"Rin!!"
Seeing the surge of obviously abnormal chakra bursting from Rin's body, Kakashi's expression changed dramatically.
"What did they do to you?!"
Rin wanted to explain, but out of the corner of her eye, she had already spotted the approaching Mist ninja. She knew there was no time to talk. Clenching her teeth slightly, she said,
"Kakashi, you have to go! I can't go back!"
Whoosh!!
As the words left her lips,
She suddenly turned and threw herself toward the blade in the Mist ninja's hand.
Kakashi was completely unprepared for this. His attention had been on the incoming enemy, and Rin's sudden move caught him entirely off guard. He lunged forward to grab her, but it was too late, he could only watch helplessly as Rin hurled herself toward the enemy's sword.
Even the Mist ninja was shocked. His strike had been aimed at Kakashi, and he had expected Rin to either dodge or try to escape with Kakashi, not attempt suicide!
There was no time for him to pull back the strike.
But then,
Just as one couldn't reach out in time, and the other couldn't withdraw, both helplessly watching Rin rush toward the blade,
A flash of silver light, so fast it was nearly beyond comprehension, streaked across the battlefield like a bolt of lightning.
One moment, it was far off in the forest. The next, it had already passed through the center of the battlefield, slicing between Kakashi and the Mist ninja.
Rin vanished in an instant.
Kakashi's eyes flew wide open.
This scene was far too familiar, etched into his memory. And that fleeting chakra signature, it was unmistakably familiar.
"Big brother?!"
He whipped his head toward the direction the silver light had flashed.
At the far end of the battlefield, a figure bathed in shimmering silver light stood at the edge. He cradled Rin gently in his arms before slowly setting her down.
"Looks like without me around, you really can't hold your own, Kakashi. Seems like your training over the past two years didn't do much, huh?"
Kaede placed Rin down and looked over at Kakashi with a relaxed tone.
Rin stood there in a daze.
As Kaede released her, she simply stared at him blankly, her expression like someone caught in a dream, wondering if maybe she had fallen into one of the Mist ninja's genjutsu.
Kakashi also stared at Kaede, first with shock, then joy, then a deadpan look.
"Can you not keep showing up at the most dramatic moment like this? It's bad for my heart, big brother."
"Heh…"
Kaede chuckled and said,
"If it weren't for the commotion you caused, I might've had trouble finding you."
Yeah… his sensory skills still needed work. Maybe it was finally time to seriously train in Sage Mode, natural energy could fill in the gaps in his perception.
As Kaede and Kakashi chatted casually, the Mist ninja around them fell completely silent.
But their silence wasn't without reason.
The chakra radiating from Kaede was already at a terrifying level, far beyond the Third Mizukage. In fact, to their senses, it was nearing the level of a Tailed Beast, like the Three-Tails!
And that speed just now, crossing the battlefield in an instant like a lightning bolt, it was unimaginable. If he had attacked instead of rescuing Rin, how would they have possibly defended themselves?
The Mist ninja squad leader stared at Kaede, cold sweat pouring down his face in rivulets.
"S-Silver Flash?!"
Impossible!
Wasn't he supposed to be dead?!
"I'll explain later."
Kaede glanced at Rin and gave her a reassuring nod. Then his figure flickered, a streak of silver lightning, and once again shot across the battlefield.
Dozens of Mist ninja, none of them could stop Kaede.
At the very moment of contact, they froze in place. Their bodies were sliced apart and shattered, blood exploding like crimson fireworks.
From above, looking down at the battlefield,
Wherever the silver flash passed, it left behind blossoming sprays of blood, almost like a work of perfect, morbid art.
"…."
Kakashi slowly lowered his ninja blade.
The moment Kaede had appeared and saved Rin, he had already relaxed, because he knew that once Kaede showed up, everything was over.
Of the team Kakashi had led, one was seriously injured and four were lightly wounded. And now, watching the silver flash tear through dozens of Mist ninja in the blink of an eye, they exchanged stunned glances. Shock was written all over their faces.
It was him!
The Silver Flash… he was alive!
Moments later,
With a final flash of silver, Kaede appeared at the center of the battlefield. The last Mist ninja froze in place, clutching his neck, staring in Kaede's direction with wide, terrified eyes.
"So this… is the power of the Silver Flash…"
That was his final thought before consciousness slipped into darkness. He collapsed to the ground with a thud, blood gushing from his body, the final stroke on the battlefield's canvas of carnage.
Inuzuka Shiba and the others looked on, unable to stop themselves from swallowing hard.
They now understood one undeniable truth.
The Silver Flash… was truly alive.
Some of them had been in the same class as Kaede. They were now Chūnin, but as they stared at him standing there in the battlefield's center, bathed in silver light, he felt utterly untouchable, like a legend.
"Kaede…"
Rin stood frozen at the edge of the battlefield, staring at Kaede. Her vision had room for nothing else, just that lone figure bathed in silver light.
Even though Kakashi had said many times that Kaede would return, two whole years had passed since his disappearance. For a shinobi, that kind of absence was more than enough to be equated with death.
Normally, a ninja missing for more than half a year would be presumed dead. Even if alive, they'd likely have been captured, tortured and interrogated.
But Kaede…
After vanishing for two years, he had returned. Alive.
Rin stared at Kaede and couldn't stop herself from walking toward him, one step at a time. As she reached him and stretched out a trembling hand to touch him,
Her body suddenly trembled. The chakra within her surged out of control.
The Three-Tails' chakra burst forth in an instant, seizing control of her body and surging outward. It wrapped around the Kusanagi sword in Kaede's hand, and struck toward her heart!
"Hmph."
Seeing this, Kaede let out a cold snort.
Uchiha Madara?
Swish!
With a flick of thought, Kaede activated his Time Domain. He pointed his index finger forward, and the Three-Tails' chakra wrapped around the Kusanagi blade began to shatter, disintegrating inch by inch.
Rin's eyes filled with panic. She tried with all her might to regain control of her body, but it was no use. The chakra inside her flared again, this time lashing out at Kaede's chest.
Kaede's expression didn't change.
He simply stood there, letting the chakra strike.
Sizzle,
The moment the aquamarine chakra touched him, it shuddered and immediately disintegrated, as though it had collided with something unimaginably terrifying.
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