chapter 125 part 1
Chapter 124: Do I, Obito, Look Like an Idiot, Easy to Fool?
The 44th year of Konoha was destined to be a turbulent one.
That year, the Third Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village officially enacted a policy encouraging ninja within the village to kill each other, promoting survival of the fittest, causing the Hidden Mist Village to gradually earn the moniker "Bloody Mist" from the world.
Every ninja who emerged from that village had their comrades' blood on their hands.
The world's attention should have been focused on the Hidden Mist Village, sending spies to infiltrate and gather intel, thoroughly evaluating whether this policy had strengthened or weakened the Hidden Mist Village's power.
At the very least, the number of ninja had decreased, but whether a significant increase in quality could compensate for the quantitative loss was something no one could guarantee.
Yet, the reality was that various countries and villages were all closely watching the Hidden Leaf Village, even knowing that major changes were occurring in the Hidden Mist Village, they merely relegated its importance to a secondary position.
The Hidden Leaf Village's policy was the true game-changer! "Revival slots? Can such a thing even be offered as a 'reward'?"
"This is too much, such a thing is simply unreasonable! What do they take life and death partings for?! Are they making ninja repeatedly jump back and forth between the Living World and the Pure Land?!"
"So envious — no, I mean, as expected of an inherently evil Corpse Release ninja, wantonly toying with death!"
For other villages, the Small Ninja Villages were manageable; they weren't direct hostile forces for the Hidden Leaf Village to deal with, at most participating in wars as subordinate forces to other Great Ninja Villages. At this moment, they were consumed by envy, jealousy, and resentment, wishing they could become Konoha ninja and enjoy such treatment.
The perception of the other Great Ninja Villages was far from pleasant; anyone with a brain realized how outrageous this matter was.
Resurrection, something like that, could be exchanged through a Merit System?! Was this logical? The greatest event in life was death, and nothing else was as important. But if even death could be reversed, this world would truly become too complex.
Even more complex, and what plunged them into an ice abyss, was that the one who mastered this method was a Konoha ninja, and the cost of performing the jutsu was surprisingly "cheap"! Consuming corpses? Corpses were practically everywhere. Although it was unknown how many corpses or what caliber of corpses were needed, the mere act of consuming corpses was too unacceptable for people.
"Even if he uses Corpse Release to perform the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu, it couldn't possibly be easy; there must be restrictions and flaws. There's no such thing as a perfect Forbidden Jutsu in this world, let alone a Resurrection Jutsu!"
Spies from various villages poured into the Hidden Leaf Village frantically, making Konoha, already in an uproar, even more complex and chaotic.
The outside world reacted this way, but the Hidden Leaf Village, at the center of the storm, was practically exploding. Its feverish intensity made every newcomer feel as if they were melting! Resurrection! This was resurrection, a chance for a second life, and there was even a real-life example like Dan Kato to testify!
Who wouldn't want to be resurrected? Who didn't have loved ones they wished to resurrect? Risking their lives to execute missions and protect the Village, wasn't it all to ensure their comrades lived better? This was the Will of Fire! "As expected of Tsukasa Kaede-sama, such a strong Will of Fire truly inspires admiration!"
"I remember you were cursing him pretty fiercely before, weren't you?"
"No such thing, don't slander me!"
"Resurrection, wow, my deceased comrades can be saved!"
"My dead dog can be brought back too, right?"
"The prerequisite is to accumulate enough merit. How much merit is enough, exactly? That depends on what policy the Village decides to enact."
"The Village... that's the real problem. You guys haven't understood at all."
Most people were caught in the frenzy, with only a very few maintaining clear minds, filled with worry.
Normally, for such an important matter, the Third Hokage should have made the announcement. This was a great opportunity to rack up prestige, yet the Third Hokage didn't show up; instead, Tsukasa Kaede released the news himself!
What did this signify? Considering the previous public opinion, with voices everywhere attempting to coerce Tsukasa Kaede...
The Village's internal conflicts were growing increasingly intense, to the point where they were out in the open.
The Higher-ups also realized this. Tsukasa Kaede was expressing his anger and dissatisfaction in the most direct way, with no intention of suffering injustice in silence, but instead confronting them head-on, absolutely refusing to back down an inch.
As for exchanging merit for revival slots...
"If it can be achieved, it would also be a good thing for the Village. Many comrades would be saved, and the Village's overall strength would increase." The Third Hokage exhaled smoke; he hadn't expected things to escalate to this point.
"Unless the Village takes full control and decides who gets resurrected, it will be trouble!"
Danzo also attended this meeting, his words as aggressive as ever: "I told you long ago, Hiruzen, you'll regret this!"
The Third Hokage didn't get angry, but said coldly: "Do you not regret it? Were you truly completely ignorant of Tsukasa Kaede's use of the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu to increase his Chakra reserves? What was he doing, and what were you doing, in the five months before you sent him to the Land of Rain to find Jiraiya?"
Danzo fell silent.
Many things couldn't stand scrutiny, especially now that Tsukasa Kaede was playing open cards. A large amount of intel was laid bare, and by reverse-engineering the process from the current results, one could even guess and infer many past events.
For instance, what did Tsukasa Kaede do to suddenly leap from an extremely weak Genin to a powerful ninja unrestrained by physical conditions and Chakra reserves, constantly able to display the power of Corpse Release? The answer was the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu.
"We can mobilize the Village's forces for an Annihilation Campaign against Tsukasa Kaede. No matter how much Chakra he has, he couldn't possibly withstand the power of the entire Village."
Danzo snorted coldly, throwing a piece of intel onto the table: "The identity of the person who entered the Village with Hidan has been ascertained: the Bounty Hunter Kakuzu. He's rumored to have assassinated the First Hokage, and is likely also a powerful Hokage-level ninja. Tsukasa Kaede hiring such a character without reporting it to the Village — isn't that obvious?"
"If that's truly the case, then it means he's prepared to turn hostile." Koharu Utatane said sharply, shocked and furious, "What exactly does he want to do? He doesn't report anything he does to the Village; he's even worse than Danzo!"
Danzo glared at Koharu Utatane with a fierce gaze.
To be fair, if Danzo had Tsukasa Kaede's strength, he felt he would act even more outrageously, long ago overturning the table and contending for the Hokage position, even if it meant killing the Third Hokage, he would not hesitate.
But ironically, he lacked that strength, and lacking strength, to some extent, it made him appear even more fiercely loyal to the Village. It was too ironic.
Homura Mitokado looked at the other three; they had weathered decades of storms together and had enough trust in each other. He immediately said: "Force isn't the answer. Even if we really kill him, how much will we lose? How many comrades will turn into Zombies, wandering aimlessly in the Village? How much will it cost to wipe out these Zombies?"
"If he dies, won't the Zombies disappear?"
"How can you prove that if he dies, the Zombies will automatically die? We all know that the power he uses to make corpses move is a special virus driven by Chakra. If Tsukasa Kaede, the jutsu user, dies, will the Chakra virus just vanish into thin air? The corpses themselves also have Chakra, which can sustain the virus's existence!"
The office fell silent, everyone frowning deeply.