Kadaj looked surprised to be told off for his embarrassment. The wide eyed, stunned look he threw at Even didn't fade until Even began talking about his own magical weakness. Then the corner of his mouth twitched in a smile. It was good to know that even someone like Even struggled with his opposing element.

Fire had been the second spell Kadaj had actually managed to learn. Earth had been easy, and fire had been hard, and water had been hardest. Ice was something Kadaj just couldn't get, though he'd tried, so knowing that Even, who was so Ice elemental that his labs-to-be already felt like an area after someone had summoned Shiva there, still found some of the other elements challenging was a relief.

He squirmed again at Even's use of 'intelligent', however. "You're going to have a hard time with me, then," he muttered. If intelligent people could struggle, Kadaj would have a long, uphill fight.

He'd lost patience with trying to read many times before because he found it hard. "I get frustrated easily," he admitted. When he'd been new to the clan his frustration had resulted in outbursts of temper that had helped earn him a reputation for being unstable. He'd never directed his temper at Kuja before, but he had at Orochimaru, and Orochimaru had responded by humiliating him which had only made it worse.