"Why are you here again?"
Kiyohara opened his eyes, and sure enough, it was Kurenai.
"Y-you woke up that fast?"
Seeing that Kiyohara had actually woken up, Kurenai awkwardly withdrew her hand, turned her head aside, and left him only with the smooth curve of her fair profile.
Last time, she had been just a tiny bit away from touching Kiyohara's cheek, and that near-miss had lingered in her mind ever since.
Today, she had finally fulfilled that little obsession.
"You still haven't told me what you came here for."
Kiyohara lifted the blanket. The bedding had been issued upon arriving at the camp.
Its warmth retention was quite good; even in such a damp environment, it didn't feel cold at all.
But if he had a habit of sleeping naked, wouldn't Kurenai have seen everything without him ever knowing?
"Hmph. Why aren't you this cold toward Rin?"
Seeing Kiyohara's expressionless face, Kurenai suddenly felt a twinge of jealousy.
When she saw him talking with Rin, wasn't he always smiling?
She was clearly Kiyohara's teammate—his companion!
She was the one who came first!
That hateful Kiyohara had been like this ever since their days at the Shinobi Academy!
(End of Chapter)