Shadow Trick

Nara Clan Grounds.

After leaving the Ninja Academy, Nara Zentaro went straight home and told his father what had happened at the academy. After a brief silence, his father took him to the clan head's residence and recounted the matter of Hanakei Kaede possessing the 'Shadow Release' to the clan head once more…

At the same time, an Anbu member also headed to the Nara clan head's residence with a secret document from the Hokage…

Ninja Academy Training Grounds.

This practical exercise ended with the failure of the last first-year Ninja Academy student. Afterwards, the lower and upper-grade Ninja Academy students dispersed, leaving only Ootani Yuuto and several assistant grading teachers.

"It seems that there are only a few good seedlings in this class."

One of the grading teachers walked towards Ootani Yuuto and said with some envy. If he had such talent and aptitude back then, he wouldn't still be a Chuunin in his thirties, and a very ordinary Chuunin at that…

"Yeah, this year's freshmen are a bit too scary!"

Another grading teacher also sighed with emotion. Whether it was Akeshi, the Uchiha Clan's new generation genius, or Yuzuru, the Hyuga Clan's 'monster', or even Hanakei Kaede, the commoner ninja who awakened Kekkei Genkai, their strength alone was almost no less than that of ordinary Chuunins like them. If they dared to say that Yuzuru and the others were inferior to them, it would only be in terms of combat experience and having been through the battlefield of blood and fire…

The remaining grading teachers also nodded in agreement. They looked at the scores of the freshmen on the white paper in their hands, with three large, blood-red 'SSS' ratings being particularly conspicuous. Next to these ratings were the names of 'Hyuga Yuzuru', 'Uchiha Akeshi', and 'Hanakei Kaede'.

Of course, the 'SSS' rating didn't mean that the three of them had the same evaluation, but rather that 'SSS' was the highest rating they could give…

As the grading teachers spoke, they all looked towards Ootani Yuuto, their eyes full of envy. Being able to have such talented students must make him feel very proud!

"..."

Ootani Yuuto fell silent. He couldn't speak, nor could he not speak. He couldn't possibly say that having such students was a 'torment' for him, could he?

After all, if the students are too good, the teacher won't have any teaching achievements…

As time slowly passed.

Night had fallen. Uchiha Akeshi told her grandfather and then headed towards the Death Forest, where she and Hanakei Kaede had agreed to fight before leaving school.

When Akeshi arrived in the Death Forest, she didn't find Hanakei Kaede's figure, which made her frown. She thought that Hanakei Kaede shouldn't break their promise.

"Akeshi, are you looking for me?"

Suddenly, a playful voice rang out abruptly in the silent forest. The voice clearly sounded like it was right next to her ear, but she couldn't see Hanakei Kaede's figure or trace at all.

"Hanakei Kaede, where are you?"

Akeshi looked around. The Two-Tomoe Sharingan was activated in an instant. Even with her enhanced dynamic vision, she still couldn't find Hanakei Kaede's hiding place. This surprised her and made her feel a little uneasy. After all, she had initiated this fight. If she couldn't even find Hanakei Kaede, wouldn't she become a laughingstock?

"Come out quickly, don't play tricks!"

But after a search and investigation, she still couldn't find Hanakei Kaede, which made Akeshi feel helpless and she could only say this.

"It seems that Akeshi's Sharingan can't see through my 'Shadow Trick'!"

When Hanakei Kaede's voice sounded again, a mass of black material suddenly rose slowly from the ground, appearing in front of Akeshi like a magic trick.

The black material was like an ink-colored curtain stained by the night. As the curtain gradually opened, a sweet and lovely Hanakei Kaede naturally appeared. Her gaze was playfully fixed on Akeshi's Two-Tomoe Sharingan, and her beautiful eyes seemed to be filled with a look of 'disappointment', as if she was saying, "This is the Kekkei Genkai Eye Technique that everyone envies? It's just so-so," or something like that…

"Is that your Shadow Release ability?"

Akeshi seemed to be able to sense Hanakei Kaede's disappointment. Although she was a little angry, she didn't get angry immediately. Instead, she asked Hanakei Kaede very seriously.

"That's right, this is one of my applications of Shadow Release. I can hide in a 'special space' patched together with shadows. Not only does it have the effect of isolating perception, but it can also 'shadowize' chakra, synchronizing it with the surrounding environment, so even Akeshi's Sharingan can't detect and sense me!"

Hanakei Kaede didn't hide the ability and information of her Shadow Release, but instead told Akeshi everything in detail.

"But it also has great shortcomings, that is, it can't be moved after the technique is performed…"

After saying that, Hanakei Kaede sighed and added, as if she was very dissatisfied with this ability.

"A very powerful ability. It seems that I will have to treat you as a worthy opponent from now on!"

Akeshi's scarlet eyes flickered with an eerie light in the night, and her expression was full of fighting spirit.

"And now you are the second person I want to defeat!"

"Second?"

"The first one is Yuzuru, as expected?"

After hearing Akeshi's words, a hateful fake smile appeared on Hanakei Kaede's sweet and lovely face for the first time. Then, she said the words she had once said to Akeshi at the Ninja Academy: "Then… it's really my honor to be able to fight against the Uchiha genius!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Hanakei Kaede raised her hand, and a mass of black shadow was 'printed' from the surface of her body, turning into a 3D humanoid shadow creature that appeared in front of her.

"Shadow Release: Shadow Warrior!"

Hanakei Kaede whispered, and then felt a burst of weakness in her body. She sacrificed most of her chakra to create the birth of the 'Shadow Warrior'.

The Shadow Warrior is a product of Hanakei Kaede's Shadow Release material absorbing chakra. Whether it is an enemy or a host, as long as it reaches a certain amount of chakra, it will actively form!

When Akeshi saw the formation of the Shadow Warrior, she instinctively felt a threat, a feeling like being stared at by a beast, like a thorn in her back!

"Akeshi, I'm not good at fighting, so I've handed over all the fighting rights to the Shadow Warrior. As long as you defeat it, it's equivalent to me losing."

Although Hanakei Kaede was missing nearly 80% of her chakra and was a little tired, she hadn't completely lost her ability to move. She slowly retreated, and as she spoke, her body was once again covered by the 'curtain', directly and abruptly disappearing from Akeshi's sight, truly like a 'trick'.

At the same time, two black katanas suddenly appeared in the Shadow Warrior's hands. As soon as they appeared, they really rang out like metal, immediately attracting Akeshi's attention!

The katana in the Shadow Warrior's hand seemed to be more dangerous than it itself!