Battle in the Dark Night

Kaede had to admit—shinobi were a truly pitiful profession, and a ninja village was an even stranger place. The teachers and higher-ups here never stopped brainwashing you.

Walking home, Kaede rubbed his handsome little face vigorously, trying to wake himself up.

He'd been mentally tortured all day.

"Life at this academy is really unbearable!"

He couldn't help but wonder if Kakashi had applied for early graduation just to get away from these ridiculous teachers.

"Haha. I bet I hit the nail on the head."

His self-amusement earned him a look of disgust from Tong at his side. Her big, watery eyes glared at Kaede for his sudden laughter before she moved closer to her father walking ahead.

Both were Uchiha. Tong's father and his father were both clan jōnin, and the two were close friends.

In truth, even within the Uchiha clan, there were ranks and classes. Jōnin-level strength already commanded a high status in the family.

The rest of the ordinary clan members lived much the same as the village's civilians.

From this, you could see just how hollow the Third Hokage's so-called equality really was.

After returning home and taking a hot bath, Kaede finally recovered his spirits, his mind much clearer.

As a shut-in research fanatic, whenever he had time, he'd hide away in the quiet basement to study the ninjutsu knowledge he found fascinating. But today, he felt like clearing his head for once.

Stepping onto the old tree by the courtyard wall, he leaped up. Landing lightly on the roof, his gaze swept over the Uchiha clan's properties—all filled with clan members the village had maliciously targeted.

A few raindrops fell, hitting his face, cold and cool.

Among them were shinobi, civilians, the elderly, and children. At a glance, there really were so many people!

"How did that guy bring himself to kill everyone who shared his bloodline?"

Kaede asked himself honestly. He didn't think he could be that heartless.

In the night, the moonlight was dim. The sky was overcast, the light weak—just the kind of weather for sneaking, killing, and lock-picking. A perfect night.

Without warning, a few bright raindrops fell from the sky. Kaede dodged back instantly.

"Clink, clink."

The sound of a kunai striking roof tiles came clearly.

A tight black combat uniform, a red-and-white fox mask covering the face—this was the attire of Konoha's Anbu.

The ninja sword at his back was slowly drawn, and a killing intent that made Kaede's skin crawl pressed down on him. The instant lock-on made him shiver involuntarily.

Only now did he realize that so-called killing intent really did exist.

All Kaede could see was a pair of cold, beast-like eyes, utterly devoid of emotion.

He quickly pulled a kunai from the tool pouch strapped to his inner thigh, gripping it tightly. Thank goodness his soul was tough and his mental fortitude decent.

Otherwise, that killing intent alone would have frozen him in place.

"Anbu-sama, why are you attacking me?"

Kaede tested the waters.

In his heart, he thought this person might be his father, Mingye, in disguise—maybe just testing his strength. This was Uchiha clan territory. There was no reason for an Anbu to attack him here.

His answer came in the form of a ninja sword slashing at him at high speed, along with an even denser killing intent.

So thick that even he felt fear rising in his heart. The terror made the hand gripping his kunai tremble slightly.

His opponent was at least elite chūnin level, maybe even jōnin.

Kaede blocked the ninja sword, but the Anbu didn't engage in close combat—he immediately created distance.

He was fast. That slash had just been a probing attack.

"Not good!"

Kaede rushed forward, chasing after him. If the Anbu was creating distance, he was about to use a jutsu.

The Anbu's hands flew through hand signs. Kaede could only see the afterimages.

This guy had been lonely for years—his hand speed was too fast. Kaede couldn't close the distance in time. He had underestimated an elite chūnin's hand-seal speed.

"[Lightning Release: False Darkness]"

A bolt of blue lightning shot from his mouth, straight at Kaede's face.

The lightning was fast. Lightning speed was never slow.

"Can't dodge."

Kaede watched the lightning approaching and made up his mind. Like this, he was no match for this person. If he kept pretending, he'd end up dead.

Whether this person was really Anbu, or the legendary "Root," or even his old man testing him—right now, he just wanted to drop all restraints and fight with everything he had.

As long as he killed him and disposed of the body, everything would still be under control.

He forced his eyes open. His pupils instantly turned red. A single black tomoe appeared.

He could see the lightning closing in. With the Sharingan's dynamic vision, he could track such high-speed objects.

A layer of lightning wrapped around his body from the inside out, like putting on a robe woven from thunder.

Lightning coiled around his flesh, accelerating neural transmission speed, boosting speed and the toughness of his body. It was very similar to the Raikage's signature technique, [Lightning Release Chakra Mode]; in terms of effect, it was identical.

This was a technique Kaede had developed using his foreknowledge, imitating [Lightning Release Chakra Mode], and he called it—[Lightning Release: Lightning Garment].

[Lightning Release Chakra Mode] was a secret technique of Kumogakure; even the Uchiha clan's collection did not contain it. So everything was his own exploration, the fruit of over a year of effort.

The terrifying aspect of Kaede's talent lay in his powerful physique and affinity for lightning, allowing him to master this difficult technique through countless experiments without any instruction.

Others might have to carefully attach lightning release to their bodies to avoid destroying their own cells, but for Kaede, he could experiment freely without consequence.

Thunder within his body was like returning home.

The lightning runes he currently possessed granted him this affinity; while he couldn't control others' lightning release, he could command his own with the ease of moving an arm or finger.

The difference from [Lightning Release Chakra Mode] was twofold.

First: [Lightning Release: Lightning Garment] not only granted Kaede rapid reaction speed but also had the property of emitting lightning attacks. When he moved at high speed, a large amount of lightning would be released from his body, continuously striking enemies along his path.

Second: When clad in [Lightning Release: Lightning Garment], the surface of Kaede's body was covered in genuine thunder; whereas [Lightning Release Chakra Mode] covered the body in lightning-nature chakra. These two were fundamentally different.

The boost in reaction speed from the lightning's stimulation, combined with the Sharingan's all-seeing dynamic vision, allowed him to freely control his lightning attacks without accidentally harming his teammates.

Clad in [Lightning Release: Lightning Garment], Kaede shifted his feet lightly. In the span of a finger snap, he dodged the incoming [Lightning Release: False Darkness] attack and spun around to hurl a bolt of lightning.

"Now, let's try again."

Sparks and lightning trailed behind him. As Kaede moved at high speed, lightning continuously formed on his body's surface, as if he had transformed into a spirit dancing amidst thunder—every motion answered by the roar of lightning.

"The feeling of being full of power is truly intoxicating."

"What?"

In the ANBU's eyes, he had only blinked, and that brat was already behind him, with time enough to whisper in his ear.

A technique like this—even with all his experience—he had never seen before.