Kaede closed his eyes slightly.
When he opened them again, a faint golden clock reflected deep within his pupils. The clock's hand clicked twice in quick succession, moving from "Scale 1" directly to "Scale 3."
Buzz!
In the next instant,
A halo, visible only to Kaede, suddenly spread out from his body, expanding rapidly to nearly ten meters in radius before coming to a still.
"What is this...?"
Kaede stared intently at the strange domain radiating outward from his position. His eyes flickered with realization, this glowing aura was the power of time itself!
The Time Domain!
This was the ability linked to "Scale 3."
Kaede raised his hand and clenched his fist. Instantly, the flow of time inside the entire domain, including himself, shifted dramatically, creating a stark contrast with the world outside the domain.
"So it's basically a Time Room..."
He murmured thoughtfully, then brought his left index and middle fingers together, unleashing a flash of lightning that struck the ground, splitting it open with a crack.
Then,
His right fist suddenly unclenched.
The shimmering boundary of the Time Domain trembled slightly, but otherwise remained unchanged.
"Can't reverse time over the entire domain... No, that's not quite right..."
His gaze flickered. Suddenly, he bent one finger, concentrating a strange energy that formed into a small orb resembling a glass marble.
Then,
He flicked his finger.
The orb shot forward and landed on the fissure he had created in the ground.
Silently, the crack healed itself, restoring the surface to its original state.
"A Rewind Bullet..."
Kaede whispered, watching closely. He bent his finger again, gathering another small cluster of time energy and fired it off into the distance.
Click!
The orb filled with time energy flew beyond the Time Domain's boundary.
As soon as it left the domain, it shattered like a fragile glass bubble, the time energy dissipating silently into the air.
"So, it can't travel beyond the domain's limits."
Kaede confirmed his conclusion.
After numerous trials, he gradually mastered the power tied to "Scale 3", the ability of the Time Domain.
This power emanates from himself, forming a roughly ten-meter diameter "domain" within which he can freely alter the flow of time.
It was somewhat similar to the "Room" ability of the Ope Ope no Mi from the One Piece world.
Additionally,
While time reversal can't affect the entire domain at once, he could condense this power into bullets and fire them within the domain's range.
Objects he directly touched could also be affected by the time reversal.
In simple terms,
He could now use time reversal externally, beyond just himself!
Anything inside the domain, whether directly touched or hit by his rewind bullets, would experience time reversal, rendering seals powerless against him.
No matter the type of sealing jutsu, opening the domain and physically touching or hitting the seal with a rewind bullet would reverse time and cause the seal to vanish.
Furthermore,
The Time Domain itself acted as an isolating barrier!
Once he activated the domain and altered the flow of time within, anything entering from outside would be sliced apart!
Simply put,
Because time flowed differently inside and outside the domain, the portion of a body entering first would speed up, while the part still outside would lag behind.
Forcing entry from outside would stretch the body until it tore apart.
Forcing escape from inside would compress the body into a pancake.
The Time Domain was an immensely powerful barrier, far stronger than any Four Violet Flames or Four Red Yang formation, because it was a lock on time itself!
Only beings with immortal bodies, like Edo Tensei shinobi or the Iwagakure's Hozuki clan, whose bodies could liquefy and resist cutting and crushing, could pass freely.
Besides them,
Only spatial techniques like Flying Thunder God or Kamui could bypass it.
"Finally, a power that's no longer just supportive."
Kaede stretched, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Though time acceleration and reversal were powerful, they were essentially auxiliary. This new domain ability unified all his time powers into one coherent whole.
No longer fearing sealing jutsu.
No longer fearing any attack!
Because with time reversal extending outside his body, even a fully manifested Susanoo strike could be stopped barehanded within his time domain!
"The only things that can truly threaten me now are soul-based secret techniques, high-level genjutsu, and space-type techniques like spatial banishment..."
He exhaled lightly.
Soul-based secret arts were rare in the ninja world, as were high-level genjutsu. As for space techniques, only Kaguya Otsutsuki's "Amenominaka" could instantly banish him to another world permanently.
Or Obito, after sending him into Kamui space, could destroy his own eyes, severing the connection and making escape impossible.
Among these,
Only Kaguya's Amenominaka was truly worrisome.
Obito's Kamui was slow to activate, so unless he deliberately got caught, he couldn't be banished. Kaguya's ability, with no activation time, instantly replaced the entire world, making it a serious threat.
Soul-based secret arts and high-level genjutsu were similarly difficult to successfully land against him at his current strength.
"It's time to move on."
Having understood his power, Kaede leapt down from the tower.
As he landed on the rooftop and scanned the horizon, his eyes flickered suddenly toward the edge of Rōran.
A battle was unfolding there.
Not just any fight, but a battle between shinobi.
….
"Give up, Queen of Rōran."
"Your power can't possibly withstand us!"
Kanshirou controlled his puppets coldly, eyeing Sara, who gripped her kunai with determination.
Clang!
A puppet flung a flying blade.
Sara blocked with her kunai and was forced to retreat, already looking battered, wounds marking her shoulder. Yet she gritted her teeth, saying, "I told you, I will protect this place!"
This was the kingdom her mother left behind. She was the queen, sworn to defend it with her life. Under no circumstances would she surrender it to the enemy.
Besides...
She was still waiting for Kaede's return.
Though two years had passed, and even Kaede's brother Kakashi had given up and left, she never ceased waiting, firmly believing he would come back.
To guard this place and wait for Kaede's return, she learned ninjutsu from Kakashi and trained her guards. During this time, she held off many ninja attacks.
But...
The current attackers were from Sunagakure.
They sought to occupy Rōran and turn it into a frontline base, something she refused to accept.
"Seems you're unwilling to surrender."
Kanshirou said coldly, "Then I'll have to kill you. Though you're strong, my weapons are coated with poison. You must be feeling the numbness already."
Sure enough...
Sara felt the creeping numbness. Hearing Kanshirou's words, her heart sank.
Could she really not protect this place after all?
==========
You can find much more on my Patreon: Patreon.com/Veltoria
There are currently 5 active fanfictions on Patreon, with over 269+ advanced chapters available across them!
From Naruto Onwards, I Control Time — Up to Chapter 229
Haikyuu!!: Rise of Sengoku — Up to Chapter 147
Danmachi: Is It Wrong To Aspire to Be An Adventurer? — Up to Chapter 77
Legend of Hogwarts (Harry Potter x League of Legends) — Up to Chapter 75
I Am Luffy: Partner System Online (One Piece) — Up to Chapter 58