chapter 78 part 2
What Tsukasa Kaede said were words the Third Hokage would utter years later during the Naruto and Sasuke era, while inspecting the Ninja Academy and speaking to Konohamaru and others. Tsukasa Kaede had adapted them to his own situation.
Sure enough, as soon as these words, which subtly linked the Will of Fire with the Corpse Release Secret Technique, were spoken, the Third Hokage was immediately moved. His gaze towards Tsukasa Kaede was filled with admiration and satisfaction.
Even as a war orphan who hadn't received formal Ninja Academy education, he still recognized the Will of Fire and was willing to strive for it... The unprecedented Corpse Release Secret Technique system was born from this and shone brightly...
The Third Hokage, of course, didn't fully believe him. What pleased him was that Tsukasa Kaede had shown a tendency to align with the Will of Fire. A tendency was enough. In the increasingly prosperous Hidden Leaf Village, was there any need to worry about Tsukasa Kaede committing acts of Village Defection that would harm the Village?
"Well said. Your will has deeply moved this old man. The Corpse Release Secret Technique will certainly become a power the Village can rely on. I trust you won't abuse the power of Corpse Release. As you said, the Jutsu and you, its developer, are closely linked. You will determine its future direction."
"Yes, Hokage. I will not abuse the Corpse Release Secret Technique, nor will I ever use this power against my comrades. I know some comrades have privately worried about this, and I can only continuously prove my intent through my actions," Tsukasa Kaede stated.
The Third Hokage nodded in satisfaction. He also understood the terrifying nature of Corpse Release. After the war, it would be best to impose certain restrictions on this power, yet he couldn't possibly truly imprison Tsukasa Kaede.
"Both the Corpse Release Secret Technique and the Spatial Rift Jutsu are very dangerous Jutsu. If you're willing, they can be recorded in the Scroll of Seals, to be preserved as a foundation of the Village. Without your permission, the Village will not allow anyone to learn this Jutsu until your death. Many years from now, perhaps someone will once again learn your Jutsu and spread your name, just as Minato Namikaze mastered the Flying Raijin Jutsu,"
the Third Hokage chuckled. "In return, you can choose a Jutsu you like from the Scroll of Seals as an exchange. Of course, if you're unwilling, I can understand; there will be no compulsion."
If Tsukasa Kaede's earlier reply hadn't satisfied him, then choosing a forbidden jutsu would have been out of the question, replaced instead by rewards such as money and ninja tools.
Tsukasa Kaede: "..."
When the Third Hokage proactively brought up a distinctly directional proposal, it already indicated that he had made up his mind.
If Tsukasa Kaede truly refused, the Third Hokage certainly wouldn't say anything, nor would he force him. However, for Tsukasa Kaede, who needed to act discreetly and prepare for his body-changing plan, this would be a hidden danger. Moreover, he genuinely coveted a certain forbidden jutsu in the Scroll of Seals, so...
"I am willing to offer the Spatial Rift Jutsu, and its prerequisite Ninjutsu. Please forgive me, but I cannot inscribe the Corpse Release Secret Technique onto the Scroll of Seals. This Secret Technique has an immense impact, and I will carefully select suitable disciples. If they meet all requirements, I will personally instruct them," Tsukasa Kaede said.
"Good, a very sound approach. I'm very pleased that you already have thoughts of taking on disciples and are willing to teach the Corpse Release Secret Technique," the Third Hokage said, increasingly satisfied.
Having the Spatial Rift Jutsu and its prerequisite Ninjutsu was sufficient. From now on, the Scroll of Seals would contain two Space-Time Ninjutsu.
As for Tsukasa Kaede, whether he passed on the Corpse Release Secret Technique to disciples, or, like the Ino-Shika-Cho, married, had children, and established a secret technique clan, the Third Hokage would be pleased with either outcome.
The Third Hokage took out the Scroll of Seals, opening it layer by layer, leaving a blank section for Tsukasa Kaede, and watched as Tsukasa Kaede recorded the Spatial Rift Jutsu onto it.
"No wonder it requires prerequisite Ninjutsu. It seems the Jutsu needs to be performed with the cooperation of a corpse and the caster, involving summoning replacement, chakra resonance..."
The Third Hokage merely scanned it quickly, nodding to himself. He roughly understood the Spatial Rift Jutsu's mechanics; without mastering Corpse Release, one truly couldn't activate the Spatial Rift Jutsu.
And the so-called prerequisite Ninjutsu was essentially nothing more than an auxiliary Jutsu Formula for adjusting chakra pathways and vibration frequencies, not the Zombification Jutsu that activates a corpse within the Corpse Release Secret Technique.
Without the Corpse Release Secret Technique, the Spatial Rift Jutsu was a useless Jutsu, impossible to use.
However, for the Third Hokage, this wasn't a drawback. Even without the Corpse Release Secret Technique, it was still possible that one day, an astonishing genius might emerge and develop other methods for using the Spatial Rift Jutsu.
Ninjutsu encompassed everything, inherently holding infinite possibilities.
As Tsukasa Kaede recorded, he pondered, wondering how many Ninjutsu the Third Hokage had truly learned from the Scroll of Seals.
The Third Hokage was dubbed "The Professor" primarily because he was said to have "learned all of the Hidden Leaf Village's Ninjutsu."
If "all Ninjutsu" merely referred to ordinary five nature ninjutsu, then it would be fine. But if it also included clan secret techniques, that would be somewhat terrifying—though even if he secretly learned them, given the Third Hokage's personality, he would absolutely never use them publicly.
The impact would be too severe. A Hokage mastering the hereditary secret techniques of ninja clans under his command would greatly erode people's trust in the Hokage.
As for whether the Third Hokage would try to master his Spatial Rift Jutsu... that would be quite something. If the Third Hokage truly dared to play such a game, Tsukasa Kaede wouldn't mind teaching his Corpse Release Secret Technique to others, and then quietly wait for the Third Hokage to become his vassal.
Tsukasa Kaede wrote for a full four hours before finally completing the inscription of his Jutsu.
Next, it was time to choose a desired Ninjutsu from the Scroll of Seals.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu... this Jutsu is useless to me... Hmm, sure enough, the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu isn't here, just as I expected. It must have been specifically sealed away by the Third Hokage."
Tsukasa Kaede felt regret. Although the current version of the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu was just an initial, rather poor version, it would still be very useful for Tsukasa Kaede's future plans.
Indeed, the current Impure World Reincarnation, much like the Flying Raijin Jutsu, had not yet been fully developed and perfected, and its power was extremely limited.
The Flying Raijin Jutsu was originally developed by the Second Hokage to counter the powerful perception abilities of the Sharingan. The Second Hokage indeed used this Jutsu to kill Izuna Uchiha, but that was all.
Even the Second Hokage himself hadn't further perfected the Flying Raijin Jutsu.