"At this point, even I wouldn't be confident in dealing with you."
Orochimaru's eyes sparkled as he stared at Kaede. Being surpassed by a student, such a thing had never happened to him before. But now, it seemed as if it wasn't too far off.
Hearing this, Kaede gave a simple smile and said, "That's a bit of an exaggeration. I've just developed a few jutsu under your guidance, Orochimaru-sensei. They have serious side effects. I'm still far from reaching your level."
What Orochimaru meant by not being confident wasn't that he couldn't win, but that he wasn't sure he could capture Kaede. Winning and killing were two entirely different things. With Kaede's speed, if his only goal was to escape, there was little Orochimaru could do unless he set up a sealing barrier in advance.
Kaede's response was modest, but if the two were to fight now, the outcome would indeed be hard to predict.
Orochimaru had vast chakra reserves, keen sensory abilities, and no obvious weaknesses, especially not in survivability. Instant-killing him was out of the question; the fight would become a war of attrition.
In the end, it would come down to either Kaede exhausting Orochimaru's chakra, or Orochimaru successfully trapping Kaede using some kind of sealing technique. The battle could go on for days.
But regardless—
He was now undeniably a true Kage-level powerhouse!
And even more troublesome than Orochimaru himself!
Relying on his overwhelming speed and the bug-like ability to rewind time, Kaede now had the confidence to stand his ground even against someone like Orochimaru. As for ordinary Jōnin and even elite Jōnin, they wouldn't last more than a few exchanges.
"Hehehehehe..."
Orochimaru stared at Kaede for a few seconds and tilted his head. "That ability to accelerate your actions, it's not just a ninjutsu, is it?"
Kaede didn't show any surprise. With Orochimaru's caliber, it wasn't hard to notice the abnormal time-acceleration state Kaede entered during battle.
The Eight Gates could boost physical speed, but they wouldn't cause the kind of visual "frame drop" effect Kaede displayed. That kind of frequency mismatch couldn't be explained by speed alone.
"You really did notice, sensei."
"It's indeed not just a regular ninjutsu. It's a kekkei genkai, one that increases my overall speed by putting me in a higher 'frequency' state."
Kaede admitted it openly.
At his current level, admitting he had a unique kekkei genkai was no big deal. Every Kage-level shinobi had their own trump cards.
Orochimaru showed a flicker of surprise, but also growing interest.
"A first-generation kekkei genkai user?"
Other than well-known inherited kekkei genkai like the Byakugan and Sharingan, most others, like Storm Release or Lava Release, didn't run in clans, but instead appeared sporadically in individuals with unique awakenings.
These kinds of shinobi were known as first-generation kekkei genkai users.
Such abilities had extremely low heritability, often they wouldn't be passed on at all.
Of the kekkei genkai with stable inheritance, the Byakugan was the most reliable, every Hyuga clan member possessed it. The Sharingan was less consistent, as not every Uchiha awakened it. Other kekkei genkai like the Haku clan's Ice Release or the Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku were even rarer within their own bloodlines.
"I am," Kaede nodded.
Orochimaru murmured thoughtfully, "Fusion-based kekkei genkai derived from basic elements don't have the ability to affect 'frequency'. That rules out Kekkei Tota types. Judging by your effects, it also doesn't align with Yin Release's mental techniques. That would mean it's a mutated form of... Yang Release?"
"No... that's not it."
Orochimaru's eyes suddenly gleamed. "Yang Release can enhance the body's speed and reflexes by altering physical vitality, but your ability doesn't change your body. It alters frequency... and that doesn't fit Yin Release either..."
At that moment—
Orochimaru drew a sharp breath. His eyes flickered with a terrifying excitement as he looked at Kaede and said:
"A kekkei genkai that alters the flow of time?!"
Across the entire shinobi world, time-space ninjutsu was considered the most difficult to master. And among all so-called "space-time" techniques, nearly all of them involved only space manipulation, time remained untouched.
Orochimaru had scoured countless records on this.
The only vague mention of time-related ninjutsu in history came from several centuries ago, supposedly involving a Mangekyo Sharingan of the Uchiha clan.
The details of that ability were lost to time. That shinobi had tried to unify the world using this incredible power, but ultimately failed—
Defeated by a member of the Senju clan.
That was during the early Warring States era, long before the likes of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama. Records were fragmentary, so it remained unclear whether this event truly happened or was just legend.
If this had happened months ago, Kaede might have panicked under Orochimaru's gaze. But now, he could face it with calm and composure.
As expected of Orochimaru.
Through pure observation and deduction, he had nearly concluded that Kaede's ability didn't stem from the five elemental natures, nor Yin or Yang Release. Which left only one possibility—
Time.
"As expected of Orochimaru-sensei. You figured it out from just casual observation during battle..."
Seeing no better way to disguise it, Kaede simply responded:
"I've done some testing. It's definitely not Fire, Lightning, Wind, Earth, or Water Release. Nor is it Yin, Yang, or Space-Time. It should be classified as a ninth category of chakra nature transformation."
With his current strength, revealing that he possessed a time-based ability wouldn't pose much threat.
And more importantly—
Space-time ninjutsu was already extremely hard to counter. Time-based ninjutsu stood above even that. unless someone had a time ability of their own to interfere or nullify it, there was no such thing as a "counter"!
It stood above all ninjutsu.
An absolute, unbreakable power—
That was the power of manipulating time!
"...Truly astonishing."
Even though he had already guessed it, hearing Kaede confirm it still made Orochimaru exclaim in awe. His gaze toward Kaede was as if he were looking at a priceless treasure.
What Orochimaru desired most was eternal life, and the greatest enemy of life... was time itself. Even Hashirama and Madara couldn't conquer time!
But now—
With Kaede's kekkei genkai as a foundation, he might have a chance to touch the power of time. To defeat it. To attain immortality!
In Orochimaru's mind at this moment, Kaede had already surpassed every experiment, every specimen. Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi himself ordered him to kill Kaede, he would defy that command without hesitation.
He might even... defect from Konoha with Kaede in tow!
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