"Do you really not see the other ninja villages as threats at all?"
"Even if all four Great Villages unite against you?"
Mei Terumi looked at Kaede, her fingers tightening slightly as she spoke.
Despite his terrifying reputation that had shaken the entire ninja world, surely even someone like him must have some weaknesses. Yet Kaede didn't even bother to consider how he would defeat the other four great villages, he simply skipped to strategizing how to minimize casualties in unifying the ninja world. She couldn't understand how someone could possess such conviction.
Kaede gave her a curious look and replied, "Wasn't the Third Great Ninja War essentially Konoha versus the alliance of the Four Great Villages? Or are you excluding Sunagakure because they lost in the very first battle?"
Mei Terumi was momentarily speechless.
Come to think of it, during the Third War, Konoha had indeed fought against all the other villages. It was just that Sunagakure had been defeated so quickly they barely participated in the remaining conflict.
With that in mind, it actually made sense. Kaede already possessed overwhelming strength, and Konoha had a precedent of prevailing while outnumbered. With that kind of history, it wasn't surprising that he had such confidence. Perhaps Kirigakure really wouldn't be able to stand in his way after all.
After all...
He is the man she had fallen for...
Just as a dreamy look flickered in her eyes while she gazed at Kaede, his own expression suddenly shifted. A flicker of blue light danced sharply in his eyes.
Clatter!
The book in Kaede's hand fell to the ground.
He closed his eyes and brought a hand up to them, a pained expression surfacing on his face.
Seeing his reaction, Mei Terumi looked down at herself in confusion, wondering if something about her appearance had caused it, but there was nothing unusual.
"Hokage-sama?" she asked, standing up and testing the waters with concern.
Kaede slowly lowered his hand and reopened his eyes. The faint blue glow in his pupils had deepened, resembling the vast, starry expanse of a night sky, profound and unknowable.
Under his gaze, she felt an intangible pressure, one that weighed directly on the spirit, making him seem untouchable.
"…It's complete," Kaede murmured.
It had been over half a month since he'd obtained the power of the Byakugan. During that time, he had accelerated the evolution of his eyes using his time manipulation ability.
He could now accelerate time by up to sevenfold.
Under that intense acceleration, his ocular power had undergone four separate evolutions. With each transformation, the blue glow had grown deeper, until this final stage, complete and perfected.
He could feel it clearly now: his eyes had fully matured and would evolve no further. They had finally granted him the true power of the Tenseigan.
"What's complete…?" Mei Terumi asked, her voice trembling slightly.
Even though Kaede's gaze wasn't directed at her, she still felt as if his deep blue eyes saw straight through her, leaving nothing hidden.
"Nothing important," Kaede replied calmly, withdrawing his gaze and standing up. "Get changed and come with me. I need to find a place without any people."
"…Eh?"
Mei Terumi blinked in confusion, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Actually… the ship works too."
Kaede shook his head. "No. It can't be on the ship, the commotion will be too loud."
"I… I can stay quiet…" she murmured, her voice a bit uncertain.
Kaede: "???"
Seriously, what is going on in that head of yours, girl?!
=============
A short while later.
Kaede and Mei Terumi quietly disembarked from the ship, not heading for the Land of Water's port, but instead moving swiftly along the coast, traveling westward.
After circling a good distance, they arrived atop a towering seaside cliff. There was no sign of people or ships nearby. Below them, waves crashed endlessly against the rocks, roaring like distant thunder.
"This should do," Kaede said, coming to a stop.
In both his perception and vision, there wasn't a soul for miles around.
Mei Terumi followed behind him, pausing as well. As she took in their surroundings, her thoughts spun in chaotic circles.
This kind of place…
It did feel kind of romantic…
But,
Her scattered thoughts didn't last long, because in the next instant, Kaede pressed his palms together. A golden radiance burst from his body and spread outward, forming an intricate chakra cloak woven with sage marks.
Then,
The chakra of the Nine Tails surged forth, merging with the golden cloak. Complex patterns began to form on its glowing surface.
The combination of Sage Mode and Nine-Tails Chakra Mode caused such a tremendous burst of power that Mei Terumi was forced to retreat several steps, unable to withstand the pressure.
"This amount of chakra…" she murmured.
Staggering back, she looked at the golden-cloaked Kaede, eyes filled with awe.
The chakra he now exuded felt to her like an endless ocean, so vast and deep she couldn't even fathom its limits. At a minimum, it was ten times greater than her own.
Even as she marveled at his power,
A new, even more powerful wave of chakra burst forth from Kaede's body, this time, a radiant emerald green.
A third force, not a bit weaker than the previous two, fused into the golden cloak. It swelled dramatically, becoming broader and heavier.
The violent clash of these three chakra sources was so intense that even the solid rock beneath Kaede's feet began to crack. Mei Terumi had to channel chakra to her legs just to avoid being blown away.
"He can still power up more?!" she exclaimed inwardly.
The overwhelming power left her shaken to the core.
Perfect Sage Mode.
Nine-Tails Chakra.
Tenseigan Chakra.
All three modes were being activated simultaneously. The violent clash between them caused Kaede's chakra cloak to expand wildly, teetering on the edge of instability.
And yet Kaede stood calmly at the center of it all, his sky-blue eyes shimmering as he slowly raised his hand.
Then, he clenched it into a loose fist.
"Stabilize."
The three tremendous chakra forces, under the control of his Tenseigan's power, compressed inward around his body, and fused into one.
The golden chakra cloak rapidly condensed. Its patterns shifted once more, twisting into new forms, each one transforming into the shape of tomoe magatama.
The massive energy twisted and condensed,
And finally manifested as several pitch-black orbs, which floated silently behind him.
==========
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