Kaede Tsukasa frowned briefly, then relaxed.
A troublesome situation had arisen. Uchiha Madara had appeared, and it seemed that at this point, he did not yet need to rely on the Outer Path Golem to sustain his life, retaining a degree of autonomous action.
By his side was a Tobi, which could be worn if necessary to enhance bodily functions—though Kaede Tsukasa suspected that, given Madara's pride, he would never actually wear it to boost his combat power.
It was hard for Kaede Tsukasa to accurately gauge what level of strength a nearly seventy-year-old Madara could unleash. Comparing him to a seventy-year-old Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't seem quite right.
At this point, Madara had finally evolved his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan into the Rinnegan, a process that likely placed a heavy burden on his body.
Although he had transplanted a piece of Hashirama Senju's flesh into his chest, gaining a small fraction of Hashirama's constitution, he was not inherently a descendant of Asura with a life-force-oriented body. Awakening the Rinnegan may have cost him a significant amount of life energy.
Thus, it was only after decades of nurturing his eyes that Madara obtained the Rinnegan in his old age.
A seventy-year-old Hiruzen could still slaughter with precision, even taking down Hashirama and Tobirama summoned via Orochimaru's modified Edo Tensei, sealing Orochimaru's hands in the process.
In contrast, seventy-year-old Madara now appeared frail and was carrying both Tobi and White Zetsu with him.
"During the decades I've been away from the mainstream ninja world, many talented individuals have emerged, developing techniques that even impressed me. You are one of them."
Madara's expression remained unchanged. Lifting his eyelids, he examined the zombies up close. Coupled with the intelligence provided by White Zetsu, he already had a fairly complete understanding of the situation.
"You can use numerous corpses to replenish your life force. I can sense the abundant yet chaotic vitality within you. This indicates that your technique still has potential for further development—particularly in refining the management of life force to reduce unnecessary loss."
Madara spoke slowly, his voice filled with unquestionable certainty. He continued: "And if I'm not mistaken, your technique can at most supply additional life force—it cannot restore the lost youth of others. It is an incomplete resurrection technique."
Indeed, this was an imperfection of the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu. It could revive the dead by transferring life force, but it could not make an elderly person young again.
In other words, an old person revived would still remain old. Their lifespan remains the same; when they died, that's how they were, and coming back doesn't change that. At most, with extra life force stored in the body, they could preferentially consume it to prolong life for a long time—but the technique cannot rewind their age to youth.
If this technique is treated as a resurrection technique, this limitation is unavoidable.
"You are correct. This technique maintains a state; it does not reverse time. Elder, if you wish to use my technique to prolong your life, that is all you can do."
Kaede Tsukasa did not deny it: "I don't believe there exists a resurrection technique more perfect than Edo Tensei. If such a technique did exist, someone like the First Hokage—who broke the limits of ninja—wouldn't have died so easily."
"Hmph. 'Died easily,'" Madara scoffed. "It seems even the world cannot accept Hashirama's careless death."
Madara swung the scythe in his hand toward Kaede Tsukasa: "I do not care about prolonging life. Compared to such trivial matters, I am more interested in you. A person who manipulates corpses yet lives in a place like Konoha… people like you are only suited to exist during times of war. Once peace returns, your position will become difficult. Humanity is forgetful; they viciously attack, often overlooking the accomplishments you've made."
Strike first!
Kaede Tsukasa acted decisively. This old man was troublesome; it was best to seize the opportunity and fully pressure him.
Dozens of zombies encircled Madara, closing in simultaneously. Some charged for close combat, while others stood at a distance forming seals to cast ninjutsu. Compared to this formation, the aged Madara appeared to have little room to retaliate.
He just stood there, like a giant, his enormous shadow stretching up into the sky.
As dozens of zombies closed in for the attack, he quickly formed hand seals.
Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!
Fierce flames instantly engulfed more than twenty zombies, yet Kaede Tsukasa didn't even blink. He summoned even more zombies in return, one wave following another.
With over a hundred zombies now spread across the sky and ground, Kaede Tsukasa formed another set of seals in the brief pause.
"Not bad fire release—but you've been tricked. I never intended to attack you in the usual way. Let's see how you handle this… Zombie Release: Hundred Crying Bones!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Over a hundred zombies, upon approaching Madara, self-destructed on the spot.
Each individual's position and timing of explosion had been meticulously calculated.
At this scale, a vast web of explosions formed, radiating from the center outward, enclosing Madara. Even if Tobi attempted to flee with him, it would be too late.
The sheer magnitude of the blast was enough to lift the nearby ground.
The violent shockwave swept outward, threatening to pulverize Madara. The explosions were so intense that even people kilometers away sensed them, showing expressions of awe and suspicion, wondering what powerful ninja could be fighting.
Yet when the blast settled, the ground had a deep crater, and Madara, along with White Zetsu and Tobi, emerged completely unscathed.
Kaede Tsukasa's expression remained unchanged as he continued to summon zombies, relentlessly pressing the attack, refusing Madara even a moment of respite.
Faced with the new zombie army, Madara closed his single eye. The instant he reopened it, three magatama rapidly spun.
Immediately, an unusually cold chakra surged across his body. Translucent ribs appeared, enveloping Madara, White Zetsu, and Tobi, while skeletal arms instantaneously grew, wielding ten-meter-long swords swung horizontally!
The rain on the ground floated upward, splitting into two layers and freezing in place.
Terrifying chakra erupted like a volcano, carrying the momentum to tear through the sky. With a single strike, the sword and the cutting air sliced dozens of zombies in two.
In just an instant, a massive number of zombies were dismembered. Many were already decayed; under the overwhelming impact, their blood and flesh splattered like rain, and their bodies fell piece by piece.
The blade that tore through everything now pointed directly at Kaede Tsukasa himself.
Kaede Tsukasa simply formed a single hand seal to activate the Void Technique, instantly disappearing and swapping positions with a zombie that had been first cut but retained one intact hand, still able to form seals.
That zombie effectively took two hits and shattered completely.
One move—no hand seals, just opening the eye—and the battlefield was cleared.
The terrifying chakra gradually faded. The translucent ribs, skeletal arms, and swords dissipated, and Madara remained, maintaining the same slow, deliberate posture.
"If I'm not mistaken… is that the legendary Susanoo? You've really surprised me. Using just the three tomoe Sharingan to manifest Susanoo? That makes your identity highly suspicious. As far as I know, only one person could wield that ocular power—and that person should have been dead long ago."
Kaede Tsukasa even applauded, marveling at this brief but terrifying display.
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