Soon enough, a few days passed in the blink of an eye, arriving at the final day.
After some tinkering by Rogue Ninja Kiyohara, he placed some brown medicinal liquid into transparent bags and sealed them up.
Kiyohara looked at these bags and felt that they strangely resembled the traditional Chinese medicine from his past life…
“After you take these, they will strengthen your physical body, then drive up your chakra reserves.
Conservatively estimated, it can increase what you have now by double.”
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara said.
If the base blue bar is low, then raising it is simple.
“Doubling, huh?
Not bad at all.”
Kiyohara was even more satisfied with the effect.
This way, although his rank was only Genin, his strength would still count as formidable among Chunin.
As long as you have enough chakra, forget about technique—just brute force your way through with overwhelming power.
For example, Six Paths Naruto was a pure display of raw stats: an immortal’s body + tailed beast chakra + senjutsu-enhanced physique + Six Paths chakra-enhanced physique.
With all that stacked up, he just needed to spam Rasengans and call it a day.
“I remember Takigakure also has a forbidden drug called ‘Hero Water.'”
Kiyohara said.
In the anime’s Takigakure arc, there was a forbidden drug called “Hero Water” that, when drunk, could boost chakra tenfold!
The only catch was you wouldn’t live long afterward before dying.
“It’s not bad—drinking a small amount can save your life.
But Takigakure also has the Seven-Tails stationed there.”
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara shook his head.
Did he think he hadn’t considered this?
His strength simply wasn’t enough.
Even someone with the strength of a “Kage” wouldn’t dare claim certain victory against a tailed beast.
A single casual “Tailed Beast Bomb” from a tailed beast could level an entire mountain, which is why tailed beasts were treated as weapons of war by every nation.
Hashirama Senju also believed that by distributing the tailed beasts to achieve so-called tailed beast balance, all nations could enjoy permanent peace.
But just like how the Qin Dynasty fell in its second generation, the ninja world erupted into war immediately after Hashirama Senju’s death.
“True.”
Kiyohara also felt he was being a bit impatient.
As long as he had the Last Will and Testament Book, continuously fusing with his other timeline selves, he too could become a stat monster.
“Down the hatch.”
Kiyohara used a kunai to slash a slit in the sealed plastic bag, then downed it in one gulp.
Bitter!
That was Kiyohara’s first reaction.
Then came a bout of headaches, as if his brain were about to explode.
Wait, Rogue Ninja Kiyohara mentioned a headache, but he didn’t say it would hurt this much!
Kiyohara clutched his head, crouching down to endure the pain.
“Right now your chakra reserves are increasing.
The headache is your brain producing chakra.”
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara said.
This kind of forbidden drug utilized the principle of “Yang” Release chakra.
Through reactions between certain herbs and the human body, a special chakra was generated, and that chakra would then nourish the physical body in return.
Once bodily energy rose, a shinobi’s chakra reserves would increase alongside it.
Sure enough, after the initial agony passed, Kiyohara could feel a warm, cozy sensation spreading through every limb and bone.
Like finally taking a hot spring bath after not bathing for ten days.
Once the drug’s effects had mostly worn off, Kiyohara clenched his fist.
Brand new power!
Then Kiyohara stepped into the courtyard, formed hand seals with both hands—still the three seals of Boar, Horse, Bird.
“Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!”
From Kiyohara’s mouth burst a fierce gale, stirring up the scattered pebbles on the ground.
With a loud bang, it slammed into the courtyard wall, hard enough to punch a hole right through it.
The small stones turned to fine dust, scattering to the ground.
“Just as I thought—the more chakra I pour in, the greater the power.”
Kiyohara thought to himself.
For example, a single Fire Release ninjutsu unleashed by Madara Uchiha alone would require a squad of twenty Water Release shinobi to form a unit, combining their Water Release ninjutsu just to cancel it out.
After all, Madara Uchiha was someone who could fight Hashirama Senju, even using the Nine-Tails as a mere summoned beast.
He never absorbed tailed beast chakra—he fought Hashirama Senju entirely on his own chakra reserves, so his chakra capacity was hardly small.
“Hiss…”
Kiyohara clutched his head.
A sharp pain had just flashed through it.
This was the price of using the forbidden drug—fortunately, it would take only three months to purge.
“If I take this forbidden drug again after three months, will it still work?”
Kiyohara asked.
“There won’t be much effect.”
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara shook his head.
Things were never that convenient.
This kind of forbidden drug only further stimulated the body’s latent potential; the first dose had the best effect.
After that, one could say it barely did anything at all.
Otherwise, why would Orochimaru be so obsessed with Sasuke’s body?
It was because the innate talent of the physical body was simply too important.
“So it’s nothing then…”
Hearing this, Kiyohara casually picked up a chunk of rock about the same size as the hole and blocked up the courtyard wall with it.
“Then next up, it’s time to train in ninjutsu.”
Kiyohara planned to learn another Lightning Release ninjutsu.
Among the five great nature transformations, Lightning Release ninjutsu arguably had the highest ceiling.
The reason was simple—later on, the likes of the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, the Otsutsuki clan, and even the various artificial humans mostly possessed the ability to absorb ninjutsu, unless one learned senjutsu.
Otherwise, Earth Release, Wind Release, Water Release—all of them were just things that could be absorbed outright.
Even the so-called strongest attack, “Amaterasu,” suffered from relying on a single nature, making it easily countered.
Lightning Release was different.
Lightning Release could activate the body’s cells, enhancing taijutsu across the board and raising one’s baseline stats.
In that way, those absorption-type abilities became ineffective.
“Then I’ll start with ‘Lightning Release: Earth Flash.'”
Kiyohara looked at the scroll in his hand, upon which several ninjutsu were recorded.
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara had relayed two Lightning Release ninjutsu in total, and three Fire Release ninjutsu.
Among them was “Lightning Release: Earth Flash.”
This technique could unleash a barrage of irregular lightning bolts along the ground surface.
The Battle of Kannabi Bridge took place among mountainous valleys, surrounded by forests everywhere.
Some areas were quite narrow—using this move there would leave enemies with limited room to evade, making it very hard to dodge.
…
The next day.
Kiyohara put on the new chainmail liner he had bought, wore a shirt over it, slung on the field pack he had stocked with his tools, and headed for the meeting spot.
“Obito’s late again.”
By the time Kiyohara arrived, he heard Kakashi complaining about Obito.
“Probably off helping some old lady across the street again.”
Genma Shiranui had a senbon clasped between his lips.
He had some understanding of Obito’s nature, since they were all classmates in the same team.
“Where’s Kurenai?”
Kiyohara came over and asked.
“She’s up ahead getting ready.”
Genma Shiranui pointed forward; Kurenai Yuhi was busy checking over the supplies she was to bring along.
“Kiyohara, Rin—I’ll leave finding Obito to you.”
Minato Namikaze spoke up.
The reason he hadn’t called on Kakashi was out of fear the two might come to blows.
At this critical juncture, it was best for the team to remain amicable.
“Yes, Minato-sensei.”
Rin Nohara nodded.
Kiyohara naturally had no objections either—it happened he had never visited where the Uchiha clan lived, so this was a chance to see it for himself.
He remembered one time Obito had kissed a photo of Rin, and when Kakashi went to find him, he’d happened upon that very sight.
He wondered what Obito was up to now.
“Let’s go, Rin.”
Kiyohara said.
“Mhm.”
Rin Nohara trotted along after Kiyohara.
At this very moment, Obito was completely oblivious to the world around him.
Today was the day he was heading to the battlefield, so he planned to unwind a bit.
He took out the Team Minato group photo, which had Rin Nohara, Kakashi, Minato Namikaze, and himself in it.