Nara Clan Grounds.
After leaving the Ninja Academy, Nara Zentaro headed straight home and told his father about what had happened at the academy. After a brief silence, his father took him to the clan head's residence and recounted Hanakei Kaede's possession of "Shadow Release" to the clan head once more...
At the same time, an Anbu member carried the Hokage's secret documents to the Nara clan head's residence...
Ninja Academy training grounds.
This combat exercise ended with the defeat of the final first-year academy student. The lower- and upper-year students then dispersed, leaving only Ootani Yuuto and several assistant evaluators behind.
"Looks like there are only a few promising students in this class."
One of the evaluators walked over to Ootani Yuuto and spoke with some envy. If he had possessed such talent back then, he would not still be an ordinary Chunin in his thirties...
"Yeah, this year's new students are downright terrifying!"
Another evaluator sighed. Whether it was the Uchiha Clan's new-generation prodigy Akeshi, the Hyuga Clan's "monster" Yuzuru, or Hanakei Kaede, a civilian ninja who had awakened a Kekkei Genkai, their strength alone was already nearly on par with ordinary Chunin like them. If they dared to claim there was anything Yuzuru and the other two lacked compared to them, it would only be combat experience and the experience of surviving bloody battlefields...
The remaining evaluators nodded in agreement. Looking at the evaluations of the new students on the sheets in their hands, three large, blood-red "SSS" ratings stood out in particular. Beside them were the names "Hyuga Yuzuru," "Uchiha Akihime," and "Hanakei Kaede."
Of course, an "SSS" rating did not mean the three of them had received identical evaluations. It was simply because SSS was the highest rating available...
As the evaluators spoke, they all unconsciously looked toward Ootani Yuuto, their eyes filled with envy. Having students as talented as these, he had to be proud!
"..."
Ootani Yuuto fell silent. Whether he spoke or not, it felt wrong. He could not exactly say that having students like these was a form of "torment," could he?
After all, when students were too outstanding, their teacher had no chance to achieve anything through teaching...
As time slowly passed.
Night had fallen. After informing her grandfather, Uchiha Akihime headed directly into the Death Forest. That was where she and Hanakei Kaede had agreed to fight before leaving the academy.
When Akeshi arrived in the Death Forest, however, she did not see Hanakei Kaede anywhere. Her brows furrowed. In her mind, Kaede should not have broken their appointment.
"Akeshi, are you looking for me?"
Suddenly, a playful voice rang out in the silent forest. It clearly sounded as though it were right beside her, yet there was no trace of Hanakei Kaede to be seen.
"Hanakei Kaede, where are you?"
Akeshi scanned her surroundings as her Two-Tomoe Sharingan opened in an instant. Even with her enhanced dynamic vision, she could not find Kaede's hiding place. That surprised her and made her uneasy. After all, she had initiated this match. If she could not even find Kaede, would she not become a laughingstock?
"Come out already. Stop playing tricks!"
Yet after searching and probing for a while, she still could not find any sign of Hanakei Kaede. Left with no other choice, Akeshi could only call out like this.
"So even Akeshi's Sharingan cannot see through my Shadow Trick!"
As Hanakei Kaede's voice sounded again, a mass of black matter slowly rose from the ground without warning, appearing before Akeshi like a magic trick.
The black substance resembled an ink-dark curtain stained by the night. As the curtain gradually lifted, Hanakei Kaede emerged naturally from within, her face sweet and adorable. Her gaze rested on Akeshi's Two-Tomoe Sharingan with interest, yet her beautiful eyes seemed filled with something called disappointment, as if saying, So this is the bloodline Eye Technique everyone admires? It is nothing special after all...
"Is that your Shadow Release ability?"
Akeshi seemed able to sense Kaede's disappointment. Though annoyed, she did not lose her temper immediately. Instead, she asked Kaede with utmost seriousness.
"That's right. It is one application of my Shadow Release. I can hide inside a 'special space' stitched together from shadows. Not only does it block sensory perception, but it also lets my Chakra become 'shadowed' and synchronize with the surrounding environment. So even your Sharingan cannot detect or sense me, Akeshi!"
Hanakei Kaede did not conceal the ability or information behind this Shadow Release technique. Instead, she told Akeshi everything in full detail.
"Still, it has a major weakness: once the technique is activated, I cannot move..."
After saying that, Hanakei Kaede added with a sigh, seemingly very dissatisfied with the ability.
"A very impressive ability. It seems I'll have to treat you as a true opponent worthy of battle from now on!"
Akeshi's scarlet eyes shone with an eerie light beneath the night sky, and her face was filled with fighting spirit.
"And now, you are the second person I want to defeat!"
"The second?"
"So Yuzuru is the first, then?"
Upon hearing Akeshi's words, Hanakei Kaede's sweet, adorable face displayed an irritatingly fake smile for the first time. Then she repeated what she had once said to Akeshi at the academy. "Then... it is truly my honor to fight the Uchiha prodigy!"
The moment her words fell, Hanakei Kaede raised a hand. A mass of black shadow immediately seemed to be "printed" from the surface of her body, transforming into a three-dimensional humanoid shadow creature before her.
"Shadow Release: Shadow Warrior!"
Hanakei Kaede murmured, then felt a wave of weakness wash over her. She had sacrificed more than half of her Chakra to create the Shadow Warrior.
The Shadow Warrior was the product of Hanakei Kaede's Shadow Release matter absorbing Chakra. Whether from an enemy or its host, as long as a certain amount of Chakra was reached, it would form on its own!
The instant Akeshi saw the Shadow Warrior take shape, she instinctively sensed a threat. It felt as though she were being watched by a wild beast, leaving her with a prickling sensation down her back!
"Akeshi, I am not skilled at fighting, so I have handed all authority over the battle to the Shadow Warrior. As long as you defeat it, it will be the same as defeating me."
Although nearly eighty percent of Hanakei Kaede's Chakra had been depleted and her body felt exhausted, she had not completely lost the ability to move. She slowly retreated, and as she spoke, her body was covered once more by a "curtain," abruptly vanishing from Akeshi's sight as though it truly were a trick.
At the same time, two black tachi suddenly appeared in the Shadow Warrior's hands. The moment they appeared, they rang like real metal, immediately drawing Akeshi's attention!
The tachi in the Shadow Warrior's hands seemed even more dangerous than the Shadow Warrior itself!
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