Normally, a small fry like Kiyohara wouldn’t even register on his radar.
But these were critical times.
His physical condition no longer allowed him the luxury of more deliberation.
He had to finalize the executor of the “Eye of the Moon Plan” as soon as possible, so he could pull the plug with peace of mind.
Sleep soundly until his resurrection, then make his grand entrance as the savior.
“Hashirama, I will prove everything.
I can make it…
to the other shore.”
Madara Uchiha spoke slowly into the pitch-black, empty cave.
He instinctively touched his chest.
There lay a portion of Hashirama’s flesh.
It was thanks to this that he had awakened the “Rinnegan” and conceived so many plans.
…….
Just as Kiyohara was pretending to sense the distant surroundings, Rogue Ninja Kiyohara’s spirit body drifted back.
His expression was grim.
“What’s wrong?”
Kiyohara asked hastily.
Don’t scare him like that.
Could they have already been surrounded by the Iwagakure forces?
Was it too late to write his last will and testament now?
“Up ahead is the place where Rin was captured.
Obito is almost here.”
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara said.
Before they knew it, they had already arrived near the Kannabi Bridge.
Because it had become the most hollowed-out area.
As anticipated, Minato Namikaze had already reached the front lines, causing considerable trouble for the Iwagakure forces.
As a result, a portion of the Iwagakure shinobi had been diverted there, leaving the defenses here depleted.
“I see.”
Kiyohara nodded slightly.
He understood what Rogue Ninja Kiyohara’s words implied.
Once Obito arrived, Kakashi, after a bout of internal struggle, would follow right behind.
Kakashi’s left eye would be slashed blind here, and Obito would have half his body crushed by the boulder.
This had to be the closest they’d ever been to where Madara Uchiha was observing.
Though he sensed nothing, Kiyohara still felt that White Zetsu was lurking somewhere nearby.
White Zetsu possessed the “Mayfly Technique,” allowing him to freely merge into the earth itself—virtually impossible to guard against.
“I don’t have any bloodline, so I shouldn’t pique Madara Uchiha’s interest.
At worst, I’d be seen as a potential nuisance to his plans, or perhaps a catalyst for Obito’s fall to darkness.”
Kiyohara thought to himself.
Madara Uchiha’s plan was to have Rin Nohara implanted with a Tailed Beast, forcing her to kill Kakashi or be killed by him—all to make Obito taste the ultimate despair and thus awaken the darkness within his heart.
What he hadn’t anticipated was that Rin Nohara would choose suicide, though this only served to better ignite the darkness inside Obito.
“Good thing I got into a fight with Obito before we left.
Hope I don’t get picked as a sacrifice target.”
Kiyohara mused.
If Obito still didn’t fall to darkness even after Kakashi and Rin died, he suspected Madara Uchiha would kill everyone close to Obito right before his eyes until he finally snapped and achieved his goal.
He really didn’t want Obito to shout “Arise, my love” for his sake.
Obito hadn’t even thought about resurrecting his grandmother when she died—his only obsession was becoming Hokage in the world of “Infinite Tsukuyomi” and living a blissful life with Rin.
The ultimate love-obsessed brain, and that was all there was to it.
“Those guys inside aren’t simple.
At the critical moment, remember to possess me.”
Kiyohara said.
He was adding an extra layer of insurance for himself.
Taiseki, the Jonin of Iwagakure, possessed the ability to turn invisible—he might not react in time.
“You could also just not go.”
The rogue ninja Kiyohara said.
Another option was for Kiyohara to stay put where he was and wait for things to play out.
“If I don’t go, who knows what kind of butterfly effect might happen.
The bridge has to be destroyed—only then will my achievements be enough.”
Kiyohara said.
One look at the spirit body of the rogue ninja Kiyohara made it obvious that time was running out for him.
Who knew when the next Testament Book would arrive, or what version of Kiyohara it would be?
What if a future version even weaker than his current self showed up—like “Ordinary Citizen Kiyohara” or “Chef Kiyohara”?
Then he would have effectively wasted a chance to grow stronger.
He needed to earn achievements and get promoted to Chunin as quickly as possible to obtain the remaining talents of the rogue ninja Kiyohara.
Once that happened, Kiyohara would learn Wind Release ninjutsu and Lightning Release ninjutsu at a rapid pace.
One person plus one person—the stacking of talents was absolutely terrifying.
It wasn’t just 1+1=2; it could very well trigger a chemical reaction and make the results even better.
“Fine.
I’ll help you at the critical moment.”
The rogue ninja Kiyohara nodded.
He too wanted his past self to fulfill his final wish, so he was willing to aid the current Kiyohara.
“Then what’s the maximum level you can fight at when substituting for me?”
Kiyohara asked curiously.
The rogue ninja Kiyohara had possessed him a few times before, but he still didn’t know just how much power the rogue ninja Kiyohara could truly unleash.
Even if he had the skills of a Jonin, his physical hardware was only at the Chunin level after all.
“No problem.
I can unleash your body’s full potential.”
The rogue ninja Kiyohara began explaining to Kiyohara.
The power of the human body is actually incredibly strong—it’s just that, for self-protection, the body spontaneously sets limits on itself.
But the rogue ninja Kiyohara functioned as a separate force of power, capable of directly ignoring those limits and cranking the output to maximum.
“So that means it’s essentially like the ‘Eight Gates’?”
Kiyohara understood the meaning behind the rogue ninja Kiyohara’s words.
The “Eight Gates” operated on the same principle—it could remove the brain’s restrictions to achieve the goal of unleashing 100% of the body’s capabilities, overloading the body’s reserves to boost power.
“Doesn’t that mean if I learned the ‘Eight Gates,’ you could also forcibly activate it?”
Kiyohara asked.
“In theory, yes.
It doesn’t matter whether you know it or not—all that matters is that I know it, and then it can be used.
But I don’t know the ‘Eight Gates’ myself.”
The rogue ninja Kiyohara said.
In a sense, the “Eight Gates” could also be considered a kinjutsu.
Moreover, this technique rarely leaked out.
Only Shinnō, the leader of the Land of Sky, had managed to learn some of the “Eight Gates.”
Having followed Orochimaru around, he naturally had no channels to come into contact with this technique.
Orochimaru had no interest in taijutsu whatsoever—his only obsession was swapping his body for a vessel with a Kekkei Genkai to achieve immortality.
“Alright.”
Kiyohara nodded.
Now he had some confidence.
The ones inside were all just Jonin anyway.
At worst, when the time came, he could just yell out “Future me, save me!”
“Let’s head over now.
Try not to make any noise.”
Kiyohara turned and said to Kurenai Yuhi and Genma Shiranui.
This time, they had three people supporting together, which had already greatly increased their safety.
…
“Kakashi!
Obito!”
Rin Nohara looked at Obito and Kakashi, who had come to rescue her.
Because of their interruption, the genjutsu shrouding her had temporarily lost its effect.
“Leave these two brats to you.
I’ll continue casting the genjutsu.”
Kakkō said to Taiseki.
Taiseki nodded slightly, his form continuing to lurk in the shadows.
“Damn it, he’s vanished again.”
Kakashi and Obito both wore grim expressions.
This guy’s ability was way too cheap.
“They’re nothing but a couple of brats.”
Taiseki shook his head.
He drew out a kunai, and without making a single sound, circled around behind Obito and Kakashi.
“Kakashi!”
Rin Nohara shouted in worry.
Just at that moment, a loud boom sounded from outside the cave.
“Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!”
A fierce gale blew in, kicking up dust that clung to Taiseki’s body, tracing his silhouette clearly against the air.
Kiyohara has arrived!
(End of Chapter)