Over the past few days, Hatake Kaede has been diligently practicing a special perception technique—the Mind Network (yes, the protagonist is terrible at naming things).This perception technique is perfectly suited to his own characteristics, and as time goes by, his mastery of the Mind Network is becoming more and more proficient.
At the same time, Hatake Kaede's Rumble-Rumble Fruit began to demonstrate its powerful abilities.This fruit not only granted Kaede the power to control lightning, but also unknowingly produced a beneficial effect on his body.
Due to the effects of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, Hatake Kaede's physique gradually became stronger and stronger.His muscle definition became more pronounced, and his strength increased dramatically.However, one side effect of this change was that his appetite grew increasingly larger.
The wild animals around the camp had already served as a food source for Hatake Kaede, but now they had been completely devoured, leaving him with no chance to satisfy his ever-growing appetite.To obtain enough food, Hatake Kaede had to venture deeper into the Death Forest to find prey.
After finishing his training for the day, Hatake Kaede was about to head home.But just then, he sensed a figure approaching him from afar.
[Hmm~ Why is someone coming over here!] Hatake Kaede became more alert.
This place was discovered by chance by Hatake Kaede.With his keen eye, he recognized the unique geographical environment and decided to establish his own secret camp here.Although the camp was located next to a tributary of the Namka River and not far from the village, the surrounding terrain was extremely complex, like a maze, making it impossible for ordinary people to venture into the area.
Since the establishment of Hatake Kaede's secret camp, apart from Tsunade, Kushina, and Minato, he had never seen anyone else come here.Therefore, when he sensed someone approaching, a sense of vigilance welled up in his heart.
After eliminating all other possibilities, only one answer remained in Hatake Kaede's mind—the newcomer must be a ninja from another country!With this in mind, he dared not delay for a moment, quickly tidying up any traces he might leave behind, and then concealing his aura to the extreme, like a ghost, silently hiding behind a large tree.
Hidden behind the tree, Maple carefully observed his surroundings through the dense foliage, not missing a single detail.His heart pounded involuntarily, and tension filled his entire body, but he forced himself to remain calm, gripping his kunai tightly, preparing to deal with any unexpected situations.
The man walked by quickly, and Hatake Kaede got a good look at him.He was an ordinary-looking man, a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard.
As he watched the person walk further and further away, Hatake Kaede stood motionless like a statue, his eyes fixed on the person's back like a hawk's, as if trying to see right through him.
Sure enough, within Hatake Kaede's perception range, the person suddenly changed direction like a ghost, turning back at an extremely fast speed.This movement was as fast as lightning; if Hatake Kaede hadn't maintained a high level of alertness, he probably wouldn't have noticed this subtle change at all.
After returning to his original spot, the man looked around blankly, muttering to himself, "Is nobody here?Is there something wrong with my senses?" His voice sounded out of place in the quiet environment, as if he were the only person left in the world.
As he spoke, the man seemed to give up his search and slowly turned around, preparing to leave.However, in that instant, Hatake Kaede keenly caught a glimpse of a sinister grin on the man's face.
That smile sent a jolt through Hatake Kaede's heart, a strong sense of crisis washing over him.Without a second thought, his body reacted instinctively, swiftly sidestepping and disappearing from his hiding place like a bolt of lightning.
Almost the instant Hatake Kaede left, a dazzling bolt of lightning suddenly exploded where he had just stood.
"Heh heh heh~ Sure enough, there's a little mouse hiding here." With a low laugh, the figure of the man in the distance turned into a puddle of mud, slowly merging into the surrounding soil, and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.
[An earth clone?]
Upon seeing this, Hatake Kaede frowned deeply, his sense of crisis growing stronger.
Hatake Kaede dared not be careless in the slightest.He quickly gripped the kunai in his hand and assumed a highly vigilant posture.
At the same time, he continuously poured his chakra into his mind's eye, opening it to its maximum range to ensure that he could detect any movement of the enemy in time.
He knew this would be the toughest battle he had ever faced.
From this man, Hatake Kaede felt an even stronger sense of oppression than his mentor, Jonin Yuhi Teruharu; it was a demon that had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Suddenly, Hatake Kaede abruptly opened his palm and swung it forward with lightning speed.In an instant, the purple Lightning Style: Senbon needles shot forward rapidly like a swarm of startled bees.
Surprisingly, at the very moment the thousand kimonos were fired, Hatake Kaede's body retreated as fast as lightning.
In the next instant, purple lightning-style senbon appeared in front of the man as if by magic, as if the man had deliberately stood in the path of these senbon.
Faced with this sudden attack, the man appeared unusually calm.With a casual clench of his hand, the originally powerful senbon needles shattered into countless tiny purple specks.
Not only that, but all the other senbon arrows aimed at the man were deflected, causing him no harm whatsoever.A slight smile played on the man's lips.His smile seemed to reflect his confidence in his abilities.
Then, the man slowly opened his palm, staring at the gradually dissipating purple senbon in his hand, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.
He muttered to himself, "An instantaneous, unsealed Lightning Style ninjutsu, and such keen sensory ninjutsu—it's truly a rare sight!It seems I've really found a treasure today."
The man's gaze fell on Hatake Kaede, filled with a mixture of admiration and curiosity.He used his movement technique to block Hatake Kaede's retreat.
The man said happily, "A talent like you shouldn't belong to Konoha Village; you should belong to our village.Kid, tell me your name."
However, when faced with the man's question, Hatake Kaede did not answer directly.Instead, he raised the corners of his mouth slightly and asked in return, "Uncle, if you want to know someone's name, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"
The man's smile faded, and he said to Hatake Kaede, "Kid, you're really disobedient!Looks like you need a spanking!"
In the next instant, without warning, the man appeared suddenly in front of Hatake Kaede like a ghost!His movements were as fast as lightning, catching everyone off guard.He raised a huge fist, carrying the force of a thunderbolt, and smashed it down hard towards Hatake Kaede's head!
Faced with this sudden attack, Hatake Kaede remained calm.His body moved with the agility of a cheetah, reacting instantly.He swiftly ducked, dodging the man's fist with lightning speed.
However, Hatake Kaede's counterattack was equally swift and fierce.While dodging, he unleashed a powerful whip kick, like a steel whip, aimed straight at the man's waist!
The man was clearly no pushover either.His reaction speed was extremely fast.Almost at the same time that Hatake Kaede kicked out his whip kick, he quickly stretched out a hand and firmly grabbed Hatake Kaede's whip kick like an iron clamp.
However, this did not stop Hatake Kaede's offensive.The instant the man grabbed his whip leg, Hatake Kaede used the momentum to leap up, soaring into the air like a lithe eagle.
Immediately afterward, Hatake Kaede swiftly adjusted his posture in mid-air, and his other foot kicked fiercely towards the man's face like a cannonball!The kick was incredibly powerful, seemingly capable of shattering the man's face!
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/NextChapterStudios