"Uuuuuhhh..."
Kenzo's steps faltered for a brief moment. His mind, already fading into chaos, could no longer control his body. Only the primal instinct to feed remained.
The virus had spread from the wound on his body, gradually infecting every inch of him, transforming him into a zombie with each passing step.
The moment he caught sight of Ao, he let out a guttural howl and lunged straight at him.
Ao frowned and dodged to the side, narrowing his eyes as he examined the attacker. The more he looked, the more confused he became.
"Is that Kenzo? No... it doesn't seem like it. His body reeks of rotting flesh, and he's visibly decaying at a frightening rate... It's like he's possessed by a demon."
There were too many jutsu in the world, far more than anyone could possibly be familiar with.
"And this guy is trying to use taijutsu on me. His movements are distorted due to his injuries, but they still surpass the level of an average genin."
In just a few seconds, Ao had made a quick assessment. With a swift motion, he pulled out a kunai, intending to kill Takano first.
Whoosh!
But the zombie suddenly veered off course, placing itself directly in front of Takano, using its body to block all the incoming kunai.
"My initial guess is that this is a jutsu used by Konoha. But blocking tools with your body? Could it have regenerative abilities?"
Ao's doubts deepened.
Takano was just as confused. He didn't understand what was going on with the person in front of him, but it seemed like they were an ally.
"I'll heal you..." He reached out a hand, but the other didn't acknowledge it. Ignoring the kunai stuck in his body, the creature let out another howl and charged at Ao.
Startled, Ao leapt back. He suspected this thing felt no pain, and continued his probing attacks from a distance.
After multiple ranged strikes, Ao confirmed it, this thing truly didn't feel pain. It was like a puppet made of flesh and blood, devoid of will.
"There are no chakra threads controlling it... no visible curse marks either. What in the world is this thing?"
Now thoroughly intrigued, Ao kept retreating. The more the zombie tried to get close, the more Ao maintained his distance to observe.
With his cautious nature, he wouldn't risk anything without certainty.
Besides, his instincts told him that uncovering the mystery behind this creature could yield more valuable results than killing Takano.
Takano also realized something. Gritting his teeth, he forced his body to squeeze out more chakra, attempting to heal his injuries.
Meanwhile, Ao continued his testing.
First severing the limbs, then destroying internal organs in the chest, and finally moving in to decapitate the creature with a kunai. He caught the severed head in one hand.
"It still isn't dead? It's just a head now, and it still wants to bite me? What kind of terrifying will to fight is this?"
Ao was utterly shocked. He gripped the thing by the forehead, watching its jaw open and close, overcome with awe.
He had never heard of such a monster. Even with only a head remaining, it refused to stop. It was like something out of legend.
"Konoha... is this the kind of monster your village creates?" Ao muttered, but got no reply.
Turning around, he saw Takano had already escaped.
He didn't mind. He had found a far more valuable target. Tearing off part of his clothing, he wrapped the head up and prepared to take it back for study.
"These eyes... they're just like the Byakugan. Could there be a connection? Is it a forbidden jutsu from the Hyuga clan? Or did a Hyuga fall victim to someone else's forbidden technique?"
Ao couldn't stop thinking about the Byakugan. If he could get one, it would be a massive strategic gain. The Third Mizukage would value him even more, and his status would soar.
He thought again about all the rumors of strange demons and monsters that circulated across the Shinobi World.
Without hesitation, he grabbed the head and fled into the forest, even abandoning the Mist shinobi who had gone after other Konoha ninjas.
That guy hadn't returned by now, either killed or intercepted by Konoha reinforcements. Not worth much.
"If Konoha truly had such a forbidden technique, they would've used it in the war already. That means this thing can't be mass-produced. But if I can uncover the secret behind it..."
Ao thought about the creature's lack of pain, its near-immortality, and couldn't help the fire that ignited in his chest.
"If only those eyes were actually Byakugan," he mused, vanishing into the dense forest.
…
"They're getting farther away, out of my range for sensing. Looks like he escaped."
Arata sat cross-legged on a tree branch, slowly opening his eyes. He smacked his lips, a little disappointed.
Ao was still too cautious. If he'd just been a little more reckless, let the zombie take a bite, or even a scratch, things would've turned out very differently.
Arata didn't know how long it would take to corrupt a Jonin from a distance without directly accelerating the virus with chakra.
But if Ao got infected, he'd never escape Arata's shadow again.
The farther the distance, the more chakra it would cost for Arata to precisely sense and accelerate the corruption.
That kind of expenditure was out of his reach right now, and frankly, unnecessary.
More importantly, he didn't yet have enough chakra to precisely control the virus within the zombie's body and allow it to use the ninjutsu it had known in life.
Yes, theoretically, if Arata became strong enough, with sufficient chakra and deeper development of his Zombie Release techniques, he could make it happen.
He could bring out one hundred percent of a zombie's combat power from when they were alive, because once a person became a zombie, there was no more pain, no more fear.
They could fight at full power, recklessly trading blow for blow until their body gave out or their head was destroyed.
With one body under each arm, Arata trudged toward the village with great effort.
And it truly was a struggle, he wasn't pretending. The battle had placed a massive burden on his body.
Eventually, a Konoha patrol ninja came to escort him.
"You're in this condition and still brought back two comrades? That's incredible. We'll escort you back to the village.
Get some rest, you've done more than enough. Anyone would be lucky to have a comrade like you."
The girl who greeted him was wide-eyed with admiration, her face brimming with that uniquely naive brightness of a recent graduate. She was warm and enthusiastic toward Arata.
Even the adult ninken at her side came over to sniff him and barked once.
"Yeah, just lucky. Drove the enemy away... but this is all I could manage. Unfortunately, one of our comrades didn't make it," Arata sighed.
"I think I saw your picture once on the academy's outer wall. You're Inuzuka Tsume, right? One of the top graduates from two years ago?"
Tsume, mother of Inuzuka Hana and Inuzuka Kiba, was destined to become a squad leader in Konoha's patrol division.
Unlike most Inuzuka who partnered with puppies and raised them to adulthood, Tsume had chosen an adult battle hound as her companion.
Her partner, the one-eyed Kuromaru, was incredibly strong.
Before long, Arata arrived at the village gate and saw the severely injured Takano and Tobidake Tonbo.
"So, you were rescued by Minato and Choza's patrol team? That's wonderful. It means everything we've done hasn't been in vain. We made it back from the jaws of death."
Standing before the assembled shinobi, Arata let out a relieved smile.
As for seizing the chance to befriend the young Minato... that was impossible. Because to Minato, Arata didn't even exist.
Minato was a rising superstar, already known to the higher-ups. Though dubbed "The Yellow Flash," there was no way he could remember every average genin in the village.
Konoha had over ten thousand resident shinobi, not counting those stationed across the Land of Fire's many towns and provinces.
As the primary military institution of the Land of Fire, Konoha had the authority to issue conscription orders to nobles and feudal lords, meaning their direct control over the shinobi force would only continue to grow.
Even if the number didn't reach fifty or sixty thousand, a total of thirty thousand shinobi was absolutely realistic, this was the result of more than two decades of peace since the First Great Ninja War.
Of course, with the Second Great War already raging for several years, their total numbers had dropped dramatically. Losing ten thousand or so would be considered normal.
With that many shinobi, no matter how gifted or radiant Minato was, how could he possibly remember everyone?
Especially at just twelve years old, when he was carrying out patrols and constantly rescuing shinobi, there was no way he could recall them all.