Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 88 Let me see where the limits of your corpse lie!
Orochimaru appeared focused on his experiment, pulling off one organ after another and carefully peeling off the cells, but in reality, he was constantly watching Kaede Tsukasa's every move.

This is a snake's instinct. To say that Orochimaru was constantly looking for Kaede Tsukasa's weaknesses and then looking for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack wouldn't be accurate, because even if he did, it would be useless.

Orochimaru doesn't possess powerful genjutsu, so he can't extract information about various precious forbidden techniques from Kaedeji's mouth. Furthermore, his envisioned resurrection technique is incomplete, making it impossible for him to immediately seize Kaedeji's body.

But he couldn't do anything about Kaedeji, which didn't stop him from instinctively observing Kaedeji. In his vertical pupils, there was always a small corner filled with Kaedeji, reflecting Kaedeji's every move.

"Eight-Tails chakra...of course I'm interested."

Kaede Tsukasa paused, then tossed the heart in his hand to Orochimaru: "Tell me your plan in detail."

Orochimaru carefully placed each organ, as these were consumables needed to advance the experiment. Unlike Kaede Tsukasa, he did not possess the resurrection technique.

"My spies planted in Kumogakure have sent back intelligence that the village has been in turmoil for over a year."

"Unrest? They keep launching intrusive attacks on our side, killing many of our comrades and destroying a large amount of supplies transported to the front lines, forcing Lord Sakumo to frequently dispatch troops to deal with the invading squads." Kaedeji pretended not to know.

In fact, he had already guessed what Orochimaru wanted to say.

"That's why they're so actively invading Konoha and Iwagakure, putting on a tough stance of being ready to intervene in the Fourth Shinobi World War at any time, to cover up the problems within the villages... The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki is getting out of control more and more frequently."

Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty light. This was the person who had bound the Tailed Beasts. If he could get his hands on the corpse, it would surely have immense research value.

"I see, so that's what you were planning."

Kaede carefully washed the blood off his hands in the pool, the sound of the rushing water unusually crisp and pleasant in the quiet and dull laboratory.

The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki at this time should be Brubi. To investigate further, we need to confirm the cause of Brubi's death in the original timeline.

In the anime timeline, Orochimaru attacked Burubi and used the Five Elements Release Seal to break the iron armor seal on Burubi's body, thus freeing the Eight-Tails and causing Burubi's death.

Orochimaru also took the opportunity to scrape off some fragments from the horn that fell from the Eight-Tails, and spent more than ten years cultivating it into a huge horn, allowing the reanimated Bruhin to enter a half-tailed beast form.

The comic book timeline, however, does not contain this information at all.

Before Brubi became the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, the Hidden Cloud Village racked their brains and made huge sacrifices each time in order to restrain the Eight-Tails by stuffing it into the Amber Purification Bottle and sealing it. After the Eight-Tails rested, it would break free from the Amber Purification Bottle and be sealed again, and the cycle would repeat itself.

Even after Brubi became the Eight-Tails' Jinchūriki, he still couldn't reverse the situation. The strength of the Iron Armor Seal was incomparable to the Eight Trigrams Seal on Konoha's side, to the point that Brubi would often lose control and eventually died during an Eight-Tails rampage.

"Judging by the time, it's about time..."

Kaede Tsukasa thought to himself silently.

Killer Bee should be 13 years old now, roughly the same generation as Minato Namikaze. After Brubi's death, Kumogakure returned to the old method of sealing the Eight-Tails with the Amber Purification Bottle, until Killer Bee became Kumogakure's second Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.

If Orochimaru has designs on the Eight-Tails, now is indeed a good opportunity. Taking advantage of the period when the Eight-Tails is most frequently out of control, they can certainly get something useful with their combined strength.

Moreover, the reasons were all thought out—why is Konoha always subjected to intrusive operations by the Hidden Cloud Village? In the past, it was because during World War II, when they had to deal with attacks from the two major ninja villages, Sunagakure and Iwagakure, at the most difficult time.

Things are different now. World War II has been over for some time now, and it is the perfect time to launch a retaliatory operation against Kumogakure.

"But the Hokage might not agree. Although I haven't had much contact with the Hokage, unlike you who are his disciple and know him so well... based on my observation, he probably won't easily start a war."

Kaede Tsukasa shook the water droplets off his hands.

Orochimaru sneered, "The Third Hokage certainly wouldn't do that, but Danzo would! Even if the Third Hokage knew, he would remain silent and wait for things to develop on their own; that's his consistent style."

"Lord Danzo seems to be in a very passive position because of Lord Mito's matter, and probably can't launch any special operations. So, you hope that the two of us can fill the void left by Lord Danzo in the martial arts faction? That's a really good idea."

Kaede Tsukasa smiled: "Orochimaru, it seems we can always reach a consensus on many things, and I'm sure we can achieve good results."

"Does this mean we've reached a consensus? It seems we understand each other better now. Please continue to guide me." Orochimaru's smile became even more healing.

He felt that he needed to change his perception of Kaedejima and not use the old way of thinking. It wasn't that he wanted to re-evaluate Kaedejima's personality—there was nothing to evaluate. Could Kaedejima, who started out by playing with corpses, be a little sun like Minato Namikaze?

Anyone with a modicum of common sense wouldn't evaluate Kaede Tsukasa like that. Even the Third Hokage, at most, would believe that Kaede Tsukasa wouldn't betray the village, but he would never believe that Kaede Tsukasa was cheerful and sunny.

Calling him the cold little moon of the underworld wouldn't be appropriate, but whatever, Orochimaru felt that wasn't important. The key point was that he wanted to change his perception of Kaede Tsukasa as a "short-lived species" and try to view Kaede Tsukasa's words and actions from the perspective of a "long-lived species."

Yes, immortal beings—this is a term that makes Orochimaru's heart itch with excitement, and it's the kind of life form he dreams of becoming.

But for Kaede Tsukasa, it was nothing out of the ordinary; he was already a long-lived being at the very beginning.

"Your eyes seem to have changed, Orochimaru. It makes me uncomfortable," Kaedeji suddenly said.

Orochimaru chuckled in a low voice, "No, I'm just suddenly very jealous of you. You already have the ability to live forever. You've already started like this. It's unimaginable how high you will reach in the future."

Kaede Tsukasa said calmly, "It's alright. My technique still has the potential to be improved."

“In the future, I might need Kaede-kun to cast a spell on me. I also long to prolong my life… I helped you obtain the Eight-Tails' chakra, so Kaede-kun will definitely help me in the future, right?”

"It's a small thing."

For Kaede Tsukasa, the Eight-Tails' chakra was more valuable.

After leaving the laboratory, the two immediately began preparations for their departure. On the night of the following day, Kaedeji, accompanied by Orochimaru, used the Void Realm Technique to enter the Land of Hot Water.

They then moved quickly northeast, which saved them at least three to four days of travel time.

"What a convenient technique! You not only have immortality, but you also possess the ability to move quickly using space-time ninjutsu. No one in this world can kill you now."

“There are still a few guys who could kill me, I never let my guard down,” Kaedeji said.

"Oh? How many? That makes me curious. Could it be the Third Raikage? I've heard his speed is astonishing. Who else could it be but him? I'm afraid even catching you would be difficult."

"Ha, you'll find out in the future."

Kaede didn't respond further. Midway through, Kaede pulled out more than ten zombies and used his Reincarnation Technique to replenish his life force, which made Orochimaru's eyes widen in amazement.

This was the first time Orochimaru had ever witnessed the transfer of life force; the surging vitality made his mouth water.

The combination of Corpse Escape and Reincarnation Technique is truly exquisite.

"After entering the Land of Lightning, what do you plan to do? Will you wait patiently? I wonder how often the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki goes berserk," Kaedeji casually remarked.

Orochimaru laughed and said, "Normally, this situation occurs every two or three months. However, if you are in a hurry, Kaede-kun, we can actively search for the Eight-Tails' location and then force it into tailed beast form. This will save time, but it is a bit risky. What would you choose?"

“Find his location, then take action against him. Our time is precious; there are still many unresolved issues with the experimental project,” Kaede Tsukasa said.

Orochimaru licked his lips, instinctively sensing something was amiss—shouldn't the most abundant thing in long-lived beings be patience? It's perfectly normal for them to wait hundreds of years for a goal, right?

Or perhaps Kaede Tsukasa wants to obtain something from human experiments, but what could it be? Hashirama cells? The corpses left behind by people who were injected with Hashirama cells and then likely died suddenly? It's so hard to guess.

Orochimaru could only think of this much; he would never have imagined that Kaede Tsukasa wanted to cultivate a satisfactory body and then replace it.

“Alright then, Kaede-kun’s will must be carried through to the end, since I need your help. According to the information I have, there are about seven places that are suspected to be the hiding places of the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.”

Orochimaru reached into his mouth and pulled out a damp scroll, which he then showed to Kaedeji Tsukasa the information.

"It seems you have some good spies."

"To be more precise, they were Danzo's spies. Danzo has always been training cheap spies and sending them to various countries to carry out missions. He doesn't care if they die; if they get intelligence, it's a bonus. He's always been like this, not caring about the lives of his subordinates at all," Orochimaru said.

"Are you sure the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki isn't in Kumogakure?"

"No, the Hidden Cloud Village wouldn't put such a monster that could go berserk at any time in a densely populated village."

“The Eight-Tails is right here.” Kaede Tsukasa pointed to a mark on the map.

"Cloud Thunder Canyon? It's not far from us. It seems that Maple-kun had been paying attention to the Eight-Tails even before I did, and had already secretly arranged for many corpses to be placed in the Land of Lightning?"

"You can understand that."

Kaedeji was too lazy to explain to Orochimaru.

Cloud Thunder Canyon is considered the hometown and daily residence of the Eight-Tailed Fox.

Ever since the Sage of Six Paths separated the nine tailed beasts, the Eight-Tails has lived in the Cloud Thunder Valley for many years.

After the Battle of the Valley of the End, Hashirama Senju struck hard, capturing all the Tailed Beasts and redistributing them to various countries, including assigning the Eight-Tails to Kumogakure.

The Hidden Cloud Village barely managed to suppress the Eight-Tails for several decades using the Six Paths Treasure, the Amber Purification Bottle. They then sealed it with iron armor, which led to the birth of Brubi, the first Jinchūriki of the Eight-Tails.

Both Brubi and later Kirabi had a special fondness for Cloud Thunder Canyon.

It's unclear where this Ironclad Seal came from. Perhaps it was obtained by the Hidden Cloud Village after they destroyed the Land of Whirlpools in the early stages of World War II, using some sealing techniques they had stolen from the Uzumaki clan and further developing them.

However, that no longer matters. Kaede Tsukasa has no interest in avenging the Uzumaki clan. This time, he must obtain the Eight-Tails' chakra; this is the best opportunity.

If we miss this chance, we'll have to wait until World War III to steal the octopus legs from the grown-up Killer Bee.

Before long, the two arrived at the edge of the Cloud Thunder Canyon, where, as expected, many Anbu ninjas from the Hidden Cloud Village were hidden.

"There's only one entrance and exit? It's heavily guarded. Five kilometers northeast of the Cloud Thunder Canyon, there's a force of two hundred men stationed. Aren't they afraid of being wiped out by the rampaging Eight-Tails with a Tailed Beast Ball? These men are probably meant to be sacrificed to hold off the Eight-Tails as much as possible and buy time for the main force... There are seventeen Cloud Village ninjas inside the Cloud Thunder Canyon. They all look like elites. They won't be easy to deal with."

Orochimaru summoned a large group of venomous snakes, which slithered in all directions, using their sense of smell to search for the number of enemies before returning to Orochimaru one by one.

This tactic is far more discreet than using a corpse to roam around, which makes Kaedeji even more eager to obtain the corpse of a Byakugan ninja.

Kaedeji formed a hand seal and slowly said, "Seventeen elites, but they may not all be combat elites. Kumogakure must have sent their most skilled sealing ninjas here. If we want a quick victory, we can take them down and then retreat after seizing the Eight-Tails' chakra before the two hundred-strong outer force notices the commotion and arrives."

He came to steal chakra, not to capture or even kill the Eight-Tails.

Psychic art!

Bang bang bang bang!
A series of coffins emerged from the ground.

Kaede Tsukasa summoned the most powerful group of zombies at his disposal, determined to eliminate them as quickly as possible.

"Sandstorm Araki, Terai, and several Root ninjas... It seems Danzo suffered a great loss. Not only was he demoted by the Third Hokage, but he also secretly lost so many people. Root has been severely damaged."

Orochimaru was also taken aback and stared at Terai for several seconds.

Even for him, facing a strong opponent like Terai suddenly would require some effort. If Terai were determined to escape, Orochimaru wouldn't dare say he could definitely kill him.

The difference between elite Jonin and Kage-level ninjas mainly lies in bloodline, chakra reserves, and large-scale, powerful techniques. For example, Orochimaru can perform a triple Rashomon, while Terai cannot; he can only thrust with his knife.

In terms of "soft power" such as combat experience, on-the-spot intelligence analysis capabilities, and emergency decision-making abilities, the gap is not that large, and often there is no gap at all.

"Well, I've made some progress. It's all because Danzo is too stubborn. He insisted on secretly investigating me and putting himself on the opposite side. He could have just done nothing and been fine, but he had to cause a series of troubles."

"Then I'm even more curious, Kaede-kun. Could you tell me how Lady Mito died? There aren't many people in this world who could kill her, could it be that it was actually you...?"

"...You have too much imagination; that's not a good habit."

"What researchers need most is imagination. I need to fully unleash my imaginative brain to get the research results that Fengjian wants."

Orochimaru laughed, "This is already the most straightforward demand for an exchange of benefits."

"Make your move!" Kaedeji shouted in a low voice.

Along with Orochimaru, a dozen or so figures quickly dispersed and rushed towards the seventeen Cloud Village ninjas.

When the distance is a bit far, you can still hide your movements; the closer you get, the higher the probability of being exposed.

"who?!"

"It's not the Eight-Tails going berserk, but an enemy invading? Damn it, how did they find their way to Cloud Thunder Canyon!"

"There are a lot of them. We don't know which village they're invading from. Just in case, fire a signal flare and call for help!"

A Cloud Village ninja standing in the watchtower was shocked and immediately took out a signal flare and fired it into the sky.

They had no idea this would happen—enemy troops had actually sneaked into Cloud Thunder Canyon from the outside? This had never happened in the past few decades!
Ever since the Hidden Cloud Village obtained the Eight-Tails from the First Hokage, its biggest problem has been the losses caused by the tailed beast's periodic rampages. There has never been a case where the tailed beast was attacked on a large scale by an infiltrated enemy.

This battle was completely unprecedented, catching the Cloud Village members, who were constantly focused on the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, somewhat off guard.

Caught off guard, people will die; many are destined to perish in the first wave of attacks.

With screams of agony, half of the Cloud Village ninjas fell instantly.

With two elite Jonin, Araki and Terai, leading the team, along with Orochimaru and a whole bunch of venomous snakes, their killing speed was astonishing.

"As expected, these guys are all ninjas who have mastered sealing techniques. They must have been systematically trained by the Hidden Cloud Village. Each of them is very skilled at using chains inscribed with sealing techniques."

Kaede Tsukasa was the only one who stood still. He even found a rock, sat cross-legged, and watched the battle in the Cloud Thunder Canyon below.

Every time the Eight-Tails goes berserk, a group of Cloud Village ninjas throw out iron chains to restrain its movements. Now it seems they will all die. Retraining so many sealing ninjas with experience in sealing the Eight-Tails may take Cloud Village even more time.

"The corpses shouldn't be wasted either. I've collected them all, which means I've managed to build a sealing team. Although all of them combined might not be as effective as a single Four Symbols Seal."

Kaede Tsukasa didn't mind. He himself had never systematically studied various sealing techniques. Apart from the Corpse Demon Sealing Technique, he only knew how to use summoning scrolls to seal items.

Having such a group of people is valuable, even if they are sent out to fill in gaps when problems arise.

Soon, as Kaedeji used his technique, the fallen ninjas immediately stood up and attacked the Cloud Village ninjas around them, killing three more in that instant.

"King Kaede is using the Corpse Escape Technique to transform a corpse so openly. It seems he has no intention of hiding it at all and doesn't care about being exposed... This could cause a diplomatic incident."

Orochimaru's laughter was very hoarse. He was inside the watchtower, and a thick, venomous snake emerged from his sleeve, tightly binding the Cloud Village ninja who was preparing to launch a signal flare.

"Who are you people? These people seem to be dead... Could you be from Konoha? You're plotting to become the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Kumogakure will never let you get away with this!!"

The Cloud Village ninja was already out of breath, and used his last strength to say these words.

“That’s not right. Even if we didn’t do these things, you wouldn’t let us go. Even now, aren’t the people from your village still invading and destroying the Land of Fire?” Orochimaru flicked his arm, and the venomous snake snapped the man’s neck.

He stood there, silently calculating the time, and soon after, he saw the person he had just killed stand up again.

"It took less than five minutes. I don't know if this conversion rate is the result of Kaede-kun accelerating it at any cost, or if it's a normal effect." Orochimaru's eyes showed a strong sense of apprehension.

It must be the result of accelerating at any cost, because Kaedeji just replenished his life force, probably for this purpose.

If this were a normal effect, and the scope were wider, then the Corpse Release Technique would have already exceeded the scope of ninjutsu. Even a powerhouse surpassing the Hokage level would not be able to use the Corpse Release Technique to achieve such an effect.

"Orochimaru was slacking off. Even if you include the ones Viper killed, he only killed five people."

Kaede Tsukasa watched Orochimaru from the zombie's perspective. He wasn't surprised by Orochimaru's behavior of crouching on the corpse; that's how the guy does it when he's sure the situation is under control.

All the Cloud Village ninjas were wiped out, and for the time being, there was no major disturbance. The two hundred-strong force on the outer perimeter did not notice anything unusual, not to mention the Cloud Village itself.

However, time was of the essence, and Kaedeji was unsure how often the seventeen Cloud Village members and the two hundred-man unit would communicate. If they exceeded the agreed time, the Cloud Village members would definitely notice something was wrong.

"Hmm, accelerating the transformation of these corpses has consumed too much chakra, we need to hurry."

Kaede Tsukasa first summoned all the Cloud Hidden Zombies who knew sealing techniques back to his side, and he retrieved them one by one. At the same time, he ordered Sandstorm Araki to control the sandstorm and send it surging toward the hut in the canyon.

However, it seems there is no need to do so, because the solitary Eight-Tails Jinchuriki has already realized that something is wrong.

"Who?"

Exhausted, Brubi opened the door and stepped out, looking up at the silent zombies surrounding him.

Orochimaru also jumped down from the watchtower, tapped the lake surface a few times, and came to the shore, standing in front of Burubi.

"Are you the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki? Judging from your appearance, you don't look like a Jinchuriki at all. Not only have you not gained any benefits from the Eight-Tails, but you're also being slowly drained of your energy."

Orochimaru looked at Burubi.

"People from Konoha? And these corpses... The legendary Konoha Ghoul Master has actually come in person. Are you Kaede Tsukasa?" Brubi's expression turned cold.

"The Lord of Konoha? This title has actually reached Kumogakure. Hanzo's efficiency is as high as ever." Orochimaru was speechless.

Eight-Tails chakra began to surge from Brubi's body, and he said coldly, "Such a fierce battle broke out in the Land of Rain. Every village sent people to gather intelligence. Although most of the spies were killed, some intelligence still came back."

"Then you'll be disappointed. I'm not the Konoha lord; I'm his subordinate now, and I need to help him hunt you."

"Then you will all die here. Don't equate the power of the Eight-Tails with that of the Four-Tails and Five-Tails. It is extremely powerful... After killing you, the Eight-Tails will find the Hidden Leaf Village Ghoul and kill him too."

Brubi had no intention of holding back at all.

Without using the Eight-Tails' chakra, he'll go himself? Don't be ridiculous. Although Brubi didn't recognize Orochimaru, he knew that Orochimaru must be an extremely powerful and terrifying individual. And if such a powerful individual could be commanded, then the Ghoul Lord hiding behind the scenes and controlling these corpses would only be even more troublesome.

If I were to go myself and get killed, that would be the real end for the village. The Eight-Tails inside me would also die, and the loss to the Hidden Cloud Village would be immeasurable.

"You went straight into tailed beast form, that's decisive. But then again, your failed creation is always on the verge of going out of control. Even without our help, you're about to collapse."

Latent Shadow Snake Hand!

Orochimaru first grabbed Burubi, and then summoned countless venomous snakes that swarmed towards Burubi—but it was to no avail.

Jinchūriki are truly special. Putting aside everything else, the tailed beast cloak they wear is equivalent to a super power bank, a super bulletproof vest, and a medical blood pack. Even a large number of venomous snakes cannot bite through the protection of the tailed beast cloak.

Swish!
The zombies also made their move. Terai, who had the strongest individual combat ability, coated the blade with a layer of chakra and immediately stabbed it, directly piercing through Brubi's heart.

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow at how decisively he acted.

"That's ruthless. Kaede-kun is even bolder than I expected. He's completely unafraid of accidentally killing the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki." Orochimaru was excited. Cooperating with someone so fearless would provide an extraordinary thrill.

Of course, the risks will also increase dramatically.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

Brubi roared in pain and immediately entered a half-tailed beast transformation, and his size increased dramatically, eventually entering a full tailed beast transformation on the spot.

This means that Brubi's consciousness has been suppressed once again, and the Eight-Tails has reappeared.

"You humans, are you trying to take this opportunity to get back at me again? Time and time again, it never ends, but you won't succeed this time either!"

The Eight-Tails burst through the house, glanced down at the blade stuck in its body, flicked it away with a finger, and exhaled hot air from its nostrils, but soon let out a soft "hmm".

It realized that it was no longer facing the sealing forces of the Hidden Cloud Village, nor were there a bunch of chains stretched out over its body.

"...It seems this time is different from before. The Hidden Cloud Village has been attacked by outsiders. Even the people who sealed me are all dead, right? Hahahaha!!" The Eight-Tails let out a deafening laugh, mocking the village.

The Eight-Tails never made a move in either World War I or World War II, and has been constantly entangled with the Hidden Cloud Village.

To be honest, it's not quite to the point where the Nine-Tails hates the Hidden Cloud Village as much as it hates the Hidden Leaf Village—the Eight-Tails' most painful defeat was simply when it was captured by Hashirama Senju.

Apart from that one crushing defeat, although it suffered a lot in the battles with the Hidden Cloud Village and was very angry and dissatisfied with the Hidden Cloud Village, it was not really humiliated too much.

At most, it would only have regular one-on-one battles with the Third Raikage, where both sides would fight until they were exhausted, and then the main force of Kumogakure would take the opportunity to seal it in the Amber Purification Bottle. From the perspective of the Eight-Tails, losing is losing. Fighting a human to a draw is really nothing to say.

Unlike the Nine-Tails, which was repeatedly brutally beaten by Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, and then chained up like a dog by Mito Uzumaki for decades, the pressure and humiliation that these three brought to the Nine-Tails were simply too much.

The Eight-Tails has been very unhappy for the past two years because the Hidden Cloud Village changed its tactics and used an iron armor seal to stuff it into Brubi's body.

Brubi is a psychologically unhealthy guy who is always anxious and in pain about becoming a vessel. With this mindset, how could he possibly gain the Eight-Tails' approval?

On the contrary, Killer Bee's type, with his cheerful and straightforward personality and simple mind, was more to the liking of the Eight-Tails. This is why he was able to become the Eight-Tails' partner many years later and shine in the Third Shinobi World War—becoming a stepping stone to enhance Minato Namikaze's prestige.

"Come, come, humans! No matter where you're from, since you dare to appear before the Eight-Tails, you must be prepared to face death!"

The Eight-Tails aimed at Orochimaru and threw a punch.

With its massive size and thick arms, the destructive power of a single punch from it is equivalent to a height that an ordinary ninja could never reach in their entire life.

Boom!

The ground collapsed, and the lake water raged, forming waves that surged and roared.

"Tailed Beasts, I really don't know where these things come from or why they were born. They can create such amazing destruction with just a casual move."

Orochimaru licked his lips. Facing such a huge creature, especially one with a bunch of octopus tentacles that could attack flexibly in addition to its hands, there seemed to be no good way to deal with it except by using ninjutsu.

But what kind of magic should be used? Should we summon ten thousand snakes?

"Even if Manda came, it wouldn't make much of a difference. The strongest summoning beast can't beat the weakest tailed beast. Besides, the Eight-Tails looks very strong and should be among the top tailed beasts."

Orochimaru retreated rapidly, stepping on the lake water, constantly weighing the pros and cons.

The main reason was that the summoning of Manda and the battle between the two giant beasts was so astonishing that even the people of Kumogakure could recognize it from afar as Orochimaru attacking the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.

After the incident got out, Orochimaru would have to explain to the Third Hokage, which was too troublesome. Although he had already thought of a reason, he would find an opportunity to take revenge on Kumogakure. Nothing would serve as a better warning than directly attacking the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.

Upon careful consideration, Orochimaru realized that he didn't have any powerful means to effectively suppress the Tailed Beasts. This era was far from the level of the battle at the Valley of the End and the Fourth Shinobi World War, where Gundams were frequently deployed.

Unable to pilot a Gundam and lacking powerful sealing techniques, Orochimaru was at a loss when facing the Eight-Tails, a powerful tailed beast second only to the Nine-Tails.

"In that case, let's try this."

Spirit Spell: Triple Rashomon!

Three enormous demonic gates descended from the sky, but instead of standing in front of Orochimaru as a shield, they smashed into the Eight-Tails like cannonballs.

Boom boom boom!
With three loud bangs, the Eight-Tails' body was slammed into the ground by three successive descents of force, and the adjacent door was smashed into the ground.

"This is the first time I've used this S-rank summoning jutsu like this, and the effect is surprisingly good." Orochimaru was in a good mood, having mastered a method to deal with tailed beasts.

That's right. Even Orochimaru didn't actually accumulate much combat experience in dealing with tailed beasts. The ninja world only began to use tailed beast weapons on a large scale from the Third Shinobi World War onwards.

After the Third Shinobi World War, if you haven't prepared techniques to deal with the Tailed Beasts in advance, you'd be embarrassed to say you're Hokage level when you go out.

Even after Orochimaru lost his hands and couldn't form hand seals to use ninjutsu, he could still spit out the Kusanagi sword to stab the tailed beasts away, or simply bite them, and use the cursed seal to bind the huge enemy.

Even if Jiraiya and Tsunade were to take action now, they wouldn't have a very good way to deal with the Tailed Beasts. Even if the Third Hokage, who is known as the Professor, were to come in person, he wouldn't dare say that he could definitely defeat the Eight-Tails. Perhaps he could use the Ruyi Jingu Bang to bind the Eight-Tails and then bombard it with the five elemental jutsu?
It might be possible to knock out the Eight-Tails, provided the Third Hokage has enough chakra.

The Third Raikage's battle record is verifiable. Relying on the strongest spear and the strongest shield of his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, he was able to outlast the Eight-Tails and fight until both of them were unconscious—in fact, both of them were exhausted.

The Third Tsuchikage should be fine too. His Dust Release technique, capable of instantly destroying everything, is too brutal. If it hits the Eight-Tails, it should be able to create unimaginable and terrifying damage.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! That damn guy, how could he hit me with something like that!"

Numerous octopus tentacles emerged from the sides of the body and slammed into Rashomon. With the high frequency of impacts, the eight-tailed octopus quickly broke free.

Orochimaru frowned and looked at the zombies that were scattering in all directions.

"Aren't you going to make a move yet? I'm curious, Kaede-kun, how exactly do you plan to deal with this big guy? You're not really hoping I'll do everything for you, are you?"

Orochimaru quickly lost interest in the Eight-Tails; he had done what he needed to do and now it was time to pay attention to Kaedeji's next move.

Kaede Tsukasa watched this scene from afar, taking in everything.

"This is the Eight-Tails, the second most powerful tailed beast. It's quite interesting." Kaede Tsukasa nodded to himself. He had personally witnessed the splendor of the Nine-Tails in its complete form, and now, seeing the power of the Eight-Tails, he had a more direct understanding of the strength of tailed beasts.

That's why stealing the chakra of the tailed beasts is even more valuable.

"Got you!!"

Yao raised his head and looked at Kaede Tsukasa sitting on the rock: "So it's you who's been controlling these strange dead people from afar, right? I'll turn you into a dead person right now, so you can stay with them forever!"

hum!
The Eight-Tails immediately condensed a Tailed Beast Ball and shot it towards Tsukasa Kaede.

The massive shockwave tore through the air, carving a deep trench in both the lake and the ground. Amidst the earth-shaking tremors, carrying a destructive force capable of annihilating everything, it was about to evaporate Kaede Tsukasa from this world.

Neither Orochimaru nor Kaede Tsukasa took the Tailed Beast Ball seriously.

Corpse Transformation: Void Realm Technique!

Kaede Tsukasa instantly appeared in front of the Eight-Tails, casually glancing at the zombie that had replaced him. The zombie was now clinging tightly to the Tailed Beast Ball, being crushed bit by bit by the terrifying impact.

It wasn't until the Tailed Beast Ball struck the ground further away that it suddenly exploded.

The two hundred-strong Cloud Hidden Army was completely thrown into chaos.

"What's that noise? Has the Eight-Tails gone berserk again?"

"We haven't received any messages from our comrades. Something's happened!"

"Hey, look in the sky! A Tailed Beast Ball is coming this way!!"

With a deafening explosion, the two-hundred-man unit was wiped out, with very few survivors.

Eight-tailed Fox was also stunned for a moment, realizing that she had caused trouble.

Yes, trouble has broken out. In the tug-of-war between Kumogakure and the Eight-Tails, people will certainly die, but usually only a few ninjas involved in the sealing will die. There has never been a time when two hundred ninjas were wiped out in a single encounter.

There is now.

This further escalated the hatred between the Eight-Tails and the Hidden Cloud Village.

"What a foolish beast! Did you really think I would just sit on some conspicuous rock and be discovered by you?"

Kaedeji shook his head: "Even if you had charged straight at me and used your fists and tail, this wouldn't have happened. But I have to thank you; you successfully weakened the power of Kumogakure."

Furthermore, it will be further weakened in the future. After such an event, the Hidden Cloud Village will not hold back against the Eight-Tails in the future, and the "tacit understanding" between the two sides has been completely destroyed.

"Damn humans, I'll kill you to vent my anger!" The Eight-Tails looked down at Kaede Tsukasa, about to lose its temper. It was genuinely angry; it had been fooled and insulted as a beast, all of which were humiliating to it.

Kaedeji estimated the time.

"Well, the Hidden Cloud Village should be reacting by now. The Third Raikage and the future Fourth Raikage should arrive as quickly as possible. I don't have much time left, but it should be enough. I'm not going to kill the Eight-Tails, I'm just going to steal some chakra."

Under Orochimaru's expectant gaze, Kaedeji made his move.

He slammed his hand heavily on the lake surface, and immediately a spell appeared on the water, which then began to bulge.

With a bang, a coffin was summoned by Kaedeji through spiritual communication.

"Here it comes. Kaede-kun's method for dealing with the Eight-Tails, is it to summon a zombie? But what kind of zombie is more effective than Sandstorm Araki and Terai...?"

Orochimaru was somewhat confused, and then he saw Kaede Tsukasa's figure disappear from the spot, replaced by a zombie beside him.

"What happens next is not for you to watch, Orochimaru. Let me take you to see other places."

Despite Orochimaru's objections, Kaede Tsukasa forcibly used the Void Realm Technique to teleport Orochimaru away, and soon returned alone, quietly looking at the coffin.

Crunch!

The coffin lid was opened.

An extremely old man, with a hunched back, slowly walked out.

The Eight-Tails was also taken aback, revealing a human-like bewilderment—an incredibly old human man? Are you crazy, seriously?
Only Kaedeji's calm gaze revealed a hint of anticipation.

"Come on, while I can still use you at will, let me see where your limits are... Madara!"

(End of this chapter)