Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 136 The Hokage's Despair

In fact, Kaede Tsukasa has always valued Tsunade and Kato Dan as a couple.

After all, he had Kushina, the important Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, in his hands, which ruined the relationship between Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. So, if the next Ashura were to be reincarnated, he could only be reincarnated as a descendant of the Senju.

The Senju and Uzumaki families are closely related, both known for their vitality, and should be considered as a family in a broader sense. Now, most of the Uzumaki are dead, leaving only the Senju.

It is highly likely that he would choose Tsunade, who is powerful and of pure blood, as his birth mother.

Oh, of course, there is another possibility: Ashura might still be reincarnated as a descendant of the Uzumaki clan—that is, Ashura might be born from Karin's mother.

The fragrance is probably gone, but the probability is very low. The purpose of the Asuras is to stop Indra. Wherever Indra goes, the Asuras will go.

Therefore, Kaede Tsukasa hopes that Tsunade and Kato Dan will be safe and sound—but if the two of them insist on hindering him, then there is nothing he can do. He can only choose another Senju or Uzumaki woman to give birth to Ashura.

"No need for anything, I've already been very restrained, senior."

As Maple Knights formed the hand seals, one of the four Shadow-level powerhouses who activated the Four Crimson Sun Formation immediately trembled violently and knelt on one knee, his face showing shock and confusion.

"Broken?! Are you alright?!"

"How is this going?"

"So this is ah……"

Tsunade no longer needed to maintain the Four Red Yang Formation; this top-tier barrier technique had become a joke. She immediately rushed towards Kato Dan, green light emanating from her hands, attempting to suppress the abnormal changes in Kato Dan's body.

The Third Hokage was still staring in utter shock, completely bewildered by what had happened.

This is Kato Dan, who has been certified as a Hokage-level powerhouse since the Battle of the Land of Hot Springs. In particular, his unique Spirit Transformation Technique is a killing weapon.

Such a person actually collapsed in front of Kaedeji Tsukasa in an instant.

"Don't you understand yet, old man? Do you remember that Kato Dan was resurrected by Kaede Tsukasa? Back then, Kaede Tsukasa probably added a lot of good things to Kato Dan's body."

Orochimaru licked his lips, and considering his understanding of Kaede Tsukasa, the slight surprise in his heart dissipated—wasn't this normal? A dangerous guy like Kaede Tsukasa wouldn't really be a pushover for nothing.

Orochimaru said hoarsely, "If Tsunade and Dan hadn't stood up to stop Kaede Tsukasa this time, Dan's problem probably would never have been exposed, or even discovered... No, judging from Tsunade's expression, she seems to have noticed something, but it can't be really certain."

The technology in the ninja world has gradually advanced to the DNA level, and naturally, they have done some research on viruses. As one of the top medical ninjas in the ninja world, Tsunade naturally knows about the zombie virus dormant in Kato Dan's body.

She could sense it by circulating her chakra throughout Kato Dan's body, but she didn't pay attention to it at the time—a resurrection technique, huh? This earth-shattering forbidden technique allowed Kato Dan to be resurrected in a more powerful form. The key was that he was able to successfully resurrect by transplanting a section of the spine of a Explosion Release zombie, and he was also able to master a bit of the Explosion Release bloodline limit.

Isn't it normal to have a little bit of dormant zombie virus in your body? A section of the spine was taken from a zombie, after all!

But now it has become a bomb, instantly shattering the power of the Naruto lineage.

Koharu Utatane exclaimed angrily, "So that's how it is! Kaedeji had already tampered with Kato Dan when he was resurrected, hadn't he? What a vicious heart! There shouldn't be such a ninja in the village!"

That's what they said, but the people present were immediately panicked.

Kato Dan! He's the one most likely to kill Kaede Tsukasa in one fell swoop. As long as he can destroy Kaede Tsukasa's soul consciousness, this battle will be over. This is the real trump card—at least much better than using methods like the Reaper Death Seal!
But now it's all over.

"Tsukasa, did you already prepare to be hostile to the village back at the end of World War II?" The Third Hokage looked at the blue wooden dragon in the sky and asked painfully.

"No, at that time, my most audacious idea was that one day I would be forced by you to leave with what I wanted, whether it was to establish an organization or simply attack a small country and establish a village of my own, it was all fine. But later, this idea changed."

Building your own power from scratch is far less straightforward than simply seizing an existing, powerful force.
Yes, simple and straightforward!
Those who agree to serve him will be generously given whatever they desire by Kaedeji Tsukasa; those who refuse will become zombies; and even those who remain silent will be rewarded with whatever ninja continues to serve Konoha.

The outbreak of World War III was inevitable. The objectively existing sharp contradictions would not disappear out of thin air and must be eliminated with the most brutal killings and the bloodiest results.

The solution is simple: the more people die, the fewer people cause conflict, and the conflict itself will naturally decrease significantly.

Given this trend, it goes without saying what role those who possess resurrection techniques and can revive their own ninjas by killing enemies and taking their corpses will play in the upcoming Third Shinobi World War.

No matter how fearless a person is, they would not refuse the olive branch offered by Kaede Tsukasa. Even if they are not afraid of death, are their relatives and close friends not afraid of death?

A revival slot! This is the most expensive and luxurious commodity in Konoha, and even in the entire ninja world, bar none!

And this precious thing can be obtained sooner or later simply by people nodding and carrying out the task step by step as before!

“What I did may not be exactly glorious, but I can give people far more than you old folks. It’s truly boring to let people like you control this village.”

Kaede looked down at these people as if they were gods: "The ridiculous methods you use, such as manipulating public opinion to suppress the reputation of a certain ninja, all boil down to one reason - you are too weak, pitifully weak, so pitiful that you have lost confidence in yourselves and have to use words to coerce them."

If Kaede Tsukasa were in the Hokage's seat, the kind of thing that involves using public opinion to attack a ninja would never happen.

Because he is stronger than everyone else, he doesn't care whether the growth of anyone else will disrupt the Hokage lineage's control over the village.

"As long as I am the Hokage, this village will always be under my control, and everyone's wish will have a chance to be fulfilled, whether it is resurrection or immortality, it is not a problem."

Kaede Tsukasa opened his arms wide: "I possess the secret of immortality. I have always been here, so everyone's hope remains!"

Swish!
Susanoo Dragon moved. This being, so terrifying in this era, opened its mouth, revealing its dense array of Susanoo teeth, and bit down hard! Boom!

No one chose to take the blow head-on; instead, they scattered and retreated. The wooden dragon's strike slammed into the earth, creating a deafening roar that shook the entire Hidden Leaf Village, and cracks began to spread across the ground.

Kushina's house was completely destroyed, along with the surrounding foundations, but no one cared about such a trivial matter anymore.

That wasn't all. The powerful zombies standing on the wooden dragon silently launched their attack.

This was equivalent to having multiple Kage-level fighters involved, instantly making the situation on the village's side extremely dangerous!
The key point is that Kaedeji Tsukasa doesn't just have these zombies. With a wave of his hand, many more zombies, though slightly weaker, appear. The Konoha ninjas below are also turning into zombies one after another!
The people who originally had an absolute numerical advantage and had indeed surrounded Kaede Tsukasa were now in chaos. In their panic, they had to be wary of those around them and be on guard against their comrades who were fighting just a second ago, who might pounce on them the next second!
"How could this happen? Just a moment ago the situation was so favorable!!"

"This is retribution! How could we attack our own fellow villagers?"

"Even the Hokage and the advisor probably didn't expect things to turn out this way. The tactics we painstakingly devised and executed have become a complete joke!"

The figures were bewildered and helpless. Even though they could still retain their self-awareness, they didn't know what to do next! Should they continue attacking Kaedeji? Leaving aside whether it would be effective, even if it were, attacking their own comrades from their own village...

Only the ANBU and Root ninjas steadfastly carried out their orders. The other survivors were more or less confused, which led to them reducing their frequency of action and prioritizing their own safety.

But this is nothing more than a slow suicide. The number of zombies is increasing, while the number of people like them is decreasing!
"Where are the reinforcements? Why don't we have any reinforcements?!"

"Where will the reinforcements come from? Are we just sending them to their deaths? The more people who come, the less useful they are until Lord Kaedeji's chakra is exhausted! But Lord Kaedeji can replenish his chakra with corpses..."

Some people looked up at the Susanoo dragon and the zombies that kept bursting out of the smoke with popping sounds, and remained silent for a long time.

Is he about to run out of chakra? He's not even drawing power from the corpse to replenish himself. Nobody knows how much chakra Kaede Tsukasa really has!
"Chief, what should we do?"

"That's right, the Senju clan is still fighting. They have a lot of chakra and can protect themselves, but what about us?"

"Should we continue fighting? I still need Lord Kaedeji's help to revive my comrades..."

"Don't panic! Even if you turn into zombies, it's okay. Lord Kaedeji will definitely have a way to restore you to your original state. As long as you can preserve your bodies, you will all have a chance in the future!"

These screams were completely out of control, and even the Hokage couldn't do anything about them.

There's really no other way. If they had any chance, they would have killed Kaedeji long ago. How could the situation have deteriorated to this point? It's precisely because there was no other way that things have turned out this way.

"Ape Demon, you'll have to work hard this time. Transform into the Ruyi Jingu Bang!"

The Third Hokage carried the Monkey King, causing it to extend and twist repeatedly in the air, eventually creating a wall to block the Susanoo Dragon.

This only provides a brief respite, which the numerous zombies will not accept.

Furthermore, an even more despairing scene unfolded for the ninjas of Konoha.

Fenfu flipped over the Ruyi Jingu Bang and jumped in. The tailed beast cloak on his body was getting thicker and thicker, and then... he entered half-tailed beast transformation!

This scene shattered the morale of the ninjas from various clans who were already struggling to resist.

"Wenfuku is dead, so why does he have so much One-Tailed Chakra in his body?!"

"The whereabouts of the One-Tailed Beast is a mystery. It seems that it has indeed fallen into the hands of Kaedeji Tsukasa. Otherwise, Bunpuku would not have been able to have so much chakra to enter the half-tailed beast form... The One-Tailed Beast's situation is probably very bad. It has probably been dismantled."

"Shut up! Can't you see we're in a worse situation?! My chakra is about to run out... Aaaaaaah!!"

Bunpuku charges recklessly. In his half-tailed beast form, he can completely ignore the damage from most of the five elemental ninjutsu. His physical strength is also terrifying; a single charge can cripple a healthy ninja.

Not to mention, there's also Old Purple in his Tailed Beast Cloak form, constantly spewing out magma balls that crash into the Konoha ninja ranks.

Many people don't even have a complete corpse left behind, so they basically have no hope of being resurrected in the future.

Moreover, the rapid onslaught of these powerful zombies, along with a large number of other zombies, exacerbated the chaos among the Konoha ninjas. As a result, the ninjas who were initially able to hold out for a while were now in complete disarray, and even more of them turned into zombies.

In the blink of an eye, the favorable situation collapsed. Faced with absolute power, especially with the intervention of someone like Kaede Tsukasa, the lower and middle-level ninjas were completely helpless and could only scatter and flee.

Tsunade, supporting Kato Dan, looked at the situation that had collapsed in an instant, a deep sense of helplessness on her face.

"That's enough, Tsunade, that's enough. We've done our best..." Kato Dan said with a bitter smile, staring blankly at the sky.

"No! I can still do it. It's just a wooden dragon, I'll just punch it..."

"That's not what I meant. It's just that I feel many familiar things have become unrecognizable to me."

Kato Danmushin said, "I really thought that our actions this time were to drive out Kaedeji Tsukasa. You and I both know very well that this is the best outcome. The village can be preserved, just like before, or even better than before! As long as Kaedeji Tsukasa leaves the village, everything will be ideal as long as we don't let the village list him as a rogue ninja."

Based on their understanding of Kaedeji, once Kaedeji is defeated and expelled, he probably won't return to Konoha for a long time, and he certainly won't attack Konoha mindlessly for mere revenge.

But who would have thought it would turn out like this? How did a battle of coercion and expulsion suddenly turn into a life-or-death struggle? The two people responsible for maintaining the Four Red Sun Formation actually became accomplices in pushing this dangerous situation to the forefront.

(End of this chapter)