Chapter 32: Contact from Sasori of the Red Sand
"The enemies are rushing over. I might not be able to keep my full attention on you from now on, so be careful."
Kato Dan raised his head, his expression solemn.
Battles on all other fronts have likely already begun. Every engagement is crucial; they cannot give up, no matter what.
"With Lord Kato Dan's protection, the survival rate of us medical ninja will greatly increase."
As everyone lined up, Kazematsuri Takuya came to Tsukasa Kaede's side and whispered, his voice tinged with awe.
Those unaware would assume he revered Kato Dan, but in reality, he revered Tsukasa Kaede.
Tsukasa Kaede had said he would take down Araki of the Sand, and he actually did it. Although Kazematsuri Takuya didn't understand many of the details, by inferring the cause from the result, recalling Tsukasa Kaede's various actions, and considering the scene where Kato Dan and Tsukasa Kaede had spoken in hushed tones, he could roughly piece things together.
Before he knew it, the once frail genin had rapidly matured, reaching a point where even important figures in the Village paid attention, specifically formulating tactics and arranging powerful individuals for his protection.
Tsukasa Kaede nodded. "I know. I've exhausted my chakra, and not burdening my comrades is already the greatest help. I'll be mindful of that."
To put it plainly, he would lay low.
Everyone worried that Tsukasa Kaede, after participating in the operation to take down Araki of the Sand, would get carried away.
But in reality, Tsukasa Kaede knew his own situation perfectly well. He had eaten a military ration pill, further pushing his body, and was ready to flee for his life at any moment.
At the same time, he approached Araki of the Sand's corpse and sealed it into his scroll.
Everyone watched quietly, some even showing admiring gazes. They wanted to ask Tsukasa Kaede if he could instantly transform the corpse into combat power, but seeing Tsukasa Kaede's pale face, they didn't voice the question.
Even fewer people saw any issue with handing the corpse over to Tsukasa Kaede. Among the thirteen hundred people present, only Tsukasa Kaede had mastered the ability to utilize corpses.
Without Tsukasa Kaede as bait, they wouldn't even have been able to smoothly eliminate an entire elite squad like this.
"The other corpses can't be worried about for now. I can recover them after the war ends; recovering them now wouldn't be useful either." Tsukasa Kaede mused silently.
Araki of the Sand's body was filled with his virus, and he had been deeply influenced by Tsukasa Kaede while still alive. This meant that Araki of the Sand could retain his strength from when he was alive to the greatest extent possible, which was of significant value to Tsukasa Kaede.
Once the battle starts later, if things go wrong and Tsukasa Kaede can't escape even with the Spatial Rift Jutsu, he can release Araki of the Sand.
"But I shouldn't do this unless absolutely necessary… The enemy just died, and if I immediately release him to fight for me, the impact would be far too great." Tsukasa Kaede thought silently.
Battle cries had already begun to ring out from ahead.
"Hahahaha, the idiots from Sunagakure are here! I can't wait any longer!"
"We were just warming up by killing that guy of yours named Araki of the Sand!"
"What?! Lord Araki of the Sand is an elite jonin! How could he possibly be dead? He was leading their most elite squad!"
"Who knows? He suddenly charged over and was killed on the spot by our comrades."
At the beginning of the engagement, the Sunagakure forces' morale suffered a huge blow, with many people's faces showing disbelief.
A few insiders knew the original plan: after Araki of the Sand abducted a certain important person, they would be able to participate in the battle recklessly, using various ninjutsu to attack the chaotic Konoha forces.
If they had just charged into a melee, and Araki of the Sand entered the field later, the important person might die in the chaos of battle, making everything meaningless.
They couldn't just snatch the corpse, could they? Even the Yamanaka Clan of the Hidden Leaf Village wouldn't dare to claim absolute certainty in obtaining complete ninjutsu intel from a corpse, let alone the Hidden Sand Village.
But now, the plan was completely ruined. Araki of the Sand, let alone completing the mission, hadn't even managed to escape? How was this possible? Just now they could still observe the Konoha forces engaging from afar, and it just ended like that?
*Whoosh!* A white spirit body wandered across the battlefield. Wherever it passed, endangered Konoha ninja were saved, while terrified Sunagakure ninja froze, their expressions rigid, collapsing to the ground.
Some Sunagakure ninja were even possessed by Kato Dan, suddenly beginning to frantically kill the surrounding Sunagakure ninja.
Some Sunagakure ninja tried to attack Kato Dan, but it was difficult to inflict effective damage on a spirit body.
Even though they had a numerical advantage and should have crushed this Konoha force to quickly aid other battlefields, the result was this wretched mess.
Sunagakure's offensive was blocked, and they even began to show signs of continuous retreat.
"Looks like it's done."
Tsukasa Kaede slacked off in the middle-rear of the main force, at most throwing one or two shuriken as a gesture of participation.
No one blamed him; in fact, some Konoha ninja would even intentionally or unintentionally block in front of Tsukasa Kaede, obscuring the enemy's vision and concealing Tsukasa Kaede's figure.
His reputation had improved, he had established merit, and with an astonishing unique skill, it brought benefits; people around him would lend a hand when they had the spare capacity.
The only shortcoming was that Tsukasa Kaede wasn't sure how these people really felt about him. He supposed it should be quite good; although he was someone who manipulated corpses, it was wartime, and in the face of life and death, manipulating corpses was a small matter.
Being able to help everyone eliminate enemies and establish merit, that was what truly made him popular.
"It'll be hard to say after the war ends. Heroes like Sakumo Hatake were even driven to death… Ordinary villagers accustomed to peace would definitely keep their distance from me, and perhaps even more outrageous public slander would appear."
For this, Tsukasa Kaede had already mentally prepared himself long ago.
As the battle situation became more favorable, the front line slowly advanced. The Hidden Sand Village continuously retreated, and complete defeat was only a matter of time. People on Konoha's side all saw the dawn of victory.
Tsukasa Kaede also slowly advanced with the main force, occasionally looking up at Kato Dan's position.
Finally, the Sunagakure forces collapsed. The remaining ninja began to turn and flee, and the Konoha ninja launched a large-scale pursuit. Their original formation completely broke apart, forming one squad after another.
Tsukasa Kaede didn't pursue, but instead stayed behind to clean up the battlefield, waiting for over a full day.
Even so, he was extremely careful, always sending zombies to deliver the finishing blows.
Not only did he give finishing blows to living enemies, but he also gave finishing blows to dead ones, just in case they were playing dead very convincingly.
"What a cautious fellow. You've clearly developed the corpse manipulation technique and yet you're still so careful. While this might allow you to live longer, it's meaningless as long as you still use a mediocre flesh-and-blood body; sooner or later, you'll still rot."
On the edge of the battlefield, a normal corpse that had been lying there for an unknown duration suddenly stirred. Its joints creaked, revealing it was clearly a modified puppet, and electronic sounds emanated from its mouth.
"Sasori of the Red Sand, right? I heard about you from Nonō Yakushi, but I didn't expect you to be so bold, to be so impatient." Tsukasa Kaede said slowly.
(end of chapter)