chapter 126 part 1
Chapter 125: One Man Holds a Village in Check
Sasori of the Red Sand could rely on Tsukasa Kaede to achieve eternal life, but Sasori of the Red Sand clearly didn't want to. He still clung to his own art, striving for eternity through Human Puppets.
Theoretically, he had already somewhat succeeded. With Tsukasa Kaede's help, he mastered the necessary techniques faster than in the original timeline, and planned to attack the Third Kazekage more than two years earlier.
"Do you need my help? I've fought the Third Kazekage before. His Magnet Release is extremely troublesome, and he's a remarkably powerful ninja. Most Kage-level individuals can't do anything against him," Tsukasa Kaede said casually.
"...You're truly greedy. You've already acquired Bunpuku, and now you want the Third Kazekage too?"
"That's not what I mean, though I understand what you're trying to say... Alright, I'll leave it to you, and I'll observe."
With over two years of development time separating them, Tsukasa Kaede couldn't be certain if Sasori of the Red Sand could defeat the Third Kazekage now. However, since Sasori of the Red Sand insisted on doing it himself, Tsukasa Kaede had no reason to stop him.
"If the Third Kazekage kills you, I'll find a way to resurrect you, don't worry. I won't turn you into a zombie, but will resurrect you along with your soul," Tsukasa Kaede said. "Puppeteer zombies are the most useless combat power to me."
"You won't get that chance. I'll handle it myself."
Their figures vanished, reappearing in the Hidden Sand Village once more.
Sasori of the Red Sand looked at the swirling yellow sand in the sky. "Why not appear directly inside the Hidden Sand Village? With your strength, you wouldn't care about being surrounded after exposure, would you? You enjoy such occasions the most."
"There was a slight accident. There are no more corpses inside the Hidden Sand Village. I need to temporarily convert a batch now," Tsukasa Kaede said, forming hand signs with one hand, already beginning to use the Zombification Jutsu.
Sasori of the Red Sand looked up at the plumes of black smoke rising from the distant Hidden Sand Village and immediately understood.
Cremation. To be forced into such a policy, the Hidden Sand Village must have suffered a truly devastating blow... The corpses of ninja, especially powerful ninja, are extremely valuable. Aside from their worth in Human Puppet research, their value alone in secret techniques and bloodline limits makes the corpses of strong individuals a vital resource. Yet, the Hidden Sand Village was now uniformly implementing cremation. A cold sneer appeared on Sasori of the Red Sand's indifferent face. It was truly ironic how the village had come to this.
"Done," Tsukasa Kaede said, opening his eyes again. Forcibly turning living humans into zombies required more chakra.
Sasori of the Red Sand quipped, "I've discovered a flaw in your jutsu: you can't cast it effectively from too far away. If you could cast it from the Hidden Leaf Village all the way to the Hidden Sand Village, your Corpse Release secret technique would truly be perfected."
"That day will come," Tsukasa Kaede replied seriously, taking it as a genuine suggestion, which in turn left Sasori of the Red Sand speechless.
What Sasori of the Red Sand didn't know was that as long as Tsukasa Kaede remained alive, he would eventually advance towards that level—the ability to convert any life form on the other side of the planet, no matter where he was in the Shinobi World, simply by wanting to cast the jutsu.
This would require an impossibly vast amount of chakra, and the ability to instantly perceive the entire Shinobi World. In the original timeline, there was one person who achieved such a feat—Kaedex Paths Naruto during the Second Great Ninja War in the Valley of the End.
At that time, Naruto, using Sage Mode, absorbed almost all the natural energy from the earth's surface in one breath. This feat alone was astounding. Thanks to this move, Naruto was able to directly confront Sasuke, who had extracted the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts. Otherwise, relying only on half of the Nine-Tails within him, he would have been utterly crushed; he might as well have surrendered directly.
Tsukasa Kaede felt that once he reached Kaedex Paths Naruto's level, he would be able to perform ultra-long-range jutsu conversion on anyone within the Shinobi World instantly. All living things within his sensory perception range would be his potential soldiers.
*Whoosh!* Tsukasa Kaede brought Sasori of the Red Sand into the Hidden Sand Village.
At this moment, the Hidden Sand Village had descended into chaos. Ninja constantly reported terrifying news about zombies, and screams mingled with the roar of ninjutsu echoed incessantly.
"Zombies! Zombies have appeared here!"
"It's over! I saw that living human over there convulsing violently, then indiscriminately biting those around him! Does this mean Tsukasa Kaede has arrived?"
"Hahahahaha, let it all be destroyed! Anyway, we're all going to turn into those half-dead abominations known as zombies!"
"I knew Tsukasa Kaede would retaliate! We organized thousands of people to fight him; he would definitely find an opportunity to attack us. Is he finally here?"
"Everyone hold your ground, close your doors and windows! Do not panic! The village has a complete strategy for this!"
The Hidden Sand Village was not entirely unprepared. It was still a Great Shinobi Village. Only the Third Kazekage remained as a top ninja, but there were still many jonin, and patrol teams had been organized, ready to purge the zombies at any moment.
But when the real crisis hit, chaos was still unavoidable.
Sasori of the Red Sand watched the village descend into disorder, and the streets filled with people scrambling in all directions.
"My original plan was sneak attacks and assassination, not a direct assault like this."
"Is that so? My apologies, but you'll have to get used to it; this kind of thing will happen many times in the future," Tsukasa Kaede said indifferently.
With his current strength, conquering a Great Shinobi Village alone was not realistic. To quickly convert zombies, he could only target weaker ninja. But these individuals, once turned into zombies, were weak in power and combat power, and their infectiousness was also low. However, directly converting powerful ninja would consume a terrifying amount of chakra, and even then, might not succeed. A powerful ninja's chakra reserves and physical strength could easily slaughter countless chunin and genin; they were creatures of a different caliber.
Don't underestimate battle-hardened, seasoned ninja. Even in panic, these killing machines wouldn't discard their tools of the trade; their killing techniques remained.
"Oh? A few individuals seem to have prepared methods to resist my influence in advance... A chakra cloak?" Tsukasa Kaede looked in a certain direction thoughtfully.
Using chakra to cover the entire body to prevent the virus from invading was a direct and effective countermeasure.
"Go, Sasori. It's your turn to act."
Tsukasa Kaede leaped to the top of a building and sat cross-legged. "Kaedence you don't like me interfering, my task is to watch the show. I'll also try my best to prevent others from bothering you."
Sasori of the Red Sand said nothing, pulling out two scrolls. With his meticulously crafted puppets, he swiftly charged in one direction.