Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 126: Starting with Obtaining the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan

surrender?

Given Yekura's fiery temper, she wouldn't do such a thing even in dire straits. She was about to curse, but had to shut her mouth.

It's easy to object, but the hardest part is coming up with a solution after objecting.

Ye Cang said coldly, "According to your statement, Kaedeji wouldn't launch two attacks against us without reason. As long as he doesn't make a move, I will fight back against whoever comes! Sunagakure is only in a temporary predicament. Even though we have lost the Kazekage, the village is still here!"

“A direct confrontation won’t work. If a large-scale war really breaks out, Sunagakure’s current strength is insufficient to protect itself, let alone the Land of Wind. Those nobles won’t be satisfied,” Rasa pondered.

"Your solution is to surrender to Konoha again? Fine, if that's the case—"

"No, we will not surrender to Konoha Village, we surrender to Kaede Tsukasa!"

Luo Sha made a startling statement, and he did so without any apparent psychological burden.

"You're absolutely insane. A ruthless guy like you is probably more suited to be the Kazekage than me... Are you trying to stir up internal conflict in Konoha? If you mess this up, it will trigger a crazy retaliation from Konoha, and we won't be able to stop it."

Yekura frowned, marveling at Rasa's crazy idea, but also realizing that doing so was extremely dangerous.

Rasa sneered, "You and I both know very well that after Kaede Tsukasa killed Bunpuku and suddenly obtained the Wood Release Kekkei, Kaede Tsukasa has been effectively abandoned by Konoha Village... or at least abandoned, otherwise he wouldn't have come out alone to fight against the Kazekage's army of several thousand men."

If there were no internal strife, Luo Sha would have devoured the zombie in front of him whole!

Nobody is a fool. Moreover, assigning extremely difficult missions to offending ninjas to demonstrate the village's power, or even using missions to trick people, are common practices that every ninja village has done to some extent.

Ninjas exist to carry out missions, and it is all too common for them to die on missions.

People like Kakuzu, who carried out an extremely difficult mission to assassinate the First Hokage and survived, only to kill the person who issued the mission the first thing they did upon returning to the village. Such people are extremely rare.

Many rogue ninjas defected because they found that they could not complete missions with extremely high difficulty levels no matter what they did, thus confirming that they were not trusted by the village.

"You've heard about what's been happening in Konoha lately, haven't you? The crazy thing about exchanging resurrection slots has escalated to this point, which speaks volumes. Konoha still hasn't issued any concrete policies, which is unlike the Third Hokage's governing style... Their internal conflicts are already very sharp."

Rasa didn't mind stirring up trouble in any way he could. After all, Sunagakure couldn't remain a subordinate village forever. It had to become an independent great ninja village no matter what. If it couldn't, then it would be better to destroy it.

At least he tried. Rasa felt that after he had dealt with Pakura and become the Fourth Kazekage, he could not possibly accept the reality of Sunagakure's decline. He had to do something.

If things go wrong, then we've done our best, and Luo Sha accepts it.

……

The letter from Sunagakure quickly reached Konoha.

Since the end of World War II, Sunagakure and Konoha have established a communication mechanism, one of which is to use eagles to transmit important intelligence.

In Konoha Village, there are intelligence ninjas who specifically monitor summoning beasts and receive this kind of information. At this moment, while hugging the flying eagle, he pulled out the note from his leg, glanced at it, and was immediately dumbfounded.

"Sunagakure is going to surrender to Kaede Tsukasa of Konoha? They already surrendered once, and now they're doing it again? And to an individual no less, hahaha, those guys are scared!"

"What happened?"

"Ah, Lord Ibiki, this is a letter from Sunagakure."

Ibiki Morino frowned, reading the document repeatedly, realizing that something serious had happened again.

It's worth noting that when the One-Tailed Beast was killed by Kaedeji, Sunagakure mobilized a large force of several thousand troops to the border of the Land of Fire, seemingly preparing for a major battle. However, they were humiliated and forced to retreat by Kaedeji. Beset by internal and external troubles, they did not send such an outrageous letter.

Later, when they were besieged by various forces and Chiyo was captured, Sunagakure did not back down, and the Third Kazekage continued to stand firm.

But now... what exactly happened? The Sand Village has become like this, specifically demanding to surrender to Kaede Tsukasa by name. Could it be that something happened to the Third Kazekage?
Surely it couldn't be that Kaedeji Tsukasa acted on his own again and killed the Third Kazekage without a word, could it?

"I will report to the Hokage immediately. You all remain on high alert and report any new information as soon as possible!"

Ibiki Morino promptly took the letter and went to the Hokage Building.

Just as he had predicted, the news that the Third Kazekage had been killed in full view of the public by the rogue ninja Sasori once again stirred up people's nerves.

There's no need to deliberately gather intelligence to analyze how numb and broken the people in the Land of Wind are. With Sunagakure in such a sorry state, the nobles of the Land of Wind should consider how to allocate military funds to Sunagakure and whether to bring in the strength of other villages to fill the country's missing military strength.

Anyway, since the defeat in World War II, the wealthy people of the Land of Wind have often entrusted Konoha with their missions, which is cheap and efficient. It wouldn't be a bad idea to introduce new external forces all at once.

But in Konoha, this naturally sparked cheers and jubilation from many people.

Damn Sunagakure, what could be happier than losing their beloved strongest Kazekage?
If so, then the news is confirmed, and it was Lord Kaedeji who did this with Sasori of the Red Sand, which would be even more gratifying.

Under the repeated blows of recent years, Sunagakure has become visibly weaker and weaker. Almost every battle results in the loss of a powerful ninja renowned throughout the ninja world, and now it can't produce a single Kage-level ninja.

The vast majority of Konoha residents were delighted to see this.

Only a very small number of people felt bad, or even fearful.

Once again, time after time, Kaedeji Tsukasa acted on his own initiative.

"How many times has this happened? I have no idea..." The Third Hokage let out a long sigh.

If any other ninja dared to do this repeatedly, they would have been labeled a rogue ninja and hunted down by the entire village. A ninja who does not follow orders is not even as good as trash.

To say that Kaedeji is a waste? He has repeatedly weakened Sunagakure, directly or indirectly, to the point that it seems anyone could step on him.

A few years ago, Sunagakure was Konoha's number one enemy, but now it has become such a mess. If the Third Hokage could make up his mind, he could send a huge ninja force to invade Sunagakure in no time.

"If you want to express your dissatisfaction in this way, you don't have to. Everything I do is for the good of the village."

Kaede Tsukasa stood opposite the Third Hokage and spoke calmly.

Gone was the previous caution; only a stillness like a dead lake remained. But it was precisely this stillness that gave the Third Hokage a greater headache.

"You are a Konoha ninja, and you must carry out the village's orders," the Third Hokage said.

“That’s true, but you don’t instruct people like Danzo and Jiraiya who are close to you in this way. At least, saying it and doing it are not the same thing. Not only do I know this, but people from other villages know it too,” Kaedeji Tsukasa replied.

If we're really talking about assigning blame, Danzo and Jiraiya should be considered rogue ninjas, but the Third Hokage never did that, and given his personality, he would never do such a thing.

To say that Kaede Tsukasa would be listed as a rogue ninja? The Third Hokage wouldn't do that unless absolutely necessary; he still wanted to intervene and save him.

"Then, Hokage-sama, may I interpret this meeting as the village's final ultimatum to me?" Kaedeji asked calmly.

The Third Hokage's expression was grave. He subconsciously took two puffs of his pipe, finding the taste incredibly bitter: "You weren't like this before."

"That's because I was weak before, at least not strong enough to make the village feel like it couldn't control me. Now that I've finally become strong, the village is trying to restrain me... Hokage-sama, isn't that wrong?"

Kaede Tsukasa said, "I've become stronger, and my achievements are getting bigger and bigger, so why am I being treated even more unfairly? Is it because of these troublesome and boring political games? This makes me feel less and less at home in this village."

Although there weren't many people at the beginning, there was at least some sense of belonging. As time went by and he formed more and more bonds with the village, Kaede Tsukasa felt that he needed to try other methods instead of defecting.

Since there are so many ties, then control them all; that way, you can solve the problem at its source. "Power has made you lose sight of your original intentions."

“You’re wrong. It’s power that has made you lose sight of your original intentions,” Kaede Tsukasa replied, his tone calm and unhurried, but his firm attitude made the Third Hokage understand everything.

If you push me any further, Kaedeji will really flip the table—although many of the things Kaedeji does are no different from flipping the table.

By recruiting Kakuzu and leading the Sunagakure rogue ninja to hunt down the Third Kazekage, Kaede Tsukasa is expanding his power in his own way, at least in terms of top-tier combat strength, which has forced the village to take him seriously.

The rapidly rising small and elite groups are most lacking in a large number of mid-to-lower-level combat personnel, which Kaede Tsukasa can fill in by himself, making things even more difficult to handle.

"The village will stop all its suppression of you, and you are not allowed to use radical actions to solve problems. You should know that the village ultimately nurtured you, and that will never change. You don't want to see Konoha Village collapse, do you?"

When the Third Hokage said such a thing, it meant that he had compromised and made a humiliating concession to Kaede Tsukasa on behalf of the village, something that had never happened before in the history of Konoha.

It's possible that only Hashirama Senju tried to persuade Madara Uchiha and made some compromises, but Madara Uchiha didn't appreciate it at all and was only focused on realizing the Eye of the Moon Plan and defeating Hashirama Senju.

"I see. Then I'll hold back for now. You and those guys listening in next door know that no matter what I say, it won't be enough to salvage the situation politically, right? Trust between people is a naive thing in politics. Only suppression and control based on interests and power can put your minds at ease."

Kaede Tsukasa's expression remained unchanged: "But you no longer possess the power to suppress me as you used to. On the contrary, if I were to act recklessly, the villages under your rule would experience unprecedented chaos and losses... This is quite interesting. It seems that I have reached a fragile balance with you."

Danzo and his two advisors, who were listening in, were already furious.

Since the founding of Konoha Village, has there ever been a ninja like this? Perhaps only Madara Uchiha would have made such a blatant threat!
Madara Uchiha at least left voluntarily and did not attempt to destroy the village itself. But look at what Tsukasa Kaede is doing. He is in Konoha, yet he openly uses the village's survival as a threat!

Kaede Tsukasa turned and left: "The team I lead must have the right to act independently. You have no right to interfere. Once you cross the line, the fragile balance between the two sides will be broken. Then, no matter what I do, don't complain."

"Enough! Kaede Tsukasa, do you really think the village's power is only what you see? The village has countless secret techniques and numerous clans!"

Koharu Utatane angrily pushed open the door and shouted, "You are not a ninja trained by Konoha with orthodox education. You just joined the village halfway through. You lack the most basic respect for the foundation that our ancestors worked so hard to build. This is simply blasphemy!"

"Then go ahead and blaspheme. I don't care. We could have gotten along well, but you always try to control a power that shouldn't be under your control with clumsy political tricks," Kaedeji said coldly.

Mitokado Homura said in a low voice, "Kazema Tsukasa, you are too extreme. Your blind worship of power makes you just like the second Uchiha Madara! You know Uchiha Madara, right? He and the First Hokage were the ones who pacified the ninja world and implemented the one-country-one-village system, bringing unprecedented changes to the ninja world... Your strength is far inferior to his."

"Ban is dead, but I am alive and will live forever. I am certain of this. As long as there is war and death in this world, I will exist. No matter what you do, you cannot change this reality."

Kaede Tsukasa said, "To be honest, I acknowledge Madara's strength, but I might not be unable to reach his level."

Kaede Tsukasa considers himself a Kage-level powerhouse, but his methods are so unique that they can leave many Kage-level individuals, or even an entire force, helpless. When facing Kaede Tsukasa, they often find themselves on the defensive for various reasons.

By piling up zombies and chakra, Kaede Tsukasa can kill most Kage-level powerhouses, but it's impossible to use this method against Super Kage-level opponents.

The battle between Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha was a true clash of Tailed Beast Balls that flew all over the world. When they were battling like Gundams, even a casual basic attack could easily flatten mountains and change the terrain.

Destroying mountains and rivers, and destroying towns, are things that can be done easily with a simple gesture.

Can Kaede Tsukasa possess such power? Not yet. Even with the fusion of Hashirama's clone, he can only currently unleash the Wood Dragon Technique, which is somewhat useful for entanglement with tailed beasts, but it's still a ways off from reaching the Kage level.

Without special means, Kaede Tsukasa would actually be stuck at the Kage level for a very long time. There are ways to do this, though. Either he could gradually develop the Wood Release bloodline limit within him and unlock the Wood Human Technique, or he could learn Sage Mode.

Or, it's what Kaede Tsukasa has been doing all along: collecting the chakra of the tailed beasts and gradually transforming himself into the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki.

“I have also studied the power that Madara Uchiha possesses, and it is indeed quite impressive. Therefore, I have made up my mind to use my own methods to obtain what Madara possesses… You will see this in the future.”

Kaedeji's gaze lingered on the four people in front of him, then he turned around, pushed open the door, and walked out.

Inside the corridor, two rows of ANBU ninjas were already standing, all motionless, silently maintaining their fixed postures, with faint blue chakra flowing across their bodies from time to time.

They were clearly prepared for battle at any time to deal with any special situation, but when faced with Kaede Tsukasa who came out, they seemed to completely ignore him and remained silent.

Everyone knows that once they make a move, these ANBU ninjas will not have a good ending. However, as long as they can attach a layer of chakra to themselves to deal with Kaede's corruption and quickly attack Kaede, even if it can only play a disruptive role, it will still be meaningful.

Koharu Utatane dispersed her chakra and said sharply, "This guy doesn't have Madara Uchiha's power, but he's even more troublesome than Madara!"

"We don't have the strength of the First Hokage either, which is truly unfortunate news. He got involved in too many things he shouldn't have. Hiruzen, this is a dereliction of duty on your part as Hokage. I propose that from now on, we should refuse excessive involvement of outsiders in village affairs. Only those we have personally trained can be trusted," Danzo said.

Adopting war orphans and training them into useful tool-like ninjas is something every ninja village does, but from now on, Konoha Village probably won't do this anymore, for fear of creating another Kaedeji.

The Third Hokage did not respond, but let out a long sigh. The situation was getting out of control, and he was in great pain.

Why did using the most common methods on Kaede Tsukasa elicit such a strong response from him? Shouldn't he have simply accepted it and continued to be seen as a hero of Konoha?

"What should we do about the resurrection slots?" Mitomon Homura said in a deep voice. "This is that guy's strongest weapon for manipulating people's hearts. Apart from this, we can achieve everything he has done in various ways, except for resurrection."

"His silence on this matter speaks volumes about his stance, and it has become his primary means of controlling the village. Unless the village can quickly crack his Corpse Release technique and cultivate Corpse Release ninjas under our command, we can at least make full use of many of his techniques, even if we don't expect him to perfectly replace Kaedeji."

"That Hidan?"

"Trying to win over his disciples... Hidan isn't very bright, so it might be one way, but don't get your hopes up too high. Hidan isn't afraid of death at all, and he won't be influenced by techniques like the Tongue Trouble Seal. We don't have a way to attract and control Hidan."

The four fell silent again, feeling only agitated—why was Kaedeji so rebellious?

Moreover, he actually dared to claim that he wanted to possess the power of Uchiha Madara. Such treasonous remarks and his open ambition to pursue a forbidden title are simply unforgivable!
Danzo, however, had an unpredictable expression. He wanted to obtain the power that Madara possessed... It couldn't be a simple power level, could it be the Mangekyou Sharingan?
He knew that Kaede Tsukasa had also taken the Sharingan from the Uchiha clan and had already used it in battle.

But then he thought about it again. Even he, a disciple of the Second Hokage, could only study the three-tomoe Sharingan and was powerless to reach the realm of the Mangekyou Sharingan. At most, he could only stare at the young Obito, hoping to obtain a Mangekyou-level eye from him.

What gives Kaede Tsukasa the right to do this?
……

"There shouldn't be any problems for the time being, and the village has decided to give them some face."

Kaede returned home and announced the matter to the people in front of him: "However, it's only a matter of time before things fall apart. The village will never allow a force like mine, which has no scruples, to exist for long. They just haven't found a good way to deal with me yet."

"Hmph, you should just do what I did to Takigakure back then, and kill those who make you angry and dissatisfied. Even if the opponent is the Hokage, we have the power to kill him," Kakuzu said.

"Now that you've joined my team, you should maintain basic patience, at least in front of me. I've paid you, and I won't stop you from taking other jobs."

Kaede Tsukasa said, "I'm going to do something that will make good use of this time... If all goes well, I'll get a good pair of eyes to improve one of my current weaknesses."

His weakest point is his Sharingan.

The ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan was no longer enough to satisfy Kaede Tsukasa; only the more advanced Mangekyou Sharingan would do. He had been planning this for a long time, and now he could finally begin to work on it.

Over the past few years, with the growth of his strength and the improvement of his intelligence gathering ability, Kaede Tsukasa has confirmed one thing: the world he lives in is more in line with the timeline of the manga.

There are no such things as demons in this world, so Indra probably doesn't have the Mangekyou Sharingan, and Ashura doesn't have the True Thousand Hands.

But there is one thing that exists in both the manga and anime timelines and has the same effect, and that is... the Six Paths Treasure that the Grass Country, the neighboring country to the northeast of the Rain Country, secretly possessed—the Box of Elysium!
Kaede Tsukasa's idea was simple: since he couldn't obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan through normal means, he would take a different approach. Rather than waiting many years to obtain the eyes of Shisui, Itachi, Sasuke, and others, he would rather further explore the secrets of this world.

Steal the Paradise Box from the Land of Grass, then make a wish and obtain the Mangekyou Sharingan.

However, there is a problem: opening the Chest of Elysium requires special conditions.

"According to Mei Terumi's statement during the Five Kage Summit in the original timeline, Kusagakure attempted to use the Box of Paradise to wage war, but ultimately led to the destruction of the entire country... Now it's probably almost time."

(End of this chapter)