Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 122 The Immortal Squad

No matter how confident Obito was, he didn't think he could beat Konan.

Even though he had received instruction from Madara, he was too young, and the techniques he learned would take time to be converted into combat power.

"...It seems you have your own ideas. I hope your decision not to kill her is the right one. I don't want to see this woman ruin our plans in the future." Obito sneered.

"It won't cause any problems. If Konan can ruin our plans, then it just means that we are the ones with the problem, not Konan," Kaedeji said calmly.

In front of Kaede Tsukasa, Obito always felt like a greenhorn, and that was indeed the case.

"What are you two talking about? The Madara you just mentioned, is he the one from decades ago? He should have died long ago, why..."

The humiliation of her self-esteem was no longer a concern for Xiao Nan; her mind was filled with the name Ban, and her heart was pounding.

"That's right, it's the Uchiha Madara you've heard of. That guy just died. Come to think of it, this is the third time he's died, right? Senju Hashirama killed him once, Uzumaki Mito killed him once, and now this time," Kaedeji said casually.

Konan was completely dumbfounded, her face blank, her mouth agape as she stared at the two people in front of her—these two guys had been colluding with Madara and were plotting a crucial plan.

"Are you planning to destroy Konoha Village?" Konan couldn't help but ask.

"Destroy...Konoha Village? Ha, your ambition is far from enough. If that was all you wanted to achieve, you could have done it long ago. Why wait until now?" Obito scoffed.

Destroying Konoha would be too easy for Madara. He has countless opportunities to act. Since Hashirama Senju's death, no one in the world can stop him.

Destroying Konoha would be pointless and wouldn't truly fulfill Madara's ambitions.

"Stop asking, Konan. The deeper things are beyond your understanding right now. Just focus on serving me, and you'll live a little longer," Kaedeji said.

Konan grew increasingly suspicious. How did this group of people come together? And their target wasn't even Konoha Village? They didn't even care about a plan to destroy Konoha?
It's definitely not something like immortality. Kaede Tsukasa's Reincarnation Technique can grant immortality, and it's caused such a huge uproar...

So, the target scope is the entire ninja world?
"You—you, what do you intend to do to Nagato and Yahiko?!" Konan shouted angrily. "Isn't imprisoning me part of your whole plan? You really are after Nagato's Rinnegan, aren't you?!"

"Hmph, the Rinnegan is not something you'd expect—"

"Shut up, Obito. This is not the place for you to boast about having special information."

Kaedeji remained calm. Actually, there was nothing wrong with saying it out loud: Konan had a large amount of zombie virus injected into her body, and he could forcibly control her if necessary.

“Nagato is indeed in the plan, and now we may have to add Yahiko as well. But overall it’s a good thing. If everything goes smoothly, all three of you will get what you want.”

Kaedeji casually brushed it off, since the Eye of the Moon plan was completely meaningless anyway.

Leaving aside the matter of Kaguya and Isshiki's resurrection, even if the Eye of the Moon is truly just an Infinite Tsukuyomi genjutsu, allowing everyone to enter a dreamland and find solace, the Eye of the Moon plan will completely fail when the Otsutsuki from other planets team up to raid the Ninja World dungeon in the future.

If all the powerful ninjas who can protect the ninja world are asleep, what's the point of fighting? They might as well just wait to be harvested to death by the Otsutsuki.

Before Konan could say anything more, Kaedeji formed a hand seal and forcefully restrained her body, forcing her to shut her mouth.

"What are your plans next? Are you going to cause a huge scene and then defect from this village? But I can't defect with you; there are still many things about this village that I care about."

Obito said, "Madara told me that in order to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan, you must kill someone you care about."

"So, have you decided who you're going to kill? Kakashi? It can't be one of those girls who scream at you all the time, can it?" Kaedeji asked.

Obito hesitated.

Having received Madara's teachings before his values ​​were fully formed, the emotionally rich Madara wasn't entirely averse to killing his comrades—although he still felt somewhat uncomfortable. But since this was indeed the only way to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan, he had to force himself to think calmly and consider who he should kill if he really had to.

Of course, having a plan is one thing, but whether or not to follow it is another. As time goes by, Madara's ideas may have less and less influence on Obito, and Obito may not strictly follow Madara's instructions in the future.

Even giving up obtaining the Mangekyou Sharingan is not impossible.

That's the downside of being an emotional person; they always act on impulse. Sometimes it's admirable, but sometimes it's frustrating.

However, it didn't affect Kaede Tsukasa much. Even if Obito never awakened his Mangekyou Sharingan and never obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan, he wouldn't care.

Obito stared at Kaede Tsukasa's changing expression: "What, you look a little disappointed? Madara reminded me to keep my distance from you, especially to prevent you from getting a chance to steal his eyes. You've already obtained a copy of Hashirama, now all you need is a pair of Mangekyou Sharingan, right?"

"If I had to say, what I need is a pair of Mangekyou Sharingan that will never go blind. Ordinary Mangekyou Sharingan will cause blindness," Kaede Tsukasa said calmly. "I roughly guess that Hashirama cells can greatly enhance ocular power, making it less likely for the Mangekyou Sharingan to lose its sight, but it is still a hidden danger. It would be best to get the Eternal Eyes in one go."

"What grand ambitions..." Obito said sarcastically, but inwardly he felt inexplicably relieved.

It's common knowledge that Kaede Tsukasa is no good, but he seems to disdain using clumsy lies to achieve his goals.

Since you said you don't like his Mangekyou Sharingan, then you really don't like it—probably.

"The Eye of the Mind, I'm also very curious about what kind of eye power you will awaken after obtaining the Kaleidoscope. I hope you won't obtain a space-time eye technique just because you want to keep your distance from me," Kaede Tsukasa said.

Obito's face darkened: "This is absolutely impossible!"

Space-time eye technique? It sounds like a great thing, but to obtain such an eye technique for this reason... that would be too shameful.

Kaedeji remained calm. He had long had a plan to obtain better eyes, and he would take action as soon as the right opportunity presented itself.

The two fell silent.

"You're going to betray the village now? And cause a huge scene? I'd better stay away from you, lest you kill me while you're at it."

"Not now. I have my own plans. The more people outside are making a fuss now, the more loyal they will be to me in the future."

Kaede Tsukasa remained completely unaffected by public opinion. Despite being at the center of the storm, he remained calm and composed, and he already had many interesting plans.

Kaede's quietness did indeed leave many people outside feeling lost and bewildered.

Is this reasonable? Faced with such accusations from his companions, shouldn't he immediately stand up and make a statement, even if it's just to show it? How can Kaedeji completely ignore it?

Is it because he's too strong-willed, or... does Kaede Tsukasa simply not see them?!

"Kaede Tsukasa doesn't even have the concept of comrades, Hiruzen. You're too naive. Do you think you can stop him this way?"

Danzo pushed open the door and walked in, sneering repeatedly.

He's having a tough time right now. He sent one of his few Root ninjas to Orochimaru to steal his Reanimation Jutsu, resulting in heavy casualties.

Several rounds of losses have led to a sharp decline in the strength of Root, to the point that Danzo could no longer tolerate it and took the initiative to seek out the Third Hokage, which also means that he bowed down.

The Third Hokage's expression remained unchanged: "Don't be so arbitrary. Those with strong willpower will not be affected either."

"Hmph, you're just wishful thinking. I'll be frank: I plan to recruit Root ninjas from outside the clan. Every ninja clan needs to contribute! Only when the roots are strong can they draw more nourishment for the great tree of Konoha," Danzo said.

"Is this your purpose... From now on, all actions of the Root organization must be reported to me first. This time I am serious, Danzo. Many of your actions have exceeded my limits of tolerance."

"What a joke! What Kaedeji did was even worse. Have you reprimanded him?"

Danzo was furious. They'd actually drawn a red line? Things had changed, completely changed. How could Hiruzen do such a thing?

The Third Hokage coldly replied, "He accomplished everything he set out to do, and he also smoothed over the aftermath. Can you do that? After attacking the Eight-Tails, he killed three hundred Cloud Village members. After killing the One-Tails, he single-handedly repelled an attack by thousands of Sand Village members. Can you do that?"

While Kaede Tsukasa is certainly a headache, and the stronger he is, the more naturally people are wary and vigilant he becomes, in terms of getting things done, he is truly unmatched by Danzo.

Look at what Danzo has done in the past few years. He tried to steal the Rinnegan but failed several times. The Root ninjas also suffered heavy losses, to the point that Root is almost defunct.

Danzo's face was extremely gloomy. He couldn't believe that Hiruzen Sarutobi would despise him like this because of a junior!
"Understood. I'll recruit more people to strengthen the Root organization as soon as possible! If you don't believe me, Hiruzen, you'll regret it!"

"Danzo, I am the Hokage!"

boom!
Danzo stormed out.

The Third Hokage sat alone for a long time before rubbing his temples. "However, Tsukasa's calmness is really unsettling... He doesn't even complain? What is he trying to do? Does he really not care, or does he already have a bigger goal...?"

After a long while, he let out a long sigh. Compared to Kaede Tsukasa, there was no one else of his age who could compare.

The younger Minato Namikaze is quite good. In a few years, he will definitely become an outstanding and powerful ninja, perhaps even possessing Hokage-level combat power, but it depends on who he is compared to.

Compared to someone as near-perfect as Kaede Tsukasa, Minato Namikaze seems to fall short, at least lacking the powerful deterrent to suppress Kaede Tsukasa.

Speaking of which, since the founding of the village, the Hokage lineage has never "fallen" to such an embarrassing state, right? Even during the time of Uchiha Madara, there was the First Hokage to suppress them, but now there is no one of their age who can suppress Kaede Tsukasa.

To be honest, he and the Sannin... were not from the same generation as Kaede Tsukasa, and there wasn't a good way to stop Kaede Tsukasa's space-time ninjutsu.

While the Third Hokage was deep in thought, his mind filled with complex emotions, an ANBU ninja entered and reported, "Lord Hokage, Obito Uchiha has left the Kaede family and returned to the Uchiha clan's territory."

The Third Hokage subconsciously began to ponder this matter again: Why would Obito, the strongest genius of the Uchiha clan, go to Kaede Tsukasa's house? It couldn't have been just for casual conversation, could it?
The Third Hokage was, of course, keeping a close eye on Obito. He was a super new generation who was far ahead of his peers and would inevitably become the backbone of the village in the future. Moreover, considering the characteristics of the Uchiha clan, he wouldn't be too surprised if Obito awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan in the future.

"Speaking of which, this clan hasn't awakened that kind of eye for decades. Is the Mangekyou Sharingan finally about to reappear in the world?"

Even Kagami Uchiha never awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan; he only had the three-tomoe Sharingan until his death.

But why did Obito go to find Kaede Tsukasa? Was this a whimsical personal act by Obito, or some kind of signal being sent by the Uchiha clan?

Politics is such a troublesome thing. Things that are actually quite simple must be thought of and viewed in a more complicated way in order to formulate appropriate countermeasures.

Not long after, the Third Hokage received new information—Tsunade, Dan Kato, and others went to find Tsukasa Kaede.

Just as the Third Hokage and others were having a headache, and the people in the village were talking about it.

Hidan received orders from Kaedeji and began the operation.

"Seriously, how could this happen? I haven't even had enough rest before I have to go on a mission?"

Hidan suddenly started complaining.

Hinata Takashi and Shizune exchanged a serious glance.

They knew exactly what the atmosphere in the village was like, and at this moment, Kaede Tsukasa used some means to give Hidan an order... Was he finally going to respond?

"What does the teacher want us to do?" Hinata Takashi asked.

He joined Kaedeji's ranks with a mission from Hyuga Hizashi, and now is the time to show his worth. To put it bluntly, if things really get out of hand, all that's needed is to sacrifice him. He won't threaten the Hyuga branch family, much less affect the entire Hyuga clan.

Hidan impatiently brandished his scythe: "It's not about what you want to do, it's about what I want to do. I'm leaving the village to carry out his mission!"

“We can assist you,” Shizune said in a deep voice.

"No need. To put it bluntly, you two are just his subordinates, but I am different. I am his disciple. There are some things that only I can do, and you cannot get involved. This has nothing to do with whether you want to or not."

Hidan, carrying a scythe, formed a hand seal with one hand, and his figure vanished from the spot.

"The Void Realm Technique is truly an enviable space-time ninjutsu. It's a pity I couldn't learn it from my teacher," Hyuga Takashi sighed.

The Corpse Escape Technique is so powerful that anyone who doesn't want to learn it is crazy. But to this day, only Hidan has mastered this level of technique, and now he can even use the Sky Realm Technique.

Hyuga Takashi only had to think about Hidan's bizarre self-mutilation technique of drawing blood to perform magic, and then combine it with space-time ninjutsu that accelerates movement, and he felt a pang of sympathy for the enemy.

Once upon a time, Hidan's biggest weakness was his rough physical skills and poor combat techniques. Now that he has made up for this weakness and enhanced his mobility with the Sky Realm Technique, he will definitely become the enemy's nightmare.

Shizune comforted her, "There's no need to regret it. After all, we don't have the aptitude to learn the Corpse Escape Technique. Trying to learn it rashly might kill us."

“I know, even though I was prepared for it, it’s still hard not to feel regret… Shizune, our team is practically disbanded now. Hidan is already a Jonin, there’s no need for him to team up with the two of us. Our teacher is also in a difficult situation in the village,” Hyuga Takashi said calmly.

Shizune paused for a moment, then said, "Ah, I think so. It was bound to happen sooner or later. But I'm already very satisfied that I've been able to learn so much medical ninjutsu from my teacher."

Hinata Takashi observed Shizune and realized that he seemed to be the only one who had truly come with a mission—the Reincarnation Technique. If Kaede Tsukasa really decided to use this technique to revive his comrades in the future, then that would be his true mission.

……

Kakuzu appeared at a bounty hunting site within the Land of Fire, and his expression was far from pleasant.

"Hmph, Karura, the Magnet Release ninja from Sunagakure, sold for 23 million ryo. That's barely acceptable."

He would have been happy to earn this much money at any other time, but not now. He went to Sunagakure and participated in the siege of the village, only to receive this small reward.

"Oh dear, Lord Kakuzu, there's nothing we can do about it. Sunagakure is a great ninja village after all. Although it has declined now, it still has a large number of ninjas. To be able to kill such a ninja and escape unscathed is already quite remarkable."

"Don't try to comfort me with such pointless words; I don't need it."

Kakuzu was completely unmoved as he watched the bounty hunter in front of him cut off Garuda's head.

Why go through all this trouble?

"There's no other way. You must know about zombies, right? That lord's corpse-escape technique has terrified everyone in our line of work, so we have to cut off their heads, otherwise the losses would be huge."

The person in charge, who looked kind and benevolent, explained with a smile, "Think about it: what if you just delivered the body, we paid you the reward, and then the body stood up and ran away on its own? What would we do then?"

"Hmph, that sounds interesting... Even if the body really escapes, that's your problem. I just want to get the money. Of course, you can also hire me on the spot to bring the body back, and then I can get double the pay."

Kakuzu's eyes lit up at the mention of money, thinking that this was a good idea.

The person in charge said with a wry smile, "If we do it this way, the bounty agency will have to go out of business. The powerful and wealthy people from various countries who are funding it are not fools."

However, ever since Kaede Tsukasa's name spread throughout the ninja world, it has indeed put tremendous pressure on people like him.

Previously, proving that a bounty hunter had completed his mission was very simple; all it took was verifying the authenticity of the corpse. But now, it's not enough; the head must be cut off to be considered proper.

That way, even if their heads turn into zombies, they won't run away on their own, and we can give our employers an explanation.

"Unfortunately, I have a feeling that if I partner with that Konoha ghoul, I might be able to squeeze more money out of you guys. But if I bankrupt you all, I don't seem to have a better way to make money."

Kakuzu hesitated for a moment, but ultimately gave up. He loved money, and throughout his long life, his faith in money was a good way to sustain his enthusiasm for the world.

"Well, thank you so much." The person in charge smiled wryly as he watched Kakuzu leave the bounty office.

Occasionally, other bounty hunters would walk in, and upon seeing Kakuzu, their expressions would change drastically. They would respectfully step aside, for they would be killed if they tried to obstruct him.

"That person is the legendary..."

"That's right, it's him. I heard he fought the First Hokage and possesses the ability to live forever!"

"I'm so tired of hearing the word 'immortality.' Everyone's talking about the technique of self-reincarnation, which is not only a resurrection technique but also suspected to be an immortality technique. I don't know if it's true or not."

"Of course it's fake. Only if Kaede Tsukasa uses this technique could it be real. If others don't have a bunch of corpses to share the cost of casting the forbidden technique, then it's all fake."

Corpse Escape...

Mentioning this secret technique, everyone's face showed a look of longing. The bounty on the bounty list for the Corpse Escape Technique had already reached hundreds of millions, but everyone knew that such a number had lost its meaning, and continuing to increase it was pointless.

If anyone actually manages to bring the Corpse Escape Technique over, all they need to do is fill in a number, and they can have as much money as they want—provided they aren't intercepted and robbed of the technique.

At this time.

Boom!

A loud bang suddenly erupted outside the bounty office.

"what happened?"

"Who dares to cause trouble in a place like this? Are they looking for death?"

"Lord Kakuzu just walked out, right? Did someone block his way? But even so, there's no need for Lord Kakuzu to get so angry, is there?"

Indeed, someone blocked Kakuzu's path.

This guy stood there loosely, looking like he was full of openings, carrying a big scythe, tilting his head, and staring at Kakuzu.

"Who are you? You don't look like the kind of guy who's going to pay me to hire you."

“Hired? You could say that, it could be considered a form of hiring, but I don’t have any money for you.” Hidan scratched his head. He wasn’t good with words and didn’t know how to negotiate with the guy in front of him.

But Kaedeji Tsukasa had indeed been given the task, and he had to do it.

Kakuzu sneered, "How absurd! You dare to show your face in front of me when you have no money? Do you have a death wish?"

"Ah, I definitely want to live, but I can't die, so I'm very distressed. I feel that you will be killed by me before I die."

Hidan said impatiently, "Either join me and come with me, or I'll kill you! That guy said he needs some manpower for his business, so I came to you."

(End of this chapter)