Kiyohara looked at the shinobi blade floating quietly in midair and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
What should he call this technique?
Or rather, aside from controlling a shinobi blade, perhaps he could try other things as well.
With that thought, he withdrew the magnetic force surrounding the blade, and the shinobi sword dropped neatly back into his hand.
"Sure enough, a streamlined blade doesn't actually experience that much air resistance, but it's still not the optimal flying shape. If the goal is purely flight speed and stability, then a shuttle-shaped throwing blade or a ring-shaped form would be far more in line with aerodynamics. Ring-shaped structures are especially stable and easy to control in terms of rotation and balance."
As for the shinobi blade's current form—
Kiyohara weighed the long sword in his hand.
He quickly dismissed the idea of modifying the weapon right away.
"At this stage, I'm just verifying a concept. Using an existing shinobi blade is more practical. Besides, the blade's slashing function is still extremely important in close combat—I can't sacrifice that purely for flight."
Kiyohara thought quietly to himself.
Perhaps he could specifically forge a set of shinobi tools designed for magnetic manipulation—lighter, more streamlined flying blades?
With that idea in mind, Kiyohara took out several shuriken from his shinobi tool pouch.
He constructed a ring-shaped magnetic field around a shuriken, one capable of rotating at high speed.
This rotating magnetic field would interact with the magnetism Kiyohara infused into the shuriken itself. Based on the inherited experience within his memories, Kiyohara knew that this would generate a propulsive force perpendicular to both the plane of magnetic field rotation and the direction of magnetization.
By altering the axis and rotation speed of the magnetic field, he could control the shuriken's flight direction and velocity.
The plan sounded somewhat unreliable, but at its core, it was still achieved through chakra.
And all of it was based on the practical experience left behind by Magnet Release Kiyohara.
Soon after, the shuriken began to rise from Kiyohara's hand, hovering in the air.
Because the shuriken was far smaller and lighter than a shinobi blade, controlling it was comparatively smooth.
Forward—
Tilt left—
Accelerate—
Several shuriken traced crooked, uneven paths through the air, sometimes surging forward, sometimes pulling back, and sometimes spinning chaotically like headless flies.
On several occasions, the shuriken nearly slipped out of control, slicing past Kiyohara's body with a sharp whistle and making cold sweat break out across his back.
The level of fine chakra control and mental focus required was far higher than that needed for the one-time, single-direction acceleration used when controlling iron sand coins.
Yet the light in Kiyohara's eyes only grew brighter.
Failure was expected. Every attempt gave him a little more familiarity with the microscopic control of magnetic force.
It wasn't until the sky began to darken that Kiyohara finally stopped training.
He decided to name this still-immature, far-from-complete technique "Magnet Release: Object Manipulation."
"Rasa and Gaara probably fight like this too."
Thinking of how they casually controlled vast, ocean-like swaths of gold dust and iron sand, Kiyohara couldn't help but feel a surge of anticipation.
Maybe he could even earn a nickname like "Metal Sand Kiyohara"—only instead of sand, he would be controlling iron sand and gold dust.
Of course, at this stage, he still had a long way to go before he could fight as effortlessly and freely as Orochimaru did when controlling swords to kill enemies.
Many of Kiyohara's techniques could only remain at the conceptual stage for now.
Chakra control ability and chakra reserves were two massive mountains that could not be ignored.
"I knew you'd be training here."
Kurenai appeared from who-knows-where, one hand on her hip, wearing an expression that said she had seen through everything long ago.
"No wonder you always come up with new tricks. So you really do see the shinobi world at four in the morning every day!"
Kurenai had thought Kiyohara was only half-joking last time.
But now, it seemed he really hadn't been speaking casually at all.
Already a genius by nature, and now working this hard too?
"Of course. All my strength comes entirely from hard work."
Just with a little help from his future self as well.
Naturally, Kiyohara didn't say that last part out loud and chose to keep it to himself.
During this period, aside from carrying out necessary missions, he had been squeezing out every bit of time he could to train.
On one hand, it was to grow stronger as quickly as possible. On the other, it was to wait for the next opening of the "Last Will."
There were still half a month left before the "Last Will" activated again—he needed to endure these two weeks.
"From now on, when you train, you have to call me along. No more secretly grinding alone. If we're going to grind, we grind together."
Kurenai huffed.
She was already imagining the dumbfounded expression on Genma's face when he was left far behind by the two of them.
So this was the feeling of quietly getting rich?
From today onward, Kurenai was going to work hard too!
"Alright, I'll call you next time."
Kiyohara agreed to her suggestion.
Training together with Kurenai wasn't a problem anyway. Having a beautiful girl practicing nearby was easy on the eyes and naturally lifted his mood.
That said, when it came to certain secretive forms of training, Kiyohara wouldn't call Kurenai—those he would practice quietly on his own.
What needed to be hidden still had to be hidden.
For example, "Leaf Style: Willow" was not something that could be brought into the open.
"Only next time?"
Kurenai leaned closer to Kiyohara, lifting her gaze to look at him.
"I'm planning to go back and rest," Kiyohara said.
Synthesizing chakra consumed physical stamina. Once stamina was depleted, rest was necessary.
Training emphasized balance between work and rest. Only those with naturally tough bodies like Might Duy, his son Might Guy, or Rock Lee could recover so quickly.
"T-That's… fine, then."
Seeing the sweat on Kiyohara's forehead and the damp strands of hair clinging to his face, Kurenai could only nod.
That annoying guy… even soaked in sweat, he still looked pretty good.
Her thoughts drifted in all kinds of messy directions.
Just as she and Kiyohara were walking back together and had gone about halfway, a voice sounded from the distance.
A delinquent-looking youth dressed in a stylish jacket walked over.
One hand was in his pocket, and as he walked, he flicked his hair aside, something clenched between his lips just like Genma.
It was none other than Sarutobi Asuma.
Kiyohara took a closer look and realized that what Asuma had in his mouth was the plastic stick of a lollipop.
At this point in time, he probably hadn't yet become a heavy smoker like his father, Hiruzen.
"Asuma, what are you doing here?" Kurenai asked curiously.
"My mission route passes through here, so I stopped by," Asuma replied.
Even as the Hokage's son, he still had to carry out missions.
At most, he didn't have to take on particularly dangerous ones.
After all, his mother, Sarutobi Biwako, could easily secure her son a safe assignment with a single communication ninjutsu from the rear.
Facing the Hokage's wife and the head of Konoha Hospital, the subordinate shinobi naturally didn't dare say much.
What—go complain to the Hokage?
"Kurenai, did you just finish training and head back?"
His expression looked calm and composed.
In reality, his heart was already filled with a sense of crisis.
He wasn't worried about Genma lingering around Kurenai.
But he absolutely could not tolerate someone more handsome than himself appearing!
Ever since their days at the Shinobi Academy, he had harbored feelings for Kurenai, secretly regarding her as the love of his life and planning to pursue her with all his might.
(End of Chapter)