These three Root shinobi had to die.
Not only would White Zetsu never spare them, but Kaede Tsukasa now had to deal with them as well.
"Lord Kaede Tsukasa, what do you mean by this?" Komatsu Fuji raised his weapon.
"I mean exactly what I said. You all must die."
"Just because of these white things? So you know their origin, and there's information here I absolutely must not learn. Even people who've seen them are silenced by you."
Komatsu Fuji felt neither shock nor fear—he simply focused on gathering intelligence.
These white objects, looking like split clones, were unlike anything he had seen. Observing the fallen, there was no blood, no internal organs—apparently made entirely of white flesh-like matter.
Kaede Tsukasa formed a hand seal and said slowly, "I'm sorry, all three of you. I hold no grudge, but your luck is terrible… In fact, I don't like anyone carelessly leaking my side's information. What you've seen has already crossed my tolerance."
The three Root shinobi would not die quietly. They had followed Kaede Tsukasa's orders so far, but when he commanded them to die, they were not about to comply.
"You two stay behind and hold him at all costs. I'll find a chance to break through and report these precious findings to Lord Danzo," Komatsu Fuji said coldly. His gaze scanned the ground, intending to seize fragments of the fallen White Zetsu.
For Kaede Tsukasa to suddenly turn and attempt to eliminate witnesses, these white things must hold immense value.
The other two Root shinobi did not hesitate, immediately positioning themselves in front of Komatsu Fuji, ready to attack.
Their plan was set: use numerous tools to confuse Kaede Tsukasa's sight, then strike with jutsu to kill nearby zombies. They only needed to create a brief opening.
Komatsu Fuji would use the weather to hide and escape quickly back to Konoha.
"Too naive. You really think what I told you before departure was just idle chatter?"
Zombie Release: Corpse Transformation Technique!
In an instant, the three Root shinobi felt their bodies stiffen. Their internal organs reacted violently; muscles throbbed and numbed; every nerve in their bodies seemed to buzz.
They were losing control of their bodies, clearly feeling life draining away. Their once-vibrant flesh grew cold and lifeless.
"What… what did you do? When did this happen?" Komatsu Fuji struggled to understand his transformation—he couldn't fathom when they had fallen into this trap!
Kaede Tsukasa said, "Stop worrying about that. Had this not happened, you would never have realized you were caught in my technique."
The three Root shinobi fell completely under his control. Kaede Tsukasa, consuming chakra recklessly, accelerated the conversion of the zombies already present in their bodies. Healthy cells were rapidly eroded at an exponential rate.
This was the first time Kaede Tsukasa had used chakra without restraint to forcibly turn multiple living humans into full zombies. Only now did he fully appreciate the virus's incredible infectivity.
It wasn't that the zombie virus he brought wasn't powerful. Normally, a scratch could transform a human into a zombie within ten minutes—already an extremely potent virus. But in the ninja world, where nearly everyone possessed superhuman physiques, relying solely on natural transmission was far less effective.
Fortunately, in this world of extraordinary power, using chakra—an extraordinary energy—to activate the virus's potential was enough to dramatically amplify its strength.
"Logically, as long as I don't run into those with special bloodlines, I could secretly infect ordinary shinobi in advance, spreading the virus throughout their bodies. When the time comes, I could trigger it all at once, massively multiplying the virus—using it as a surprise attack."
But unfortunately, this method wouldn't work on everyone. It required stealth, took time, and if the target had special sensory abilities, it might be discovered.
Most importantly, it consumed too much chakra.
From intense travel, to remotely controlling a large number of zombies, to fighting White Zetsu, and finally forcibly converting these three shinobi, Kaede Tsukasa had nearly drained all the life energy stored within him and began gasping for breath.
"Oh my, I think I see you gasping heavily. Are you tired? Transforming these three subordinates into corpses under your control consumes this much chakra?"
White Zetsu, though amused by the secret jutsu, had now lost interest. Accumulating these dozens of zombies had likely taken Kaede Tsukasa a long, long time. And now, after this battle, most were gone, and he had to expend chakra to handle three living humans?
White Zetsu naturally assumed Kaede Tsukasa was out of options.
"But you, drained of chakra, how much resistance do you really have left against my attack? Are you relying entirely on these corpses to protect yourself?"
White Zetsu bared his sharp teeth in a grin. "I'm no longer interested in you. Nor in your corpses."
Swish! Four White Zetsu launched a coordinated assault on Kaede Tsukasa, while others attacked the surrounding zombies, creating an opening to kill him.
Some White Zetsu even clung to the zombies, absorbing their chakra to prepare for using the jutsu the zombies had employed—one of White Zetsu's own attack methods, very effective against normal shinobi.
Kaede Tsukasa's expression remained unchanged. He struck the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
Five coffins erupted from the ground before him, blocking White Zetsu's attack route.
"Coffins? Weren't you always summoning corpses with summoning scrolls?" White Zetsu's main body, standing at a distance, chuckled without intervening directly.
Kaede Tsukasa said, "Using the lowest-quality summoning scrolls as containers is merely a basic storage method. For zombies worth using, I prefer this more ceremonial storage style."
The coffin lids lifted, and five zombies led by Araki of the Sandstorm emerged.
But that was only the beginning.
Kaede Tsukasa tossed aside more summoning scrolls, and thirty more zombies burst out from the raised "corpse" symbols. Under White Zetsu's astonished gaze, they formed neat ranks around Kaede Tsukasa, encircling him completely.
"And another thing, I really dislike you absorbing chakra. The chakra you steal fundamentally belongs to me."
Kaede Tsukasa spread his arms, signaling all thirty zombies to form hand seals. He had reached the point where he had to use that forbidden jutsu again.
Forbidden Jutsu: One's Own Life Reincarnation!