Kiyohara sheathed his kunai and extended a hand to the fallen Obito.
"Looks like I won."
His voice was calm.
Obito had the blood of the Uchiha.Kiyohara had a future self in an urn.
They both had bright futures.
Today, he had the upper hand.Tomorrow, he might win even bigger.
As long as he linked to a powerful version of his future self and fulfilled their dying wish—Kiyohara would soar.
Of course, the stronger the future self, the harder the wish would be to complete.
Obito lay on the ground, staring at Kiyohara's outstretched hand… then glanced sideways at Rin's concerned expression.
His face flushed bright red.
The shame of the Uchiha!
Still, Obito was no stranger to defeat. He'd long accepted his position as the bottom of the class—even in the Academy, he'd been used to losing.
He'd even lost to Might Guy during his first Chūnin Exam.
With some mental self-coaching, he reluctantly grabbed Kiyohara's hand and got up, grumbling under his breath:
"...Damn it. Next time, I'm winning!"
Minato watched them with a warm smile, eyes full of approval.
"Excellent tactics and shuriken technique, Kiyohara. Your real combat ability far exceeds that of a typical genin."
He couldn't help but wonder—why hadn't Kiyohara taken the Chūnin Exam?
"With your skill, you could've passed it easily."
"I was focused on training, so I never got around to it."
"I see."
Minato nodded.
This was wartime.Promotions didn't have to follow peacetime procedures.
If someone performed well enough, they could be promoted on the spot.
"If this mission succeeds, you'll likely be promoted to chūnin directly."
He added.
As their squad leader, he was well aware of the danger ahead.
This wasn't a mission kids should be doing.
But Konoha had no choice.The front lines were on the verge of collapse.
If they could cut off Iwagakure's supply line, it would shift the entire war in Konoha's favor.
That's why they'd sent a normal squad—If they deployed high-level shinobi, Iwa scouts would detect the threat and send reinforcements.
"Understood."
Kiyohara nodded.
If he became a chūnin after the Kannabi Bridge mission, it'd be a huge leap forward.
In the battles to come, his odds of survival would rise significantly.
So long as he didn't die, more versions of his future self would arrive with more gifts.
Like a rolling snowball, he'd only grow stronger.
The Nine-Tails' Attack.The Chūnin Exams Disaster.Pain's Invasion.The Ōtsutsuki Invasion...
Every major event in the future—If he was too weak at any of those checkpoints, he'd never survive.
Soon, Minato took his leave.
The mission would begin three days from now, in the afternoon.
He had many duties to handle each day.
After he left, Kakashi walked up to Kiyohara.
"Not bad. Looks like you won't be a liability for the mission."
He said flatly.
Since his father's death, Kakashi had lived by one rule:
A ninja must complete the mission.Those who abandon missions… are scum.
From what Kiyohara had shown, he wouldn't drag the team down.
"Hm."
Kiyohara gave a short nod.
This was Kakashi's emotionally shut-down phase.There was no point trying to talk too much.
He'd learn through experience.The Kannabi Bridge mission would be one such lesson.
In the original timeline, it was just the first flicker of light before the darkness.
After killing Rin with his own hands, Kakashi's soul had collapsed.He'd even contemplated suicide.
Honestly, if Kakashi's last name had been Uchiha instead of Hatake, he might've awakened his own Mangekyō and avoided all that suffering.
"Want to train together, Kakashi?"
Rin asked gently.
A ninja couldn't afford to slack off.Even minor regression in skill could lead to death during a mission.
"No."
Kakashi replied curtly.
He planned to train alone.He was on the verge of completing a powerful new technique.
He just needed to polish it.
'If I remember right, Kakashi gets promoted to jōnin the day before the mission.'
Kiyohara thought to himself.
At that point, Kakashi's actual strength was barely jōnin level.
He was in an awkward place.
He hadn't inherited his father Sakumo's kenjutsu properly.He wasn't great at Lightning Release either.
No matter how powerful Chidori looked, it had a fatal flaw.
You needed a Sharingan's dynamic vision to control it.That's why, in Boruto, after losing his Sharingan, Kakashi developed Purple Lightning—a technique just as strong but Sharingan-free.
When it came down to it, Kiyohara knew he'd still have to rely on the rogue Kiyohara to take over during emergencies.
Even a freshly promoted jōnin varied in strength.
Three decades of combat and experience made a difference—And rogue Kiyohara had them both.
"That's just how Kakashi is."
Obito leaned back lazily.
He still didn't know the truth about Kakashi's father—that he was betrayed by his comrades and driven to suicide.
To him, Kakashi just seemed overly serious and cold.
"Honestly, with just a few days left, it's best we each train in our specialties."
Genma commented as he tucked senbon in his mouth.
The reason the one he previously had in his mouth fell?
He'd been shocked by how strong Kiyohara turned out to be.
"Good point."
Kiyohara agreed.
Three days left.Time to let rogue Kiyohara help him get stronger.
After saying goodbye to the others, he rushed home.
Back at his house, he looked down at the growing pile of jutsu scrolls and sighed.
Even with a teacher, practice took time.
There were always moments where your brain understood but your hands couldn't keep up.
The classic "I get it when I see it, but mess it up when I try" scenario.
And then there was chakra.
Expanding his reserves was a long-term grind.
Unless—
He completed the second wish and fully fused with his future self right now.
"Say, do you have any other quick ways to power up?"
Kiyohara asked.
Surely a thirty-something version of himself, turned rogue-nin, would know a few under-the-table methods—Or rather, efficient and painless shortcuts to strength.
"There's one."
The ghost's voice was deadpan.
"Drugs."
Kiyohara froze.
How do you get stronger without popping pills?
Of course.He suddenly remembered—Sasuke spent three years with Orochimaru.He definitely took his share of enhancers.
Thankfully, Orochimaru had treasured Sasuke's body.The drugs had no lasting side effects.And his head didn't end up looking like a sharpened pencil.