At the same time.
Konoha Village, Hokage Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood silently before his massive office window, holding the heavily encoded, urgent tactical report sent from the Grass front line. The ember of his pipe glowed bright red and faded in rhythm with his heavy breathing.
A high-level emergency command meeting had just concluded in the conference room.
The primary discussion was naturally about the nightmare that had just occurred at the Land of Grass border.
The political handling of the newly acquired Three-Tails Jinchuriki had to be managed with absolute, suffocating caution.
After brutal arguments among the elders, the Hokage had officially decided to have the elite Sealing Squad temporarily, aggressively reinforce the surgical seal on Rin Nohara in the field first to prevent a localized nuclear detonation.
Finally, they would covertly transport her back to Konoha under heavy guard and have Kushina Uzumaki use her clan's legendary, ancient Sealing Jutsu to permanently reinforce the cage.
As the sole survivor of the Uzumaki Clan currently residing in Konoha, Kushina's mastery over Sealing Jutsu was a complete dimension above everyone else's. Not to mention the Adamantine Sealing Chains and other terrifying, anti-Biju abilities that could strictly only be deployed by inheriting the pure Uzumaki Bloodline.
With the Jinchuriki crisis temporarily mitigated, the subsequent, highly sensitive political matter discussed was regarding the anomaly of Kiyohara's Sharingan.
"The Sharingan..." Hiruzen muttered to himself, exhaling a thick, gray smoke ring against the glass.
Hiruzen was no stranger to the name Kiyohara.
This civilian teenager possessed outstanding talent, an incredibly cold, calm nature, and had performed prominently above all his peers in the Academy.
After his early graduation, he grew rapidly and brutally during the meat grinder of the Ninja World War, and recently he had even spontaneously revealed the legendary Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai, placing him permanently on the Hokage's absolute priority observation list.
Hiruzen's original, long-term political plan was to aggressively cultivate Kiyohara into an elite ANBU assassin directly reporting to the Hokage faction. A young, lethal ninja with an absolutely clean civilian background, exceptional genetic talent, and a flawless education in the orthodox Will of Fire was exactly the kind of loyal fresh blood the ANBU desperately needed to counter Danzo's Root.
He had even already drafted the official transfer order on his desk, just waiting for Kiyohara to return from the front line to formally, legally conscript him.
But now... the sudden, spontaneous appearance of the Sharingan had completely, violently disrupted his entire political chessboard.
"Is it truly the Uchiha Bloodline...?"
Hiruzen walked heavily back to his desk and pulled Kiyohara's thick, classified civilian file from the locked drawer.
Both parents were listed as completely ordinary, low-ranking civilian ninjas who had tragically died in the line of duty years ago.
The file was very clean. Perhaps entirely too clean.
There were only two possibilities.
One: Kiyohara's parents were indeed purebred Uchiha Clan members, but for some highly classified, paranoid reason, they had deliberately concealed their identities and operated as ordinary civilian ninjas to escape the clan's politics.
Two: Kiyohara's genetic bloodline came from an ancient, forgotten ancestor. Perhaps during the violent migrations and scattering of the Uchiha Clan during the Warring States period, some members were left outside the main force, intermarried with civilian outsiders, and after several generations of dormancy, it was only in Kiyohara's generation that the bloodline awakened by sheer genetic chance.
Regardless of which theory was historically true, it meant that Kiyohara now possessed an unbreakable, genetic blood connection to the Uchiha Clan.
Because of this specific reality, even if the ANBU ruthlessly investigated his genealogy, there was nowhere to legally check.
Before the Hidden Village was formally built, who exactly knew what the situation was? The major families fought brutally on their own as mercenaries until the "Hidden Village" system emerged, allowing the major families and terrified commoners to huddle together behind walls for warmth.
"How troublesome..." Hiruzen rubbed the deep wrinkles between his eyebrows.
The political relationship between the arrogant Uchiha Clan and the central Village administration had historically always been a delicate, suffocating powder keg.
The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha had co-founded Konoha in peace. But Madara's violent defection and the apocalyptic Battle of the Valley of the End had permanently planted seeds of deep, irreversible suspicion between the two founding clans.
The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, had subsequently established the Konoha Military Police Force, giving the Uchiha Clan full, absolute legal responsibility over it. Seemingly, this was granting them massive domestic power... but in political reality, it completely isolated the Uchiha from the Village's true core decision-making circle (the ANBU and the Hokage).
By Hiruzen's generation, the structural rift between the Uchiha and the Village had only grown wider and more toxic.
The power of the Military Police Force was being constantly diluted by the ANBU's expansion, and the actual political status of the Uchiha Clan in the Village was increasingly marginalized.
The voices of the angry radicals within the clan grew louder every year, demanding to "restore the glory of the Uchiha," and violent, physical conflicts between the Military Police and the ANBU occurred from time to time in the streets.
As Hokage, Hiruzen knew very well the importance of the Uchiha Clan's powerful military combat strength to Konoha's survival in the war.
The Sharingan was a terrifying, unparalleled power on the battlefield, and the sheer proportion of Elite Jonin in the Uchiha Clan was far higher than in any other family.
But at the exact same time, he was also deeply, politically wary of the Uchiha's power.
Because the Uchiha Clan was truly capable of orchestrating a rebellion.
After Madara left and defected, he had personally tried to physically invade and destroy Konoha several times, only to be suppressed by Hashirama in the end.
The famous Uchiha hawk, Setsuna Uchiha, was one such historical representative of this danger. Setsuna genuinely believed himself to be the true heir to Madara's will and openly advocated for using military force to forcefully regain the clan's political sovereignty during the Second Hokage's era, inciting rebellion in secret.
In the end, Setsuna was arrested by ANBU assassins sent by Tobirama and was thrown into maximum-security prison, only being quietly released in recent years due to old age.
So even Hiruzen felt a severe migraine regarding these political remnants.
"If only there could be a bridge between us..."
Hiruzen's tired gaze fell back onto Kiyohara's name on the file.
This teenager physically possessed the Uchiha Bloodline, but he grew up entirely within the civilian Konoha system, receiving the absolute most orthodox, loyal education in the Will of Fire at the Academy.
If Kiyohara could politically identify with the Village's philosophy... while also being accepted by the proud Uchiha Clan...
He might be able to become a flawless political link between the Village and the Uchiha.
A key, powerful figure who possessed influence within the Uchiha Clan while remaining loyal to the Hokage could ease the toxic contradictions between the two sides, and perhaps even smoothly guide the Uchiha Clan to reintegrate entirely into the Konoha collective.
This was politically far smarter than simple, brutal suppression or open confrontation.
His old, good friend, Kagami Uchiha, had been exactly like that back in their youth.
It was just a tragedy that Kagami died so young.
Hiruzen extinguished his pipe and made an absolute political decision.
He pressed a buzzer, instantly summoning an ANBU captain.
"Pass a priority, encoded order to the Land of Grass front line command. Have the specific squad Jonin Kiyohara is currently assigned to return immediately to the Village alongside Kakashi Hatake's extraction squad. They are to be escorted personally, under maximum security, by my ANBU."
"Understood, Lord Hokage."
The ANBU operative disappeared in a silent Body Flicker.
Hiruzen sat heavily back in his chair, looking out at the stone faces of the Hokage Rock outside the window.
In the entire, massive Hokage Office, there was only the heavy sound of the rain against the glass.
At the exact same time.
The Uchiha Clan Grounds.
The Clan Chief, Fugaku Uchiha, sat sternly in his private tatami room, holding a brief, highly classified intelligence report sent directly from a spy inside the Hokage Office.
The operational content of the brief was almost identical to the file Hiruzen had just seen, with the specific information about Kiyohara awakening the Sharingan highlighted in red ink.
Fugaku's expression was as serious and unreadable as ever, his brow slightly furrowed in deep thought.
"Kiyohara... isn't that the civilian brat who synthesized the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai?" He muttered to himself, his voice a low rumble.
Fugaku had obviously heard of Kiyohara before.
The boy had been terrifyingly active on the eastern battlefield recently, displaying the astronomically rare Magnet Release, and it seemed the Hokage's faction intended to focus vast political resources on cultivating him.
Now, however, Fugaku learned that the anomaly also biologically possessed the Uchiha Bloodline.
"How incredibly troublesome," Fugaku put down the intelligence brief and rubbed his temples tiredly.
The Sharingan was ultimately just a biological weapon. For the proud, purebred Uchiha, Kiyohara was just a dirty, civilian outsider who had miraculously stumbled into holding the sacred weapon of the Sharingan.
In pure political essence, the boy was no different from Kakashi Hatake—only that one could biologically deactivate the Sharingan (proving bloodline) and the other could not.
But the Uchiha Clan absolutely couldn't just sit back and watch Kiyohara stay outside their political control.
If the sacred bloodline drifted away and was successfully cultivated by the Hokage, wouldn't that mean establishing a rival, "New Uchiha Clan" directly loyal to Hiruzen?
Just thinking about the brutal political implications, Fugaku understood that the radical clan members would argue endlessly, violently over the issue of Kiyohara.
Some progressive clan members would want to accept him to boost their military numbers; others would reject him as a dirty half-blood. The reaction was bound to be chaotic and mixed.
What was even more troublesome was Kiyohara's own attitude.
The boy was already a teenager and had formed his own cold values and sense of identity.
He had grown up entirely within the civilian Konoha system, receiving all of his funding and training from the Village; would he logically have any sense of belonging to the Uchiha Clan?
Fugaku stood up and walked to the sliding paper window, looking out at the young child silently practicing advanced shurikenjutsu in the dark backyard.
His eldest son, Itachi Uchiha, was exactly four years old this year and had already displayed astonishing, terrifying talent.
Fugaku had originally planned to take Itachi to the bloody battlefield later this year to force him to witness the horrific, real Ninja World. He firmly believed that experiencing trauma was the only way to bring out his son's true genetic potential and awaken his eyes early.
But now... the political crisis regarding Kiyohara had completely disrupted his schedule.
He desperately needed to deal with this suddenly appearing, wild clan member first before the Hokage monopolized him.
"Fugaku?"
His beautiful wife, Mikoto Uchiha, walked gracefully into the room carrying a tray of hot tea. Seeing her husband's grave, stressed expression, she asked softly. "What is it?"
"A classified intelligence leak sent from our contact in the Hokage's office," Fugaku handed the red brief to Mikoto.
The clan elders would inevitably be notified about this anomaly later anyway, so there was no need to hide it from his wife.
Mikoto scanned the ink quickly, her dark pupils slightly constricting in shock.
"A wild Sharingan... this civilian child..."
"The entire clan will inevitably know the news by tomorrow morning," Fugaku said, his voice flat.
"And then it will trigger another brutal round of political arguments in the shrine. Moreover... exactly what this Kiyohara boy himself thinks about his heritage is still a complete unknown."
Mikoto placed the hot tea gently on the low table and said smoothly, "In any case, the appearance of the Sharingan is an absolute biological fact. The Family should take the initiative to contact him directly and understand his psychology before the Hokage brainwashes him entirely. If he is willing to return to the compound, the Family should welcome him with open arms to boost our numbers. If he is not willing to submit... at least we must establish a positive, diplomatic relationship."
She paused, pouring the tea, then added pragmatically:
"After all... intelligence suggests he seems to be very close with Orochimaru of the Sannin. Being actively at odds with an Orochimaru protégé will do the Family no good right now."
Fugaku nodded slowly; Mikoto's calm, pragmatic thoughts aligned perfectly with his own.
As the Clan Chief, he had the impossible job to carefully balance the violent, conflicting opinions of various radical factions within the clan while also managing the suffocating political relationship between the Family and the Village administration.
Kiyohara was an incredibly delicate, explosive political node.
If handled perfectly, bringing him into the fold might drastically improve the Uchiha's military situation and leverage in the Village.
If handled poorly, it could intensify the conflict and give the Hokage an excuse to sanction them.
"By the way," Mikoto suddenly remembered something, her voice tightening slightly. "You said before that you wanted to take Itachi to the front lines this month to see the bodies..."
"That plan is officially postponed for now," Fugaku said decisively, sipping his tea.
He looked back out the window at his young, silent son in the courtyard perfectly executing shuriken throws in the rain.
Mikoto clearly breathed a massive, genuine sigh of relief.
Itachi's talent was undeniably extremely high, and his psychology was terrifyingly precocious, but after all... he was only four years old.
Was it really beneficial to force him to witness the cruelty of the battlefield too early? It was very likely to leave a permanent, lifelong psychological shadow, or even cause a catastrophic psychological distortion in his personality.
"Then... will you be home for dinner tonight?" Mikoto asked softly.
"I still have a mountain of official business to handle, and the Military Police Force has a massive backlog of arrests to process as well. I won't be eating at home tonight," Fugaku said tiredly.
As the leader of his clan and also the head of the Konoha Military Police Force, Fugaku held two massively demanding, suffocating positions.
Coupled with the current, chaotic war-torn Ninja World, it was inevitable that Mikoto had to spend many lonely nights managing the household alone.
His clan members were working and bleeding hard, and he had to continuously demonstrate his own commitment to the cause as well.
"I'm heading out," Fugaku packed his scrolls and stood up.
He drafted a formal, urgent notice for the clan Elders.
The matter regarding Kiyohara required a full, mandatory clan meeting at the Nakano Shrine to discuss immediately.
Before that meeting convened, he needed to send his own ANBU to aggressively gather more psychological intelligence about Kiyohara, while also preparing a diplomatic plan to make first contact with him.
Three days later.
At the riverbank near the Konoha extraction camp on the border of the Land of Grass.
Kiyohara was standing alone by the muddy river near the camp, intensely practicing the nature transformation of his newly acquired Fire Release chakra.
Perhaps because the ghost of Uchiha Kiyohara's genetic talent for Fire Release was exceptionally, monstrously strong, Kiyohara was progressing at a terrifyingly rapid pace, even though he had only inherited a portion of that specific talent.
He spread his hands open, palms facing upward toward the sky.
The highly refined chakra flowed flawlessly through his meridian system, gradually, violently transforming into the physical nature of scorching, thermal fire.
The ambient temperature in his palms slowly, steadily rose.
He could physically see the skin under his palms continuously turning a bright, angry red, which was a biological, characteristic manifestation of highly concentrated Fire Release chakra preparing to ignite.
"The thermal temperature isn't perfectly uniform yet; it's microscopically overheating in some specific capillary spots," the ghost of Uchiha Kiyohara guided him analytically from the mental space.
"The key to flawlessly controlling Fire Release chakra lies in maintaining a 'stable and continuous' thermal output, rather than explosive bursts."
Kiyohara adjusted his breathing, slowed down his raw chakra output slightly, and attempted to forcefully make the temperature field in his palms completely uniform.
This was the foundation of the foundations for Fire style.
Becoming intimately, biologically familiar with the specific thermal properties of Fire Release chakra would lay the perfect groundwork for learning highly advanced, S-Rank Fire ninjutsu later.
"Besides Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, what other Fire Release ninjutsu do you know? Preferably ones that exist outside of the Uchiha Clan's classified archives," Kiyohara asked his future self.
The ghost nodded. "I possess many. Such as Fire Release: Small Flame Bullet. It consumes very little raw chakra and is perfectly suitable for practice."
The ghost possessed Kiyohara's physical body for a microsecond, demonstrating the exact hand seal sequence perfectly, and then opened his mouth to spit out a highly compressed, fist-sized fireball.
The tiny fireball struck the river surface, exploding violently into a massive cloud of hissing steam.
"This is the most basic Fire Release. Its power is strictly limited, but it has an incredibly low learning difficulty and can be efficiently used to familiarize your biology with the path of Fire Release chakra flowing up through the oral cavity, throat, and lungs without burning yourself."
Kiyohara memorized the hand seal sequence flawlessly and began to try.
At first, he only managed to spit out a few pathetic, smoking sparks.
Later, the fireball exploded violently right at his lips as soon as it formed from the oxygen, turning his mouth bright red with first-degree burns. Fortunately, having a solid foundation in Medical Ninjutsu, he quickly, efficiently used the Mystical Palm to heal the minor burns instantly.
As he aggressively repeated the process, Kiyohara became increasingly proficient with the thermal dynamics.
When the sun began to slant westward, bathing the river in orange light, Kiyohara finally succeeded in spitting out a perfectly stable, spherical fireball. Although it was only the physical size of an apple, its aerodynamic flight path was perfectly straight, and the explosive spray it created when hitting the river surface was quite kinetically impressive.
"Not bad. Next, you must practice rapid continuous firing, as well as adjusting the physical size and thermal speed of the fireball mid-flight," the ghost commented approvingly.
Just as Kiyohara was about to continue his grueling practice, his heightened senses suddenly detected someone casually approaching from the perimeter.
He turned his head and saw Kurenai Yuhi walking gracefully out of the dark woods above the riverbank. Her long, curly black hair was completely wet, obviously having just washed it upstream in the clear water.
"Why are you practicing so intensely in secret out here?" Kurenai puffed out her cheeks playfully. She walked over to a large, flat rock by the rushing river, sat down, gathered her heavy wet hair to one side, and slowly began to wipe it with a small dry cloth.
Watching her struggle a bit to fully wipe her thick, long hair dry in the cold air, Kiyohara felt a sudden, pragmatic impulse to test his new control.
"Kurenai. Do you require assistance with that?" Kiyohara asked flatly.
"Eh?"
Kurenai turned her head and blinked those beautiful, ruby-like eyes at him in surprise.
Kiyohara walked calmly behind her rock and reached out his hand. "My Fire Release chakra control has just reached the point where I can perfectly, stably control the ambient temperature; perhaps I can efficiently help you dry your hair using thermal radiation."
Kurenai's face flushed slightly red. Letting a teenage boy intimately help her wipe her hair... this was a bit entirely too intimate.
But looking at Kiyohara's completely cold, academic, expressionless face, she felt she was definitely overthinking the romance of it. Kiyohara clearly just wanted to pragmatically help out and practice his new chakra control at the exact same time.
"Th-then... I'll trouble you," she said softly, her heart beating faster, handing the dry cloth up to Kiyohara.
Kiyohara took the cloth but did not use it immediately. Instead, he hovered his bare palm exactly two inches above Kurenai's wet hair. He smoothly activated his single-tomoe Sharingan, and his microscopic thermal perception began to heighten instantly.
Kiyohara precisely controlled his Fire Release chakra, releasing it flawlessly from the microscopic chakra points in his palms. A gentle, perfectly regulated wave of warm thermal heat surged into the air.
The heat flow brushed perfectly over the wet hair, and the freezing moisture evaporated rapidly into steam. At the exact same time, Kiyohara used his other hand to hold the dry cloth, gently and systematically combing through her thick hair so the hot air could evenly penetrate every single strand without burning the follicles.
Kurenai felt a profound, soothing warm sensation radiating from behind her. Kiyohara's calloused fingers occasionally, accidentally brushed against the sensitive skin of the back of her neck, bringing a slight, electrifying tingling sensation down her spine.
"You can actually use lethal Fire Release like this?" Kurenai was utterly stunned by the precision.
With such impossible, microscopic chakra control ability, it was no wonder Kiyohara had mastered Medical Ninjutsu. The strict chakra control required for Medical Ninjutsu was far higher than that of ordinary combat ninjutsu.
Kurenai secretly watched Kiyohara—who was focused entirely on rubbing her hair—through the watery reflection on the river surface. Her heartbeat involuntarily, violently accelerated in her chest.
This kind of incredibly intimate physical contact was not common among militarized ninjas. Even close teammates would strictly maintain a certain, professional physical distance to avoid emotional compromise. Such intimate, domestic hair-drying was almost exactly like what a married, civilian couple would do in their home!
Thinking this, the paranoid tension in her heart eased a little, but the blushing temperature on her cheeks would not go down.
While Kurenai was incredibly nervous and romanticizing the moment, Kiyohara was entirely, clinically treating her hair exactly like a scientific practice material. He output a very specific, low volume of chakra, so he was not afraid of any accidental combustion.
Drying hair seemed physically simple, but it actually required incredibly high uniformity of thermal temperature. If the temperature was a degree too low, the evaporation speed was uselessly slow; if it was a degree too high, it would permanently damage the keratin hair quality; if the temperature was uneven across the palm, it would lead to localized over-drying or dampness.
He needed to flawlessly adjust the intensity and aerodynamic range of the heat flow in real-time. This was neurologically much harder than simply blasting Fire Release against a dead rock, but the resulting improvement in his microscopic chakra control was also infinitely better.
Kiyohara casually lowered his gaze and could clearly, clinically see Kurenai's fair, exposed neck, as well as the gentle curve of her collarbone.
Exactly three minutes later, Kurenai's thick hair was completely, perfectly dry.
"Hmm... the evaporation is complete," Kiyohara stated flatly, casually patting Kurenai's little head.
"You're touching my head again!" Kurenai protested weakly. But this time, she did not look angry; instead, her small face was a bright, embarrassed red.
"I was checking if the follicles were thoroughly dry," Kiyohara withdrew his hand smoothly and deactivated his Sharingan.
Kurenai touched her hair; it was indeed thoroughly, perfectly dry, and there was no burning, dry, or frizzy feeling to the strands. It was actually softer than before.
"Let's go back; the temperature is dropping," Kiyohara looked at the darkening sky.
Kurenai nodded quickly, and the two stood up together and returned silently to the camp.
At the camp, they immediately met Rin.
Rin had finally been released from medical isolation; she had spent two agonizing days with the Sealing Squad reinforcing the seal on her stomach, and after confirming there was no danger of a chakra leak, she was allowed to exit the tent.
After all, the catastrophic loss of control of a Jinchuriki was also heavily related to their psychological state; forcing them too much into isolation could trigger depression and have the exact opposite, explosive effect.
Although Rin's complexion was still a bit sickly pale from the trauma, she was in relatively good spirits. She saw Kiyohara and Kurenai walking together out of the woods and greeted them warmly with a wave.
Having been locked in isolation for nearly three days, she had only been allowed out this morning.
"Kurenai, didn't you go upstream to wash your hair? Why is your hair perfectly dry, and your face is completely red?" Rin asked, her medical curiosity piqued.
The weather was freezing cold now, and the mountain river water was like ice. It was one thing for Kurenai's thick hair to magically dry so quickly, but why was her face still blushing red? There were no electrical hair dryers in a forward military camp.
Kurenai's heart tightened in a panic. Thinking of the highly intimate action of Kiyohara rubbing her hair, she felt a bit flustered and lied poorly, "Ah, that... maybe I just got hot from walking back so fast, so the wind dried it quickly..."
"I see..." Rin suddenly realized exactly what was going on, a knowing, slightly sad smile touching her lips.
"Rin. How is your condition?" Kiyohara asked clinically, ignoring the girls' subtext.
"Much, much better," Rin smiled brightly at him. "Thanks to your surgery, Kiyohara. You saved my life again."
"We are Konoha operatives; it is exactly what I should do to preserve the squad," Kiyohara stated flatly.
"It seems the ANBU escort is finally here," Rin suddenly pointed toward the gates.
She had just seen the distinct, gray cloaks of the ANBU. ANBU members always wore porcelain animal masks, so they were very easy to visually recognize among the standard green flak jackets.
After Rin pointed them out, she discovered that the ANBU squad was actually walking directly, purposefully towards their specific position.
"You three are Jonin Kiyohara, Chunin Kurenai Yuhi, and Chunin Rin Nohara, correct?" the lead ANBU operative said, his voice a distorted drone from behind his mask.
"We are," Kiyohara stepped forward, establishing himself as the ranking officer.
"Hokage-sama has issued a priority command. He ordered us to personally escort you three back to the Village immediately."
The ANBU operative who spoke was exceptionally tall and broad-shouldered. Behind him followed three other silent ANBU operatives, two of whom Kiyohara recognized immediately through their physical builds and chakra signatures: Yūgao Uzuki and Hayate Gekkō.
Kiyohara's canon memory recalled that Yūgao was chronologically a few years younger than Kakashi, and she should technically still be an unofficial, probationary ANBU member right now, not yet formally confirmed for black-ops.
Kakashi had been an official member from the absolute start, while Yūgao was confirmed much later in the timeline. Kakashi was not only older than Yūgao but also had vastly more seniority, which was why she respectfully called Kakashi 'Senior' in canon.
Both Hayate and Yūgao were highly specialized, sword-wielding Kenjutsu shinobi unique assassination talents, which was exactly why they were utilized as probation members for high-profile escorts like this.
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Give me powerstones.
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