"A... coffin?" Kisuke's face twisted in confusion. He'd never heard of such a summon. But it didn't matter—a mere Konoha genin stood no chance against a chunin like him.
Creak—
The silent coffin stirred as the senbon struck its surface. Something inside had awakened.
The rotting pine lid slowly lifted, crashing to the ground with a thunderous boom, revealing its contents.
What emerged was a grotesque masterpiece of death:
A head lolling unnaturally on its neck.
Pus-filled eye sockets housing milky-white orbs.
Darkened bloodstains caked across its decaying body.
But the most horrifying sight was its chest cavity—a gaping hole where flesh and organs had long since rotted away, evidence of a brutal death.
"From the uniform... an Iwa-nin?" Kisuke's voice trembled. A dead Iwa shinobi, sealed in a Konoha coffin?
No—not dead. Because the corpse moved.
"What the hell is this thing?! It's clearly dead! How—"
The zombie's milky eyes rolled toward him, and with a jerky motion, it stepped out of the coffin.
"This is the jutsu that will kill you." Kaede maintained his seal, channeling chakra to control the abomination. "My first time using it on a living enemy."
This was his maiden battle test of the Corpse Release. Prior experiments had been conducted in secret—convenient, given his role in corpse transportation.
Who would scrutinize worthless genin cadavers? Especially when Kaede avoided Hyuga patrols, conducting his trials deep in the forest.
The zombie lunged.
Kisuke backflipped, hands flashing through seals. "Suiton: Water Severing Wave!"
A torrent of water sheared off rotting flesh, knocking the zombie down.
"This is your trump card?" Kisuke sneered, charging toward Kaede. "Die!"
Kaede retreated—at his speed, three seconds of exposure meant death.
"Corpse Release: Rotting Detonation—NOW!"
The fallen zombie sizzled, then—
BOOM!
A chakra-triggered explosion (courtesy of carefully placed explosive tags) engulfed Kisuke.
Dust cleared. The Kiri-nin still lived, having mitigated the blast with a last-second water shield. But his body was ruined—face obliterated, limbs charred.
Worse, rotting flesh clung to his wounds.
"A Second War veteran... I'll honor you by remembering your name. While you still have a mind to remember it." Kaede shielded the unconscious patients, watching as black veins spread from Kisuke's injuries.
"Ghh... you... bastard..."
Kisuke stared in horror as his body fused with decay. He'd lost—to this?
"Still fighting? Should I summon another?" Kaede's threat was hollow—he only had three more "bomb zombies" hidden across Fire Country.
Each rigged with 15 explosive tags—a financial nightmare for his meager income.
His dream? Perfecting the technique into an "Infinite Rotting Detonation"—a swarm of suicide zombies carpet-bombing battlefields.
But for now...
"...He fled. Good." Kaede lowered his hands, exhaling. "Even if I never learned his name."
Outwardly, he'd merely repelled an enemy. In truth? Total victory.
"A wounded chunin... assimilating him will take time. My chakra reserves are still too low."
He glanced at the two patients.
"Didn't need to zombify them yet. Release!"
Genin combat was brutally simple—limited chakra, one or two jutsu reused endlessly.
Kaede's arsenal? Even simpler: exploding zombies.
"Lucky it was a mediocre chunin... Kiri's 'Bloody Mist' era hasn't fully begun."
In two years, the Third Mizukage would mandate classmate killings for graduation. Was it population control? Or forging stronger shinobi?
"If Konoha adopted that policy, the Uchiha would all awaken Sharingan."
The timeline fascinated Kaede:
The Hōzuki Clan still thrived in Kiri.
The Senju Clan hadn't yet vanished—though their heir, Nawaki, had died stupidly early in the war, blown up by traps despite his heritage and Orochimaru's tutelage.
Yet by the Third War? No trace of the Senju remained.
No mass brainwashing (via Kotoamatsukami) could explain it. Only one event could erase an entire clan so completely...
"If it's what I suspect... it might intersect with my body replacement plan."
Kaede cared little for the Senju's fate. But if their disappearance could be leveraged...
"First, return to Konoha... My Corpse Release is exposed now, but that was inevitable."
His current body—capped at 40 trillion cells—could never master shinobi arts fully. A new vessel was essential.
Yet revealing his techniques too boldly invited disaster. He needed a cover story—something to justify his sudden prowess.
"This mission might provide that opportunity..."
His gaze followed the fleeing Kiri-nin's path.
Meanwhile...
Ao hunted Takuya.
"A medic chunin's death hurts Konoha more than losing a jonin."
Ao cornered the bleeding Takuya, leisurely tossing kunai to prolong the agony. "Your teammates are already dead. This infiltration is a success."
Kiri and Kumo had avoided large-scale battles, opting for death-by-a-thousand-cuts tactics.
Takuya leaned against a rock, conserving energy. "Fool... our deaths bought time for reinforcements."
"We value missions over comrades—or even our own lives." Ao raised a kunai. "Next time, I'll hunt Hyuga."
Rustle—
A mutilated figure staggered into view—face obliterated, body fused with rotting flesh.
But what froze Ao's blood were its eyes.
Pupil-less. Ghostly white.
"...Byakugan?!"
The zombie—formerly Kisuke—lurched forward, driven by primal hunger.
Ao dodged, analyzing:
No pain response
Above-average taijutsu (despite injuries)
No visible chakra strings or seals
"A Konoha kinjutsu? But why block attacks for Takuya?"
When Takuya reached to heal it, the zombie shoved him aside, charging Ao with a guttural screech.
Ao retreated further. Caution was his creed.
Whatever this thing was, understanding it might outweigh killing one medic.
Takuya seized the reprieve to muster his last chakra, sealing his wounds.
(To be continued...)