The atmosphere on the battlefield froze.
Many nearby Konoha shinobi gradually slowed their movements until they came to a complete halt. The Sand ninja on the opposite side were no different, they were all staring toward where Kaede stood.
Chiyo had used a clone to attempt a reversal in the moment when Kaede was most off guard, hoping to kill him in one decisive strike. Her sudden counterattack had shocked many Konoha shinobi. But Kaede had evaded the fatal blow and struck back with a single sword slash, thoroughly defeating her.
Then—
In the blink of an eye, he had caught up to Chiyo, who had been sent flying, knocked her down midair, and pinned her to the ground with the Kusanagi Sword, killing her on the spot.
Even those who weren't sensory-type shinobi, those relatively close by, whether from Konoha or Iwagakure, could sense Chiyo's chakra grow weak, then vanish completely.
That was no clone.
That was her real body.
And the complete disappearance of chakra could mean only one thing—death.
"..."
Someone swallowed hard and whispered, "That Chiyo… is dead?!"
That voice was like the fuse to a bomb. The frozen battlefield finally exploded with emotion. Shock, awe, terror, and exhilaration erupted simultaneously on the faces of both the Konoha and Sand ninja.
"She's dead!"
A sensory-type shinobi took a deep breath and confirmed the fact.
To Konoha's shinobi, Chiyo was a fearsome existence, not just because of her terrifying poisons and formidable puppet techniques, but also due to her accomplishments in the Second Great Ninja War. Even after losing to White Fang, she had still managed to escape and survive.
She was an extremely powerful shinobi, a figure renowned across the ninja world. She was fundamentally different from someone like Pakura, who had yet to make a name for himself.
And now—
Such a ninja, a true pillar of Sunagakure, had fallen in battle!
From this moment on, Konoha had all but secured the victory in this war. Even if Kaede did nothing more, the Sand ninja were already crumbling.
Despite Kaede's unbelievably young age, and despite the fact that he still only held the rank of Special Jōnin, the act of slaying Chiyo, an elder of the Sand Village, on the battlefield was enough to label him a hero of Konoha!
"Attack!"
"The war isn't over yet!"
Someone shouted loudly, and the briefly frozen battlefield exploded once again into chaos.
Compared to the morale-boosted, fierce charge of the Konoha shinobi, the Sand ninja were clearly in disarray. They no longer knew whether the battle should continue now that Chiyo had been killed.
Once that seed of hesitation takes root, it spells the collapse of battlefield momentum. The front lines began to shift in Konoha's favor, and it was clear that total defeat for the Sand ninja was only a matter of time.
Especially—
Those nearby Sand ninja who looked at Kaede.
Their eyes were filled with fear. Even through the silver glow surrounding him, it was clear Kaede was no older than a teenager, but the overwhelming power he had displayed by slaying Chiyo had made him the most terrifying Konoha shinobi on this battlefield!
"Useless…"
Kazekage Rasa's gaze was cold.
Defeated first by White Fang, and now by White Fang's son, there could be no greater humiliation. But on the other hand, this also meant the war could now be brought to a close.
All blame for the defeat could be shifted onto the dead—Chiyo, Pakura, and Ebizo. With that, the voices of dissent within the village would be silenced in one stroke.
"Retreat!"
Having achieved his goal, Rasa no longer wished to continue this meaningless fight and decisively gave the order to retreat. The surrounding Sand ninja began to scatter in panic.
Jiraiya didn't intend to let Rasa go so easily, and pursued him for a while, but Rasa used his Magnet Release to manipulate golden sand and vanished underground in an instant.
A sensory ninja tried to keep track of Rasa's movements and shouted directions to Jiraiya, but Jiraiya simply couldn't match his speed and was ultimately shaken off.
Kaede wasn't idle either.
Maintaining the Eight Gates state, he symbolically took out several nearby Sand ninja, about a few dozen of them, most of whom were Jōnin.
But compared to the shock of slaying Chiyo, these actions weren't particularly attention-grabbing. Tsunade soon arrived and joined up with Kaede.
Noticing Tsunade's arrival, Kaede thought for a moment, then stopped using Time Reversal to sustain his state and deactivated the Eight Gates.
"Cough…"
Kaede staggered after deactivating the Eight Gates.
Since he hadn't used Time Reversal to revert to his pre-Eight Gates condition, but had instead closed the Gates normally, the backlash hit immediately, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Kaede!"
Tsunade immediately caught him and injected chakra into his body. After checking his condition, her expression turned grave.
She glanced at the already collapsing Sand ninja forces, then stopped pursuing. She lifted Kaede into her arms and quickly retreated from the battlefield while using medical ninjutsu.
"It's the backlash from that technique, isn't it? Just how severe is this?!"
Tsunade frowned deeply as she looked at Kaede's pale face. She had already suspected that the power Kaede had unleashed must come at a steep price. Now, seeing the extent of his internal injuries, she realized the cost was even higher than expected, his body was in a devastating state.
Kaede coughed again but didn't resist her treatment. He weakly smiled and said, "To gain great power, you must pay a price. That's what forbidden jutsu are all about… Lady Tsunade should understand that better than anyone… cough, cough…"
A normal shinobi would likely have panicked at this point, but Kaede remained calm. After all, even if Tsunade couldn't heal him, he could always use Time Reversal to restore himself instantly.
Being carried like this didn't feel bad either, it gave him a rare experience of what it was like to be an injured soldier.
"But the cost of this jutsu is way too high!"
Tsunade had now fully assessed his injuries and said seriously, "Even I only have a 70–80% chance of curing you."
Damage from the fourth gate of the Eight Gates technique typically involved torn muscles at most. But Kaede's developed version, the Lightning Release Eight Gates, caused his lightning chakra to rampage inside his body. The backlash wasn't limited to muscle damage; it also involved severe trauma to his chakra network.
"There are some forbidden jutsu that require death as a price too. Still, as expected of Lady Tsunade, to have a 70–80% chance of healing me even in this state… cough… Your medical skills truly live up to your title as the Medical Saint of the Ninja World…"
Kaede smiled indifferently again, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, as if the injuries weren't even his.
"Shut up, now!"
Tsunade glared at him, then reached a safe location and shouted at the approaching medics:
"Stretcher!"
Two medical ninjas rushed over with a stretcher, placed Kaede onto it, and began transporting him toward the rear of the battlefield. Tsunade followed right beside him, her hand glowing with gentle green chakra, maintaining her healing technique.
Tsunade wanted to scold Kaede for using a forbidden jutsu with such extreme side effects, but then she thought, if Kaede hadn't used that jutsu, he probably wouldn't have been able to take down Chiyo. Even the two of them together, in her weakened state, might not have been able to defeat her.
So she couldn't scold him after all.
She could only take a deep breath and focus entirely on healing Kaede.
"Focus… Focus… Focus…"
Tsunade chanted inwardly. She knew that in order to heal Kaede's injuries, her chakra couldn't falter in the slightest. That meant her hemophobia couldn't interfere, not even for a moment.
Her fear of blood had already nearly been cured, and now, through sheer force of will, she finally broke through the last mental barrier. Her chakra flowed without the slightest interruption!
Her hemophobia was completely cured!
Though there was no dramatic change on the surface, Kaede still sensed it, and a faint smile curled at the corner of his lips.
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