Land of Fire.
Somewhere in a small town
"Let's rest here for today."
Kaede, wearing his Konoha forehead protector, led the group as they arrived at a hot spring inn in town. He turned to the others behind him and spoke calmly.
Daisuke urabe nodded, and Might Duy had no objections either.
It had been almost a week since they left Konoha. Now, the group was heading toward the border of the Land of Fire. The closer they got to the border, the tenser the atmosphere in the surrounding towns became.
"Welcome!"
The receptionist at the hot spring inn noticed Kaede's forehead protector and greeted him politely with a smile.
Konoha's shinobi were not only responsible for maintaining the peace in the Land of Fire, but also possessed strength far beyond that of ordinary people. Their status was naturally higher as well.
After settling in and choosing their rooms, Kaede didn't head in to rest right away. Instead, he turned to Might Duy and said, "Senpai, keep an eye on things here. I'll scout around the town a bit."
"Alright. Leave it to me."
Might Duy nodded with a serious expression and stood guard in the hallway.
Kaede removed his forehead protector and tucked his exposed White Fang blade into his sleeve. Quietly, he slipped out of the inn and began scouting the town.
Even though both he and Might Duy were strong enough to handle any situation that might arise, it was still better to be cautious. There was always the possibility of discovering something unexpected, like an Iwagakure scout infiltrating the Land of Fire.
Taking care of such enemies could even yield valuable intel.
Before long…
Kaede finished a sweep of the town.
"!"
He had only intended to carry out a routine recon, but unexpectedly, he sensed a faint chakra fluctuation. Immediately, his alertness shot up.
The chakra presence was subtle but felt unusually deep and powerful. This definitely wasn't something a regular ninja could produce!
"At the very least, a jonin... possibly even Kage level…"
Kaede inhaled deeply.
This was turning out to be far more than he anticipated. He instantly activated his triple-speed state, elevating his caution to maximum.
"Kaede?"
Just then, a familiar voice called out.
A moment later, a familiar figure appeared not far away, looking his way in surprise. It was Shizune, a classmate of his. She lowered her kunai, clearly relieved.
"I knew it! That chakra signature had to be you."
"Shizune?"
Kaede blinked in surprise.
If Shizune was here, then that powerful chakra he sensed had to be...
The next moment..
The sound of something crashing echoed from the nearby gambling den. Then came the sound of running footsteps, and soon, another familiar figure dashed out of the building, calling back over her shoulder:
"Shizune! Let's go! Time to run!"
"Huh?! Lady Tsunade—?!"
Shizune froze for a second, only to turn around and see a large group of furious men wielding clubs and sticks charging out of the gambling hall, shouting and swearing. Startled, she quickly turned to flee alongside Tsunade.
Catching up in a few steps, Shizune asked breathlessly, "Lady Tsunade... what happened?!"
"Haha, I kinda lost everything by accident,including that loan I took out. Anyway, we need to run first, talk later!"
"Eh?!"
Shizune was dumbfounded. When she'd stepped out earlier, Tsunade still had plenty of chips left. But there was no time to ask questions now. She had no choice but to follow Tsunade in retreat.
Not far away, Kaede watched the whole scene unfold and let go of the White Fang he had instinctively reached for. He shrugged helplessly.
Talk about coincidence... it really was Tsunade.
Seriously though, with war looming, Tsunade was out here gambling with her newly taken student, completely unconcerned about the village or the coming conflict.
Still, once war officially broke out, even with her hemophobia and inability to fight on the front lines, Hiruzen Sarutobi would definitely call her back to Konoha, at the very least to take charge of the medical division.
"..."
Watching Tsunade disappear into the distance, Kaede fell into thought.
He had actually been interested in her medical ninjutsu for a while now, more specifically, her "Strength of a Hundred" technique. That self-healing jutsu rivaled, or in some ways even mimicked, the regenerative capabilities of the Sage Body.
Ever since the death of Hashirama Senju, no one in the Senju clan had managed to recreate the Sage Body, and the method to cultivate it had been lost.
If Kaede wanted to obtain a Sage Body in the future, he had only two options: transplant Hashirama cells, or decipher the process on his own.
But transplanting Hashirama cells was a last resort, it was highly risky and would, at best, result in an incomplete Sage Body.
As for figuring it out himself, it wasn't something he could just imagine into existence. He needed a solid foundation.
First was Orochimaru's Cell Activation technique, which he had already obtained. Then came the three great Sage Modes: Mount Myoboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest. And finally, Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred technique (one Hundred Healings).
With those five foundational pieces, Kaede was confident he could one day cultivate a true Sage Body.
"But right now, my training is already spread pretty thin."
After thinking it over, Kaede shook his head.
Now wasn't the time to learn the Strength of a Hundred. Even if he got the technique from Tsunade, he wouldn't be able to train in it yet.
That jutsu required an enormous amount of chakra. He didn't have the abnormal chakra reserves needed to even start learning it. He'd also have to train the Yin Seal, which meant a huge increase in workload for little short-term gain.
The Sage Body was still far off.
For now, he needed to focus on training that would bring immediate power increases.
once he could maintain Kage-level strength in his base state, once he had the strength to roam the shinobi world freely, then he could start thinking about the Strength of a Hundred and Sage Mode.
"Come to think of it, if I really want the training method for the Strength of a Hundred, I could probably get it from Shizune… though that might require selling my looks…"
Wait a second.
Why did he even think of that?
Kaede slapped his forehead, realizing his thoughts had gone a little off-track, and muttered to himself in exasperation.
If he just got enough gambling money and challenged Tsunade to a bet, wouldn't he win the jutsu easily? Tsunade's "Guaranteed Loss" passive skill was maxed out, after all.
His body wasn't even fully developed yet. unless it was absolutely necessary, there was no way he was going to trade on his looks. Who knew what "excessive" things she might try to pull?
"Forget it. No rush. I'll wait for the right opportunity."
Kaede returned to the hot spring inn.
After dinner, he went back to his room and closed his eyes. In the darkness of his mind, the familiar illusory space appeared again, the massive phantom clock floating in front of him.
"The next time acceleration upgrade should be soon. When that happens... it'll probably unlock a new ability too."
He murmured to himself, eyes glowing with anticipation as he looked at the golden hour hand inching closer to the 2 o'clock position. The gray mist covering that area was already beginning to fade.
once the hand pointed directly at 2 o'clock, it would unlock the corresponding ability.
He didn't know what it would be, but when it came to time-based powers, there were no weak ones.
Every single one could serve as a powerful trump card.