chapter 111 part 1
Chapter 111: Tsukasa Kaede in Action
For a moment, Madara said nothing. Too many details had unfolded beyond his expectations.
"What should we do? Should we steal the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path back from Nagato?" White Zetsu asked.
"Wah ha ha ha ha, you want Lord Madara to steal back something that was originally his?" Tobi burst into laughter, finding White Zetsu even more abstract than himself sometimes.
Madara ignored them, deep in thought.
Indeed, he couldn't live much longer. He couldn't use the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to extend his life; he could perhaps last a year or two at most, or as little as a few months.
Furthermore, the One-Tail had fallen into Tsukasa Kaede's hands.
Thinking about it carefully, many unplanned events that had occurred in recent years could actually be traced back to Tsukasa Kaede.
"To think that I, Madara, would one day be reduced to such a state." Madara's voice remained cold, though he wasn't annoyed. "It seems I can only condescend to use you inferior clones to briefly sustain my life. If Hashirama knew, he would surely mock me."
Madara scoffed, looking at Tobi with extreme reluctance.
Tobi was the most special among all the White Zetsu, capable of being worn by Madara like "clothes."
Tobi seemed a bit hesitant: "Huh, it's me... But if you use me, what about the body Tsukasa Kaede abandoned? I feel like I've already mastered a part of Corpse Release. If I study it for a few more years, maybe I can even fuse Wood Release and Corpse Release."
"That's meaningless. Tsukasa Kaede is doing the same thing. He has also assimilated Hashirama; though it's merely a clone of Hashirama, it's countless times superior to you defective products. You will never be able to catch up to him," Madara said coldly.
He sometimes had to admit that Tsukasa Kaede was truly a genius. The consequences of many of Tsukasa Kaede's actions often caught Madara off guard.
"Alright."
Tobi opened his body, dropped Tsukasa Kaede's corpse to the ground, and then enveloped Madara. For a while, he would exist only as Madara's clothes, completely devoid of any right to act independently.
When he would regain his freedom depended on when Madara discarded him. Given Madara's pride, that moment of freedom probably wouldn't be long.
"What should we do next? Kill Lord Tsukasa Kaede?" Black Zetsu rarely spoke up voluntarily; he usually maintained silence when with Madara.
Madara scoffed, "Can't kill him. That guy has the Sharingan; whether it's resistance to Genjutsu or activating Izanagi, he's no longer someone to be trifled with. He probably planned this long ago, using the Sharingan to compensate for his deficiencies in Genjutsu."
Not long after, Madara, wearing Tobi, gradually merged into the ground, his whereabouts unknown.
...
Tsukasa Kaede waited a bit longer, then transferred Sasori of the Red Sand over.
"Looks like it's over, much faster than I expected. I thought you'd have a huge battle with the village's people and end up in a mutually destructive fight." Sasori of the Red Sand said with an indifferent expression, surveying the crude and simple hideout without much concern.
Just confirming that Tsukasa Kaede hadn't been killed allowed Sasori of the Red Sand to relax. Upon seeing the unconscious Bunpuku, he nodded repeatedly.
"The One-Tails Jinchuriki has fallen into your hands. The village must be going mad, right?"
"Let them go mad. This world is never short of extremist lunatics, so another batch isn't a big deal now. Besides, it's not as if they wouldn't be my enemies even if they didn't go mad."
Tsukasa Kaede intended to continuously separate the Tailed Beast Chakra from Bunpuku. As long as he held the One-Tail in his grasp, it would be a valuable bargaining chip. As for Hidden Sand Village bringing this matter up to the Hidden Leaf Village...
"Are you planning a defection? This matter won't stay hidden forever. The news of Hidden Sand Village losing its Tailed Beast will eventually become known to everyone," Sasori of the Red Sand said, looking at Tsukasa Kaede.
He knew without thinking that Tsukasa Kaede's series of actions couldn't possibly have been reported to the Hidden Leaf Village beforehand, let alone capturing the One-Tails Jinchuriki.
Such actions were highly sensitive. In any Ninja Village, they would raise suspicions of Village Defection. Of course, if he could bring such a significant War Spoils back and turn it in, claiming the operation was a rare opportunity, thus acting first and reporting later, the outcome would definitely be different.
One Tailed Beast meant a Ninja Village could gain a powerful Kage-level individual, raising the village's baseline. No one could refuse a Tailed Beast seized from an enemy village.
But Sasori of the Red Sand felt that Tsukasa Kaede wouldn't do something so trivial. Why would an Immortal bother arguing with a bunch of short-lived individuals?
"Compared to handing it over to the Hidden Leaf Village, the One-Tail has greater use. It's a crucial bargaining chip," Tsukasa Kaede said calmly. "If the village asks, I'll just say I accidentally killed Bunpuku."
"The Hidden Leaf Village will believe that?"
"They'll have to believe it, even if they don't. My disciple killed the Four-Tails, so I can't kill the One-Tail? The battle was so intense, I even used Wood Release. Accidentally overdoing it and killing the One-Tails Jinchuriki, isn't that perfectly normal?" Tsukasa Kaede said.
He definitely couldn't hide the fact that he'd mastered Wood Release, nor was there any need to. As the second-in-command of the Hashirama Cells Transplantation Experiment, since he could create a special case like Toka Senju, it was perfectly reasonable for him to become the second successful case, wasn't it?
Never mind whether his unauthorized "surgery" on himself was against regulations; the point was, it succeeded.
As for why Orochimaru didn't experiment on himself or master Wood Release... who knew?
This made Sasori of the Red Sand agree with Tsukasa Kaede even more.
Several hours later, Bunpuku woke up.
Having lost a leg, he was remarkably calm, sitting silently with his hands clasped together.
"Hmph, this old geezer is truly calm, even if he's faking it." Sasori of the Red Sand, not familiar with Bunpuku, immediately asked coldly, "When are you going to finish him off?"
"Taken a liking to him? Want to turn him into one of your Human Puppets? Converting him into a Zombie is clearly more useful to me. What, do you want to seize my War Spoils? If you want one, go catch your own."
"I have a better target. That person would definitely be more suitable than Bunpuku."
Sasori of the Red Sand had indeed considered this. He stared at Bunpuku for a long time, his mind already dissecting Bunpuku into countless parts, even planning which Puppet components to use to replace the lost leg.