"You… you weren't caught in my genjutsu?"
The Chūnin Iwa-nin stared at Kiyohara in disbelief.
He repeatedly confirmed to himself that he had already injected Yin Release chakra into Kiyohara's body, ensuring the genjutsu had taken effect.
How could he still be standing there like nothing happened?
Instantly dispelled?
No… he hadn't seen Kiyohara make any counter-seal or struggle. His chakra flow hadn't fluctuated at all.
"There are many things you wouldn't understand."
Missing-nin Kiyohara, now controlling Kiyohara's body, smiled faintly.
In the very next moment, he drew a kunai from his ninja pouch and rushed toward the Iwa Chūnin.
His speed was too fast—so fast that the Chūnin had no time to react before collapsing with a thud.
A thin line of blood opened across his neck, and he stared at Kiyohara with wide, frozen eyes.
Even as death closed in, he couldn't understand why someone dressed in a Genin's attire could one-shot a fully trained Chūnin like him.
Could he be… a Jōnin disguising himself to bait enemies?
Unfortunately for him, he didn't have time to ponder it further.
With too much blood spilling out, darkness swallowed his vision, and he lay still forever.
Shunshin no Jutsu!
"So fast… that was the Body Flicker…"
Kurenai watched as Kiyohara seemingly vanished and reappeared in an instant. She knew it wasn't teleportation—it was simply that his speed was so overwhelming it created an optical illusion.
"Kurenai, use whatever genjutsu you have left to restrain the other Chūnin."
Kiyohara regained control of his own body, crouched down, and dragged the corpse into the nearby bushes.
There was still one more Iwa Chūnin guarding another part of the outpost.
Before the scent of blood drifted that way, they needed to eliminate him as well.
That way, even if the two remaining Genin noticed something wrong, dealing with them would become much easier.
"Alright."
Kurenai nodded and quietly followed behind him.
Because they had dealt with the first Chūnin so swiftly, the second one still hadn't sensed a thing.
By the time he noticed something, he saw a dark-haired woman with slightly curled hair—using a genjutsu at him.
"Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique!"
Kurenai formed a series of hand seals, unleashing her signature genjutsu.
"AAAAAAH!!"
The Iwa Chūnin with the scarred face let out a scream filled with terror as horrifying illusions burst into his vision.
He saw his friend lying dead in front of him—yet he stood powerless, unable to stop it.
He could do nothing. Change nothing.
Losing his best friend… losing that bond…
That day had been his life's deepest wound.
"He's trapped in the genjutsu now," Kurenai exhaled.
The genjutsu Hell Viewing Technique forced a victim to relive their deepest fear, driving them into a state of emotional collapse until they froze on the spot.
Staring at the Chūnin trembling in horror, Kiyohara threw a shuriken without hesitation.
Slice.
The shuriken sliced clean through his throat, spraying blood into the air.
When a person is killed… they die.
If Kiyohara didn't kill these enemies, they would eventually kill him instead.
After all, these people were planning to march straight through the Land of Grass and invade the Land of Fire.
To put it bluntly, they were invaders.
Kiyohara didn't hesitate at all.
After living so long in the shinobi world, he had adapted to this kind of atmosphere.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Captain Mitsuhiko and Captain Dachi are dead!"
The two remaining Genin finally discovered Kiyohara and Kurenai.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spear!"
One Iwa Genin quickly formed hand seals.
The ground beneath him swirled like mud, shaping into a long spear that shot toward Kiyohara.
The Genin on the right mirrored the technique.
Two earth spears surged forward at high speed.
"Lightning Release: Earth Walk!"
Kiyohara formed hand seals, and a wave of pale blue lightning exploded across the ground.
Crackle!!
The lightning arcs easily shattered the two earth spears.
"Damn it… he's a Lightning Release user."
Otokawa Teruya's expression darkened.
Chakra natures had a system of strengths and weaknesses—
and Earth Release was naturally weak against Lightning Release!
Facing Kiyohara, they were already at a disadvantage.
"Demonic—!"
Kurenai seized the opening and began preparing another genjutsu—
"Retreat!"
Otokawa shouted to his companion.
Without another word, the two Genin turned and bolted deep into the bamboo forest, fleeing with all their might.
"Kurenai, don't chase them."
Kiyohara stopped her before she could release her jutsu.
"Shouldn't we finish them off, Kiyohara?"
Kurenai looked confused.
Kiyohara still had chakra to spare—she could feel it.
Why didn't he attack?
Why stop her from attacking?
"Our goal is to draw the attention of Iwagakure's forces, not to wipe them out."
Kiyohara explained calmly.
Even if they killed one or two more, it wouldn't change the overall situation here.
It was better to let those Genin report back.
The more attention the Iwa forces directed toward them, the better their squad would fulfill their mission.
And with missing-nin Kiyohara around, Kiyohara wasn't afraid of ambushes.
He finally understood just how terrifying Kato Dan's Spiritual Transformation Technique really was.
Enemies couldn't see where the spirit emerged from, nor how it possessed a body to kill. It was a perfect technique for gathering intelligence and assassinations.
Its only weakness was that while the spirit left the body, the user's flesh was defenseless.
But Kiyohara didn't have that weakness.
Missing-nin Kiyohara could wander freely, and nothing would happen to Kiyohara's physical body.
"I see," Kurenai nodded.
So that was why.
As expected of the squad leader—even during battle, he didn't let anger cloud his judgment.
He acted decisively and stopped when necessary.
"Alright, time to split the loot—oh wait, I mean, let's check the supplies."
Kiyohara said.
This outpost stored some of Iwagakure's supplies—mainly food.
Those, they couldn't take.
Sealing scrolls had limited capacity; there was no way to store all the food.
But ninja tools and armor?
Those didn't take up much space and could easily be sealed and carried.
Not long after, Genma, who had been guarding outside, noticed the enemy fleeing straight past the other direction instead of toward his position.
"Come on out, Genma," Kiyohara called while lifting his shirt to pull out a sealing scroll.
I only had you guard in case the chūnin survived and escaped. Now that the two genin have fled, it doesn't matter,"
He opened the scroll and began placing items inside.
"Don't be polite— take some for yourself,"
"Uh…"
Only then did Genma finally understand—
Kiyohara had intended from the start for him to deal with the chūnin!
…
"Kiyohara, you actually brought a sealing scroll?"
Kurenai asked curiously.
It wasn't common for a shinobi to carry sealing scrolls.
A normal ninja pouch was usually enough for everyday use.
Carrying a sealing scroll would reduce mobility to some degree.
After all, both the mesh armor worn inside the uniform and the flak jackets worn outside were designed for light movement, not heavy armor like the Warring States era.
"If I don't bring a sealing scroll, wouldn't all this go to waste?"
Kiyohara replied matter-of-factly.
He still had a large debt hanging over him.
A total of 700,000 ryō—
100,000 had been given to Tsunade.
The remaining 600,000 had mostly been spent on medical herbs.
The rest had gone into buying essential ninja tools, materials for making forbidden medicines, and this sealing scroll.
(End of Chapter)