Simultaneously activating the Body Flicker Technique, Pakura grabbed Maki and the surviving Suna ninja. Concealed by the thick, expanding smokescreen, they flashed into the depths of the night and vanished.
Tsunade sensed Pakura's chakra signature rapidly retreating and let out a long, shaky breath.
She closed her eyes, her face ashen, leaning heavily against Shizune's shoulder for support. Tsunade knew the bitter truth: her presence here was purely a psychological deterrent. If Pakura had realized she was crippled by hemophobia and forced a direct confrontation, it would have been a disaster.
"Second and First Squads, pursue! The rest of you, secure the perimeter and reinforce the detention center!"
Shirakumo Hayama barked orders to the surrounding Konoha ninja, clutching his severely burned sword arm.
Finally, Hayama looked toward the distant ridge where Kiyohara stood. The veteran Jonin's gaze was filled with a mix of shock and profound approval.
Up on the ridge, Kiyohara slowly exhaled a breath of stale, heated air. He watched the treeline where Pakura had disappeared, lowering his right arm. His hand was trembling slightly. Firing the Electromagnetic Coin twice in rapid succession at full power had placed a massive burden on his chakra coils and spiritual energy.
The Radical Spirit dissolved the partial possession, stepping back into the mental space.
"Does this... count as completion?" Kiyohara asked internally. He had only contributed to driving her off; he hadn't landed a fatal blow.
The Radical Spirit's phantom body seemed to have shed a massive, suffocating weight. His figure, already translucent from repeated exposure outside the Urn, now became incredibly faint.
"It counts," the Radical Spirit chuckled dryly. "In my timeline, I was always suppressed by that woman in combat. So yes... it is immensely satisfying to finally see her running away like a beaten dog."
"Is that so," Kiyohara replied softly.
It seemed that in the Radical Spirit's original future, Pakura had not been betrayed by the Suna elders and killed in an ambush by the Hidden Mist. Or perhaps, the Spirit simply hadn't lived long enough to see her demise.
"I feel... relieved," the Radical Spirit murmured. "A large part of my lingering obsession has dissipated. It may not have been a perfect kill, but you fulfilled the spirit of the requirement."
The Spirit opened his hands, noticing that his body was continuously emitting a soft, pale white light. His facial features were rapidly blurring, and his voice became increasingly ethereal.
"My past self," the Spirit looked at Kiyohara one last time. "I can tell your disposition is somewhat different from mine. You are cautious where I was bold. But I hope that once your strength is sufficient, you will display the proper attitude of a powerhouse."
In the Spirit's view, a true ninja must follow their heart. Even now, facing his final dissipation, he did not regret attempting his coup against the Fourth Kazekage. Suna needed an absolute powerhouse to lead it, not weak compromise. His only regret was his lack of strength to enforce his vision.
"Remember this," the Radical Spirit said, delivering his final lesson. "Only express your true thoughts when you have the absolute strength to back them up."
With those words, the Radical Spirit dissolved into countless specks of brilliant white light.
The largest speck of light flew downward, locking itself permanently into the stone Urn in Kiyohara's soul. The remaining specks, like nestlings returning home, surged upward and merged directly into the center of Kiyohara's brow.
BOOM!
A wave of refreshing, absolute absolute coolness instantly swept through Kiyohara's entire nervous system.
He clearly felt his spiritual energy (Yin Release) skyrocket to a terrifying new tier. The immense power nourished his soul, elevating his thought speed, processing power, and concentration levels.
This skyrocketing spiritual energy blended perfectly with the physical energy (Yang Release) originating from his cells. The resulting fusion instantly shattered his previous chakra capacity limit.
'This feeling...'
Kiyohara closed his eyes, carefully analyzing the surging, torrential flow of chakra running through his meridian system.
'My total volume has definitely exceeded two "Kakashis" and it is still mutating. Once my cells finish adapting, it will probably settle around 2.2 Kakashis!' Kiyohara calculated secretly, using his squadmate's stamina as a standard unit of measurement.
The increase in volume was a game-changer. It meant he could sustain longer, higher-intensity battles and fire his Railgun more times before hitting empty.
In this world, chakra is the absolute foundation. Those with insufficient chakra don't even qualify to be background characters in the final decisive battles. Without it, you were destined to either be an immobilized battery pack for the Infinite Tsukuyomi, or you ended up like Sakura Haruno—blessed with flawless chakra control, but cursed with a civilian's abysmal stamina reserves, forever shouting "I finally caught up to them!" from the rear lines.
Furthermore, Kiyohara felt his genetic affinity for Earth and Wind nature chakra solidify completely. If he were to study standard elemental ninjutsu now, his learning efficiency would be terrifying.
'Hmm?' Kiyohara opened his eyes, noticing the world seemed to move slightly slower.
His neural reaction speed had significantly increased.
He immediately understood why. High-speed applications of Magnet Release—like the Electromagnetic Coin and the frictionless Magnetic Levitation flight he was developing—placed extreme, inhumane demands on the user's kinetic vision and reaction time. It was the exact same tunnel-vision flaw Kakashi suffered from when using the Chidori.
During his life, the Radical Spirit must have dedicated grueling, extensive training to his reaction speed. Kiyohara had just inherited all of those hard-wired reflexes. It perfectly compensated for his lack of a Sharingan's dynamic vision.
Finally, Kiyohara sensed the ultimate change: The Magnetic Force.
His ability to perceive and control magnetism had undergone a qualitative leap. If manipulating magnetic fields yesterday felt like swinging a heavy, unwieldy sledgehammer, today, the hammer felt like a weightless extension of his own arm. It was completely, flawlessly obedient to his will.
Accompanying this mastery were the blueprints for three new Jutsu:
* Magnet Release: Iron Sand Tsunami: Creates a massive, wave-like construct of high-density iron sand capable of blocking all attacks and crushing fleeing enemies. An incredible Area-of-Effect technique.
* Magnet Release: Iron Sand Wall: A rapid-deployment defensive barrier, far denser and more durable than a standard Earth Wall.
* Magnet Release: Iron Sand Shower: Forms the iron sand into hundreds of aerodynamic projectiles, launching them at the opponent at high speed—essentially transforming the user into a human shotgun.
"Kiyohara, your ninjutsu..." Kurenai finally found her voice, staring at his smoking hand in absolute awe. She didn't know what to say.
"I've been contemplating the physics of that method for a while now," Kiyohara casually explained, flexing his fingers. "I just finally found the right moment to test it."
The process of inheriting the Radical Spirit's entire life legacy had felt lengthy internally, but to Kurenai and Genma, only a few seconds had passed.
All that remained was for his newly mutated body to finish growing into its terrifying new limits.
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