Madara slowly withdrew his gaze and once again closed his eyes, continuing to receive the information being transmitted from White Zetsu.
By now, his aged body could only remain functioning so long as he stayed constantly connected to the Gedo Statue. Only through the statue's power could he maintain even the bare minimum of life.
Meanwhile, the battlefield had already descended into a state of intense chaos.
In a relatively safer corner, Rin stood ready, prepared at any moment to provide medical support.
While the two Hyūga shinobi were locked in battle with the approaching Mist shinobi, barely holding the line.
Genma continuously pulled out senbon needles from his pouch, enhancing them with ninjutsu before launching large-scale area attacks.
But his supply of tools was visibly dwindling with every passing minute.
Kurenai, who had only just managed to restrain an enemy long enough for Rin to finish him off, had more than half of her chakra depleted.
And this group of Mist shinobi… there were many of them—at least over a dozen.
Yet the most eye-catching clash on the field was unquestionably the battle between Kiyohara and Kirigakure's Ao.
From a short distance away, Mei stared at Kiyohara's figure with her emerald eyes wide open, rosy lips slightly parted in disbelief.
"Impossible… how can someone who is only a mere chūnin fight against Ao's kenjutsu on equal footing?"
She had thought Kiyohara was merely a handsome face with some tricks. Now she realized he was a true prodigy.
The copper-wire net trap he'd set earlier while she was distracted had been no coincidence at all.
At the same time, Hyūga Ginka and Hyūga Nobuhiko were desperately fighting the remaining Mist shinobi.
But without being able to activate their Byakugan, they were like eagles with blindfolds.
They could only rely on years of harsh training and muscle memory to use the Gentle Fist's most basic forms that did not require the Byakugan to execute.
Hyūga Ginka whirled her twin palms, weaving a dense curtain of palm-shadow before her.
Though she could not demonstrate the true power of her clan, she still formed an effective defensive barrier that stopped several Mist shinobi from rushing past.
'No… I can't let that white-haired brat find Ranmaru …'
Ao thought darkly. He had noticed Kakashi slipping away.
If Ranmaru was killed, the Red Eye's interference effect would vanish, and the two Hyūga shinobi would regain their Byakugan.
Once that happened, Ao would instantly be surrounded and attacked by three powerful opponents.
Defeat would be inevitable.
So, he pulled out a pitch-black pill from his chest—a forbidden, highly specialized soldier pill—and swallowed it.
A violent surge of chakra exploded within his body, his skin flushing an abnormal shade of red, blood vessels bulging under the surface.
"Get out of my way!"
With a low, guttural roar, he gathered all that raging chakra into his right leg and delivered a brutally simple yet terrifyingly powerful side kick at the charging Hyūga Nobuhiko.
Bang!
Nobuhiko did not anticipate the force behind the strike. His chest felt as though crushed by a falling boulder; the sound of cracking bones echoed sharply as he was hurled to the ground.
"Nobuhiko!"
Hyūga Ginka cried out in alarm.
Having gained the advantage, Ao did not let up. He formed hand seals at a speed even faster than before.
"Water Release: Violent Shock Wave!"
It wasn't a powerful offensive jutsu, but an enormous surge of water rushed forward like a tide, crashing toward Hyūga Ginka.
She managed to dodge only barely—yet the edge of the torrent still struck her, soaking her white shinobi uniform completely.
Cold water ran down her body, leaving her in a miserable state.
"Now!"
At that moment, as Ao exposed a tiny gap while attacking Ginka, Youth Kiyohara made his move.
Controlling Kiyohara's right arm, he slashed the shinobi blade through the mist, thrusting straight toward Ao's exposed side —a spot where his posture had momentarily frozen from casting jutsu!
Ao spun his blade to block, but the tip of Kiyohara's sword still sliced open a deep wound on his waist.
Splurt!
Pain stabbed through him. Ao grunted, face twisting.
He glared fiercely at Kiyohara, then cast a glance toward the anxious Mei and the staggering Hyūga Ginka.
In that instant, he made his decision.
The mission… had already failed.
He hadn't expected Kiyohara to be so troublesome. Continuing the battle would only lead to needless losses.
If not for Kiyohara's unpredictable interference, the Mist's strategy using the Red Eye would have disabled the two Hyūga, allowing them to cleanly wipe out the remaining Leaf shinobi.
But reality did not allow "if."
The only choice now was to preserve the future seeds of the Mist.
"Mei! Take Ranmaru and retreat! The rest of you, cover their withdrawal!"
Ao shouted in a low, forceful tone.
A flicker of pain passed through Mei's emerald eyes.
But she knew this was the optimal choice.
She bit down on her lower lip so hard she nearly drew blood.
"…We're leaving!"
She cast one final long look at Kiyohara, as though trying to burn into memory the face of the one who had ruined their plan.
Then she turned and bolted toward Ranmaru's hiding spot.
Hearing the order, the Mist shinobi exchanged bitter expressions—but still carried out their mission.
Shinobi were tools. Commands were absolute.
To openly defy the orders of a superior was to become a missing-nin—and a missing-nin had only one end.
Hyūga Ginka looked up just in time to see Kiyohara and Ao clashing as they moved deeper into the thick fog, both silhouettes racing at high speed toward the dense forest.
It was clear Kiyohara was deliberately drawing the strongest enemy away.
"He…"
Watching Kiyohara's back as he pulled Ao away, Ginka's emotions became complicated.
Was he… creating an opening for them to defeat the remaining Mist shinobi?
"Kiyohara!"
Rin also noticed Kiyohara luring Ao off on his own. She felt a surge of worry in her chest.
She didn't want to see him suffer the same fate as Obito.
…
Deep within the forest, in a relatively open stream valley—
The sound of rushing water masked fragments of their battle.
Ao suddenly leapt back several steps, widening the distance between them.
His single visible eye glared at Kiyohara while a twisted, vicious smile crept onto his face.
"Brat, you're strong. Strong enough that I had to rely on a forbidden drug.
But here… this will be your grave.
We're by the water. This is my domain!"
The moisture in the air surged as if answering him. Even the mist grew heavier and more saturated.
Kiyohara stood with his blade in hand, breathing slightly harder.
The relentless combat had strained both his mind and body to their limits.
Still, when he saw Ao's confident expression, he couldn't help but smile faintly.
"No. You're mistaken."
"Here… this place is my domain."
Because he could not explain the origin of Leaf-Style Willow, he had never allowed Youth Kiyohara to use the technique earlier.
With his current physical condition, he could release it—if he stopped holding back.
And now…
There was no longer any need to hide.
No need to worry about the eyes of his allies.
"Arrogant fool!"
Ao gathered all the temporary chakra the forbidden soldier pill had granted him and refined it into Water Release chakra.
In his right palm, a violently compressed vortex of water formed, spinning rapidly with a shrill buzz.
Within seconds, it shaped itself into a blade of high-speed rotating water sharp enough to slice through steel.
Water Release: Water Blade Technique!
He charged forward, water blade tearing through the air with murderous force, aiming to rip Kiyohara apart.
"…Your turn."
Kiyohara exhaled softly.
He could feel his body reaching its absolute peak of endurance.
"Understood."
Youth Kiyohara nodded and seized full control of the body.
Now, Kiyohara's entire being was in a state of spiritual possession.
He looked at Ao and tightened his grip on the blade.
"Though you are not at your peak, killing you will still soothe me."
Youth Kiyohara said with a faint smile through Kiyohara's lips.
He couldn't unleash his full strength either.
After all, this past version of his body lacked the physical foundation his future self possessed.
The fact that he could fight to this extent was already the limit.
Once they returned, he would probably need several days of rest.
Still—Ao was unsettled. Something about this "Kiyohara" now felt wrong.
Different.
'Peak? What does he mean? Has he seen me at my strongest?'
A cold unease crept up Ao's spine.
Then Youth Kiyohara raised the blade, channeling chakra into it.
'If I had this back then… I never would have lost.'
In the end, what defeated him was nothing but his own arrogance.
In the same instant, he swung the blade—
And met Ao's charging Water Fang Blade head-on.
Leaf-Style Kenjutsu: Willow.
The water blade passed straight through Kiyohara's body—
Yet it did not strike him.
Ao froze in shock.
Shunshin?
No…
Wrong.
As he spun around, he saw Kiyohara's figure flickering unpredictably.
The air around him shimmered with countless overlapping illusions of the shinobi blade—
His body drifting like a willow leaf dancing in the wind, impossible to track.
And then—
Ao's forward-charging posture suddenly halted.
A look of boundless shock and confusion spread across his face.
A thin line of blood quietly appeared across his neck.
'When…?'
He had never even seen the moment of the strike.
Ao opened his mouth, but the only sound that came out was a rasping choke.
(End of Chapter)