"The village has new arrangements for Morino Isuke. He's also earned quite a few battle merits, enough to adjust his position."
Tsunade signed the transfer document herself. Since she was present, there was naturally no room for Aburame Ryōma to interfere.
"With the signatures of both the Hokage and myself, anyone must comply."
"I understand. I'll do my best and make full use of my abilities."
Kaede Tsukasa thought Konoha was truly a good place.
With endorsements from both the top leadership and his direct superior, he could act boldly without worry.
In the entire village, no place suited him better than the corpse handling unit. Besides, he had already worked there for a while before heading to the battlefield, gaining a few solid zombies, which had been very helpful to him.
Tsunade tossed a scroll to Kaede Tsukasa. It recorded a technique for stimulating the body with chakra—something she had promised him earlier.
"Are you close with Aburame Ryōma?" Tsunade asked suddenly while handling the paperwork on her desk.
"I did receive a summons from him," Kaede Tsukasa replied.
"Stay away from that guy. As far as I know, Yakushi Nono has been active around Aburame Ryōma, apparently trying to transfer you to another department. I rejected that."
Tsunade didn't even lift her head. "Those people are all connected to Root. I don't know how much you understand about Root, but it's best to keep your distance. They'll definitely be interested in your secret techniques."
Kaede Tsukasa's expression shifted to realization.
So, unknowingly, Root and Tsunade had already begun a round of strategic maneuvering?
He immediately recalled what Yakushi Nono had mentioned—trying to find a way, through Root, using the village's human experiment projects, to restore the two fingers Kaede Tsukasa had lost.
At the time, Kaede Tsukasa hadn't taken it seriously, but now it seemed Yakushi Nono was earnest.
"I understand, Lady Tsunade. But I'm just an ordinary Chunin. Most of the time, I can't decide my own assignments, so I'll follow the village's arrangements."
"Good. Just be careful yourself. I can't watch over you forever. Also, use secret techniques sparingly in the village, and absolutely never use them on your comrades—otherwise, even I can't protect you."
"Of course. My jutsu is for protecting the village and my comrades," Kaede Tsukasa promised wholeheartedly.
He wasn't crazy enough to trigger a zombie crisis inside Konoha. For now, the village was indeed the safest haven for him.
Actually, Kaede Tsukasa still hoped to participate in the village's forbidden experiments. Only that way could he access the true core secrets, like Hashirama cells.
Using the one's own life reincarnation Jutsu to cover weaknesses was the first phase of his body-replacement plan. The second phase was more complicated—the ideal option was to obtain Hashirama cells.
To acquire Hashirama cells, it was best to join the village's human experiment projects, assisting Orochimaru and Danzo. That way, he could openly get what he wanted.
Of course, if he couldn't get the Hashirama cells, it wouldn't matter. Kaede Tsukasa had backup plans—it just wouldn't be as perfect.
For now, however, there was no opportunity. Tsunade was worried about someone as specialized as him mixing with Root operatives.
"For the time being… you'll need to stay low."
Kaede Tsukasa didn't return to his old residence at the village's edge. That dilapidated house was no longer useful.
With his current merits, he could easily get a better house—though he didn't care about living arrangements and instead went straight to the corpse handling unit.
When the troops first went to the battlefield, besides Morino Isuke, Kaede Tsukasa was the only one left.
"This department was already small, and now it's just me. But that's normal—only the war against Iwagakure hasn't ended, so the number of corpses being delivered will temporarily drop to rock bottom."
Moreover, the village probably won't send a lot of worthless corpses to the unit like they used to.
After all, Kaede Tsukasa was someone who played with corpses. If it weren't for using the Dead Soul Technique during wartime to conceal his forbidden techniques, at any other time he would have already been recognized as a researcher of forbidden jutsu—closely monitored, or even outright recruited by Root.
"So, I can't rely on the village leadership for my own safety. I have to prepare life-or-death measures in advance," Kaede Tsukasa pondered.
At this time, the moral standards in Konoha were far lower than during the Naruto era. The higher-ups wouldn't outright kill someone skilled in corpse research. There would definitely be a place for Kaede Tsukasa in various forbidden human experiments.
It was just a matter of when he could earn the village's true trust and get a chance to join in.
As the next batch of corpses arrived, Kaede Tsukasa immediately went to work.
Diligent and meticulous, just as before, he treated every corpse carefully—completely worthless ones were incinerated, valuable ones he kept for himself.
All of his actions were observed by the monitoring ninja, who reported everything to the higher-ups.
The Third Hokage was watching, and of course, so was Danzo.
"Really? He hasn't done anything extra?"
Keeping a few corpses aside was nothing in Danzo's eyes. The corpse handling unit was a subordinate department, and the corpses weren't of much value. Even if Kaede Tsukasa kept them all, it didn't matter.
Danzo's main purpose was to analyze Kaede Tsukasa's secret techniques this way.
"In three days, he's taken all seventeen corpses delivered… so blatantly. It seems his jutsu is even better than I expected."
Danzo nodded silently. He was roughly assessing Kaede Tsukasa's corpse modification speed. Three days, and he could handle so many corpses—including a Jonin-level corpse? This might not even be Kaede Tsukasa's limit.
Of course, it could also be a show—the young man exaggerating his abilities to impress the village. That was normal too.
"Lord Danzo, what should we do next? Ask him for the Zombie Release secret technique? The Hokage is probably keeping an eye on this as well," Aburame Ryōma asked.
"No need. Keep monitoring him until I issue new orders. If you encounter Anbu operatives, don't engage them."
Danzo snorted, then said, "Kaede Tsukasa is a village ninja. His jutsu naturally belongs to Konoha. Konoha's jutsu is naturally my jutsu! What I'm truly interested in is whether the corpses he modifies can retain their bloodline limits from life."
Araki was also a Magnet Release ninja, but even now, Kaede Tsukasa hadn't brought out that particular corpse.
Aburame Ryōma immediately understood Danzo's meaning—could a corpse from the Uchiha clan be turned into a loyal zombie? Of course, one that could still use the Sharingan.
If he could even do that, it would make Danzo's heart race.
Danzo's hatred for the Uchiha and his preference for the Sharingan were no secret to Aburame Ryōma.
"Orochimaru sent back the corpse of an Explosion Release ninja," Aburame Ryōma reported.
"Orochimaru… this ever-intrusive guy, handling Iwagakure while still reaching this far,"
Danzo snorted coldly, paused for a moment, then said, "Then give the corpse to Kaede Tsukasa! Let me see… where are the limits of this secret technique!"