'The range of magnetic fields I can tap into has expanded…
It's like I'm drawing strength directly from the earth itself.'
Though Kiyohara didn't fully understand the principles behind it, he could clearly feel his body becoming lighter—
as if gravity itself had lessened.
White steam continued to curl from the corners of his lips,
drifting outward like smoke from a furnace.
Kiyohara stepped forward—and at once, he felt the ground beneath him push.
Just as plants absorb sunlight, once his magnetic field spun into motion, it began pulling magnetic energy into his body.
"Rin's in danger."
Kakashi's Sharingan caught sight of Rin being surrounded.
He himself was pinned down, frustration growing in his chest.
He had promised Obito…
He had to protect Rin.
Even without Obito, Kakashi had long since come to regard Rin as his most precious comrade.
"Too many enemies…"
Genma spat out a senbon, sweat on his brow.
He couldn't break through either.
Not only were they swarmed here, but reinforcements were arriving from further away.
"I'm too far. My Genjutsu doesn't reach that distance."
Kurenai frowned, frustrated.
No matter the type—Ninjutsu or Genjutsu—range limitations applied to all jutsu.
Their formation had been scattered.
Each group now fought in its own sector, separated by dozens—sometimes hundreds—of meters.
Rin, a non-combatant healer, had been forced further and further back just by trying to stay alive.
Kurenai suddenly thought to ask if Kiyohara could throw a shuriken far enough to help.
But when she turned, she noticed something… strange.
"Kiyohara?"
She blinked.
From a distance, it looked as if Kiyohara was… smoking.
"Are you okay, Kiyohara?"
Kurenai asked as she fended off a nearby Mist ninja.
"I'm fine.
In fact… I've never felt better."
Kiyohara drew his blade—and in one clean swing, decapitated a Chūnin who had charged too close.
Thump!
The severed head tumbled through the air.
His draw speed—his swing speed—had improved by leaps and bounds.
Kurenai's eyes widened.
Kiyohara suddenly seemed like someone who had been unlocked—as if someone had hit fast-forward.
'What jutsu did he just use…?'
But Kiyohara offered no explanation.
He simply turned his eyes toward Rin.
And took a single step.
Force always acts in pairs.
By gathering magnetic energy beneath his feet and repelling the earth below, what happened?
Magnet Kiyohara had already told him the answer.
The earth was immovable.
So when a massive force was pushed down into it, an equal and opposite force would push up—
Launching Kiyohara like a cannonball.
BOOM!
He rocketed through the battlefield like a bolt of lightning, streaking toward Rin.
"Huff… Huff…"
Rin weaved between the Mist shinobi crowding the forest.
Her breathing was ragged. Her vision blurry.
She was almost out of chakra—almost out of strength.
They were outnumbered at least two to one…
And thick, white fog was rolling toward them again.
Like a tidal wave, swallowing everything.
They couldn't hold much longer.
And Rin could tell—these Mist shinobi weren't trying to kill her quickly.
They were toying with her.
'They're using me as bait…'
If her teammates rushed in recklessly to save her, they'd expose themselves to deadly mistakes.
Once her protectors were dead, the healer would be easy prey.
Rin glanced toward Kakashi.
She could see him desperately trying to form seals.
Trying to activate [Chidori] and rush to her—
But he kept getting blocked.
The enemy was exhausting him.
"You're all getting tired, huh?"
sneered one of the Mist Jonin surrounding her.
He wielded two battered ninja blades.
His face was brutish, smeared with blood, and grinning cruelly.
Clearly, he'd just come from another battle.
He darted forward, slicing Rin's back with a blade.
Blood spattered out.
The wound wasn't deep—she barely managed to stop the bleeding with a medical jutsu.
"Disgusting Mist scum…"
Rin hissed, drawing a kunai.
The wound burned like fire.
And she could feel stone dust on the man's blade—likely remnants from striking against Earth Release walls.
That would make her injury even harder to heal.
But there was no time to worry about that.
Rin was ready to make her stand.
She would not… be a burden.
If she was going to die,
she'd at least go down fighting.
At that moment, from a nearby bush, a white head poked out.
White Zetsu.
He silently observed the battlefield, and instantly relayed the data through his mental network—
—to Madara Uchiha.
This was Zetsu's underground web.
Madara's greatest means of surveillance across the ninja world.
"Should I intervene?"
Zetsu asked.
Madara had repeatedly told him to monitor those around Obito.
They were all important pieces on the board.
If not for Obito, Madara wouldn't care about Kakashi, Rin…
Not even Kiyohara.
'Don't be hasty.'
Madara linked his vision to Zetsu's through a specialized jutsu.
Such jutsu weren't rare—like Rasa and Gaara's "Third Eye," which allowed them to observe the battlefield remotely.
"Something interesting is happening."
Despite his age, Madara's expression remained unmoved.
"Interesting… like what?"
Obito tilted his head in confusion.
He quickly checked the shared network of Zetsu for confirmation.
"Is that…
Kiyohara?"
Zetsu turned his eyes—just in time to see a figure tearing through the battlefield, kicking up a trail of smoke across hundreds of meters.
So fast.
The mist Jonin felt a tremor and turned—
only to be met by a rushing wind.
Years of combat instincts kicked in.
Without thinking, he melted into water, using:
Water Body Flicker!
He avoided the blow.
But that didn't mean his allies would.
Slash!
Kiyohara's blade—charged with blue lightning—sliced cleanly through another Mist ninja.
The crackling chakra flowed through the chakra-metal blade, making it sharper—more lethal.
Like a hot knife through butter,
half a body hit the ground with a dull thud.
"We're under attack—don't let your guard down!"
The jonin shouted from a safe distance, shocked.
He hadn't expected this kid's speed to be so extreme.
'A specialist in high-speed movement?
A Body Flicker-type ninja?'