“Thank you, Rin.”
Under Rin Nohara’s guidance, Kiyohara, who had been on the verge of mastering the Detoxification Technique, finally succeeded in grasping this ninjutsu.
“I never thought you’d be interested in this kind of thing too, Kiyohara.”
Rin Nohara remarked in admiration.
Here, besides Kiyohara, who had only recently begun training in medical ninjutsu, she was the only other person who knew any.
“By the way, Kiyohara, did you also sign up at Konoha Hospital to become a medical ninja?”
Rin Nohara asked next.
“Not really.”
Kiyohara shook his head, explaining that his ninjutsu had come from Lady Tsunade.
“Lady Tsunade!”
Rin Nohara let out a small gasp.
Any medical ninja worth their salt knew who Tsunade was.
Tsunade stood at the very pinnacle of the medical world, and she was also a role model Rin Nohara looked up to from the bottom of her heart.
Seeing the reverence shining in Rin Nohara’s eyes, Kiyohara immediately understood that she belonged to the type who had no idea what Tsunade was truly like.
Kiyohara thought it over and decided not to shatter that harsh reality for Rin Nohara, so that her idol’s halo wouldn’t come crashing down.
“By the way, Rin, which chakra pathway system points do you release the Detoxification Technique from?”
Kiyohara asked.
Controlling chakra to release it from the chakra pathway system is no easy feat—even a Jonin can only emit a portion of their chakra from their hands, feet, or body.
That’s why you’ll notice that ninjutsu is usually either spat out from the mouth or released from the hands.
It’s rare to see someone fire it from other body parts—like a fireball suddenly popping out of their forehead or knee…
And the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan, in a way, counts as having one extra outlet for releasing techniques.
Only shinobi with the Byakugan can release chakra from every single chakra pathway system point across their entire body.
Techniques like Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven, which expels chakra from the whole body and boasts formidable defense, are nearly impossible to pull off without the Byakugan.
That’s also why the Gentle Fist has become the Hyuga clan’s signature fighting style—shinobi without the Byakugan basically never use the Gentle Fist and only rely on the Strong Fist.
“Hmm, let’s see, there are these…”
Rin Nohara reached out her hand, bringing it close to Kiyohara’s face, showing him which chakra pathway system points she released her chakra from.
Kiyohara listened on the side, but relying only on hearing, he still felt somewhat puzzled.
So he grabbed Rin Nohara’s hand and touched her palm with his fingertips.
The moment Rin Nohara’s hand was caught, a flicker of panic shot through her heart.
Kakashi is still right here!
But looking at Kiyohara, who remained focused and buried in his studies, Rin Nohara suddenly felt she was overthinking things.
In a doctor’s eyes, patients have no gender.
So when exchanging medical ninjutsu knowledge, gender shouldn’t come into play either.
Rin Nohara endured the strange sensation of her palm being touched and continued her explanation.
“What are you two talking about over here?”
Seeing Rin Nohara chatting nonstop with Kiyohara, Obito finally couldn’t sit still anymore and rushed over to butt in.
“We’re discussing some academic matters—you wouldn’t understand, Obito.”
Rin Nohara shook her head gently, implying that how could Obito possibly grasp the content of her conversation with Kiyohara?
“What…
what do I not understand?”
Obito immediately felt displeased.
What kind of thing was it that he, Obito Uchiha, couldn’t understand, but Kiyohara could?
Was the gap really that big?
Once he had the Sharingan, wouldn’t learning anything be a piece of cake?
“Hm?”
It was then that Obito noticed—Rin Nohara, who had her back to him, still had her hand being held by Kiyohara.
“Rin, why is your hand…
in Kiyohara’s hand?”
Obito’s eyes went wide.
“Obito, don’t misunderstand Rin and me.
We’re just learning medical ninjutsu.”
Kiyohara indicated that he was learning this new field, and Obito shouldn’t overthink it.
Hearing this, Obito was momentarily incredulous.
No, wait—since when did medical ninjutsu require putting hands together?
His theoretical knowledge was lacking, sure, but not so lacking that he’d lost all common sense!
“Idiot, that’s Kiyohara checking Rin’s chakra pathway system.”
Kakashi shook his head.
Obito was truly foolish.
Who knew how the Uchiha clan, which produced nothing but elites, had spawned an oddball like Obito.
“Yeah, Obito, what are you thinking?”
Kurenai Yuhi was also puzzled.
Kiyohara had an upright and righteous demeanor—how could he possibly be groping Rin Nohara’s hand?
He was just checking her chakra pathway system.
“Minato-sensei, I…”
Obito wasn’t sure what to think and cast a pleading look at Minato Namikaze.
“Obito, what they’re saying is correct.”
Minato Namikaze nodded.
Obito suddenly began to doubt himself.
Could I really have gotten it wrong?
Obito thought to himself.
“Alright, we should keep moving.”
After a brief rest, Minato Namikaze stood up.
Every minute and every second now was precious—there was no time to waste.
“Yes.”
Everyone responded in unison and began packing up to leave.
Only Obito’s reply was a bit distracted.
Rin Nohara’s soft, fragrant little hand—even he had never touched it.
And yet this guy Kiyohara had gotten to it first.
The more Obito thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt—like a bicycle he couldn’t bear to ride being stolen and ridden hard by someone else.
“I’ll accompany you a bit further along the border.
After that, we’ll split up for our respective missions.
I’ll head to the front lines to provide support, with Kiyohara and Kakashi each serving as squad leaders.
Kiyohara, your squad will be responsible for drawing Iwagakure’s attention.
Kakashi, you’ll continue advancing.”
Minato Namikaze laid out the arrangements and reiterated them once more.
It just so happened that Kiyohara’s sensory abilities were even better than Kakashi’s, allowing them to detect the enemy’s presence first and strike preemptively.
After disrupting the enemy, they could retreat.
“Understood.”
Kakashi acknowledged.
Then everyone continued walking forward.
After about half an hour, Kakashi suddenly stopped in his tracks and made a gesture behind him, signaling everyone not to come closer.
Watching this scene unfold exactly as it had in the original story, Kiyohara knew in his heart that they had encountered Iwagakure’s Jonin stationed here for reconnaissance—Mahiru.
Mahiru specialized in kenjutsu, was extremely fast, and also knew the Shadow Clone Technique.
Kiyohara analyzed the intel on Mahiru.
“Mahiru, huh…”
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara looked at the Mahiru ahead, as if something had occurred to him.
“What’s wrong?”
Kiyohara looked at Rogue Ninja Kiyohara and silently asked what was the matter.
“I’ve crossed swords with Mahiru before.
In my future, he didn’t die here—he managed to survive by luck, and in the end, I was the one who killed him.
Unfortunately, I never managed to extract his kenjutsu through interrogation.”
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara said.
“I see.”
Kiyohara nodded.
Iwagakure Jonin Mahiru’s kenjutsu, huh?
Kiyohara didn’t have much interest in training in kenjutsu right now.
Even with Rogue Ninja Kiyohara’s guidance, it would be a long-term process.
For Kiyohara as he was now, the cost-effectiveness was far worse than training in ninjutsu or practicing throwing shuriken.
“Two of them spotted me, huh—not bad.”
Hiding behind a tree, Mahiru sensed that two shinobi had been the first to steady their breathing.
That was a signal they were preparing to fight.
So Mahiru secretly glanced back.
One was a handsome black-haired youth, and the other was a white-haired youth carrying a short blade on his back.
“That man is…
impossible…”
Mahiru suddenly fixed his gaze on their Jonin squad leader, cold sweat trickling down his cheek.