Kaede had to admit that being a ninja was a truly pitiful profession, and ninja villages were even stranger places. The teachers and higher-ups here never stopped trying to brainwash you.
On his way home, Kaede rubbed his handsome little face vigorously, trying to clear his head.
He'd spent the whole day suffering a mental assault.
"Life at this school is really hard to endure!"
He couldn't help wondering if Kakashi had been unable to stand the school's bunch of moronic teachers, and that was why he'd applied for early graduation.
"Haha. What if I guessed right?"
Kaede's amused rambling earned him a look of disdain from Tong beside him. Her large, watery eyes glared unhappily at him for suddenly laughing, and she moved closer to her father, who was walking ahead.
As fellow Uchiha, Tong's father and Kaede's father were both Jonin in the clan, and they were on good terms.
In fact, even within the Uchiha Clan, there were different ranks among its members. A Jonin's strength already earned him a very high standing in the clan.
By contrast, the other ordinary clan members lived much like the village's civilians.
That alone showed how hollow the Third Hokage's talk of equality was.
After returning home and taking a hot bath, Kaede finally felt refreshed, and his mind had cleared considerably.
As a shut-in research fanatic, whenever he had time, he would hide away in the quiet basement to study the Ninjutsu that interested him. But today, for once, he wanted to just let his mind go blank.
He stepped onto the old tree beside the courtyard wall and leaped up, landing lightly on the roof. As far as he could see, the Uchiha Clan's homes stretched out below, packed with Uchiha who were being maliciously targeted by the village.
A few raindrops fell and struck his face, cool and damp.
There were ninjas among them, as well as ordinary people, old folks, and children. At a glance, there really were so many people!
"What kind of mindset had that guy been in when he killed all these people, who shared his blood?"
Kaede asked himself honestly: he didn't think he could be that heartless.
The moonlight was dim in the night. Clouds shrouded the sky, and the light was weak. As the saying went, it was a dark, windy night—a perfect night for sneaking in to kill, or picking locks and breaking into houses.
At some point, several bright raindrops fell from the sky. Kaede instantly dodged backward.
"Clink, clink."
The sound of kunai striking the roof tiles rang out clearly.
The attacker wore a close-fitting black combat suit and a red-and-white fox mask that hid their face. It was the uniform of Konoha ANBU.
A Ninja Blade slid slowly from its sheath on the attacker's back. A thread of killing intent, so sharp it made Kaede's skin crawl, pressed down on him. The instant it locked onto him, he couldn't help shivering.
Only then did he understand that killing intent really existed.
All Kaede could see was a pair of cold, beastlike eyes, completely devoid of emotion.
He quickly pulled a kunai from the pouch strapped to his inner thigh and gripped it in his hand. Fortunately, his spirit was resilient and his nerves were strong.
Otherwise, the killing intent alone would have left him too terrified to move.
"Why are you attacking me, honored ANBU?"
Kaede asked tentatively.
He thought this person was probably his father, Mingye, in disguise, perhaps just testing his abilities. After all, this was the Uchiha Clan Grounds. There was no reason for ANBU to come here and attack him.
The answer was a swift slash from the Ninja Blade, accompanied by an ever-thickening killing intent.
It grew so intense that even Kaede felt fear rise in his heart. Terror made the hand gripping his kunai tremble slightly.
The ANBU across from him had at least the strength of an elite Chunin, perhaps even a Jonin.
Kaede blocked the Ninja Blade, but instead of engaging in a drawn-out fight, he immediately retreated to put some distance between them.
The attacker was fast. That slash had only been a probing attack.
"Not good!"
Kaede hurried after him. He'd created distance because he was about to use Ninjutsu.
The ANBU formed Hand Seals at incredible speed. Kaede could see only the afterimages of his hands.
What a lonely man of many years—his hands were too fast! By the time Kaede tried to close in, it was already too late. He'd underestimated an elite Chunin's speed at forming Hand Seals.
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
A bolt of blue lightning shot from the attacker's mouth, streaking straight toward Kaede's face.
The lightning was fast. How could lightning ever be slow?
"I can't dodge."
Watching the lightning rush toward him, Kaede made up his mind. There was no way he could defeat this person as he was. If he kept pretending, he'd probably get killed.
Whether this person was ANBU, the legendary "Root," or even his old man testing him, right now he just wanted to cast off every restraint and fight with everything he had.
As long as he killed the attacker and disposed of the body, everything would remain under control.
He forced his eyes open. His pupils turned red, and a single black Tomoe appeared.
He could see the lightning closing in. The Sharingan's dynamic vision let him track objects moving at such high speeds.
Lightning enveloped his body from the inside out, as if he'd put on clothes woven from thunder.
The lightning wrapped around his flesh, speeding up his nerve impulses and enhancing his speed and physical toughness. It was very similar to the Raikage's signature Ninjutsu, Lightning Release Chakra Mode—in terms of its effects, they were identical.
This was a Ninjutsu Kaede had developed by using his knowledge of the future to imitate Lightning Release Chakra Mode. He called it Lightning Release: Lightning Garment.
Lightning Release Chakra Mode was a secret technique of Kumogakure. Even the Uchiha Clan's collection didn't include it. So Kaede had figured everything out on his own; this was the result of more than a year's work.
The terrifying part of Kaede's talent lay in his powerful physique and affinity for lightning. Even without anyone to teach him, he'd performed countless experiments and eventually mastered this high-level Ninjutsu.
Others might have to carefully coat their bodies with Lightning Release to avoid destroying their cells. But Kaede could experiment as much as he liked without anything going wrong.
Inside his body, the lightning felt as if it had come home.
The Thunder Rune currently granted him an affinity for lightning. Though it couldn't let him control other people's Lightning Release, he could control his own Lightning Release as easily as moving his own limbs.
Unlike Lightning Release Chakra Mode, however, there were two differences.
First: Lightning Release: Lightning Garment not only gave Kaede fast reflexes, but also let him fire lightning bolts. When he moved at high speed, large amounts of lightning poured from his body, continuously attacking enemies in his path.
Second: when Kaede wore Lightning Release: Lightning Garment, what appeared on the surface of his body was actual lightning. By contrast, Lightning Release Chakra Mode covered the body with Lightning Release Chakra. The two were different.
The increased reflexes from the lightning's stimulation, combined with the Sharingan's dynamic vision that could see through everything, let him control his lightning attacks freely without accidentally hitting his teammates.
Wearing Lightning Release: Lightning Garment, Kaede shifted his feet lightly and dodged the incoming Lightning Release: False Darkness in the blink of an eye. He turned and flung a bolt of lightning back.
"Now, let's go again."
Sparks and lightning flashed everywhere. As Kaede moved at high speed, lightning continually formed across his body. He was like an elf dancing through a storm, with thunder answering his every move.
"That feeling of being full of power is truly intoxicating."
"What?"
In the ANBU's eyes, he'd merely blinked—and the boy was suddenly behind him, with time to whisper in his ear. This kind of Ninjutsu was so unfamiliar that even with his experience, he'd never seen anything like it.
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