Chapter 44: Five Months
Looking across the entire Hidden Leaf Village, conflicts were everywhere, but the two most irreconcilable departments were undoubtedly Root and the Konoha Military Police Force.
These departments, wielding real power, each possessed their own direct armed forces and numerous elite ninja, making them formidable fighters.
With power, wealth, and strength, they could also operate with relative independence and act with considerable autonomy. Thus, in theory, unless the Hokage personally intervened, these departments would not defer to anyone's authority regarding matters they had decided upon.
Even a stray dog passing by on the street would need to take two hard slaps to get away successfully.
But there was one exception to this rule: when these two departments directly clashed.
"Am I to understand this is Shimura Danzō's intention? First the Medical Department, then the Intelligence Interrogation Department, Root's reach is extending quite far, isn't it... Ryoma has been elevated by you all to the position of Medical Unit Vice-Captain, so, next, will you be taking over the leadership of the Intelligence Interrogation Department from Ino-Shika-Cho?"
Uchiha Yashiro gritted his teeth. Under the gaze of many onlookers, he found himself in a difficult position where backing down was not an option, his temper flaring up. He simply hardened his resolve and confronted them head-on.
Whether Tsukasa Kaede was taken away or not was completely unimportant. Experiments with Ninjutsu causing a disturbance was common—even if this particular disturbance was too large and clearly abnormal.
But since Root had shown up, it might be Shimura Danzō's doing. In that case, the Military Police Force couldn't easily back down.
Uchiha Yashiro's heart pounded, as the main force of the Uchiha Clan was currently deployed on the battlefield against Hidden Stone Village. The forces left behind in the Village were few, pitted against a nearly full-strength Root...
Yet, he had no choice but to push forward. He had to publicly display a tough stance. If he retreated without a word, when his Clan Members returned, Yashiro wouldn't be able to account for himself. He might even be accused of weakness by unhinged radical Clan Members, and deemed a disgrace to the Uchiha Clan.
"Uchiha Yashiro, you'd better think carefully before speaking. Every word you utter represents the Uchiha Clan's stance." The Root Shinobi's voice was as cold as ever.
Uchiha Yashiro looked around at the many ninja watching. The amusement and silence on their faces filled him with displeasure. He then turned his gaze to Tsukasa Kaede.
"Captain, the Corpse Disposal Kaedete is indeed conducting a Secret Technique experiment. Lady Tsunade is also aware of this to some extent. Kaedence it involves my personal Secret Technique, I'm unable to report the details to you..." Tsukasa Kaede said helplessly.
"Hmph, you're Tsukasa Kaede, the one who can control corpses on the Hidden Sand Village front, aren't you?" Uchiha Yashiro frowned, but he didn't directly insult him. He was proud of his Uchiha Clan heritage, but not foolish enough to attack a fellow ninja from the Village with whom he had no grudge, in front of so many people.
During this period, although the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and Shimura Danzō was sharp, they still distinguished Root, led by Shimura Danzō, from the Village itself. They didn't create any conflict with the Village.
Thus, many things wouldn't be taken too far.
"I don't know what Tsunade and Shimura Danzō are plotting, but since you're caught between them, you'd best maintain your boundaries. Don't let Root's people use you."
Uchiha Yashiro reminded Tsukasa Kaede: "Your Secret Technique must be excellent, but it also puts you in a dangerous position."
After a period of stalemate, Uchiha Yashiro finally retreated, looking very reluctant, ending the dispute for the night.
Others scrutinized the small Corpse Disposal Kaedete. In the past, they hadn't paid much attention to such a peripheral department, but from this moment on, they would remember it.
They also remembered Tsukasa Kaede, the head of the Corpse Disposal Kaedete, a person skilled in Corpse Manipulation Technique, who could make corpses perform Ninjutsu they knew in life.
Occasionally, when someone asked a question, Tsukasa Kaede would politely answer.
"Seriously, some people's gazes have changed. They're probably worried about their ancestral graves."
Finally, Tsukasa Kaede watched as these people gradually departed, and shrugged.
He wasn't so desperate as to indiscriminately dig up the ancestral graves of other Clans within the Village. At most, he'd dig up those of his enemies.
What these people truly feared was Danzō controlling Tsukasa Kaede, or outright seizing Tsukasa Kaede's Secret Technique, and then committing such acts.
The reputation of the Shadow of the Leaf was simply too notorious. Anyone with a shred of sense would be worried about that.
If Tsukasa Kaede hadn't proactively mentioned Tsunade, revealing that he belonged to the Medical Unit and was Tsunade's subordinate, Uchiha Yashiro might not have retreated so easily without that opportunity to save face.
After everyone had left, Tsukasa Kaede sat quietly until dawn, waiting for the new batch of corpses to be delivered.
This batch contained a total of fifty-three.
The escorting personnel said nothing, and Tsukasa Kaede didn't ask. He directed them through the broken outer wall of the Corpse Disposal Kaedete to transport the corpses to the deeper laboratory.
"It's time to begin. My Jutsu is, after all, too sensitive. The Cultivation time I originally estimated needs to be further compressed... At the very least, I need to make some progress before Danzō starts giving me orders through various means."
Tsukasa Kaede no longer stinted on his Chakra. In one go, he converted all the zombies. Of course, this inevitably led to a decrease in the conversion speed of each individual corpse, but with the sheer number, overall, Tsukasa Kaede's Cultivation speed was still steadily increasing.
A day later, forty more corpses were delivered, but still no Bloodline Limit corpses.
The corpse of every Bloodline Limit Ninja was extremely precious. Killing one was already difficult, let alone recovering the corpse.
The most famous Kekkei Genkai from Hidden Stone Village were none other than the Explosion Release of the Explosion Corps and Roshi's Lava Release.
Occasionally, Steel Release Ninja would appear, but their numbers were too scarce. It was even less likely for them to fall into Tsukasa Kaede's hands, so there was no need to consider them.
"After all this, I still only have this one Explosion Release zombie... But never mind, I can completely substitute the effects of Explosion Release with zombies stuffed full of Explosive Tags."
After so many years of war, Orochimaru and Danzō surely had more than one Explosion Release corpse in their possession. These were all valuable research materials, and for him to be allocated even one was an extremely rare occurrence.
Time flew by. Five months passed in a flash.
During this time, the insignificant disturbances Tsukasa Kaede had caused had long since subsided. As Tsukasa Kaede faded from public view, many who had used Tsukasa Kaede's affairs as gossip even gradually forgot about this once-famous ninja.
The front line continuously sent back the latest news regarding the war.
The Second Great Ninja War, which the Konoha villagers had expected to end quickly, not only didn't stop, but instead, with the escalating casualties on the front line, was becoming increasingly brutal.
Hidden Stone Village's attack intensity was steadily climbing, and they were mobilizing more and more troops. It seemed they intended to fight Hidden Leaf Village down to their last soldier.
This exceeded most people's expectations.
Normally, across the entire Shinobi World, only Hidden Stone Village and Hidden Leaf Village were still fighting one-on-one. Other villages had already stopped engaging in large-scale wars. The Second Great Ninja War should have ended by now.
Yet, the fierce stance displayed by Hidden Stone Village gave people a sense of déjà vu, as if the real war had just begun. It was truly baffling.
At the same time, Tsukasa Kaede finally stepped out of the Corpse Disposal Kaedete he managed.
(end of chapter)