That sight immediately piqued Kaede Kitahara's interest.
In the shinobi world, most abilities weren't particularly rare—but flight was different. Across all the villages, it was an ability in short supply. Aside from the ninja of Soragakure, only a handful of individuals possessed it.
For example, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, could fly thanks to mastering the Earth Release technique known as the Super Light-Weight Rock Technique.
With that thought in mind, Kaede acted at once.
A kunai engraved with a special formula shot through the air. Fubuki Kakuyoku dodged it instinctively, believing she had avoided the attack—
Only for Kaede to appear right in front of her the next instant.
Chidori pierced straight through the energy barrier formed by her chakra armor, and before she could react, his kunai flashed across her throat, ending her life.
The entire sequence happened so quickly that even Hyuga Keiko, who had been fighting her, failed to react in time.
Only after Kaede stepped in did Keiko finally let out a breath of relief. It wasn't that she feared Fubuki, but her opponent's techniques were unusual, and with her ability to fight at range, it made things difficult for a close-combat fighter like Keiko.
"This chakra armor is useful. Collect it and bring it back to Konoha," Kaede instructed.
Amakusa Ryuji and Hyuga Keiko immediately understood and began stripping the armor.
Kaede, meanwhile, turned his gaze toward Nadare Roga in the distance.
The moment Roga felt that gaze, a chill ran down his spine. He had caught a glimpse of how Kaede had instantly killed Fubuki, and now, all he wanted was to escape.
But the more he tried to flee, the more tightly he was entangled by Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto.
They were the protagonists of this battlefield. Even though his strength slightly surpassed theirs individually, facing them together left him struggling.
Both of them wielded powerful techniques far beyond anything a ninja from a small village like his could match. If not for the chakra armor boosting his chakra and blocking fatal blows, he would have already been defeated.
At this point, he had no intention of continuing the fight. What should have been an easy mission—capturing Kazahana Koyuki and earning favor with Kazahana Doto—had turned into a nightmare.
No one could have predicted that a teenage ninja from Konoha would be this terrifying.
Back then, Hatake Kakashi had already been a jonin at a similar age, yet still had to fight cautiously against him.
But this boy… he was even more absurd than Kakashi had been.
And yet, with strength like this, how could he have no reputation in the shinobi world?
If Kaede's name matched his ability, Roga would never have made such a fatal miscalculation.
With that realization, he spread the wings on his chakra armor and prepared to flee.
"Running away?"
Kaede drew the sword at his waist.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form—Thunderclap and Flash."
In an instant, his figure became a streak of lightning, tearing across the snowfield.
A thunderous roar shook the frozen landscape. If Sasuke's Thunder Breathing resembled a bolt of lightning, then Kaede's was a roaring thunder dragon.
In the blink of an eye, he caught up to Roga just as he was taking flight. One slash shattered the freshly formed chakra barrier around him, and the next sent him crashing to the ground.
"Boom!"
Roga's body slammed into the snow.
A single strike.
The fight ended cleanly and without resistance.
Though Roga had already been drained by Naruto and Sasuke, Kaede's effortless execution still left everyone stunned.
"This…"
Kazahana Koyuki stared in disbelief.
She had seen Roga before—he was the one who had crushed her father's guards, paving the way for Kazahana Doto's coup.
She knew his strength better than anyone.
And yet, Kaede had cut him down as if it were nothing.
Only now did she truly understand his confidence from the very beginning.
"He's gotten stronger again," Amakusa Ryuji said, watching that dazzling strike. "Still as flashy as ever."
It had been a while since he last saw Kaede fight at full strength, and every time he did, Kaede's power seemed to have grown to an entirely new level.
At this point, Ryuji couldn't even comprehend how strong he had become.
Hyuga Keiko felt it even more deeply.
Among the many elite members of the Hyuga Clan, she was certain that even their strongest current fighter—the clan head, Hyuga Hiashi—would not be Kaede's match.
Her curiosity grew stronger by the moment.
What kind of dojutsu had Kaede awakened to achieve such explosive growth in such a short time?
"Kaede-niisan, that was awesome!" Naruto rushed over, eyes shining. "Way cooler than that stuck-up Sasuke!"
He had begged Kaede to teach him Thunder Breathing the moment he first saw it.
But that hope had been quickly crushed.
Kaede had explained chakra nature transformation to him—Naruto's chakra was wind-aligned, and without mastering that aspect, he couldn't use Thunder Breathing, which required lightning nature.
All he could do was watch in envy.
Still, Thunderclap and Flash was just too cool.
Whether it was stronger than Rasengan was hard to say, but in terms of style, Thunder Breathing was on a completely different level.
Power might matter in the moment, but style lasted forever.
In the end, Naruto gave up asking, though Kaede promised that if he ever developed—or obtained—a Wind Breathing style, he would teach it to him.
Even so, Kaede knew that even if such a style existed, it might not suit Naruto. It wasn't just about chakra nature; it also required talent in swordsmanship.
Sasuke clearly had that talent, which was why Kaede had taught him Thunder Breathing right away.
Hearing Naruto's praise, Sasuke rolled his eyes, ready to fire back, but something stopped him.
For some reason, he thought of the Fourth Hokage and Kushina.
Naruto should have grown up as a prince-like figure, yet his life had been ruined… because of the Uchiha.
A trace of guilt flickered in Sasuke's chest, and for once, he chose not to respond.
Even so, the gap between himself and Kaede left him shaken.
So this was the level of a Kage-level fighter?
He and Naruto together couldn't defeat Roga, yet Kaede had ended it in a single move.
He recalled the scene from Kaede's diary, where Hatake Kakashi, after confronting Orochimaru, had realized that even taking him down together was nothing more than wishful thinking.
Now Sasuke finally understood.
The difference between jonin and Kage-level was absolute.
Jonin were the threshold to a village's upper ranks, but Kage-level fighters existed on an entirely different plane.
Even without holding office, their influence was immense.
Because in the shinobi world, people naturally gravitated toward strength.
Following the strong meant a better chance of surviving the battlefield.
It had always been that way—from the Legendary Sannin to Namikaze Minato.
Once your strength reached that level, others would gather around you.
Kage-level fighters were pillars of their villages—forces that shaped entire factions.
And the core of that influence lay in the overwhelming gap between them and jonin.
If Sasuke wanted to restore the Uchiha Clan, he would need at least that level of power.
In truth, the Uchiha Clan already had Kage-level fighters.
More than one, even.
But Uchiha Itachi was a missing-nin, hunted by the village, and that so-called "Uchiha Kenji" was the one who had orchestrated everything.
As for Kaede, despite sharing Uchiha blood, he had no interest in reclaiming the name.
Otherwise, Sasuke wouldn't be facing this alone.
Still, Sasuke replayed Kaede's Thunder Breathing in his mind, trying to understand the difference between their techniques.
The gap was obvious.
Kaede's was far stronger.
Kaede, however, paid no attention to their thoughts. He walked up to Kazahana Koyuki and spoke as agreed beforehand.
"Miss Fujikaze Yukie, today's attack has clearly exceeded the scope of our original B-rank mission. This needs to be reported back to the village."
Hearing that, Koyuki immediately straightened.
"I, Fujikaze Yukie—no, Kazahana Koyuki, Princess of the Land of Snow—hereby issue a formal request to Konoha. The escort mission is now upgraded to assisting in the restoration of my country. This will be classified as an S-rank mission. Once it's completed, I will send an envoy to Konoha to formalize everything."
Kaede blinked, impressed.
As expected of an actress—her performance was flawless.
He accepted the new mission without hesitation.
After all, completing it was simple.
All he had to do was kill Kazahana Doto.
After that interruption, the film crew had no mood to continue shooting and instead rested aboard the ship.
Kaede stood at the bow for a while, watching the endless sea before returning to his private cabin.
He took out his diary and began writing the day's entry.
[After days of staring out at the sea, I suddenly thought of the phrase: the frog in the well eventually returns to the ocean. When Jiraiya said those words, what kind of feelings did he carry in his heart?
For a shinobi, how one lives isn't what matters. What matters is how one dies. The value of a ninja's life isn't determined by how they live, but by what they accomplish before death.
Perhaps… that's Jiraiya's kind of freedom.]