Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 66 Melting Escape, Earth Veins

Kaede Tsukasa suddenly stopped and shouted sharply, "Everyone, speed up!"

"Lord Kaedeji, what has happened?"

"I roughly understand what the enemy's plan is. My comrades are in a very dangerous situation. The worst case scenario is that the whole army will be wiped out."

completely annihilated?

Everyone was taken aback, their expressions shifting, before they suddenly sped up to keep up with Kaede Tsukasa's pace, sparing no effort as they headed north.

Such horrifying words should have been far removed from the people of Konoha Village.

Three more hours passed.

Suddenly, Iroha pointed ahead and shouted, "Look! What's going on over there?"

A bug appeared on Zhiwei's finger. The two were communicating. Zhiwei frowned, and his eyelids twitched wildly behind his sunglasses.

In this border region between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water, even standing still, one can faintly feel the slight tremor.

The deeper they went into the Land of Hot Water, the more violent the tremors became. Moreover, the distant sky suddenly changed, turning from azure to blood red, as if stained with blood, or like the sunset at dusk.

This does not foreshadow the end of Iwagakure, but rather the imminent annihilation of Konoha's forces.

"The ground is cracking open, stretching from north to south, all the way from the northern coastline of the Land of Hot Water into the country! Large amounts of magma are erupting from the cracks. What is going on?"

Iroha was stunned. Of all the people present, he was probably the only one who saw the most direct scene, and only he could clearly feel the terrifying impact of the power of nature.

"Is it an earthquake?"

"No, if it were an earthquake, both sides would be affected. But judging from Lord Kaedeji's words, it means this is the enemy's plan."

"What plan could alter the terrain and celestial phenomena? Unless—"

The conversation abruptly stopped, and everyone's mind conjured up the image of a monster—a terrifying being capable of causing natural disasters.

Tailed beast!

None of the people present, not even Kaede Tsukasa, had ever witnessed the power of a Tailed Beast, and none of them had any experience fighting one.

"Hmph, Iwagakure really has a grand scheme, sending out tailed beasts to open a second battlefield. They're really bold. Aren't they afraid that the tailed beasts will be captured by Konoha's forces?" Kaedeji said in a deep voice.

He first learned from White Zetsu that Roshi had led a thousand Iwagakure ninja to the border of the Land of Hot Water.

Even Kaede Tsukasa didn't expect the other party to go to such lengths. If it were just a simple and brutal bombardment with Tailed Beast Balls, that would be one thing, but now it seems that the power of the Four-Tails is being used to pry open the ley lines of the Land of Hot Springs.

"The Four-Tails' Lava Release, the underground volcano of the Land of Hot Water... I see. It's an unexpectedly good match, making full use of the power of the earth's ley lines."

Kaede Tsukasa recalled Sasuke's Kirin and Madara Uchiha's Tenai Zhenxing, both powerful ninjutsu that could utilize celestial phenomena to create terrifying damage, each equivalent to an S-rank forbidden technique—or even exceeding the range of rank assessment.

So, this battle was probably when Kato Dan died.

"Everyone, speed up and try to save as many of our comrades as possible. Now that we're here, we can't just sit idly by. We have to teach the enemy a lesson."

Kaede Tsukasa quickly said, "The temperature has changed drastically, and with the high humidity here, there may be drastic climate changes, which could further hinder our operations. Everyone should be mentally prepared." The well-planned support operation turned into a rescue operation in the blink of an eye, leaving everyone present stunned and caught off guard.

Swish!
Kaede Tsukasa took the lead, sliding his hands from his waist, and two scrolls spun rapidly, appearing in his palms. He then flicked them to the left and right, and as the scrolls unfurled, a large number of zombies emerged from them.

One after another, figures transformed into streaks of black shadow and spread out, completely disregarding the damage that such overuse of their bodies would cause, thus drastically reducing the lifespan of these zombies.

Under Kaede's will, the fifty zombies swarmed around him, moving at high speed and forming a de facto military line.

"Shengmen, open!"

Might Guy opened the Eight Gates, and under the astonished gazes of the others, he looked at Kaedeji and awaited Kaedeji's next command.

"Don't rush in too aggressively, and be careful to maintain distance from others," Kaedeji said. "The enemy forces probably won't venture deep into the Land of Hot Springs at this time, which will reduce the pressure on our side."

"Lord Kaedeji, and what about you?"

"I must find Kato Dan no matter what. The village's elite ninja should not die because of the enemy's conspiracy."

Kaede Tsukasa led the team into the Land of Hot Springs. The central and southern parts were fine, but the terrain changed more and more as they went north.

His zombies scattered and explored in all directions. As soon as one zombie discovered Kato Dan's whereabouts, Kaede Tsukasa would know.

Iroha stayed close to Kaedeji, using her Byakugan to search for traces of fellow village ninjas, and soon made a discovery.

"Is it reinforcements?"

"There are dozens of people... wait, many of them don't seem to be normal people. Their bodies are broken but no blood is flowing out. Could they be corpses controlled by that Kaede Tsukasa?"

"Sigh, there are too few reinforcements. Our troops have already been defeated, and these few men are of little use. We can't quell this disaster with a pile of corpses, can we? There aren't that many corpses here that we can use."

Some Konoha ninjas were badly injured but managed to survive, while hundreds more fell into the crevice and were swallowed by the high-temperature steam and lava.

Along the coastline, waves are constantly surging onto the land, which is also a natural disaster.

Occasionally, ninjas from the Land of Hot Water would appear, watching helplessly as their once beautiful country turned into this state. However, neither Iwagakure nor Konoha cared about the feelings of the ninjas from the Land of Hot Water.

Compared to the great ninja villages, unless it's Amegakure with Hanzo in charge, or Takigakure with the Seven-Tails in control, ordinary small villages have absolutely no say.

The only thing that could give the ninjas of the Land of Hot Water a sense of relief was that only the northern coastline had experienced topographical changes, while most of the country remained normal.

Once the war ends and the earth's veins stabilize again, the Land of Hot Springs might still be the same country in the ninja world famous for its hot springs and wellness.

Kaede Tsukasa's expression was serious. Regardless of whether the surviving Konoha ninjas were excited or desperate, he did not stop his steps. If he could save them, he would send zombies over to pull them out. If he couldn't save them, he wouldn't dwell on it too much.

The discovery of a zombie caught Kaedeji Tsukasa's attention.

"Finally found it. Is the Four-Tails Jinchuriki fighting with Dan Kato?"

Kaede glanced at the changing weather and hoped that Kato Dan could hold on a little longer; the Spirit Transformation Technique couldn't be lost forever.

(End of this chapter)