A few days passed in a flash. The day of departure arrived.
After days of tinkering, Missing-nin Kiyohara had finished processing the ingredients. He sealed a murky brown liquid into small, transparent plastic pouches.
Kiyohara looked at the bags. They looked suspiciously like unrefined herbal sludge.
"Drink this. It will forcibly stimulate your physical energy, which will, in turn, force your spiritual energy to rise to match it," the spirit explained. "Conservatively estimated? It will double your current Chakra reserves."
"Double?" Kiyohara's eyes lit up. "That's more than enough."
If the basic stats are low, increasing them is the simplest path to victory.
This way, even though his rank was only Genin, his Chakra volume would rival a seasoned Chunin.
'As long as there's enough Chakra, forget about technique; I can just use brute force,' Kiyohara thought.
He recalled the future Seventh Hokage.
Naruto's combat style was essentially a math equation: Sage Body + Tailed Beast Chakra + Sage Mode + Six Paths Power.
With that combination, he didn't need a thousand jutsu. He just needed to spam Rasengan until the enemy stopped moving.
"I remember Takigakure has a forbidden drug called Hero Water," Kiyohara mused. "Drinking it increases Chakra tenfold."
"It's good stuff," the Missing-nin agreed. "But the cost is your life force. You'd die young. Besides, Takigakure is guarded by the Seven-Tails. Do you think you can steal from a Tailed Beast?"
Kiyohara shook his head. "My strength is insufficient."
Even Kage-level shinobi wouldn't dare claim certainty against a Tailed Beast. A single Tailed Beast Ball could reshape a map. That was why Hashirama Senju had distributed them as weapons of war, hoping for a balance of power.
But just like Hashirama's dream of peace, the balance was fragile. As soon as the God of Shinobi died, the wars started again.
"Indeed." Kiyohara sighed. He was getting ahead of himself.
"Bottoms up."
Kiyohara used a Kunai to slit the corner of the plastic bag and downed the liquid in one gulp.
Bitter!
It tasted like battery acid mixed with dirt.
Then came the pain.
A throbbing headache assaulted him, as if his skull was being split open by an axe.
"You said it would cause a headache," Kiyohara gritted out, clutching his temples and squatting down. "You didn't say it would feel like a genjutsu torture session!"
"The headache is your brain adjusting to the surge," the spirit said calmly. "This drug utilizes the principles of Yang Release. It overclocks your cells. Your physical energy is skyrocketing, and your spiritual energy is struggling to keep up."
Sure enough, after the initial spike of pain, a warm sensation flooded his limbs. It felt like soaking in a hot spring after a week of winter training.
Once the side effects settled, Kiyohara clenched his fist.
The pathways in his arms hummed with energy.
New power.
He stepped into the courtyard. He formed the seals.
Dog. Horse. Bird.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
He didn't hold back. He exhaled a violent gust of wind.
BOOM!
The gale slammed into the courtyard wall. The gravel on the ground was pulverized into dust, and the stone wall didn't just crack—a section of it collapsed entirely, leaving a gaping hole.
"Indeed," Kiyohara noted, staring at the destruction. "Output equals power."
It was just like Madara Uchiha. During the Fourth War, it took an entire squad of Kiri-nin using Water Wall just to dampen one of Madara's Fire techniques.
"Hiss..."
Kiyohara winced, clutching his head again. A sharp, lingering throb pulsed behind his eyes.
"If I take this again in three months, will it stack?"
"No," the Missing-nin said. "There is no such thing as a free lunch. This drug stimulates dormant potential. Once that potential is unlocked, drinking more is just drinking poison."
"One shot deal, huh..."
Kiyohara picked up a large rock to patch the hole in his wall.
"Then next is training Ninjutsu."
He planned to learn another Lightning Release technique.
Among the five elemental natures, Lightning had the highest late-game potential. Why? Because in the future, enemies like the Ōtsutsuki or Ten-Tails Jinchūriki could absorb Ninjutsu.
Fire, Water, and Wind were useless if they were absorbed.
But Lightning Release could be used to stimulate the nervous system—like the Lightning Release Chakra Mode. It enhanced Taijutsu and speed. You can't absorb a fist moving at the speed of sound.
"I'll start with this one."
Kiyohara looked at the scroll.
Lightning Release: Earth Flash (Raiton: Jibashi).
This technique released a cluster of erratic lightning currents that traveled along the ground.
The terrain around Kannabi Bridge was a series of narrow valleys and forests. In such confined spaces, a ground-based area-of-effect attack would be nearly impossible to dodge.
The Next Day.
Kiyohara put on his newly purchased chain-mesh armor, threw his standard blue jacket over it, and shouldered his marching pack.
He arrived at the meeting point near the village gates.
"Obito is late again."
When Kiyohara arrived, Kakashi was already complaining, his arms crossed and his foot tapping impatiently.
"He's probably off helping some old lady cross the street again," Genma joked, shifting the senbon in his mouth. He knew Obito from the Academy; the Uchiha's tardiness was legendary.
"Where's Kurenai?" Kiyohara asked.
"Checking supplies with the logistics officer," Genma pointed toward the gatehouse.
"Kiyohara, Rin," Minato Namikaze said, his voice calm despite the delay. "I'll trouble you two to go find Obito."
Minato purposely didn't send Kakashi. The two boys would just argue, and he wanted the team's morale high before they stepped into hell.
"Yes, Minato-sensei," Rin nodded brightly.
"Understood."
Kiyohara had no objections. He had never been to the Uchiha District before.
(Note: At this point in the timeline, the Uchiha still lived in the village center, not the isolated outskirts they were forced into after the Nine-Tails attack.)
He recalled a specific scene from the anime filler—Obito kissing a photo of Rin, only to be caught by Kakashi. He wondered if history would repeat itself today.
"Let's go, Rin."
"Right behind you!"
Rin trotted to catch up with him.
Meanwhile, in his room, Obito Uchiha was utterly lost in thought.
Today was the day. The big mission. The day he would prove himself.
He sat on his bed, holding a framed photograph of Team Minato.
His eyes lingered on Rin's smiling face.
Then they drifted to Kakashi, and he scowled.
Then back to Rin.
He checked the clock.
'Oh crap! I'm late!'
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