'Who knows, maybe one day there'll even be something like a Six-Armed Spider Kiyohara?'
Kiyohara thought about it for a moment. Was his future truly destined to remain human?
Perhaps something like a "Toad Kiyohara" or a "Giant Lizard Kiyohara" wasn't entirely impossible either.
"Speaking of which, Mount Myōboku's 'Sage Mode' is, in theory, the most suitable for toad-based training…"
Kiyohara pondered silently.
After all, whether one succeeds or fails in training at Mount Myōboku, the practitioner will inevitably undergo toadification.
Even someone as supposedly perfect as Naruto would still develop the characteristic toad-like eye markings.
As for Jiraiya, his degree of toadification was even more pronounced.
At its core, this was because the creators of "Mount Myōboku Senjutsu" were a group of toads, it had nothing to do with humans in the first place.
For the toads, cultivating senjutsu not only had no side effects, it could even extend their lifespan.
Above them was the Great Toad Sage, who had lived for over a thousand years; below were toads like Fukasaku and Shima, each over eight hundred years old.
If there were a "Toad Kiyohara" who could use senjutsu, would the Mount Myōboku senjutsu he inherited be the most perfect version possible?
Kiyohara didn't know. He had no idea how such inheritance and fusion would actually work.
After thinking for a while, he noticed that Rin had already stopped her treatment and was snapping off some relatively straight tree branches nearby.
Kiyohara and Kakashi worked together without a word, using the branches and tough vines to quickly fashion a simple stretcher, securely fastening the unconscious Hibiki onto it.
The three of them didn't delay any longer. With Kiyohara and Kakashi taking turns carrying the stretcher, they headed swiftly back toward the Konoha outpost.
By evening, they returned to the Konoha forward base.
When Kiyohara, Kakashi, and Rin escorted the barely-breathing Hibiki back to the front-line Konoha outpost, it inevitably caused a small stir.
The logistics shinobi responsible for receiving prisoners and spoils couldn't help but take several extra looks at the trio when they saw Hibiki's abnormal six arms and the horrifying injuries that were clearly caused by overwhelming brute force.
"A shinobi from the Land of Rice Fields… the Six-Armed Spider clan—"
The shinobi in charge of registration looked at the few items recovered from Hibiki and listened to Kiyohara's verbal report, then nodded with a trace of approval in his tone.
"The Six-Armed Spider clan is indeed troublesome. Their webs and secret techniques are extremely difficult to deal with. Capturing one alive—well done."
After verification and assessment, the mission reward and additional military merits were quickly issued.
Because Hibiki possessed a special constitution, meaning secret techniques and might carry valuable intelligence, the reward was exceptionally generous, far exceeding that of an ordinary C-rank or even B-rank mission.
They were given the maximum amount: two hundred thousand ryō.
This made Kiyohara feel a sense of irony. The very man who wanted to sell them off to other villages had instead ended up being sold by them.
Of course, in addition to the money, there were also military merits.
After the mission rewards were distributed, Kiyohara didn't hesitate at all and went straight to the ninjutsu exchange counter at the outpost.
During wartime, in order to enhance the strength of its shinobi, the village opened up the exchange of some mid- to high-level ninjutsu, as long as one had enough merit points.
He had long set his sights on a B-rank Lightning Release technique called Lightning Release: Furious Thunder Arrow.
This jutsu allowed lightning chakra to be concentrated in the right hand and then released from the palm as multiple arrow-shaped bolts of blue lightning to strike the enemy.
It was very similar to Lightning Release: Thunder Arrow, but with slightly greater power.
What Kiyohara valued was its attack range and instantaneous burst potential—it could make up for his current lack of powerful long-range offensive methods and complement his Magnet Release close-combat abilities.
No matter how fast iron sand could fly, it was still a tangible substance—how could it compare to the speed of lightning racing across the battlefield?
Iron sand had weight, and every time Kiyohara used it, he had to propel it with magnetic force; the larger the volume, the greater the chakra consumption.
Even if lightning transformed from chakra couldn't rival natural lightning, it was still far faster than iron sand.
Soon, Kiyohara arrived at the exchange counter.
The process went smoothly. The contents of the ninjutsu scroll weren't handed over directly; instead, a specialist explained the jutsu and allowed him to copy down the key portions—this was to prevent leakage.
Kiyohara's merit points were immediately reduced by more than half.
Even so, in his eyes, this was a completely worthwhile investment.
Just as he stepped out of the exchange area, a logistics staff member called out to him and handed over a small money pouch.
"Chunin Kiyohara, this is this month's wartime allowance. Please sign here."
"Thank you," Kiyohara replied.
By his reckoning, today just happened to be allowance day.
This so-called "basic allowance" was a stipend issued by Konoha to all participating shinobi. The amount wasn't large, but in a time of scarce resources during war, it was still a significant supplement, enough to guarantee basic meals and the maintenance of shinobi tools.
Otherwise, relying solely on mission rewards during wartime, shinobi would probably starve to death.
Some logistics-oriented shinobi hardly carried out any missions at all.
Kiyohara weighed the pouch in his hand, feeling the faint rustle of paper currency inside, and decided to treat himself a bit.
The Land of Fire used both coins and banknotes.
Generally speaking, the village directly issued banknotes marked with the Konoha insignia.
With no missions scheduled for the afternoon, Kiyohara headed to a nearby transit town.
In addition to businesses related to shinobi combat, this place had far more entertainment venues.
To ease the tension of frontline shinobi, vendors sold food, alcohol, and sundries—and there were even places of romance and indulgence.
Of course, there were also very upright shinobi who strictly adhered to the Three Shinobi Prohibitions and never went to such places.
"Boss, one serving of your signature tender chicken," Kiyohara said.
"Coming right up!"
The middle-aged owner worked deftly, and soon handed Kiyohara a piece of tender chicken bigger than his face. The aroma of sizzling fat mixed with spices, powerfully stimulating his appetite.
After days of gnawing on soldier rations and dried provisions, this was nothing short of divine.
Holding the chicken wrapped in oil paper, Kiyohara was about to find a quiet spot to eat when he saw Tsunade emerge from a nearby gambling hall, her expression not particularly good.
She happened to pass by Kiyohara, then suddenly stopped and sniffed the air.
"Hm? That smells amazing!"
Kiyohara turned his head, and what came into view was a dazzling cascade of golden hair—and a voluptuous figure that would make any man's gaze linger.
Her proud curves showed no sign of being diminished by bad luck at the tables; her full bosom nearly burst from her clothes, and her light-blue cropped pants accentuated the roundness of her hips and thighs.
Tsunade's bright eyes first locked onto the glossy, fragrant chicken in Kiyohara's hand before shifting to his face as she casually asked, "Kid, you just got back from a mission?"
Her tone carried her usual straightforwardness.
"Yes, Lady Tsunade," Kiyohara nodded.
The moment he saw her, he knew she'd probably lost all her money.
Dinner tonight would likely be on Shizune again.
"How did the mission go?"
Tsunade asked about the mission, but her blazing gaze never left the golden, aromatic chicken in Kiyohara's hand.
Kiyohara noticed this.
He remembered reading in the databook that Tsunade liked strong liquor and chicken-type foods.
After a brief thought, he extended the chicken toward her.
"Lady Tsunade, please help yourself."
Only by casting a long line could one catch a big fish. Right now, Kiyohara urgently needed a powerful backer—
—so that when he revealed various bloodline limits in the future, he could avoid unnecessary scrutiny and trouble.
This time, it was Tsunade who was caught off guard.
She'd only been looking, indulging her eyes, and hadn't expected the kid to be this perceptive.
Raising an eyebrow, Tsunade accepted the chicken and sized Kiyohara up. "Oh? You're pretty considerate for a kid."
She didn't stand on ceremony, opening her full lips and taking a huge bite of the crispy chicken.
The grease glistened at the edge of her lips as she squinted in satisfaction, chewed a few times, and praised it indistinctly, "Mmm—this is good!"
After a couple of bites, she seemed to remember that the chicken belonged to Kiyohara. Looking at the piece now missing a large bite in her hand, then at the expressionless Kiyohara beside her, she felt a bit embarrassed—but couldn't quite bring herself to admit it.
So she held the chicken out to him. "Here, you eat too. Don't just stand there watching me."
Kiyohara shook his head. "Please, Lady Tsunade. I'm not hungry."
He'd mainly wanted to relax a bit—his actual hunger wasn't that strong.
Tsunade misunderstood, thinking he was just being polite or overly mindful of rank, and frowned slightly.
"If I tell you to eat, then eat. That's an order. Restoring stamina is also part of a shinobi's duty!"
Looking at the chicken held out before him, complete with clear bite marks—Kiyohara fell silent for a second.
Then he reached out, took it, and carefully bit into the other side.
"It really does taste good," he said, nodding with an objective evaluation.
Tsunade watched his actions, nodded in satisfaction, then quickly finished off the rest of the chicken in a few bites.
Suddenly, she realized something—both of them had eaten from the same piece of chicken!
Her expression stiffened slightly. Even though she was bold by nature, she still felt a hint of awkwardness.
She cleared her throat. "Kid, what—are you shy?"
Tsunade chose to shift the pressure onto Kiyohara.
"Of course not," Kiyohara replied.
"Really—?"
Tsunade deliberately leaned in closer, trying to read his expression.
Then her gaze inevitably dropped to the money pouch at his waist—the one he'd just received and hadn't even had time to warm up.
"Ahem—by the way, kid, your money pouch looks a lot fuller than before. You just got your allowance, didn't you?"
Kiyohara swallowed the food in his mouth and answered honestly, "Yes, Lady Tsunade."
A glimmer lit up in Tsunade's eyes, and whatever lingering embarrassment she'd had was instantly overwhelmed by a more pressing, practical need.
She rubbed her fingers together, putting on a warm, kindly smile—though to Kiyohara, it looked a little…
Dangerous.
"Ahem. You didn't forget our last agreement, did you?"
She tried to make her borrowing sound as natural and justified as possible.
"I've been a bit short on cash lately, and there are some extra expenses on the research side—"
Here it comes, Kiyohara thought to himself.
So the legendary big spender had marked him as a conveniently fleeceable little lamb?
"If you need it, Lady Tsunade, please take it," Kiyohara said, pulling out seventy thousand ryō and handing it to her.
Part of it was mission pay, part of it was allowance.
This genuinely surprised Tsunade.
She'd borrowed money countless times, but someone who handed it over this readily was truly rare.
These days, even borrowing from Jiraiya was difficult—everyone knew she was good at borrowing, but terrible at repaying.
Taking the money, Tsunade looked at Kiyohara's handsome, youthful face and suddenly found herself liking this kid more and more the longer she looked.
"Don't worry, I won't take it for nothing. If you ever have questions about medical ninjutsu or taijutsu, come find me. I should be free in a few days—or you can just set a time and come directly."
Kiyohara nodded, saying he understood.
"Alright then. If there's nothing else, go get on with your business," Tsunade said with a wave of her hand.
Her mood turned from gloomy to bright, even cheerful. She squeezed the banknotes in her hand and turned around, striding back toward the gambling hall with renewed vigor.
Judging by her posture, she planned to use her freshly acquired funds to fight another round and reclaim everything she'd lost.
"Marching straight in to give away money again…"
For a brief moment, Kiyohara considered betting against Tsunade and winning it all back.
But he also knew that gambling halls had complex rules and countless ways for the house to manipulate outcomes—putting that idea into practice would be far too difficult.
"Better focus on what's in front of me," he said to himself.
"First, master Lightning Release: Furious Thunder Arrow, fulfill the first last will, and inherit Steel Release, that's what really matters. I wonder if a Steel Release kekkei genkai would let me withstand even stronger magnetic rotational forces…"
He stopped lingering, turned around, and headed toward the temporary tent assigned to him within the outpost, ready to seize the time and devote himself to studying his newly acquired Lightning Release technique.
(End of Chapter)