chapter 117 part 3
"Ahhh, we can't win at all, that guy is a monster!"
"I don't want to fight anymore, that's enough. I'll just become one of them, then I won't have to be scared anymore, right...?"
"Run, run quickly! Staying here will definitely lead to death!!"
As the Third Kazekage formally gave the order, the Sunagakure forces, who had been full of momentum just moments ago, now completely disintegrated.
In just this short while, they had lost nearly 1,500 people—these were individuals confirmed to have turned into zombies or been dismembered and lost their fighting capability. This didn't even include the so-called "living humans" who would continue their Corpse Transformation if they didn't quickly get away from Tsukasa Kaede.
This battle, from its outbreak to its conclusion, didn't take much time, but Sunagakure's performance was so tragic. Despite merely besieging one ninja, Tsukasa Kaede, their losses were so immense, exceeding their endurance limit, and showing no hope of victory whatsoever.
Tsukasa Kaede had mastered too many jutsu. Any one of them, taken alone, would be enough to make a ninja famous for their strength, yet he commanded so many!
Coupled with his terrifying chakra reserves, allowing him to squander it at will, and his incredibly potent life-saving abilities... there was simply no way to win.
At the very least, this was not an enemy Sunagakure could handle. Even if three Kage-level powerhouses led a four-thousand-strong army, the best outcome would only be to consume some of Tsukasa Kaede's chakra. What use was that?
The Third Kazekage launched long-range attacks at Tsukasa Kaede, continuously firing spikes from various Iron Sand World Methods, trying to reduce the number of zombies as much as possible.
This was all he could do.
Tsukasa Kaede watched the Third Kazekage quickly fly away, then glanced at the Sunagakure ninja fleeing in various directions.
"This is getting difficult. They're scattered everywhere, and their escape speeds aren't slow. Seriously..."
Tsukasa Kaede felt a bit regretful but still arranged for his zombies to chase and kill, believing that every extra kill counted.
A long while later, only Tsukasa Kaede remained at the original spot. He casually sat on the corpse of a headless Sunagakure ninja, resting his chin on his hand in a roguish manner.
The wild wind howled, and yellow sand danced in the sky. At first glance, Tsukasa Kaede seemed like the only living human in this world, observing in solitude.
It was this scene that sent shivers down the spines of the spies observing from afar.
Some individual spies had already hastily written down their intel and fled in a panic—who knew if they, hiding there, would be affected by Tsukasa Kaede's secret technique and inexplicably turn into zombies? And there were still sporadic zombies moving around; if they were discovered, that would also be a big problem.
"My hand is dead, hurry and write! I still want to live!"
"Unfathomable strength, I still haven't seen the Leaf Devourer's limit! He can quickly activate Wood Release jutsu, and there's insufficient intel on his Wood Release bloodline limit."
"It's said he captured the One-Tails Jinchuriki. If he did that relying on his Wood Release bloodline limit, it means he hasn't truly unleashed his full strength yet!"
In fact, no matter how one looked at it, Tsukasa Kaede's level was somewhat overpowered in the current era. He could fight, endure, and teleport; his HP was thick, his recovery was fast, and his chakra reserves were ridiculously long! Even decades later, in the Ōtsutsuki era, the current Tsukasa Kaede would still have a place.
"This is probably about it; it's pretty good." Tsukasa Kaede sat quietly. He liked to think alone, and he briefly reviewed the battle.
As for the occasional birds flying in the sky, used for transmitting intel, he couldn't be bothered to pay attention. He allowed these spies to act. By now, too much of his intel had inevitably leaked to various ninja villages. But so what? Tsukasa Kaede's growth speed even surpassed their speed in collecting intel and formulating tactics.
The mere act of one man defeating an army itself didn't make Tsukasa Kaede particularly happy—he was previously pleased to have further broken free from the shackles of chakra. Crushing a several thousand-strong army was just a side effect.
If he had been driven to a pathetic retreat by these several thousand people, then something would truly be wrong.
If Hashirama Senju and Madara at their peak had come, unleashing their full power instantly, they would similarly have utterly crushed these several thousand people.
Not long after, the details of this war spread rapidly, and nearby countries soon learned the outcome.
It couldn't be kept secret. Even without these spies from various countries, the numerous Sunagakure ninja fleeing in panic alone ensured that this battle could not be concealed.
Sunagakure couldn't silence two thousand mouths, especially when these people were all terrified and weighed down by heavy psychological shadows.
First, the towns in the Land of Wind that received some of the defeated ninja, their residents and merchants learned of the event.
Next came the Land of Fire.
Then, the surrounding small ninja villages received the news, and it spread to even more distant areas.
"What? One person defeated several thousand Sunagakure ninja?!"
"Did I mishear, or is the intel flawed? No matter how troublesome that Tsukasa Kaede's Corpse Release is, does he have that much chakra?! What, he really does? How did he do it... Wood Release bloodline limit?!"
"Hahaha, those idiots in Sunagakure! Losing the One-Tails was bad enough, and they still pompously posture to attack the Land of Fire, trying to scare whom? They were beaten to such a sorry state by Tsukasa Kaede alone!"
"Heh, losing a Tailed Beast, losing powerful ninja like Ebizō, and constantly depleting their mid-to-lower level ninja numbers... Can such a Sunagakure truly still hold the title of one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages?"
"Tsukasa Kaede fought Sunagakure's forces alone. We originally thought he was pushed out by the Hidden Leaf Village as a pawn to quell the war and buy time, but it turns out he wasn't... No, he probably was. The Hidden Leaf Village would likely accept his death or defeat."
"If Tsukasa Kaede lost or died, the ownership of the One-Tails would still be negotiable. Now? The Hidden Leaf Village will probably control the One-Tails. They already possess a large number of Uzumaki Clan sealing techniques, specializing in sealing tailed beasts. It'll be very difficult to return it to Sunagakure."
Seeing a Great Ninja Village fall to such a state, some surrounding small ninja villages inevitably experienced an unrest that would normally never appear.
The so-called One Country, One Village System... The Land of Wind might still be the Land of Wind. No matter how bad off it was, no matter how much desert it had, its land area, population base, and number of towns were there. Even if attacked by other small countries, relying on its remaining ninja numbers, it wouldn't immediately collapse.
But the ninja village within the country might not necessarily only be Sunagakure—although replacing a ninja village was not much simpler than directly attacking and dismembering the Land of Wind itself.
(end of chapter)