Noticing the commotion on Yūhi Kurenai's side, Kaede turned his head. The moment his gaze landed on Shisui, he recognized him and tilted his head slightly as he said:
"I don't think Kurenai meant to question the Uchiha clan's prestige. Besides, isn't it rather narrow-minded to judge an entire noble clan based on one individual? The Uchiha are still a clan of many geniuses."
"..."
Shisui's expression softened a little at Kaede's words.
Originally, he hadn't intended to meddle in Kaede's affairs, there was no need for unnecessary conflict. He only spoke up because Kurenai's comment had crossed a line, and he wanted to gently warn her.
However—
In the very next instant, Shisui's pupils suddenly contracted.
A hand had silently landed on his shoulder.
His body went stiff in an instant.
The owner of that hand was Kaede!
"How…?"
Shisui's eyes widened with disbelief.
Kaede simply gave him a harmless, innocent smile. Without saying a word, he withdrew his hand and casually walked back toward the classroom.
The "Kaede" that had been standing in front of Shisui just moments ago… suddenly burst into a puff of white smoke and vanished.
A clone!
The one that had remained in place was just a clone!
In that brief moment, Kaede had left behind a clone while his real body moved instantly to Shisui's side!
As a fellow genius, Shisui immediately understood what had happened—but even with that realization, he couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.
"Clone Technique… and Body Flicker?"
"How is he so fast…"
Kaede had swapped places with his clone and appeared next to him in an instant—it was utterly mind-blowing!
Which meant, if this had been a real fight… he would've already been taken out in a flash, before even understanding what was happening!
"This is…"
Yūhi Kurenai and Nohara Rin were stunned too.
Neither of them had fully grasped what just happened. In fact, they hadn't even seen how Kaede had left a clone behind and arrived next to Shisui in the blink of an eye.
The two girls exchanged glances, and both saw the same shock in each other's eyes.
After snapping out of their daze, they glanced at the still-frozen Shisui, then quickly chased after Kaede.
"..."
Shisui took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. As he turned his head to watch Kaede walk away, there was still a trace of shock lingering in his eyes.
Everyone knew about Kakashi's genius. Kaede, by contrast, had always been considered "average talent," "mediocre," or even "lacking potential."
At this moment, Shisui had only one word for those evaluations:
Blind.
Even though he wasn't sure about Kakashi's full strength, just based on Kaede's technique just now, Shisui was convinced, Kaede was definitely not inferior to Kakashi. In fact, he might even be stronger.
"Whew…"
"This level of skill couldn't have been gained overnight. That guy's been hiding his true strength all along… never once showing off his talent, not even when others doubted him…"
Shisui muttered in his heart.
His current judgment of Kaede could be summed up in one word: Terrifying.
Compared to the brash and proud Kakashi, Kaede, his older brother, didn't just possess incredible strength, he had a calm, composed, and mature demeanor.
And someone like that… was undeniably even more formidable.
Taking a deep breath, Shisui suddenly felt the weight of being called a "genius" grow heavier on his shoulders.
…
Back in the classroom, Kaede leaned back in his chair, fingers to his chin in thought.
"Young Shisui of the Uchiha shouldn't be any weaker than Itachi. But I'm not sure exactly when he awakened the Mangekyō and obtained Kotoamatsukami…"
Since this was the Shisui from the original story, one of the Uchiha clan's prodigies and considering how arrogantly he treated Kurenai, Kaede decided to test him a bit.
He wanted to see if the future "Shisui of the Body Flicker" could keep up.
Turns out, not quite.
"Kaede, just now you…"
As Kaede walked into the classroom, Kurenai and the others followed close behind. Kurenai sat down beside him and immediately spoke up.
She didn't fully understand what had just happened, but it was clear as day that Shisui had been shaken by something, his expression and eyes had frozen on the spot.
"Oh, that? I was just saying hello to Shisui. No big deal."
Kaede smiled casually.
After all, they were already in the tense period before the Third Great Ninja War. Revealing a little of his strength wasn't a problem anymore.
Kurenai stared at him with wide eyes and said, "But… you totally scared him, didn't you?"
Kaede took out his textbook and placed it on the desk, thinking aloud, "Probably. I do have two more years of experience with ninjutsu, after all."
Though he said it lightly, Kurenai knew full well that what had just happened was far from simple.
Uchiha Shisui was one of the most famous geniuses in the whole academy!
To shake someone like him, that was definitely worth bragging about.
And yet Kaede acted as though nothing had happened. He joked and smiled just like always, as if it were no big deal.
That unshakable demeanor only made Kurenai admire him even more. Compared to the boys who couldn't stop bragging at every little achievement, Kaede's charm was off the charts.
"..."
Noticing the look in her eyes, Kaede sighed inwardly.
This girl's expression… is she already planning to have my babies or something? Maybe I should tone it down a bit.
But then again, he hadn't really done anything excessive.
Ah, to be young…
Kaede had wanted to truly enjoy this peaceful ninja school life, this sunshine-filled period without stress. That was his original plan from the start.
Unfortunately… reality wouldn't allow it.
No matter how much he tried to forget, he would still remember the looming Third Great Ninja War, the Nine-Tails' attack on Konoha, and Pain's destruction of the village…
This was a dangerous world.
A world where you needed strength to enjoy peace.
Leaning back in his chair, Kaede stretched and muttered as he gazed out the window:
"If only this were some slice-of-life world…"
Kurenai tilted her head and asked, "Hmm? What did you just say, Kaede?"
"Nothing. Just thinking about something."
Kaede shook his head, then chuckled softly.
Even if he had ended up in one of those relaxed worlds like Clannad or Kaguya-sama: Love is War, there'd still be different kinds of pressure pushing him forward. Unless you were born on top, stress always found a way.
Being reborn with the power to manipulate time, and landing in Konoha before the Third Great Ninja War… honestly, that was already a pretty easy-mode start.
If he'd ended up in the Bloody Mist Village, where students killed each other during training, and then didn't even have the time-manipulation ability?
That would've been hell mode.
With those thoughts in mind, Kaede calmly waited for today's training test while refining his chakra, feeling it flow smoothly through his body.
"Now that I think about it, the Eight Gates technique shouldn't be that hard to train…"
He pondered, circulating chakra through his body and trying to pinpoint the locations of each of the Eight Gates based on memory.
He wanted to see if he could figure out how to train it on his own.
The real difficulty of the Eight Gates technique wasn't in unlocking them, it was the long-term discipline needed to master them.
Otherwise, someone like Might Duy wouldn't have been able to create it in the first place.
To put it simply: training the Eight Gates was like writing the same character over and over again. If you had the willpower and persistence, you'd eventually get it.
Whereas techniques like the Reaper Death Seal or Flying Thunder God, those were like mathematical theorems on a global scale. Without talent, there was no chance