So where was the Fourth Kazekage?
The entire video never mentioned him. Neither Kaede Kitahara's earlier diary entries nor any of the footage had ever brought up the whereabouts of the Fourth Kazekage.
And if Konoha truly had to face a Kage Level opponent like that, how many sacrifices would it take to bring him down?
"The next step is confirming the Kazekage's location."
Hatake Kakashi wrote down his own deductions on a blank sheet of paper.
By now, the overall outline of the Konoha Crush Plan was mostly clear to everyone. In terms of Jonin-level combat power, Konoha could be said to stand above every other village.
So the real threats were only two Kage Level figures.
The Fourth Kazekage.
And Orochimaru.
Either one of them could cause catastrophic damage. The Fourth Kazekage in particular was infamous for his ability to control gold dust on a massive scale. Against anyone below Kage Level, it would be pure slaughter.
"No, not quite," Kakashi corrected himself almost immediately. "Aside from the Fourth Kazekage, Sunagakure still has two hidden Kage Level figures. Ebizo and Chiyo."
Those two siblings.
They were supposed to be semi-retired by now, but they were still very much alive.
There was also a deep connection between them and his own family.
Hatake Sakumo, the White Fang of Konoha, had risen to fame during battles against Sunagakure. His defining battle was the one where he killed Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law.
One battle.
Instant fame.
Age-wise, those two were already very old. Not much younger than the Third Hokage.
But if even Konoha's own Third Hokage could burn his last light and last heat on the battlefield, then was it impossible that Sunagakure would also push these two to make a final, desperate move?
A Kage Level ninja, even in old age, was terrifying when launching a final assault before death.
The clearest example was the Third Hokage himself in that video.
"If that's the case, then things get very troublesome," Kakashi thought. "If even Sunagakure's advisors show up, would our village's advisors step in too?"
When he thought about Konoha's own advisors, his expression tightened.
After all, Shimura Danzo had also been part of the advisory group.
That alone was reason enough not to place too much faith in them.
Kakashi rubbed his temples, a headache forming.
Konoha needed more reliable high-level fighters. Not advisors who looked impressive on paper but could not be fully trusted.
However, the most urgent issue was still warning the Third Hokage that Orochimaru had future plans against Konoha.
Doing that without revealing the source of the intelligence would be difficult.
Fortunately, based on what the diary had already shown, Orochimaru's actions were practically out in the open. He never bothered to truly hide his intentions.
A simple advance warning would help.
But the collusion between Orochimaru and Sunagakure required solid evidence.
Sunagakure and Konoha were allies. This time, they had even sent participants to the joint Chunin Exams, a clear gesture of goodwill.
Baseless accusations would trigger a diplomatic crisis.
This matter had to be planned carefully.
Kaede Kitahara had no idea that his diary had left its readers in such a heavy mood.
To him, the Third Hokage's death was a fixed event.
Right now, he was rubbing his hands together excitedly, preparing to start the next round of rewards.
"This time, I have to get something good. System, draw!"
At his command, a semi-transparent roulette wheel spun into existence before him. After a short while, it slowed and stopped.
Elementary Space-Time Ninjutsu Talent.
Space-time talent?
This was the first time Kaede had drawn something so abstract.
He chose to fuse it without hesitation.
The instant the fusion completed, it felt as if some invisible block inside him shattered. Understanding flooded his mind all at once.
What he comprehended was nothing else but the Flying Thunder God.
Up until now, his Flying Thunder God had been in an awkward state. It was usable, but not practical in real combat.
The version he had obtained was only at an entry level, roughly equivalent to the Flying Thunder God Guard Platoon under Namikaze Minato.
It was like having the knowledge forcibly stuffed into his head. Using it was cumbersome and far less fluid than Minato's mastery.
The reason was simple.
Their talent was practically nonexistent.
Kaede was the same. He had no natural aptitude for space-time ninjutsu. Whatever the system gave him, he passively accepted.
That was why, for so long, his progress with Flying Thunder God had been zero.
It felt just like math in his previous life.
If you didn't get it, you didn't get it.
He was already used to that feeling.
After all, across two lifetimes, he had always been ordinary. Back in the ninja academy, he had not even made it into Class A, only managing Class B.
His mindset had long since gone full laid-back mode.
If he couldn't learn something, he wouldn't force it.
No internal burnout.
He understood very clearly that in some fields, without talent, even moving forward a tiny step was impossible.
It was only after fusing the bloodlines of two powerful clans that he had briefly experienced what it felt like to be a genius over the past few months.
He closed his eyes and focused.
Immediately, he sensed the locations of Flying Thunder God–marked kunai scattered throughout the village and even outside it.
Previously, he could only sense those within a limited range inside the village.
Now, that sensing range had expanded several times over, and the speed was far faster as well.
Before, he needed complete mental stillness to locate a marked kunai through the formula.
Now, it happened almost instantly, naturally.
With a low shout, Kaede vanished from where he stood.
When he reappeared, he was already inside a training forest on the outskirts of Konoha. The roars of wild beasts echoed around him.
This particular Flying Thunder God kunai had been hidden here by his shadow clone days ago.
And there were many more like it.
A large portion of Kaede's recent income had gone into this.
Ordinary kunai were cheap.
But Flying Thunder God kunai engraved with special formulas required custom crafting. Each one cost over one hundred thousand ryo.
Individually, they looked insignificant.
But as battlefield consumables, a single fight could burn through a fortune.
Every flash of Flying Thunder God was literally flashing money.
"This should be what Minato would call Flying Thunder God, first stage."
Of course, Minato had never actually said that. It was simply in contrast to the Flying Thunder God, second stage he had mentioned.
At this level, Flying Thunder God finally possessed real tactical value. It could be used in actual combat.
This was likely the level Senju Tobirama had reached as its creator.
After testing it a few more times, Kaede quickly realized what he still lacked compared to Namikaze Minato.
Extreme reaction speed.
Suddenly teleporting right in front of an enemy with Flying Thunder God would certainly shock them.
But the user faced the same issue.
In the instant after teleporting, you had to adjust your posture and launch an attack. That demanded reaction speed faster than the opponent's.
Only when everything flowed together seamlessly could the enemy be killed in one motion.
It was exactly like what Minato had once warned Kakashi about.
Kakashi's Chidori had a long startup and extreme charge speed, making it easy to miss enemy counters and get reversed instead.
Flying Thunder God was different.
It had almost no startup. It caught opponents off guard, greatly reducing both the chance and strength of their counterattacks.
But that did not mean counterattacks were impossible.
To fully unleash Flying Thunder God's power, it still had to be paired with superhuman reaction speed.
That was why even Tobirama, the creator of the technique, was far inferior to Minato in its usage.
And Minato had gone even further, developing Flying Thunder God, second stage.
In terms of space-time ninjutsu talent alone, Namikaze Minato was unquestionably number one in the ninja world.
Uchiha Obito's Kamui was also space-time ninjutsu, but it relied on the Sharingan's innate ocular power. It was not purely his own talent.
"So how do I solve this problem?" Kaede scratched his head.
Against ordinary ninja, his current mastery of Flying Thunder God was more than enough. Their reaction speeds were simply too slow.
But against ordinary ninja, he did not even need Flying Thunder God.
The real threat lay in Kage Level opponents. Every one of them had terrifying reaction speed.
If his reactions could not keep up, Flying Thunder God could be countered.
And then there was the Fourth Raikage, a monster of speed and power combined.
In Lightning Release Chakra Mode, his speed was absurd, and his strength was equally ridiculous.
If Kaede took a punch from him head-on, even with his body enhanced by the Uzumaki Clan's early-stage sage physique, he would still be seriously injured in a single blow.
But then an idea struck him.
Ordinary people could not bridge this gap.
He was not ordinary.
He had the Sharingan.
Even a single tomoe Sharingan was an eye of insight.
With its perception boost, his observational ability would increase exponentially.
When fully focused, everyone's movements around him would appear to slow down, giving him enough time to think and react.
That could make up for his lack of innate reaction speed.
If being human was too hard, then he simply would not play by human rules.
That was Kaede Kitahara's solution.
In fact, this idea was borrowed straight from Hatake Kakashi.
Kakashi's Chidori had also been unusable in real combat at first.
It was only after he gained his friend's left eye that the fatal weakness of being unable to clearly see enemy counters was completely resolved.