Chapter 52: Mass Living Corpse Reincarnation
White Zetsu's curiosity was greatly satisfied today.
He had only recently been created by Madara and was usually careful not to get involved in conflicts, never revealing himself to the world. This was his first opportunity to engage in battle.
As a mass-produced soldier of the God Tree, battle was also White Zetsu's instinct.
"So many corpses, you clearly seemed to have exhausted your chakra, so why did you summon so many in one go?"
White Zetsu tried to think with his limited brain, but it just didn't make sense. Didn't controlling zombies to use Taijutsu and Ninjutsu require chakra? Why was it that the less chakra he had, the more zombies he summoned? Then, White Zetsu was startled as he saw the numerous zombies simultaneously form hand signs.
Every White Zetsu felt astonished, watching these corpses as if they had practiced countless times. Even though they varied in height, weight, and build, their movements were perfectly synchronized.
"What kind of large-scale Ninjutsu is this? This guy is strange. Does controlling these corpses to unleash super large-scale Ninjutsu not consume his own chakra? Instead, it consumes the corpses' own chakra?"
White Zetsu, extremely sensitive to chakra, immediately discovered this horrifying situation.
Corpses, they were dead, yet now they were moving, capable of using Ninjutsu, and the chakra consumed was the corpses' own?! What kind of damned Secret Technique was this? White Zetsu knew many Secret Techniques, especially powerful new jutsu, and he needed to report this intel to Madara, but he had never seen a Secret Technique like this before.
So, Tsukasa Kaede's chakra consumption was mainly used to convert living humans into zombies? "Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu!"
The first ring of zombies transferred their life force to Tsukasa Kaede. As visible glows emerged, the already decaying bodies of the zombies accelerated their disintegration.
Their flesh began to dry up, and their bodies withered, as if forcibly drained of all nutrients, slowly turning into mummified corpses! Bang bang bang! A series of sounds rang out one after another. The zombies, completely depleted of life force, immediately perished, collapsing one after another onto the ground.
Even their mummified corpses shattered in many places, turning into dust.
They were truly and completely dead, their brains and nerves entirely withered, having contributed all their power to Tsukasa Kaede.
"They will feel honored. When they were alive, they weren't worthy to serve me, and some were even my enemies, but in death, they can make an outstanding contribution to me. I'm truly touched."
Tsukasa Kaede spread his arms. Green light appeared on his body, radiating a mesmerizing glow. As one zombie after another fell and turned to ash, the life force on Tsukasa Kaede became even more vigorous.
Rain struck his body, instantly evaporating due to the surging life force. This was truly the most magnificent spectacle in the world; no living organism could resist the allure of such pure life force.
White Zetsu was even more overwhelmed. He wasn't even considered a complete life form, yet he, who was known for his life force, gaped with a dazed expression.
"What is this? What did you do? Is this also one of the Ninjutsu within your Corpse Release Secret Technique???"
Every White Zetsu widened their eyes, even instinctively lifting a foot, wanting to instinctively reach out and grab that vigorous life force, but quickly restrained themselves.
"Ah, you're talking about this. Before, it couldn't really be called a complementary Ninjutsu, but now, who knows?"
This jutsu actually still has many flaws: conversion efficiency is too low, the loss is too great, it's time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it cannot be transported remotely. In Tsukasa Kaede's eyes, all of these were areas needing improvement.
Tsukasa Kaede looked down at his hands, with zombies continually collapsing around him as a backdrop, feeling the pure surge of life as he let out a sigh of extreme comfort: "In the future, once I improve this Secret Technique, it will naturally become my complementary Ninjutsu."
Unconsciously, the Corpse Release Secret Technique had further improved upon its original foundation, and its potential and value soared once again.
Converting living humans and dead people into zombies, then controlling corpses to fight, and after their bodies collapse, recycling them to replenish the caster Tsukasa Kaede's chakra... Theoretically, as long as there are enough corpses, Tsukasa Kaede would be a perpetual motion machine.
But only in theory.
The peak Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu, which Chiyo used to revive Gaara, involved using an aged body to save a young one. This level was half a step higher than a simple life-for-a-life exchange, offering incredible cost-effectiveness.
After all, Chiyo's original intention was to use her own life to instantly turn both the Father Puppet and Mother Puppet into living humans; a simple life-for-a-life would definitely not have been enough.
But now? It's far from reaching its peak level; the life force transfer loss is simply too great.
Tsukasa Kaede estimated that, at its current level, reviving a jinchuriki as excessively young as Gaara was would be impossible without consuming several thousand zombies—and that's an optimistic estimate. If estimated pessimistically, the number of zombies needed as sacrifices would be absolutely enormous.
Zombies are already dead; their life force certainly can't compare to when they were alive. Enduring such exaggerated loss to revive a jinchuriki would be incredibly difficult, making it truly impossible to calculate precisely.
Therefore, Tsukasa Kaede currently just treats the weaker zombies with little combat capability as consumables for quickly replenishing chakra.
But even so, it was enough to profoundly shock White Zetsu; he had never seen such a method before.
He truly doesn't even let go of the "corpses" after they die; he'll squeeze out every last drop of oil no matter what, right? Compared to this, the White Zetsus felt that Lord Madara was indeed the most benevolent master in the world.
As the zombies, serving as consumables, successively collapsed, their numerous mummified corpses turned into dust, washed away by the heavy rain. The vigorous life force on Tsukasa Kaede slowly began to recede.
Yes, the green aura only lingered for a few seconds before disappearing. This was the entirety of what dozens of zombies could contribute.
Tsukasa Kaede's pale complexion quickly regained its healthy color, his depleted stamina became abundant once more, his spirit was full, and with a casual exertion of strength, an endless stream of chakra burst forth from his body.
"Originally, I planned to absorb these three subordinates of mine—they're three fresh, high-quality bodies. But I suddenly changed my mind. Kaedence they are my subordinates, no matter what their intentions, they should fight with all their might for me... I'll send them to deal with you first, and once they're almost destroyed, I'll drain the life force from their bodies."
Tsukasa Kaede formed a hand sign with one hand. Though he made no sound or movement, all remaining zombies simultaneously lifted their heads, began to run, accurately locked onto their respective opponents, and charged at the White Zetsus!
The numerous White Zetsus were utterly stunned, uttering various curses as they immediately met the charge.
Dozens of figures from both sides erupted into an even more brutal battle. Amidst the intertwining figures, White Zetsu's main body quietly concealed itself underground and transmitted information.
One White Zetsu received the intel transmitted by the main body.
"Lord Madara, something seems to be amiss. You will definitely be interested."
(end of chapter)
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