Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 125 One Man Suppresses a Village

Sasori Akasuna could rely on Tsukasa Kaede to achieve eternal life, but Sasori Akasuna clearly doesn't want to do that. He insists on his art and wants to achieve eternity through human puppetry.

Theoretically speaking, he has barely succeeded. With the help of Kaede Tsukasa, he mastered the necessary technology faster than in the original timeline and planned to take action against the Third Kazekage more than two years earlier.

"Do you need my help? I've fought the Third Kazekage before. His Magnet Release technique is extremely difficult to deal with. He's an incredibly powerful ninja, and most Kage-level beings can't handle him," Kaedeji said casually.

"...How greedy! You've already received the blessing, now you want the Third Kazekage too?"

"That's not what I meant, although I know what you're trying to say... Okay, then I'll leave it to you to handle, and I'll just observe."

After all, there was a difference of more than two years in development time, and Kaede Tsukasa couldn't be sure whether Sasori of the Red Sand could defeat the Third Kazekage. However, since Sasori of the Red Sand insisted on taking action himself, Kaede Tsukasa had no reason to stop him.

“If you are killed by the Third Kazekage, I will find a way to revive you. Don’t worry, I won’t turn you into a zombie, but will revive your soul as well,” Kaede Tsukasa said. “Puppet Master zombies are the most useless fighting force to me.”

"You won't have that chance. I'll handle it myself."

The two figures disappeared, returning to Sunagakure once again.

Sasori looked at the endless yellow sand and said, "Why don't you just show up in Sunagakure? With your strength, you don't care about being surrounded after being exposed, do you? You should prefer that kind of situation."

"A slight accident has occurred. There are no more corpses left in Sunagakure. I need to temporarily convert a batch." Kaedeji formed a hand seal and began to use the Corpse Conversion Technique.

Sasori looked up at the plumes of black smoke rising from Sunagakure in the distance and immediately understood.

Cremation—being forced to issue such a policy shows that Sunagakure has suffered a deeply painful blow... The corpses of ninjas, especially powerful ones, are extremely valuable. Not to mention their value for human puppet research, the value of their secret techniques and bloodline limits alone makes the corpses of powerful individuals an important resource.

But now that Sunagakure has adopted cremation as the standard practice, Sasori of the Red Sand revealed a cold smile on his indifferent face. It was truly ironic that the village had become like this.

"That's enough." Kaede Tsukasa opened his eyes again. Forcibly turning a living person into a zombie would require more chakra.

Sasori of the Red Sand made a lame joke: "I've discovered the weakness of your technique: it can't be cast smoothly from too far away. If you could cast the technique from Konoha to Sunagakure, your Corpse Release technique would be perfected."

"That day will come." Kaede Tsukasa took this as a serious suggestion and spoke earnestly, leaving Sasori of the Red Sand speechless.

What Sasori of the Red Sand didn't know was that as long as Kaede Tsukasa didn't die, sooner or later he would advance towards that realm, that is, no matter where he was in the ninja world, as long as he wanted to use his technique, he could transform a life form on the other side of this planet.

This requires an unbelievably large amount of chakra, as well as the ability to instantly perceive the ninja world. In the original timeline, there was one person who could do this—Naruto in Six Paths during the Second Valley of the End.

At that time, Naruto used Sage Mode to absorb almost all the natural energy on the ground in one go. This move alone was incredible. However, it was thanks to this move that Naruto was able to confront Sasuke, who had extracted the chakra of the nine tailed beasts.

Otherwise, relying solely on the half of the Nine-Tails within him, what's the point of fighting? He might as well just give up.

Kaede Tsukasa felt that once he reached the level of Six Paths Naruto, he would be able to instantly transform anyone within the ninja world using long-range techniques, and all living beings within his perception range would become his potential source of soldiers.

Swish!
Kaede Tsukasa led Sasori of the Red Sand into the interior of Sunagakure.

At this time, Sunagakure was in chaos, with ninjas constantly reporting news about zombies in fear, and various screams and the roar of ninjutsu rising and falling.

"Zombies! There are zombies here!"

"Damn it, I saw that living person over there convulsing violently, and then started indiscriminately tearing at the people around him. Does this mean that Kaede Tsukasa has arrived?"

"Hahahaha, let them all perish! They're all going to turn into zombies anyway, these half-dead, half-alive ghouls!"

"I knew Kaede Tsukasa would retaliate. We organized thousands of people to fight him, and he was bound to find an opportunity to attack us. Has he finally come?"

"Everyone stay calm, keep the doors and windows tightly closed, and absolutely do not panic. The village has a complete strategy to deal with this!"

Sunagakure was not unprepared. Even at its worst, it was still a major ninja village. With only the Third Kazekage remaining as its top ninja, it still had a bunch of Jonin and had formed patrol teams ready to clear out the zombies at any time.

But when the time came, chaos was still inevitable.

Sasori of the Red Sand looked at the village in chaos, and the crowds running around everywhere in the streets.

"My original plan was to launch a sneak attack and assassination, not to launch a direct assault like we are doing now."

"Really? I'm sorry, but you'll have to get used to it. This kind of thing will happen a lot more often in the future," Kaedeji said calmly.

With his current strength, it's unrealistic for him to conquer a large ninja village by himself. To quickly convert zombies, he can only target those ninjas who aren't that strong. However, these guys are weak after turning into zombies, and their combat power is also weak, resulting in a weaker infectivity.

However, directly transforming into a powerful ninja would consume an enormous amount of energy, and even after exhausting all that energy, success is not guaranteed. A powerful ninja's chakra reserves and physical strength can easily overwhelm countless Chunin and Genin, making them beings of a completely different level.

Don't underestimate these seasoned ninjas who have been through countless battles. Even when these killing machines are flustered, it doesn't mean they will be so afraid as to abandon their tools of the trade. Their killing skills will still remain.

"Oh? It seems that a very few individuals have already prepared methods to resist my influence... Chakra Cloak?" Kaede Tsukasa looked thoughtfully in a certain direction.

Using chakra to cover the entire body to prevent the virus from invading is a direct and effective countermeasure.

"Go, Scorpion, it's time for you to make your move."

Kaede Tsukasa jumped to the top of a building and sat down cross-legged: "Since you don't like me interfering, then my task is to watch the show, and I will try my best to prevent others from affecting you."

Without saying a word, Sasori of the Red Sand took out two scrolls, and with his meticulously crafted puppet, rushed quickly in one direction.

The Third Kazekage was flying high in the sky, announcing to the entire village that he, the Kage, was in charge. He controlled a large amount of black iron sand, attacking continuously and efficiently clearing away the zombies in an attempt to quell the chaos.

He immediately realized that the purpose of these zombies was to incite chaos and confuse the public; as for how much damage they would actually cause to Sunagakure... absolutely not.

So, Kaedeji's true purpose might be...

Swish!
The moment the Third Kazekage unleashed his iron sand, revealing his body, Sasori of the Red Sand made his move.

Giggling! Giggling!
The puppet's distinctive sound rang out, and when you heard it, it often meant it was too late, because the puppet's speed was faster than the sound!

"Hmph, I expected this."

The Third Kazekage remained expressionless, let out a cold snort, and another batch of iron sand surged from his clothes, condensing into a shield in front of him, ready to engulf the puppet immediately.

The moment the puppet was destroyed, a second puppet emerged from it.

"This is……"

"it's me."

Sasori himself emerged, and one of his hands suddenly burst open, revealing a sharp needle hidden inside. It immediately pierced the Third Kazekage's body, splattering blood.

Even a scratch would be enough. Sasori's main purpose was to poison the Third Kazekage. While the more severe the injury, the better, it doesn't matter if it's not severe.

"This is the first time I've used this body in actual combat. I hope I haven't disappointed you, Lord Kazekage. You didn't expect to die at my hands, did you?" Sasori of the Red Sand said expressionlessly.

He withdrew his hand, the white fleshy mass on the surface of his palm disintegrating, revealing the true puppet structure inside.

The Third Kazekage said coldly, "Sasori of the Red Sand, it seems you have completely become Tsukasa Kaede's lackey, even turning against the village that raised you!"

"Don't be so high and mighty. The village you led has only brought me pain and numbness. Killing you might be a good thing for the village. Besides, I prefer the word 'fellow traveler,' although it's no use telling you now."

Angry? Sasori of the Red Sand showed absolutely no such trivial emotional fluctuations; he was like a cold machine, operating according to predetermined logic.

A massive surge of iron sand erupted, transforming into a giant needle that pierced fiercely towards the Crimson Sand Scorpion.

The battle between Kage-level shinobi has come to an end. If all goes well, this battle will result in Sunagakure losing its last Kage-level shinobi. The next level down, such as Rasa and Pakura, do not yet possess the strength and capacity of a Kage.

However, it may not go very smoothly.

At least in Kaede Tsukasa's observation, although Sasori of the Red Sand gained the upper hand through a sneak attack, he would still need to fight a hard battle to truly kill the Third Kazekage. The most basic requirement was that he not be beaten to death on the spot before the poison in the Third Kazekage's body took effect.

"Magnetic Release, what an impressive bloodline limit." Kaede Tsukasa watched as the black iron sand flying everywhere transformed into all sorts of random weapons, bombarding the earth in dense formations. Moreover, these hastily created weapons were not disposable or static; they could transform into various shapes at any time.

At first glance, the Third Kazekage seems more like a bug controller than the Aburame clan, commanding a swarm of howling "black bugs" in battle.

After dealing with the zombies, some Sand Village ninja planned to join the battle and besiege Sasori of the Red Sand together with the Third Kazekage.

"Ye Cang, you lead the third and fourth units to continue maintaining order in the village. You must cut off the head of every zombie. Those bitten or scratched by zombies must also be beheaded. There must be no one left behind!"

Luo Sha gave the order: "I will lead two teams to Lord Kazekage's side!"

"What? You're not one of the village's higher-ups, what gives you the right to order me around?" Ye Cang was extremely annoyed. "I can go and deal with Kaedeji too!"

Rasa sneered, "Lord Kazekage often keeps me by his side to guide me, and the merits I've made for the village are greater than yours. What are you dissatisfied with? Or do you think your strength can surpass mine? I can use gold dust to cover enemies from a distance. Can the fireballs you create with your Scorching Release achieve such a long-range effect?"

Yecang was about to curse a few times, but the next second he shut his mouth.

Because Kaede Tsukasa arrived, he appeared casually in front of everyone. Although there was only one figure, he was like a mountain, and his huge shadow blocked out all the sunlight.

Everyone knows that when Kaede Tsukasa appears alone, he is definitely not alone.

"I'm truly sorry, everyone, but I cannot allow you to act under my nose. This is a duel between Sasori of the Red Sand and the Third Kazekage, and I will not allow anyone to interfere," said Tsukasa Kaede.

No one dared disobey him; everyone stood frozen in place.

If it were just about helping the Third Kazekage deal with Sasori of the Red Sand, it would be the "simplest" task—no matter how strong Sasori is, he's not as strong as Tsukasa Kaede himself.

But now things are in trouble, as Kaede Tsukasa has surrounded them all by herself.

The Third Kazekage, who was still feeling agitated, glanced over and saw Kaedejima intimidating a large group of people. He was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He realized that the best course of action was to kill Sasori of the Red Sand as soon as possible and then organize the ninja forces to deal with Kaedejima's offensive.

"You're distracted, you idiot."

Sasori seized the opportunity once again: "However, your movements have become sluggish, taking a little longer than I expected, which means you have a stronger body. That's good. I'm even more looking forward to seeing what kind of strength you'll unleash after I turn you into my human puppet."

"Chiyo's secret puppetry technique has fallen into your hands and has actually become a weapon against the village. If Chiyo knew this in the afterlife, she would be ashamed for raising a grandson like you!"

"Is that so? Then I'll send your soul to the Pure Land. Go talk to your grandmother about this and ask her what she thinks. Anyway, neither I nor Kaedeji need your soul," Sasori of the Red Sand said indifferently.

The two figures engaged in an even more intense battle, but from this moment on, Sasori of the Red Sand gradually gained the upper hand. His carefully prepared poison and the puppet parts he equipped were specifically designed to target the Third Kazekage, making his efforts twice as effective.

The battle continued in this bizarre scene, with Kaede Tsukasa alone blocking the ever-growing number of Sand Village ninjas, forcing everyone else to just watch.

It wasn't that no brave individuals stepped forward to launch suicidal attacks against Kaede Tsukasa, but it was useless. Neither ninjutsu, genjutsu, nor sealing techniques were of much use to Kaede Tsukasa in his current state.

Only the constantly evolving zombies, with their howls, speak to the chilling people.

“That’s more like it. If you don’t move, I won’t move either. After all, it will take me a little more time to convert you guys who are already on guard.” Kaede sat down again, his gaze no longer on Rasa and the others, but on Sasori of the Red Sand and the Third Kazekage with great interest.

"Damn it..." Luo Sha and the others clenched their fists, but in the end, none of them dared to move.

Not everyone is afraid of death, but there are things in this world more terrifying than death. If a terrible war were to break out, Sunagakure would be finished, and no one could save it!

Luo Sha and Ye Cang exchanged a glance, both seeing the humiliation in each other's eyes, but they both silently endured it. If the two of them were killed, the village would be in real trouble, and there would be no one left to rely on.

As time went on, Sasori of the Red Sand suffered more and more injuries, but he didn't care about the injuries at all. With each battle, a large number of parts of his body would break off.

Of course, what also exploded was a white mass of flesh whose meaning was unclear to the Third Kazekage and the Sand Village ninja.

The Third Kazekage had long seen through it; Sasori of the Red Sand was no longer human, having transformed himself beyond recognition. He did not believe that the white flesh and blood served only the purpose of disguising himself as a human.

"So that's how it is. Your body doesn't have the 'core' I expected at all. All the white flesh and blood is the core, which you use to create and use chakra!"

"It's too late to realize this now. You wasted too many opportunities in gathering intelligence, and there's no way to salvage the situation," Sasori of the Red Sand said indifferently.

The Third Kazekage felt that if he had made reducing Sasori's flesh size his primary objective from the beginning, the situation wouldn't have turned out so passively, and he might have already defeated Sasori.

This is unavoidable. The Third Kazekage had already made numerous moves during World War II, and most of his information had already been leaked. The stronger a person is, especially a Kage who is the center of attention, the more people will pay attention to them. Every move they make is a leak of their own information, and they are watched and remembered by countless people.

The Third Tsuchikage and the Third Raikage are typical examples. In many battles, they basically played their cards openly, constantly combining the various techniques they had, seizing different opportunities to use the most appropriate tactics to quickly suppress and kill the enemy.

Without some real skills, not just anyone can step up and become a shadow.

Currently, Kaede Tsukasa is in this situation. A lot of information about his techniques has been leaked. He will either come out with a new technique that catches people off guard, or he will make flexible use of the existing techniques, constantly improve his specific tactics, and crush the enemy with his comprehensive strength without any weaknesses.

"Well, the battle is about 40/60, Sasori's advantage is very limited."

Kaede Tsukasa was very relaxed, supporting himself with his hands and leaning his upper body back.

It's hard to say about Sasori's combat experience now, but in terms of endurance and survivability, he is definitely far superior to his counterpart in the original timeline.

Now that he's used up all of his White Zetsu flesh and blood, Sasori can use his summoning technique to summon new flesh and blood that he has prepared. In addition, he has a lot of replaceable puppet parts. As long as he doesn't have all his flesh and blood destroyed at once, causing him to die on the spot, Sasori has become a very troublesome guy by manipulating the puppet parts and White Zetsu flesh and blood.

Finally, under the watchful eyes of many, the Third Kazekage fell from the sky, his body riddled with deadly poison.

"Whether you're truly incapacitated or feigning it, I won't approach you, nor will I give you a chance." Sasori of the Red Sand swung out one of his arms, delivering the final blow to the Third Kazekage.

Large amounts of iron sand lost the control of the magnetic escape and fell to the ground like a torrential rain.

Sasori of the Red Sand did not mind and collected all the iron sand with great care, doing this in full view of everyone, which was extremely humiliating.

But still no one dared to move; to do so would be to throw their lives away.

"You can tolerate this? This village is hopeless. But whatever, I never took you guys seriously anyway."

Sasori walked to Kaede's side and said coldly, "I've done what I needed to do. Let's go. It's painful for me to say another word to these fleeting people."

From the perspective of the Sand Village ninja, Sasori of the Red Sand was so cold-blooded that he had no attachment to many things in the past. Even though he pursued eternal existence, he was too ruthless and thorough in cutting ties with the past.

Kaede Tsukasa nodded calmly: "In this respect, I really can't compare to you. I still have some old feelings for you."

"That's the difference between you and me. I will focus my attention on people like you. If I waste it on other people, I will have to spend extra energy to remember them when they die in the future, which is completely unnecessary."

Sasori of the Red Sand coldly said, "It would be better to send them to the Pure Land as soon as possible. That place can probably enjoy peace for a longer time. The Impure World Reincarnation technique can summon the dead, which means that the souls that enter the Pure Land should live on forever. Those who die at my hands should thank me."

Kaede did not respond. In a way, that should be true. This sanctuary on the planet should be an ideal place for the dead, a place of absolute safety and tranquility.

However, there was one interesting detail in Kaede Tsukasa's memory—when Hashirama Senju was resurrected by Orochimaru for the second time using the Impure World Reincarnation technique, he learned that the Fourth Shinobi World War had broken out and said, "There is war in every world."

Even in the Pure Land, there can be conflict? Kaedeji doesn't know now, but he will in the future.

He wouldn't go to a hellish place like the Pure Land until he had the strength to fight the Sage of Six Paths.

The two figures disappeared from Sunagakure.

Many Sand Village ninja breathed a sigh of relief, some even collapsing to the ground, drenched in sweat, panting heavily, their faces contorted with hatred for their incompetence, self-reproach for their "cowardly" behavior, yet grateful to have survived.

In the years to come, more and more people will feel this way.

"Let's clean up the mess and reorganize the troops. After this, Kaedeji probably won't attack Sunagakure so easily anymore. Our enemies have changed from Kaedeji and Konoha to guys from other ninja villages!"

Luo Sha said in a deep voice, "I have an idea, a way to change the village's predicament... We surrender to Konoha Village, we surrender again!"

(End of this chapter)