Zombie Sage in Naruto

Chapter 90: Kaede Tsukasa and I have advanced the Hashirama cell experiments, sacrificing so much for the village!

For the next period of time, Kaede Tsukasa became extremely busy, working non-stop on Orochimaru's experimental projects and on Madara Uchiha's side.

Madara revealed more information to him this time, including that the creation of the Rinnegan requires the combined power of the Senju and Uchiha clans, but he did not teach him the Yin-Yang Release technique of the Six Paths.

This is a treatment that Obito will only receive in the future.

Kaede Tsukasa was not surprised and directly asked Madara to teach him the Izanagi technique. After a moment of silence, Madara agreed.

The Izanagi technique is currently the one that consumes the most of Kaede Tsukasa's time and energy.

"However, since Ban hasn't taken the opportunity to attack me, that should be considered good news, making it easier for me to fleece him."

While conducting his experiments, Kaede Tsukasa sometimes pondered this point—after this experience, the already fragile relationship between him and Madara had become even more precarious, and Kaede Tsukasa wouldn't be surprised if Madara suddenly attacked him.

And they had already made preparations.

"Right now, we should do some light work first. Are we really going to make contact with Obito Uchiha right now...?"

It's not impossible, really. A person's personality is largely determined by their genes in the womb—although this is a physiological characteristic of Earthlings, the existence of chakra in the ninja world will cause some deviation.

Chakra is a product of the fusion of spiritual power and life force. For example, Ashura Chakra can powerfully suppress the darkness in people's hearts and cause the personality of the reincarnated body to shift towards the light side, which is completely unreasonable.

However, Obito's distinct personality, impulsiveness, and deep emotions are closely related to his genes and family education. Although he is still very young, we can try to get in touch with him. We can find an opportunity to bring him to Madara. As for how to guide him to become corrupted and turn his deep love for the world into deep hatred, Madara can figure that out himself.

"Kaede-kun, you're daydreaming."

Orochimaru pushed open the door and entered the laboratory.

"You're back? What did the Hokage say?" Kaedeji Tsukasa asked without looking up.

"As expected, I was scolded and told that I shouldn't have taken you along on my own. But that was all. I didn't do anything else, just as I expected."

Orochimaru didn't mind taking the blame for Kaede Tsukasa at all. Although he was the one who first brought up the Eight-Tails' chakra and guided Kaede Tsukasa's actions, with Danzo being demoted, he stepped forward to take the blame for Kaede Tsukasa and took the initiative to fill the void left by Danzo. It seemed to be an unexpected fit.

"But this can also be considered a merit. The two of us worked together to deal with the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, preventing the Hidden Cloud Village from deploying the Tailed Beast on the battlefield. Considering the Hidden Cloud Village's poor sealing techniques, finding a new vessel is not an easy task. This alone can delay their development for at least a few months."

Kaede grabbed the corpse from the lab table with one hand, kicked it against the wall, and a huge iron hook on the wall pierced the corpse's chest cavity, suspending it securely.

In this laboratory, there are many similar corpses. They are nothing more than a pile of the cheapest consumables, purely consumables to help Orochimaru improve his cell transplantation experiments. Their fate was already sealed.

"The Hokage's magnanimity is truly extraordinary," said Kaedeji.

Fortunately, it was Orochimaru, a disciple of the Hokage, who took the blame. If it had been Kaede Tsukasa himself who had taken such radical action without the village's permission, the outcome would have been very different, and he might have even lost the village's trust.

But with Orochimaru, things were different. The Third Hokage knew better than anyone what kind of person Orochimaru was, and he also knew that Orochimaru had been very close to Danzo and had been secretly conducting forbidden experiments.

The Third Hokage never intervened. If the results were beneficial to the village, it was considered a testament to his effective leadership as Hokage; if they were detrimental to the village, he stepped in to urgently halt various actions, successfully preventing any actions that could harm the village.

And most importantly: Jiraiya's act of leaving the village without permission to teach Nagato was the real taboo.

If it weren't for Mito Uzumaki's death and the Rinnegan not being exposed, there would still be something to discuss. But now the Third Hokage knows what happened and knows that Jiraiya even kept it from him, his teacher.

But the Third Hokage still didn't say anything.

Since he didn't list Jiraiya as a rogue ninja, he was even less likely to do anything to Orochimaru, who attacked the Eight-Tails. Therefore, Orochimaru was fearless. Jiraiya had further lowered everyone's moral standards. He really wanted to see if Jiraiya would dare to return to the village and how he would handle his relationship with the Third Hokage after his return.

“Broad-mindedness…from a certain perspective, it doesn’t seem wrong.”

Orochimaru chuckled, his expression flickering in the dim light: "Kaze-kun, we should be able to trust each other to some extent by now, right? Well then, there are some things I want to ask you. I won't be satisfied until I get to the bottom of this."

"You want the Reincarnation Technique? It's useless to you. Only I can maximize its value. Besides, I won't give it to you. Even without you, I can get my hands on the Eight-Tails' chakra." Kaede Tsukasa said casually.

"No, not that. Although I long for this technique, it's not something I absolutely need. I have my own path to follow in terms of how to extend my lifespan... But it would be even better if I could obtain this technique."

Orochimaru said, "You're willing to accept my invitation to assist me in carrying out these experiments, so you must have your own reasons. In other words, you might also need something from me... right? I think we can be a little more open with each other now."

"Yes, I've never hidden this fact. I need to cultivate better corpses to improve my combat power."

Kaede Tsukasa lies without batting an eye: "As you can see, my type is very good at manipulating corpses in combat. The quantity and quality of the corpses determine my combat ability. Since I acquired the Void Realm Technique, and I am no longer a weakness, I have an even greater need for a large number of high-quality zombies."

Konoha Village has never released all the corpses from Kaede Tsukasa, which is actually impossible even in peacetime.

Ninjas are among the most elite professions in the ninja world. Many commoners don't even have the qualifications to become ninjas. This means that the corpses of ninjas are a resource in themselves, and the corpses of those with bloodline limits are even more precious. No matter which village obtains them, they are all treasured.

The village doesn't indiscriminately distribute various precious ninjutsu resources, so it won't hand over all the corpse resources to someone like Kaedeji who can maximize the value of corpses.

This is actually quite normal, and Kaede Tsukasa can understand it. But understanding doesn't mean he'll do nothing. If he can take advantage of the opportunity to participate in human experiments to cultivate a perfect body that satisfies him, and at the same time harvest a batch of valuable experimental failure corpses, that would be quite good.

"I see. So what type of body do you want? Perhaps... Wood Release?"

"That's only natural. When you enter the human experimentation phase, there will inevitably be a batch of failed products. It's not too much for me to take the opportunity to embezzle some money, is it? Even if the Hokage finds out, as long as I don't go too far, I'm sure he'll turn a blind eye." Kaedeji said without looking up.

"Hehe, that's right, that's his personality. When you become stronger, you are also indirectly strengthening the village's power."

Orochimaru looked at the young Kaede Tsukasa and felt that the person in front of him was so full of life—full of life in every sense of the word. Despite being in such a dark place, his future was bright.

I'm really looking forward to the next war. If someone like that really used the Corpse Escape Technique without restraint, just how much power would they unleash...?

"Speaking of which, I received some very strange information. A broken forest has appeared out of nowhere on the border of the Land of Rain. That should be the place where Lady Mito Uzumaki perished with the enemy. What do you think, Kaede-kun?" Orochimaru said casually.

"Absolutely not. Explaining things I don't want to explain annoys me. Not just you, but I wouldn't pay attention to anyone else who asks me either," Kaedeji said coldly.

No matter how much Hanzo tries to isolate the country, the Land of Rain is a small nation with few powerful warriors to stop spies from infiltrating from other countries. Sooner or later, some intelligence will be leaked.

No matter how much Hanzo wanted to settle things or minimize his presence, even if he had a hundred mouths, he couldn't erase the fact that Mito Uzumaki had died in battle. At the very least, Konoha wouldn't stop gathering intelligence.

"I also made contact with Danzo's people. Danzo secretly sent a few Root ninjas to question Hanzo. Do you know how that old guy Hanzo explained that forest?"

Orochimaru licked his lips: "He said he has been persisting in planting trees and creating forests. I personally think his reply to Danzo was a bit too much."

In a country like the Land of Rain, where it rains all year round, what's the point of planting trees? Are you kidding me?

"Hanzo of the Salamander is indeed a smart man. He would rather play dumb than get involved in things that are not his business... Moreover, Danzo sending someone to ask him was also a way of letting him know about some changes in Konoha. Normally, Danzo should have personally led his men to the Land of Rain."

Danzo was very familiar with the Land of Rain, and in the normal timeline, he personally went to the Land of Rain to communicate with Hanzo on several occasions.

For example, in the typical Rinnegan exposure incident, in the anime timeline, the first person to discover that Nagato had the Rinnegan was not Hanzo, but Danzo who was traveling to and from the Land of Rain. He even tried to steal it but failed. Only then did he infiltrate Hanzo's group and witness Yahiko's death and Nagato's legs being crippled.

After putting himself in Hanzo's shoes and witnessing the Thousand-Armed Buddha and the Nine-Tails, Kaede Tsukasa felt that if he were in Hanzo's shoes, he would also pretend to be stupid and try his best to keep the matter a secret.

"You've pretty much mastered cell transplantation technology, right? When can we actually start human trials of interstitial cells? And where will we get the volunteers?"

Kaedeji removed his gloves: "Since the Hokage has tacitly agreed to let me join your experiments, he must know that my techniques can be of great help to human experiments. By the way, the Hokage probably doesn't know that I know the Reanimation Jutsu. I can actually revive the dead who died in failed experiments."

"But would you do that?"

"Of course not. That's not how resurrection magic is used. My life force is also very precious, and I can't just transfer it to someone I have no connection with," Kaede Tsukasa said.

Orochimaru was somewhat excited: "The most suitable candidates to participate in the transplantation experiment are, of course, the Senju clan. I think many of them would be willing to participate. The only problem is that we cannot contact the Senju clan in a private capacity; the village needs to intervene."

The Senju clan, the famous clan of love, will surely respond enthusiastically to this once-powerful family that is showing signs of decline by appealing to the greater good of the village... they definitely will.

Momoka Senju cannot bear the blame for the decline of the Senju clan!

Since the First and Second Hokage, how long has it been? The Senju clan has already been suppressed by the Uchiha clan in terms of population size, number of strong members, and prestige among ninja clans. If they don't do something soon, they might not even be able to defeat the Hyuga clan. After all, the Hyuga clan has an unimaginably high floor due to the Byakugan and the Caged Bird Seal, and their ability to withstand risks far exceeds that of the Senju.

Kaede listened silently.

According to his long-held speculation, regardless of the timeline, the major event that led to the complete decline of the Senju clan and even their disappearance from the mainstream view of the village was the human experimentation that occurred after World War II and before World War III.

Each village is engaged in a tense arms race, with all sorts of forbidden projects being launched one after another. Konoha has no choice but to escalate the situation as well.

For Konoha Village, nothing can more immediately and massively enhance the strength of ninjas than Hashirama cells, and no one is more suitable than the Senju clan members to undergo Hashirama cell transplantation and become the next, or even the next batch of, Wood Release ninjas!
We don't aspire to the level of the First Hokage, which is simply impossible, but if we can produce a batch of Jonin-level Wood Release ninjas, it will be of immeasurable value to Konoha.

When faced with the tailed beasts of an enemy village, a group of Wood Release ninjas swarmed forward, creating overwhelming battlefield dominance.

But things couldn't have gone so smoothly. The Senju clan proved with their own collapse that even the descendants of the Senju clan couldn't withstand Hashirama's cells. Every single clan member involved was killed; not a single one survived.

The Senju clan had almost all been given away, yet Danzo and Orochimaru still couldn't produce even a single finished product. This drove the Third Hokage, who had been waiting to see how things would develop, to the point that he couldn't tolerate it any longer and stepped forward to forcibly halt the project, issuing a strict order that it must never be restarted.

Danzo and Orochimaru ignored them and continued their research in secret, collecting children to conduct experiments, which led to the birth of Yamato.

Kaede Tsukasa said, "Then, barring any unforeseen circumstances, it will be the two of us who take on the Hashirama cell project. This is the most dangerous no-go zone among all human experimental projects."

“That’s right, it will be like this before the Third Hokage re-employs Danzo. In terms of status, ability, achievements, and secrecy, the two of us are the most suitable in the village. My research ability combined with your Corpse Release technique, the power we can unleash together will be beyond imagination, and the entire Hidden Leaf Village cannot compare to us.”

Orochimaru was incredibly excited at the thought of being able to unleash his scientific research talents without restraint and to understand the mysteries of Hashirama cells. Don't forget, he also had the Reanimation Jutsu to develop, and he wanted to cultivate a Hashirama cell body for himself in the future. It would be perfect!
As expected, a Corpse Release ninja like Kaede-kun, who is destined to never stand in the sunlight, is the most suitable partner for him, at least before they turn against each other.

No matter how much trouble he went through during the forbidden experiments, no matter how disastrous the project progressed, Orochimaru would never receive any complaints or curses from his partner, Kaede Tsukasa; he would only ever hear cheers!

The more people he kills, the happier Kaede Tsukasa becomes. If the experiment succeeds, killing more people will make Kaede Tsukasa even happier. Look at them, what a perfect pair!

Not only can it provide experimental assistance, but it also provides maximum emotional value.

As for morality? Orochimaru realized that Kaede Tsukasa basically had no morality.

Unfortunately, he didn't have any either.

"Are you alright? The interstitial cell experiment hasn't even started yet. Try to suppress your emotions for now and remain calm."

Kaede glanced over and saw Orochimaru standing there quietly, his hands trembling slightly. He knew that the guy was extremely excited and was probably having a brainstorming session, imagining a bright future.

Kaede Tsukasa had no qualms about the many people who were about to die in human experiments, because even without him, these people would have died in the experiments in the original timeline anyway. The Third Hokage knew this, but did not intervene.

Even the Third Hokage and other village leaders were closely monitoring the progress of the experiment and tacitly approved the sacrifice of a large number of people. Kaede Tsukasa felt that he shouldn't be a saint and should participate in it with a clear conscience, and do his best to contribute to the village.

The village should thank him.

In the near future, he and Orochimaru will enter a honeymoon period, and the number and value of the secrets they share will soon surpass the secrets that Orochimaru and Danzo once shared.

Kaede Tsukasa thought this was a good idea.

"Orochimaru should be learning the Impure World Reincarnation technique by now..." Kaede Tsukasa thought of this.

The Impure World Reincarnation technique is indeed terrible in the current version, and it's basically only used to support the mutual multiplication of explosive tags, but it has great potential for further development.

However, as bad as it may be, it's not entirely unusable... Kaedeji seriously considered the feasibility. Even if it could be used, he couldn't trust Orochimaru and still needed to use other methods as a backup plan.

For a moment, Kaede Tsukasa and Orochimaru began brainstorming and fell silent, and the laboratory became quiet.

Another half a while passed.

Kaedeji suddenly said, "Orochimaru, when you went to see the Hokage, did you try to find out when he planned to start the First Hokage's cell experiment project?"

“He will never give clear orders. He would rather say nothing and watch us act on our own. What, does Kaede-kun think we will be hindered by the village leaders? No, we can just do our thing and give the village a result afterward.”

Orochimaru was puzzled as to why Kaedeji would ask such a meaningless question.

He believed that Kaede Tsukasa should have a clear understanding of the Third Hokage's personality. As long as he didn't do anything too outrageous or too high-profile, making his shady dealings public knowledge, the Third Hokage wouldn't have stood up to criticize him from the beginning.

"There is still a slight difference. Danzo is in a bad situation because of the Mito Uzumaki incident. Since the two of us are going to fill the void in the militant faction and take over some of the things Danzo did, it would be best to do so through some landmark events... I'm not talking about this shady first-generation cell experiment project."

Kaede Tsukasa said, "I want the Hokage to acknowledge our status and qualifications in the village, and to give his personal approval. We are also working hard to enhance the village's strength, and we shouldn't be scrutinized like rats in the shadows."

"Is that so? How cautious. You don't want to leave yourself any leverage for attack? So what do you plan to do?" Orochimaru was unconvinced, but he was more curious about Kaede Tsukasa's thoughts.

Kaede Tsukasa said slowly, "I want to do something to prove myself with my actions, and now there just happens to be an opportunity."

Yes, he's planning to do something.

Kaede Tsukasa had a vague feeling that he had passed his weakest period and had achieved some merit and gained some fame during World War II, but he was far from being of paramount importance to the village. Compared to people like Hatake Sakumo and Orochimaru, Kaede Tsukasa knew that he was still lacking. As a result, the village was no longer the place that could provide him with strong protection and ensure that he could develop freely. Instead, it imposed invisible restrictions on him in many ways.

He knew that this was because he had become stronger and had crossed many boundaries in both tangible and intangible ways. Not to mention him, anyone else who grew up in this way would have encountered the same thing.

But Kaede Tsukasa didn't intend to remain passive like this. If he wanted to develop further, he either had to defect or take advantage of the situation to break through the boundaries and demand more from the village.

Well, it might not sound nice, but if I could become the next Danzo, I could freely browse all the village's ninjutsu, even the Scroll of Sealing Techniques, freely draw upon the strength of various ninja clans to carry out missions, and freely form my own armed forces...

That means he can do whatever he wants, which is perfect for Kaede Tsukasa.

“The village provided shelter when I was weak, and I won’t easily do anything to harm its interests, but I also want to break through those limitations that have a certain degree of rationality… so I plan to achieve something,” Kaedeji said slowly.

Orochimaru understood immediately.

"How long will it take? You seem eager to get started on the experiment, but won't it take even longer to do what you're talking about?"

"Soon, very soon, someone will give us this opportunity." Kaedeji's eyes showed anticipation.

That evening, Kaede Tsukasa went to the Hokage Building, and then went to find Kushina.

"Huh? You said you wanted to stay here?"

Kushina, still wearing her pajamas and looking sleepy, stared wide-eyed at the guy who had brazenly entered her house, her mouth agape in utter shock.

"Well, I might as well tell you. Orochimaru and I went to the Land of Lightning and attacked the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, which caused the Eight-Tails to go berserk and destroy a unit of the Hidden Cloud Village with a Tailed Beast Ball. If nothing unexpected happens, those guys from the Hidden Cloud Village will definitely retaliate."

Kaede glanced casually at the shocked Kushina, slapped the ground, summoned a coffin, opened the lid, and lay down inside.

For the foreseeable future, he will stay here to ensure that he can detect the infiltration of the Hidden Cloud Village as soon as possible, and prepare to launch a major attack on the Hidden Cloud Village.

Kushina was utterly shocked: "The Hidden Cloud Village is going to go to war with the Hidden Leaf Village?"

"A large-scale war is unlikely. They are already racking their brains over the Eight-Tails and simply cannot afford to fight. We don't want to fight either."

Kaede Tsukasa closed his eyes: "So, what could be a better way for Kumogakure to take revenge on Konoha than by capturing you? You will become their target, you must believe that."

"Me? Oh, so you attacked the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, so the enemy is going after me, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?"

Kushina's mind was overwhelmed by too much sudden information, and she couldn't process it all at once. She couldn't even think about the fact that Kaedeji was going to move into her house.

"You're wrong. The people of Kumogakure don't know that you've become the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki. In the days since Lady Mito Uzumaki died, her funeral hasn't been held yet, and the village has been secretly mobilizing troops to the border of the Land of Fire to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances."

Kaedeji shook his head: "It just so happens that Kumogakure needs a vessel to restrain the Eight-Tails. Who could be more suitable than you?"

“…I see.” Kushina lowered her head.

Both Konoha and Kumogakure seem to be paying attention to her because she is a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, making her more suitable than ordinary people to bind tailed beasts.

Why did you attack the Eight-Tails?

"Simply put, the Hidden Cloud Village has always made us uncomfortable, so we need to find an opportunity to make them uncomfortable. Fortunately, their Eight-Tails Jinchuriki revealed a weakness, so Orochimaru and I went over to make our move."

Kaede glanced at Kushina, who was wearing pink pajamas: "What I need to do now is make sure you don't give anything away. If you get taken down by the enemy on the first attack, I'll be in a very passive position."

Kushina looked down at herself.

“That’s right, that’s the flaw. As a ninja, why are you wearing pajamas, especially pink ones? I suggest you change them in the next few days. Once this period is over, there won’t be any problems.”

Kaede Tsukasa lay in the coffin and closed his eyes.

"...I understand, but are you sure you want to stay in a place like this? My house is very big."

"No, I'm not interested in your room. This place suits me better."

"...How could this person be like this..."

Outside, some ANBU ninjas were racking their brains.

"Are we really just going to stand by and watch? Although the Hokage clearly stated that we shouldn't prevent the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki from interacting with the villagers, and that we should only ensure her safety, for a man to come knocking on our door so brazenly in the middle of the night... this is just...

"If you possess space-time ninjutsu, you can definitely teleport the Nine-Tails away when it goes berserk. You can do that too."

The leader of the ANBU ninjas said coldly, "The Hokage has ordered that we are not to do anything extra, so we should just carry out his orders."

He had just returned from the Third Hokage's place. According to the Third Hokage's instructions, the surveillance and protection of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki would not only not increase in the near future, but would actually decrease. This was very strange, indicating that there was a major operation in progress.

Three more days passed.

A group of outsiders from the northeast secretly infiltrated the Land of Fire.

"Lord Yotsuki, everything is going smoothly. The enemy has not discovered us."

A Cloud Village ninja, carrying a box-like device on his back, closed his eyes and carefully sensed his surroundings before respectfully reporting.

"Yes, we must be careful. The village cannot send too many troops into the Land of Fire, as that would cause too much of a commotion. The task of capturing the descendants of the vortex can only be done by us."

The future Fourth Raikage looked at the people in front of him.

The number of people was small, probably less than three hundred. This was the result of careful selection by the Hidden Cloud Village. For this reason, the Third Raikage even specially assigned the elite Jonin Troy to be his son's assistant.

"Troy, you'll have to work hard this time. If we're exposed, we'll need your magic to slow down our pursuit as much as possible." Night Moon looked at a seemingly ordinary man beside her.

"Leave it to me. Even if the Hokage himself pursues him, I will do my best to stop him," Troy said expressionlessly.

Yotsuki nodded; he had complete trust in this elite Jonin of the village.

In Kumogakure, all three Raikage to date have been from the Yotsuki clan, whose bloodline is characterized by tall stature, muscular build, and proficiency in Lightning Release techniques.

Under the leadership of the Yoruzuki clan, the entire Hidden Cloud Village has become extremely fond of well-developed muscles and a tough personality. This means that people like Troy, who are taciturn and thin, are actually a very small minority.

Moreover, bloodline limits are a rare thing in the Hidden Cloud Village, and Troy happens to possess the Magnet Release bloodline limit, which should be prevalent in the Land of Wind.

For this operation, Yoru and Troy leading the team is already a rare and large undertaking. Although the number of people is not large, the quality of the team is extremely high. Moreover, their purpose is not only to capture Kushina Uzumaki, but also to take the opportunity to give Konoha a hard time.

If a force of a thousand is deployed, that would be an open declaration of war. Deploying three hundred is neither too many nor too few; it can be considered a large-scale operation, with the pretext of a normal border conflict.

"Continue to maintain high-intensity perception. Don't hesitate to use the equipment. After it's done, the village will equip you with new perception devices," Night Moon commanded.

Several sensory ninjas responded, and subtle lightning-style electric currents appeared on their bodies. After connecting with the machine on their backs, they activated a new round of sensory perception.

This is the Cloud Village's sensory unit. Unlike the Leaf Village, which has such a luxurious setup with bloodline clans and secret technique clans like the Hyuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame for sensory processing.

Not only does the Hidden Cloud Village lack bloodline limits, but its sealing techniques are also not very advanced. Even its sensory ninjas are somewhat lacking, so it can only resort to a clever method—that is, it ingeniously combines lightning release techniques with sonic detection tools to perform "wide-area sensory techniques," achieving a sensory effect similar to radar.

This sensory unit was created by the Third Raikage and normally wouldn't have truly come into its own until the Third Shinobi World War, mainly to counter the guerrilla tactics of Iwagakure.

Now, in order to exact a severe revenge on Konoha Village, the only option is to bring out this newly formed sensory unit to test its capabilities. Hopefully, it will be truly effective, otherwise, things will get complicated.

In terms of secret techniques and bloodline limits, the Hidden Cloud Village is at a huge disadvantage.

"no problem."

"no problem."

"After bypassing the border troops that are stationed there on a daily basis, it seems that Konoha Village has not deployed too many troops within the Land of Fire, and I haven't found any problems here."

One by one, the sensory ninjas reported their sensory results, which completely reassured Yoruzuki. If a person or a device might be malfunctioning, could it be that everyone was malfunctioning?
"Hmph, the guys from Konoha think they've become so lax just because they won the Ninja World War." Yotsuki sneered, clenching his fist tightly. Even this simple grip produced a deep, booming sound, demonstrating just how incredibly strong his body was.

Troy glanced at the excessively young Yotsuki clan member beside him, who was also the son of the Third Raikage. He knew that this person would definitely be the future Fourth Raikage. This was how it was in Kumogakure; the position of the leader had basically become the private property of the Yotsuki clan.

Those below him all address the Raikage as "boss"—the hierarchical structure of Kumogakure is actually highly similar to the mafia model.

Or you could simply consider it the Mafia, but the three "bosses" so far have all been quite reliable, fair and magnanimous in their dealings, which is truly convincing, and the Hidden Cloud Village has never experienced any serious internal strife.

In the original timeline, Konoha Village reached its peak after the Third Hokage took office. However, after its peak, it declined rapidly. Bloodline clans such as the Senju, Uchiha, and Kurama were wiped out one after another. Many Kage-level shinobi died or betrayed the village. There were even Tsunade and Jiraiya who frequently left home. To the people of Kumogakure, this was simply unbelievable.

Troy kept scrutinizing the young Yotsuki, thinking that if this guy became the Fourth Raikage in the future, he would probably do a good job, and there was no need to worry about the Hidden Cloud Village having too many internal problems.

The last time the Hidden Cloud Village experienced internal strife was during the First Shinobi World War. The Gold and Silver Brothers, along with a large number of their subordinates, fought a bloody battle against the Hidden Leaf Village on the front lines and suffered heavy losses. Then, they heard that the Hidden Cloud Village was going to form an alliance with the Hidden Leaf Village.

What happened next is clear: Kinkaku and Ginkaku launched a rebellion, using a large number of Six Paths Ninja Tools to assassinate the Second Raikage and the Second Hokage, successfully thwarting the alliance. As a result, they became rogue ninjas.

It wasn't until the Third Raikage took office and relentlessly hunted them down across the world that Kinkaku and Ginkaku were finally defeated. He also managed to retrieve the Amber Bottle, which he used to seal the Eight-Tails.

However, the other six ninja tools were lost, disappearing without a trace along with the deaths of Kinkaku and Ginkaku.

"If Kinkaku and Ginkaku were still alive, those two could definitely have created a bloodline limit clan like the Senju and Uchiha clans. The village wouldn't be at such a disadvantage in terms of bloodline limits. Only the Yotsuki clan can consistently produce strong individuals..."

Troy suddenly realized this. He himself was a bloodline ninja, so he naturally knew that Magnet Release bloodline was born by fusing two types of chakra and could not be passed on to offspring. Therefore, it was impossible for Kumogakure to give birth to a bloodline clan.

But Jinjiao and Yinjiao are different. They are brothers, which alone shows that their bloodlines are powerful. They may be much stronger than the Night Moon Clan. They must also have some kind of unknown bloodline limit.

When Kumogakure was first established, these two brothers dared to bring the Six Paths Ninja Tools and a large number of subordinates to capture the Nine-Tails. Although they failed in the end, they were still able to survive by consuming the Nine-Tails' chakra after entering its stomach, which shows how incredibly fierce they were.

"Troy, are you even listening to me?" Night Moon shouted.

“I’ve been listening. I’m in charge of capturing the Uzumaki descendant, and then once the people of Konoha find out, you lead the other companions to ambush the pursuit force.”

"That's right, that's exactly it. Once they discover that the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is missing, Konoha will definitely mobilize a large force and search in all directions. Their forces will be scattered, and that's our opportunity!"

Yotsuki said fiercely, "Our sensory ninjas have an advantage in sensing range. As long as we target a unit from Konoha, quickly annihilate it, and then immediately retreat with the Uzumaki descendants, our mission will be perfectly accomplished. It's simple, isn't it? We must let these damned guys know the power of Kumogakure. This is the price for attacking our Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and it's also revenge for Burubi!"

Burubi, such a kind person, died just like that, which has always been a source of regret for Yotsuki.

If possible, he would love to kill the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha, but he heard that she was the wife of the First Hokage and must be extremely powerful.

Let's start by taking some revenge from another descendant of the Uzumaki clan. Using Konoha's finest vessel to seal the tailed beast of Kumogakure—nothing is more vengeful than that.

The group moved quickly, using their super-wide perception to avoid various outposts and rapidly approach Konoha Village.

Under the moonlight, Troy and several others crouched down, activating their wide-area perception while remaining motionless for several hours.

"Lord Troy, they've arrived. That's Kushina Uzumaki."

"Good, we need to be quick. It will be troublesome once she gets back to her residence. I don't want to fight that old Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in Konoha."

Troy and his men rushed forward, with Troy covering Kushina's mouth and carrying her out of the village. The journey was very smooth.

"Isn't it going a little too smoothly? There aren't even any ANBU ninjas protecting her. Are the people of Konoha really that careless?" Troy looked at the struggling Kushina with some suspicion.

But since things have come to this point, and the person has already been brought out, this is the only way.

Troy quickly joined up with Yoru and the others, and throughout the entire ordeal, there was no movement from Konoha Village.

"Very good, it seems to be going very smoothly. Immediately take the descendants of the Uzumaki clan to the border of the Land of Fire and wait for the reaction of Konoha Village." Yotsuki excitedly clenched his fist and punched the air hard.

"Then you're going to be disappointed."

Kushina raised her head and, who had been silent all along, said, "I've waited for several days, and it seems it wasn't in vain. You are all surrounded by me. You will all die here."

With a bang, Kaedeji deactivated the transformation jutsu and reverted to his original appearance.

"Who are you?!"

"It seems your village's sensory ninjutsu can only detect things on the surface; it can't even break a transformation jutsu... Summoning Jutsu!"

Coffins rose wildly from the ground, densely packed together.

(End of this chapter)