Kekkei Genkai?

Konoha.

The mountains behind the village.

Kakashi was already a Chunin, and Feng Ye's strength was likewise above that level. Naturally, the two could not spar in the small courtyard; there simply was not enough room to fight properly.

"Ready?"

Standing in the open clearing, Kakashi held a kunai in each hand and watched Feng Ye from afar. His body leaned slightly forward as he entered a fighting stance.

Feng Ye remained where he was, holding the Chakra short sword White Fang in his hand. He looked calmly at Kakashi and said, "Come."

Whoosh!!

The instant Feng Ye finished speaking, Kakashi charged forward.

The two kunai became blurs as they swept in from both sides. Feng Ye calmly swung his Chakra blade, parrying high and low, blocking every one of Kakashi's attacks.

Clang!

After blocking several moves, Feng Ye's eyes flashed. His Chakra blade suddenly came down in a fierce slash, forcibly breaking through the defense of Kakashi's two kunai and cutting across Kakashi's chest.

Kakashi's figure instantly dispersed into smoke.

Shadow Clone!

"Fire Release! Great Fireball Technique!"

In the next instant, a voice came from behind Feng Ye. Heat surged outward as a massive fireball hurtled toward his back.

Feng Ye's expression did not change. He stomped the ground and shot forward, avoiding the Great Fireball Technique head-on.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!

In the very next instant, seven or eight shuriken spun out from within the fireball, wreathed in flames and completely sealing off Feng Ye's retreat.

"You've gotten quite skilled at combining ninjutsu with shuriken."

Feng Ye smiled. The short sword White Fang in his hand abruptly became an afterimage, moving at an eerie speed as it traced threadlike lines through the air.

The seven or eight flaming shuriken were all blocked by Feng Ye in an instant!

Swoosh!

Almost at the same moment Feng Ye blocked the shuriken, Kakashi emerged from the ground less than a meter behind him. The kunai in his hand stabbed toward Feng Ye's back, stopping against it.

"I won."

A trace of sweat appeared on Kakashi's forehead, and a glint flashed through his eyes. This was the first time he had ever defeated Feng Ye in one of their sparring matches!

But at that moment, Feng Ye, who stood before him, turned his head and gave him a faint smile. "Do you really think so?"

Bang!

As the words fell, Feng Ye deliberately leaned backward into Kakashi's kunai. His entire body instantly turned into smoke and vanished.

Kakashi stood there in stunned disbelief.

A clone?!

"How is that possible..."

Before Kakashi could react, a gust of wind came from behind him. He turned and raised an arm to block, but he was still kicked squarely in the arm.

A heavy force crashed down on him. Kakashi could not withstand it and staggered back five or six steps before barely steadying himself.

"That was a Shadow Clone?!"

Kakashi looked at Feng Ye in disbelief.

He clearly had not seen Feng Ye use the Shadow Clone Technique at any point. Besides, how could that technique possibly be used without a sound, with no sign at all?!

"No."

Feng Ye shook his head. "That was only an ordinary clone."

Kakashi froze, unable to understand. "Impossible! Clones have no offensive ability. How could it have blocked my flaming shuriken..."

"When I blocked the flaming shuriken, that was still my real body."

Feng Ye smiled faintly. "You probably won't understand if I just explain it. Watch for yourself."

As he spoke.

Feng Ye held the hilt of White Fang in one hand while his other hand formed the seals for two techniques at an unimaginably fast speed, like an afterimage. It was almost instantaneous.

Clone Technique! Substitution Technique!

"This..."

Kakashi was left speechless.

He knew the Clone Technique and the Substitution Technique as well. They were the most basic ninjutsu taught at the Ninja Academy, nothing worth being surprised about. What truly left him unable to believe it was Feng Ye's hand seal speed!

One-handed seals!

And he was even faster than when using both hands!

He had known for a long time that Feng Ye was fast, much faster than himself. But this time, Feng Ye's fingers had moved so absurdly fast that they barely seemed like motions a normal human could make. He could hardly see them at all!

"What is going on with your fingers...? That speed isn't something a normal person can achieve!" Kakashi said, his eyes wide.

Feng Ye was not surprised by Kakashi's reaction.

After all, he had used Triple Speed this time. Forming seals at double speed might still seem normal, but at Triple Speed, it was completely abnormal from an ordinary person's perspective—almost grotesque!

"...Who knows?"

Feng Ye shrugged. "Maybe my motor nerves are just different from ordinary people's."

Kakashi looked at Feng Ye with the dead-fish eyes of someone thinking, Are you kidding me? No matter how extraordinary someone's motor nerves were, they could not possibly be as exaggerated as that.

"I remember you weren't this fast a long time ago. It seems like you started getting faster and faster two years ago..."

Kakashi recalled the strange sights he had occasionally seen around Feng Ye in the past. He frowned and pondered for a moment before saying, "This is obviously abnormal. It's practically within the realm of a Kekkei Genkai. If you can become even faster than this..."

Kekkei Genkai!

It was a term every ninja knew well. There were countless Kekkei Genkai in the world. The most common were Kekkei Genkai like Lava Release and Scorch Release, formed by combining Chakra nature transformations. There were also the Sharingan, Byakugan, Shikotsumyaku, and more.

The speed Feng Ye displayed was not particularly remarkable in front of a Jonin. The issue was that it seemed profoundly unnatural, as though his entire body were in some accelerated state, disconnected from the rest of the world.

The only explanation Kakashi could think of was a Kekkei Genkai.

The Hatake Clan had inherited nothing but Hatake Swordsmanship throughout its history and had never produced a Kekkei Genkai. But there were also many examples in the Shinobi World of ordinary ninja awakening Kekkei Genkai.

The special state Feng Ye displayed might not yet qualify as a Kekkei Genkai, but if he could become even faster... then it would certainly be a unique Kekkei Genkai!

"Hmm, that does seem to be the case."

Feng Ye spoke thoughtfully. A Kekkei Genkai really was a fitting explanation for the Phantom Clock.

The Naruto World was full of strange and bizarre abilities. It even had forbidden jutsu as absurdly overpowered as Izanagi. A Kekkei Genkai that enhanced speed would not be unusual at all.

Kakashi looked at Feng Ye and pondered. "If you think so too, then that should be it. But I don't remember seeing any records of this kind of Kekkei Genkai, and I have no impression of anything similar..."

Feng Ye rubbed his chin. "If there are no records, then I'm the first to awaken it. In that case... let's call it—the Demon Bloodline."

"Demon Release, then."

Kakashi said, "That inhuman speed of movement really does resemble a ghost or demon. It fits quite well."

I was actually thinking of something more like 'spastic.'

Feng Ye silently mocked himself, but whether it was ghostly or spastic, it was merely a surface-level disguise. If this ability were truly considered a Kekkei Genkai, then it should be called—

Time Bloodline!