Along the way, Rin appeared quite lively, frequently asking Tsunade questions about medical ninjutsu. Tsunade, though lazy in her demeanor, still answered every question one by one. Rin listened attentively, nodding from time to time. Kiyohara also pricked up his ears—this knowledge was extremely helpful for his understanding of fine chakra control.
During the journey, Kakashi and Kiyohara were responsible for scouting ahead. Kakashi summoned his eight ninja hounds, while Kiyohara's body flicker movement speed truly came in handy, allowing him to quickly reconnoiter the surroundings and report back. Even without assistance from his future self, Kiyohara was already capable of independently surveying the nearby area.
Meanwhile, Rin carefully observed usable medicinal herbs along the road. Whenever they stopped to rest, she would collect some and place them into her medical pack.
"This kind of Purple Cloud Grass has an excellent hemostatic effect," Rin said, showing Kiyohara a small purple flower. "When combined with chakra, it can accelerate wound healing."
Kiyohara asked curiously, "What's the difference between medical ninjutsu and ordinary herbal medicine?"
Rin patiently explained, "Medical ninjutsu uses chakra to directly stimulate cell division and regeneration. The effects are fast but consume a lot of chakra. Herbal medicine, on the other hand, relies on the medicinal properties of plants to assist treatment—it's slower, but the effects last longer. An outstanding medical shinobi should master both."
Listening from behind, Tsunade's lips curved slightly upward. She seemed quite satisfied with Rin's explanation.
As night fell, the four of them set up camp beside a small stream. The campfire crackled, illuminating their faces. Tsunade removed her high-heeled sandals and rubbed her sore ankles. She was wearing light blue cropped pants, the taut fabric outlining the full, shapely curves of her legs. Her jade-like feet extended forward, toes round and smooth, looking fair and lovely under the firelight.
After that, Tsunade went to the stream. The cuffs of her cropped pants slid upward, revealing a section of smooth calf, and she placed her ankles and feet directly into the water. Kiyohara glanced a few times and noticed that, like her fingernails, Tsunade's toenails were also painted red. He then rinsed his own feet briefly as well.
For shinobi on the move, traveling depended almost entirely on their feet, which was why shinobi footwear was usually similar to sandals. If everything were wrapped too tightly, the smell from some shinobi's sweaty feet would be unimaginable.
"Hm—"
Kakashi was on alert duty, watching the surroundings. They rotated shifts, and it was Kakashi's turn to keep watch. Kakashi's sense of smell was sharper than that of ordinary people, and he detected something unusual in the air.
"Kiyohara, do you feel anything off?" Kakashi asked with a serious expression once Kiyohara finished rinsing his feet.
"Something off—?"
Kiyohara waved his hand, and iron sand surged out of the thermos at his waist. It became extremely thin, spreading outward like mist. This was a usage Kiyohara had recently discovered.
In the ninja world, there were all kinds of techniques for hiding one's presence or body, such as the Iwa nin's Ninjutsu: Camouflage Concealment or Gekkō Hayate's Transparent Escape Technique.
Sure enough, when the sand-iron mist passed over certain areas, it faintly coated something. The outline gradually became clear, revealing the vague shape of a creature—several meters long, resembling a chameleon.
A giant summoned beast!
"Be careful, there's a summoned beast attacking!" Kiyohara immediately warned, preparing for battle.
Summoned beasts fell into two categories: those that had already signed contracts with shinobi, and wild ones that lived independently in the shinobi world. Among them, there were different types and sizes, but without question, the larger the summoned beast, the stronger its abilities.
The summoned beasts of the three great sacred lands could easily handle chūnin or even jōnin on their own. A powerful summoned beast could significantly enhance a shinobi's strength.
"Roar!"
The invisible chameleon realized the iron sand mist clinging to its body and immediately became agitated. It opened its blood-red maw, baring its fangs, and lunged at Tsunade, who was closest.
Tsunade's combat instincts kicked in instantly. Chakra gathered in her right fist, and without even looking, she swung backward with all her strength.
"Chakra Enhanced Strength!"
BOOM!
A terrifying shockwave tore through the air, and the semi-transparent figure took the punch head-on!
"Screech!"
A sharp, agonized cry rang out as the transparent figure was blasted backward, smashing violently into the edge of the forest more than ten meters away and snapping a small tree in half.
Its invisibility was broken, revealing its true form—its body covered in green scales, its shoulder area visibly caved in, bones shattered, blood gushing from its mouth, nose, and wounds.
This was the power of Chakra Enhanced Strength!
Kiyohara's eyelids twitched. In terms of raw strength alone, even the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure couldn't compare to Tsunade. If she hit a shinobi like that, she could probably turn them into minced meat with a single punch if she wanted.
Unfortunately, at the very moment the summoned beast revealed itself and blood splattered, Tsunade's movements suddenly froze. Her face turned pale, her eyes filled with uncontrollable nausea, and her body began to tremble slightly.
Her hemophobia had flared up!
"Lady Tsunade!"
Rin, not understanding what was happening, hurried forward to support the unsteady Tsunade.
Though heavily injured, the invisible chameleon's ferocity was fully provoked. Struggling to rise, it fixed its crimson eyes on Tsunade, whose condition was abnormal, and lunged at her once more!
Crackle!
Lightning burst forth in Kakashi's hand as arcs of electricity danced around him. He dashed forward, the sharp Chidori piercing straight through the chameleon's scales.
However, the difference in size between them was too great. Even so, the attack didn't have as much effect as expected.
While Kakashi restrained the chameleon, sand iron surged and condensed in Kiyohara's hands. The compressed sand iron also produced snapping arcs of electricity. This time, after forming it into a sphere, Kiyohara didn't flatten it into a coin.
Previously, he had relied on assistance from Magnet Release Kiyohara to achieve such feats. Now, having fully inherited the Magnet Release bloodline limit and part of Magnet Release Kiyohara's experience, he could do it on his own. His recent training had greatly improved his precision with Magnet Release.
The sphere in his hand deformed, eventually becoming spindle-shaped—pointed at both ends and thicker in the middle. This shape was most consistent with fluid dynamics; fish bodies often had spindle-shaped cross-sections to reduce resistance while swimming.
Coils of sand iron rings spun rapidly around Kiyohara's arm as he raised his hand.
Bang!
The spindle-shaped projectile shot out like a bullet, with an initial velocity exceeding six hundred meters per second. At such speed and distance, Kakashi could barely track the Magnet Release technique's trajectory with his Sharingan!
Splurt!
Blood sprayed everywhere. The iron sand projectile tore through the chameleon's scales and embedded itself deeply into its body.
The chameleon let out a miserable howl. Its forward momentum was broken, and it tumbled to the ground, a bloody hole ripped into its body, losing most of its mobility. Even such a small projectile carried enough kinetic energy to shred dozens of centimeters of tough flesh.
Kiyohara looked at the wound. The depth and destructive power of his Magnet Release technique were far inferior to the damage caused by Tsunade's punch.
"Stronger than using a coin last time, but there's still room for optimization," Kiyohara thought.
Then he formed hand seals.
All the sand iron wrapped around the immobilized chameleon.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Binding!
The chameleon's several-meter-long body was too large, so Kiyohara's iron sand could only form a thin layer around it. Still, it was enough to restrain it for a short time.
"What are you planning to do, Kiyohara?" Kakashi asked, panting slightly after firing two Chidori. With the Sharingan's heavy chakra drain, he quickly pulled down his forehead protector, closed his left eye, and entered low-consumption mode once the battle ended.
"I plan to subdue it as a summoned beast," Kiyohara replied.
Originally, he had wanted to look for a flying-type summon, but an invisible one wasn't bad either. During concealment, letting the invisible chameleon cover him would be equivalent to invisibility. Kiyohara realized the chameleon's invisibility relied entirely on its skin and scales refracting light; in theory, hiding beneath it or being held in its mouth would also grant invisibility.
"You want to subdue that summoned beast?" Tsunade asked with her eyes closed, her face turned in their direction. She didn't want to see the blood.
"Yes. I still have a summoning scroll on me," Kiyohara said.
One summoning scroll was enough to form a contract with the invisible chameleon. As for the subjugation process, that would be a matter of slowly breaking its wild nature. Even summoned beasts obtained through transactions only skipped the combat phase; earning their acknowledgment still took time.
In the next moment, Kiyohara bit his index finger and wrote his name on the summoning scroll with blood. He then collected some of the chameleon's blood and casually wrote "Invisible Chameleon." Names were merely labels—the blood was what mattered.
Most mainstream summoning techniques used blood as a medium, which was why shinobi would bite their fingers before casting summoning jutsu. Summoning itself was only a C-rank ninjutsu, and the scroll Kiyohara had purchased included detailed instructions.
"Summoning Technique: Blood Contract!"
Sealing patterns gradually spread over the chameleon's body. In a hazy sense, Kiyohara felt a connection being established—still very faint.
Kiyohara understood. This likely reflected the caster's understanding of the summoned beast and space-time techniques. With sufficient mastery, one could even reverse the summoning technique—Reverse Summoning, calling oneself to the summoned beast's side. Naruto had reached Mount Myōboku using this method.
Hoo—
Kiyohara exhaled deeply. Naruto only needed to write his name on the summoning scroll because that scroll had already been recognized by the toads of Mount Myōboku. Kiyohara's blank scroll required him to expend chakra and even suppress the chameleon with Magnet Release.
"Next comes slowly grinding down its wildness," Kiyohara said, releasing the Magnet Release technique.
The invisible chameleon let out a mournful cry. It only wanted a meal—never expected to end up sacrificing itself. Its body faded into invisibility once more as it fled into the distance.
Kiyohara didn't chase it. As long as the summoning scroll existed, the contract bound them together. He could summon it anytime using blood as the medium. Summoning it occasionally, teaching it a lesson, and tempering its temperament—it shouldn't take long to fully subdue it.
Summoned beasts possessed intelligence, but the range varied widely—some were as intelligent as adults, others like three-year-old children.
"Lady Tsunade, are you all right?" Rin helped Tsunade to a more distant spot. Seeing Tsunade like this, Rin couldn't help wondering if she was afraid of blood—but the thought was absurd. Tsunade was the greatest medical shinobi; how could she possibly fear blood?
"Kiyohara, Kakashi, are you two okay?" Rin asked, looking at them.
Kiyohara shook his head. "I'm fine, Rin. Go take care of Lady Tsunade."
Rin insisted on checking both Kiyohara and Kakashi before finally relaxing. "That was too dangerous. That summoned beast's invisibility was such a pain—if you hadn't used your Magnet Release to nullify it—"
Kiyohara smiled. "Kakashi noticed it first, then Lady Tsunade seriously injured it. I only got my chance because of that."
He wasn't lying. If he had encountered it alone, subduing it would've been very difficult.
By then, Tsunade's condition had improved somewhat. As long as she didn't see blood, her symptoms eased. She parted her full lips slightly and said, "Well done, brat. That summoned beast's invisibility is very valuable. Train it properly."
Kiyohara nodded and stored the summoning scroll in his shinobi pouch.
After this unexpected incident, the four of them set up camp again in a more concealed location. Rin carefully lit a fire, boiled water, and even brewed a calming herbal tea for Tsunade.
"Lady Tsunade, please drink this."
"Thank you, Rin."
Kiyohara set up thin copper wire traps around the camp for early warning. These wires were nearly invisible to the naked eye and would alert him immediately if disturbed, preventing further intrusions. Kakashi stationed the eight ninja hounds around the perimeter to watch for movement.
Night fully fell, stars dotting the sky. By the campfire, Tsunade had mostly recovered. Watching Kiyohara on guard duty, she suddenly said, "Kiyohara, your use of your kekkei genkai in today's fight was good, but your chakra consumption was still too high."
Kiyohara turned his head. "Please guide me, Lady Tsunade."
Tsunade took a sip of tea. "Bloodline limits are powerful, but you can't rely on them too much. Fine chakra control and proper allocation are the foundation."
She glanced at Kakashi. "Kakashi has the same problem. His Lightning Release consumes too much chakra—and his chakra reserves don't seem as large as yours."
Tsunade could tell.
Kakashi fell silent. His chakra reserves were actually quite large, but with the Sharingan's burden and Kiyohara's comparison, they seemed small instead.
Kiyohara nodded. Indeed, during the daytime battle, he had used electromagnet acceleration at the cost of massive chakra to end the fight quickly. In a prolonged battle, that approach would be a serious disadvantage.
"Thank you for the guidance, Lady Tsunade," Kiyohara said.
Tsunade nodded slightly and said no more.
Late at night, the two medical shinobi—Rin and Tsunade—slept first, both lying in their sleeping bags. Kakashi and Kiyohara stayed up, staring at each other as they kept watch, listening to the crackling fire and faint insect sounds in the distance.
"Here, replenish your energy," Kiyohara said, tossing Kakashi some dried beef jerky.
The jerky had been specially air-dried; when placed in hot water, it would expand several times in size and was rich in protein—much better than eating insects and calculating how many times more protein they contained. This beef alone already had several times the nutritional value of ordinary meat.
"Thanks," Kakashi said, taking it and soaking it in his bowl like soup. After it softened and expanded, he tasted it and found it quite good. He looked at Kiyohara with some curiosity.
Kiyohara never seemed to mistreat his own stomach. Even though his home favored minimalist decor, his food was always of good quality—not wasteful, but far more efficient at restoring stamina than ordinary rations.
'Judging by the timing, it should be about now.'
Kiyohara leaned against a tree, watching the crackling campfire, its light reflected on his face. He remembered that today was the last day.
And while Kiyohara had been busy training, the long-awaited sound finally echoed in his mind—the voice of the "Last Will System."
[Please retrieve your alternate future self's last will and urn. Make sure to properly take care of their remains.]
It's here!
Finally here!
Kiyohara was thrilled. Every month, the most exciting moment for him was receiving the "Last Will"!
(End of Chapter)