Realizing she'd been discovered, Kaede immediately rose from where she was hiding, leaving behind a Shadow Clone as her real body swiftly swam to the opposite shore.
When the kunoichi saw the streak of crimson blood, she froze. She looked down at herself, then suddenly blushed scarlet and shouted furiously, "Who's there?"
She thought it was a fellow villager hiding nearby. Though embarrassed and angry, she restrained herself from attacking, merely resolving to either beat him into submission or seal away his memories.
There was no way she could let this humiliating incident get out. Otherwise, how could she ever live in Sunagakure again? She might as well become a rogue ninja.
But when she saw the black outfit on the ninja below, she immediately went on alert. "You're not a Sand Shinobi. You're from Konoha." She backed away, wanting to reach the shore and get dressed.
"[Lightning Release: Ground Run]" Lightning shot from Kaede's fingertips. Conducted through the lake, it instantly paralyzed the kunoichi. She grunted as sparks danced across her body, fury burning in her beautiful eyes.
The moment she realized he was a Konoha ninja, she knew she could kill the peeping Tom without holding back. Then no one would ever learn what had happened.
She just hadn't expected him to leave behind a Shadow Clone to fool her senses, then use Lightning Release in the water to paralyze her. But wouldn't that paralyze him first, since he was the one using Lightning Release?
She had no idea that Kaede had a strong resistance to Lightning Release, making Ground Run's paralyzing effect useless against her. As soon as the technique had paralyzed the kunoichi, Kaede had already rushed up to her and crouched on the water's surface, holding a kunai to the part of her neck above the water.
"Don't move!" A frigid killing intent emanated from Kaede.
"How is that possible?" Feeling the kunai at her throat, she felt the cold killing intent prickling against her cheek.
She wanted to ask how this Konoha ninja had resisted Lightning Release's paralyzing effect.
From Kaede's angle, he could see half of the kunoichi's pale, exposed breast. The sight made it hard to keep his eyes open. He stole a quick glance, then hurriedly looked away.
"What's tonight's password for the Sand Shinobi camp?" Kaede asked, getting down to business. With the password, it would be easier to infiltrate the camp.
Her beautiful face was full of scorn. Ignoring the cold kunai at her throat, she forcibly turned her head, and a faint red line appeared on her skin. "Do you think I'd tell you?"
She saw that the intruder wasn't very tall. He was either short or still young. "Did Konoha send you here to be cannon fodder, little boy?"
She was probing to find out how old he was.
"Guess I have no choice."
Kaede stared into her eyes. "[Sharingan]" Killing a ninja like her would be pointless. He needed to get the password for entering the Sand Shinobi camp from her. That was where her value lay.
Since the gentle approach hadn't worked, he'd have to use an unorthodox method. The Sharingan didn't just grant copying abilities and heightened visual perception; it also bolstered Genjutsu.
Though Genjutsu wasn't his specialty, using it with the Sharingan while the kunoichi was looking right at him would let him control her, no matter how strong she was.
She saw his eyes turn red, Tomoe spinning within them. Realizing something was wrong, she tried to close her eyes, but it was already too late.
Her gaze went vacant as she fell into a Genjutsu.
Kaede hurried to ask, "What's tonight's password for entering the Sand Shinobi camp?"
At the sensitive question, the kunoichi began to struggle violently. Kaede felt his Chakra pouring out like water from a broken dam.
The person he was controlling with Genjutsu was clearly far stronger than him. Without the Sharingan's aid, she might already have broken free.
He couldn't wait any longer. He asked again, "What's tonight's password for entering the Sand Shinobi camp? Hurry up and tell me."
"Password: shrimp... bene...; response: pig... heart..." She stammered so badly that Kaede could barely make out the words.
At that, he immediately tried to finish off the kunoichi. She was beautiful and had given him a vivid first lesson, but they were enemies!
His kunai slashed across her neck, but no blood came out. Kaede instantly leaped away.
A gust of wind swept across the water, splitting it where he had stood. The kunoichi left behind turned into a wooden log, which the wind blade sliced in half.
Some distance away, the kunoichi clutched her chest and gasped for breath. Forcing her way out of the Genjutsu and then using the Substitution Technique in the nick of time had taken a heavy toll on her Chakra and mind.
Though she covered her private parts, the rise and fall of her breast in the moonlight still made Kaede's nose itch.
It was an intensely sensual battle, and Kaede kept glancing elsewhere. Fortunately, the kunoichi had stayed half-submerged in the water to protect her privacy.
"Konoha brat, you're absolutely shameless! Peeping on a kunoichi while she's bathing—does Konoha teach you to behave like this?" From the clear voice she'd heard earlier, she could tell that the Konoha ninja was just a boy.
"You're the one who took your clothes off. What's that got to do with me?" Kaede wanted to say that he'd been here first.
"Pervert!!!" the kunoichi shouted furiously.
Since she'd already called him a pervert, Kaede didn't bother hiding his gaze as he looked at her upper body above the water. "Beautiful, you've got a great figure~ I saw everything underwater just now. Why don't you come with me? You're ruined for marriage now. You have no choice but to come with me."
I'm Pervy Sage Jiraiya's student. I didn't earn that title for nothing. Sensei, look—I've taken your nature and surpassed you!
"Shameless!"
The kunoichi felt her head throb with rage. A rush of heat rose in her chest, turning her pretty face crimson.
"Oh, what's this? Are you blushing because you're embarrassed?"
Her opponent was clearly stronger, and staying here was dangerous. Fortunately, Kaede had just learned the password for the Sand Shinobi camp. If he left a Shadow Clone here to keep her busy while his real body infiltrated—
"No, a Shadow Clone would be too obvious. She'd see through it right away. The only option is to send a Shadow Clone to the camp to steal information and keep my real body here to hold her off. I should've learned [Multiple Shadow Clone] earlier." While trading insults with the kunoichi, Kaede had already formed a plan.
She gave him no more time to think. Though naked, with rage consuming her, she had given up on protecting her upper body, keeping only her lower half beneath the water.
He'd already seen everything, so what was the point in covering herself up? If she weren't still somewhat ashamed as a woman, she'd have climbed out of the water completely and fought him as she was.
All she wanted now was to kill the Konoha ninja and evaporate him into a dried-up corpse.
"Die, brat!" In an instant, she was at Kaede's side, Wind Release coiling around her arm. By the time he realized it, her Ninjutsu was already formed.
"[Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique]"
Kaede narrowly dodged the powerful gust that rushed toward him. A few strands of hair above his forehead were sliced off by the wind blade and swept into the dense current of Wind Release, where they were ground to powder.
He used his signature Body Flicker Technique, darting like a shadow and seeming to teleport a short distance. He appeared behind her and stabbed with his kunai, only for her strong, pale hands to catch it.
She turned to face Kaede. At such close range, he had not only a clear view of her but could even smell her.
"I've been waiting for you," the kunoichi said with a cruel, triumphant smile.
"[Scorch Release: Steam Kill]" A fireball-like sphere appeared around the kunoichi's body. Kaede felt as if he'd been plunged into magma, the moisture in his body rapidly evaporating.
At this deadly moment, Flying Thunder God activated, and Kaede instantly appeared on the shore, escaping the kunoichi's Ninjutsu.
A kunai engraved with a thunderbolt symbol stood embedded in the ground.
But Kaede had already suffered severe burns. He looked at his hands, now dry and cracked. Just a moment in that attack had left them in this horrifying state.
A few seconds more, and he would have been a dried-up corpse.
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