"You're the one who said it."
Inuzuka Kiba's smile froze slightly as he glanced at Yamanaka Inoichi with a puzzled look. "Didn't you say Kaede didn't even make it to the third round of the Chunin Exams?"
Hyuga Himaru looked over as well, his expression calm. "What, did he do so well in the second round that he got promoted to Chunin on the spot?"
Snap.
Inoichi snapped his fingers and smiled. "Half right. It wasn't an exceptional performance that earned him a direct promotion… It's that Kaede was the only one who passed the second round. So, this time, the Chunin Exams didn't even have a third round."
That statement stunned everyone, Hyuga Himaru included.
Even Kurenai Yuhi, who had been worried about Kaede possibly getting injured in the second round and had been about to ask Inoichi about it, paused in surprise. Her lips parted slightly as her eyes filled with disbelief.
"You're saying… only Kaede passed the second round?!"
Shizune gasped, clearly shocked. "That can't be right. I've heard a bit about how the Chunin Exams work. No way it's so hard that only one person makes it through."
Inuzuka Kiba, just as dumbfounded, couldn't help blurting out, "Hey, come on! Do you think we're all idiots? only Kaede passed? That's way too ridiculous to be true."
The others all wore looks of deep suspicion.
Right then, a Chunin instructor walked into the classroom. He glanced at the group of students and said, "Well, Inoichi isn't wrong. Kaede was indeed the only one who passed the second round. Everyone else was eliminated… by him."
As he spoke, waves of emotion stirred in his chest. He'd heard the news the night before, but even now, it was hard to wrap his head around it.
Graduated early. Perfect scores across the board.
And now, just days later, he'd entered the Chunin Exams alone, eliminated all the other teams in the second round, and forced the third round to be canceled entirely!
That kind of performance… was nothing short of unbelievable.
Kaede's usual grades in class had never been that exceptional. To graduate early with perfect marks, then wipe out every team in the second round of the exams, it clearly wasn't a sudden leap in ability.
Which meant…
Kaede's talent might not be any less than Kakashi.
And yet, even with that level of ability, Kaede had kept his head down, attending class without ever showing off. That level of composure was just as shocking. If he were an adult ninja, it would be one thing, but Kaede was only nine years old!
"A hidden genius…"
The Chunin teacher couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Just like Orochimaru and Sakumo Hatake in their youth, Kaede's raw talent and calm demeanor made him a once-in-decades kind of prodigy.
The classroom fell utterly silent.
"Alright, everyone take your seats. Class is starting."
At the instructor's words, the frozen classroom slowly came back to life.
Inuzuka Kiba, Uchiha Obito, and the others returned to their seats stiffly, each with an expression of disbelief still etched into their faces.
Inoichi was telling the truth?
Kaede really eliminated everyone in the second round?
How…
How is that even possible?!
Even Might Guy was shaken. He had always believed that Kakashi's talent and strength far outstripped Kaede's. But now, it seemed that might not be the case at all.
Kaede had graduated early, passed the Chunin Exams immediately, and done something so absurd it sounded like a tall tale. He might not be any weaker than Kakashi now.
The whole morning, barely anyone could concentrate.
The truth was undeniable. And once the shock wore off, emotions across the room turned complicated. Jealousy and resentment still lingered, but they weren't as intense as before. What replaced them was a deep sense of loss.
It wasn't that they had accepted Kaede.
It was that the gap between them had suddenly grown so wide, Kaede now felt distant, almost untouchable. At that point, jealousy and defiance started to feel pointless.
Graduating from the Academy early, becoming a Genin, then jumping straight to Chunin in just a few days, it all seemed surreal, like something out of a dream.
only a few like Might Guy could still maintain focus. At that moment, Guy had already elevated Kaede to a level nearly equal with Kakashi, someone he now saw as another rival to surpass.
"From one rival to two… it looks like my youth is burning even brighter now!"
With clenched fists and fiery eyes, Guy's spirit ignited with determination.
News of Kaede becoming a Chunin spread like wildfire throughout the Academy. It wasn't just his classmates, students from other years were just as stunned. After all, Kaede had become a Chunin only two days after his early graduation.
"He's already a Chunin?"
In one corner of a classroom, Uchiha Shisui overheard the chatter and murmured to himself.
Just as he expected, once Kaede started to show his potential, he advanced at an unstoppable pace. As one of the Uchiha clan's rising stars, Shisui now felt that the title of "genius" no longer suited him.
He had to push harder, much harder, to catch up to Kaede and Kakashi.
….
Time flew by.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
During that time, Kaede focused entirely on mastering the Cell Activation Technique. And finally, he reached the limit of what was currently possible with it.
He could feel it clearly, every single cell in his body pulsed with life. If he were to get cut, the wound would heal several times faster than a normal person's.
While it still wasn't on the level of the Strength of a Hundred Seal or the Sage Body, when paired with his Time Acceleration, the effect was dramatic,he could literally watch wounds close before his eyes.
Kaede didn't test it further.
He wasn't fond of injuring himself for the sake of experimentation. It was enough to know his body could now recover from minor wounds without bandages, and that even deeper injuries could be quickly patched up without worrying about infection.
"Eight Gates."
"Third Gate—Gate of Life… open!"
Deep in the forest behind Konoha, Kaede took a deep breath. With a surge of chakra, he burst through the third of the Eight Gates, located just above his chest.
Now that he'd mastered the Cell Activation Technique, breaking through the third gate had become almost trivial. He was already progressing toward the fourth.
Buzz!!
Kaede's body was now surrounded by a faint green aura. He could feel the chakra surging violently through him, raw power exploding from within. His speed and strength had increased far more than when he had opened the first gate.
"So that's it… opening the third gate causes chakra to go berserk. Controlling it becomes difficult."
He muttered to himself, feeling the chaotic power surging through him.
Clearly, his earlier assumption had been too optimistic, he had thought he'd still be able to use jutsu like the Shadow Clone or Substitution while in the Eight Gates state. But the truth was, once chakra entered that rampaging state, control became extremely difficult.
And with the Cell Activation Technique enhancing his chakra reserves beyond that of an elite Chunin, nearing even Jonin levels, keeping it in check became even harder.
"Triple speed!"
Kaede drew a deep breath, then willed himself into three-times acceleration.
At that moment, he clenched his fist and punched forward. His arm blurred into a streak, nearly vanishing from view. The force was so intense, it left trails of scorching firelight from sheer friction with the air!