Kiyohara put away his kunai and extended a hand toward Obito, who was still lying on the ground.
"Looks like I won," Kiyohara said calmly.
Obito had the bloodline of the Uchiha clan, and Kiyohara had his own Last Will Letters of his future selves.
Everyone had a bright future ahead of them.
It was just that right now, Kiyohara held the slight advantage. In the future, his other selves in other timelines might hold far greater advantages.
As long as he randomly synchronized with a strong future self and completed that self's final wish, Kiyohara would soar dramatically.
Of course, the stronger the future self, the harder its final wish might be to fulfill.
Obito lay on the ground, staring at Kiyohara's outstretched hand. Then he glanced at Rin beside him, her face full of concern.
His face flushed instantly.
This was the shame of the Uchiha!
Fortunately, Obito had already become accustomed to finishing dead last.
At the Ninja Academy, he had long gotten used to losing to others.
During his very first Chūnin Exam attempt, he even lost to Might Guy.
After giving himself a full round of psychological self-comfort, Obito finally grabbed Kiyohara's hand, got up begrudgingly, and muttered under his breath:
"…Damn it… next time, I'm definitely going to win!"
Minato looked at Kiyohara, his eyes filled with even stronger appreciation. Smiling gently, he said:
"Very impressive tactics and shuriken skills, Kiyohara. Your combat ability far exceeds that of an ordinary Genin."
Speaking of this, even Minato felt a little curious as to why Kiyohara wasn't participating in the Chūnin Exams.
"With your strength, passing the Chūnin Exam should be quite easy."
"I've been busy with training, so I never went to take it." Kiyohara replied.
"I see."
Minato nodded slightly.
Right now, during wartime, promotions to Chūnin didn't necessarily have to follow the slow process used during peaceful periods.
If someone performed well enough, receiving early qualification to participate in the Chūnin selection wasn't impossible.
Otherwise, one could only wait for the scheduled annual exam.
"Kiyohara, if this mission succeeds, I will personally be your recommending jōnin for your Chūnin application."
Minato said.
As their squad leader, he understood very clearly how difficult this mission actually was.
Looking at his students, he felt a pang of guilt.
This wasn't the kind of mission they should be undertaking.
But Konoha had no choice.
The situation on the front lines had become dangerously unstable—Konoha was at the brink of life and death.
If they managed to cut off Iwagakure's supply line this time, it would give Konoha a huge advantage in the war.
Precisely because Iwagakure believed no one could possibly break through, the mission had to be given to a "normal" small squad.
Sending someone too strong would be immediately detected by Iwa's sensory ninjas, prompting them to send reinforcements.
"Yes."
Kiyohara nodded, indicating he understood.
After the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, if he became a Chūnin, his strength would likely see a huge spike.
His ability to survive the coming conflicts would increase greatly.
As long as he wasn't killed, he could inherit more talents from more versions of himself from different timelines.
Like a snowball rolling downhill, his power would grow, allowing him to face future crises with confidence—
The Nine-Tails Incident,
The Chūnin Exam Destruction Plan,
Pain's Assault on the Village,
The Ōtsutsuki threat…
At any of these points, if he were too weak, he would never make it through.
Soon, Minato left.
Their departure for the mission was scheduled three days later in the afternoon.
He was busy every day, handling countless matters.
After Minato left, Kakashi walked toward Kiyohara.
"You're not bad. Looks like you won't drag down the mission."
Kakashi said flatly.
Ever since his father died, he cared about only one thing—
following the shinobi code and completing the mission no matter what.
A ninja who couldn't complete the mission was trash.
With Kiyohara's current strength, he wouldn't drag the team down or reduce their chances of success.
"Mm." Kiyohara nodded.
This was Kakashi during his rigid, rule-obsessed phase—words wouldn't change him.
Experience would teach him, eventually.
Once the Kannabi Bridge events concluded, that would become the turning point in Kakashi's life.
Though in the original story, it was only a small ray of dawn before the darkness—since after he personally killed Rin, he became so broken he even thought about suicide.
Honestly, if Kakashi had been named Uchiha Kakashi instead of Hatake Kakashi, he might've been able to awaken his own Mangekyō by then.
That would have taken him to new heights instead of leaving him drained.
"Kakashi, want to train together?"
Rin asked softly.
A ninja couldn't grow complacent. They had to train constantly to prevent regression.
Falling into comfort even a little bit could lead to death during missions.
"No."
Kakashi replied tersely.
He preferred to train alone.
He had recently developed a powerful technique and intended to refine it before the mission.
'I remember Kakashi becomes a jōnin the day before the mission.' Kiyohara thought.
Kakashi's strength was essentially just that of a freshly promoted jōnin.
He was in an awkward state—
he hadn't inherited his father Sakumo's kenjutsu very well, and he wasn't handling Lightning Release perfectly either.
No matter how strong Chidori was, it had fatal flaws.
It required Sharingan-level dynamic vision to control.
That's why, in Boruto, after losing his Sharingan, Kakashi developed the jōnin-level Lightning Release technique Purple Lightning, which required no Sharingan.
When things got critical, Kiyohara figured he might need to let missing-nin Kiyohara possess Kakashi momentarily.
Though Kakashi would only just become a jōnin, the gap between jōnin was enormous.
Thirty years of training and combat experience was not something Kakashi could match.
"That's just how Kakashi is."
Obito folded his arms behind his head.
He didn't know that Kakashi's father had been slandered by his comrades and driven to suicide.
To him, Kakashi just seemed overly dramatic.
"I also think the last few days are better spent doing focused training individually."
Genma picked up the senbon he had dropped earlier, wiped it clean, and put it back into his mouth.
He had dropped it because he had been so shocked by Kiyohara's performance.
"That makes sense," Kiyohara agreed.
With three days left, missing-nin Kiyohara could still give him some advice to sharpen his skills.
After saying goodbye to the others, Kiyohara quickly headed home.
When he returned, he stared at the ninjutsu scroll in his hands and felt a headache coming on.
Sometimes, even with a teacher's explanation, you still had to repeatedly practice on your own.
It was very easy for your brain to "understand" while your hands couldn't execute.
The classic case of: Looks easy when you watch it; becomes garbage the moment you try.
And chakra capacity was also something that required long-term accumulation.
Unless he immediately completed the second final wish and fused with the missing-nin Kiyohara.
"By the way, do you know any quick ways to get stronger?"
Kiyohara asked.
Logically speaking, his future self—already a missing-nin nin in his thirties—should know plenty of shortcuts…
Not shady tricks, but fast, painless methods of growth.
"There is one—drugs."
Missing-nin Kiyohara replied.
How can you get stronger without drugs?
Hearing this, Kiyohara suddenly remembered—
during the three years Sasuke spent with Orochimaru, he also took plenty of forbidden medicines.
But Orochimaru cherished Sasuke's body, so the drugs caused no lasting harm.
At least they didn't make Sasuke's head grow pointy.
Though it probably affected his sex drive since he always left his wife.
(End of Chapter)