Kakashi's thoughts were naturally unknown to Kaede.
All he knew was that Kakashi had come back, paused at the door, and upon hearing the noise inside the house, decided to slip away rather than deal with Kurenai and Rin.
Even if he had known what Kakashi was thinking, Kaede would have simply dismissed it as way too far-fetched. Seriously, he was only nine years old right now, wasn't everyone getting a bit ahead of themselves?
...
After sending Kurenai and Rin on their way, Kaede threw himself back into his training.
There were only three days left until the Chunin Exams. Improving his mastery of the Hatake Sword Style to the second stage in that short time was out of the question, and developing the A-rank jutsu Chidori wasn't realistic either. The only thing that had a real chance of progressing was opening the third gate of the Eight Gates—the Gate of Life.
"If I can open the third gate, even without using Time Acceleration, crushing the Chunin Exams should be easy."
Kaede assessed his odds internally.
Time flew by.
Bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun, Kaede spent the final day before the Chunin Exams.
"Phew…"
Stretching as the sun dipped below the horizon, he brought his training to an end.
That should be enough.
Tomorrow was the Chunin Exams, the first real mission since becoming a genin. There was that one famous line… what was it again? oh yeah: "Ready perfectly, fully prepared!"
Clenching his fists, Kaede smiled slightly.
After packing up, he headed back home. He didn't use Time Acceleration again that evening. He ate a simple dinner, then went to bed and slept soundly until dawn.
Kakashi wasn't home, he had likely gone out early but Kaede didn't think much of it. After breakfast, he made his way straight to the Chunin Exam venue.
By then...
The exam classroom was already full of candidates.
A rough estimate put the number at around sixty. Most were from Konoha, with only a dozen or so from other hidden villages.
Kaede only gave the Konoha genin a cursory glance before focusing his attention on the candidates from Kumogakure and Kirigakure.
"…Hm?"
His gaze paused slightly when it landed on the Kirigakure team. Among the three, one figure seemed vaguely familiar.
If he wasn't mistaken...
That was Hoshigaki Kisame!
A future member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, a member of the Akatsuki, and Uchiha Itachi's partner.
Though right now, Kisame looked to be only about ten years old.
Sensing Kaede's gaze, Kisame turned slightly and locked eyes with him, those cold, shark-like eyes emanating an unsettling chill.
"Young Kisame, huh? I wonder how strong he is at this stage."
Kaede stared for a second before retracting his gaze and muttering to himself, continuing to scan the other genin from Kumogakure and the other villages.
He didn't recognize any of the Kumogakure genin, nor the ones from Kusagakure and Amegakure. Even the two other Hidden Mist genin were completely unfamiliar.
As Kaede examined the others, some eyes were also turning toward him.
"Who's that guy?"
"Silver hair… is that Hatake Kakashi?"
Among the Konoha genin, hushed murmurs rippled.
Kakashi, who had graduated at five and became a chunin at six, was practically a legend in the village. So when they saw someone who looked just like him, curiosity was piqued.
"No,"
Someone who recognized him shook their head. "That's not Kakashi. That's his older brother, Kaede. Nowhere near Kakashi's level."
Nearby, Inuzuka Tsume rubbed his chin and said, "When did he become a genin? I don't remember at all... Wait, is he seriously entering the Chunin Exams alone?"
"Looks like it."
Someone snickered. "Not much talent, but coming here solo? Gotta admit, the guy's got guts."
It was his third time taking the Chunin Exams, and he still remembered nearly getting killed during his first.
The Chunin Exams were nothing like the genin graduation tests at the Academy!
"Hatake Kaede? Not from the Hyuga or Uchiha clans, huh."
"Must be some weak nobody."
The two Hidden Mist genin glanced his way after hearing the murmurs.
Their jonin instructor had told them to watch out for Hyuga and Uchiha, the two clans with powerful dojutsu. Everyone else? Not worth worrying about.
"Maybe not a nobody."
Kisame grinned, revealing his sharp, shark-like teeth. He studied Kaede and said, "That guy noticed me the second he walked in. He's got some skill."
"Yeah?"
one of the Mist genin narrowed his eyes and sneered. "If he's got some skill, great. That just means the test won't be too boring."
Just then, a figure entered the room.
It was a Konoha jonin.
"Silence!"
Yamanaka Inoichi's stern voice rang out, his jonin-level presence silencing the room in an instant.
"I'm your proctor for the first round, Yamanaka Inoichi. Submit your info sheets in order, get your number tags, and find your assigned seats. The exam papers will be handed out shortly."
Leaning against the wall near the door, Kaede glanced at Inoichi.
If he remembered correctly, this guy was Ino's dad, one of the previous generation's Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Konoha really was taking this Chunin Exam seriously. Every proctor was a full jonin, not just special jonin.
Soon enough...
Kaede received his number tag and sat down in the corresponding seat.
Since his mission was to target the Hidden Mist and Hidden Cloud genin during the exam and try to eliminate them, he had already obtained intel on the exam format yesterday.
It was nearly identical to the one the "Konoha 12" had taken in the original timeline. The first round was a written exam testing information-gathering skills, no "Tenth Question" twist this time. The second round would be a survival challenge in a forest-like zone. The final round would be one-on-one combat.
The test papers were quickly handed out.
Swish swish swish!
As soon as he got his paper, Kaede began writing rapidly.
Having prior knowledge of the test, it was naturally a piece of cake. He had already used a shadow clone, transformed via the Transformation Jutsu, to infiltrate the ranks of the proctors and blend in with the supervising chunin.
Besides, most of the questions he could solve on his own, there was hardly any need to cheat. Within moments, he had completed everything.
"Turning it in early?"
As Kaede approached with his exam, Inoichi raised an eyebrow and looked him in the eye. He reviewed the answers briefly, found them mostly correct, and nodded.
"Very well. You pass."