"Thank you, Rin."
Under Rin's guidance, Kiyohara, who had already nearly mastered the Detoxification Jutsu, successfully got it down.
"I didn't expect you to be interested in this sort of thing, Kiyohara."
Rin remarked in admiration.
Apart from Kiyohara, who had only recently begun training in medical ninjutsu, she was the only one here who knew medical techniques.
"By the way, did you also register as a medical ninja at Konoha Hospital?"
Rin asked.
"Actually, no."
Kiyohara shook his head. He explained that he'd learned his medical techniques from Lady Tsunade herself.
"Lady Tsunade!"
Rin let out a small gasp.
Any medical ninja would know about Tsunade.
Tsunade stood at the very pinnacle of the medical field and was someone Rin looked up to as a role model.
Seeing the worship in Rin's eyes, Kiyohara immediately realized she was one of those people who didn't know Tsunade's true nature.
After a moment's thought, Kiyohara decided not to tell Rin this harsh reality. No need to take the sparkle out of her optimism.
"By the way, Rin, which chakra points do you release your Detoxification Jutsu from?"
Kiyohara asked.
Controlling chakra to release it from specific chakra points wasn't actually easy.
Even jonin could only release chakra from their hands, feet, or certain parts of their body.
That's why you could see that the release points for most jutsu were either expelled from the mouth or released from the hands.
You rarely saw anyone release techniques from other body parts, like suddenly shooting a fireball from their forehead or knee...
The clan's Sharingan actually counted as an additional outlet for releasing jutsu.
Only ninja with the Byakugan could release chakra from all the chakra points throughout their entire body.
Techniques like Eight Trigrams: Palm Rotation, which released chakra from the entire body and had strong defensive power, were nearly impossible without the Byakugan.
For this reason, the Gentle Fist became the Hyuga clan's exclusive technique. Ninja without the Byakugan basically never used the Gentle Fist, only the Strong Fist.
"Um, there's these..."
Rin held out her hand, bringing it close to Kiyohara's face, telling him which chakra points she used to release it.
Kiyohara listened from the side, but just listening still left him a bit confused.
So he took hold of Rin's hand, then used his finger to touch her palm.
When Rin's hand was grabbed, a small flutter of panic crossed her mind.
Kakashi's still right here!
But watching Kiyohara, who remained focused on learning, Rin instantly realized she was overthinking it.
In a doctor's eyes, patients have no gender.
So when discussing medical ninjutsu, gender shouldn't matter either.
Rin suppressed the strange sensation of having her palm touched and continued her explanation.
"What are you two talking about over here?"
Seeing Rin talking with Kiyohara the whole time, Obito finally couldn't sit still. He ran over and butted in.
"We're discussing some academic matters. You wouldn't understand, Obito."
Rin shook her head gently, as if to signal that what she and Kiyohara were talking about was beyond Obito's comprehension.
"I… what do you mean I wouldn't understand?!"
Obito's displeasure was immediate.
What could Obito possibly not understand that Kiyohara could?
Once he awakened his Sharingan, wouldn't learning anything be a piece of cake?
"Huh?"
Only then did Obito notice that Rin, who had her back to him, still had her hand in Kiyohara's grasp.
"Rin, why is your hand in Kiyohara's hand?"
Obito's eyes widened.
"Obito, don't get the wrong idea about me and Rin. We're just studying medical ninjutsu."
Kiyohara explained that they were studying, so Obito shouldn't read too much into it.
Hearing this, Obito was somewhat incredulous.
What kind of medical ninjutsu required holding hands together?
His theoretical knowledge might be lacking, but he hadn't lost all common sense!
"Idiot, Kiyohara's examining Rin's chakra points."
Kakashi shook his head.
Obito was truly foolish. He had no idea how the elite-producing clan had produced such an oddball.
"That's right, Obito. What are you thinking?"
Yuhi Kurenai also looked puzzled.
Kiyohara had such an upright expression, how could he possibly be feeling up Rin's hand?
He was examining chakra points.
"Minato-sensei, I..."
Unable to judge the situation, Obito cast a pleading look at Namikaze Minato for help.
"Obito, they're right."
Namikaze Minato nodded.
Obito immediately began to doubt himself.
Could I really have gotten it wrong?
Obito thought to himself.
"All right, we need to keep moving."
After the brief rest, Namikaze Minato stood up.
Right now, every single minute and second was precious. They couldn't afford delays.
"Yes."
Everyone responded in unison and began gathering their things to set off.
Only Obito's response was somewhat distracted.
Rin's soft, delicate hand... even he had never held it.
And yet Kiyohara had beaten him to it.
The more Obito thought about it, the more frustrated he became.
It was like someone else getting on the bike you'd been saving just for yourself.
"I'll walk with you a bit further along the border, then I'll need to split off to carry out my mission.
I'm heading to the front lines for support. Kiyohara and Kakashi will each lead a squad.
Kiyohara, your squad is responsible for drawing the Iwagakure's attention. Kakashi, you'll continue advancing."
Namikaze Minato laid out the arrangements, restating them once more.
It just so happened that Kiyohara's sensing ability was even better than Kakashi's, which would allow them to detect the enemy's movements first and get the jump on them.
After disrupting the enemy, they could withdraw.
"Understood."
Kakashi responded.
Then everyone continued forward.
After walking for about half an hour, Kakashi suddenly stopped in his tracks, making hand signals to those behind him, signaling everyone not to approach.
Watching this scene unfold just like in the original story, Kiyohara knew they'd encountered the Iwagakure jonin Mahiru, who was stationed here on reconnaissance duty.
Mahiru specialized in kenjutsu, was very fast, and could also use the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Kiyohara analyzed Mahiru's intelligence.
"Mahiru, huh..."
Rogue Kiyohara looked at Mahiru up ahead, as if remembering something.
"What is it?"
Kiyohara looked at Rogue Kiyohara, mentally asking what was wrong.
"I've fought Mahiru before. In my timeline, he didn't die here. He managed to survive, but was eventually killed by me. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to extract his kenjutsu through interrogation."
Rogue Kiyohara said.
"I see."
Kiyohara nodded.
So the Iwagakure jonin Mahiru's kenjutsu, huh?
Kiyohara didn't have much interest in training in kenjutsu right now.
Even with Rogue Kiyohara's guidance, it would still be a long-term process.
For the current Kiyohara, the return on investment was far less than training in ninjutsu or practicing shuriken throwing.
"So two of them noticed me. Not bad."
Hiding behind a tree, Mahiru sensed that two ninja had already adjusted their breathing to a steady state.
This was a signal they were preparing for combat.
So Mahiru snuck a glance back.
One was a handsome black-haired youth, the other a white-haired youth with a short blade on his back.
"That person is... it can't be..."
Mahiru suddenly looked toward their leading jonin, cold sweat running down his cheek.