Condensed Light

The dead bandit's comrades saw Kaede appear before them in an instant.

"Th—"

He tried to warn the others.

Kaede stepped forward, pivoted behind him, and the short sword brimming with Lightning Release Chakra flashed with crackling light as it pierced his throat, severing the ligaments. A faint "heh-heh" of escaping air vibrated through the ruined windpipe.

He had no chance left.

His hands rose halfway to shield the gaping wound, then fell limp. A deep weariness sealed his eyes forever. Life ended there.

Kaede withdrew his blade and stood. The bandit's corpse, robbed of support, toppled forward onto the ground.

A single strike, a clean kill. There was little blood on the body, because he disliked the sight of gushing crimson staining his hands—it would dull his sword's edge.

Raindrops began to fall from the sky. The daylight dimmed further. The mountain wind howled stronger, rattling the trees on both cliffsides.

Kaede stepped forward. These two were merely low-level thugs sent to guard prisoners. He headed toward the bandits' dwelling—their main stronghold, with at least thirty men inside.

Among them were Chakra-wielding samurai, a more ancient profession. A school that honed strength through sword technique and willpower.

And right now, his greatest interest was in testing whether his blade was faster or theirs was crueler.

With endless Chakra backing him, every step he took used flowing Lightning Release Chakra to stimulate his body's speed. What looked like an easy stride produced the effect of a Body Flicker Technique. To an outsider, it seemed like brief teleportation.

His figure flickered, coming and going like the wind.

"Boom..."

A thunderous crash came from the other side of the cliff. That should be the sound of an Explosive Tag detonating.

"Is that Tong's direction? Looks like she's in trouble."

He halted his Body Flicker, leaped onto the tallest tree, and gazed that way. Rain and mist obscured his view, so he activated his Sharingan. Barely, he could make out Tong locked in a perilous battle with a samurai wielding a katana in the distance.

These Chakra-using samurai, though Genin-level in strength, weren't registered as ninja. That meant dealing with the danger of fighting ninja for standard mission pay—one of the most hated tasks for Genin squads.

But he had deliberately chosen this mission. He wanted to cross swords with samurai, to test his blade.

He had seen White Fang's sword. Fast. Extremely fast. White Fang also used Lightning Release Chakra, and he had similar techniques that relied on Lightning Release to accelerate body movement and reaction speed.

He remembered it was the last time he accompanied his father to meet White Fang. White Fang had used every technique he had when sparring with his father.

White Fang knew that Kaede and Mingye had spoken up for him back then, but two people with little influence couldn't change anything. That time, he used all his Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and swordsmanship, entrusting his final mark on the ninja world to the Uchiha.

Throughout the entire process, Mingye kept his Three-Tomoe Sharingan active, copying everything. He recorded White Fang's entire legacy onto a blank scroll. His only request was that, at the right time, a copy of that scroll be given to Kakashi.

Every time he swung his blade, the Chakra flooding "White Fang" blazed like a white flash, aiming to sever the enemy's head before they could react.

His father Mingye had nearly died several times. If White Fang hadn't always held back at critical moments, he would have been dead long ago.

Unlike the space-time teleportation of the Flying Thunder God, White Fang relied on Lightning Release acceleration to achieve short-range teleportation effects. That was the secret behind White Fang's strength.

Unfortunately, though Kakashi inherited White Fang's blade, he hadn't inherited his father's White Fang Sword Art technique. Not long ago, Kaede had heard that the treasured blade "White Fang" had already snapped.

Konoha's White Fang had ultimately vanished completely from the ninja world. Only the Uchiha still preserved the last trace of his legacy.

His swordsmanship was similar to White Fang's, but their focus differed. White Fang's sword art emphasized "speed," while his aimed for "sharpness."

By compressing Lightning Release Chakra, he pushed the edge of his Chakra-metal short sword to its absolute limit. If White Fang's blade was a white fang, then his sword was leaping thunder. One slash, and lightning flashed. Beneath the Lightning Sword, nothing could not be cut.

"Looks like she can hold out a little longer. I'll deal with this scum first, then go help her."

The sudden commotion had already roused all the bandits. In a chaotic mess, they grabbed their weapons and stumbled out of the ramshackle wooden huts. They spotted Kaede standing on a treetop, their eyes turning vicious.

These men were all desperadoes. According to intelligence, they seemed to be habitual outlaws driven out of the Land of Rain, who had drifted to the Land of Fire's border.

So they deserved to die without regret.

"Boss, look at the headband—he's a Konoha ninja."

"Hmph, just a brat. What are you afraid of? It's not like we've never killed a ninja before," the Second Leader said. His right hand rested on his sword hilt, his gaze cold and fearless. He stuck out his tongue and licked his cracked lips.

"Go. Kill the Konoha brat."

At his command, the bandits—tall, short, fat, thin, all different—swarmed toward the tree where Kaede stood.

Standing high above, Kaede's long hair whipped in the mountain wind, streaming behind him. He flicked his short sword, held it horizontally before his chest, and leaped down from the treetop. Midair, he kicked off the trunk with his right foot and vanished, instantly making the bandits below lose their target.

"Idiots! He's behind you!" The Second Leader, still in place, hurriedly warned. He hadn't seen how the descending ninja got behind them. For a moment, he had lost sight of his target.

Kaede stood with his back to the crowd of bandits, his right hand holding the short sword upright before his eyes. Chakra inside his body rapidly flowed to every part, and he channeled a portion into the short sword. In that instant of intense concentration, he turned and swung in one fluid motion.

"[Lightning Sword: Condensed Light]"

The lightning channeled through the short sword, forming a blue flash that slashed out from the blade—like a semicircular sword aura, flying at incredible speed. It couldn't even be called "flying," because the moment it was released, it had already struck its target. In an instant, the sharp lightning aura pierced through their bodies.

There was no sound of flesh being cut, no flying chunks of meat, no bloody, gory scene. Only the sound of bodies separating and weapons clattering to the ground.

As if completing a full turn, after his spinning slash, he returned to his original stance. The difference was that now the short sword hung loosely in his hand.

He didn't look back at what had happened. He already knew it all in his heart. This was the charm of combining Ninjutsu and Taijutsu—powerful offensive capability and versatile combat adaptability, superior to most single Ninjutsu or Taijutsu techniques.

"You're next."

He looked calmly at the Second Leader, who was trembling slightly not far away, a hint of disappointment in his voice. He had thought this might be a decent whetstone for his blade.

"Don't look down on me, brat!" The Second Leader roared, yanking his sword from his waist.

"Chii—"

A white flash streaked through the air as the katana, gleaming with metallic light, thrust straight forward. Second Leader sank his weight into his hips, both hands gripping the hilt tightly. Though the speed of this strike was somewhat slow, the force behind the thrust was exceptionally strong.

The warrior lacked the flashy Ninjutsu of a shinobi, yet the art had been passed down from ancient times for a reason—it possessed its own unique strengths.

"Heh~ Every single one of your attacks is full of openings to me."

Kaede turned and sidestepped, dodging the blade. Watching the katana sweep past his line of sight, he casually slashed diagonally, leaving a long sword scar across Second Leader's back.

His strike missed and he was wounded. Relying on his seasoned combat instincts, Second Leader didn't bother to look back at his enemy. He spun around, raising the katana high above his head. The heavy, powerful chop came down with tremendous speed, carrying a whistling wind.

"That slash isn't bad."

Kaede caught the descending blade with his short sword, feeling the weight of the strike. For an ordinary man like him, this should have been the limit.