chapter 107 part 3
"Approximately ten thousand."
Tsukasa Kaede said calmly, "Actually, if I had spent more time, I could have acquired even more."
The reason it could only be "a bit more," rather than hundreds of thousands or millions, was purely because Tsukasa Kaede only needed Ninja Corpses, and controlling a massive number of Zombies required sufficient Chakra.
And the profession of Ninja was an absolute rarity throughout the Shinobi World.
Tsukasa Kaede couldn't be sure exactly how many people lived on this planet, but according to Nagato's conversation with Naruto in the original timeline, Nagato claimed he would create Tailed Beast weapons to inflict hundreds of millions of casualties on the Shinobi World, making people understand pain and fear to end wars.
That indicated that this planet had at least over a hundred million people, and the current population would definitely be significantly less than twenty years later.
Considering that the Five Great Nations collectively deployed eighty thousand troops in the Fourth Great Ninja War, plus the necessary forces remaining in the Ninja Villages, and the few Ninja scattered in various towns, and also considering the situation in smaller countries, roughly every few hundred or even a thousand natives might produce one Ninja.
Only Ninja could perform Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu; Civilians were useless.
Even if Tsukasa Kaede was acquiring Ninja Corpses, he couldn't just produce millions of them casually. Corpses would also rot. At the very least, they needed to retain a basically intact body structure to be transformed into Zombies by Tsukasa Kaede's power.
As for repairing severely decayed Corpses... the Chakra consumed to repair a Corpse would far outweigh the benefits that Corpse would provide Tsukasa Kaede after becoming a Zombie. It was a loss-making endeavor.
Unless it was the remains of someone with special talents, Tsukasa Kaede generally wouldn't casually engage in Corpse repair work.
Sasori was also stunned by this number, falling silent for a moment. "Ten thousand, what an exaggerated number. Is the Corpse Release Secret Technique really that powerful? Your disciple, who's been making such a commotion..."
"He can't do it."
Tsukasa Kaede said, "And these ten thousand Zombies, frankly, even I can't control them with high intensity. Just keeping these guys confined here is already exhausting my full effort."
Following Tsukasa Kaede's gaze, Sasori saw many individual Zombies in the horde wandering aimlessly within small areas, but often they would take a few steps, then pause, and return to their original spot, repeating the cycle.
The farther away from Tsukasa Kaede, the more chaotic the Zombies' movements became.
Only the Zombies closer to him maintained high order, standing silently, blocking the scattered, restless Corpse Horde outside.
Sasori said, "If these Zombies weren't blocking them, the outermost ones would probably have rushed towards me. I saw them desperately sniffing in my direction."
"You noticed? This is what I've been trying my best to suppress. Zombies need to feed. Their food is Living Humans, and their purpose is to turn the Living Humans they haven't completely devoured into their own kind."
Tsukasa Kaede's voice was very calm. In fact, a very small number of people had already discovered this, and subtly realized that if Tsukasa Kaede completely unleashed the Zombies, it would inevitably cause enormous chaos.
However, knowing was one thing; this small number of people didn't care.
For example, Madara, who had personally witnessed Araki of the Sand devouring White Zetsu, didn't pay it any mind.
Zombies losing control and causing chaos? What did that matter? Mere grains of sand were not worth his attention; he could easily wipe out all the Corpses.
Sasori sneered, "So, if one day you truly die, these abominations will lose control, right? Rushing out to bite people everywhere, even powerful Ninja won't be spared."
"Actually, those powerful enough can resist the Zombification process if bitten, but those Civilians who aren't Ninja will suffer greatly, turning into Zombies before long," Tsukasa Kaede said. "However, I will do my best to prevent such a thing from happening."
"But you're dead now, and I haven't heard that the Land of Fire has fallen."
"I am dead, yes, but I maintained my self-Consciousness throughout, and actually never relaxed my control over the Zombies. Moreover, I carefully buried the Zombies I didn't need, not letting them roam freely... This is also a good way to reduce my control pressure."
Of course, if Tsukasa Kaede hadn't been Impure World Reincarnated by Orochimaru back then, and had instead chosen to enter the Reaper's belly to await Kushina's actions, then if someone had dug up the Zombies from the ground during that period, Tsukasa Kaede, inside the Reaper, would not have been able to control what happened.
He truly didn't intend to turn everyone on this planet into Zombies. Without Living Humans, Zombies would lose their source—unless it was truly the end of the world, a time when increasing power came without regard for consequences.
However, if someone in the future grew tired of life, wanted to experience a different kind of life, or wished for a second life, Tsukasa Kaede wouldn't mind turning such courageous individuals into his own kind.
"Our transaction is complete. I won't be able to bother with you for a while. I will send you to a town in the Land of Wind to ensure you don't disturb me," Tsukasa Kaede said.
"Hmph, won't bother with me? You're clearly worried I'll attack you during your revival ritual; you underestimate me too much."
Sasori of the Red Sand snorted coldly.
He was indeed a cold-blooded person, but he wouldn't do something so pointless.
Immortals were too rare. He still intended to partner with Tsukasa Kaede for a hundred years or so; it wouldn't be too late to make a move if they truly fell out someday.
Moreover, he was currently still flesh and blood, and hadn't truly transformed himself into a Human Puppet.
Sasori said, "You'd better be careful. From my understanding of the old hag Chiyo, she will immediately mobilize the Village's forces to search for your whereabouts."
"I know. The fact that I transformed and controlled the insect-like Zetsu already indicates I'm not too far from Hidden Sand Village. With Chiyo's abilities, she'll surely figure that out. But her speed, no matter how fast, is useless. My ritual speed is also not slow."
After Tsukasa Kaede finished speaking, he transferred Sasori of the Red Sand away. He wouldn't allow anyone near him, not even Sasori of the Red Sand.
Speaking of which, considering the partnership between Sasori of the Red Sand and Deidara, Sasori was relatively reliable, but Tsukasa Kaede wouldn't leave himself any hidden dangers. He also didn't expect Sasori to be able to help him with anything.
Tsukasa Kaede looked at the vast Corpse Horde around him, instructing a Zombie to unroll the scroll he had obtained from Sasori.
With his continuous mastery and fine-tuning of the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu over the years, coupled with the immense number of Zombies present, it was enough to quickly grasp Chiyo's latest improvements to the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu.
"The Infinite Chakra of an Edo Tensei body has a storage limit; the amount of Chakra consumed each time cannot exceed this limit... I've lost interest in the Edo body. Now, let's see what strength my newest body can achieve."
Tsukasa Kaede clapped his hands together. Terai had already taken up his weapon and shattered Tsukasa Kaede's body. Other Zombies came forward to perform transplant surgery on him under Tsukasa Kaede's control.
However, it wasn't a transplant of Cells, but of the entire Hashirama clone and Sharingan.
"So, the ritual can finally begin... Corpse Release: Infernal Reanimation Jutsu!"
(end of chapter)u can see advance ch in my p@rteon