Fierce Battle by the Lake

Realizing he had been exposed, Kaede immediately rose from his spot, leaving behind a shadow clone while his real body swiftly swam to another side.

When the female ninja saw that wisp of bright red blood, she froze for a moment, looked at herself, and suddenly flushed crimson. Enraged, she shouted, "Who's there?" She thought it was a fellow ninja from her own village hiding here. Even though she was both embarrassed and angry, she held back from attacking, having already decided in her heart to either beat him into submission or seal his memories. Such a disgraceful incident absolutely could not leak out—otherwise, how could she still have the face to live in Sunagakure? She'd even considered becoming a rogue ninja.

But when she saw the ninja below dressed in black, she snapped to alertness. "You're not a Suna ninja—you're from Konoha." She backed away, trying to reach the shore to put on her clothes.

"[Lightning Release: Ground Run]." Kaede released swift lightning from between his fingers. Conducted through the lake water, it instantly paralyzed the female ninja. She let out a muffled groan, electricity dancing across her body, her beautiful eyes blazing with murderous intent.

The moment she knew he was a Konoha ninja, she realized she could kill this peeping ninja without any hesitation—that way, no one would ever know about this. She just hadn't expected him to first leave a shadow clone to deceive her perception, then use Lightning Release in the water to paralyze her. Though, wouldn't the one using Lightning Release be paralyzed first herself?

She didn't know that Kaede had strong resistance to Lightning Release; Ground Run's paralysis effect didn't work on him. Right after using Ground Run to paralyze the female ninja, Kaede had already closed in quickly, crouching on the water's surface and pressing a kunai against her neck, which was exposed above the water.

"Don't move!" An icy killing intent emanated from Kaede.

"How is this possible?" Feeling that someone had already pressed a kunai to her neck, the cold killing intent stinging her cheek's skin, she really wanted to ask this Konoha ninja how he had nullified the Lightning Release's paralysis effect.

From Kaede's angle, he could just see half of a fair, tender mound exposed above the water, dazzling him so much he could barely keep his eyes open. He glanced briefly, then hurriedly looked away.

"What's tonight's password for Sunagakure?" Kaede got down to business. With the password, infiltrating would be much easier.

Her beautiful face was full of scorn. Ignoring the cold kunai at her neck, she forcibly turned her head, a shallow red scratch appearing. "You think I'd tell you?" She saw that the newcomer wasn't tall—either a short man or just young. "Did Konoha send you here to be cannon fodder, little boy?" She probed his age with her words.

"Looks like it has to be this way." Kaede stared into her eyes. "[Sharingan]." Killing her would be pointless; he needed to get the password to enter the Sunagakure camp from her—that was her value. Since the gentle approach hadn't worked, he'd have to use a special method. The Sharingan not only possessed copying and dynamic vision but also carried a decent illusion boost. Though illusions weren't his specialty, using the Sharingan to cast one—with the female ninja looking directly at him—would control her no matter how strong she was.

She only saw his eyes instantly turn red, tomoe spinning within them. Realizing something was wrong, she tried to close her eyes, but it was clearly too late. Her gaze went unfocused as she fell into an illusion.

Kaede pressed urgently, "What's the password to enter the Sunagakure camp tonight?" At such a sensitive question, the female ninja began to struggle violently. Kaede felt his chakra draining like a breached river. Clearly, the person under illusion control was far stronger than him; without the Sharingan's boost, she might have already broken free. He couldn't wait any longer. He asked again, "What's the password to enter the Sunagakure camp tonight? Speak quickly."

"Password: shrimp... heart...; countersign: pig... heart..." Stuttering and unclear, Kaede could only guess at those words.

At that point, he immediately moved to finish off this female ninja. Sure, you're beautiful and gave this young master a vivid first lesson, but we're enemies! The kunai sliced across her neck, but no blood flowed. Kaede instantly left his spot. A sharp gale cut across the water, splitting the lake's surface where he had been. The female ninja in that spot had turned into a log, cleaved in two by the wind blade.

Not far away, the female ninja clutched her chest, panting heavily. Forcibly breaking the opponent's illusion and using the Substitution Technique at the last moment had drained her chakra and mental energy considerably. Though she covered her vital parts, the bouncing mound in the moonlight's afterglow still made Kaede's nose itch.

This was a tantalizing battle. Kaede's attention kept drifting elsewhere. Fortunately, the female ninja, still protecting her privacy, remained half-submerged in the water.

"You little Konoha brat, how shameless—peeping on a female ninja bathing! Is this how Konoha raised you?" From his still-clear voice, she could tell this Konoha ninja was just a young boy.

"You took your own clothes off. What's that got to do with me?" Kaede wanted to say, This young master was here first, you know.

"Pervert!!!" The female ninja cursed in fury.

Since he was already being called a pervert, Kaede unabashedly looked at her upper body above the water and said, "Hey, beautiful, nice figure~ I saw everything underwater just now. How about coming with me? You're already unmarriageable like this—following me is your only choice." I, the disciple of Mount Myoboku's lecherous sage, am no idle boast. See this, Jiraiya-sensei? I've taken your nature and surpassed the master!

"Shameless." The female ninja felt her head ache with rage, a fireball of anger trapped in her chest, turning her pretty face bright red.

"Oh, blushing from embarrassment, are we?" Her strength was clearly greater than his. This place wasn't safe to linger. Fortunately, he'd just gotten the Sunagakure camp's password. If he left a shadow clone here to tangle with her while his real body infiltrated... "No, a shadow clone is too obvious—she'll definitely see through it. That means I'll have to send the shadow clone to the camp to steal intel while the real body stays to pin her down. I should've learned [Multiple Shadow Clone] earlier." While bickering with the female ninja, Kaede had already formed a plan in his mind.

She didn't give him more time to think. Even naked, driven by rage, she had completely abandoned guarding her upper body, only keeping her lower half submerged. Since she'd already been seen fully, what was the point of covering up? If not for a shred of feminine modesty, she would have risen entirely out of the water to fight him. She only wanted to kill this Konoha ninja now, to vaporize him into a dried corpse.

"Die, you brat!" In an instant, she was at Kaede's side, wind chakra wrapped around her arm. By the time Kaede realized it, her technique had already formed. "[Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique]." Kaede narrowly dodged the swift gale, a few strands of hair from his forehead sliced off by the wind blade, sucked into the dense wind chakra and turned to powder.

His unique Shunshin technique was executed like a black shadow, as if teleporting over a short distance, appearing behind his opponent. He stabbed with a Kunai aimed at her back, but it was caught by a pair of fair yet powerful hands.

She turned around to gaze at Kaede. At this close range, not only could Kaede see everything clearly, he could even smell the scent of the female ninja.

"I've been waiting for you," the female ninja said, revealing a cruel smile of triumph.

"[Scorch Release: Steam Kill]" A fireball-like shape appeared around the female ninja's body. Kaede felt as if he had stepped into magma, his body's moisture rapidly draining away.

In that moment of life and death, "Flying Thunder God" activated, and Kaede instantly appeared on the riverbank, dodging the female ninja's Ninjutsu.

A Kunai engraved with a lightning emblem was quietly embedded in the earth.

But Kaede had already suffered severe burns. He looked at his hands—they were withered and cracked. In just that brief moment, they had become this horrifying state.

If he had been even a few seconds slower, he would have been a dried corpse.