Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 85 Death, with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki

Kaedeji's appearance at this moment was somewhat unexpected by everyone present.

The Nine-Tails, in particular, was furious. It had never taken Kaedeji seriously from the beginning, but just as it was about to kill the two of them and regain its freedom, Kaedeji intervened and stopped it.

"Little devil, ooh ooh ooh ooh!!"

"I'm sorry, Nine-Tails, your strength is too great. I can't let you achieve your wish just like that... As far as Konoha is concerned now, if you kill Lady Mito and break the seal, no one can stop you."

Kaede Tsukasa spoke to Kurama calmly, but it was precisely this calm attitude that made Kurama even angrier.

Why so calm? Why so composed? Because Tsukasa Kaede doesn't fear the Nine-Tails, which is why he maintains this demeanor.

Of course, Kaede Tsukasa himself knew that if he were to fight the Nine-Tails alone, he would definitely lose, and he couldn't outlast it either. In the end, he would only be able to escape in a sorry state.

However, even the Nine-Tails couldn't kill Kaede Tsukasa. Despite possessing incredibly powerful sensory abilities, it couldn't withstand Kaede Tsukasa's faster Sky Realm Technique.

"Mito Uzumaki is about to die. Once she's dead, Konoha won't be able to stop me either. I will kill all of you. This is the price for imprisoning me!"

The nine-tailed fox roared loudly.

Kaede Tsukasa stopped talking to Kurama and turned to Mito Uzumaki: "It's so noisy, Mito-sama. Do you still have the energy to take this thing back?"

"It's impossible now. At most, I can only restrain it; it's impossible to reseal it back into my body."

Mito Uzumaki, panting heavily, glanced at Tsukasa Kaede and said, "I didn't expect you to risk coming here."

The sealing technique she originally used to bind the Nine-Tails was the Eight Trigrams Seal, which was stronger than the Four Symbols Seal and the Iron Armor Seal, but the difficulty of casting it also increased dramatically.

Actually, she could have used the Reaper Death Seal to seal the Nine-Tails, but that would have meant the Nine-Tails would have gone into the Shinigami's stomach with her, and Konoha would have lost the Nine-Tails. She couldn't do that.

In the original timeline, Minato Namikaze faced the same dilemma: when he used the Reaper Death Seal to bind the Nine-Tails, he couldn't bring the Nine-Tails into the Shinigami's body. Otherwise, Konoha would lose the Nine-Tails, causing its strength to plummet and breaking the balance with other villages.

It would be unrealistic to use the Eight Trigrams Seal to stuff the Nine-Tails into Naruto's body, as Naruto was just born and could not contain such a large amount of chakra.

Therefore, a compromise was reached: the Reaper Death Seal was used to split the Nine-Tails into two parts, Yin and Yang. The Yang Nine-Tails was sealed into Naruto's body using the Eight Trigrams Seal, while the Yin Nine-Tails was brought into the Shinigami's body using the Reaper Death Seal.

Kaede Tsukasa pondered for a moment and said, “That’s only right. I’m a ninja from Konoha Village. Since I brought you to the Land of Rain, I also have the responsibility to send you back. Besides, you left me some Nine-Tails chakra… I sealed away the unused Nine-Tails chakra. Maybe it will save my life in a critical moment in the future.”

"What you say is impeccable, but I can sense that your thoughts are incredibly complicated, and you are not as righteous as you claim."

“No one is absolutely simple-minded, and neither am I. At most, my thoughts are a bit chaotic,” Kaedeji Tsukasa said with a smile.

He suddenly had a great idea to seal the tailed beasts—not just the Nine-Tails, but all the tailed beasts—and decided to use the Reaper Death Seal to solve the problem.

Being sealed inside the Grim Reaper's body is not true death. For humans, it might be death, because without a soul, the body will decay, and that is death.

But for the immortal tailed beasts, this is not death at all, but merely a change of residence. If nothing unexpected happens, their sentence will change from a fixed term to life imprisonment—Jinchūriki will age and die, but Shinigami will not.

Kaedeji knew how to break the Reaper Death Seal, and after Mito Uzumaki's death, he was probably the only one in the ninja world who knew this method for a long time.

Perhaps, the Reaper Death Seal could be used to send the Tailed Beasts into the bodies of Shinigami, thus making it absolutely impossible for humans to obtain the Tailed Beasts again, and it would also be impossible to wait for the Tailed Beasts to be resurrected.

Death can not only be used to sever the souls of enemies, but also as a piggy bank...

Kaede looked intently at the location of the Grim Reaper, even though he couldn't see anything at the moment.

"Perfect timing, I'll take this opportunity to test how many Grim Reapers there are in this world."

Kaede Tsukasa summoned a zombie, touched it, and then instructed the zombie to use the Corpse Demon Sealing Technique.

As expected, the one being summoned was the Grim Reaper behind Mito Uzumaki; there was no other Grim Reaper or any Grim Reaper clone.

Kaede Tsukasa also saw that the Shinigami glanced in his direction, ignored him, and went back to waiting for Madara and Mito Uzumaki to drool.

"As expected, there is only one Grim Reaper, and only one person can use the Reaper Death Seal at a time. If another person tries to use it, the summoning will fail."

Kaede Tsukasa was not surprised. Such a terrifying super spirit, capable of killing gods and demons below the Six Paths level, could not possibly exist in large numbers in the ninja world.

"I see. Although Danzo had mentioned it before, seeing it with my own eyes still surprised me greatly. The potential of the Corpse Release technique is enormous; it can even control the Corpse Demon Sealing Technique in a special way."

Mito Uzumaki immediately understood how Tsukasa Kaede had used the Reaper Death Seal multiple times; it was simply a genius idea. In this way, the Reaper Death Seal technique could be considered to have a successor.

If this happened during the Warring States period, the fact that an outsider learned the top techniques of a powerful clan would surely trigger a clan uprising. They would be willing to sacrifice countless clan members to kill someone like Kaedeji.

However, during the ninja village era, this restriction was greatly broken, and talented individuals had the opportunity to learn precious techniques from other ninja clans from the village.

However, she would never see how far her successor, Kaedeji, would grow, or how far he would advance the Corpse Demon Sealing Technique.

Kaede Tsukasa replied politely, "This is also thanks to your contribution of the Corpse Demon Sealing Technique to the village. Otherwise, I would most likely have chosen the Multiplicative Explosive Talisman from the Book of Sealing, or at the very least, the Inner Four Symbols Sealing Technique."

Madara glanced at Kaedeji: "I didn't expect to see two people use the Reaper Death Seal in one day. How interesting. No wonder a nobody like Hanzo was scared away by you. But considering that you used this technique to protect Nagato, I'll give you a compliment."

"It seems a lot more has happened."

“Indeed. Danzo told me to kill Jiraiya, but Jiraiya told me not to. I had to choose one. After thinking it over, I decided to prioritize protecting Nagato. After all, he has a Rinnegan that appeared in this era, and it might have great significance for this world.” Kaedeji Tsukasa said frankly.

There's no need to cover it up with clumsy lies. He stood by Jiraiya in the Land of Rain and protected the Rinnegan; that's a fact.

Despite Mito Uzumaki using the Reaper Death Seal and appearing destined to die soon, she was still able to pull Madara's soul while simultaneously binding Kurama, displaying utter ruthlessness.

If you really had to use your last bit of strength to give Kaede Tsukasa a good whack, Kaede Tsukasa wouldn't have any fight left and would only have the option to run away.

"Madara, Jiraiya, you, Nagato..."

Mito Uzumaki felt that there was too much information and it was too complicated. However, she could not accuse Kaede Tsukasa of anything. Just because Madara stood up to stop her from getting close to Nagato, could she unilaterally conclude that Kaede Tsukasa had sided with Madara?
No, because Jiraiya, the Hokage's disciple, was doing the same thing, forbidding anyone from approaching Nagato.

The problem with Nagato, who possesses the Rinnegan, is probably even bigger. The most suspicious question is where did he get the Rinnegan? The last person to possess the Rinnegan was the Sage of Six Paths more than a thousand years ago.

"Madara, you've had your eye on the Rinnegan for a long time, haven't you? Could it be that it was you..." Mito Uzumaki said.

"Given your intelligence, it's normal for you to have some suspicions. I wouldn't expose myself to protect someone who has nothing to do with me for no reason. He and his eyes are extremely important to me. If Nagato weren't too young and not good enough to protect himself, and if there weren't other factors, I would have committed suicide long ago."

Ban coldly said, "You shouldn't have come to the Land of Rain in the first place. That way, we wouldn't have met, and you could have lived a little longer."

“I’m not afraid of death, and I hope you aren’t either. Let’s both leave this world. As for Nagato, I can’t take care of him, and you shouldn’t interfere either. Let him grow on his own.”

Mito Uzumaki felt that this was enough. With Jiraiya as Nagato's teacher, it should be possible to ensure Nagato's smooth growth to the greatest extent possible... right?

There was nothing she could do about the setback, so she immediately increased her strength and finally pulled Ban's soul out.

"Your soul is too heavy, but it's all over now."

Madara's soul opened its mouth wide, as if emitting a silent howl, and was pulled into Mito's abdomen by the spirit hand, thus entering the stomach of the Grim Reaper.

Gulu!

Death swallowed it and felt immense satisfaction.

This is a soul of Kage-level power, having awakened the Rinnegan and mastered Yin-Yang Release. It is already the number one soul below the Six Paths of Senju, surpassing even Hashirama Senju.

Death has never tasted such delicious and plentiful souls in his life!

Moreover, there will soon be another soul, slightly inferior but equally delicious, to devour.

"What a greedy Grim Reaper..."

Mito Uzumaki's expression turned serious as she turned to Tsukasa Kaede: "You must return to the village immediately and bring Kushina Uzumaki to me."

"Is this the final order you're giving me?"

"No, this is my last request."

"Understood, Lady Mito. No matter what, I will do it. The Nine-Tails must remain in Konoha, otherwise the ninja world will be in chaos..."

Kaede looked at Madara's fallen body and then nodded solemnly.

This is the best option. If we don't leave the Nine-Tails in Konoha, are we going to release it back into nature?
Unlike the relatively easygoing Three-Tails, the Nine-Tails is an extremely brutal and petty creature. If it regains its freedom, it will definitely run to the Land of Fire and fire a few Tailed Beast Balls at Konoha as a greeting.

Kaede Tsukasa counted the number of strong individuals currently in Konoha Village on his fingers. Excluding Mito Uzumaki, the strongest should be the Third Hokage, but the Third Hokage did not have the ability to easily defeat the Nine-Tails.

Considering that Mito Uzumaki taught the Reaper Death Seal technique to the village not long ago, and the Third Hokage probably hadn't learned this self-destructive technique yet, Konoha was really at a disadvantage against the fully-formed Nine-Tails, with no good solutions.

If Konoha is destroyed, many of Kaede Tsukasa's plans will be disrupted. At the very least, his plan to change bodies will be significantly delayed, and it's uncertain when it will be realized.

"Take this."

Mito Uzumaki laboriously removed a red magatama from her wrist and handed it to Tsukasa Kaede: "This thing can break the barrier I set up. Kushina will definitely believe you when she sees this."

"Yes, it would be much easier if we had a token."

Kaede Tsukasa recognized it at a glance; this red magatama was the same accessory that Uzumaki Kushina wore in the original timeline.

Swish!
With the magatama in hand, Kaede Tsukasa immediately vanished from the spot and returned to Konoha Village.

Nine-Tails sneered, "You actually trust someone you don't trust, Mito. You've never felt so powerless in your life."

"You don't understand anything at all."

Mito Uzumaki tried her best to recover her physical condition and delay the time for the Grim Reaper to devour her soul. She said coldly, "I said he was complicated, not entirely because of his complicated inner world. But at this point, there's no need to explain to you. Your fate is to enter Kushina's body and continue to serve the village."

The Nine-Tails struggled fiercely, but Mito Uzumaki was still able to maintain the upper hand. However, facing both the Shinigami and the Nine-Tails at the same time, she couldn't hold out for much longer.

Before coming to the Land of Rain, Mito Uzumaki never expected things to turn out this way. According to her plan, she only wanted to bring back a descendant of the Uzumaki clan. Even if she encountered some obstacles, she could handle them with her absolute strength. But who would have thought that she would run into Madara Uchiha?
Now we can only rely on Kaedeji. Hopefully, this complicated person is reliable and will really bring Kushina back as she hopes.

……

Konoha Village.

For Kaede Tsukasa, taking Kushina away was no easy task; he had to withstand pressure from Konoha Village.

The village's strongmen weren't fools, especially the Third Hokage, who frequently used the Crystal Ball Technique to observe his surroundings.

When Kaede returned to Konoha and appeared at his new residence, the first thing he saw was Sakumo Hatake.

"Lord Sakumo, it seems the village has been discovered?" Kaedeji was not surprised at all.

Although, because the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was the super-strong Mito Uzumaki, it was absolutely impossible for the Nine-Tails to go out of control before its death, and the enemies could hardly do anything to Mito Uzumaki, so the village did not keep a close watch on it.

However, this does not mean that the village has truly abandoned the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. At the very least, the village still keeps an eye on Kushina Uzumaki, who is the next generation Jinchuriki.

It's not just about physical safety, but also psychological safety. Every meal she eats, every word she says that can be heard and recorded, must be carefully analyzed to ensure that Kushina doesn't show any signs of hating the village.

"Yes, after all, this is a very big matter. The ANBU ninjas found that they couldn't get close to Uzumaki Kushina at all. They were blocked outside by the barrier jutsu set up by Lady Mito. This has never happened before."

Sakumo Hatake leaned against the wall, not taking out his knife, and calmly began to narrate: "Moreover, the huge commotion in the northwest cannot be concealed. Explosions of that magnitude, and multiple times, are enough to alert the village."

"I thought you would have slashed me the moment I appeared," Kaedeji laughed. "The situation is urgent. I am following Lady Mito's orders to find Kushina as soon as possible."

"The Hokage is with the Anbu protecting Kushina, and they're waiting for you."

Sakumo Hatake opened the door, and the two moved quickly, one in front of the other.

Outside the house, a team of ANBU ninjas were already on guard, closely following the two.

This should be considered the first time since the war that the vast village of Konoha has been placed on high alert.

Along the way, there were also some trustworthy ninjas scattered throughout the streets, acting as if nothing was wrong, but in reality they were already prepared for battle.

Some people recognized Kaedeji and nodded slightly.

The disappearance of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is a huge matter.

Sakumo Hatake followed behind Tsukasa Kaede and said, "If we hadn't seen the zombie in your room and confirmed that it was Lady Mito Uzumaki who took the initiative to ask you to use the space-time ninjutsu, the village would be in even more tension than it is now."

“I have no choice. Lady Mito gave me an order, and I have no right to refuse. I must carry it out,” Kaedeji said.

Soon, the group arrived at the outskirts of the Senju clan's territory. There was an ordinary-looking house there, which was the residence of Mito Uzumaki and Kushina.

However, the area was heavily guarded at the moment, surrounded by multiple layers of security. The Third Hokage was personally overseeing the operation, leading Danzo Shimura and a group of Anbu members to protect Kushina's safety.

Further away, Tsunade and the others were also on guard, but not necessarily completely to prevent the Nine-Tails from going out of control.

"Tsukasa, what exactly happened? In the northwest direction, is Lady Mito fighting some kind of enemy?" The Third Hokage, dressed in battle attire, asked with a grave expression.

"Lord Danzo should know more about the specifics than I do, even though he was the one who came to visit Lady Mito. Lady Mito's orders to me were to take Kushina Uzumaki to her."

Kaedeji took out the red magatama that Mito Uzumaki had given him, which immediately triggered a response from the barrier, and the runes on it began to writhe rapidly.

The Third Hokage silently watched Kaedeji Tsukasa. Everyone present remained silent, ready to attack Kaedeji Tsukasa at the first command.

There was no other way; after all, it concerned the Nine-Tails. Anyone else could die, but the Nine-Tails couldn't be allowed to have any problems and had to remain under the village's control.

“Lord Hokage, every second is precious now. Once things reach an irreversible point, it will be too late to do anything. I will never let the village lose the Nine-Tails, and this is also Lord Mito’s will,” Kaedeji said calmly.

Danzo frowned, his heart skipped a beat. Why did they take Kushina away? The situation was already very clear: Mito Uzumaki was going to die!

And he was too weak to return to the village, so Kaede Tsukasa had to take Kushina away?

What exactly happened? Why did it turn out like this? All she did was bring back the Rinnegan. Who in the Land of Rain could bring Mito Uzumaki to the brink of death?

Jiraiya? Or someone else? It's definitely not possible that it's Kaedeji Tsukasa.

"This is a matter of great importance. Since Lady Mito allowed you to take her away, why not let you bring her back? No matter what difficulties you encounter, the village is everyone's support, and everyone will help solve the problem." The Third Hokage paused for a moment before asking.

He still didn't quite trust Kaedeji. In matters like this, he almost never trusted anyone, even his own disciple. He would doubt and hesitate if he did such a thing, let alone Kaedeji.

"Due to certain reasons, she is in a special condition and cannot come. I must take Kushina away as soon as possible. Please understand that Lady Mito cannot hold out for much longer," Kaedeji said.

“Then we should have even more faith in the village’s strength! She’s fighting the enemy? The commotion coming from the northwest must be from her. Tsukasa, take me there immediately. I will join the battle and assist Lady Mito in fighting the enemy.”

The Third Hokage slung the Ruyi Jingu Bang (Monkey King's staff) over his shoulder, as if it were his own arm, and prepared to follow Kaedeji Tsukasa to the Land of Rain. But Kaedeji Tsukasa paused for a moment, then shook his head firmly: "Lady Mito must have her reasons for asking me to do this."

Mito Uzumaki might not have much faith in the Third Hokage either, as the matter concerned changing the Nine-Tails' vessel, and all variables needed to be minimized.

"Lord Hokage, at times like this, we should trust our comrades' judgment. Lady Mito must have her reasons for giving such an order to Kaede Tsukasa."

When the atmosphere became tense, Sakumo Hatake took the initiative to speak up, even though he had no obligation to get involved in such matters.

Kaede glanced at Hatake Sakumo out of the corner of his eye and sighed inwardly. This guy is a person who deeply believes in the Will of Fire. He believes that the lives of his comrades are more important than the mission. It can't be said that he is completely out of step with the current trend of the times, but there is always a conflict between him and the current trend.

It's not politically correct to stand up and endorse Kaedeji Tsukasa.

"Alright, then I'll leave it to you. I trust you won't let the village down." The Third Hokage stepped aside.

Kaede walked over and touched the barrier with the red magatama. The barrier immediately collapsed, and he reached out his hand to the bewildered Kushina Uzumaki.

"This is Mito-sama's magatama..."

"Now that you recognize me, quickly grab my hand and come with me. Lady Mito needs you."

In full view of everyone, Kaede Tsukasa took away Kushina, who was extremely important to the village.

Anxiety was evident on everyone's face. They were eager to know what had happened to Mito Uzumaki and why Kaede Tsukasa needed to take Kushina away.
And then there's the Nine-Tails... It shouldn't be a problem, right? If the strongest tailed beast were to escape, it would become a nightmare for the village, and everyone would live under the threat of the Nine-Tails from then on.

In this era, Konoha Village no longer has super-strong individuals like Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki who can powerfully suppress tailed beasts...

"Danzo, you'd better behave yourself. The village needs a reasonable explanation from you. Even if Kaedeji successfully returns with Kushina, you won't be able to escape your guilt!"

The Third Hokage was truly enraged this time.

He led Konoha to victory in World War II, and the economy and military experienced explosive growth. However, if he lost the Nine-Tails, all these achievements would be overshadowed. Even defeat in World War II would be much better than losing the Nine-Tails.

Danzo remained silent, his mind racing as he considered what he should and shouldn't say, but now he could only wait for Kaedeji to return to the village.

……

In Kushina's view, the scene changed instantly, and they found themselves in an unfamiliar environment.

The unfamiliar forest was in complete disarray. Even the intact trees had bizarre growth structures, which did not resemble natural growth at all.

In the sky, dark clouds were gathering from all directions, and heavy rain was about to fall.

Everything here was so strange that Kushina stared in disbelief at the towering, immovable Thousand-Armed Buddha statue, the Nine-Tails clinging to the statue and bound by a multitude of chains, and the whirlpool Mito atop the statue.

"Grandma Mito!!"

Kushina screamed and rushed over without thinking, staring in disbelief at the scene before her: a white-haired old man lying on the ground, and Mito Uzumaki kneeling and spitting blood.

"You've come. It seems I have to break my promise to you. This is the first time I've ever broken a promise."

A grim smile appeared on Mito Uzumaki's pale face. Before Kushina could ask, she interrupted, "I don't have much time left. I will seal the Nine-Tails into your body. From today onwards, you will be the new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."

As before, she reached out and patted Kushina's head gently, saying, "From now on, you'll have to walk on your own. It will be tough, but don't worry too much. Do you remember what I taught you?"

“I remember, ‘Fill your heart with love to control the Nine-Tails,’ these are the words you always told me… Grandma Mito, although I don’t know what happened, please do it. I will carry on your legacy, firmly control the Nine-Tails, and become an asset to the village!”

Kushina trembled all over, tears streaming down her face: "I...I will definitely do it, and I will surpass you in the future. You can watch my performance from another world!"

“Good child, good child… Don’t tell the village what happened here. Let us, the relics of the old era, be buried in silence.”

Mito Uzumaki's hands trembled as she formed hand seals. Then, with one hand gripping the chains of the Vajra Seal, she pressed the other against Kushina's abdomen.

Gossip seal!

The enormous Nine-Tails was forcibly sent into Kushina's body under the pull of this force.

It was that familiar cage again, and the Bagua sealing mark that had enraged and driven it mad had reappeared on it. Everything seemed to have returned to how it had been before. All its efforts had been in vain, and who knew how many years would pass before it had another chance.

"I won't give up so easily, Kushina. You'd better never show a weakness. If I get even one chance, I will kill you, destroy everything you cherish, and utterly crush your ideals and beliefs!!"

The Nine-Tails struggled for a moment, then lay down again, gritting its teeth, its violent eyes staring out of the cage as if trying to memorize Kushina's every move.

After performing the Eight Trigrams Sealing Technique, Mito Uzumaki's life came to an end, and the last bit of life she had left dissipated.

The smile still lingered on his lips, but now carried a hint of pity and helplessness.

Kushina held the body and wept bitterly; the person who cherished her most in the village had passed away.

"It's so pitiful..."

Kaede looked up at the sky. Dark clouds gathered, blocking the last ray of sunlight. The beam of light visibly shrank slowly, becoming as small as a pinhole, and finally disappeared.

It seems to foreshadow that the old era has come to a temporary end, at least in the eyes of the world.

Kaedeji took off his divine robe and draped it over Kushina's shoulders.

“It’s very cold here, you should wear something… You probably don’t think getting sick is a big deal, but this is all I can do,” Kaede Tsukasa said calmly.

He looked down and met Kushina's tearful eyes, but only for a moment before he began to brazenly examine various parts of Kushina's body.

In Kushina's eyes, this behavior was extremely rude.

But Kaede Tsukasa was thinking about something else—what an excellent body, containing immeasurable vitality. If he could turn her into a zombie, he could use her for a long time, right?

God knows how much he suffered in the past years in order to avoid getting sick. At that time, his greatest desire was to have a healthy and strong body.

"What are you looking at!"

"It's nothing, I just really envy you. What you were born with is something I could never get even if I tried my hardest." Kaede Tsukasa withdrew his gaze.

He no longer needs to covet such a body; simply because he no longer finds it appealing.

"I will take you back to Konoha Village. Lord Mito's body needs to be handed over to the village for disposal."

Kaedeji casually took out a spirit scroll, summoned a coffin from it, and placed Mito Uzumaki's body inside.

"Waaaaah, Grandma Mito..."

"Stop crying, crying won't solve anything."

Immediately afterwards, Kaede sealed the Thousand-Armed Buddha beneath him into another scroll. He had an idea that might come in handy in the future.

As for Afei… Kaede glanced at him, confirming that the guy had taken the opportunity to escape, and nodded secretly. Afei’s mind was still quite sharp, at least smarter than White Zetsu.

Next comes the main event: Kaedeji sealed away Madara Uchiha's body—he appeared to be diligently cleaning up the battlefield.

"Who exactly is the enemy? Grandma Mito told me not to tell the village. I can choose not to tell, but I can't remain ignorant!"

"I'm sorry, I don't know either. I'm just a messenger and have no ability to participate in a battle of this scale," Kaede Tsukasa said. "I don't have anything to report to you. Perhaps Lord Danzo knows more."

The best course of action is to pin all the blame on Danzo and let him figure out how to explain things to the village.

Thinking about it carefully, all this mess was caused by Danzo's sudden whim to see the results of Kaedeji's five months of training and sending him to find Jiraiya.

As for what would happen if Danzo really exposed these things in the Land of Rain, and the village held Kaedeji accountable...

According to the Third Hokage, as long as the outcome doesn't cause major problems, the matter will generally be handled leniently. The biggest loss for Konoha was the mysterious death of Mito Uzumaki, but even without that, Mito Uzumaki wouldn't have lived much longer.

When Kaede Tsukasa brought back the new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Kushina, many problems ceased to be problems.

In any case, Kaede Tsukasa either helps Danzo seize the Rinnegan or helps Jiraiya stop Danzo; neither choice is wrong.

And, at worst, I'll just defect.

"Get ready, I'm taking you back to Konoha. As the new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the difficulty of transporting you is countless times greater than before, and the effort I need to put in will also increase countless times. But thankfully, we have Lady Mito's gift."

Kaede Tsukasa unsealed another scroll and entered Tailed Beast Cloak mode, with a red, semi-transparent tail swaying gently behind him.

"Nine-Tails' chakra? It seems Grandma Mito trusts you a lot, but she clearly said before that you are a very complicated person..." Kushina wiped away her tears, taken aback.

“Complex and hopeless are two different concepts, but that doesn’t matter anymore… I’ve used up extra chakra reserves for you. Once you can control the Nine-Tails well, remember to replenish the chakra I’m using now.”

Kaedeji performed hand seals and magic, bringing Kushina back to Konoha Village.

Not long after, a tall figure appeared where the two had left.

"They've left? Looks like they're too late."

Jiraiya was in Sage Mode, with two old toads perched on his shoulders.

"Jiraiya, what was going on with those two just now? I sensed the Nine-Tails' chakra from them. Could it be that Mito split the Nine-Tails into two?"

"I can't believe Mito is dead. Who was she fighting?"

The two old toads kept talking.

"That's also the question I wanted to ask. I've only been away from the mainstream view of the ninja world for a little over two years, and there are already too many unknowns. There may be times in the future when I need to ask the two sages for help."

Jiraiya felt heavy-hearted. He had to speed up Nagato's training from now on. Let alone Nagato, even he himself would hardly have a good ending if he recklessly entered such a terrible battle.

Moreover, he felt that the great battle that broke out here was for the sake of the Rinnegan, but Mito Uzumaki stopped the mysterious and powerful enemy.

"What role did Kaede Tsukasa play in all this? Since he was able to obtain the Nine-Tails' chakra, it means he's on Mito-sama's side, not an enemy... that's probably it."

Jiraiya felt a headache coming on, overwhelmed with a thousand and one thoughts.

"Little Jiraiya, where is that Rinnegan user you mentioned?"

"Yes, yes, I also want to see what the Sage's Eye looks like. It is said that the Master may have seen the Sage of Six Paths when he was young, but who knows if it is true. Maybe he was just confused in his dreams and his memory is messed up."

"Hey, old woman, don't complain about the old man in front of little Jiraiya, it will leave a bad impression on the child."

The two old toads argued, but they reached a consensus on meeting Nagato—Jiraiya didn't want them to see him, but they couldn't!
Jiraiya smiled bitterly to himself. What could he say? The reason he was teaching Nagato in the Land of Rain, and the reason he didn't tell the village or Mount Myōboku, was to avoid any external influence as much as possible.

The Child of Prophecy, the one who brings change to the ninja world, must have his own path to follow, and therefore should not be interfered with by external forces.

Unfortunately, his plans all fell apart. He couldn't predict how the village would react, and he couldn't keep it a secret from Mount Myōboku either.

"If I had known this battle would end like this, and that Nagato's safety wouldn't be threatened, I shouldn't have entered Sage Mode!"

Jiraiya was extremely annoyed, hoping that letting these two sages come into contact with Nagato wouldn't have any bad consequences...

Konoha Village.

"What on earth happened? Has the enemy invaded? Otherwise, why is the whole village under martial law!"

"Even if they are enemies, we must protect the village!"

A group of teenagers looked at the ninjas blocking their way with great dissatisfaction.

"The situation is rather complicated, and due to confidentiality requirements, I cannot tell you exactly what happened."

A member of the ANBU ninja team led a group to stop the young people, calmly saying, "You are the future of the village. We don't need you for the time being, so don't get involved."

He knew the inside story. As the son of the Third Hokage, he was a key figure in the Third Hokage's control of the Anbu, and the village would not hide many things from him.

Knowing this, he couldn't allow these people to get involved. After all, it involved the Nine-Tails. If the situation really worsened, these younger generations would be powerless against the Nine-Tails and would all die in a single encounter.

He glanced at the group of agitated young people.

Autumn road Ding Zuo, Inuzuka claws, the sunset is really red...

These people are the future of the village.

At this moment, a young man spoke up: "Then I can participate. In case of special circumstances, I can use the Flying Thunder God Technique to transfer my companions who are in danger."

Minato Namikaze took out his specially made kunai and said, "There are very few ninjas like me, and I will definitely be of use to the village."

"No need. Kaedeji has already gone. He was also a space-time ninja."

"That's it..."

Minato Namikaze fell silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "His Void Realm Technique is very special. It will definitely help the village. That's wonderful."

Just then, a cheer erupted from afar.

Anbu ninjas moved swiftly, relaying the Third Hokage's order: "The Hokage has ordered the lifting of martial law!"

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, even though many had no idea what had happened. Now that martial law had been lifted, the crisis must have been over.

Minato Namikaze looked up but couldn't see anything—the process must have gone smoothly, but what exactly happened?
On the other side, Kaede Tsukasa had no idea what Namikaze Minato was thinking, nor did he care. He had brought Kushina back, and had already proven his loyalty to the village with his actions.

The Third Hokage smiled, and the others breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, most people had even mentally prepared for the worst, but fortunately everything went smoothly.

Everyone present quickly turned their attention to the red chakra on Kaede Tsukasa's body, staring in astonishment.

"Is this the cloak of a tailed beast?"

"It's the Nine-Tails' chakra! Could it be that Kaedejima has become the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki? But such a thing..."

"Don't make wild guesses. As long as he doesn't show any signs of getting out of control, we must remain vigilant."

Those who could follow the Third Hokage and wait were undoubtedly the village's elites, and they knew something about Mito Uzumaki.

"Ah, thanks to Lady Mito's favor, I did indeed receive some Nine-Tails chakra from her. However, I am not the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Lady Mito's successor is Kushina Uzumaki."

Kaede stepped aside, revealing the red-haired girl behind him.

(End of this chapter)