Dan and Tsunade were both at a loss for words, their minds roaring with emotion as they witnessed a miracle firsthand.
"Kaede-kun… may I call you that? You revived me… you must have paid a great price! If anything happened to you because of reviving me, I—"
Dan stammered, his words dry and awkward.
Kaede Tsukasa interrupted him. "Don't forget, Lady Tsunade ordered you to stay on the battlefield and protect me, didn't she? That's how we managed to defeat Araki of the Sandstorm. From now on, this elite jōnin Araki will be a reliable asset on our side."
He wouldn't give Dan the chance to vent his guilt or gratitude. The more such emotions were blocked, the deeper the impression would be left.
Kaede Tsukasa forced a smile. "Maybe back then I should have died on the battlefield—there'd be no 'now.' Since you trusted me and didn't disdain my secret techniques, believing in my abilities, I can't let you down. Now is the time I must give it my all."
His words moved both of them deeply. Tsunade wiped her tears, her normally decisive personality almost melting away in the moment.
She reached out toward Kaede Tsukasa.
He quickly stepped back two paces. "Lady Tsunade, if you're thinking of using this chance to break my bones, that won't work. I really could die."
"Silence. I'm checking your body. I remember your condition was poor before, and now you've used so much life force. Normally, a forbidden jutsu like this would leave endless consequences. All I can do is try to reduce your aftereffects as much as possible."
Tsunade, grateful beyond words, tried to think rationally, nervously fearing Kaede Tsukasa might die after performing such a forbidden technique.
Revival jutsu—just analyzing it casually, it's obvious that using such a defying-the-gods forbidden technique must exact a terrible price.
Consuming one's own life force is the most visible, yet perhaps the least significant, cost!
Whoosh!
Tsunade placed her hands on Kaede Tsukasa's, intending to heal him—but to her surprise, she found no injuries at all.
Checking Kaede Tsukasa's body, she realized his condition was almost identical to when she had examined him in the camp against Sunagakure!
"No special issues… could it be that your previous poor condition was actually caused by this forbidden jutsu?" Tsunade was astonished, thrilled at Kaede Tsukasa's "health," yet shocked at her own speculation.
"That's not hard to understand. After all, you know I'm a medical ninja—it makes sense I'd know some medical ninjutsu." Kaede Tsukasa grabbed Tsunade's hands, exerted a bit of strength, and stood up.
Medical ninjutsu? Tsunade was speechless—this couldn't be explained by regular medical ninjutsu. She didn't know what to say.
Kaede Tsukasa felt satisfied. The experiment was a success: he had spent most of his life force to revive Dan.
In reality, he hadn't needed to consume so much, completely depleting his stored life force.
But this was his first time removing organs from a zombie, replacing them in another body, and using Jisei Tensei no Jutsu to transfer life force and revive someone.
According to Kaede Tsukasa's calculations, even if there was some rejection, it wouldn't matter. The ninja world natives were all superhuman—ninja, even more so—fully capable of withstanding adverse reactions.
After all, eyes are plug-and-play, and internal organs are similar—it shouldn't have a substantial effect.
Moreover, Kaede Tsukasa had grafted the organs and spine of the Explosion Release bloodline zombie into Dan's body. From now on, Dan's strength and potential would increase, and mastering the Explosion Release kekkei genkai would be natural.
And from this point forward, Dan could no longer escape Kaede Tsukasa's influence. Part of Dan's body belonged to him, meaning Dan would, invisibly, belong to Kaede Tsukasa's system.
"Lord Dan—"
"Don't call me that. My life was saved at the cost of your own. A large part of my life belongs to you. Just call me by my name," Dan said gratefully.
"Alright, Senior Dan, as far as I know, you excel at spirit transformation secret techniques, but your body is a weak point. Every time you use spiritual transformation, your fragile body can hardly support you. But from now on, perhaps you'll be able to master the Explosion Release kekkei genkai and make up for your physical shortcomings."
Kaede Tsukasa had high expectations for this—an enhanced Dan? His actual strength was anyone's guess, considering this was a ninja skilled in both Yin and Yang Release techniques.
And this was a power he was destined to wield.
"Maybe… thanks to you. But are you really okay? Using such a forbidden jutsu to revive me… if there's anything I can do, you must tell me. I'll do it no matter what," Dan said solemnly.
"And me too," Tsunade added.
"For now, there's no problem. If anything, I just need some time to recuperate. Performing a forbidden jutsu like this has drained decades of my accumulated energy… This must be kept secret. Otherwise, who knows how many people would come asking me to revive their deceased loved ones?" Kaede Tsukasa said.
The two exchanged a look and nodded heavily. A forbidden jutsu capable of repeated resurrection was utterly incredible. Even with their experience and mastery of top-level ninjutsu, they were shocked by Kaede Tsukasa's talent.
Controlling corpses, reviving the dead—this truly reversed life and death. Kaede Tsukasa's abilities were unfathomable. No matter the perspective, they had to protect the knowledge of him at all costs.
The two supported Kaede Tsukasa from either side, moving toward Konoha. Soon, they would encounter some Konoha ninjas retreating from the northern coast of the Land of Hot Water.
Casually, as if starting a conversation, Kaede Tsukasa said, "By the way, when are you two getting married? I've been waiting, and so has everyone else."
"Marriage… we've already decided. After the war ends, we'll get married," Dan said with a gentle smile.
"This way of proposing is really terrible, but I reluctantly agreed," Tsunade muttered, turning her head with a small huff.
Dan looked past Kaede Tsukasa, tenderly at his partner: "In the future, we'll have our own child. He'll also become an extraordinary ninja, carrying the Will of Fire."
"Well, you should think of a name early. How about Naruto? Naruto Kato, or… Naruto Senju!"
Kaede Tsukasa revealed his true intention—planning for this generation of Asura in advance.
As everyone knew, Indra's chakra and Asura's chakra had been at odds for over a thousand years and would likely continue to clash.
Whenever one is reincarnated, the other follows. Kaede Tsukasa was attempting an interesting experiment: could he intentionally guide Asura's birth?
Tsunade possessed the purest Senju bloodline, closer to the First Asura than even the Uzumaki lineage.
As long as the Senju continued reproducing, with newborns arriving, it wouldn't fall to Kushina Uzumaki to bear the next Asura.
According to Kaede Tsukasa's calculations, the Second Great Ninja War was nearing its end, and the Senju clan's fate was entering a countdown—they were on the brink of collapse.
Protecting Dan meant safeguarding Tsunade's marriage and future descendants. Would the child born to Dan and Tsunade become the reincarnation of Asura?
Undoubtedly, this child would be the purest Senju descendant of the next generation.
"Either the experiment fails, and Dan and Tsunade have children normally, but because the timing isn't right, this generation of Asura would still be born to Kushina Uzumaki—unless Tsunade has a second child."
"Or, after Dan and Tsunade marry, for various reasons, they can't have children immediately, waiting until the key time."
That would be the 48th year of Konoha.
Perhaps the residual chakra of these two brothers needed to accumulate energy, reaching a certain threshold to reincarnate, and after the reincarnation dies, continue gathering power in a cycle.
Kaede Tsukasa was genuinely curious. Saving Dan satisfied that curiosity and allowed him to further probe this world—it was entirely worth it.
Anyway, even if it failed, it wouldn't have mattered.
"Naruto… you really think far ahead, aiming at our child! And that name is obviously for a boy—are you so sure of the gender?"
Tsunade spat lightly. With her personality, there was no blushing or awkwardness; at her age, discussing marriage and children wasn't embarrassing at all.
Dan said, "But the name is unexpectedly nice, isn't it?"
"For a boy, Naruto works. If it's a girl, we can pick another name. How about Naruko?" Kaede Tsukasa suggested with a smile.
"Tch, you're really boring," Tsunade muttered.
She looked at Kaede Tsukasa. If it were anyone else, she would have punched him already—but Kaede Tsukasa's favor was too great. He had revived Dan with a resurrection jutsu and even made it possible for him to master the Explosion Release kekkei genkai, fixing his physical weaknesses…
Such godlike methods inspired a deep respect for his talent in Tsunade's heart, no matter how worldly-wise she considered herself.
She was also grateful that she had recognized Kaede Tsukasa's potential early, giving him a chance, which now returned in an unimaginable reward.
"Naruto, huh…" Tsunade filed the name away in her heart. If they had a boy in the future, he would be called Naruto—even though that was still years away.
"Once we return, I'll take responsibility for my actions. So many comrades were killed or injured because of me," Dan said, seeing the forces ahead, his mood dropping again.
"Don't blame yourself, Senior. Who would have expected the enemy to deploy a Jinchūriki and use Lava Release to destroy the Land of Hot Water's ley lines? Most people actually escaped safely; casualties weren't that high," Kaede Tsukasa reassured him. Honestly, facing a Jinchūriki, a few hundred casualties were negligible.
Anyway, with the Four-Tails rampaging and scattering Tailed Beast Balls everywhere, even the forces of Iwagakure wouldn't have fared much better.
At the very least, this battle couldn't be called a loss.
The remaining troops were gathering comrades. Soon, someone spotted Kaede Tsukasa and the others, shouting joyfully.
A group quickly closed in, faces beaming. Though Dan looked a little disheveled, with parts of his clothes gone, he appeared uninjured.
"Amazing! Dan faced a Jinchūriki alone and came out completely unscathed!"
"Jinchūriki are insanely powerful, with terrifying chakra, incredible regeneration, and unique jutsu. Yet Dan matched them perfectly!"
Many had only caught glimpses, seeing the old purple enter the Tailed Beast's cloak, even in partial transformation. They could sense the monstrous power from afar—anyone who felt that chakra would instinctively be unsettled.
Yet Dan single-handedly covered the rear, taking on a Jinchūriki, buying precious time for the main force's retreat. How strong was that?
"Ah, thanks to Tsukasa and Tsunade, I was able to return safely…" Dan waved his hand. By nature, he never sought credit, but he had no choice but to acknowledge it now.
He couldn't exactly say he had been finished off by the Four-Tails and only revived by Kaede Tsukasa.
"The main credit goes to Kaede Tsukasa. He's become an extremely powerful ninja. Without him restraining the enemy, none of us would have made it back," Tsunade stepped forward, drawing everyone's attention.
"I see. No wonder—my life was saved by Kaede Tsukasa!"
"Same here. Though, the one who saved me… well, technically a corpse, or a zombie as some call it. Who knows where that term came from? Anyway, he was completely dead, even plunged into lava to save me."
"Idiot! That was just a dead body, an enemy's corpse at that! Without Kaede Tsukasa's jutsu, how could a corpse save you? Don't project strange emotions onto such a strange vessel!!"
The surviving ninjas, while saddened by lost comrades and frightened by the defeat, were mostly excited now, surrounding the three of them and shouting.
Under Dan's command, the thousand-strong unit began an orderly retreat. The war was no longer winnable; better to regroup at a border outpost in the Land of Fire and await the village's next orders.
Apart from necessary guards, the remaining ninjas chatted in small groups.
"By the way, Dan isn't at Hokage level yet, right? Even if he's humble, he just faced a powerful Jinchūriki alone…"
"I've been wondering too. I heard Dan's most famous tactic is spiritual transformation, but his body normally needs protection from allies. Against a Jinchūriki, this would usually be very passive; he could be attacked remotely easily. But…"
"So, Dan must have become stronger. That much is obvious."
"And Kaede Tsukasa restraining the enemy—he must be extremely strong as well. As the support squad captain, he should be…"
"A Special Jonin. Kaede Tsukasa is now a Special Jonin."
Iroha Hyuga had been silent for a long time, lost in thought. No one knew what this somewhat famous branch family Hyūga was pondering. Then he suddenly looked up and said this.
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