Chapter 26: Corpse Shift: Void World Jutsu
The Corpse Shift: Void World Jutsu was a surprise to both the Third Hokage and Danzo.
"From among the war orphans adopted from various towns in the Land of Fire, such a unique talent actually emerged?" The Third Hokage, pipe in mouth, looked at the information card in his hand with great interest.
It listed various ability assessments for Tsukasa Kaede, from D-rank to B-rank, and the written introduction detailed Tsukasa Kaede's growth experience.
Born a war orphan, his background was verifiable, and his loyalty was also very high.
"I never would have thought, not at all. This is truly a pleasant surprise."
"It's just that his physique is too poor; his taijutsu and chakra levels are both the lowest D-rank," Danzo said, glancing over.
"Don't be too harsh on young people. He's only sixteen. From a certain perspective, the fact that a body like his can develop a jutsu suspected of being a Space-Time Jutsu through the Soul Death Technique doesn't that better illustrate his potential? Who would have thought he'd only display his talents at this age? No one had discovered his potential before."
The Third Hokage was very pleased. Here was another talent not within their plans, and this talent had caused additional losses to the Hidden Sand Village, effectively expanding the Hidden Leaf Village's advantage.
This tit-for-tat attrition greatly aligned with the Third Hokage's strategic mindset.
Danzo slowly closed his eyes, etching Tsukasa Kaede's name into his mind.
"Ryoma made a mistake... failing to filter him out from that batch of war orphans back then."
Some time ago, while sifting through Root intelligence, he had seen something about Tsukasa Kaede in Ryoma's report, but he was merely a pawn used to threaten Nonō Yakushi, and the text related to Tsukasa Kaede was only mentioned in passing.
A war orphan who played with corpses, by all accounts, shouldn't have warranted much attention.
Yet, how long had it been? Who would have thought that Tsukasa Kaede would display such astounding performance? For a newly promoted chunin, to participate in an A-rank mission, achieve brilliant results, and ensure the team completed the mission, was extremely rare.
"The Soul Death Technique, according to Terai's report, Nonō Yakushi doesn't seem to have mastered this special Soul Death Technique. This means Tsukasa Kaede possesses superior research talent when it comes to corpses..."
Especially the Jutsu of forming Hand Kaedegns with a corpse and then switching places, it was simply an operation that defied understanding. Danzo had also encountered many Ninjutsu, but he had never imagined such a possibility.
Mutual Summoning? Perhaps there was some truth to that, but besides Tsukasa Kaede, who else could switch places with their Summoned Creature at the same time using mutual Summoning?
None, absolutely none. As far as records in the entire Ninja World went, only Tsukasa Kaede had achieved it.
Chakra resonance? Mental link? Special devices hidden inside the corpse?
Danzo pondered several possibilities, looking for ways to extract benefits from Tsukasa Kaede. He felt that someone like Tsukasa Kaede, skilled in researching corpses, would be of significant help to his various Forbidden Research.
If Ryoma hadn't made a mistake and brought Tsukasa Kaede into Root earlier... at the very least, Tsukasa Kaede's strength wouldn't be as it was now. With better training, his increasingly refined Soul Death Technique system would only become more powerful.
The Third Hokage sighed, "It's a pity. A talent like this, having lost two fingers, will be affected in developing Ninjutsu."
"That doesn't matter. He can make corpses exert some of their former strength. We just need to give him corpses with no research value for him to repurpose. We just don't know the upper limit of his Jutsu. If Root could acquire this Jutsu, further development could be carried out."
"Danzo, you cannot use coercive methods against your comrades in the village. The act of coveting a subordinate's Ninjutsu should not occur in the Hidden Leaf Village," the Third Hokage said, glancing at Danzo in warning.
"He is Ryoma's subordinate. I will promote him to head of the Corpse Disposal Unit. A chunin who has dealt with corpses since he began serving Konoha, such a person is very suitable."
"Let's discuss it after the war against the Hidden Sand Village is over."
"Hiruzen! His strength isn't great; the enemy will definitely notice him."
"Danzo, I am the Hokage. I know how to utilize his talents."
After a brief conversation, the two settled on Tsukasa Kaede's arrangement.
Danzo began to consider another matter.
If Tsukasa Kaede's Soul Death Technique truly had potential for further development, allowing corpses to exert more of their strength from life, then the value of this Jutsu would be immense. In some ways, it bore a resemblance to *that* Forbidden Jutsu.
"Orochimaru has gained quite a few achievements through the war, and he's always been very interested in the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu... If..."
Danzo's heart burned with fervor.
"Tsunade has already arrived at the front line. It won't be long before we can end the war against the Hidden Sand Village."
The Third Hokage said, feeling very content. He had led the village to victory in the First Great War, and now he would gradually win the Second Great Ninja War. Under his leadership, Konoha would continue to be victorious.
Danzo said coldly, "Aren't you going to ask her what she's been doing? Orochimaru has been active on the Hidden Stone Village battlefield for a long time, but Tsunade and Jiraiya are both incredibly lax, completely disregarding the village's orders!"
Tsunade's unconventional behavior was still excusable; after all, she had lost her beloved younger brother. During a period when the war hadn't fully escalated, Tsunade undertaking some unclear actions without the village's permission could still be tolerated.
At the very least, she had established the Medical Unit, indirectly saving countless ninja lives. Such merit could not be erased, and even if Tsunade rarely went to the front line, it was completely understandable.
But Jiraiya was truly outrageous. Staying in the Land of Rain to teach children? Too abstract, simply insane.
He wondered if Hanzo had damaged his brain.
...
Many Konoha Ninja saw Tsunade walk into the main camp—perhaps this was Tsunade's intention, to announce her return to everyone.
"Hey, isn't that Lady Tsunade? And the one beside her is Lord Kato Dan, right?"
"Hiss, have they returned from their mission?"
"That's great! Now those guys from the Hidden Sand Village won't be able to act so arrogantly anymore. We're sure to win!"
Every Konoha Ninja was incredibly excited. Many rushed over to watch Tsunade, cheering loudly.
Who didn't know that Lady Tsunade was Konoha's strongest Medical Ninja? With someone like her coming to take charge, the Hidden Sand Village's poisons would no longer be a problem!
"Tsunade is back? She's at her peak in all aspects right now."
Tsukasa Kaede also walked out, mingling in the crowd and watching Tsunade. He saw a smile appear on Tsunade's lips, a confidence in the imminent victory.
If nothing unexpected happened, the decisive battle against the Hidden Sand Village was coming soon, and Konoha would ultimately achieve victory.
He just didn't know why Tsunade had only returned at this time, but no one truly stepped forward to accuse her of anything.
Tsukasa Kaede averted his gaze. Even though he was just standing in the crowd, occasionally someone recognized him and specifically came over to chat with him.
"Hey, why are you wearing a mask?"
"Ah, it's nothing, I went on a mission some time ago, and it was too draining..."
"I heard! You brought back valuable intelligence about the Hidden Sand Village, and with Lady Tsunade arriving at the front line, we'll be able to return to the village soon, right? We need to give those Hidden Sand Village guys a good beating!"
Tsukasa Kaede's fame also gradually began to spread. After all, this particular Soul Death Technique of his truly broke new ground; no one had ever conceived of such a method before.
The Soul Death Technique had already become Tsukasa Kaede's signature Ninjutsu.
As Tsukasa Kaede conversed with both familiar and unfamiliar people, he also pondered his next moves.
With the Corpse Substitution Jutsu, his life safety had greatly improved. As long as he didn't encounter dangerous situations consecutively, he could instantly switch positions to an area with more Konoha Ninja, relying on the strength of his comrades to protect himself.
Unconsciously, his Jutsu had taken on a slight resemblance to "Limbo"...
Madara's Limbo was definitely not as simple as a so-called "rookie-slaying god-tier Jutsu." The multiple shadows he created were essentially many clones of himself, multiplying his strength several times over.
Moreover, the main body and shadows could perfectly replace each other instantly, making it the highest-tier Space-Time Substitution Jutsu, virtually unassailable.
Being held up by Naruto with a few Shadow Clone Jutsu, besides considering the protagonist's aura, was also because Naruto had too many cheats.
Sasuke was more straightforward; he only needed to consider how to use the Rinnegan given to him by the Sage of Kaedex Paths.
"If I could break free from the shackles of low chakra and use this Jutsu multiple times, I could barely be considered a Ninja who has mastered Space-Time Ninjutsu. In that case, this systematic new Jutsu should have a brand new name. Let's call it... Corpse Release: Corpse Shift: Void World Jutsu."
(end of chapter)