In front of the massive chasm that split the land like a heavenly ravine.
"The Third Raikage is actually…"
Tsunade stared at the fallen body of the Third Raikage. As she sensed his chakra vanish completely, she took a deep breath, unable to believe that he had died in such a manner.
But thinking more carefully, Kaede's last attack had likely reached the power level of an ultra S-class "secret technique" ninjutsu. Against a technique of that magnitude, if one couldn't avoid it, even someone like her with the Strength of a Hundred Seal, would be dead on the spot.
"Kaede!!"
Snapping out of her shock, Tsunade immediately grew alert and leapt toward Kaede's side.
The silver light that had been surrounding Kaede faded away. His body swayed slightly, but he managed to stay upright, leaning on the Kusanagi Sword.
Seeing Tsunade arrive, Kaede turned to her with a faint smile. "I'm okay, Tsunade-sensei… Just chakra exhaustion."
Tsunade didn't listen to him. Even though she had already assessed his condition somewhat through Katsuyu, she still placed a hand on his shoulder, letting her chakra flow into his body to evaluate his physical state more directly.
There were indeed signs of chakra depletion.
His body also showed signs of being slightly overtaxed, but other than that, there were no injuries. Compared to the side effects he'd experienced after using forbidden techniques last time, the difference was like night and day.
That made Tsunade let out a breath of relief, though she was also surprised. She looked at Kaede and asked:
"How…?"
Kaede smiled lightly. "During our month of training here, I haven't exactly been taking it easy. I've developed a technique that can return my body to its pre-damaged state."
Tsunade's eyes widened slightly. "You combined my Strength of a Hundred technique with Orochimaru's methods to create it? Your condition doesn't seem like the result of using the Strength of a Hundred…"
"It's not the Strength of a Hundred," Kaede replied with a nod. "But with this technique, my abilities are finally complete. I don't really have any weaknesses anymore."
Tsunade looked at Kaede, his appearance still youthful, no older than fifteen, and couldn't help but exhale deeply.
She knew exactly what this meant.
A ninja's path, from Genin to Chūnin to Jōnin, is essentially a process of continually refining and improving their capabilities.
Reaching the level of Jōnin means a ninja has found a path that suits them and has made significant progress along it.
However,
Most Jōnin-level ninja still have gaps in their abilities. Their skill sets aren't fully developed, and they often have exploitable weaknesses.
This isn't about lacking talent, very few shinobi are truly all-rounders. Every ninja has strengths and weaknesses. The "gaps" refer specifically to their ability to respond in battle.
To put it simply: someone at her level, whether facing fast opponents or genjutsu users, can handle almost anything thrown at them.
That kind of completeness comes from a combination of combat experience and refined ability.
In contrast,
Take someone like Yūhi Kurenai, a Jōnin skilled in perception and genjutsu. If she were to face a speed-based enemy, she might not have time to cast her illusions and would struggle to keep up.
If Kurenai could further develop her abilities, deepen her genjutsu, and perhaps gain something like the Sharingan, enabling her to cast illusions with just eye contact and no hand seals, then she'd no longer be at a disadvantage in such situations. That would be a complete shinobi.
Tsunade, Orochimaru, and even Jiraiya, every ninja who has made a name for themselves in the shinobi world, has reached this level of completion.
It's a very difficult threshold to cross.
It stops countless ninja in their tracks.
Many Jōnin across the villages, even those who have mastered forbidden techniques, only barely reach the level where they could take down someone like her in a mutual kill scenario, but that's not true completeness.
Every village has plenty of Jōnin, but those who've truly reached this level, like her, are few and far between, even in Konoha, maybe not even reaching double digits.
Even Kaede, despite defeating Chiyo on the battlefield, had merely been a Jōnin with forbidden techniques, strong enough to trade blows with someone like Chiyo, but not yet a complete ninja.
But now,
That's no longer the case!
He had overcome the side effects of forbidden techniques, wielded the Kusanagi Sword with near-perfect mastery of the Hatake Sword Style inherited from White Fang… all of this added up to a ninja who had perfected himself.
Every ninja who achieves that level experiences a dramatic leap in power. The specific height of that leap varies by individual.
Tsunade herself, after mastering the Strength of a Hundred, reached a level above normal Jōnin, yet still found herself powerless against a Tailed Beast like the Eight-Tails.
Jiraiya had once proudly said that Namikaze Minato had perfected himself and reached an extraordinary level, one few in the entire shinobi world could challenge.
And Minato's battlefield record had proven it.
Kaede was now that kind of ninja.
He had surpassed the masses and truly reached the Kage level!
"To reach this level at eleven years old… you really are a freak of nature," Tsunade muttered.
She had meant to say "genius," but realized that word no longer sufficed. This kid was practically a monster.
Back during the Second Great Ninja War, among herself, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya, only Orochimaru had barely begun to complete himself, and they had already been in their twenties by then!
"What kind of complement is that?" Kaede rolled his eyes.
Tsunade gave him a quick once-over, then took off her outer coat and tossed it to him. "Since you're not seriously injured, throw this on."
During the previous battle, Kaede's clothes had been nearly shredded by the arcs of lightning, leaving only a few scraps covering essential areas.
Taking the coat, Kaede wrapped it around himself.
The "battle clothes always explode" rule hadn't quite killed him, but the "clothes never tear" rule clearly didn't apply either. Once he opened the Fifth Gate, keeping his outfit intact was basically impossible.
While he hadn't exactly been left indecent, wearing tattered scraps definitely wasn't a good look.
Maybe it's time I found something a little more durable… he thought to himself.
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