chapter 108 part 2
"Nagato is Jiraiya's disciple; he had every chance to stand with Konoha!"
"Impossible. It seems Jiraiya didn't tell you anything... Nagato's parents were killed by Konoha ninja, right when the Second Great Ninja War had just broken out." Danzo snorted coldly.
The Third Hokage was stunned. For a long time, he let out a deep sigh. Danzo scheming for the Rinnegan, from another perspective, was also eliminating a hidden danger for the village.
Although his selfish motives for doing so were undoubtedly significant.
"It seems I need to have a serious talk with Orochimaru. He should have been focusing on his cells transplantation experiments, yet he's doing these things behind the village's back... And Tsukasa Kaede."
This was what the Third Hokage truly cared about. The other matters, whether it was Nagato or the Hidden Sand Village's affairs, could be put aside. But the matter of Tsukasa Kaede's death, he absolutely had to clarify! This was a young man he greatly valued, who was supposed to support the village for many years to come. How could he die without reason?
Meanwhile, the Hidden Sand Village's envoy team released a messenger bird to convey the intel of failed negotiations.
However, even if the messenger bird was incredibly fast, it was already too late. Let alone failed negotiations, even if negotiations had succeeded, it would already be too late for the Hidden Leaf Village to dispatch personnel to investigate in the Land of Wind.
The Hidden Sand Village had already taken action long ago, sending out a large number of ninja into the vast desert, conducting a carpet search across different areas.
To be honest, this was not easy. The Hidden Sand Village never had powerful top-tier sensory clans or sensory secret techniques. To search for a target in such a vast desert with no direction was undoubtedly a very arduous mission.
A normal person wouldn't even venture into the desert.
"Still haven't found him?"
"There are no traces at all, Kazekage. The enemy might have already left the Land of Wind. We have no way to monitor the movements of space-time ninja."
The Third Kazekage also had no good solution, let alone Chiyo and the others.
If not for Chiyo's insistence and the defection of a genius like Sasori of the Red Sand, the Hidden Sand Village would never have undertaken such a futile effort.
Even if Tsukasa Kaede had truly made a stop in the desert initially, how long ago was that? He would have long since vanished. Was he supposed to wait to be found by the Hidden Sand Village and engage in battle with the Hidden Sand Village's numerous strong ninja in the desert?
"Kaedester, why don't we give up?" Ebizō also tried to persuade her. "Three days have already passed. Although Sasori's actions are unacceptable to you, Tsukasa Kaede shouldn't still be in the Land of Wind. In the desert, his corpses will quickly turn into dried corpses, losing their combat capability."
Everyone looked at Chiyo's grim face.
Chiyo responded with silence. Inside the entire conference room, a brief silence fell.
After a long while, Chiyo stood up. "I will go search myself! The village doesn't need to get involved. I will personally offer a reward and post a mission, hiring the village's ninja to act!"
"You are an advisor to the village, there's no need for such an excessive measure. However, are you still sending out sensor ninja?"
"There is one person who isn't a sensor ninja, but in a desert environment like this, he will definitely find the target faster than others. If even he finds nothing, then I'll give up," Chiyo said unwillingly.
She had lost her son and daughter-in-law, and now she couldn't even keep an eye on her grandson, who had willingly run off with Tsukasa Kaede, who was in a strange state. Such a thing... she wouldn't allow it! Chiyo felt that these two must be plotting something and would be using her improved Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu. Perhaps it was... But if that were truly the case, then it would be too terrifying.
...
Deep in the desert.
The ritual had been ongoing for three days. Layer upon layer of zombies uniformly performed hand signs and then cast jutsu on Tsukasa Kaede, dedicating everything they had to Tsukasa Kaede.
Unable to serve Tsukasa Kaede in life, they gave their all to Tsukasa Kaede in death. Presumably, if their souls in the Pure Land had any awareness, they would surely be overwhelmed with gratitude.
After layer upon layer of zombies had sacrificed everything, immediately, their utterly withered bodies, in the process of decaying, turned into endless dust, drifting with the wind and eventually adhering to nearby grains of sand.
As one batch of zombies fell, new zombies immediately surged towards Tsukasa Kaede from the outside in, in a continuous cycle.
Constantly falling, constantly drawing closer, ceaselessly.
Only the visible green life force continuously emerged. This was enough vitality to drive the world mad. If taken out, who knew how many immortality seekers capable of living for a thousand years could be created. But this was merely a fraction of the life force consumed to repair Tsukasa Kaede's body.
Even more life force awaited extraction and transfer.
"Indeed, with the further improved Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu, the loss during life force transfer has decreased to some extent. Multiplied by ten thousand units, the resulting effect is quite considerable."
Tsukasa Kaede watched the corpse horde continuously falling like cut wheat, then lowered his gaze to his hands.
Each time green life force surged over, his body would emit a faint sizzling sound. This was the life force covering his Edo Tensei body, gradually resurrecting Tsukasa Kaede.
This required a process, a ritual that seemed simple but was in fact extremely complex. Tsukasa Kaede had to maintain high concentration at all times, driving the zombies to cast jutsu on him.
"It's been over three days. I remember when the Akatsuki fed the One-Tails to the Gedo Mazo, it only took them three days as well."
Tsukasa Kaede was actually quite satisfied with this progress. He could clearly feel his own resurrection process, regaining body temperature and feeling blood flowing again.
This was because he had inserted a Hashirama Clone and Sharingan into his body. If not for these two things, Tsukasa Kaede would have resurrected long ago.
And since he was already Edo Tensei'd using a Hashirama Cells experiment subject as a vessel, he would naturally possess a body and potential surpassing his living self. But Tsukasa Kaede was not satisfied. He tried to achieve everything in one go, preferring to spend more time, take greater risks, and reap the greatest benefits.
This was because he couldn't acquire an Ōtsutsuki. Otherwise, he would definitely stuff an Ōtsutsuki into his body before resurrecting.
"But never mind. Pure Ōtsutsuki primarily use the Byakugan. For me, it's better to go directly for the God Tree route."
Tsukasa Kaede couldn't run to the Moon to kidnap Hamura descendants, nor did he have the ability to provoke Isshiki Ōtsutsuki and the Ten-Tails controlled by Isshiki. So for now, he would make do by combining a Hashirama Clone and a Sharingan.
The Power of All Creation created this way, although it was destined to be incomplete due to the lack of an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Tsukasa Kaede actually already had a detailed plan for his next steps.
"Hmm, just a bit longer, it's almost time. I'm about to resurrect."
Tsukasa Kaede once again examined his half-dead, half-alive body, particularly observing the state of the Hashirama Clone integrated into his body.
In the original timeline, Kabuto inserted this thing into Edo Tensei Madara's body, effectively pushing Madara's body to a new height. After Madara resurrected, he also simultaneously controlled the power of the Hashirama Clone integrated into him, and could even extract Sage Art Chakra from Hashirama Senju.
On Tsukasa Kaede's body surface, the protruding face of the Hashirama Clone was not visible; only on his back was there a faint outline, which wouldn't be noticeable without close observation.
"Hmm, let me think. If that idea truly comes to fruition, I could further utilize the power of the Hashirama Clone to enhance my combat capabilities... Then, even if an enemy gets right in my face, I could resolve the enemy in close combat."
This was another application of Corpse Release. Kaedemply copying Kabuto and Edo Tensei Madara's methods was certainly fine, but if he could come up with new tricks by observing his 'master's' characteristics, Tsukasa Kaede would definitely not be stingy in trying it out.