There was no doubt about it. Kaede Kitahara's strength nearly scared the monkey-masked ninja to death.
He had thought this mission would be easy. Just a regular Chunin. He himself was Tokubetsu Jonin level, barely a step from full Jonin.
But the moment the fight started, nothing matched the intel. Kaede's strength was easily Tokubetsu Jonin level.
Danzo-sama was right. This kid wasn't normal. He wasn't an ordinary Chunin.
He really could be a spy from another village.
All of these thoughts flashed through his mind in a heartbeat.
Before the monkey mask could even calm his breathing, Kaede was already on him again. It was almost simultaneous. The moment he retreated, Kaede closed in.
"Impossible!"
The monkey mask was still reeling from Kaede's overwhelming strength when he suddenly found himself cornered.
A metallic clang rang out as he drew his kunai and met Kaede head-on in taijutsu.
"How is this happening?!"
He immediately realized something was wrong. He had years of taijutsu training behind him. Kaede clearly didn't. His movements lacked polish, experience, and the refinement of someone taught properly.
Yet Kaede was overpowering him anyway. Every collision numbed his arms. Kaede's physical strength had far surpassed his own.
Worse, everything he did was being read in advance. A slight twitch of his shoulder, a small shift of his stance, and Kaede reacted instantly, as if he knew exactly what the monkey mask planned to do before he even did it.
This kind of insight was terrifying. Even veteran shinobi couldn't predict movements with such clarity.
What was Kaede Kitahara? How could he be this unnatural?
Danzo-sama had been right. This kid was strange. Dangerous.
Kaede didn't have better taijutsu technique, but his insight was on a different level. With his Sharingan, he could read the monkey mask's intentions, suppressing him blow after blow.
Meanwhile, Amakusa Ryuji and Hyuga Keiko were struggling. Their opponents had years more experience, and they were losing ground fast. Kaede had to keep freeing them with thrown shuriken and kunai to ease the pressure.
And now Kaede felt his flaw more sharply than ever. He lacked a decisive technique. His genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu were all limited. He could overpower the captain eventually, but time wasn't on his side.
His teammates didn't have that long.
He needed to kill the monkey mask immediately.
Right then, he felt something shift in his eyes. A cool surge flowed through them, and his vision sharpened in an instant.
His pupil strength jumped.
His Sharingan evolved.
Two tomoe.
Kaede hadn't expected a second evolution so soon. But under pressure, with emotions running high, the Sharingan awakened again.
Across from him, the monkey mask sensed the change immediately. Kaede's movements got faster, sharper, more precise. He pressed in so close that the monkey mask couldn't form a single hand seal.
The man knew far more jutsu than Kaede, but he couldn't use a single one.
Kaede wasn't giving him the space.
The monkey mask grew anxious, trying to disengage so he could launch a jutsu. At that moment, he faltered. Just for a heartbeat. But that was enough.
"This is genjutsu!"
He recognized it instantly.
Genjutsu came in many forms. Some threw illusions. Some disrupted movement. Even one brief moment of hesitation could kill a ninja.
And this time, Kaede's kunai slid cleanly across his throat.
He wasn't wrong. He had been caught by a genjutsu.
Kaede's new Sharingan instinctively triggered a momentary hypnotic illusion. He didn't even need to study it. It was simply part of what the Sharingan did.
That instant of slowed reaction was all Kaede needed.
With the captain down, Kaede didn't pause. He sprinted straight toward the battle between Ryuji and the goat mask. In only a few short exchanges, Ryuji had already been wounded, dodging attacks in a pathetic scramble.
Keiko wasn't in much better shape, though her Byakugan let her hang on a little longer.
Kaede hurled a shuriken to force the goat mask back. In the blink of an eye, he was already in front of him.
The glow of Kaede's Sharingan locked the man's gaze. The world shifted.
The goat mask instantly fell into the illusion.
He wasn't the monkey mask. He was just an elite Chunin. Against a two-tomoe Sharingan, he didn't stand a chance.
Before he even came out of the trance, Kaede's shuriken sliced his throat.
Blood sprayed. He snapped back to reality only as he died.
"You alright?" Kaede asked.
"I'm fine. Go help Keiko," Ryuji said through clenched teeth.
"Got it."
Kaede nodded once and charged toward the fox mask.
By now, she had seen Kaede take down both teammates with terrifying speed. Her courage shattered. She hadn't expected a simple pursuit mission to turn into a complete massacre.
She immediately turned to run.
"Don't even think about it. Eight Trigrams Palms!"
Hyuga Keiko saw Kaede arrive and let out a breath of relief. She stepped forward, blocking the fox mask's escape route.
Forced back, the fox mask hissed, "If you kill members of Root, Danzo-sama will never forgive you!"