The air was thick with dust.
It was hard to see clearly.
However, one thing was certain: even Pakura, who had suffered the backlash from the explosion, was severely wounded. There was no doubt that Kaede, who had directly taken the explosion head-on, must have perished.
"Shouldn't there be no trace left behind at all...?"
A Sand Village Jōnin named Moku walked into the dust, his eyes scanning the wreckage. The center of the battlefield was marked by a deep pit created by the explosion, and he headed toward the center of the crater.
Ninjas typically carried their village's forehead protectors and 'nameplates,' so even if they died on the battlefield and their bodies were completely destroyed, their identity could still be verified through these items. Both items were made of metal, making them less likely to be completely obliterated.
Finding a forehead protector would confirm the origin of this powerful young ninja. If he could find the 'nameplate,' it would reveal the ninja's identity.
"Looks like he really is a Konoha ninja..."
Moku quickly spotted some fragments at the bottom of the pit. Walking over, he found a ninja forehead protector, which bore the Konoha symbol.
However, the forehead protector only revealed his origin and couldn't determine his identity, so Moku continued searching around the area, looking for the 'nameplate' that might identify this ninja.
But then...
Almost in the next moment, Moku froze in place.
A sword tip suddenly appeared from behind him, piercing through his chest. Blood instantly sprayed out, staining the scorched earth red.
Moku's pupils contracted sharply, disbelief flashing across his face. He struggled to move his head and barely saw the figure behind him. To his shock, it was Kaede!
"How... how could this be?"
He managed to force out a few words.
Kaede's clothes were completely torn, yet his exposed skin was pale and unmarred by any burns or injuries. Not a single scratch.
Not a hair out of place!
After taking the full blast in the barrier, Kaede hadn't sustained even a scratch!
"It seems my clothes are the real problem," Kaede muttered without answering Moku's question. He drew his sword, the Kusanagi, and glanced down at his shredded clothes before shaking his head.
This was probably the difference between him and those reincarnated through Edo Tensei. While their bodies could regenerate after taking damage, his clothes and external items couldn't recover.
Whoosh!
Kaede's figure flickered as he leaped onto the edge of the crater.
Two Sand Village Jōnin, who had been supporting Pakura, had sensed the change and looked in the direction of the disturbance. Their faces turned pale when they saw Kaede.
But their shock was futile.
A flash of silver light.
Both injured and chakra-disrupted Jōnin didn't have time to react before their bodies were cleaved by the Kusanagi's blade. Blood sprayed everywhere as they collapsed into the rain-soaked ground.
"You!"
"How is this possible?!"
Pakura's pupils dilated as she looked in disbelief at Kaede. She tried to channel chakra but couldn't summon any due to her injuries. She barely managed to activate a small amount, but ended up coughing up blood, collapsing to one knee.
Looking at Kaede's flawless, unblemished body beneath his shredded clothes, she could hardly believe her eyes.
She knew well the destructive power of the Scorch Release. In that kind of barrier, even the Fourth Kazekage, known for his defensive capabilities, might not have survived her full-force attack combined with the explosive aftershocks. Yet Kaede had come out completely unharmed.
How had he done it?!
Kaede approached the kneeling Pakura. His silver light faded as he stopped caring whether she saw his body.
Pakura formed hand seals with both hands, desperately trying to channel her remaining chakra to release a fireball attack towards Kaede.
But in the next moment, Kaede's Kusanagi sword shot forward, the blade wrapped in lightning, slicing through the fireball with ease.
"Cough..."
Pakura coughed up more blood as she looked up at Kaede's face. She wanted to know how he had done it.
But unfortunately, her vision was fading, and she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.
As the darkness closed in, she slowly shut her eyes and fell backward.
"Has she lost consciousness?"
Kaede observed this scene without rushing over. Instead, he continued to sense her chakra, only to find it slowly fading away. He was mildly surprised.
He approached cautiously and checked, but there was no response. It seemed that with her chakra exhausted and her severe injuries, her life had already slipped away.
"So much for capturing her alive..." Kaede sighed. Pakura was the kind of ninja worth trying to capture, but it seemed he had gone a little too hard.
No.
He should've realized that after scaring her, she'd exhausted all her chakra with that fire jutsu.
If he could use the time-rewind technique on others, he might try to revive her. But alas, he couldn't. And as for Edo Tensei, that wasn't something he would use.
"Forget it."
"I'll just leave it for another time."
Kaede put away his Kusanagi sword and, after a moment of contemplation, chose not to deal with Pakura's corpse. Perhaps one day when she was brought back through Edo Tensei, she wouldn't be his enemy anymore, and they might even chat a little.
A strange thought popped into his head. It was probably because his body had reached the age of thirteen or fourteen, an age where he was instinctively beginning to 'desire' human forms.
"Heh... humans."
Kaede gazed up at the sky, his thoughts flashing.
The Third Great Ninja War was an era of great change, with geniuses emerging in droves.
Pakura from the Sand Village, Minato Namikaze from Konoha, Shisui Uchiha, the Fourth Raikage and Killer Bee from Kumogakure, the most outstanding members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and Mei Terumi, the future Fifth Mizukage... there were too many to mention.
Now, he was on the battlefield of the Third Great Ninja War, bound to cross paths with and confront these people.
"Aside from Minato's Flying Thunder God and the Reaper Death Seal, the others don't pose any threat to me... Well, the Raikage is a different case. I still need to improve my strength a bit more."
Muttering to himself, Kaede bent down, searching Pakura's body and found a small metal nameplate engraved with her ninja number from the Sand Village.
This kind of nameplate was something he also carried. It was typically used to identify ninjas after death, especially in times of war when chaos reigned and bodies were often destroyed beyond recognition.
Whoosh!
Kaede stored the identity plates of several Jōnin and looked toward the direction where more Sand Village ninjas were heading. His eyes narrowed slightly.
Pakura and these Jōnin were likely the leaders of their group. The Sand Village wasn't yet strong enough to send out a hundred-strong ninja force, with two 'Kage-level' ninjas leading the charge.
The rest were no threat to him.
Since that's the case...
Why not take care of them all?
Kaede used the fabric from Pakura and the others to patch up his clothes. Then he cut off several Jōnin's heads, sealing them, before using Transformation Jutsu to assume one of their appearances and headed toward the Sand Village's ninja force.
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