Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 79 Danzo: Look what I saw with my Sharingan, a pair of wild Rinnegan!
"Still haven't found it? Where did things go wrong! Even if our people died, they should have destroyed their Sharingan, but why can't we even find their remains?"

Fugaku Uchiha flew into a rage.

People are celebrating the victory in the war, remembering their fallen comrades, and basking in the peaceful atmosphere of the post-war period.

Normally, the surviving ninjas will receive generous rewards, which they can use to enjoy themselves, purchase ninja tools, or exchange for ninjutsu to improve their strength.
Each ninja clan was doing the same thing: offering sacrifices to the dead clan members, making up for the deficiencies of the living, and improving the overall strength of the clan.

The Uchiha clan doesn't need to do that. Their tactical system is already very complete, and they haven't found any problems with their education model for the younger generation. Moreover, they have more important things to deal with—the bodies of several Uchiha clan members have not been found.

Fugaku's face was very grim. Since his family participated in World War II and went to the Western Front, similar situations had occasionally occurred over the years.

Even if his clansmen died in battle, Fugaku could understand. After several years of war, twenty-seven members of the Uchiha clan had died, thirteen of whom had awakened the Sharingan, a truly devastating loss.

Their clan's total population was just over six hundred. After removing the elderly and children, and then removing the mediocre people who hadn't awakened the Sharingan, the remaining clan members who could awaken the Sharingan and possessed excellent combat abilities numbered only a little over one hundred. The loss of thirteen of them was undoubtedly a severe blow.

There's no way around it; the Sharingan is only obtained by a select few within the Uchiha clan, and the clan members love to show off. When faced with trouble, they are truly willing to charge forward. In addition, without a Kage-level ninja to oversee the situation, their mortality rate in a massive battle involving tens of thousands of people will inevitably increase little by little.

It's not a big deal if ordinary clansmen die and their bodies disappear without a trace. But among the thirteen Sharingan clansmen who died, the bodies of three of them have mysteriously vanished.

There wasn't even the most basic remains; no bones were left.

If it were that the enemy killed him with fire-style or lightning-style ninjutsu and left no body, that would be fine. But what Fugaku was worried about was that someone was secretly plotting to seize the Uchiha clan's bloodline limit.

This is not just wild speculation. Similar things happened frequently, whether in the Warring States period or the ninja village era. As the clan head, Fugaku had to ensure that the noble bloodline of the Uchiha clan would not be lost and he had to pay close attention to the death of every clan member who had awakened the Sharingan.

Uchiha Setsuna said coldly, "There's no doubt about it. Someone is definitely making a move against us in the dark. Orochimaru has the ability, and Danzo has the motive. If these two get close, it's quite normal for them to secretly take the remains of their clansmen for research. And then there's Kaede Tsukasa. He even has the ability to make the remains run away on their own."

"Let's not talk about baseless rumors. We can't make such unfounded speculations just because he has the ability to use corpse escape."

Fugaku interrupted, "I've also observed him using corpses in battle. He had no chance to modify our dead clansmen, let alone evade so many eyes and transport their remains on a battlefield of that level. He's not from the Hokage's lineage, and he's not our political enemy."

Fugaku had also suspected this, but he had no evidence and couldn't remember why Kaedeji would do such a thing.

He said, "It's easy to verify this. There will definitely be many opportunities to fight alongside Kaede Tsukasa in the future. Just pay more attention to the zombies he controls. If any zombie fights using the power of the Sharingan and the techniques it uses have the characteristics of our clan, our clansmen will be able to tell at a glance."

At this moment, Uchiha Yatsuho, the squad leader of the Konoha Guard, returned and reported: "Clan leader, we encountered an enemy attack while patrolling in the southwest of the village. I led the team to chase after the enemy, but Yuto has gone missing in the Konoha Forest. I have contacted the patrol team and are searching for him everywhere."

"Damn it, who is it? If it's the enemy, why were they discovered so easily after going through so much trouble to infiltrate the village? If it was Danzo, this is insane! What is he trying to do?!"

Fugaku couldn't believe his ears and angrily smashed the table in front of him.

Uchiha Yuto is the owner of the three-tomoe Sharingan. Although his strength is not particularly great, he is still a special Jonin. With a few more years of training, he is fully capable of becoming a Jonin and a backbone of the Uchiha clan.

But Yuto, who has the three-tomoe Sharingan, has disappeared?
If you do the math, out of the three people from before and Yuto, three have three-tomoe Sharingan and one has one-tomoe Sharingan.

Was it a coincidence? Because the members of the Sharingan with the three tomoe were too arrogant and charged the most recklessly, they died the most tragically.
Fugaku's blood pressure was soaring. He felt that someone in the village was plotting against his clan, but he couldn't find any evidence. Moreover, the act of luring and killing Yuto was too abstract, which made Fugaku suspicious. He felt that even if Danzo of the Dark Ninja had really taken action, he wouldn't have done things so carelessly.

The Uchiha clan could only report this matter to the Hokage, announcing to the clan that the enemy had intensified its intelligence gathering on Konoha Village, and demanding that clan members be on high alert, absolutely not allowing anyone to be alone, so as not to give the enemy any opportunity to take advantage.

But in reality, it was Danzo who did it.

root base.

Ryoma Aburame's emotions were actually quite low, but when he saw Uchiha Yuto's corpse with his own eyes, and looked at Terai whose blood was still fresh on the blade, the muscles at the corner of his eye twitched.

"Lord Danzo, the war is over, and the best opportunity to strike has been lost. Why are you still risking killing members of the Uchiha clan? Are you planning to reduce the clan's population?" Aburame Ryoma asked.

"No, that's not the case."

Danzo emerged from the darkness, already dressed in battle attire, which puzzled Aburame Ryoma even more.

"Lord Danzo, are you... going to war?"

Even during World War II, Danzo only participated in the early stages of the war, primarily overseeing the conflict in the Land of Rain. At that time, Konoha Village initially treated the Land of Rain as a third battlefield, fighting against the forces of Sunagakure and Iwagakure.

It was around that time that Nagato's parents were killed by Konoha ninjas, a painful memory etched deep in Nagato's heart.

Then Hanzo of the Salamander, having reached his limit, declared war on Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure simultaneously, personally engaging in battle against these invaders of the Land of Rain. After defeating the Sannin and establishing his reputation, he decisively announced his withdrawal from World War II, and the Land of Rain finally enjoyed a brief and fragile period of peace.

Aburame Ryoma also knew that it was around that time that Danzo and Hanzo established a secret connection and would exchange information in private.

Danzo tucked his sleeves into his sleeves and said coldly, "I need to confirm some things, so I must go to the Land of Rain myself."

"Because of Hanzo the Salamander?"

"Because of Jiraiya, and also because of Kaedejima. According to the information provided by Hanzo, Jiraiya's whereabouts have been constantly changing, and he is clearly hiding with those three young ninjas. I'm going to the Land of Rain to see what Jiraiya and Kaedejima encountered there, and what happened!"

Danzo felt a sense of crisis, which prompted him to do something.

He knew that Kaedeji had gone to the front lines of the battlefield without permission, presumably because he had noticed the leak caused by Aburame Ryoma. This meant that Kaedeji had a sensory connection with the infected corpses.

He also knew about Kaedeji's amazing performance on the battlefield, and that Orochimaru was constantly trying to win him over, not intending to let him get too involved. He also knew that Kaedeji had chosen the Reaper Death Seal from the Third Hokage, and that the Third Hokage had even visited Mito Uzumaki for this.

The Reaper Death Seal technique is actually not important at all. For a Corpse Release ninja who plays with corpses, choosing the Reaper Death Seal is somewhat reasonable.

Danzo always felt that what happened between Jiraiya and Kaede Tsukasa in the Land of Rain was illogical. He must have missed crucial information, and it was best that Hanzo didn't find out about it first.

"Back then, I sent Kaedejima to the Land of Rain to find Jiraiya because I valued his Corpse Escape Technique, which was well-suited for carrying out search missions in complex and unfamiliar environments. It also eliminated concerns about losing manpower and allowed me to verify the results of his five months of training. Without Kaedejima, neither I nor Hiruzen would have necessarily sent anyone to look for Jiraiya."

Danzo removed the bandages from his head, revealing his three-tomoe Sharingan, which glowed with an ominous red light in the darkness: "But then something went wrong. The three subordinates I sent to follow Kaedeji all disappeared, and Jiraiya refused to return, even reporting to Hiruzen in secret that Kaedeji had engaged in battle with an unknown enemy..."

Who is the enemy? Danzo initially suspected Hanzo, but based on his communications with Hanzo during this period, Hanzo denied it, claiming that he had never laid a hand on a genius ninja like Kaedeji and that he would not do anything to reignite the war.

Danzo found this somewhat believable. Although Hanzo was incredibly powerful, he had already shown fear of the great ninja villages and would not continue to provoke conflict unless there was a benefit that would make someone like Hanzo take the risk.

Could it be that Tsukasa Kaede and Jiraiya had a battle that no one knew about?

Since he couldn't be sure, he might as well go and see for himself. He knew the Land of Rain very well.

“Kaede Tsukasa, only you are worthy of my going to such lengths to do this... I will not stand by and watch you side with that venomous snake Orochimaru.”

A fierce glint flashed in Danzo's eyes. With Kaede Tsukasa's strength and reputation soaring, many of his methods were no longer applicable. Moral blackmail was also useless against someone like Kaede Tsukasa, whose moral bottom line was extremely flexible—what morally upright person would spend their days playing with other people's corpses?
Therefore, taking advantage of the fact that Orochimaru has not yet officially launched the human experimentation project to fuse the powers of the Senju and Uchiha, Danzo decided to personally investigate the suspicious points related to Kaede Tsukasa.

The more problematic something is, the more likely it is to become a handle for Danzo to use against Kaede Tsukasa once it's clarified. Even using it to exchange benefits with Kaede Tsukasa would be useful.

"Do you need me to come with you?" asked Aburame Ryoma.

"No need. You stay here and take charge of maintaining the operation of Root. I will take Terai and two teams of Root ninjas with me. During the time I secretly leave the village, you must make sure that no one notices anything amiss."

Danzo's Sharingan gleamed with a fierce light. He didn't just have one three-tomoe Sharingan; just in case, after killing Uchiha Yuto, he also took two more three-tomoe Sharingan.

With this, he now possessed three Sharingan with three tomoe, plus Izanagi, which he was still not proficient at but could already barely activate...

Danzo refused to believe it. The Land of Rain was just a tiny island, a small place. Who could possibly harm him? Even if Hanzo attacked him, he wouldn't be able to hurt him in the slightest!

With Aburame Ryoma seeing them off, Danzo and his men set off swiftly.

After a long while, Aburame Ryoma finally raised his head, looked at the many figures that had disappeared into the night, his expression remained unchanged, and began to deal with the various affairs of the Root.

Danzo's departure took nearly half of Root's manpower with him, which meant Ryuma's task became even more arduous.

“In the Land of Rain, Kaede Tsukasa… Orochimaru and Lord Danzo both want to obtain a technique from Kaede Tsukasa, but I don’t even know the name of this technique. This is a failure of my intelligence and I must work harder to make up for it.”

Ryoma Aburame faithfully fulfilled his duties, and his loyalty to Danzo was unwavering and would not change until Danzo's death, so he would not have any extra thoughts because of such a trivial matter.

"Yakushi Nonou has requested to end her undercover mission in Iwagakure and return to the village... She promptly delivered high-level intelligence about the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, a significant contribution. The war is over, so approval is granted..."

Ryoma Aburame quickly handled various government affairs and made rational decisions.

No one noticed Danzo and his group leaving. Even the daily surveillance by the barrier team couldn't detect Danzo's movements because Danzo knew exactly how they maintained the perception barrier. He knew exactly when and from which location to leave the village without being detected by the barrier.

Only in an old house, Mito Uzumaki, who had just seen off the Third Hokage, raised her eyelids and glanced outside, clearly sensing something.

"Grandma, what's wrong? Has the Hokage come back again?" Kushina looked up at her.

"It's nothing, I just felt that you should increase the intensity of your training tomorrow. I will teach you a forbidden technique of the Uzumaki clan called Corpse Demon Sealing. The Third Hokage came to me earlier because he taught this forbidden technique to an outsider. If even an outsider can learn the forbidden technique of the Uzumaki clan, you should learn it too."

Mito Uzumaki stroked Kushina's beautiful long hair, his heart filled with pity.

She could sense that her days were numbered, that she had only about a year left to live, and that she could only shelter Kushina from the wind and rain for that one year.

She clearly had so much to say, so many things to tell him, it seemed like no amount of time was ever enough...

But that's all there is to it. The road ahead will be even more difficult, and Kushina will have to walk it all by herself.

"Outsider? Who is he? What gives him the right to learn our clan's forbidden techniques?" Kushina didn't realize where the key point was.

“It’s the person I mentioned to you before, the one whose mind and body are extremely complex and chaotic.” Mito Uzumaki said with a smile. Although her face was covered with wrinkles, one could still vaguely see the stunning beauty of her youth in her features.

“I know, Kaede Tsukasa, that strange ninja who manipulates other people’s corpses. Many people even say he is a war hero.”

Kushina immediately recalled the experience of brushing past Kaede Tsukasa at the entrance of the barbecue restaurant.

If he is such a person, it's no wonder that the Third Hokage would teach him the forbidden techniques of the Uzumaki clan. However, the names "Corpse Release Ninja" and "Dead Demon Sealing Technique" seem strangely well-matched.

Thinking of this, Kushina laughed heartlessly: "If Kaedeji can learn the Reaper Death Seal, I will learn it too, and I will master it even more skillfully than him, and the power I unleash must be even greater! I am a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, but he is not!"

As for its power... ordinary ninjutsu and most forbidden techniques can be described with that word, but the Reaper Death Seal Technique is an exception. If you know it, you know it; if you don't, you don't.

Once you've mastered it, as long as you can successfully perform the spell, everything else will be exactly the same, without any difference.

"However, why did the Corpse Release ninja choose my clan's Corpse Demon Sealing Technique? The last thing he should have chosen was this kind of suicidal technique."

Mito Uzumaki had this idea, but felt slightly puzzled.

It's really unreasonable. Kaede Tsukasa has the technique of the Void Realm, so he can run away if he can't beat the enemy; he also has a bunch of corpses to command, so he doesn't care how much he expends.

Mito Uzumaki shared the same idea as the Third Hokage: that Tsukasa Kaede would be inclined towards the technique of mutual multiplication of explosive tags. However, they were both wrong.

They probably had some special ideas, but whatever those ideas were, they couldn't reduce the price they had to pay to the Grim Reaper. Even at the height of the Uzumaki clan's power, they still had to be cautious when facing the Grim Reaper.

Mito Uzumaki said seriously, "Get some rest. Tomorrow you will officially begin your training in the Reaper Death Seal Technique. Be prepared, the training ahead will be very arduous and dangerous."

A few days later, Kaedeji made the same assessment.

"This technique is truly outrageous; the difficulty of cultivating it is far beyond my comprehension."

Kaede Tsukasa was really scratching his head.

He worked tirelessly for several days without sleep, replenishing his physical strength and nourishing his spirit whenever he felt exhausted, until he finally finished deciphering all the texts and spells.

Before formally attempting to begin cultivation, he slept for three hours to greatly alleviate mental fatigue and drew upon a surge of life force to elevate his state to an extremely high level before starting.

The first attempt at spiritual practice was fraught with difficulty.

Following the instructions on the scroll, he once again organized his chakra, distributing it along the meridians throughout his body to the acupoints, using chakra to connect his body and soul, and then forming hand seals to sense the Grim Reaper in the darkness.

Chakra is a versatile substance; it can be energy, transformed into matter, and serves as a bridge and medium between the soul and the body.

In theory, as long as one can integrate oneself and form hand seals in the order of Si-Hai-Wei-Mao-Xu-Zi-You-Wu-Si, one can summon the Grim Reaper.

But here's the problem: Kaedeji has no idea what stage of his training he's reached, because there's no objective reference point to use as a standard for evaluating his progress.

When practicing other forbidden techniques, such as the technique of self-reincarnation, Kaedeji can continuously perform the technique to determine if it can be successfully executed. He uses the results of practice to verify where his training went wrong, where there is room for improvement, and what else needs to be done to achieve perfection.

But the Corpse Demon Sealing Technique doesn't work; it completely lacks these things.

Has he succeeded in his cultivation? Has he made great progress? Unfortunately, he can't personally use the Corpse Demon Sealing Technique to verify his cultivation results. If he accidentally summons the Grim Reaper, he might end up killing himself.

"My body can handle most risks. No matter how dangerous the environment, as long as the stored zombies aren't depleted, I won't be in any major problems unless I'm instantly killed by the enemy. But my soul is lacking; its strength isn't outstanding. Against a Shinigami... I wouldn't even have a chance to fight back." Kaede Tsukasa knew this well. Even the natives of the ninja world, the Hokage-level powerhouses, would perish after being hit by the Reaper Death Seal. It was impossible for his soul strength to be stronger than that of a Kage-level powerhouse.

This means that Death is going to reap his soul, but he doesn't actually have the right to do so.

"However, the so-called Grim Reaper should essentially be a super spirit that exists objectively. Minato was able to use the Grim Reaper to split the complete Nine-Tails in two, which shows that the Grim Reaper's strength is terrifying. However, it also has its weaknesses. The strength of the user and the state of mind when casting the spell determine the level of power that the Grim Reaper can unleash."

Kaede Tsukasa recalled that the aging Third Hokage had sealed the First and Second Hokage in one go, and in his extremely bad condition, he had desperately sealed Orochimaru's soul with his hands, thus crippling Orochimaru's ability to form hand seals.

Therefore, all the techniques Orochimaru used later were techniques without hand seals.

However, the Grim Reaper is a spirit without a clear self-awareness. In the end, Orochimaru exploited a bug, causing him to spit out all the souls he had swallowed. After Orochimaru regained his hands and gained the ability to form hand seals, he immediately used the Impure World Reincarnation to summon all the Hokage.

"It's good that I don't have a clear sense of self. It's good that Orochimaru exploited this bug. It shows that Shinigami can be deceived. If I use the Reaper Death Seal to kill the enemy and then immediately stab myself in the stomach, it's like letting the Shinigami stab me in the stomach and releasing the souls that the Shinigami swallowed..."

Releasing it is useless, unless it is a ninja like Kato Dan who specializes in cultivating a spiritual body. Otherwise, a soul that leaves the body does not have the ability to return to the body on its own, which is equivalent to being dead. The soul goes directly to the Pure Land to accompany the Sage of Six Paths.

However, Kaedeji would not use such a crude method himself. Putting aside everything else, the knife to his stomach alone involves both the physical and spiritual aspects, and it might not even be able to stop Death from taking his soul—even if Death swallowed Kaedeji's soul and then spat it out through the wound in his stomach, Kaedeji felt that he could not bear such a process.

"So, I want to make the Corpse Demon Sealing Technique an effective means for me to kill my enemies, but I don't want to hand over my soul to the Grim Reaper, yet I want the Grim Reaper to work for me..."

Kaede Tsukasa has already made progress, but it's not mature yet and requires more preliminary attempts. This vague idea is also the reason why he abandoned the Mutual Multiplication Explosion Talisman and insisted on choosing the Corpse Demon Sealing Technique.

If the Corpse Demon Sealing Technique were truly transformed into an attack technique adapted to him, then there should be two modes of use.

Kaede Tsukasa is going to try the first method now.

Six more days passed.

Kaede Tsukasa's average sleep time is less than one hour a day. He usually works like crazy for three days, then sleeps for three hours, and then continues to work like crazy.

He was so engrossed in this stable rhythm of life that he couldn't extricate himself. When a person is fully immersed in something, they won't feel bored, because spiritual practice is a process of continuous self-improvement, not a meaningless mechanical repetition.

"Ok?"

Kaede Tsukasa had already prepared to form hand seals to test the preliminary techniques for casting the Corpse Demon Sealing Technique, gathering as much information as possible to continuously improve his technique.

But Black and White Jue reappeared and came knocking on their door.

"It's rare to see just the two of you... What's wrong? You wouldn't come looking for me if there wasn't something wrong."

Kaede glanced at the pitcher plant in front of him and had no choice but to stop his cultivation.

Bai Jue said, "What's with this impatient attitude... Haven't my clones been assisting you these past few days? They've brought back over two hundred corpses for you, haven't they? Although I don't know what kind of technique you're practicing, your progress certainly isn't slow."

During the negotiations between Madara and Kaedeji, he witnessed Kaedeji using numerous zombies to train together, thereby accumulating experience and accelerating his training speed.

"There has indeed been some progress, but the problem is that I myself don't know whether I can successfully execute it, but that's none of your business."

Kaede looked at Black Zetsu.

Although Black Zetsu is impersonating Kaede Tsukasa's will, as long as he has nothing to do with Kaguya's resurrection, then Black Zetsu is the most reliable one.

"There's a special situation in the Land of Rain. Shimura Danzo led two teams of ninjas into the Land of Rain and is searching for something. Hanzo also noticed this and joined in with the Rain Village ninjas." Black Zetsu stated coldly, seemingly without any emotional fluctuation.

I was so anxious!
Black Zetsu could tell from White Zetsu's perspective that these two groups were probably looking for Jiraiya for unknown reasons. If they found Jiraiya, Nagato would be exposed as a result.

He was going crazy. The Rinnegan shouldn't have been exposed so early. What went wrong?

The Fourth Shinobi World War is over. These people should be focusing on recuperation and improving their strength to prepare for the next war. Why are they coming to a place like the Land of Rain and acting like they're determined to dig three feet into the ground to achieve their goal?!
Black Zetsu wished he could personally kill all of them, but he wasn't confident of victory. After all, Hanzo's strength was too great, and he couldn't reveal it unless absolutely necessary.

Therefore, either they need to find a way to move Jiraiya and Nagato without letting them discover anything, which is obviously impossible; or Madara needs to lead a group of White Zetsu to wipe out Danzo and Hanzo's people, or Kaede Tsukasa needs to intervene and stop Danzo and Hanzo.

Madara's physical condition is far too old. Even if he can use Susanoo, how many seconds can he use it for? Can he guarantee that no one will escape?
Therefore, Black Zetsu suggested that they go to Kaede Tsukasa and let Kaede Tsukasa handle the matter, while Madara would observe from the shadows and be ready to take action.

"...That's how it is. Black Zetsu is right. As expected of your will clone, Lord Madara really hopes you can step in to solve the problem. You must protect Nagato." White Zetsu said with a grin.

"I see, something interesting happened."

After thinking for a moment, Kaede Tsukasa confirmed that this kind of thing had not happened in the original timeline, so the reason why this change occurred was because of him, the Corpse Release ninja.

The series of chain reactions that began with accepting the mission to find Jiraiya in the Land of Rain led to the current outcome.

Kaede Tsukasa laughed, finding it all very interesting. His influence on the course of the world was already beginning to emerge, and in the future, it would only cause history to deviate further from its original trajectory.

Perhaps one day, it will become unrecognizable?
“I understand. Since I’m in a cooperative relationship with Madara, I will take action.” Kaede Tsukasa readily agreed.

"When Madara is in front of you, you can barely address him respectfully, but when he's not in front of you, he calls you Madara every other word..." White Zetsu muttered to himself, thinking that this person was too realistic.

Black Zetsu breathed a sigh of relief and scolded, "Shut up, White Zetsu, you're talking too much again."

If it were Kaedeji who made the move, he could at least use a large number of corpses to entangle Danzo and Hanzo's men, giving Nagato time to escape.

As for killing Danzo and Hanzo... being able to eliminate their subordinates is already an extraordinary feat for Kaedeji. Kaedeji is not yet capable of killing Danzo and Hanzo.

“If I’m not mistaken, Lord Kaedeji, your eyes seem to have changed slightly,” Black Zetsu said. “I am an embodiment of your will, so I am quite sensitive to changes in you.”

"Hmm, I've gotten a pretty good pair of eyes. They'll probably be of some help to me. Anyway, I can't find any better eyes than these for the time being."

Kaede carefully and meticulously arranged the numerous scrolls scattered on the ground.

Black Zetsu immediately understood that Kaede Tsukasa had acquired the Sharingan and mastered the method of activating and deactivating it.

"What a terrifying guy. He's not of Uchiha blood, yet he can do this... Is it driven by a massive amount of life force and chakra? If so, it makes sense."

Black Zetsu thought to himself, the more talented Kaede Tsukasa was, the happier he would be. After all, he had taken a considerable risk by choosing to become Kaede Tsukasa's will clone. If Kaede Tsukasa died early because he was too weak, and he had not obtained the Reincarnation Technique, then his situation would be awkward.

Black Zetsu glanced at the scattered scrolls on the ground, but unfortunately none of them were fully unfolded, so Black Zetsu couldn't see any useful information. He didn't even know what was recorded on these scrolls.

"I remember when I met Madara, he reminded me not to hurt someone named Nagato while searching for Jiraiya... So, he's decided to tell me some of his secrets?"

Kaede Tsukasa sneered, conveying a clear sense of mockery.

Neither White Zetsu nor Black Zetsu discussed this further.

After waiting a while longer, Black Zetsu asked, "Are you planning to set off?"

"No, I need to take a shower first and then change my clothes. These days of training have left me no time to take care of my personal hygiene. I can't face Nagato like this."

Hei Jue: "..."

"Lord Madara asked me to tell you that Nagato knows nothing about the Eye of the Moon Plan. He knows absolutely nothing, so don't mention it to him," White Zetsu said.

"Okay, okay," Kaedeji replied casually.

……

At the same time, the Land of Rain fell into chaos.

Hanzo and Danzo mobilized in large numbers, and the two groups even had a brief standoff. Although they did not fight, the tension was palpable.

Despite having fewer men and being far weaker than Hanzo, Danzo showed no signs of weakness in terms of his aura. As the second-in-command of Konoha, he made Hanzo hesitant to act, fearing that offending Konoha would trigger another war.

"Lord Danzo, the target is moving at high speed and is about two kilometers away from us," a Root ninja said, using his senses.

Danzo also put on a mask, his eyes slightly open. Even though his body was soaked by the rain, he still exuded a cold and fierce aura: "It seems that the other party also has a good sensory ninja. Jiraiya himself cannot do this. Is it through the toads of Mount Myōboku to sense things indirectly, or... one of the three children he taught? Hmph, there is definitely something wrong."

If it really is one of those three children who can sense things from a distance, then something is even more strange. Jiraiya himself didn't know sensory ninjutsu, so why would a disciple he taught for less than three years know it? And how could he play hide-and-seek with them?
"Speed ​​up! I can't wait to see Jiraiya. Only by seeing him with my own eyes can I break through the mystery of the information and see the truth of everything."

Kaede Tsukasa... if nothing unexpected happens, he's also involved; there's definitely something wrong with him.

Two kilometers away.

Jiraiya was alright, still full of energy, but Nagato and the other two were already at their limit.

"It's no use! Our disguise has been exposed again. The enemy's target is very clear: it's us!" Nagato said nervously.

Yahiko took a breath and slammed his fist into the tree trunk: "Jiraiya-sensei, let's fight them! Hiding like this isn't going to work. We've been on the run for a day! We have to change tactics. If we fight to the death, we still have a chance to defeat them. If we keep running away, our strength will keep running out, and then we'll just have to gamble that they're even weaker than us."

But that's obviously impossible. So many people were specifically tracking the four of them; they couldn't possibly be inferior to Nagato and the other two boys and girls in terms of basic physical strength.

"...Is that so? Konan, what about you?" Jiraiya looked at his disciples with a serious expression.

Konan took a breath: "Teacher, I'll listen to you and Yahiko. Whether it's fighting or continuing to flee, I can accept it. Even if I die, I want to die with everyone."

Yahiko calmed down and a new idea came to him: "Why don't I stay here, and you take Nagato and Konan and escape! The enemy is either after you or after Nagato. Even if I am defeated, I may not be killed by the enemy. As long as you can survive, it will all be worth it."

He was actually lying. Even if he lost the battle, he would only die in battle. It was impossible for the enemy to capture him and use him as leverage against Jiraiya and Nagato.

Konan understood Yahiko's underlying meaning and emphasized, "Teacher, Yahiko and I will stay behind to hold off the enemy."

"No, no, I absolutely won't..." Nagato stammered.

"Nagato, you possess the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths. The Rinnegan has appeared on you because Heaven requires you to complete some important mission and change this damned ninja world! We can all die, but you cannot. The task on your shoulders is heavier than any of ours. Don't be willful!" Yahiko said sternly.

Nagato was plunged into even greater confusion and pain, and looked helplessly at his teacher.

Jiraiya suddenly burst into laughter.

"You three, always talking about death... Have you forgotten that your teacher is still here? I am Jiraiya, the Toad Sage. With me here, no matter who the opponent is, they cannot kill you!"

During the time he was teaching Nagato and the other two how to train, he wasn't idle; his own strength also improved.

The four, master and disciples, reached a consensus and immediately set up a trap on the spot, waiting for the enemy to arrive.

Jiraiya had prepared himself for all sorts of things, but when he saw this group of people, he was still rendered speechless.

"Konoha's Anbu...? No, it's Root!" Jiraiya wondered.

"Konoha's ninja!"

Nagato's eyes revealed an instinctive hatred, but she still tried her best to remain restrained.

The two sides stood in a stalemate, and for a moment, no one spoke.

Until a thunderclap boomed in the sky.

Jiraiya was the first to question: "You are Root ninjas, right? Why are you in the Land of Rain? Why are you chasing me? Have you betrayed the village?"

“Anyone has the right to accuse us of betrayal, but you alone do not, Jiraiya. You knew that many of your comrades were fighting a bloody battle with the enemy, yet you remained indifferent, hiding in a neutral country that had already withdrawn from the war and teaching the local juniors. With such behavior, what right do you have to criticize us who have always been loyal to our duties?” said the Root ninja standing at the forefront.

Jiraiya coldly replied, "That's well said, but someone else has already said the same thing to me. I'm tired of hearing it. If I understand correctly, you're a hunting party sent by the village, specifically here to kill me? To kill me, the Hokage's disciple? And the one who spoke, you're Terai, right? Danzo's subordinate."

Terai said, "If you hinder our actions, then I'm sorry, we may really have to kill you. If it weren't for the fact that you are a disciple of the Hokage, we would have been here to kill you. No one can live peacefully in a neutral country after doing something to betray the village. We absolutely cannot set this bad precedent."

"Hmph, you actually dared to threaten to kill me, Terai. It seems you've become even more arrogant in the past few years. So, I'm not your target? Why not me? What... do you people know?"

Jiraiya realized that something was very wrong; this was exactly what he feared.

If the target isn't him, then there's only one possibility.

as predicted.

When Danzo, who was mixed in with the Root ninjas, looked past Jiraiya and landed on the young man with red hair, his eyes under the mask shot out a crazy light.

"Those eyes, could they be... the Rinnegan?!"

(End of this chapter)