"Interesting..."
Kaede clenched the Kusanagi Sword tightly. The blade in his hand was violently trembling, and the Chidori lightning cloaking it had begun to flicker and destabilize, showing signs of collapse.
This wasn't the result of chakra threads, it was a force directly affecting the metal itself. A large surrounding area of metal had come under the same influence and was reacting uncontrollably.
This is Magnet Release!
Magnet Release was a kekkei genkai, but Chiyo wasn't a bloodline ninja. So this wasn't her own technique, but rather something unleashed via the bizarre puppet she had summoned at the end.
"It must be related to the Third Kazekage."
Kaede instantly deduced the origin of this strange puppet.
No doubt, it had been crafted by Chiyo together with the Third Kazekage after she had been defeated by White Fang, a special puppet capable of wielding Magnet Release abilities.
At this moment—
Although Kaede still held the Kusanagi Sword in his hand, swinging it now felt like moving through mud, heavy and sluggish.
Meanwhile, all the scattered metallic debris and fragments around him began floating into the air, drawn toward the triangular puppet at the center. They orbited around it, surrounding him entirely.
As expected of a Kage-level opponent, none of them could be underestimated.
Her seemingly meaningless strategy of repeatedly throwing puppets at him, only to have them smashed apart, had all been deliberate. The real goal had been to create enough metallic fragments to later use Magnet Release to both restrict his weapon and build a massive entrapment.
Each fragment was coated in deadly poison, enough to easily take a life. And now, all metallic weapons were being suppressed by magnetic interference, rendering them nearly unusable.
This technique wouldn't be effective against ninjas like the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, or Orochimaru, who were proficient in various ninjutsu. It was specifically designed to counter swordsmen and taijutsu users like himself and White Fang.
"You thought my puppets were just stalling your attacks, didn't you? Kid, you're far too green…"
Chiyo's expression turned calm, her eyes looking at Kaede as though he were already dead.
If you thought just having a few flashy techniques let you dominate the battlefield, you were sorely mistaken. You may appear powerful, but walking blindly into the very heart of a trap clearly shows your inexperience. Your youth is your weakness.
Even White Fang would have seen through her intent long ago and would never have walked into her web so easily.
Trapped in the center of her Magnetic Light Sealing Formation, even if White Fang had been there alongside Kaede, the two of them together would still be doomed!
"This technique... damn!"
Not far away, Tsunade was pushing back three Sand ninja. She noticed what was happening and instantly realized Kaede had fallen into Chiyo's trap. Her expression changed.
She took a deep breath and immediately stopped attacking. Without hesitation, she tried to rush to Kaede's aid, hoping to use her Byakugo no Jutsu to extract him from the trap.
However—
The three Sand ninjas were well aware this was the most critical moment of the fight between Chiyo and Kaede. Though injured themselves, they gritted their teeth and charged forward again, desperately blocking Tsunade's path.
They were willing to pay with their lives to hold her back. Tsunade, trapped by their relentless assault, was unable to assist Kaede and could only watch helplessly as he fell into crisis.
"All of my weapons are coated in deadly poison."
"And you can't use weapons right now, you're left with only taijutsu. I assume you're not very skilled in ninjutsu either... Even if Tsunade over there could detoxify you, she won't get the chance."
"It's over, kid!"
Chiyo didn't launch an attack immediately. Instead, she continued speaking while manipulating the fragments, refining their formation. They surrounded Kaede, forming a spherical cage with no gaps large enough for him to slip through.
Kaede didn't try to escape through any gaps. Instead, he looked up at the triangular puppet hovering above his head. Then, he released the Chidori in his hand and let go of the Kusanagi Sword.
Whoosh!
The blade flew from his hand and embedded itself into the strange triangular puppet.
After a quick glance, Kaede withdrew his gaze. He exited the violent state of the Eight Gates and separated his hands, forming identical hand seals with both.
He looked back at Chiyo and said calmly:
"So that's how it is…"
"Seems you really put a lot of thought into dealing with my father."
Kaede slowed his speech slightly, but his hands moved without hesitation. In an instant, the seals were completed.
The chirping of Chidori echoed once again. Lightning burst from both his hands.
Twin Chidori. With his chakra capacity, he could easily wield the technique with both hands now.
"You still think resistance is worth it?"
Chiyo gazed at him indifferently, unmoved by his words. With a cold snort, she suddenly clapped her hands together, her chakra threads tightened all at once!
Buzz!!
Countless metal fragments were instantly pulled toward Kaede from all directions like a raging storm, aiming to tear him to shreds.
But just as Chiyo made her move, silver light burst forth from Kaede once more. The Third and Fourth Gates of the Eight Gates Formation opened in rapid succession. Without pause, his lightning-charged hands moved like afterimages, slicing through the air.
Shhh! Shhh! Shhh!!!
In this combined state of Eight Gates, Lightning Release, quadrupled speed, and Twin Chidori, Kaede's hands became blades, moving so fast they left flaming trails through the air.
This was Asuka Feathers, but not quite the same as Morning Peacock. The fiery slashes from his hands were not in the shape of fists, but graceful, burning arcs.
"Asuka Feathers!"
This was the first time Kaede had ever used this move.
The twin Chidori-cloaked palms slashed through the air, leaving fiery arcs behind, like a phoenix shaking out its feathers, each strike produced a blazing red trail resembling a flaming plume.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
A barrage of explosions erupted around him.
Crimson, elongated "feathers" burst from the air with each strike of Kaede's palms, flying outward in all directions like a storm of destruction.
From a distance, it looked like countless flaming red feathers, like the wings of a phoenix, had formed a semi-sphere around Kaede. Every incoming metal shard was intercepted and blasted away by these feathers.
"Ninjutsu? No... This is taijutsu?!"
Chiyo's expression changed dramatically as she watched.
She had been certain Kaede was a taijutsu-type ninja. That lightning technique was just a close-combat enhancer. Even if he knew a few ranged ninjutsu, they would be weak, not enough to counter her attacks.
His weapons were useless, ninjutsu couldn't help him, and he could only rely on melee combat against an onslaught of poisoned metal. It should've been a death sentence. But to her shock, Kaede was now unleashing a ranged attack, with taijutsu!
With her sharp eyes, she could tell immediately, those flames weren't created by chakra. They were formed purely from friction with the air, ignited by the sheer speed and force of his strikes!
It was completely outside her expectations.
A ranged, area-of-effect attack born from taijutsu, this kid had even mastered that kind of technique!
"Damn it!"
Chiyo clenched her teeth. Her hands moved rapidly, drawing out the full extent of her chakra threads, controlling the sea of metal fragments to swarm toward Kaede even more fiercely.
This kind of taijutsu must consume enormous physical and chakra energy. It couldn't last long. She had prepared a vast number of fragments, if she could just keep him contained, he would eventually exhaust himself. He couldn't possibly block them all.
The advantage was still hers!