Aside from his training in the Eight Gates and the Hatake Kenjutsu, Kaede also made progress in his ninjutsu.
After a short break, Kaede faced the trees in the forest as imaginary enemies. His eyes gleamed as his figure blurred and reappeared on the eastern side of one of the trees.
Shhh!!
The White Fang chakra blade swept out, carving a glowing arc of white light.
The thick tree trunk, nearly as wide as a full embrace, was cleaved clean through and came crashing down with a loud rustle.
Whoosh!
Kaede vanished again in a flicker and reappeared behind another tree. His right hand gripped the air, and chakra surged violently in his palm.
"Rasengan!"
After long-term training, Kaede had finally mastered the Rasengan. In his accelerated time state, he could form it at an extremely fast pace.
Boom!!
He slammed the Rasengan into the middle of the tree. A thunderous roar echoed out as the trunk caved inward, crushed and obliterated by the spiraling chakra, leaving a gaping void in its place.
After destroying the tree, Kaede flickered once more, returning to the first tree's remains. With his left hand forming a seal and his right gripping the White Fang blade, a surge of crackling lightning erupted along the blade's edge.
"Lightning Release… Lightning Slash!"
This was a jutsu Kaede had developed himself.
Built upon the foundation of chakra flow, he added a layer of lightning chakra to further enhance sharpness and speed, this was currently Kaede's most powerful attack.
Shhh!!
As the blade sliced forward, a near-tangible arc of energy lashed out, spreading forward about a meter before gradually fading. The strike cleaved the tree stump down the middle and carved a deep trench into the ground beyond it!
once he finished the sequence of attacks, Kaede stopped moving.
He breathed lightly.
The Rasengan alone consumed considerable chakra, and Lightning Slash—combined with Hatake Kenjutsu, drained even more in an instant. With his current level, he could only use it once per fight.
Lightning Slash was Kaede's own name for the lightning-style technique he had created. It was, in essence, a half-completed version of Chidori. Kaede had been developing it with that technique in mind.
Chidori was an A-rank jutsu. Lightning Slash, at best, was B-rank.
"With the stack of time acceleration, Lightning Slash, Eight Gates, and Hatake Kenjutsu… this kind of attack could instantly kill even a Jonin if they're caught off guard."
Kaede muttered inwardly as he looked at the damage he had caused.
While the range wasn't large, not even mid-range, the sheer speed at close quarters made it nearly impossible to defend or dodge.
If he could develop a higher-level version of Chidori, it would be even faster and more destructive!
But aside from his ninjutsu and taijutsu…
The phantom clock in Kaede's mind had also changed!
This change didn't affect the speed multiplier, but rather the appearance of the clock itself.
Closing his eyes…
He saw the phantom clock had changed from a vague illusion to something with a hint of substance, now glowing faintly gold. Even more notably, the hand had shifted from the 1 o'clock position toward 2 o'clock!
The number "2" was still shrouded in a layer of hazy mist, but as the hand moved closer, the fog began to thin.
Kaede understood exactly what this meant.
The hand pointing to 1 represented the Time Acceleration ability he had unlocked. For nearly two years since then, the hand hadn't budged. But now, after he'd reached triple speed, the clock hand had moved once again!
If things went as expected, once the hand reached 2, the mist would dissipate, and he'd unlock his second time-based ability.
"I wonder what it'll be… Time Slow? Time Reversal? Time Stop?!"
Kaede was filled with anticipation.
Time-based abilities were inherently powerful. Especially Time Stop, in the world of Naruto, where most people lacked strong defenses, stopping time could make someone nearly invincible!
unless you ran into someone like the Third Raikage with his monstrous durability… or someone at the Six Paths level with an immortal body… even the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi could be killed with a mere kunai if time were frozen.
Judging by the current speed of the clock hand's movement, it would still take some time before reaching the 2 o'clock mark. until then, he'd need to continue with his normal training and not get complacent.
"My next training priorities are still the same: developing Chidori, improving the Eight Gates, and advancing Hatake Kenjutsu… All three paths still have room to grow."
After reviewing the results of his recent training, Kaede reaffirmed his future direction, staying the course.
The Eight Gates were self-explanatory.
Hatake Kenjutsu was essential. At least until he surpassed Kage-level, it would remain a major combat asset, and it suited him perfectly.
As for Chidori, its importance was equally high. Mastering it wouldn't just boost his attack power, it would also enhance his speed.
In the original story, Sasuke's speed approached that of unweighted Rock Lee after just one month of Chidori training. That's why Kaede had made Lightning Release his main focus from the beginning.
In fact, more than Chidori…
What Kaede truly wanted was the Lightning Release Armor used by the Fourth Raikage.
But that technique was a secret art passed down only through the Raikage line in the Hidden Cloud Village. It was unlikely to be found even in Konoha's Forbidden Scrolls. For now, it remains a distant dream.
ultimately, what Kaede sought was the pinnacle of speed; faster, faster, and even faster!
When your speed reached the extreme, there was no enemy you couldn't instantly kill. And if there was…
That meant it was time to retreat.
"Time to head back."
Kaede patted his pockets.
He'd eaten all the rations he brought with him. During these training trips, he usually packed two meals, enough for about 12 hours of intensive training. With time acceleration, only around four hours passed in the outside world.
Nowadays, he only trains in the mountains during the day. At night, he did basic strength training like push-ups and squats in his yard.
But just as Kaede returned to the village and was nearing home, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his path.
"The Hokage wants to see you."
It was a masked Anbu, who disappeared again just as quickly after delivering the message.
Hiruzen Sarutobi wants to see me?
Kaede blinked. He hadn't done anything recently that should draw the Hokage's attention.
But a summons from the Hokage wasn't something you could ignore. So Kaede changed direction and made his way toward the Hokage's office.
Soon, he arrived at the door.
As soon as he stepped inside.
He noticed the atmosphere was different from last time. A bit tense, a bit oppressive.
And there, seated in a chair beside the Hokage's desk, was a man leaning on a cane. Just sitting there, he gave off a dark, heavy presence.
Danzo.
Kaede didn't know what Danzo was up to these days, but he hadn't been harassed by him in the past two months. Still, to find him here in the Hokage's office was unsettling.
Could it be… that Hiruzen was handing him over to Danzo for "training"?
Kaede's thoughts raced, quickly considering what he would do if he really was ordered to join Root.
Just then, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke in a deep voice.
"Kaede, you're here."
"Lord Hokage."
Kaede bowed. "What did you need from me?"
Hiruzen held his pipe, though he didn't light it. His eyes studied Kaede seriously.
"…How has your training been lately?"
Kaede's brow twitched slightly. With a nearly imperceptible glance, he looked toward Danzo.
Are they really trying to recruit me into Root?
That would be hard to swallow.
With that in mind, Kaede put on a confident, prodigious expression and said:
"I've made some good progress. I developed a B-rank Lightning Release technique."
"oh?"
Hiruzen was surprised.
B-rank jutsu were already high-level. Beyond that, A-rank was the realm of forbidden techniques, and S-rank was considered the level of ultimate mastery.
Even most Jonin didn't know many B-rank jutsu. For Kaede to create one at his age was nothing short of extraordinary.