"This technique's got real weight to it."
Kiyohara felt like Flying Thunder God had practically been tailor-made for a shinobi like him—someone with massive chakra reserves.
As everyone knew, the mark left by Flying Thunder God was extremely hard to erase. Unless you had something on the level of Ten-Tails Obito's methods, or simply cut away the marked area, the mark would stay with the target for decades.
So in theory, once you successfully marked someone with Flying Thunder God, you could teleport over, slash them once, then instantly teleport back home.
Repeat those two steps over and over—stab them in their sleep, stab them while they're using the bathroom, stab them while they're eating.
Of course, there were limitations.
For one, sensing distance. Marks that were too far away couldn't be sensed, and there was no way to know whether the area around the mark was safe.
The other issue was that the farther the distance, the greater the chakra cost.
But for Kiyohara, those two points were still manageable.
After inheriting the complete Yotsuki bloodline, even his sensory range had improved.
Then Kiyohara continued training.
Kunai appeared all across the courtyard, and Kiyohara's figure flickered between them.
He could already complete three short-range teleports in succession, and had started experimenting with throwing kunai while moving, then launching attacks the instant the teleport ended.
While Kiyohara was training, Tsunade finally got up, still half asleep.
She had slept all the way until noon. Her long blonde hair was a little messy, and she was wearing only a black slip dress.
One shoulder strap had slid down to her upper arm, exposing her round shoulder and elegant collarbone.
Still groggy, she rubbed her eyes, pulled the strap back into place, and only when she stood up did she clearly notice Kiyohara outside in the courtyard.
"He's still practicing…"
Tsunade yawned and leaned over the windowsill.
From that angle, she could clearly see every detail of his training.
And suddenly, she had a thought—if Kiyohara fully mastered Flying Thunder God…
Then later, when she dragged him around the world, wouldn't she be able to go to whatever casino she wanted?
Tanzaku Town today, the Land of Hot Water tomorrow, maybe even the Land of Iron the day after that…
"Hehe…"
Tsunade let out a little laugh before quickly covering her mouth and glancing around.
Luckily, no one noticed.
In a much better mood, she slipped back into her room to wash up.
…
By evening, Kiyohara finished training and went back inside.
Tsunade had already changed into her usual sleeveless top and green coat with the gambling kanji on the back, and was sitting cross-legged on the tatami in the living room, idly flipping through a medical journal.
Her cropped pants had ridden up slightly with the way she sat, exposing a pale ankle.
"Sensei, what do you want for dinner tonight?"
Kiyohara asked while wiping off sweat.
"Chicken ramen!"
Tsunade looked up instantly.
"And make it spicy!"
"Got it."
Kiyohara headed for the kitchen, but first took a small dish of chilled side vegetables from a ceramic jar and set it down on the low table in front of Tsunade.
It was a vinegared side dish he had prepared ahead of time.
A common cold dish in the ninja world, usually marinated in vinegar.
Crisp and refreshing, good for whetting the appetite and cutting through grease afterward.
Tsunade picked up a piece with her chopsticks and popped it into her mouth.
The perfectly balanced sweet-and-sour flavor spread across her tongue, and she narrowed her eyes in satisfaction.
By the time Kiyohara got busy in the kitchen, Shizune had returned as well.
She set down the groceries she had bought and wanted to help, but Kiyohara turned her down.
"I've got this today. Shizune should just rest."
"Th-then I'll set out the bowls and chopsticks."
Shizune said.
Before long, a rich aroma drifted out of the kitchen.
The fresh scent of chicken, the depth of bone broth, and the sharp fragrance of chili all blended together into something irresistible.
By the time the ramen was served, Tsunade was already sitting up straight, staring fixedly into the bowl.
"Thanks for the meal!"
She pressed her hands together, then immediately lifted a mouthful of noodles with barely concealed impatience.
She ate quickly, but not messily. There was even something bold and attractive about the way she ate.
The steam flushed her fair cheeks pink, and a few strands of blonde hair clung to her forehead, but she didn't care in the slightest.
Kiyohara sat across from her, eating at a much more leisurely pace.
Halfway through the meal, Tsunade suddenly spoke.
"Kiyohara, want to come with me to the casino tomorrow? It's been a while since I've hit a Konoha table, and my hands are itching."
"I want to keep training tomorrow."
Kiyohara set down his chopsticks.
"I've only just started getting a feel for Flying Thunder God. I can't afford to interrupt that. Once I've reached a good stopping point, I'll go with you."
In truth, today was also the day he expected to receive a new "last letter," so all he really wanted was to stay home and wait for it.
Tsunade puffed her cheeks out a little, but eventually nodded.
"All right… training comes first."
She could tell what mattered more.
Kiyohara's growth rate was this terrifying not only because of talent, but because of his self-discipline.
As his teacher, she couldn't let her own hobbies get in the way of his future.
After dinner, Shizune voluntarily cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, while Kiyohara headed back out into the courtyard.
This time, he was training the other technique he had gotten earlier.
Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.
He had learned it about half a month ago.
Ordinary Shadow Clone Technique created physical clones, but Shuriken Shadow Clone involved infusing chakra into thrown shuriken, causing them to split and multiply mid-flight, creating solid shuriken clones.
Kiyohara drew out a stream of gold dust from the gourd at his waist. Under precise chakra control, the gold dust condensed in the air into dozens of golden shuriken.
He raised his hand and threw them.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
The instant chakra was infused into them, the golden shuriken trembled in midair—then one became two, two became four, four became eight…
In the blink of an eye, dozens of shuriken multiplied into hundreds of golden streaks of light, shooting toward the distant wooden posts.
Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk!
The dense impacts merged into one continuous sound.
The training posts were instantly riddled through like sieves, their surfaces covered in golden shuriken until they looked like hedgehogs.
Standing in the courtyard, Kiyohara flicked a hand, and the gold dust shuriken turned back into streams of sand and flowed into the gourd once more.
This technique really was convenient. Even after throwing them, he could still recover them.
"It's very similar to Minato Namikaze's style…"
Kiyohara thought aloud.
Minato had also received Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique from Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The difference was that Minato's chakra-colored effect came out green, while Kiyohara's was gold.
Kiyohara rested for a bit, then continued training.
His chakra reserves were enormous, and he could often train for a very long time without feeling tired at all.
And even if he did burn through his chakra, he still had a backup battery pack—the Yin Seal.
As long as he tapped the chakra stored there, he could just keep going.
Night gradually deepened.
Kiyohara returned to his bedroom and sat down with his eyes closed, regulating his breathing.
He was waiting.
Based on past experience, the new "last letter" should be arriving soon.
And then, at a certain moment—
[Please receive your will and cremation urn, and properly bury the remains.]
The cold, synthetic female voice rang out from deep in his mind.
Kiyohara opened his eyes.
It was here.
His consciousness sank into his spiritual world, where a new urn was now floating.
In addition to the original urn bearing Kumogakure's mark, a new presence had appeared.
It was entirely black, with metal trim along the edges. Coiled around it was a winding snake emblem, its head slightly raised, as if it might lunge off the surface of the box at any moment.
"A snake mark… Ryūchi Cave?"
Kiyohara's consciousness stared at the new urn, already making a rough guess.
He reached out and touched the lid with his fingertips.
The surface felt icy.
Click.
The lid slid open a crack.
A soft hissing, like scales scraping, followed.
Then a pale figure slowly crawled out through the gap.
It did not appear in human form.
The first thing to emerge was a thick snake tail covered in fine white scales, the tip swaying lightly in the air.
"Hiss… another me."
White Snake Kiyohara spoke, his voice hoarse.
"So, you walked down a different fork in the road than I did."
Kiyohara studied this future self, who was completely different from him.
Another non-human future.
At this rate, he felt like even an Ōtsutsuki bloodline wouldn't end up more mixed than his.
"You're from Ryūchi Cave… a sage?"
Kiyohara asked, his eyes falling on that serpentine body.
"A sage? Heh, not even close."
White Snake Kiyohara's slit pupils narrowed slightly. His forked tongue flicked briefly at his lips before slipping back in.
"I was just fortunate… or unfortunate… enough to be born in Ryūchi Cave, and for my bloodline to evolve in that direction. So I'm… one of the higher-ranked white snakes, I suppose. Like the three snake princesses, I can take on a human form."
White Snake Kiyohara said.
"You can transform into a human too?"
Kiyohara blinked.
That already sounded more impressive than Toad Kiyohara.
"Show me."
Kiyohara said.
The snakes of Ryūchi Cave really did seem to be much better at taking human form than the toads of Mount Myōboku.
Even their leader, the White Snake Sage, could appear human.
White Snake Kiyohara's huge body slowly began to change.
In human form, his skin was very pale, and his face resembled Kiyohara's by eight or nine parts. But his eyes were cold-blooded slit pupils, pale gold in color, and his lips were thin.
Long white hair spilled down to his waist, the ends curling slightly like snake tongues.
He lifted one hand, its fingers long, its nails sharp, and elegantly brushed aside the white strands hanging over his forehead with a distinctly serpentine grace.
Kiyohara looked him over and had to admit the appearance really wasn't bad. It had style.
"So what abilities do you have?"
Kiyohara asked eagerly.
"Ryūchi Cave sage arts."
White Snake Kiyohara paused, then continued,
"The sensing, absorption, and use of natural energy… along with a few techniques involving poison, shedding and regeneration, soft-body techniques, and…"
He opened his mouth, revealing two thick white fangs.
"Like the White Snake Sage, I can use these fangs to inject natural energy into others. Of course, if they can't bear the natural energy, the price is instant death."
The moment he heard that, Kiyohara understood.
This was Ryūchi Cave's traditional method of sage training.
Those who pursued power and entered it—if lucky—could become snakes.
If unlucky, they'd be eaten whole by the White Snake Sage.
"What's the success rate?"
Kiyohara asked.
"Pathetically low."
White Snake Kiyohara shook his head.
"I've seen plenty of people, lured by power, stumble into Ryūchi Cave. They knelt and begged, desperate for sage power. I gave them the chance… but without exception, they all died.
Either their bodies were blown apart by rampant natural energy, or they underwent irreversible mutation, turned into snakes, and were eventually cleaned up by me or the others."
"All right."
Kiyohara nodded.
Still, that ability itself was pretty good.
Samehada was biologically alive too, in theory—so what if Samehada underwent a sort of "sage transformation"?
Or more importantly, he could grant sage arts to others using this method.
Of course, the success rate was abysmal. Even Orochimaru had failed with it.
Kiyohara guessed that either he'd have to weaken the process, or greatly enhance the body of the recipient.
"So how did you die?"
Kiyohara asked.
A flash of killing intent appeared in White Snake Kiyohara's slit eyes.
"Garaga."
He spat out the name.
"That one-eyed crimson snake from the violent snake nest deep inside Ryūchi Cave. He's bad-tempered and monstrously strong. Especially with that petrification technique of his—he can shoot a liquid from his eyes that turns anything it hits into stone instantly.
He lost one eye in a fight long ago, and since then his temperament only got worse. Nobody in Ryūchi Cave likes him. Everyone keeps their distance."
He paused, seeming to relive that battle.
"I thought I was strong enough already. My sage arts had reached a small level of success, and if I wanted to go further… I needed to challenge something stronger. So I set my sights on Garaga. And then…"
White Snake Kiyohara pointed to the center of his spirit chest.
"His petrification fluid touched my chest. I resisted in time with sage chakra and didn't turn completely to stone, but my movements slowed. Garaga seized the opening, and then I died."
"So your first lingering wish is to kill Garaga?"
Kiyohara understood at once.
"That's right."
White Snake Kiyohara nodded, his slit pupils fixed on Kiyohara.
"My first lingering wish: kill that damned one-eyed snake and avenge my death."
"Done."
Kiyohara agreed without hesitation.
Garaga had later become Boruto's summon in the Boruto era. He was undoubtedly strong, but with Kiyohara's current power, he wasn't an impossible opponent.
"And the second wish?"
White Snake Kiyohara's pale lips moved slightly.
"Obtain the Eight Branches Technique."
"Eight Branches Technique?"
Something stirred in Kiyohara's mind.
He knew the name.
Back when he had unfolded the Scroll of Seals in the Hokage's office, his main target had been Flying Thunder God, but he had skimmed the rest quickly too.
The Eight Branches Technique hadn't been there.
There was also a theory that Orochimaru had taken that technique from Konoha's forbidden archive—that the two scrolls he stole were Eight Branches Technique and Impure World Reincarnation.
But Kiyohara personally felt it was more likely Orochimaru had taken Living Corpse Reincarnation and Impure World Reincarnation instead, because one of the illustrations by the white snake had included the character for "transfer."
Of course, he didn't know which version was correct. To know for sure, he'd have to ask Orochimaru directly.
Either way, Orochimaru was definitely closely tied to that technique.
If Kiyohara went to him, he should be able to gain quite a bit of insight.
The Eight Branches Technique was an S-rank forbidden art, allowing the user to transform into a colossal eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent with monstrous vitality and combat power.
Its only tragedy was that it had been directly countered by Itachi Uchiha's Totsuka Blade and sealed away.
"That's right."
White Snake Kiyohara nodded.
"My snake body is innate. My bloodline is far closer to the true nature of that technique than someone like Orochimaru, who altered himself later in life.
If I were the one to use it, its scale and power would far surpass Orochimaru's."
His pale gold slit eyes looked at Kiyohara.
"If that happened, the technique would become far stronger in my hands. Unfortunately, I died before I ever got it."
"I see."
Kiyohara rubbed his chin.
The lingering wish required him only to obtain it—not necessarily master it.
He found himself wondering what would happen if he inherited the white snake bloodline and then cast the technique himself.
After all, it was basically a Susanoo substitute.
Massive size, high defense, respectable destructive force.
"I understand."
Kiyohara said.
"Garaga's death, and the Eight Branches Technique. I'll do my best to fulfill both wishes."
"That's fine."
White Snake Kiyohara turned back into his serpent form and crawled back into the urn to rest.
Kiyohara's consciousness returned to reality.
Go to Ryūchi Cave and kill Garaga. Acquire Orochimaru's core forbidden technique, the Eight Branches Technique…
He still hadn't fallen out with Orochimaru and was technically still his assistant, so Kiyohara still had a perfectly valid reason to approach him.
'Might as well take a look and see whether his first version of the curse mark is finished.'
Kiyohara rose to his feet, feeling a little dryness in his throat, and headed downstairs to the kitchen for some water.
Only one dim wall lamp was lit in the living room. Shizune and Tonton seemed to have gone to sleep already.
Kiyohara poured himself a cup of cold water. He had only taken two sips when the front door lock turned, followed by slightly dragging footsteps. The door opened and closed softly.
Tsunade stepped into the boundary between shadow and lamplight in the living room.
She kicked off her shinobi sandals and padded barefoot across the cool floor, making faint little sounds, then let out a quiet sigh and rubbed at her brow.
"Hm? Kiyohara, you're not asleep yet?"
Noticing the kitchen light and his figure, Tsunade looked up in mild surprise.
"Just came down for a drink. You just got back, Sensei?"
Kiyohara approached with the cup in hand. In the dim light, he could clearly see the slight crease between Tsunade's brows, and the lingering frustration and reluctance in those usually lively golden-brown eyes.
He didn't need to ask.
Tsunade had lost again.
And probably lost badly.
"Yeah… I just got back."
Tsunade walked over to the sofa in a dejected way and dropped heavily onto the cushion, draping one arm over her forehead.
"I lost another chunk."
Kiyohara was already completely used to this.
"That's normal."
"What part of that is normal?!"
Tsunade dropped her arm immediately and glared at him, cheeks puffing out a little in childish protest.
"I honestly felt like my luck was going to be good today. It's just those last few rounds…"
Watching her sulky expression, amusement flickered in Kiyohara's eyes.
Tsunade could be incredibly decisive and forceful, but around people she was close to, she really did have a childish side.
Kiyohara set down his cup.
"If I've got time tomorrow, I'll go with you."
Tsunade blinked.
The frustration on her face instantly faded by more than half, replaced with a sparkly bit of anticipation.
"Really?"
"Yeah. But same rules as always."
Kiyohara added.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Stop once I lose past a certain amount."
Tsunade waved a hand dismissively, but her tone had already turned much lighter, and the fatigue from moments ago seemed to lift.
She leaned back into the sofa, the corner of her mouth curving upward slightly as she gave a little huff, clearly satisfied.
"That's more like it."
After Tsunade finally went off to bed, Kiyohara also headed back upstairs.
Other than the lingering wishes, he guessed this war probably wouldn't last much longer anyway.
Sunagakure had already allied.
Iwagakure and Kirigakure were both showing signs of exhaustion.
That left only Kumogakure.
~~~
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