Chapter 1: Corpse Release
In Konoha Year 39, the Second Great Ninja War was drawing to a close. Although localized conflicts still persisted, a glimmer of peace was already in sight.
Whether it was the ninjas rushing about or the civilians in the village, none were as anxious and worried as before. Their faces now displayed the confidence and composure of victors.
The good news was that the Great Ninja War could now be definitively confirmed to be nearing its end, and the Konoha villagers' lives were looking brighter.
75-year-old Mito Uzumaki held sway over all nations; 48-year-old Hiruzen Sarutobi consolidated his rule; 26-year-old Sakumo Hatake was full of vigor and spirit and had a son; 12-year-old Minato Namikaze was growing vigorously.
The bad news was that only the Second Great Ninja War was nearing its end.
Compared to the First Great War, the Second Great Ninja War was characterized by massive casualties among low to mid-ranked ninja, signifying that the intensity of the war had risen by an order of magnitude.
The Second Great Ninja War, in essence, was merely the prelude to the next Great Ninja War. Throughout the entire Second Great Ninja War, Kumogakure and the Hidden Mist Village in the east undertook few major actions; it was primarily Amegakure, Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Konoha in the west that engaged in a chaotic battle.
In another seven years, the even more brutal Third Great Ninja War would arrive, and that would be the main event.
"Cackle, cackle, cackle… I, a 16-year-old, have lived another day. Truly a great accomplishment. I thank every Ōtsutsuki."
On the village's outskirts, from a dilapidated house, a skeletal figure let out a low chuckle as he slowly emerged from the shrouded shadows.
Tsukasa Kaede loved sunlight.
After he arrived in this world, he initially held the belief of living one day at a time, until he could no longer bear it and simply died—it wasn't that he wasn't trying, but often, he simply couldn't.
The reason was simple: he hadn't experienced Soul Transmigration, but rather Body Transmigration.
In his original world, when he faced peril and was about to meet a horrible death, he, as an Earthling, recovered his childhood body during the transmigration process and arrived in the Naruto World. This utterly shattered his mental state for a time.
A normal Earthling has approximately 40 trillion cells in their body, but ordinary people in the Naruto World are remarkably powerful, possessing 130 trillion cells! This isn't merely a three-fold difference in physical constitution; ordinary Earthlings and ordinary people of the Naruto World are entirely different species.
This meant that almost all the bacteria and viruses Tsukasa Kaede carried over were merely a gentle breeze to the natives of the Naruto World, easily eradicated by a few sneezes, at most causing a localized cold that would last a few hours.
Yet, any pathogen from the Naruto World that wouldn't cause any negative symptoms in its natives was, for Tsukasa Kaede, trapped in an Earthling child's body, an ultimate battle for survival against death itself.
From the very first day Tsukasa Kaede arrived in this world, he had been engaged in a fierce and relentless struggle against various diseases. He once believed this struggle would be endless, condemning him to eternal pain and sickness, with the best possible outcome being all his organs failing from constant high-intensity operation.
As for why he didn't start refining Chakra—that all-purpose power capable of the interconversion of physical and spiritual energy—from the very beginning to suppress his diseases…
Impossible, absolutely impossible. The natives of the Naruto World refine Chakra using physical energy accumulated from 130 trillion cells, combined with their own spiritual energy.
Tsukasa Kaede refining Chakra? How could he? Using 40 trillion cells while enduring countless unidentifiable pathogens, forcing himself to try and refine it? If he refined too little, the limited Chakra couldn't cover his entire body, much less be manipulated to eradicate the pathogens within it. Even precise Chakra control techniques required consuming a large amount of Chakra for practice, and that was assuming he had a teacher! If he refined even slightly more Chakra, or refined it just a tiny bit more frequently… Tsukasa Kaede would simply die on the spot.
It wasn't until now, at 16 years old, that Tsukasa Kaede's body, severely depleted of all usable fats, sugars, and proteins from this dark and drawn-out battle, had withered to skin and bones, allowing him to finally achieve the great goal of "living."
Only now could he say he had temporarily adapted to the environment of this world and gained the qualification to "live normally."
Given his current physical condition, even if he never contracted another pathogen, his maximum lifespan had been severely curtailed.
However, he was no longer overly worried about his lifespan. To some extent, he hadn't spent these years lying around waiting to die; he had been diligently searching for a way out for himself, and he had indeed found it.
"After all these years, refining that paltry amount of Chakra, bit by bit, and constantly groping for a path suitable for myself, I've finally achieved some results…"
Tsukasa Kaede looked at himself in the mirror, strikingly similar to a 'Nagato Plus.' Then, he lowered his gaze to his hands, slowly clenching them. The power he wielded, to describe it in more native terms, was…
Zombies!
Tsukasa Kaede could control the zombie virus to resurrect the dead! But until now, he had never revealed this method to others. The reason was simple: exposing this type of jutsu without sufficient strength would inevitably lead to a tragic end.
From any perspective, manipulating the dead was inherently considered forbidden jutsu—and specifically, the most dangerous kind, the type that should be permanently sealed away. This would immediately lead to suspicion that Tsukasa Kaede had been secretly searching for corpses, or even capturing living humans, to develop forbidden ninjutsu.
Otherwise, how could such an eerie technique, capable of bringing corpses back to life, have appeared out of thin air?
Moreover, a technique that could, to some extent, reverse life and death was far too heaven-defying during this specific juncture between the Second Great Ninja War and the Third Great Ninja War.
"The Impure World Reincarnation jutsu, developed by the Second Hokage, Orochimaru probably hasn't learned it yet."
Tsukasa Kaede raised a hand to shield his eyes from the blinding sunlight, took a deep breath, and felt a surprising sense of relief, and even a touch of emotion, when he heard no rasping sound like a broken bellows from his lungs.
The toughest days were temporarily over, but he still had many things to do.
Most fundamentally, he needed to find a way to escape this battered and worn Earthling body. He didn't have enough energy to indulge in melancholy or sentimentality; survival should always come first.
"The gap between 40 trillion and 130 trillion is too vast. And with my current physical condition, my actual cell count is far less than 40 trillion. If I insist on using this body to refine Chakra, I'd only ever be a genin even if I tried for my entire life."
Tsukasa Kaede narrowed his eyes. Orochimaru should have only just begun developing the Immortal Reincarnation jutsu. It was impossible to approach his goal from that particular angle, but it didn't matter; he would achieve it his own way.
He had to seize every available opportunity. Even if it meant working like a beast of burden for the Hidden Leaf Village, he would strive to create opportunities, even those that seemed impossible.
Even beasts of burden had their uses, and the village was always adept at utilizing everything to its fullest potential. For instance, someone was calling for him right now.
"Lord Ryoma has ordered a medical ninja squad to gather and proceed to the Northern Border." A figure quickly arrived, a hint of worry on his face.
"It seems enemies have infiltrated once more. Although the Great Ninja War is over, the conflicts between nations haven't disappeared. These squad-based infiltration missions are truly endless, to the point where even someone as untalented as me has to go out under the guise of a medical ninja… Still, it's my honor to contribute to the village," Tsukasa Kaede said, looking at the medical ninja before him.
The man before him was named Kazematsuri Takuya. During the Second Great Ninja War, he belonged to the medical team under Jiraiya's command. In a normal timeline, he would have succumbed to poisonous mist infection while treating the wounded on the Amegakure battlefield.
But because Tsukasa Kaede had helped him at the opportune moment, Kazematsuri Takuya had escaped death's clutches.
(end of chapter)