Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 127 You've driven me crazy? But my madness far surpasses that of your divine artifact!
The Box of Elysium is a wonderful thing, possessing real and undeniable power, but it is also extremely dangerous, often serving as a symbol that "the desire for war will lead to destruction."

The destruction of the Grass Kingdom because of the Box of Elysium is a bloody and true reflection of this.

But for Kaede Tsukasa, he wasn't afraid of how dangerous things were; as long as they could help him, they were the best things available.

Sasori, who had been keeping his head down, writing and drawing on the unfolded scroll, looked up and said, "If there are any new plans, I can't help you. My main task right now is to turn the Third Kazekage into my puppet."

“I didn’t plan to ask you to help. Just continue doing what you want to do. Remember not to reveal your whereabouts easily, lest you be surrounded and attacked by the villagers,” Kaedeji said.

Sasori was relieved and continued to focus on his calculations, determined to maximize the power of the Third Kazekage.

It would be best to become stronger.

Kaede looked at the group of people in front of him. Once he got the glasses he wanted, these people would be good helpers to him.

“I already know that Sunagakure has surrendered to me personally, but the village has no intention of discussing the next steps with me. It’s clear that they want to let this matter drop, which is within my expectations.”

Kaedeji said, "I have already arranged for a zombie to give orders to Sunagakure, requiring them to carry out a reconnaissance mission. Now it's time for Sunagakure to show their loyalty. If the village sends someone to contact and recruit you, you all know what to do."

Swish!
Kaede Tsukasa's figure disappeared.

Kakuzu looked at the menacing zombie before him: "Let's go. This guy always likes to say strange things, all mysterious. How about it, do you want to come with me to make some money?"

Sasori put down the scroll in his hand and said coldly, "Although I haven't spent much time with you, based on my understanding of you, I'm afraid I'll be killed by you the moment I leave Konoha."

"That's true, after all, as the number one rogue ninja of Sunagakure, your value is beyond imagination, and the Third Kazekage you possess is also very valuable..."

"Sunagakure is almost finished, so don't expect them to come up with much of a bounty."

“Isn’t it not over yet? Sunagakure is still the highest military institution in the Land of Wind on paper. Sunagakure may be out of money, but the Land of Wind can.” Kakuzu was somewhat excited. “Even if things get really bad, other countries and villages are willing to pay for the two of you.”

Don't be fooled by the claim that the Land of Wind is poor; it's because it's a large and powerful nation. It also depends on who you compare it to. Compared to smaller countries like the Land of Grass, the Land of Rain, and the Land of Hot Water, it's incredibly wealthy in terms of overall size.

Kakuzu urged, "And even if you die, I'll find a way to steal your body and have Kaede Tsukasa revive you. That way we can get money for free. Just thinking about it makes me incredibly excited."

"I'm not interested, and our team isn't short of money, is it? There's a money-printing machine living in the room next door to you." Sasori of the Red Sand found Kakuzu too boring and noisy.

He was someone who had mastered the art of immortality, had assassinated the First Hokage, and had gone through so many ups and downs over the years, yet the truth of life he came up with was just making money.

What kind of outrageous statement is this? Are you sick in the head?
However, no matter how much Sasori curses in his heart, he will never say it out loud, because he respects the skills that others pursue.

Kakuzu's expression twisted beneath his mask, a sign of extreme excitement: "There's no conflict. She keeps printing money, and I'm making extra money with her. As far as I know, her work ethic is at its peak. She's clearly someone who understands the value of money. Even if I force her, I can't make her produce more explosive tags in the same amount of time."

Although their immortal squad has only existed for a short time, Kakuzu is definitely the one who respects Konan the most among them. He holds great enthusiasm and respect for everyone who has mastered the secrets of money.

Konan's face darkened; she had no intention of paying any attention to the two of them. She wasn't immortal either, and she was already out of place with everyone else. All she could think about was working hard and completing her mission targets before immediately returning to Yahiko and Nagato's side.

I wonder how they are doing now. After attacking Sunagakure... they must be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Sunagakure has been crippled by Kaedeji's repeated attacks, so they probably don't have much strength left to cause trouble for them.

Xiao Nan felt that this was one of the few good things Kaedeji had ever done.

……

The Land of Grass is a small, unassuming country.

Located in the northeast of the Land of Rain, it is sandwiched between the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire.

Because the Land of Rain is surrounded by three great powers, it often becomes a battlefield between the three nations. This draws away a lot of firepower from neighboring small countries like the Land of Grass, giving the Land of Grass more breathing room. This is undoubtedly a stroke of luck for the Land of Grass.

However, this good fortune is built upon the strategic plans of the major powers. If they are not careful, they will be crushed to dust. As a result, the Grass Country has to switch back and forth between the Earth Country and the Fire Country, and can only exist as a vassal state.

As the highest military institution in the Land of Grass, Kusagakure would certainly not accept this fate willingly.

The people of small countries toil their entire lives, and after satisfying their own basic needs for survival, most of the value of their output is taken away and ultimately falls into the hands of larger countries.

The ninjas of smaller ninja villages are no exception. As vassal forces of larger ninja villages, these ninja units, painstakingly assembled from scratch, are often sacrificed on the battlefield, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Using the lives of ninjas from small ninja villages to reduce the casualty rate of one's own comrades and increase the casualty rate of the enemy is definitely worthwhile. After all, the ninjas from small ninja villages are like wheat in the field; they can be harvested repeatedly and will always grow back in an endless stream.

Being a ninja is the noblest profession on this planet. Every commoner longs to become a ninja, and they will seize any opportunity to do so, even if it means becoming a resource for a great ninja village.

Whether they'll regret becoming a ninja the moment they become consumables is another matter entirely.

Normally, as long as there is no Ninja World War, the situation in the Land of Grass will be relatively stable, with at most some bandits and thieves appearing.

But now, things are not quite right.

Because the Sand Village sent a force that recklessly stormed into the Land of Grass, occupying town after town, ruthlessly plundering all kinds of valuable items, turning the rich into paupers, and taking away even the poor. If they encountered ninjas who gave up resistance, it was even worse; they would immediately pull them into their ranks and rob them together.

It's like a locust swarm has swept through.

Face? The Sand Village is in such a terrible state, what face do we still need? Opportunities like this are rare.

"Wow, what happened? How did a layer of this town suddenly disappear? What happened?"

"It was done by the people of Sunagakure. They brought loads of sealing scrolls into our country, claiming that they were hired by Konoha's ghoul, Tsukasa Kaede, to carry out a mission in the Land of Grass."

"This is absurd! Konoha ninjas issue missions to Sunagakure's troops, and the thing is, these guys from Sunagakure actually accepted them?!"

"Under the guise of carrying out a mission, they are actually conducting military—no, looting operations. The key is that they actually dare to take on such a job, and they even have the nerve to admit it. Is this what a great ninja village is like?"

Nobody believed it.

It's normal for ninja villages in one's own country to accept employment from people in other countries; this is a common occurrence in the ninja world.

For the same mission, some ninja villages offer cheaper commissions than others. Employers cannot only consider the monetary factor; they must also consider the strength of the ninja village accepting the mission and what level of ninjas they can send to carry it out.

But to handle a mission like Sunagakure is truly unprecedented. They've completely abandoned all sense of shame. Who accepts a mission like this? It's clearly a real military operation.

However, the people of the Land of Grass also realized that Sunagakure had no shame at all. After all, it was about to fall out of the ranks of the Five Great Ninja Villages. In terms of high-end combat power, it was probably already lagging behind Amegakure, which had Hanzo in charge, and Takigakure, which had the Seven-Tails in charge.

In addition, the number of ninjas in the middle and lower ranks far exceeds that of the smaller ninja villages, resulting in enormous financial pressure. As a result, the support from the Land of Wind to Sunagakure has declined sharply, leaving Sunagakure with no choice but to find its own way to make money. It can't rely entirely on Rasa panning for gold in the desert.

"Hey, Sunagakure, what kind of great ninja village is that? It's already finished. I think the Land of Wind should find another ninja village to support."

Some perceptive individuals had already considered this point, and some smaller ninja villages may have already made their own plans.

If Sunagakure is useless, then let's disband it, find another ninja village, rebuild the army, reorganize and redistribute the various secret techniques, and train new people.

As for whether the Land of Wind will eventually annex the Land of Grass? It's not impossible, but the probability is extremely low.

A striking feature of the territories of today's five major powers is that they do not directly border each other!
Along the border between the two countries, there is either the sea or small countries that serve as a buffer zone, which is the default middle battlefield. These small countries are used as blood bags to be drained by the large countries. Otherwise, how would these small countries have survived to this day?

Moreover, the Land of Grass really doesn't have any precious specialties or powerful secret techniques. It's as ordinary as can be. It's not even a tourist destination like the Land of Hot Springs, and it doesn't have much economic benefit. The Land of Wind wouldn't easily annex the Land of Grass.

This sudden action left the people of the Grass Country both fleeing for their lives and utterly bewildered.

The most nervous people were undoubtedly the ninjas of Kusagakure.

"What's going on? Why are those guys from Sunagakure targeting us?"

"Could it be that the Four-Tails is going to be resurrected in our Land of Grass? No, maybe it's the One-Tails. The One-Tails' Jinchuriki has been missing ever since he was captured, and he might already be dead."

"Damn it, why did it have to be this time!"

"The Sand Village's marching route has been determined; they're heading straight for our Grass Village. The towns along the way were merely caught in the crossfire and were simply looted by the Sand Village people!"

The leaders of Kusagakure were not only angry, but also terrified.

Any small ninja village that is directly targeted by a major ninja village will feel panicked—don't be fooled by the fact that Sunagakure seems to be in a terrible state, without even a Kage-level ninja.

Unfortunately, the Hidden Grass Village also lacked a Kage-level ninja, and its leader was merely an elite Jonin, completely unable to directly confront the thousands of troops sent by the Hidden Sand Village.

"Chief, could it be that information about 'that thing' has been leaked and found out by Sunagakure?"

"No, Sunagakure claims to be carrying out a mission issued by Kaedeji. They shouldn't dare to act recklessly in Kaedeji's name in this kind of matter."

Who doesn't know that Sunagakure, once an invincible great ninja village, was almost completely destroyed by Kaede Tsukasa after several battles?

It's said they've surrendered to Konoha again, but now it seems more like they've surrendered to Kaedeji personally—but the people of Kusagakure don't want to get involved in these political games between major ninja villages, nor are they qualified to understand them. "Let's prepare for the worst. We absolutely cannot give away the Sage of Six Paths' weapon, which we painstakingly found and unearthed during World War II, so easily!"

The leader of Kusagakure had a mad glint in his eyes: "Sunagakure is weaker than ever before, which is also our opportunity! We don't need to help the Land of Grass conquer other countries, let alone invade the Land of Wind. We just need to replace Sunagakure and become the new ninja village of the Land of Wind."

If this drags on any longer, he is very worried that Sunagakure will have a new Kage-level powerhouse—Rasa and Pakura are both famous geniuses who also possess bloodline limits. In addition, given Sunagakure's various secret techniques and training mechanisms, it is not impossible.

To change the status and fate of Kusagakure, we must seize the opportunity now and directly possess Sunagakure. The difficulty level has been reduced to an unprecedented level!

"Pass on my command: activate the Chest of Ecstasy!"

“But, Chief, according to the intelligence we’ve gathered, activating this artifact requires a living sacrifice…”

"Fool! Sunagakure is robbing people from this country. If outsiders can do it, why can't we, our own people, do it too? We'll rob them too! We'll start with the villagers of Kusagakure, then the population of neighboring towns, and even the ninjas! One ninja is worth hundreds or thousands of civilians!"

The higher-ups of Kusagakure have taken action; once a small ninja village makes up its mind, its execution is quite remarkable.

As countless screams and wails rang out, countless people were driven together by the Kusagakure ninja and handed over to the Box of Bliss to be devoured.

The Box of Bliss is like a giant black hole cube, breathing in and out at a predetermined rhythm, digesting countless living people with each breath.

One hundred people were sent in, but there was no reaction; another thousand were sent in, and there seemed to be some change, but not much; ten thousand people were sent in, and the Box of Bliss finally responded, but it was far from enough!

Not enough! The Chest of Elysium wants to devour even more living people!
Now that things have come to this, they are in a difficult situation. With Sunagakure pressing them relentlessly, Kusagakure is like a gambler who has lost everything and is desperately betting everything in their hands, hoping to turn the tables and get back everything they have lost, with interest.

But how could that be? If the Box of Bliss were so easy to deal with, it wouldn't be the most sinister and forbidden artifact.

As a result, the people of Kusagakure went even more frantically to search for people everywhere and fill them up.

So much so that sometimes when the people of Sunagakure enter a town, they are surprised to find that there are hardly any people left, but a lot of valuables remain, and judging from the traces, it seems that they were hastily driven away.

"Something's not right." As the commander in charge, Yekura immediately became alert.

She's just a bit short-tempered, not stupid; she does have basic intelligence analysis skills.

"Kusagakure is also relocating its population? Their relocation is pointless and will only anger us, unless it will bring them more favorable results."

Yecang couldn't understand it. She knew that Kaedeji's inexplicable attack on Kusagakure must have been part of a conspiracy.

Whether it's testing the sincerity of Sunagakure's surrender, further weakening the number of Sunagakure's ninjas, or creating new enemies for Sunagakure, all are possible and understandable.

Yekura didn't want to do this, but she had no choice; she couldn't give Kaedeji an excuse to attack Sunagakure again.

This led to the situation where, after invading the Land of Grass, they looted while slowly advancing.

But now it seems that this offensive rhythm has led the Hidden Grass Village to make some strange moves.

Unless... this is the result that Kaedeji wanted to see.

Yekura felt that her intelligence was improving rapidly. Although she couldn't compare to Rasa, she was already able to think about problems independently.

Yekura was right; this was indeed the result Kaedeji wanted to see, or more accurately, it was even better than he had anticipated.

Kaede Tsukasa has entered the Land of Grass and is now patiently watching the now utterly silent Grass Village in the distance.

This deathly silence was all too familiar to Kaedeji Tsukasa.

"It has already begun. My timing in intervening was not bad."

Kaede Tsukasa nodded secretly. According to the normal course of events, the Grass Country would be destroyed because of the Box of Elysium.

But they will be rebuilt in the future. These small countries, which serve as buffer zones, will not be easily annexed by any major power, thus avoiding arousing the vigilance of other major powers.

Kaede Tsukasa ordered the people of Sunagakure to attack the Land of Grass in order to force Sunagakure to activate the Box of Bliss and firmly grasp the rhythm of the battle.

He was observing, using the lives of the ninjas of Kusagakure and the civilians of the Land of Grass to assess the danger level of the Box of Bliss.

Judging from the eventual destruction of the Grass Country, small countries were unable to control the Box of Bliss. Kaede Tsukasa wondered if the number of people put into the Box of Bliss was insufficient.

"It seems that Grass Village has run out of ideas. I want to help them out."

Kaede Tsukasa leaped into the air and entered Kusagakure, approaching the Box of Bliss step by step.

Unlike the anime timeline, in the current manga timeline, there is no Hozuki Castle, and there is no demon named Satoru in the Box of Paradise. The Box of Paradise is located in Kusagakure Village and is a divine artifact that is easily overlooked.

Kaede Tsukasa strolled leisurely, making no attempt to conceal himself, much like a tourist taking a leisurely walk, which led the Kusagakure ninjas to surround him immediately.

"who!"

"I've never seen this guy before. Is he a spy from Sunagakure?"

"Perfect timing! Grab them and throw them into the Box of Bliss! Every ninja is precious now; it would be best to hand over all the ninjas of Sunagakure to the Box of Bliss to devour!"

The Kusagakure ninjas had ferocious expressions, but soon, one by one, they began to convulse, forcibly transformed into zombies by Kaedeji Tsukasa.

"How pathetic. Standing in front of me, they didn't even create chakra to protect themselves... If it were the guys from Sunagakure, they would never make such a mistake."

The ninjas of the small village are too honest and lack a good beating. They'll easily be taken advantage of by Kaedeji Tsukasa without even realizing it.

Unlike the guys from Sunagakure, who are repeatedly beaten and those who survive are mostly experienced and have some brains.

However, given their strength and the enormous consumption of chakra they rely on for self-protection, the Chunin and Genin often exhaust their stamina and energy without them needing to make a move, making them easier for Kaede Tsukasa to finish off.

As Kaede Tsukasa walked, the group behind him gradually grew larger, and the few remaining Kusagakure ninja eventually gathered around him.

"What's going on? Why aren't they continuing to provide live people? How can they be so negligent!"

The leader of Kusagakure flew into a rage: "Whoever fails the mission can jump into the Box of Ecstasy themselves—who are you?"

"The one who sent you into the box of bliss."

Kaede Tsukasa replied, and in an instant, he appeared behind the other person, grabbed their shoulder, and stopped them from escaping.

"The Konoha Ghoul? Why would someone as important as you come to a small village like ours? The Sand Village attacked us for no reason..."

"It was me too. I encountered some things in Konoha and got a period of time that I don't know how long it will last. I didn't want to wait idly, so I had to ask you to make do."

Kaede Tsukasa pushed the leader of Kusagakure towards the Box of Ecstasy.

The leader of Kusagakure tried to resist, but even the most basic strength and speed were meaningless in front of Kaede Tsukasa at this moment.

"Hmm, this thing seems to have come to life. As expected of the ninja world's version of the wish-granting machine, it's pretty good."

Kaede Tsukasa observed closely.

He could sense the thoughts emanating from the Box of Bliss—a desire for more.

Along with this surge of thought, which seemed to gather the most wicked and negative aspects of human nature, it was constantly eroding Kaedeji's heart.

There are no demons in the Box of Bliss, or rather, the thing itself is a different kind of demon.

"Hmph, a weapon that absorbs chakra and the negative aspects of humanity to exert its effects is completely different from things like the Amber Purification Bottle. No wonder it was abandoned. Moreover, it has such a huge appetite and seems insatiable."

Kaede stepped forward and placed one hand on the Box of Ecstasy. Malice, wailing, ugliness, and filth surged a hundredfold, and swarmed towards Kaede.

This is enough to drive a person insane, somewhat similar to the madness of the Uchiha clan members when they obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Indeed, but it's of no use to me, because... I went mad many years ago, and my madness far surpasses yours!"

Kaede Tsukasa snorted coldly, completely unaffected.

As for the darkness and despair in his heart, he had experienced more than ten years of endless life-and-death struggles. How could a small box of bliss possibly deceive him?

"Your darkness is too immature to fulfill my wish, so let me lend you a hand... Let's start with these ninjas from the Land of Grass and the Hidden Sand Village."

(End of this chapter)