Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 62 You Regret My Shadow
The sudden explosion caught everyone off guard, even those who were elites. It just so happened that this happened in the moment when they relaxed their guard after Kaede Tsukasa left, and the explosion occurred on a desiccated corpse that had lost all life force.

Within this base, the commotion caused by the explosion was exceptionally noticeable.

"That guy, Kaedeji, actually tampered with something right under our noses. How did he do it? When did he put the explosive tag inside this corpse?"

One Root ninja was killed instantly by the explosion, while another, who was a meter away, sustained minor injuries.

Danzo's face darkened.

He really is a guy with a strong desire for revenge. He just compared Kaede Tsukasa to Orochimaru when he was 17. Now it seems that Kaede Tsukasa is even more ruthless than Orochimaru.

Orochimaru would use words and actions to threaten and warn, but Kaede Tsukasa was different. He smiled the whole time, pretending to fully cooperate, and took action as soon as he left.

This is no longer a warning; it's outright taking action.

"It's probably a summoning jutsu. He prepared so many techniques just now, it's possible he used a corpse to summon explosive tags. According to the intelligence, the technique he uses most often is actually the inconspicuous summoning jutsu, whether it's summoning zombies or summoning ninja tools," Terai analyzed.

This means that Tsukasa Kaede's skill in summoning has reached a certain level.

Danzo coldly looked at the Root ninja lying on the ground, his body covered in wounds, and then ordered, "Clean this place up quickly, and disguise what happened here as the result of an experimental ninjutsu."

"Lord Danzo, shouldn't we arrest Kaedeji? Openly attacking the village's high-ranking officials, showing absolutely no discipline and no respect for the village whatsoever, such a person is a dangerous element walking on the edge of becoming a rogue ninja. We should either control him or eliminate him in time," Terai asked.

"How can we catch him? He can escape using space-time ninjutsu. He has buried countless corpses throughout the Land of Fire." Danzo's expression returned to calm.

“The village also has space-time ninjas. Why not summon Minato Namikaze back? Kushina Uzumaki also possesses the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques. With the combined power of these two, along with the many secret technique ninjas from Root, defeating Tsukasa Kaede shouldn't be difficult.”

"No need. Minato Namikaze is Hiruzen's grand-disciple. If he takes action, it means Hiruzen will find out too," Danzo said coldly. He least wanted people from the Hokage's faction to get involved.

Kaedeji's techniques are simply too precious; the combined effect of Corpse Escape and Reincarnation Technique is irresistible to anyone.

Madara Uchiha is no good, Black Zetsu is no good, and Danzo is even worse.

"Throughout the entire ninja world, there has never been a ninja like Kaede Tsukasa. He has achieved perfect harmony between different forbidden techniques, minimizing the cost of using them."

Danzo also knew that Kaedeji's Corpse Release system must have some kind of risk—all techniques have risks, it's just a matter of degree—unfortunately, his understanding of Corpse Release was not enough, and he did not discover exactly where this risk lay.

As the group walked out of the laboratory, a Root ninja appeared urgently: "Lord Danzo, the Hokage is outside, and we can't stop him."

"The roots are the roots of Konoha, existing to deliver nutrients to the great tree. Why are you trying to stop the Hokage?" Danzo's face darkened, his voice sharp and stern.

In the direction he was looking, a short figure slowly walked in.

“Danzo, I’m glad you think this way. I’ll be even more glad if what you do is consistent with what you say.”

The Third Hokage, with a pipe in his mouth, smiled and said, "There's been a lot of commotion here, so I came to check it out."

The village's top leader barging into the second-in-command's headquarters is somewhat disruptive to the political unspoken agreement, but since the Third Hokage did it, it means he felt it was worthwhile. "Danzo, the bandages on your head have been removed. What happened that made you need to remove them? Even if you encountered an enemy, you shouldn't have gone to this extent."

"There's no need to report that to you. I won't do anything to harm the village."

The Third Hokage stared at Danzo, watching him calmly bandage himself.

He knew his old friend and the white glove all too well; there was definitely something wrong with that eye. It was probably treated with some kind of shady technique, to be used when necessary.

But is it possible that the young Kaede Tsukasa has already managed to get Danzo to do this much? To the point that he, the Hokage, didn't even know about his trump card?
"That young man made you suffer." The Third Hokage smiled.

"It's not that simple, but his performance did surprise me. Everyone overlooked his talent, even Tsunade didn't really promote him."

"You've decided to take him in as a subordinate and train him intensively? That's quite rare; you usually recruit the best young people from various ninja clans into Root."

"If it were possible, I would let him join Root, but you won't allow that to happen." Danzo said expressionlessly. He could tell what the Third Hokage was planning with just one eye. "You have the Sannin, Minato Namikaze, and Kushina Uzumaki, aren't you satisfied?"

"The younger generation of the village is growing up healthily. As the Hokage, I have a responsibility to pave the way for them and help them grow better. Isn't this one of the meanings of establishing Konoha Village?"

The Third Hokage smiled: "As Hokage, I signed an order promoting him to Special Jonin and sending him to the front lines. It's not an exaggeration to appoint someone who has developed a completely new system of secret techniques, is proficient in using space-time ninjutsu, and whose mission notes Jiraiya wrote in coded language that he was 'troublesome'."

Eight months ago, Kaede Tsukasa was promoted to Chunin, and now he has been quickly promoted to Special Jonin.

Even during the Fourth Shinobi World War, when various ninjas with unique skills emerged, the speed of improvement was still astonishing. Kaede Tsukasa was not like Minato Namikaze, who had a pure lineage, a clear teacher, and was able to learn space-time ninjutsu from the Scroll of Seals.

He was just a war orphan who had struggled for many years to become a genin. No matter how you look at it, he didn't have any outstanding talents.

However, he unleashed an unprecedented Corpse Escape technique, rapidly filling the accompanying ninjutsu with it, making the Corpse Escape system quickly full and perfect, thus becoming someone who was not easy to kill.

This is only because the Third Hokage was unaware that Kaede Tsukasa had mastered the Reanimation Jutsu, which allowed him to replenish his life force at any time, thus overcoming his physical and chakra limitations; otherwise, his evaluation would have been even higher.

Even elite Jonin would find it difficult to kill Kaedeji; only a powerhouse of Hokage caliber would be able to intervene, and even then, they might not be able to stop Kaedeji from escaping.

"With two A-rank missions and various military achievements, it's reasonable to promote him to Special Jonin—he's one of only two people in the village who have mastered space-time ninjutsu, no one would question him, right, Danzo?" the Third Hokage said with a smile.

Danzo sneered, laughing that the Third Hokage didn't understand Kaede Tsukasa's true nature.

"Hiruzen, you will regret this!"

"Danzo, I am the Hokage."

The matter was settled.

(End of this chapter)