Originally, someone as minor as Kiyohara wouldn't have even registered in his eyes.
But now was a critical time, and his body no longer allowed him the luxury of dragging things out.
He had to decide on the executor of the Eye of the Moon Plan as soon as possible. Only then could he peacefully pull the plug, go to sleep, and wait to awaken again as the "savior" of the world.
"Hashirama, I'll prove everything. I will make it… to the other side."
Uchiha Madara spoke slowly into the empty, pitch-black cavern.
His hand moved unconsciously to his chest.
There, sealed within him, was a piece of Hashirama's flesh and blood, and it was only thanks to that that he'd awakened the Rinnegan and put so many plans in motion.
...
Just as Kiyohara was "pretending" to sense the distance ahead, Rogue Kiyohara's spirit floated back.
His expression was grave.
"What's wrong?" Kiyohara asked quickly.
Don't scare me like that.
Were they already surrounded by Iwa troops?
Was there still time to write a will?
"Up ahead is where Rin gets captured. Obito's almost there," Rogue Kiyohara said.
Without realizing it, they'd already reached the vicinity of Kannabi Bridge.
This area was now the thinnest in terms of forces.
Clearly Minato had already hit the front line hard, causing serious trouble for Iwa's main force. Iwa had pulled troops from here to reinforce, leaving this sector hollow.
"I see," Kiyohara nodded.
He understood the subtext in Rogue Kiyohara's words.
Once Obito arrived, Kakashi—after a bout of inner conflict—would follow. Kakashi's left eye would be cut out here, and Obito would be crushed under that giant boulder.
This would be the closest Madara ever came to personally watching this place.
Even though he couldn't sense anything concrete, Kiyohara was sure White Zetsu was lurking nearby.
White Zetsu had Mayfly Technique, able to freely melt into earth and stone—basically impossible to guard against.
"I don't have a bloodline. I shouldn't interest Madara much—at most he'll see me as a potential factor that complicates things, or as a trigger that might help push Obito over the edge," Kiyohara thought.
Madara's plan was to have Rin turned into a jinchūriki and forced into a situation where she and Kakashi would have to kill each other, driving Obito into absolute despair and pulling the darkness out of his heart.
He just hadn't expected Rin to choose suicide instead—which, ironically, pushed Obito even deeper into the abyss.
"Good thing I brawled with Obito before we left. Hopefully that keeps me off the sacrifice list," Kiyohara thought.
If Kakashi and Rin both died and Obito still didn't snap, Kiyohara suspected Madara would just keep killing everyone around Obito until he broke.
He really didn't want Obito turning toward him with a, "Rise, my beloved," moment.
Obito hadn't even thought about reviving his grandma. All he wanted was to live as Hokage with Rin in an Infinite Tsukuyomi dreamworld.
Peak romance-brain, basically.
"They're not going to be easy to handle. When it counts, make sure you possess me," Kiyohara said.
He was buying himself a second layer of insurance.
Iwa jōnin Taiseki could go invisible—Kiyohara might not react in time on his own.
"You could also not go," Rogue Kiyohara said.
There was another option: Kiyohara could just wait where he was and let the whole thing play out.
"If I don't go, who knows what the butterfly effect will do? The bridge has to be destroyed. I need the credit," Kiyohara replied.
One look at Rogue Kiyohara's fading spirit told him there wasn't much time left.
Who knew when the next Willbook would arrive—or what version of himself it would contain? If he got a weaker future, like "Civilian Kiyohara" or "Chef Kiyohara," he'd have wasted a prime chance to power up.
He needed to rack up achievements fast, earn the chūnin title, and receive the rest of Rogue Kiyohara's talent.
Then his Wind and Lightning training would skyrocket.
One person plus one person—stacked talent was terrifying.
It wasn't just 1+1=2; it could trigger a "chemical reaction" that made the whole even stronger.
"Alright. I'll help when it matters," Rogue Kiyohara said with a nod.
He wanted his past self to fulfill his last wishes; helping Kiyohara was helping himself.
"So how far can you go when you take over?" Kiyohara asked, curious.
Rogue Kiyohara had possessed him several times, but Kiyohara still didn't know how much power he could really draw out. Technique was one thing—but his "hardware" was still only chūnin level.
"It's fine. I can pull out your full physical potential," Rogue Kiyohara explained.
Human bodies are incredibly powerful, but for self-preservation, the brain puts safety locks on them. Rogue Kiyohara was essentially a second engine overlaying Kiyohara's own, able to bypass those limits and crank the output to max.
"So basically like the Eight Inner Gates?" Kiyohara said, understanding the gist.
The Eight Gates worked on the same principle—removing the brain's limiter so you could use one hundred percent of your body's capacity, overclocking your physical potential at the cost of damage.
"So if I learned the Eight Gates, you could force them open?" Kiyohara asked.
"In theory, yeah. You wouldn't even have to know it—if I knew it, I could use it. But I don't," Rogue Kiyohara said.
The Eight Gates were borderline forbidden arts. The technique almost never leaked. Even Shennong of the Sky Country had only managed to learn fragments.
As someone who'd run with Orochimaru, Rogue Kiyohara had never had a chance to learn it. Orochimaru didn't care about taijutsu; he only cared about swapping into bloodline-rich bodies and living forever.
"Okay."
Kiyohara nodded.
Now he felt more secure.
Everyone inside was "just" jōnin, after all.
Worst-case scenario, he'd yell, "Future me, save me!"
"Let's get moving—and keep it quiet," he told Kurenai and Genma.
This time, they had three people backing up Obito and Kakashi—their safety margin was a lot higher.
...
"Kakashi! Obito!"
Rin saw them rushing in.
Their arrival disrupted the genjutsu shrouding her; it flickered and faded for a moment.
"These brats are yours. I'll keep the illusion up," Kakko said to Taiseki.
Taiseki nodded slightly and melted back into the shadows.
"Damn it, he vanished again," Kakashi said, face darkening. Obito's expression was just as grim.
This guy's ability was infuriating.
"Just two brats," Taiseki muttered, drawing a kunai, his movements completely silent as he slipped around behind them.
"Kakashi!" Rin cried out anxiously.
And at that moment, an explosion thundered from outside the cave.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A violent gust blasted into the cavern. Dust and grit swirled through the air and clung to Taiseki's body, outlining his hidden form.
Kiyohara, reporting for duty.
~~~
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