"Eh?"
Kurenai's eyes widened. She hadn't heard about this at all.
Her home was pretty far from Kiyohara's.
"You weren't hurt, right?" she asked.
"No." Kiyohara shook his head.
The injury he'd deliberately taken as bait yesterday had already healed.
Unless Obito used Kamui, Kiyohara's current jutsu probably wouldn't be enough to break through the layered defense of Steel Release plus Earth Release: Earth Spear.
Still, Kiyohara didn't know just how much Obito's chakra reserves had grown after fusing half of Hashirama's cells.
Looking across the shinobi world, it seemed like Obito had the largest amount of "Hashirama cells" implanted anywhere.
White Zetsu only had a portion mixed in, but fundamentally they were "weapons" transformed from ordinary people trapped in Infinite Tsukuyomi a thousand years ago.
Danzo at most had Hashirama cells in half an arm.
Only Obito had fully half his body made of Hashirama cells—and there'd never been any backlash.
Could it be that the Yin power inside Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan happens to balance out the Yang power of Hashirama's cells? Kiyohara thought.
He remembered Danzo used ten Sharingan on one arm to keep it stable.
When Danzo lost more and more eyes, Hashirama's cells became increasingly uncontrollable.
"Really?" Kurenai said suspiciously, hands clasped behind her back.
She circled him a few times. After confirming there weren't any visible injuries, she finally stopped.
"Why haven't you come to see me these past few days?" she complained, one hand on her hip.
Seeing her puffed-cheek expression, Kiyohara suddenly felt like messing with her a little.
So he ruffled her hair and said, "I've been training medical ninjutsu, so I didn't come find you to learn genjutsu or anything else."
The moment she saw his handsome face, the irritation in Kurenai's heart melted. She immediately assumed he must've had a good reason.
"So you trained alone?"
"No. With Rin."
"… "
Kurenai realized she'd been wrong.
Very wrong.
Kiyohara was, as always, a terrible guy~!
Her mood dipped. She pursed her lips slightly, fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes—an old habit Kiyohara knew well, something she did when she was trying to hide her feelings.
"Medical ninjutsu…" Kurenai murmured.
"That's important."
Kiyohara found her "I care, but I don't want to show it" look kind of adorable.
"What's wrong?" he asked on purpose.
"Nothing." Kurenai turned her face away, tucking hair behind her ear. The tips of her ears were faintly red.
"It's just… you haven't trained with me in forever. You said you'd teach me Wind Release."
Kiyohara stepped closer and gently tousled her hair again.
"Sorry. I've just had a lot going on lately." His voice softened. "But we'll be together on missions anyway. I can teach you anytime."
Kurenai lifted her head, eyes lighting up.
"Really?"
"Of course."
"Then it's a promise!" Kurenai finally smiled.
"No backing out!"
"I won't." Kiyohara said.
As they were talking, another figure appeared at the gate.
"Kiyohara-kun?"
Shizune stood outside the damaged courtyard entrance, holding a small pink pig.
She wore pale gray clothes, her short black hair framing a calm, gentle face.
"Shizune." Kiyohara greeted her.
"Tsunade-sama heard your place got wrecked, so she asked me to pass along a message." Shizune walked in, nodded to Kurenai, then looked at Kiyohara. "She said if you don't have anywhere to stay for now, you can live at her place."
"Eh?" Kurenai blinked. "Live at Tsunade-sama's? Wouldn't that be cramped?"
Shizune waved her hands quickly. "No, no! The Senju estate is huge—tons of rooms. Even if you multiplied the residents by dozens, there'd still be space. It's just… it's been empty for years. Tsunade-sama rarely goes back to clean it up, so some places might be dusty."
Kiyohara had a feeling Shizune wasn't done. He asked the real question:
"Do I have to pay rent?"
Shizune looked embarrassed.
"Um… Tsunade-sama said you can stay, but you still have to pay rent."
Her voice got smaller and smaller—she clearly felt awkward saying it.
Kiyohara wasn't surprised.
Tsunade was a hardcore gambler, buried in debt. Of course she'd say that.
"How much?" he asked.
"Five thousand ryō per month." Shizune said, then quickly added, "But if you think it's expensive, I can talk to Tsunade-sama again—"
"No need. That's reasonable." Kiyohara cut her off.
Compared to finding a new place, living at Tsunade's and learning medical ninjutsu up close was a bargain.
Besides, the Senju estate's history and resources were worth far more than money.
And it was closer to the village center than Kiyohara's current home.
Shizune let out a relieved breath.
"Then… do you want to go take a look now?"
"Sure." Kiyohara nodded, then turned to Kurenai. "Kurenai—want to come?"
"Mm!" Kurenai nodded hard.
Of course she wanted to see where he'd be staying next.
The Senju estate lay in Konoha's eastern district, near the forest said to have been planted by Hashirama himself.
Unlike the Uchiha compound's strict order, the Senju area felt more naturally spaced out.
Most buildings were wooden, with sweeping eaves.
But now it was sparsely populated. Many houses stood empty, giving the place a lonely feel.
On the way, Kiyohara deliberately stopped to buy two things: a bottle of top-grade strong liquor, and a freshly roasted tender chicken wrapped tightly in oiled paper, still steaming.
"This is…" Shizune looked at what he carried, confused.
"A bit of respect." Kiyohara said simply.
Shizune seemed to understand and smiled without saying more.
They reached the front gate.
Shizune pushed open the heavy wooden door. The hinges creaked.
Inside was dim. The air smelled of alcohol and a lazy, languid kind of atmosphere.
The living room was huge, but the floor was scattered with empty bottles and gambling tools—dice, cards, chips—piled messily on a low table.
Tsunade was lying right in the middle of it all.
She wore a white robe, half-open, revealing a broad expanse of pale skin.
The fullness of her chest was half-hidden under the loose collar, a deep cleavage trailing downward; a bead of liquor slid along the curve of her skin and vanished into the shadows of the fabric.
Her cheeks were flushed with drunken red, and her golden hair was spread across the floor in a messy fan.
One hand still held a cup, tilted, with only a little left inside.
Hearing the door, Tsunade lazily lifted her head.
Her amber-brown eyes drifted over the three of them, blinked, then widened with delayed recognition.
Clearly, she'd drunk so much she'd completely forgotten she'd sent Shizune to bring Kiyohara over.
"Ah… it's Kiyohara…" Tsunade mumbled.
She tried to sit up, but the movement made her robe slide even farther open.
"Ah!" Shizune yelped and rushed in, flustered, tugging the robe closed.
"Tsunade-sama! How did you drink yourself into this again?!"
Tsunade waved her off, coughed twice, and tried to look serious—though it barely worked.
"There aren't any outsiders here."
Even like this, she could sense the area. For now, it really was only Kiyohara and Kurenai.
"Anyway… I heard about last night from the old man."
She rubbed her temples, trying to wake her brain up.
"Tell me the details again."
Kiyohara recounted the fight, including the masked man's chain weapon and the way he disappeared.
"So that's what happened…" Kurenai finally understood why Kiyohara's home looked like that.
Tsunade listened, her brows slowly knitting together.
"That's almost certainly space-time ninjutsu… the kind that can be used that freely…"
She frowned.
"Which village could it be?"
"No idea." Kiyohara shook his head. "But his target was clear. He came for me."
Tsunade stared at him for a few seconds, then sighed.
"You're somebody's thorn now."
She said it bluntly.
"But since you're going to learn medical ninjutsu from me, I'll guarantee your safety. In Konoha, nobody touches my student."
Her tone was casual, but the weight behind it was crushing.
One of the Sannin's disciple—just that title alone was protection.
"Thank you, Sensei." Kiyohara said, then handed over what he bought.
"This is just a small token."
Tsunade's eyes lit up.
She took the bottle, cracked it open, sniffed, and looked satisfied. Then she unwrapped the chicken—the smell immediately flooded the room.
"Tch. You've got good instincts, kid."
She tore off a drumstick and took a huge bite, eyes narrowing happily.
"How'd you know I like this?"
She licked a bit of oil from her lips.
"I saw you enjoy it last time." Kiyohara said.
Back on the battlefield, she'd "borrowed" his chicken once already.
"Pretty attentive." Tsunade looked him up and down. With that face and that kind of awareness, she could already imagine how many girls would fall for him later.
Then she lifted the bottle again.
"Pick a room yourself. Second floor, east wing—those are all empty. Clean up, then come down. I'll check your medical basics."
She went right back to eating and drinking.
Shizune sighed helplessly and gestured for Kiyohara and Kurenai to follow.
The east wing really did have several empty rooms.
Kiyohara picked a south-facing one with a window overlooking the yard.
It was huge, with its own bathroom. The furniture had a thin layer of dust, but the structure was solid and the light was good.
"I'll help you clean it up later," Shizune offered.
"No, I can do it myself." Kiyohara pulled bedding and simple necessities out of a sealing scroll.
He didn't have much.
"That's already enough trouble for you."
"It's no trouble." Shizune smiled. "Then I'll go check on Tsunade-sama… If she drank like that, she definitely didn't eat breakfast again."
Once Shizune left, Kurenai wandered around the room once.
"This place is huge." She pushed the window open and looked out, her ruby eyes full of curiosity.
"Just… kind of lonely."
"Well, only Tsunade-sama and Shizune-senpai live here." Kiyohara started making the bed.
Kurenai turned, leaning against the window frame, watching him.
Sunlight poured in behind her, outlining her in a warm gold edge.
Her face was half-obscured by the light, but her voice was clear.
"Kiyohara."
"Yeah?"
"That masked guy… will he come again?"
Kiyohara paused.
"Maybe." he said lightly. "But not anytime soon."
Last night's fight had cost Obito too much.
Obito was basically a "two-and-a-half-month trainee" who'd only just graduated—still clumsy with his powers.
But Kiyohara had gained a deeper understanding of Kamui's wind-up and recovery windows.
If Obito came again, Kiyohara was confident he could keep him from escaping.
And by then, Itachi—who'd been sent to the battlefield at four—would likely be back, and Kiyohara might already have inherited more of Uchiha Kiyohara's "estate."
Kurenai stepped closer and crouched to help smooth the blanket corner.
"Then you have to be careful," she said softly. "I don't want to see you hurt again."
"I will." Kiyohara nodded.
Kurenai really did worry about him.
Without thinking, he ruffled her hair again.
Kurenai glared, then stomped off.
"Seriously… Morning was one thing, but again?!"
Kiyohara didn't have much stuff, so he settled in quickly.
Downstairs, Tsunade had finished the chicken and already drank half the bottle.
She'd changed into a green jacket with a big "gamble" character on the back, a sleeveless tea-colored top underneath. Still casual, but at least not half-undressed like before.
She sat at the low table, flipping through Kiyohara's medical notes.
"You haven't been slacking." Tsunade pointed at the cushion across from her. "Sit. Let's see your chakra control."
Kiyohara sat and held out his hand.
Soft green light bloomed.
Tsunade watched for a few seconds, then nodded.
"High precision. You've improved again."
She paused, then said, "Starting today, you're my student. I'll personally guide your medical training, but you make your own plan. I'm not babysitting you every day."
"I understand." Kiyohara said.
A master opens the door; cultivation depends on the student.
Tsunade probably wanted to live in the casino. Getting her to teach him at all was already huge.
"Sensei, I'm also interested in sealing techniques like the Strength of a Hundred Seal."
"Sealing?" Tsunade's expression sharpened.
She hadn't heard anything about Kiyohara having aptitude for fūinjutsu.
She'd even tried passing the seal to Shizune before, but it didn't work—Shizune simply wasn't suited for it.
"Slowly." Tsunade said. "I'll teach you something simple first, see if you've got the talent."
"Alright." Kiyohara's heart lifted.
Tsunade really was generous.
Even one lesson was worth it. And even if he wasn't good at it now, with enough "future inheritances," sooner or later he'd get a version of himself who mastered sealing.
Of course, that required time—and living long enough.
If he learned the seal, it was basically an extra battery.
With his several-times-jōnin chakra reserves, he could start thinking about truly reckless output in battle.
A huge chakra pool didn't guarantee you were the strongest—but anyone truly strong never had chakra as a weakness.
Lee and Guy weren't only separated by talent; their chakra reserves were on completely different levels too.
"Alright, that's enough for today." Tsunade looked pleased and waved him off. "I'm going back to sleep… drank too much last night."
She actually did it—stood up and staggered toward her bedroom.
Shizune sighed and started cleaning the mess.
Kiyohara and Kurenai exchanged a look and wordlessly helped.
After leaving Tsunade's place, Kiyohara kept his promise and took Kurenai to Training Ground Three.
But before that, he spent some merit points to exchange for a few new jutsu.
…
Training Ground Three.
"Wind Release is about combining shape transformation and nature transformation."
Kiyohara stood in an open clearing, explaining to Kurenai.
"Don't imagine chakra as 'wind.' Imagine it as a blade—or a needle. The more concentrated, the stronger."
He formed seals and inhaled.
Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!
A needle-compressed air shot from his mouth and punched a clean hole through a tree trunk ten meters away.
Kurenai watched intently, her ruby eyes tracking his fingerwork.
"Let me try."
She closed her eyes, recalling how his chakra had moved.
Then she opened them and began forming seals—slower than Kiyohara, but precise.
All she produced was a small gust.
"Take it slow." Kiyohara said.
Kurenai's "Seal" was 9 and her "Ninjutsu" was 8—only slightly behind her genjutsu talent.
She could learn other jutsu quickly if she wanted.
It was just that in canon she specialized in genjutsu.
Unfortunately, by late-war meta, genjutsu without bloodline support basically vanished.
Even Jiraiya's sound-based genjutsu only became terrifying with Sage power.
If future Kurenai wanted to go farther, she'd need either horizontal expansion—more tools—or vertical power like Sage Mode or a curse mark.
While Kurenai practiced, Kiyohara reviewed his own Wind Release options.
He'd exchanged for two B-rank techniques: Wind Release: Vacuum Blade and Wind Release: Vacuum Bullets—both famously tied to Danzo.
They cost him a lot of merit points, but the power matched the difficulty.
Vacuum Blade could embed refined wind chakra into a kunai, boosting it to B-rank lethality—much stronger than Kiyohara's previous "plain wind infusion" or "Gale Palm enhancement."
Vacuum Bullets compressed wind chakra in the chest and fired it like a stream of bullets from the mouth—rapid-fire, deadly if the opponent wasn't ready.
If he could apply it to his Magnet Release: iron sand bullets, the lethality would likely stack even higher.
Soon, the afternoon passed.
"Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!"
Kurenai finally fired a smaller air bullet that smacked into the tree and left a shallow crater.
The power was low and her accuracy drifted, but for one afternoon of training, it was an excellent result.
Her aptitude for Wind Release was better than Kiyohara expected.
"I did it, Kiyohara!"
Kurenai bounced in place, glowing with excitement.
"Good." Kiyohara nodded.
It was only a D-rank technique, but a solid base meant faster progress later.
"Thank you! Kiyohara!" She sounded thrilled. "Wind Release is actually my weak point."
Kiyohara shook his head. "That's your talent."
"Come on—I'll treat you to barbecue! Barbecue Q—my treat today!"
She naturally grabbed his hand and started dragging him toward the exit.
Kiyohara hadn't even processed it before he'd already been pulled several steps.
That was when another voice came from the training ground entrance.
"Kurenai?"
Kiyohara and Kurenai both turned.
Sarutobi Asuma stood there, a lollipop in his mouth.
He wore a Konoha flak jacket and headband—clearly just back from a mission.
His gaze landed on their joined hands, and his expression froze for a split second.
"Asuma?" Kurenai sounded surprised. "When did you get back?"
"Just now." Asuma walked closer, eyes flicking between them. "Heard you were here, so I came by."
His tone tried to be casual, but Kiyohara could hear the strain.
Asuma's crush on Kurenai wasn't exactly a secret among their generation.
Kurenai had never responded, but Asuma's pursuit was persistent.
"Kiyohara's teaching me Wind Release." Kurenai said, smiling. She finally let go of Kiyohara's hand—though that "natural" gesture only made Asuma look more bothered.
"I just learned Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!"
"Yeah? Congrats." Asuma's mouth twitched. Then he looked at Kiyohara. "Kiyohara. Been a while."
"Been a while." Kiyohara nodded.
Asuma stared for a few seconds, then suddenly said, "My Wind Release is pretty good too. Want to spar?"
The suggestion was so abrupt even Kurenai blinked.
"Just sparring, point-stop." Asuma cut her off, eyes still on Kiyohara. "Well?"
Kiyohara understood perfectly.
Seeing the girl you like holding someone else's hand stings. Wanting to prove something is normal.
But understanding didn't mean he had to indulge it.
"Kind of a waste of time." Kiyohara said.
Asuma clearly hadn't expected such a blunt rejection and fell silent.
Wait—wasn't Kiyohara supposed to accept, to look good in front of Kurenai?
"You—" Asuma started.
"And…" Kiyohara continued first, "Why would I spar with you? We're not teammates, and we're not competitors."
Asuma's eyes widened, but he couldn't come up with a real argument.
He remembered the spar Kiyohara had done with Uchiha Tetsuka before.
So he forced out a new offer.
"Fine. Let's add a stake. Whoever loses gives the other one same-element jutsu they know that the other doesn't. Fair?"
It was a fair condition. Jutsu exchange among village ninja was common—excluding clan secrets and high-grade restricted techniques.
Kiyohara raised an eyebrow. Asuma was really committed.
Kurenai stepped in. "Kiyohara's going to eat with me."
"Kurenai, it's just a normal spar." Asuma lowered his voice in an attempt at a "manly" tone.
To Kiyohara, Asuma's delinquent vibe plus forced deep voice was almost comedic.
But after a moment, Kiyohara accepted.
Free jutsu was free jutsu—and he was going to win anyway.
"Alright." Kiyohara nodded.
Kurenai couldn't really protest now. She trusted Kiyohara would win—she just worried Asuma would lose humiliatingly.
Kiyohara and Asuma faced each other, thirty meters apart.
"Ready?" Asuma asked. They formed the Seal of Confrontation.
"Let's go." Kiyohara said.
The instant the words left his mouth, Asuma blurred forward.
Even while sprinting he formed hand seals—fast enough to be hard to read. As Hokage's son, his talent and baseline strength were top-tier for their age.
Fire Release: Great Flame Technique!
Asuma spewed a roaring flame.
This was a Sarutobi clan inherited fire technique—hot enough to reduce someone to ash.
A clan secret… Kiyohara thought, watching.
In the setting, Sarutobi and Uchiha both tended toward Fire affinity. After the Uchiha massacre, Sarutobi fire style became the strongest in Konoha.
In the Fourth War, Sarutobi clan members used this technique together against the Ten-Tails.
The heat wave slammed toward Kiyohara.
Right before the flames reached him, Kiyohara vanished.
Only an afterimage remained.
Asuma hadn't even seen how he moved. His fire hit "Kiyohara" cleanly—yet it was like striking a mirage.
Next second, Kiyohara was at Asuma's side, one hand on his shoulder.
"You lost." Kiyohara said.
At this point, Asuma was basically playing house compared to him. Kiyohara had no interest in flexing.
Asuma froze.
The fireball finally hit the empty ground behind them and exploded into a scorched crater.
Asuma turned slowly, face full of shock.
He'd imagined a hard clash, ninjutsu trading, taijutsu exchanges…
He'd never imagined this.
A clean, unquestionable instant loss.
It felt unreal—almost absurdly humiliating.
"What did you use just now?" Asuma demanded.
"Just Body Flicker." Kiyohara said. "Leaf's Shunshin."
He'd only used Leaf Body Flicker with a slight boost from repulsion acceleration.
Asuma's battle sense was simply weak.
Kiyohara had fought far more times than him, and it showed.
Asuma could only stare, stunned—his "prove myself" script completely shredded.
~~~
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