"Tsusa Yanosuke!!"
The Mist ninja standing next to Hoshigaki Kisame suddenly changed expression, his face filled with shock and disbelief. He couldn't help but cry out in alarm.
Tsusa Yanosuke was the sensor-type ninja among their trio. Their ability to continuously hunt down other teams relied heavily on his sensory skills. Normally, he should have been the one to react the fastest in the face of an ambush or sneak attack.
But now—
Tsusa Yanosuke had been taken out in an instant!
He didn't even have time to use a Substitution Jutsu or Body Flicker!
"Guh… cough…"
Though Tsusa Yanosuke had been sliced in two, he wasn't dead yet. He coughed up a mouthful of blood as his upper body collapsed to the ground. He looked toward Kaede with an expression of disbelief.
Because they had neared the finish point and were talking with Kisame and the others, he had let his guard down a little and wasn't fully focused on sensing. So when Kaede ambushed him midway, he hadn't sensed it in time. But that wasn't the key issue.
The real issue was, too fast!
Kaede's movements were too fast, so fast that Yanosuke had no time to react or resist at all.
That level of speed was far beyond what a genin should be capable of. Even for a jonin, it would be extraordinary. To be ambushed by someone of jonin-level speed while distracted, it was no surprise he was taken out instantly.
"So it's you."
Hoshigaki Kisame stared at Kaede. Despite the death of his comrade, there was no sign of anger or loss of composure on his face, as if the one who died was utterly insignificant.
He curled his shark-like lips into a grin, revealing a mouth full of jagged teeth. "Looks like not all of Konoha's genin are trash after all."
"..."
Kaede glanced at the bisected body of Yanosuke on the ground, noticing a small pile of scrolls that had fallen from him. He muttered, "So that's what this is."
Collecting this many scrolls, clearly, these people weren't taking part in the Chunin Exams just to pass. Their real goal was hunting others and sending a message.
"As expected from the infamous Blood Mist Village…"
Kaede raised the short sword "White Fang" in his hand, lightly running a hand across its blade as if wiping it clean.
Then—
With a poof, his body suddenly dispersed into smoke.
Kisame's face changed. Without hesitation, he leapt backward and quickly formed hand seals mid-air before slamming his hands down.
"Water Style! Exploding Water Colliding Wave!!"
Crash!
An overwhelming surge of water burst forth instantly, cascading like a reverse flood.
However, the water didn't strike Kaede, because Kaede hadn't targeted Kisame at all, his real target was the other Mist genin!
"Water Style! Spiral Water Blade!"
That genin responded almost simultaneously. As Kaede vanished, he unleashed a jutsu, exhaling thin spiral threads of high-pressure water in all directions. These threads were sharp enough to slice through stone on contact.
But just as the Spiral Water Blades shot out—
Kaede appeared at his right side.
Rather than evade, Kaede revealed an almost inhuman speed. He twisted mid-air and danced between the spiraling blades, slipping through their gaps like he was weaving through deadly threads.
"Crap…"
The Mist genin's face twisted in horror. He couldn't believe Kaede had dared to charge directly into his jutsu, and made it through unscathed.
Without incredible speed and perceptive dynamic vision, such a move was no different from dancing on a razor's edge. one mistake and he'd be sliced in half!
Shing!
The genin drew a kunai and slashed toward Kaede.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Kaede's blade moved so fast it left trails of white in the air. In an instant, he unleashed seven or eight slashes and flashed past the Mist ninja.
The genin's body stiffened.
He struggled to turn his head, catching a glimpse of Kaede behind him. His eyes widened in disbelief, then his body erupted in a web of blood lines and collapsed in a spray of crimson.
The Spiral Water Blade had failed to keep Kaede at bay. once Kaede got in close, the result was inevitable.
If it had been a Sharingan user with speed to match, perhaps they could've fended off Kaede's blade style, but this genin clearly didn't have that kind of ability.
In the blink of an eye, two Mist ninja were dead!
"To act so arrogantly in someone else's village… there's always a price. Kill or be killed, that's your Blood Mist philosophy, right? I think it's fair to return the favor."
Kaede stood on the water's surface and looked calmly at the last one—Kisame.
Kisame gazed at Kaede from a distance. He was no longer as calm as before. The grin on his face had stiffened slightly.
"…Looks like you're the strongest genin in Konoha. Seems our intel was a bit off. But that's not a big deal…"
As he spoke, Kisame suddenly formed seals with both hands.
"Water Style! Water Shark Bullet Technique!!"
Crash!!
The water under Kaede's feet exploded as massive shark-shaped water projectiles surged toward him, aiming to tear him apart.
Whoosh!
Kaede leapt straight into the air, aiming directly at Kisame.
Kisame didn't flinch. He raised his right hand and released another surge of water, this time, a single massive shark hurtled toward Kaede head-on.
Kaede's hand clenched around White Fang.
He drove the blade into the shark-like torrent. His entire body blurred into a spiral of motion as the blade tore through the water, slicing through the jutsu, and right through Kisame!
Splash!
Kisame's body shattered.
But no blood spilled, only water surged upward, wrapping around Kaede in an instant.
"...Water Prison Jutsu!"
Kisame's true body emerged from beneath the water, placing one hand on the surface of the water sphere that now encased Kaede.
"Your speed really is troublesome… but inside my Water Prison, that speed of yours is useless, isn't it?"
Inside the prison, Kaede didn't panic. Instead, he calmly looked at Kisame.
"Water Prison Jutsu… a classic from the Mist, huh? But if I already knew you had this technique, do you really think I'd fall for it so easily?"
Kisame's expression changed.
In the next instant—
His body twisted to the side, but a flash of white light still sliced across him. With a spray of blood, his arm was severed and dropped into the water.
"Brilliant."
Inside the central control room of the Death Rock Cave, Orochimaru watched the screen, eyes filled with admiration.
Beside him, Hiruzen Sarutobi also couldn't help but exclaim, "I thought he only relied on that speed… but to use Clone and Substitution so fluidly… Not even you could do this at his age, could you?"
Even Orochimaru and Hiruzen were stunned by Kaede's sheer talent and combat instincts.
As for the other jonin and chunin—
Like Yuhi Kurenai and the rest, they were shocked.
They already had a pretty good grasp of Kisame's team's strength from prior observation. Both Mist genin had elite chunin-level abilities. Kisame himself, with his massive chakra reserves, was close to the level of a special jonin.
Yet even so—
In front of Kaede, two were killed in a flash, and one heavily wounded!
Whether it was his raw power, his battle awareness, or his judgment, Kaede's performance left nothing to be criticized. He didn't resemble a nine-year-old genin at all, more like a hardened elite from countless battles!