Chapter 59: I Have the Immortality Technique
This was Tsukasa Kaede's first time reporting directly to the highest leader.
For an ordinary ninja, such an opportunity meant standing out from tens of thousands of ninja, an absolute sign of ancestral graves smoking with good fortune that would shake their entire clan.
But for Tsukasa Kaede, his ancestral graves weren't in this world. As he continuously improved his strength, and with this mission involving the sensitive figure Jiraiya, reporting on the mission in person was an inevitable outcome.
He, however, would be quite happy to help the ninja of this world dig up their ancestral graves and confirm if their ancestors were still resting peacefully—by shouting out to ask them.
Danzo continued, "As a Captain, you led three subordinates to the Land of Rain, so why are you the only one who returned?"
"Lord Danzo, I thought you wouldn't ask such a sensitive question... I didn't restrain their actions; perhaps they were discovered and executed by Hidden Rain Village ninja," Tsukasa Kaede replied.
"Danzo, you've again arranged for Root ninja to carry out extra missions, even though I clearly warned you," the Third Hokage said, exhaling a puff of smoke. "Kaedence that's the case, you will no longer be in charge of the research on the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai. Hand those Explosion Release Corpses over to Tsukasa Kaede; the village needs his strength."
The Third Hokage's punishment was merely a slap on the wrist. In truth, everyone knew such words had no binding power; even if Danzo disregarded them, the Third Hokage wouldn't say anything more.
This was more of a reminder and a warning. The Third Hokage frequently monitored the Hidden Leaf Village with his Crystal Ball Jutsu, and naturally knew about the communication between Root and Tsukasa Kaede. Over the past five months, the large number of corpses entering the Corpse Disposal Unit with no further outcome was highly indicative.
Danzo remained silent. He had merely preempted the Third Hokage's inquiry, not caring about the lives of the three Root ninja. His dissatisfaction stemmed solely from Tsukasa Kaede acting on his own accord.
Well, that settled it. Danzo still hadn't obtained Intel on Tsukasa Kaede's Secret Technique. At most, he could surmise that Tsukasa Kaede's strength had surged, but the exact extent remained unknown.
"The Land of Rain... Jiraiya refuses to return, and my subordinates were killed by Tsukasa Kaede. Those two also made contact and talked, perhaps reaching some kind of consensus. That country seems to be undergoing strange changes. It looks like I'll have to secretly contact Hanzo the Salamander."
Danzo quickly pondered. He had already planned this anyway. There was no other choice; the Third Hokage's prestige was constantly growing, and the restrictions on his own actions were increasing. His ambition wouldn't allow him to forever remain the Third Hokage's Proxy.
"I need to prepare more methods; I can't always be constrained by Hiruzen. After the War ends, Orochimaru should be able to acquire many useful corpses, and Sharingan..."
Danzo recalled that miraculous Forbidden Jutsu Dojutsu, his heart burning with fervor.
With enough Sharingan, he could completely learn it and instantly gain many Resurrection abilities!
By then, what would Tsukasa Kaede's Corpse Release Secret Technique be? Corpse Manipulation Technique? Nothing special. He, Danzo, however, could directly "Resurrect" multiple times, essentially carrying a Resurrection Jutsu with him! Danzo could at most guess that Tsukasa Kaede had increased his strength, but he couldn't guess that Tsukasa Kaede would learn the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu, which had caused his strength to surge, so he was already internally unable to assess Tsukasa Kaede's true level.
Finally, the Third Hokage concluded the summons, offering a few words of encouragement to Tsukasa Kaede and granting him a reward of 1.2 million Ryo.
"Just when I was dealing with Madara, I used Hundred Bone Roar God to blow up hundreds of zombies, so I urgently need to acquire a new batch of ninja tools."
Tsukasa Kaede walked out of the Hokage Office. Money from this era had strong purchasing power; 1.2 million Ryo could buy quite a few ninja tools.
The Uchiha Gunbai he obtained from Madara was also a Divine Tool, but unfortunately, he couldn't casually take it out and use it. For now, it could gather dust inside a ninja tool scroll.
Tsukasa Kaede didn't rush to leave. Instead, he slowed his pace, waiting for Danzo to emerge.
"Lord Danzo, thank you for bailing me out just now."
"You're too brazen! Letting the subordinates I assigned you die, is this how you repay me? I could easily arrest you on charges of Village Defection."
Danzo said coldly, "I don't know how much you've grown in these past five months, but you must understand that what you possess now, you could lose at any moment."
"Lord Danzo, those three were too presumptuous, trying to pry into my Secret Technique. So I shook them off and acted alone; my Secret Technique system doesn't need them anyway."
"Hmph, Hiruzen isn't punishing you because you did make contact with Jiraiya and did what needed to be done, and he also knows that you weakened Root."
Danzo sneered. He considered his subordinates tools, but it was another matter entirely for someone else to take and destroy his tools.
The two walked slowly, one after the other, until they had covered some distance.
Tsukasa Kaede said, "In truth, I have indeed mastered a new Forbidden Jutsu that can transfer Life Force from a corpse to a living human."
Danzo's eyes widened. Even he, upon hearing of such a Forbidden Jutsu for the first time, paused for a moment in surprise.
What kind of heaven-defying Forbidden Jutsu was this? It sounded even more outrageous than Izanagi! Listen to this: transferring Life Force from a corpse to a living human? Wouldn't that mean living humans gaining Life Force out of thin air? Life Force represented health, lifespan, chakra, strength, and potential!
"What's the success rate, and what's the transfer efficiency?" Danzo didn't ask foolish questions about whether it was real or fake, but directly probed the critical issues.
"The success rate is acceptable, but the transfer efficiency is extremely low. Corpses are already dead; they don't have much residual Life Force," Tsukasa Kaede said.
"What about living humans then? Using living humans directly for the Jutsu?"
"I can't do that for now. I can't perfectly control living humans, let alone extract the Life Force from within them. This process is very difficult, with many intricate details, and even a slight misstep will result in failure," Tsukasa Kaede said, lying through his teeth.
Danzo was overjoyed. "So this is your bargaining chip for those three lives you traded with me? Did you use my three subordinates for the Jutsu, and because it failed, you're so certain?"
This was easy to guess, because during Tsukasa Kaede's five months of intensive training, the only things he could manipulate were corpses; he hadn't killed any living humans.
Only by performing the Jutsu on living humans would one know the results, and combining that with the reality of the three Root ninja's "disappearance"...
"Think what you will. No matter how I explain this, you won't believe me. Rather than that, I might as well directly showcase my talent. For example, I can increase your Life Force, keeping your body healthy and stopping its aging," Tsukasa Kaede said.
This truly struck Danzo's weak point.
Danzo was already over fifty years old! For a ninja to live past fifty, the implications were self-evident. The proud Danzo could not tolerate the reality of his continuous weakening due to old age.
But if Tsukasa Kaede could perform the Jutsu on him, this situation could change.
Tsukasa Kaede said, "The reason I'm telling you about this Secret Technique is because I will eventually use this Jutsu openly, and this matter is bound to be exposed to certain individuals. Rather than being criticized later, it's better to proactively clarify it with you. Of course, Lord Danzo, if you harbor any inappropriate thoughts, I cannot be certain what might happen in the future."
This was, of course, an excuse. If he truly wanted to replenish Life Force, he could simply use the Spatial Rift Jutsu to fly to an uninhabited place, replenish it, and then fly back.
His true goal was his next major objective—changing his body.
This process was very complex; having White Zetsu Cells and Hashirama Clones was actually not enough.
(end of chapter)