Half an hour later, everything they could carry had been sealed into scrolls.
The rest was quickly destroyed completely.
Destroying it was to keep the enemy from recovering whatever supplies remained—an extremely common tactic in war.
A roaring blaze ignited on the snowy mountain, thick smoke rising into the pale sky, glaringly conspicuous.
"Withdraw," Minato Namikaze ordered.
The squad left the scene at once and headed back toward Konoha's defensive line.
…
At the same time, Kumogakure's forward main camp.
It was a massive encampment built into the mountain terrain—wooden watchtowers stood everywhere, and flags bearing the Cloud symbol snapped violently in the freezing wind.
From the largest tent at the center came the dull, heavy sound of impacts.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Two powerfully built, dark-skinned men were sparring bare-chested like iron towers. Every collision produced a deep boom that made the tent itself tremble.
The Fourth Raikage, A, was trading taijutsu blows with his sworn brother, Killer B.
The Raikage's strikes were fierce and domineering, but with the Eight-Tails' power, B was actually stronger in raw force.
No wonder the exchange looked and sounded so overwhelming.
Outside, Kumo shinobi hauled supplies and reinforced defenses, all while shooting worshipful glances toward the tent.
"Raikage-sama and Bee-sama are sparring again."
"I heard their coordination's gotten even better lately—'Liger Bomb' hits harder than ever."
"Once they're fully synced, we'll make those Konoha bastards taste it!"
They spoke in low voices, eyes burning with hunger for victory.
The Land of Lightning was mountainous and poor, with harsh weather—while the Land of Fire was fertile and comfortable.
That natural gap only made them crave invading Land of Fire more.
Then, commotion broke out at the camp entrance.
A Kumo ninja stumbled toward the central tent, face deathly pale. He didn't even have time to salute before bursting inside.
"Raikage-sama, something's wrong!"
The Fourth Raikage pulled back a punch that was about to land on B and frowned at the newcomer.
"Stop panicking. What happened?"
"T-Toroi-sama…" the messenger wheezed. "He… he's fallen!"
The air inside the tent went dead silent.
Hearing that, lightning flickered faintly over A's body as he clenched his massive fist.
"What did you say? Say it again."
"Toroi-sama died on the mission—killed on the spot!"
"Impossible!"
Several Kumo shinobi immediately protested.
"Toroi was a Magnet Release jōnin. Even if he ran into a monster, he should've been able to retreat. Who did it—the Yellow Flash? Or Wicked-Eye Fugaku?"
If it was either of those two, Toroi being doomed made sense.
"N-no… According to Yugito-sam, the one who killed Toroi-sama was… a Konoha ninja named Kiyohara."
The messenger—Kono, reporting what he knew—forced the words out.
"Kiyohara?"
The Fourth Raikage already had a bad temper. Hearing that Konoha's so-called Magnet Release user had killed Kumo's Magnet Release user made his rage explode.
To him, Konoha's "Magnet Release" was a cheap imitation—how could it compare to theirs?
Beside him, Killer B dropped his usual carefree vibe. Behind his sunglasses, his eyes narrowed.
He'd been about to rap something on the spot—
but clearly, this wasn't the time.
"You're sure?" A demanded.
"It's true. I saw it myself…"
Kono swallowed hard.
"That Kiyohara broke through Toroi-sama's defense in a single move—he kicked straight through and shattered his heart."
The tent fell into a graveyard silence.
A's fist cracked with tension, veins bulging on his forehead.
Toroi wasn't just important combat power—he was A's subordinate, his fellow villager!
Killer B spoke up.
"Big bro. Calm down."
At that moment, the tent flap lifted and Yugito walked in.
"Raikage-sama."
"Yugito—what happened? Explain," A asked, forcing down his fury.
Yugito took a deep breath and recounted the battle in detail.
When she described how Kiyohara had used Sharingan and Magnet Release together and killed Toroi with one kick, both A and B grew grim.
They'd already heard rumors that Kiyohara possessed two bloodline limits, but that rate of growth still surprised them.
The Fourth Raikage strode to the map hanging at the center of the tent, eyes locking on the border region between the Land of Iron and the Land of Fire.
"Kiyohara…"
He recalled the intel reports.
"Konoha's newly risen genius—good with swordsmanship, knows medical ninjutsu, became Tsunade's student, and supposedly has Uchiha blood."
"Big bro," Killer B said seriously, "we have to treat that kid as a real threat."
"If he's allowed to grow," Yugito added, "he'll become a major disaster for Kumo."
He might end up as another Minato Namikaze.
The Fourth Raikage nodded, then turned and barked an order to a nearby shinobi.
"Send word to Intelligence immediately. I want everything on Kiyohara—origin, mentors, abilities, habits in battle, relationships. All of it."
"Yes!"
The shinobi rushed out.
A's gaze returned to the map.
That rich, fertile Land of Fire… it always seemed to breed one prodigy after another.
"Konoha… really does keep producing talent."
…
A week later, the snow at the Land of Iron border grew heavier.
In Konoha's frontline medical camp, inside the field operating theater—
A temporary surgical zone made by joining three huge tents. It was packed with wounded, and medical teams worked in shifts without pause.
The stench of blood mixed with disinfectant made it hard to breathe.
"Gauze—now!"
"Clamp! Damn it, the vessel's ruptured too badly!"
"Blood pressure's dropping—prepare transfusion!"
Shouts, clattering instruments, and wounded groans collided into the camp's constant soundtrack.
The lead surgeon, Yukiharu, a strict female jōnin in her thirties, was drenched in sweat.
Her patient was in horrific condition—shrapnel from an explosive tag had torn through the abdomen. At least a dozen organ perforations. Large and small intestines severed. Spleen ruptured.
Worse, a chunk of stone was lodged near the abdominal aorta. One wrong move and he'd bleed out instantly.
"Yukiharu-sama, his pulse is weakening!" an assistant cried, panic rising.
"I know—shut up and stay calm!" Yukiharu snapped.
But her hands trembled slightly.
She'd been operating nonstop. Her concentration and chakra were running dry.
Just then, the tent flap lifted and Kiyohara and Rin stepped inside.
"How bad?" Kiyohara scanned the area.
"Kiyohara-taichō!" A young medic looked like he'd seen salvation.
"Yukiharu-sama's case is terrible—there's foreign matter near the abdominal aorta, and any second—"
Kiyohara didn't let him finish. He strode straight to Yukiharu's table.
"Yukiharu-senpai. Let me take a look."
Yukiharu looked up. Seeing Kiyohara, something complicated flickered in her eyes.
On one hand—he was Tsunade-sama's student.
On the other—he was still a teenager. Letting a kid take over a surgery like this…
But the patient's vitals were crashing, and Yukiharu herself was running on fumes.
She clenched her jaw.
"Fine. It's yours. Rin—assist Kiyohara!"
"Yes!"
Rin stepped in immediately at his side, smoothly pulling on fresh sterile gloves.
Kiyohara stood over the table, eyes on the mangled abdomen.
He didn't move right away. Instead, he closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, they were blood-red—two tomoe slowly turning.
The world changed.
Skin, muscle, bone, organs—everything felt magnified. The patient's breathing seemed slow. The flow of blood, faint chakra traces, the exact location and severity of every injury—crystal clear.
"Scalpel?" Rin held out a properly sized surgical knife.
"No need."
Kiyohara shook his head.
Blue chakra spread over his palm, forming a blade thin as a cicada's wing.
Chakra Scalpel.
With Sharingan guidance, his entry cut was unbelievably precise—avoiding major vessels and nerves, taking the shortest route into the cavity.
No extra damage, maximum exposure.
"Suction."
"Here."
"Size-three suture."
"Here."
"Small vascular clamp."
"Here."
Their coordination was flawless.
Every time Kiyohara named a tool, Rin placed it in his hand the instant he finished speaking—no need for eye contact.
The medics around them stared.
With Sharingan assistance, Kiyohara closed perforations at terrifying speed. Even stitch spacing, perfect tension—every needle landed exactly where it should.
For the severed intestine, he cleaned the wound edges, then anastomosed—fast, controlled, clean.
The hardest part was the stone near the abdominal aorta.
Kiyohara set aside the scalpel. Green medical chakra glowed from both hands.
Mystical Palm Technique.
One stream wrapped the stone, gently separating it from the vessel wall.
The other sealed the danger zone preemptively, forming a thin temporary chakra membrane.
Then he shaped an invisible cut with the chakra scalpel—tiny, microscopic.
"Forceps."
Rin handed him the finest micro-forceps.
Kiyohara gripped the stone and eased it out millimeter by millimeter.
The abdominal aorta never so much as quivered.
No catastrophic bleeding.
When the stone finally clinked onto the tray, the operating tent filled with sharp inhales.
He… actually removed it?
A problem that had stumped more than a dozen medics—one that could take two hours with less than a thirty percent success rate—was resolved like it was nothing.
Kiyohara didn't react. He continued: full hemostasis, lavage, layered closure…
When the clock hit five minutes, he cut the final suture.
"Done," he said calmly.
Over the past week, he'd only stepped in for the most urgent cases—otherwise he trained outside.
Everyone stared at the patient, now breathing steadily. Then at the bloody stone on the tray. Then at Kiyohara—like he was a monster.
Five minutes.
A surgery that normally took over two hours… completed in five. And flawlessly.
"That's… insane…" a young medic whispered.
"He used the Sharingan like a microscope…"
They couldn't help but envy the Sharingan—and envy that Kiyohara was Tsunade's student.
They also thought, with a strange sense of relief, that the Uchiha rarely had strong Yang-release aptitude.
Otherwise, with that level of insight, who knew how many elite medical ninjas they'd produce?
Then again, the Hyūga's Byakugan was even more ridiculous—better insight, plus literal x-ray vision.
And yet the Hyūga didn't become medics.
Yukiharu stepped up, checked the patient herself, then looked up.
"Kiyohara… now I understand why Tsunade-sama took you. Your talent is real."
There was no jealousy in her voice. Only awe.
Kiyohara shook his head.
"Senpai flatters me. Without Rin's assistance, I couldn't have finished this fast."
Rin blushed faintly.
"I just did what an assistant is supposed to do…"
"No." Kiyohara looked at her seriously.
"Your timing mattered. Every tool came exactly when I needed it. Rin—your growth is fast."
As he spoke, he naturally reached out and ruffled Rin's hair.
Rin blinked, then felt a little odd.
Even with my help… five minutes? Without me it'd still be under ten, right?
She knew the truth—the terrifying part was Kiyohara.
But hearing him acknowledge her made her smile anyway.
Being recognized by Kiyohara made her happier than anything.
As the patient was carried out, the tent's frantic rhythm resumed.
Kiyohara stayed a bit longer to help.
When mealtime arrived, he and Rin stepped outside.
"Kiyohara-kun… you're improving so fast," Rin said softly.
"Rin, you're already an excellent medic. You'll become an outstanding one."
Rin's eyes lit up.
"Really?"
"Of course." Kiyohara nodded seriously. "You have talent, you work hard, and…"
He stopped himself.
He'd almost said: and you have the Three-Tails' potential—but that was classified. Not something to say here.
Rin seemed to understand anyway, and her face turned even redder.
Kiyohara ruffled her hair again.
He'd noticed Rin was even gentler than Kurenai—she never resisted the head pats, like a well-behaved kitten you could pet freely.
Then a familiar voice called out from the side.
"Kiyohara! Rin!"
Kurenai jogged over, holding a box filled with still-warm rice balls.
Her cheeks were flushed from the cold, like ripe apples.
"You finished surgery? Perfect timing—I brought food, it's still hot!"
She reached them, then froze.
Kiyohara's hand was still on Rin's head.
"…What are you two doing?"
Kurenai's eyes went wide.
Kiyohara withdrew his hand, totally unbothered.
"Patting her head. What's wrong?"
"H-head… patting…"
Kurenai stammered, staring at the lingering blush on Rin's face.
"I-I can be patted too!"
"Hm?" Kiyohara raised an eyebrow.
"I said—I can be patted too!"
Kurenai puffed out her chest—its outline already a bit fuller than before—though her ears quietly turned red.
Kiyohara laughed.
"Didn't you used to say head pats would stunt your growth?"
"T-that was before!"
Kurenai turned even redder but refused to back down.
"Now it's different—and… and you patted Rin…"
Her voice trailed off into a whisper, but the meaning was obvious.
Kiyohara looked at the girl half a head shorter than him—so shy but pretending she wasn't—and couldn't help thinking she was adorable.
He smiled and ruffled Kurenai's hair too.
Her hair was softer than Rin's, with a faint fragrance.
"Happy now?" he asked.
"…Yeah." Kurenai lowered her head, but her lips curved upward despite herself.
Rin covered her mouth and giggled.
After a quick meal of rice balls, Kiyohara headed alone toward the forest at the edge of camp.
Even without missions, he trained.
He wanted to keep developing combo techniques that fused Steel Release and Magnet Release.
Magnet Release was fundamentally about magnetic fields—attraction, repulsion, magnetizing metal.
Steel Release changed the body's properties, hardening it into a metallic state for abnormal toughness and strength.
Combine them, and you get all kinds of outcomes.
Like Kiyohara's Magnet Release: Electromagnetic Fist and Electromagnetic Acceleration Kick.
The principle was the same:
First, metalize the limb with Steel Release so it can survive the acceleration.
Treat that limb as a conductor.
Then form a directed magnetic field around it, apply massive magnetic force, and launch it like a projectile.
That was only the beginning.
If he pushed further…
Kiyohara formed hand seals.
"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!"
A dark swarm of iron sand poured from the gourd and hung in the air, forming a floating "cloud."
"Then… Steel Release reinforcement."
He injected Steel Release chakra into the iron-sand cloud.
This was a jutsu Steel Release Kiyohara had developed—using Steel Release chakra to harden other substances.
Under the dual bloodline effects, the black iron sand looked darker, heavier.
"Go."
Kiyohara swept his right hand.
The iron-sand cloud compressed, sharpened, and fired—hundreds of black needles blasting into a deadwood grove like a storm.
Chchchchch!
The piercing sounded like rain on banana leaves.
Each needle punched straight through trunk-thick wood. When Kiyohara stopped, the grove looked like it had been raked by machine-gun fire.
Worse, the needles didn't disperse.
Under Kiyohara's control, they turned midair, regrouped, and prepared for a second volley.
"My control precision still needs work," he frowned.
Maintaining long-range Magnet Release control while sustaining Steel Release hardness buffs raised the demand on chakra control.
About thirty percent had drifted off-target. Another ten percent broke apart mid-flight due to instability.
"I need finer chakra splitting… like applying chakra to multiple areas at once in medical ninjutsu."
Kiyohara closed his eyes.
The iron sand shifted with his will—coiling like a dragon, spreading into a shield, becoming needles again, or forming several massive black spears.
His control grew smoother, more refined.
When he felt his chakra drop below half, he stopped and shifted focus.
To another jutsu he'd copied from Minato Namikaze with the Sharingan:
Rasengan.
Kiyohara raised his right hand, palm up.
Chakra gathered and spun, forming a palm-sized blue sphere.
The surface churned like rushing water, humming with force.
Minato's A-rank jutsu.
But still a half-finished path.
According to Kakashi, Minato had tried adding nature transformation to the Rasengan—
but never completed it.
Before he could, Obito unleashed the Nine-Tails disaster, and in a single night his home was destroyed, his wife lost, and he died.
"Add nature transformation…"
"Wind's sharpness… lightning's penetration… fire's explosive force…"
Kiyohara mentally tested possibilities.
In canon, Naruto created Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, pushing wind's cutting power to the extreme—but it shredded the user's chakra network.
Tsunade classified it as forbidden and warned Naruto never to use it again.
Even with Uzumaki blood, Naruto's right arm nearly lost function and needed recovery.
Only after years of refinement did Naruto use a safer version.
Developing jutsu was full of danger.
So Kiyohara decided not to add Wind.
He chose Lightning instead.
A "Vanishing Rasengan" concept—
or simply Lightning Release: Rasengan.
In Boruto, Boruto unconsciously fused lightning nature into the Rasengan, making it throwable—and even briefly invisible.
Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki got punished for underestimating it.
Kiyohara wanted to develop that: turning Rasengan into a ranged jutsu.
And could I someday develop "Rasengan: Uzuhiko"…?
He thought of the most absurd Rasengan in Boruto—one that captured energy from the planet's rotation and revolution.
A "planetary chakra" effect that didn't stop as long as you stayed on the planet.
If it hit, the rotational disorientation never ended—an anti-taijutsu nightmare.
Kiyohara's Magnet Release: Rotating Field already had a faint similarity, borrowing power from the earth.
But—
"One step at a time."
He decided to master lightning Rasengan first.
"Let's try it."
He formed a Rasengan in his palm.
While maintaining its rotation and compression, he refined Lightning Release chakra.
Then he infused the lightning chakra into the sphere.
The Rasengan began to change.
Its size… shrank?
Kiyohara noticed sharply: as lightning fused in, it compressed from palm-size to fist-size, and the internal chakra density rose dramatically.
And due to lightning's electromagnetic properties, the air around it showed faint optical distortion.
"Not enough…"
He kept feeding chakra.
He suspected the "invisibility" effect came from an electromagnetic field bending light—visual stealth.
That would require a stronger field and more precise control.
Which was exactly Kiyohara's specialty.
So he added a trace of Magnet Release chakra into the mix.
The non-elemental sphere became a vessel for two natures.
Bzzzz…
Silver-white arcs crawled over the Rasengan's pale-blue surface, spiraling in a ring along the rotation.
In the freezing air, where static was already severe, the effect intensified—charges in the air disturbed.
Kiyohara's hair bristled slightly with static.
"Now."
He threw it.
Mid-flight, the Rasengan began turning transparent.
Like heat haze distorting a view, its outline blurred—
then vanished completely.
The next instant—
BOOM!
A two-meter boulder in the distance had its moss peeled away in a spiral groove, then a deep crater punched into it.
"This power… not bad."
Kiyohara looked at his right hand, still tingling from lightning chakra.
And because it was almost invisible while flying, it would be extremely hard for an enemy to detect and dodge.
After training a bit longer, he started back—only to hear someone calling him from the snowy woods.
"Kiyohara! Tsunade-sama needs you—urgent!"
It was Shizune.
Snowflakes dusted her neat short hair, making her look even more gentle and refined.
Kiyohara turned toward her.
"What is it?"
"Not sure, but it sounds urgent," Shizune answered.
~~~
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