Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 108 Resurrection, New Body Structure

The bustling village of Konoha attracts wealthy people from the ninja world. Rich people who are not short of money often come to Konoha to do business and post missions on the spot to hire Konoha ninjas.

However, when the people from Sunagakure entered Konoha, they still attracted a lot of attention.

"These people are wearing strange clothes and headscarves. They must be from Sunagakure, right?"

"There's no mistake, you can tell just by looking at their headbands. But why would the people from Sunagakure come to Konoha in such a grand manner?"

"Who knows? Maybe they're here to issue a mission, hahaha!"

Some people were laughing and talking loudly, looking at the people from Sunagakure with inscrutable expressions.

Konoha and Sunagakure have a long history of enmity. Since the end of World War II, Konoha has been squeezing money from Sunagakure, taking away a lot of missions and rewards, which has made Sunagakure, which was already short of funds, even worse.

But so what? Who told Sunagakure to be defeated?

There were even a few individuals who would spit on the ground in front of the Sand Village ninjas, and then deliberately look up to see their reaction.

"...These guys are too arrogant!"

"Halt! What do you think you're doing? Don't forget our purpose!"

The Sand Village ninjas eventually held back and, led by the Konoha ninjas, arrived at the Hokage Building.

The Third Hokage received these Sand Village envoys, initially assuming they had come to complain and request Konoha to loosen some mission restrictions. The Third Hokage had already prepared his reasons for refusing them.

However, the news reported by the Sand Village envoy was still beyond his expectations.

"What did you say? Kaedeji is dead? Not only did he attack your village's ninjas, but he also instigated Chiyo's grandson to defect???"

He could understand each word individually, but when put together, he couldn't even defeat the Third Hokage.

What does it mean to "be able to incite defection even after death"? Does that mean the person is dead or alive, and has defected or not?
The leading Sunagakure envoy said with a serious expression, "This is the result of multiple confirmations by Lord Kazekage and Lady Chiyo. There is definitely something wrong with Kaedeji's situation! As a Konoha ninja, his actions against Sunagakure are a serious provocation, which increases the risk of war for both our countries!"

The Third Hokage leaned back in his chair, lost in thought.

Honestly, he wasn't surprised that Kaedeji had quietly produced something, nor was he annoyed by the betrayal.

No other reason than that I'm used to it.

When Danzo was still in office, he would often launch special operations and cause trouble in various parts of the ninja world, doing countless dirty deeds both openly and secretly.

He knew about some of the actions, some he only learned about afterward, and some he still doesn't know about to this day.

"Kaedeji is an outstanding ninja of our village. If he disobeys the village's orders, I will punish him severely." The Third Hokage appeared very gentle.

"Lord Hokage! He is doing something that instigates war. Doesn't this violate Kimura's rules?" The messenger raised his voice.

The Third Hokage remained unmoved: "I will not listen to your one-sided account, and the idea that he is already dead is truly absurd. Based on your description, I have never heard of such a physical appearance before; there are too many suspicious points."

That being said, the Third Hokage actually had a slight doubt.

His skin was covered in cracks, and his eyes were dull in color... It was very similar to the situation of someone resurrected through the Impure World Reincarnation.

But... Kaedeji Tsukasa, this Corpse Release ninja, died without a sound, and was even resurrected by Edo Tensei?! This is just too absurd.

Is there anyone in this world who can kill Kaedeji silently?

Shortly after the Sand Village envoy left, Danzo arrived.

"It seems you've already spoken with the guys from Sunagakure. Did you find anything?" The Third Hokage wasn't surprised.

Danzo has been silent for several months now, and the time is almost up. It's time for him to take over, or rather, to shoulder some of the blame.

The Third Hokage sensed something big was about to happen.

"How credible is the news of Kaedeji's death? How much were you involved? In any case, he was your subordinate."

“He was my former subordinate. He only paid lip service to the tasks I assigned him, and he concealed a lot of information!”

Danzo snorted coldly, his face displeased: "However, the guys from Sunagakure are right, Kaede Tsukasa is indeed dead."

"It really is Edo Tensei... Is it you, or Orochimaru?"

"Orochimaru. You know me, I can't learn those complicated techniques."

Danzo spoke these words without changing his expression; he had nothing to hide from the Third Hokage.

At best, he's just an elite Jonin. In terms of ninjutsu talent, he's nothing compared to the Third Hokage, who's known as the Professor.

"How did you die?"

"do not know."

"Don't know? Then why did Orochimaru resurrect Kaedeji using the Impure World Reincarnation technique? What role did you play in this, or rather... what are you planning to do to Sunagakure?"

The Third Hokage slammed his fist on the table and stood up. His not-so-tall figure exerted immense pressure on Danzo: "I'll assume for now that Kaedeji wasn't killed by you, but he's under your control now! What exactly did you want to do by sending him to infiltrate Sunagakure?! Why did you take Sasori away?"

"You'll have to ask Orochimaru about that. I don't know either. I just wanted to use him and Kaede Tsukasa to bring Nagato back to the village, but it failed." Danzo took the opportunity to sow discord between Orochimaru and Orochimaru.

Don't be fooled by his calm and composed demeanor; his clean and tidy appearance suggests a calm and collected state of mind, but in reality, he is seething with anger with nowhere to vent.

He destroyed four Sharingan eyes, and when he tried to steal the Rinnegan a second time, he gained nothing except helping Nagato develop the power of the Rinnegan!
Danzo didn't even know whether Orochimaru had made a move after he escaped, or whether he had succeeded.

The Third Hokage was in excruciating pain; these radicals were making things worse and worse.

"No wonder Jiraiya's disciple appeared in the village and stayed at Kaede Tsukasa's house. So she was actually a hostage?!"

“That was Orochimaru’s hostage too. I just don’t understand. He could have teamed up with me and Kaede Tsukasa to deal with Nagato, but he acted on his own and kidnapped Nagato’s companion.”

“Nagato is Jiraiya’s disciple, and he has every opportunity to stand on Konoha’s side!”

"Impossible. It seems Jiraiya didn't tell you anything... Nagato's parents were killed by Konoha ninjas right when the Second Shinobi World War broke out." Danzo sneered.

The Third Hokage was stunned. After a long while, he let out a deep sigh. Danzo's plot to seize the Rinnegan, from another perspective, was also a way to eliminate a hidden danger for the village.

Although there must have been a lot of personal motives behind doing this.

"It seems I need to have a serious talk with Orochimaru. He should be focusing on cell transplantation experiments, but he's been doing these things behind the village's back... and Kaede Tsukasa."

The Third Hokage was truly focused on this; everything else—Nagato, Sunagakure, and so on—could be put aside. The only thing he absolutely had to get to the bottom of was the death of Kaedeji Tsukasa!
This was a young man he valued highly, who was supposed to support the village for many years to come. How could he die for no reason?

Meanwhile, the Sunagakure delegation released flying birds to deliver intelligence that the negotiations had failed.

However, no matter how fast the bird is, it's too late. Even if the negotiations succeed, let alone fail, it will be too late for Konoha to send people to the Land of Wind to investigate.

The Sand Village had already taken action, sending out a large number of ninjas into the vast desert to conduct a thorough search of different areas.

To be honest, this is not easy. Sunagakure does not have any powerful top-level sensory families or sensory techniques. Searching for a target in such a vast desert without any direction is undoubtedly a very difficult task.

Normal people would never venture into the desert.

"Haven't you found it yet?"

"There is absolutely no trace, Lord Kazekage. The enemy may have already left the Land of Wind. We have no way to monitor the movements of the space-time ninja."

The Third Kazekage didn't have any good solutions either, let alone Chiyo and the others.

If it weren't for Chiyo's insistence, and the defection of a genius like Sasori, Sunagakure wouldn't have done such a futile effort.

Even if Kaede Tsukasa was indeed transiting through the desert at the beginning, how much time has passed? He should have vanished long ago. Was he waiting to be discovered by Sunagakure and fight against a group of Sunagakure's powerful warriors in the desert?
“Sister, why don’t you just give up? Three days have already passed. Although you can’t accept what happened to Sasori, Kaede Tsukasa shouldn’t stay in the Land of Wind any longer. In the desert, his corpses will quickly turn into mummies and lose their ability to fight,” Ebizo also advised.

Everyone looked at Chiyo, whose face was pale.

Chiyo responded with silence, and a brief silence fell over the entire conference room.

After a long silence, Chiyo stood up: "I'm going to find them myself! The village doesn't need to get involved; I'll pay the fees myself, issue the mission, and hire the village's ninjas to carry it out!"

"You're the village's advisor, so there's no need for this. However, should we still send out sensory ninjas?"

“There is someone who is not a sensory ninja, but in an environment like the desert, he can definitely find the target faster than others. If even he finds nothing, I will give up,” Chiyo said unwillingly.

She lost her son and daughter-in-law, and then she couldn't even keep an eye on her grandson, who ran away with the strangely behaving Kaedeji. This kind of thing... she couldn't allow it!
Chiyo felt that the two of them must be plotting something, and that they would use her improved Reincarnation Technique. Perhaps... but if that were the case, it would be terrifying.

……

Deep in the desert.

The ritual had been going on for three days. Layer upon layer of zombies formed neat hand seals before casting spells on Kaedeji, offering everything they had to him. Unable to serve Kaedeji in life, they gave their all in death; surely their souls in the Pure Land would be deeply grateful if they could sense it.

After each layer of zombies gave up everything, their withered bodies turned into endless dust as they decayed, drifting in the wind and eventually attaching to the nearby grains of sand.

As soon as one group of zombies fell, a new wave of zombies surged towards Kaede Tsukasa from the outside in, in an endless cycle.

They keep falling, keep coming together, without end.

Only the visible green life force kept emerging, a vitality that could drive people crazy. If it were taken out, it could create countless immortals who could live for thousands of years. But this was only a part of the consumption for Kaede Tsukasa to repair his body.

There is still much more vitality waiting to be extracted and transferred.

"As expected, the further improved Self-Reincarnation Technique has reduced the loss of life force during the transfer. Multiplying this by ten thousand, the final effect is quite remarkable."

Kaede looked at the horde of corpses falling one after another like wheat being harvested, then looked down at his own hands.

Each time a surge of green life force arrives, a soft hissing sound emanates from his body. This is the life force covering his impure body, gradually reviving Kaedeji.

This requires a process, and it is a seemingly simple but actually extremely complex ritual. Kaede Tsukasa must maintain a high level of concentration at all times to command the zombies to perform the spell on him.

"It's been more than three days. I remember when the Akatsuki fed the One-Tailed Beast to the Gedo Mazo, it only took three days."

Kaede Tsukasa was actually quite satisfied with the progress. He could clearly feel his resurrection process, regain his body temperature, and feel the flow of blood again.

This is why he inserted a copy of Hashirama and the Sharingan into his own body. If it weren't for these two things, Kaede Tsukasa would have been resurrected long ago.

Moreover, he was originally created using Hashirama's cell experimental subjects as a carrier, so he would inevitably possess a body and potential that surpassed his previous life. However, Kaede Tsukasa was not satisfied and tried to achieve the goal in one step, preferring to spend more time, take higher risks, and obtain the greatest benefits.

This is because he couldn't get a Ōtsutsuki, otherwise he would have had to stuff the Ōtsutsuki into his own body before reviving.

"But forget it. Pure Otsutsuki mainly have the Byakugan to use. For me, it's better to go straight for the Divine Tree route."

Kaede Tsukasa couldn't go to the moon to kidnap Hamura's descendants, nor did he have the ability to provoke Isshiki Otsutsuki and the Ten-Tails controlled by Isshiki. For now, he's just piecing together a copy of Hashirama and the Sharingan.

Although the combined power of the myriad phenomena is destined to be incomplete due to the lack of the Eternal Kaleidoscope, Kaede Tsukasa already has a detailed plan for the next step.

"Hmm, just wait a little longer, it'll be soon, I'll be resurrected soon."

Kaede Tsukasa examined his half-dead body, especially the Hashirama clone that had merged into his body.

In the original timeline, Orochi Kabuto stuffed this thing into the body of Edo Tensei Madara, which meant that Madara's body was pushed to a whole new level. After Madara was resurrected, he also simultaneously controlled the power of the Hashirama clone that was integrated into him, and was even able to extract the Sage Chakra from Hashirama Senju.

On Kaede Tsukasa's body, you can't see the protruding face of the Hashirama clone. There is only a faint outline on his back, which is not visible at all unless you look closely.

"Hmm, let me think. If that idea really comes true, I can further utilize the power of the Hashirama clone to enhance my combat capabilities... At that time, even if the enemy rushes in, I can still defeat them in close combat."

This is another application of Corpse Release. Simply copying Orochi Kabuto and Edo Tensei Madara's methods is fine, but if you can create something new by leveraging your master's strengths, Kaede Tsukasa would definitely not hesitate to try it.

There's no way around it; the plasticity of the Impure World Reincarnation technique is just too strong. And since the user can't die, as long as they break free from the caster's control and don't go so far as to damage their own soul, they can do whatever they want with it.

As time passed, most of the zombies had turned to ashes, and Kaede Tsukasa's resurrection ritual gradually came to an end.

At first glance, Kaede Tsukasa is actually very close to being alive, with only a few corners remaining uncovered by life.

"Ok?"

Kaede Tsukasa vaguely sensed that even without relying on zombies as eyes, his perception ability had been greatly enhanced by relying solely on his own body.

Ninjas from Sunagakure are heading in this direction.

"The people of Sunagakure... they still haven't given up. Their perseverance is quite impressive. They actually managed to find us."

Kaede closed his eyes to sense, then opened them, a slight fluctuation appearing: "This feeling... even that guy has been mobilized."

The other side had clearly spotted Kaedeji and was speeding towards them, releasing a signal flare in the air to transmit information to the other ninjas.

"I've found you, Lord Kaedeji. This is our first meeting, and considering you're currently undertaking a special operation, this may be our last."

An old monk, holding prayer beads, looked distressed and seemed unwilling to actually find Kaedeji: "Why do you insist on launching an operation in a place like the Land of Wind? I don't know why you have your eye on Sasori, but even if you want to train him to be the second Hidan, you could just take him away. Why are you still staying in the Land of Wind?"

Bunpuku was born during the reign of the Second Kazekage and became the Jinchūriki of the One-Tailed Beast immediately after birth. Over the years, apart from wars, he has been basically imprisoned to prevent the One-Tailed Beast from going berserk.

The proponent of the theory of the Fukushi (a type of mythical beast) states that there is no difference between humans and tailed beasts, and that they can communicate with each other.

When he was about to die in the original timeline, Ichimoku praised Bunpuku, saying that "his clear quality is very similar to that of the Sage of Six Paths."

Of course, Bunpuku is not yet in a spiritual connection with Ichi-O, but compared to the other Jinchūriki, their relationship has indeed improved significantly.

"A Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed Beast, Sunagakure is really willing to go all out. If you lose control here, Sunagakure will probably be heartbroken." Kaedeji said calmly without turning his head.

Bunpuku put his hands together and said, "As far as I know, you don't have the ability to fight against tailed beasts. Corpse Release is a power that is very suitable for use on the battlefield, unless you bring your disciple here."

“No need to test you anymore. We don’t need to use Hidan to deal with you,” Kaedeji said.

Bunfuku sized up Kaedeji. Judging from his physique alone, there was nothing special about him, unlike the strange appearance Chiyo had described.

Chiyo couldn't possibly lie, which means that Kaedeji Tsukasa accomplished something crucial during this time.

"So that's how it is. You're surrounded by such a rich life force. Are you using the Reincarnation Technique to revive yourself? It seems you haven't finished yet."

Fenfu glanced at the ground, his expression growing even more distressed.

The dust had piled up into a thick layer, covering the yellow sand. Who knows how many zombies had been consumed here!

There are already several hundred zombies currently being used to cast spells. It's unimaginable how many zombies were gathered here at the very beginning!

Such an astonishing number, if unleashed to invade the many towns of the Land of Wind, would cause immeasurable destruction.

But Kaede did not do that. Instead, he used the massive horde of corpses to perform the Reincarnation Technique to revive himself!
"It seems your ceremony is coming to an end. My delaying tactics to wait for reinforcements are pointless. I have no choice but to take action against you... Excuse me."

A layer of red chakra suddenly surged from Bunpuku's body, and this chakra immediately condensed into a claw, which grabbed at Kaedeji's back.

Even if Benfuku is overconfident, he won't easily rush in for close combat. Making full use of the tailed beast's power to launch a ranged attack is undoubtedly the best choice.

"Hahahaha, bald guy, just you wait, I can kill him in an instant!"

"It's better to be careful. His disciple once killed the Four-Tails. No one can guarantee that he hasn't mastered the same technique."

"Hmph, it was obviously done by killing the Jinchuriki! Who told that monkey to be so careless and not keep a close eye on its vessel? It deserved to die, it'll be good for it to calm down." One-Tail snorted coldly.

It won't make the same mistake again. It's rare to find a container that's so compliant. Who knows what the new container will be like after it's replaced?

Just as the red claws were about to grab Kaedeji and pull him out of the horde of corpses, interrupting the ritual.

Swish!
Suddenly, a hand reached out and blocked the red claw.

"This is?"

"What kind of technique is this?"

Both Yiwei and Fenfu were taken aback.

Because what blocked their attack was not the expected zombies, and Kaede Tsukasa did not use space-time ninjutsu to move his position, but stood still and blocked the attack with his own body.

From beginning to end, he faced away from Fenfu, naturally blocking the red claw's hand. It was also the hand that forcibly pierced through the wide robe from Kaedeji's back.

But how could an arm suddenly appear in this area?
"Three hands? No, it seems it's not that simple. This must be the real reason he used so many zombies."

Bunpuku raised his eyelids and stared straight at Kaedeji's back.

As the robes fell away, the condition of Kaedeji's back came into the view of Bunpuku and Ichio.

They witnessed with their own eyes an arm growing out of Kaede Tsukasa's back, perfectly natural. That was one thing, but adding an organ, while unusual for most people, was still somewhat understandable.

What's truly terrifying is that on Kaede Tsukasa's back, there's a face that's slowly protruding!

Like the sound of fabric being pulled, making a soft creaking noise, the face with its eyes tightly closed swayed left and right, exerting force little by little to make itself protrude as much as possible, gradually becoming more three-dimensional.

Under Fenfu's dumbfounded gaze.

After the face protruded, it slowly opened its eyes. They were incredibly cold eyes, red and filled with bloodlust, with three tomoe slowly rotating.

“You are honored to witness a small part of my new body,” Kaedeji said without turning his head.

(End of this chapter)