If one looked closely at the appearances of Naruto and Sasuke, it would be easy to recognize them as the two sons of the Sage of Six Paths, Indra and Asura.
They did not seem to possess any awareness of their own identities.
At least, that was what Kiyohara thought.
All this time, what had been reincarnated was chakra, not the soul itself.
Therefore, this chakra could influence its host at most. It did not mean that the host was truly that person.
Otherwise, when Madara was revived, there would have been two Indras existing in the world at the same time.
Yet there was clearly not enough of Indra's chakra for two separate incarnations.
Kiyohara stretched out his hands, placing one palm on each child's head.
"I believe in both of you."
Kiyohara's voice was calm.
Naruto's eyes widened instantly, but the light within them was brighter than ever before.
"Yeah!"
Sasuke lowered his head, silently accepting the weight of the hand resting on top of his head.
Kiyohara withdrew his hands and stood up.
He glanced at the sky. The sun had already begun to sink toward the western horizon, casting long shadows across the training ground. In the distance, several ANBU shinobi dressed in dark blue uniforms were changing shifts at their posts.
"Naruto, Sasuke, do me a favor."
Kiyohara took a sealing scroll out of his shinobi pouch.
"Take this to Big Sister Konan. Tell her I asked her to check the condition of the seal."
"Big Sister Konan?"
Naruto took the cloth-wrapped package and tilted his head in confusion.
"You mean that blue-haired sister who hardly ever talks?"
"That's the one."
Kiyohara nodded.
"She knows what to do."
In reality, the package contained nothing more than Konan's salary for the month.
Kiyohara had noticed that ever since Konan had been staying here, she seemed to be somewhat short on money.
"Got it."
Naruto stuffed the scroll into his clothes and immediately turned around to run. After taking several steps, however, he suddenly stopped, turned his head, and shouted toward Sasuke.
"Run faster!"
Sasuke followed at an unhurried pace, maintaining a distance of two steps behind Naruto. His expression remained as indifferent as ever, but he was clearly moving a little faster than before.
The two children's figures gradually disappeared into the trees at the edge of the training ground. Only Naruto's unmistakably loud voice continued to drift back from the distance.
"Sasuke, you're too slow! You'll never become a shinobi if you keep running like that!"
"You're the one who won't become a shinobi."
"I'm going to be the man who becomes Hokage!"
Kiyohara watched in the direction they had disappeared.
Just now, he had sensed the Indra chakra inside Sasuke responding to the Asura chakra within his own body.
Kiyohara estimated that the Asura chakra inside Naruto was still too weak, which was why it had not produced any resonance.
His own Asura chakra, however, had already grown to its full strength. It was even powerful enough to suppress the Indra chakra, which was likely the reason such a reaction had occurred.
Kiyohara turned around and walked toward Hinata.
The little girl was still standing beneath the shade of the tree. The leaf that had been resting on her forehead had already been removed, but her posture remained perfectly proper. Her small hands were folded neatly in front of her, and she stood motionless as she waited for him to return.
"Hinata, that's enough training for today."
Kiyohara crouched down in front of her.
"You did very well. When you get home, remember to cultivate your chakra once every night before going to bed. You don't need to spend too much time on it. Half an hour will be enough."
Hinata nodded slightly.
"Kiyohara-sensei... that..."
Hinata's voice was so soft that it was almost like the buzzing of a mosquito.
"Hm?"
"The two children just now..."
"Naruto and Sasuke."
"Yes... Their dreams... they're amazing."
Hinata lowered her head, bringing her fingers together in front of herself.
"I don't even know what my dream is..."
Looking at her timid appearance, the corners of Kiyohara's lips curved upward slightly.
"It's fine if you don't have a dream yet. You're still young, so there's no need to rush. Once you grow older, you'll slowly discover what you want for yourself."
Hinata raised her head, her pure white eyes meeting Kiyohara's dark eyes.
The afterglow of the setting sun fell across Kiyohara's face, covering his features in a layer of soft golden light.
Hinata suddenly felt that Kiyohara-sensei was even gentler than she had imagined.
She nodded firmly, and a faint smile appeared on her little face.
When night finally descended, Kiyohara escorted Hinata back to the Hyuga clan's main estate.
The mother of Hinata was already waiting at the entrance.
Today, she was dressed in a white robe that outlined the slender curves of her waist.
When she saw Kiyohara walking toward her through the darkness while holding Hinata's hand, she immediately went forward to greet them.
"Hokage-sama."
Hinata's mother bowed slightly.
"Did Hinata cause you any trouble today, Hokage-sama?"
"No."
Kiyohara looked down at Hinata.
"She did very well. She was more serious and diligent than most children her age."
A faint blush appeared on Hinata's cheeks.
She released Kiyohara's hand and walked over to her mother. Then she turned around and bowed deeply toward Kiyohara.
"Thank you... Kiyohara-sensei."
Hinata spoke softly.
Hinata's mother's eyes widened slightly as she looked at her daughter.
This child was normally extremely shy. The fact that she could communicate with Kiyohara so naturally showed that she had already begun to open her heart to him.
And this had happened after only a single afternoon.
She raised her head and looked at Kiyohara, a gentle smile appearing on her lips.
"Thank you very much, Hokage-sama. Hinata seems to be a little more cheerful than usual."
"She'll continue to improve. Hinata has excellent talent. She only needs time."
Hinata's mother secretly thought that Kiyohara's charm was truly remarkable. She then took Hinata's hand and turned around, leading her into the main estate.
Kiyohara remained at the entrance, watching the small figure dressed in pale purple gradually disappear into the depths of the corridor.
Only after she was completely out of sight did he turn around and begin walking back along the streets of Konoha.
After walking for several minutes, Kiyohara noticed someone approaching from ahead.
It was Rin.
Kiyohara quickly recognized her.
Today, Rin was wearing a white medical-nin coat.
The sleeves of the white coat had been rolled up to her elbows. Several faint red marks remained on her arms, left behind by wearing rubber gloves for long periods of time.
She was carrying a thick folder in her arms. A red label bearing the words "Confidential" was attached to its cover.
"Rin."
Kiyohara walked up to her.
"It's already this late. You haven't gone home yet?"
"I just came out of the laboratory."
Rin spoke as she looked at him.
"Kiyohara, I have some good news for you."
"The medical ninjutsu known as 'Limb Regeneration' has finally been completed. The experimental white mice regrew their severed limbs completely in approximately thirty minutes."
Rin took a breath before placing the folder into Kiyohara's hands.
When he opened it, he found page after page filled with dense experimental data and diagrams of the chakra pathways.
"In theory, as long as the caster possesses a sufficiently massive amount of Yang Release chakra and has enough precision to control it accurately, this technique should be able to adapt to the physiology of any shinobi."
"The only limitation is that the caster must perform the technique within the critical recovery period immediately after the limb is severed. If the wound has been allowed to heal for too long, the effectiveness of the technique will be affected."
Kiyohara flipped through the thick experimental report. His eyes paused for a moment on the conclusion section of one of the pages before he looked up.
"Rin, you did an excellent job."
A smile appeared at the corners of Rin's lips.
"It was Kiyohara who gave me the inspiration. I only completed the work that came afterward. Without that inspiration, the development of this technique would have taken at least several more years."
Kiyohara closed the folder and handed it back to Rin.
"This technique is going to bring about a fundamental change to the entire medical ninjutsu system. What do you think would be an appropriate name for it?"
Kiyohara asked.
A shinobi's most important body parts were their hands.
If their hands could be healed after being lost, countless shinobi would no longer have to retire.
Even losing one's eyes or legs did not necessarily mean that a person could no longer be a shinobi.
But losing both hands was essentially the same as being cut off from the path of a shinobi.
"Then, I want to call it 'Yang Release: Limb Regeneration Technique.'"
Kiyohara was momentarily silent.
"'Yang Release: Limb Regeneration Technique'?"
Kiyohara rubbed his chin.
"That name works."
He felt that the name was quite fitting.
"What about Tsunade-sensei?"
"She's still in the office. She's writing the final version of the technique's explanation and its teaching curriculum. Lady Tsunade said she wants to include this technique in a medical ninjutsu textbook so that the most talented medical shinobi will be able to study it."
Kiyohara nodded.
Although Tsunade was usually rather lazy, she had never been careless when it came to medical ninjutsu.
The fact that she was already personally writing the teaching curriculum for the "Yang Release: Limb Regeneration Technique" showed that she had already recognized the enormous value of the technique.
Unfortunately, the requirements for learning this technique were extremely demanding. Ordinary medical shinobi would have no chance of mastering it.
Kiyohara closed the document once again and handed it back to Rin.
"Limb Regeneration. Once this technique is made public, the entire medical system of the shinobi world will be shaken."
Kiyohara spoke calmly.
"However, the risks are also considerable. Before it can be widely introduced, classify it as an S-rank secret of Konoha. Only medical shinobi who have received permission from you, me, or Tsunade-sensei personally should be allowed to study it."
"I understand."
Rin nodded and held the thick folder securely against her chest.
"I'll come find you later."
Kiyohara lifted Rin's chin with his index finger, gave her a brief kiss, and then left.
By the time Rin raised her head again, Kiyohara had already disappeared without a trace.
"Then I should hurry back."
Rin's face flushed slightly as she hugged the documents to her chest and hurriedly left.
After bidding farewell to Rin, Kiyohara arrived at the home of Kushina and Minato.
When he knocked on the door, it was Minato who came to answer.
Minato was dressed in comfortable home clothes. His golden hair was still dazzling beneath the lights, but his expression was relaxed.
"Kiyohara? It's already so late. Is there something urgent?"
Minato stepped aside to let him into the house.
Kiyohara greeted him before sweeping his gaze across the living room.
Kushina was sitting cross-legged on the carpet, with a small booklet spread open in front of her.
"It's about the Nine-Tails. I want to enter your mental space one more time and take something."
Kiyohara got straight to the point.
"Okay."
Kushina raised her head, closed the small booklet in her hands, and placed it to one side.
"He's much more obedient than he used to be, but he still doesn't really like talking to people."
Kushina adjusted her sitting position on the floor and undid the bottom button of her pajamas.
"But when it comes to you, he seems to have quite a lot to say. Every time you show up, he gets angry and starts grumbling and cursing."
The next moment, she closed her eyes.
Kiyohara's consciousness followed Kushina into a dark and gloomy space.
Cold water rose just above his ankles beneath his feet. Directly in front of him stood a massive cage, and behind it, a pair of fierce vertical pupils coldly looked down at him.
"You're here again."
Kurama's voice caused ripples to spread across the stagnant water.
Kiyohara raised his head and looked into the Nine-Tails' scarlet vertical pupils through the thick wooden pillar that formed part of the seal.
"I need a portion of your chakra to take physical form."
A deep, mocking laugh came from Kurama's throat.
He slowly lowered his body, bringing his enormous head closer to the gaps in the seal.
"Kid, do you think I can't sense it?"
Kurama spoke coldly.
"Not only does the old man's power flow through your body, but you also have that annoying blue flame belonging to the Two-Tails. You even carry the smell of octopus ink."
The Nine-Tails bared his teeth, revealing a row of pale, vicious fangs.
Of course, there was no strange smell coming from Kiyohara's body.
What Kurama meant was that he could sense the chakra of Matatabi and Gyuki within Kiyohara.
He could even sense the chakra of Isobu, as well as Kiyohara's own chakra.
"With nothing more than a human body, you actually want to contain the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts at the same time? Such arrogant stupidity will eventually leave you with a miserable death."
Kiyohara reminded Kurama of the Gold and Silver Brothers.
The two of them had gained a portion of the Tailed Beasts' power by consuming their own flesh.
But he was completely different from those two fools.
At most, the Gold and Silver Brothers could accommodate only a small amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra. They had been unable to go any further.
What Kiyohara was doing was something even that old Sage, had never accomplished while he was alive.
Back then, the Sage of Six Paths had extracted the Ten-Tails' chakra from his own body and divided it into nine portions, creating the nine Tailed Beasts. He had even deliberately sealed the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path away.
The reason was simple. Once separated from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, there was no physical body in this world capable of containing such an overwhelmingly vast amount of power for an extended period of time.
Even if this human possessed extraordinary talent, could he possibly surpass the Sage of Six Paths?
"That remains to be seen."
Kiyohara met the Nine-Tails' mocking gaze without backing down.
His body was constantly undergoing transformation, gradually moving further and further away from the limits of an ordinary human.
"Once I completely adapt to your power, I don't even know what will happen. But right now, I need your power as a foundation."
Kiyohara spoke calmly.
Behind him, Kushina listened with a somewhat confused expression.
She had no idea what Kiyohara and the Nine-Tails were actually talking about.
Who was that old man?
She had never heard the Nine-Tails explain who he was.
She had also never heard Kiyohara ask about the identity of this person.
"Hmph."
In the end, Kurama snorted coldly and placed his enormous head back onto his crossed forepaws.
"Since the jinchuriki of this cage is willing to let you do it, I won't stop you. If you end up bursting yourself apart because you can't contain the power, that's hardly a bad thing for me."
Kiyohara no longer wasted words arguing with him.
He stepped forward.
His right hand passed effortlessly through the sealing pillar that was supposedly impenetrable to the Nine-Tails, plunging directly into the Nine-Tails' fur, which had been formed from pure chakra condensed into physical matter.
The sensation was like thrusting his hand into a mass of boiling liquid fire, but Kiyohara's expression remained completely unchanged.
His fingers tightened as he reached deeper inside, and then he suddenly pulled his arm outward.
"Grrrmm!"
Accompanied by the Nine-Tails' somewhat irritated grumble, a mass of orange-red chakra was forcibly torn out of its body by Kiyohara.
At the same time, in the real world, Kiyohara's physical body stood in front of Kushina and opened his right hand.
A strand of red flesh formed entirely from condensed Tailed Beast chakra appeared out of thin air in his palm.
Kiyohara then withdrew from the mental space.
At the moment he left, he could still hear Kurama muttering to himself.
"That brat... I'll have to see what kind of thing you eventually become."
Kiyohara's consciousness returned to his body.
He lowered his head and looked at the successfully materialized piece of Nine-Tails flesh in his palm before sealing it inside an advanced sealing scroll that he carried with him.
"Kushina, Minato, thank you."
Kiyohara nodded toward the two of them.
"Don't say that. Naruto mentioned you today. He said that he would definitely find a chance to train with you in the future."
Kushina spoke with a smile.
"That boy's dream is to surpass you, the strongest Hokage. You'll have to give him a little extra training whenever you get the chance."
"No problem."
Kiyohara nodded.
After leaving Minato's home, Kiyohara used the Flying Thunder God Technique to travel to a safe location. Once he arrived, he took out the sealing scroll he had just stored away.
He removed the Nine-Tails' flesh and then put it into his mouth.
The Nine-Tails' chakra, filled with hatred, flowed down his throat and rushed into the network of chakra pathways throughout Kiyohara's body.
For an instant, his skin uncontrollably broke out in a layer of dark red bubbles, a phenomenon symbolizing the Nine-Tails' chakra. His own Yang Release power quickly suppressed it.
"The Nine-Tails' chakra really packs a punch."
Kiyohara shook his head.
The Nine-Tails' chakra was simply too enormous, so adapting to it required considerably more effort than adapting to the chakra of an ordinary Tailed Beast.
Several days later, inside the Hokage's office.
Kiyohara sat in the Hokage's chair.
Spread across the desk was a map of the shinobi world. Especially around the territories of the Five Great Nations, densely packed notes recorded information concerning the various Tailed Beasts and their jinchuriki.
"It should be time to collect the remaining Tailed Beast chakra."
Kiyohara silently calculated his next steps.
The One-Tail, Shukaku. Its jinchuriki was Gaara of Sunagakure, but he was still very young at the moment.
The Four-Tails, Son Goku, and the Five-Tails, Kokuo. Their jinchuriki were both veteran shinobi of Iwagakure, and their whereabouts were uncertain.
The Six-Tails, Saiken. The last time Kiyohara had visited Kirigakure, he had not encountered its jinchuriki because the Six-Tails' jinchuriki, Utakata, had already defected from the village.
The Seven-Tails, Chomei. Its jinchuriki was Fu of Takigakure.
'Suna is still the easiest target.'
The image of Pakura flashed through Kiyohara's mind.
It had already been some time since he had rescued her from the edge of the desert and brought her back to Konoha.
With a Scorch Release user who had become deeply disappointed in Suna's leadership acting as an insider, getting close to Shukaku would be much easier than obtaining the chakra of the other Tailed Beasts.
Moreover, after its previous defeat, Suna had adopted an extremely accommodating diplomatic attitude toward Konoha.
All that was needed was a suitable opportunity for a visit, and everything could proceed naturally.
A plan quickly took shape in Kiyohara's mind.
Another half a month quietly passed.
During this period, Kiyohara continued adapting to the violent Nine-Tails chakra inside his body while also noticing that his eyes were undergoing extremely subtle changes every single day.
He could feel that he was getting closer and closer to breaking through that final barrier.
On this particular morning, sunlight streamed in through the window.
"Ugh..."
Kiyohara suddenly opened his eyes.
A strange throbbing sensation abruptly pulsed within his eyeballs.
It was like a newborn life moving its limbs for the first time, violently struggling as though it wanted to tear its way out of the womb.
In an instant, everything within the room was reflected in his pupils.
The patterns in the wooden walls, the tiny particles of dust floating through the air, and every other detail were captured with perfect clarity.
But immediately afterward came an extreme pain powerful enough to completely overwhelm an ordinary person's will.
Everything in front of his eyes began to distort wildly.
All colors faded away, leaving behind nothing but blinding white light.
He instinctively raised his hands and covered his eyes.
"Kiyohara?"
Kurenai, who had been sleeping beside him, was instantly awakened by the sudden disturbance.
She saw Kiyohara hunched over with his hands covering his eyes. His normally steady and powerful hands were trembling slightly from the pain.
Kurenai's drowsiness vanished in an instant, and she hurriedly supported Kiyohara.
The thin blanket covering her body slipped down, revealing that she was wearing nothing but a silk nightdress with thin straps.
Her smooth, pale shoulders and delicate collarbones were exposed to the slightly cool morning air, but at that moment, her mind contained nothing except confusion and concern.
"Kiyohara, are you all right?"
Kurenai asked anxiously.
"I'm fine."
Kiyohara shook his head.
He could clearly feel that the interior of his eyes was undergoing a complete reconstruction.
A completely new power was being born from within that intense pain.
He slowly exhaled a long breath, releasing the foul air from his lungs.
Then Kiyohara lowered the hands covering his eyes.
Kurenai's lips parted slightly as she stared at Kiyohara's eyes in astonishment.
His originally pitch-black eyes had, at some point, completely changed.
In their place was now a pair of eyes as clear and crystalline as blue sapphires.
"Why did your eyes turn blue?"
Kurenai had no idea what was happening.
"My ocular technique has changed."
Kiyohara shook his head.
He discovered that, in this state, all of his basic abilities related to the Byakugan had been strengthened.
His ability to see through objects, his long-distance vision, and even his overall powers of observation had all increased dramatically after the Tenseigan had awakened.
Kiyohara eventually raised his head.
His gaze pierced through the roof, continued through the clouds, and reached all the way to the moon.
He stared at it for a while before finally withdrawing his gaze from the sky and refocusing on Kurenai's tear-stained face.
He raised his hand and gently brushed his fingers across her cheek, wiping away a cold tear.
"Sorry for making you worry."
The corners of Kiyohara's lips curved upward slightly.
"It's just that my eyes... evolved a little."
After confirming that Kiyohara really was fine, the enormous worry in Kurenai's heart finally disappeared.
In its place came an intense mixture of embarrassment and anger.
She suddenly leaned forward and fiercely bit Kiyohara on the shoulder.
"Idiot! You scared me to death!"
Kiyohara did not feel any pain.
Kurenai had not actually been willing to bite him hard.
Kiyohara reached out and pulled her into his arms.
Afterward, Kiyohara began carefully sensing the changes brought about by the Tenseigan.
Once he possessed the Tenseigan, he could activate the Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
In this state, his entire body would be enveloped in green chakra. He could freely create large numbers of Truth-Seeking Balls and cover them with a layer of Tenseigan chakra then control them at will.
At the same time, Kiyohara faintly sensed that he had established some kind of contract with something, allowing him to summon it at any time.
Just as awakening the Rinnegan allowed someone to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Kiyohara also felt that he could summon something from somewhere.
'It should be Hamura's stone statue.'
Kiyohara thought to himself.
Toneri had relied on the Tenseigan to summon an enormous stone statue of Hamura, using it to restrain the Nine-Tails after it had been materialized.
As long as the Tenseigan's chakra did not disappear, the stone statue would not vanish.
Under the control of the Tenseigan, even if the statue was shattered, it could rapidly restore itself.
However, compared with all of these abilities, what Kiyohara cared about even more was that he had finally accomplished his long-cherished wish.
Jōgan Kiyohara was already on the verge of dissipating and spent every moment inside his urn.
Kiyohara had not released him either. Instead, he had directly cut off his permissions.
He did the same thing with every spirit body.
He disabled their ability to sense the outside world because, after all, when he was playing cards, he did not want anyone watching from the sidelines.
(End of Chapter)