"Eh?"
At the sound of Kaede's first words, Sara's face was still pale as she looked toward the gathering mass of puppets nearby. But when she heard the last part of his sentence, she was momentarily stunned.
Then,
Suddenly, Kaede was bathed in a brilliant silver light. Sparks of electricity flickered through his short silver hair, and in an instant, he became like a streak of silver lightning, vanishing from the spot.
Whoosh!
For a moment, the entire world seemed to dim.
Looking closer, it wasn't the surroundings growing darker, it was that a dazzling silver arc of light, like thunder itself, had exploded across the entire plaza.
The radiance was so intense, so blinding, that everything else seemed muted by comparison.
That arc of light intertwined and surged, enveloping every puppet in the plaza.
Whoosh!
Then, in the very next instant, Kaede reappeared at his original position, his Kusanagi sword angled sharply toward the ground on his right, as if he had never moved at all.
What happened next left Sara speechless.
The entire puppet army in the plaza froze solid. Like dominoes, they shattered into countless pieces, breaking apart in waves.
Naruto's mouth hung open, unable to close it as he stared dumbfounded at the scene. "W-what was that?!"
Kakashi was also visibly impressed. It was his first time witnessing Kaede's power firsthand, but compared to Sara and Naruto, he absorbed it more quickly.
He glanced at Naruto, crossing his arms, and said, "That's my older brother's power. You still have a long way to go, Genin."
The plaza was silent except for the faint crackling and popping of residual lightning arcs dissipating from the puppet fragments.
"Let's go."
Without acknowledging Naruto or Kakashi, Kaede's silver light faded away. He crouched slightly, scooped up the still-stunned Sara, and in a flash, appeared atop a tall tower in the center of the plaza.
"Don't just stand there. Tell me where the source of the Ryūmyaku is. If we don't sever it, it'll revive again."
"A-ah… over there…"
Sara snapped out of her daze and almost slipped, clutching Kaede's neck as she pointed in a direction.
Kaede held her with one arm while swinging his sword with the other, slashing a brilliant arc that shattered the puppet form of Anrokuzan, who was regenerating nearby.
Then, with a blur, he shot off toward the direction Sara had indicated.
Crash!
Carrying Sara, Kaede smashed through a wall and crashed into the tower built on the Ryūmyaku's source. Moving swiftly inside, he landed on the central platform.
From here, they could see deep below, a vast abyss saturated with purple chakra, stretching out seemingly without end.
This was the energy source of the entire world.
"I'm going to seal the Ryūmyaku!"
Sara knew they couldn't waste time. She leapt from Kaede's arms and rushed to the center of the platform, reaching out to attempt to seal the Ryūmyaku.
At that moment, a thunderous roar erupted from outside.
"Never!"
The puppet body of Anrokuzan turned toward the tower housing the Ryūmyaku source and bellowed fiercely. Abandoning control of his puppets, he took hold of the Ryūmyaku's chakra, causing the massive purple energy inside to boil violently and surge upward.
"Don't think you can seal the Ryūmyaku… If you want to seal it, I'll bury this place, and you, all together!"
Inside the tower, Sara's face twisted in alarm as the uncontrollable energy surged. She immediately activated her ability, trying to soothe the Ryūmyaku's power, but it was impossible to suppress. The tower itself began to crumble.
"Damn… this is bad…"
"The Ryūmyaku is going berserk. If this keeps up, not just this place, but all of Rōran will vanish," Sara said, her face paling as panic filled her eyes.
At that moment, Kaede, who had been standing silently at the edge of the platform staring down at the massive purple chakra, stepped forward toward the edge.
"K-Kaede?"
Sara looked over.
"I'll try."
Kaede looked down and spoke calmly.
Though the only sealing technique he knew was a low-level one incapable of sealing a raging Ryūmyaku, he felt a deep soul-born hunger for the raw energy coursing there.
With his power to reverse time, he wasn't afraid of being overwhelmed by Ryūmyaku's energy. His only worry was whether he'd be suddenly sent to a completely different era, a return that might be difficult.
But for now, he had no choice but to trust his instincts.
Then,
Under Sara's shocked gaze, Kaede stepped to the edge of the platform and leapt into the churning Ryūmyaku energy below.
"Kaede!!"
Sara gasped and rushed to the platform's edge, eyes wide as she watched the purple energy begin to churn wildly.
Ryūmyaku's energy, which had been surging outward in all directions, suddenly started to contract inward.
And at the very center of that contraction was Kaede's silhouette.
Outside,
Anrokuzan, who had been controlling Ryūmyaku's rampage, suddenly froze, realizing he had lost control. No longer could he access or command Ryūmyaku's power.
"No… impossible… It's not sealed, it's cut off… That guy actually severed the Ryūmyaku and stole my power?!"
Whoosh!
A flash of silver light streaked past.
Kakashi appeared behind Anrokuzan.
Without Ryūmyaku's energy fueling him, Anrokuzan was just an ordinary puppet. Barely noticing Kakashi, he was cleaved in two by Kakashi's Chidori, his body shattering from the center.
"No! No!!"
Anrokuzan howled in despair, desperately trying to reassemble his form.
But without Ryūmyaku's power, his immortal body was gone. After a few feeble attempts, his shattered pieces crumbled completely.
Throughout the whole ordeal, Naruto had just stood dumbfounded nearby.
After a few seconds, he murmured, "Kakashi-sensei really is Kakashi-sensei… even at such a young age…"
Kakashi ignored Naruto.
After defeating Anrokuzan, he turned his gaze toward the tower where the Ryūmyaku energy was still unstable, leapt, and swiftly headed toward it.
Meanwhile, Naruto's body began glowing white. He paused briefly, realizing he was about to return to his original timeline.
A bright smile spread across his face.
"I never expected to meet young Kakashi-sensei here. But young Kakashi was definitely not cute, he was quite the annoying brat."
"And Kakashi-sensei's older brother… I never thought he'd be such a strong ninja. With that speed and lightning techniques, even the pervy Sage would have a hard time dealing with him."
"So unbelievably strong."
Muttering to himself, Naruto's body slowly dissolved into white light, scattering until he vanished completely.
Elsewhere,
Whoosh! Whoosh!!
Kakashi quickly arrived at the tower.
Inside, he saw the purple energy fading fast.
Leaping onto the central platform, his gaze swept the surroundings and landed on Sara, who was nervously clenching her fists at the edge, staring into the abyss below.
Kakashi immediately realized the situation and looked down.
At that moment,
Buzz!
The purple light suddenly shrunk and disappeared entirely.
The world below the platform returned to pitch-black darkness, an endless abyss where not a single figure remained, as if everything had simply vanished.
Note: Guess what will happen to him XD
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