Tsunade had been drinking tea not far from the casino.
It wasn't until she heard a loud boom come from the direction of the casino that she finally stood up, glanced over, and let out a breath.
"Finally over."
Kaede had only brought a few thousand ryo with him, and after gambling for so long without any results, she was beginning to lose interest in waiting around.
When she saw Kaede and Shizune walking out of the casino and heading her way, Tsunade yawned and walked up to meet them.
"Let's go. We should still have time to reach the next town. I know someone there who might be able to lend us enough for a place to stay."
"No need for that."
Kaede chuckled softly. "Let's stay here tonight. We'll book the best hot spring inn in town."
Tsunade blinked in surprise, but before she could say anything, Shizune spoke up, barely able to contain her excitement.
"Lady Tsunade, Kaede won back all the money!"
"Huh?!"
Tsunade's voice jumped several decibels in shock.
…
At the Hot Spring Inn
In the steam-filled hot spring, Kaede leaned back comfortably against the edge of the pool, both hands resting on the water's surface. A faint green glow flickered continuously in his palms.
Even while soaking in the hot spring, he hadn't stopped training in the Mystical Palm Technique.
Over the past few days, he'd clearly felt a significant improvement in his chakra control. This, in turn, had loosened the bottleneck he'd encountered with his Hatake Sword Style.
The technique, more accurately his improved version of it, had been stuck just short of the second stage for a long time. He had never managed to form the chakra blade required for that level.
The first stage of the Hatake Sword Style involved mastering chakra flow. The second stage was to highly concentrate that chakra and form a precise, focused blade of chakra.
It was remarkably similar in principle to the chakra scalpel used in medical ninjutsu.
Both required extremely fine control over chakra.
If he could master the second stage, he might even be able to evolve Chidori, transforming it from a chaotic surge of lightning chakra into a focused, razor-sharp blade of lightning.
Even if he couldn't maintain it during the chaotic Eight Gates Lightning Release state, it would still greatly increase his attack power.
And that, for him, meant a tangible boost in strength.
Right now, he has no shortage of speed or chakra. With his near-Reanimation-level body, the only thing limiting him was the sheer power of his attacks.
If he could raise his offensive strength to the point where he could break through the insane defenses of someone like the Third Raikage, then he'd essentially be invincible among the Kage level.
"Judging by my progress, it won't be long before I fully master the chakra scalpel. Once I do, the second stage of the Hatake Sword Style should come naturally."
Kaede looked at the green glow in his palms and smiled. Once the light finally faded, he stretched and glanced toward the wooden partition wall of the hot spring.
Hmm.
Tsunade and Shizune should be on the other side.
Tsunade was probably just enjoying her soak normally. As for Shizune... hmm, she wouldn't try to sneak a peek over here, would she?
Kaede rubbed his chin, his eyes drifting now and then toward the dividing wall.
And on the other side of that wall, Shizune and Tsunade were indeed in the adjacent section. Shizune could sense Kaede's chakra presence, and though she felt a bit embarrassed, she also couldn't help being curious and flustered.
Unfortunately, with Tsunade right next to her, she didn't dare make a move.
…
Five days later.
Kaede had fully mastered the Mystical Palm Technique.
Another five days passed.
Kaede mastered the chakra scalpel.
Two more days later.
On an open training ground, Kaede held the Kusanagi Sword. Chakra surged within him, flowing into the blade. Suddenly, it condensed and formed a glowing white edge, like a luminous extension of the sword itself.
He lightly waved the blade, and a white arc of chakra swept through the air in an elegant, almost artistic curve.
"Haa... so this is the second stage of the Hatake Sword Style."
Exhaling softly, Kaede slashed forward. The arc of white light shot out and carved a several-meter-long trench into the ground.
And this was without using Time Acceleration or activating the Eight Gates.
"Just by mastering the second stage, this technique already gives me power on par with a standard Jōnin. If I refine it further, I could reach Kage-level strength with this move alone."
Kaede murmured to himself.
He suddenly thought, if Kakashi hadn't implanted the Sharingan and had instead focused solely on mastering the Hatake Sword Style, maybe he wouldn't have been weaker. He might even have become stronger.
During his training in the Mystical Palm Technique, Kaede had also been asking Tsunade about the Strength of a Hundred Seal technique.
After seeing how fast Kaede was progressing, Tsunade no longer held back and explained the technique in detail.
That included the Yin Seal.
The Yin Seal was a prerequisite for the Strength of a Hundred Technique, since the latter consumed a massive amount of chakra. A normal ninja's chakra reserves wouldn't be able to sustain it for more than a few uses.
Kaede listened carefully but didn't bother practicing it himself, because the chakra stored by the Yin Seal didn't increase one's chakra capacity, it just added an external "blue bar" for chakra replenishment.
For someone with time reversal abilities like him, it had little to no use.
Even the Strength of a Hundred Technique itself wasn't particularly helpful.
His main reason for learning it was to understand how to set up a method that let chakra flow and circulate naturally through the body, a kind of internal programming or control system.
Kaede was convinced this was one of the keys to developing a Sage Body. Only by activating his cells and then using the Strength of a Hundred's circulation method to fuse natural energy with his cells could he transform his body into one fit for Sage Mode.
…
Just as Kaede continued his training,
A voice called out to him.
"Kaede!"
It was Shizune, her voice tinged with urgency and tension, something Kaede hadn't heard from her in the past two weeks.
He lowered the Kusanagi Sword and looked in her direction. She ran toward him quickly, her face pale with worry.
"Kaede, something's happened!"
She paused, took a deep breath, and said, "The village sent ninja to find you and Lady Tsunade. It's serious, Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure have all started to move. Their target is the Land of Fire!"
Hearing Shizune's rushed report, Kaede exhaled slowly.
"So the three Hidden Villages have joined forces, huh? Looks like things are taking a grim turn. Let's go."
He recalled,
In the original timeline, after Konoha defeated Sunagakure, things calmed down briefly. Then Iwagakure attacked, Kumogakure launched a surprise strike on Iwa, Kirigakure hit Konoha, and then Kumogakure shifted its focus to Konoha too.
Eventually, the three villages did unite against Konoha, but not all at once, they each expended a lot of troops before finally deciding to gang up on Konoha.
So this version of events wasn't too surprising.
Namikaze Minato's performance in battle had already shaken the world, and Kaede himself had killed Chiyo, a senior elder of Sunagakure, that alone could throw the whole ninja world into chaos.
"It looks like this will be the turning point of the Third Great Ninja War..."
Kaede murmured to himself.
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