Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 41: Time to consider digging up the Uchiha's ancestral graves.
A sound of footsteps came from nearby.

Several Root ninjas surrounded a figure.

Kaede Tsukasa's gaze sharpened, revealing a surprised expression as he watched the figure in the center, whose right cheek was wrapped in bandages, slowly approach.

At this time, Danzo had already tampered with one of his eyes, but his body was still normal.

"It seems we've alarmed some important figure. May I ask who you are? I might have heard of you before."

"I am Danzo Shimura."

"It's Lord Danzo? The famous Dark Ninja would actually come looking for a nobody like me." Kaede Tsukasa looked surprised.

A Root ninja said, "As a Konoha Chunin, one must maintain proper etiquette when paying respects to Lord Danzo."

"No need. I am not a picky person, especially when it comes to talented young people."

Danzo slowly opened his single eye. Although he showed no emotional fluctuation, his innate ferocity and ruthlessness still exerted a tremendous sense of pressure: "Kazema Tsukasa, you are no longer a nobody. You can put away the attitude you had towards someone like Tsunade when you're facing me. A person who is good at manipulating corpses and enjoys manipulating corpses will only appear hypocritical if he is too humble. Such a petty trick cannot fool me."

"Is that so? So that's what Lord Danzo was thinking. That's far too direct... However, the fact that I was granted an audience with Lord Danzo personally suggests that my technique has satisfied you. May I ask what your orders are?"

"Your secret technique can control the remains of bloodline ninjas, which is very similar to the Impure World Reincarnation technique. However, in the current situation where no one can learn the Impure World Reincarnation technique, your talent is enough to attract my attention. Moreover, your technique also includes the supporting techniques of space-time ninjutsu, which is even better than the Impure World Reincarnation."

Danzo stated directly, "Ryoma Aburame made a mistake. He failed to select you from among those war orphans. This was a loss for Root, but not for Konoha. Under Konoha's protection, you have successfully grown up and are qualified to make greater contributions to the village."

Kaede Tsukasa pondered for a moment: "I have been promoted to head of the corpse disposal department, which allows me to access many enemy corpses. This will be very useful for me to further develop my secret techniques."

"That's not enough. It's called a processing center, but it's really just an incinerator. If you don't make the right choice, you'll never get to touch any truly valuable corpses. You just modified the Explosion Release ninja that I gave you, so you should know very well the difference between a bloodline ninja and an ordinary ninja."

Danzo coldly replied, "Of all the bloodline corpses, a small portion fell into Tsunade's hands for medical research, but the majority are in my possession! Tsunade wouldn't hand over a limited number of bloodline corpses to you, but I'm different."

"I must admit that the conditions you offered are hard for me to refuse... So, to improve my strength, I do need a lot of corpses for research, which makes it difficult for me to grow in the sunlight."

"The roots buried deep underground can provide you with shelter. Corpses, equipment, public opinion—I can solve all of these for you. All you need to do is hand over the secret technique."

Several Root ninjas moved silently, subtly surrounding Kaedeji and blocking all possible actions for him.

Whether he attacks Danzo directly or tries to escape, Kaede Tsukasa will be dealt a heavy blow immediately.

"I thought you came to recruit me, but I didn't expect you to just steal me? As expected of the legendary Dark Ninja, but you are still very young. Why do you give me such a hasty feeling?" Kaede Tsukasa remained motionless, looking at the other party with suspicion.

To say that Danzo stole Shisui's eyes and joined forces with Itachi to wipe out the Uchiha clan, one could argue that Danzo had his reasons. He was already over sixty years old at the time, having lived through three Shinobi World Wars—a very advanced age in the shinobi world. His advanced age, impatience, and extreme hatred for the Uchiha clan made this perfectly plausible.

But now? Danzo is only in his fifties, and his body hasn't been messed up by Orochimaru's modifications, yet he's openly stealing the village's ninja secret techniques?
That's good, though, because Kaedeji never placed his hopes for safety on Danzo's personal character.

Orochimaru was able to cooperate with Danzo primarily because Orochimaru's strength, research capabilities, and survival skills were all top-notch. In addition, Orochimaru had no interest in the Hokage position, leaving Danzo completely helpless against him.

But when it comes to manipulating someone like Kaede Tsukasa, who is young, has potential but lacks Kage-level strength, is a war orphan, and acknowledges the Will of Fire, Danzo has plenty of ways to do it, and he's too lazy to even pretend.

Kaede asked, "Is it because I'm a war orphan?"

"No, even if you have received proper education at school, I will not trust you. Besides, your secret technique makes it difficult for people to believe that you are a cheerful person. The more cheerful you appear, the more cunning you seem in my eyes. So it would be better for me to master your secret technique."

Danzo believed himself to be very merciful. If it weren't for the reactions of Tsunade and the Third Hokage, he wouldn't have bothered with all that talk and would have just taken the bait.

A transaction? What's the point of a transaction? Just tie them all back to the root and plant a curse mark on their tongues.

He was able to control the corpses of bloodline ninjas in just one day—considering that Kaedejima Tsukasa had swallowed more than ten corpses, Danzo suspected that it couldn't have taken a whole day!
Such a secret technique was enough to move Danzo. He could train more Corpse Release ninjas and then control even more corpses.

Danzo was already considering when he should go and dig up the ancestral graves of the Uchiha clan.

They dug out all of Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Kagami, gave them some maintenance, and maybe they'd still be usable.

"Orochimaru has always wanted to start the transplantation experiment on Hashirama's cells. Once there is some progress, he wants to transplant and repair these long-decayed corpses..." Danzo thought to himself.

The ancestral graves of the Senju and Uzumaki clans can also be utilized. So many renowned ninjas lying in the ground is such a waste.
Everyone, get moving and contribute to the village!
Danzo's cold heart felt a surge of heat whenever he thought of this scene. Kaede Tsukasa's technique was so useful and promising. As long as it could break through the constraints of morality, power, and public opinion, its value would be immense.

Moreover, this secret technique has the potential for further development.

"My patience is limited. As the inheritor of the Will of Fire, are you unwilling to make even this small sacrifice?" Danzo said sternly.

"Moral blackmail? This style of doing things is really undisguised. It's probably the lowest-cost way to get things done, which allows you to succeed time and time again."

Kaede Tsukasa laughed: "But if I had no morals, how would you kidnap me?"

"You ungrateful wretch! Attack!"

Swish!
Several Root ninjas attacked together.

(End of this chapter)