Chapter 6: Tsukasa Kaede Was Not in Minato Namikaze's Line of Kaedeght
"Ooooooh..."
Kio's steps faltered. His rapidly blurring consciousness was no longer enough for his remaining self-awareness to control his body; only the instinct to feed remained.
The Chakra Virus had gradually spread throughout his body from his wounds, step by step transforming him into a Zombie.
The moment he saw Ao, he let out a howl and pounced.
Ao's brow furrowed. He dodged sideways, carefully observing, growing more puzzled the more he looked.
"Is that Kio? No, it doesn't seem to be. He's carrying a lot of rotting flesh, and his body is decaying at a visible rate... It's almost as if he's possessed by a Demon Spirit."
There were simply too many Ninjutsu in the world, and too many he hadn't seen.
"Moreover, this guy seems to be trying to attack me with Taijutsu. His movements are distorted by his injuries, but overall, he possesses a Taijutsu level exceeding that of an ordinary Genin."
In just a few seconds, Ao made a quick analysis. He pulled out a Kunai with a backhand motion, intending to kill Kazematsuri Takuya first.
*Swish!* Yet, the Zombie abruptly changed direction, blocking Kazematsuri Takuya and using its flesh and blood body to stop all the Kunai.
"My initial assessment is that this is a Ninjutsu used by Konoha ninjas. But why would it deliberately block Ninja Tools with its body? Does it possess self-healing abilities to recover from injuries?" More doubts arose in Ao's mind.
Kazematsuri Takuya was also bewildered, not understanding what was happening with the person in front of him, but it seemed to be one of their own.
"Let me heal you..." He reached out his palm to touch it, but the other party didn't appreciate it. Ignoring the Kunai embedded in its body, it let out a howl and charged at Ao.
Ao was startled, suspecting that this creature felt no pain. He retreated again, continuously launching attacks to test it.
After multiple long-range attacks, Ao completely confirmed that this thing truly had no sense of pain, as if it were a Flesh Puppet without a will of its own! "I don't see any Chakra strings remotely controlling it, nor any traces of a Curse Mark on its body. What exactly *is* this thing?"
Ao's interest was fully piqued. The further he retreated, the more the Zombie tried to close in for a melee fight, but he deliberately maintained his distance to observe. True to his cautious nature, he would not take risks easily if he didn't have absolute certainty.
Besides, his intuition told him that if he could figure out what this thing was, the rewards might not be smaller than killing Kazematsuri Takuya.
Kazematsuri Takuya also realized something. Gritting his teeth, he squeezed the last bit of Chakra from his body to heal his injuries.
Ao continued his probing attacks, from severing its limbs to destroying the internal organs in its chest. Finally, he closed in, used a Kunai to sever its head, and grabbed it in his hand.
"It's not dead even after this? It still wants to bite me after becoming like this? What kind of terrifying combat will is this?!!" Ao was utterly shocked. He gripped the head by its forehead, staring at the mouth opening and closing, completely stunned.
He had never heard of such a monster existing in the world. Even with only a head left, it still persisted in completing its Mission, truly like a legendary Demon.
"Konoha folks, is this a Demon cultivated by your Village?" Ao asked casually, but received no response. He turned his head and saw that Kazematsuri Takuya had already fled.
Ao didn't pay it any mind. He had found a more valuable target. He immediately tore off a piece of his clothing, wrapped the head, and intended to take it back for research.
"These eyes really resemble the Byakugan. I wonder if there's any connection... Could it be a Forbidden Jutsu of the Hyuga Clan? Or did a Hyuga Clan ninja fall victim to someone else's Forbidden Jutsu to become like this?"
Ao remained obsessed with the Byakugan. If he could acquire one, he would gain a huge strategic advantage, and the Third Mizukage would heavily rely on him, elevating his status.
He also recalled the legends of various Demons circulating throughout the Shinobi World. He immediately took the head and quickly fled, no longer caring about the Kirigakure ninja who had been chasing Feizhu Qingting. After such a long time without returning, that ninja had either been killed in retaliation or encountered Konoha's support forces, making them not worth saving.
"I've never heard of Konoha ninjas mastering this kind of Forbidden Jutsu; otherwise, they would have used it in the War long ago. This precisely indicates that this thing cannot be mass-produced. As long as I can unravel its secret..."
As Ao thought of its ability to disregard pain and its near-Immortality, his heart burned with excitement.
"If only these eyes were also Byakugan," Ao thought, as his figure rapidly vanished into the dense forest.
...
"The distance is growing, moving beyond my rough Sensory Perception range. It seems he got away."
Tsukasa Kaede sat cross-legged on a tree branch. He slowly opened his eyes, clicked his tongue, and felt a hint of regret.
Ao was still too cautious. If he had been even a little reckless, if even one of his Zombies had bitten him, or even scratched him, the situation would have turned out differently.
Although he didn't know how long it would take to corrupt a Jonin if Tsukasa Kaede didn't expend Chakra up close to accelerate the Virus's effect, as long as Ao had been infected, he would have lived in Tsukasa Kaede's shadow.
The greater the distance, the exponentially more Chakra Tsukasa Kaede would need to precisely use Sensory Perception remotely and accelerate the corruption. This was beyond his current capabilities and entirely unnecessary.
Most importantly, Tsukasa Kaede also didn't have enough Chakra to precisely control the Virus within the Zombies and allow them to use the various Ninjutsu they had mastered in life.
Yes, theoretically, if Tsukasa Kaede were powerful enough, with sufficient Chakra and a deep enough understanding of Corpse Release, he could completely achieve this, allowing a Zombie to unleash 200% of its former strength. After all, once a Zombie, there was no more pain or fear, allowing for continuous overloaded performance. Even without defending, trading injuries for injuries would be a net gain, until the body was rendered useless or the head was destroyed.
Tsukasa Kaede, carrying two unconscious wounded comrades, one in each hand, moved with difficulty toward the Village.
This wasn't feigned difficulty; the battle had placed a heavy burden on his body.
It wasn't until Konoha's guard ninjas came to meet him.
"You're in this state, yet you still brought back two Comrades? That's truly amazing! We'll escort you back to the Village. Get some good rest. Having a Comrade like you is a blessing."
The young female ninja who came to meet him was very surprised, her face filled with the clear stupidity unique to graduates. Her attitude toward Tsukasa Kaede was incredibly enthusiastic. The adult Ninja Dog accompanying her also came up to sniff him and barked.
"Yes, I was lucky. I managed to repel the enemy, but that's all I could do. It's a pity that one Comrade still sacrificed themselves." Tsukasa Kaede sighed. "I think I saw your picture on the outer wall of the Ninja Academy once. Your name is Inuzuka Tsume, right? An outstanding graduate from the past two years?"
Inuzuka Tsume, the mother of Hana Inuzuka and Kiba Inuzuka, would also be a Captain of Konoha's patrol squads in the future.
Unlike other Inuzuka Clan Members, Inuzuka Tsume chose a seasoned, powerful Ninja Dog as her partner: the large, one-eyed dog named Kuromaru, which possessed formidable strength.
At the very least, Tsukasa Kaede felt he couldn't beat that one-eyed dog.
Not long after, Tsukasa Kaede saw the heavily wounded Kazematsuri Takuya and Feizhu Qingting at the Village entrance.
"Oh? So you were rescued by the patrol Squad led by Minato Namikaze and Choza Akimichi? That's wonderful! It means all our persistence paid off, and we've returned alive from a deadly situation."
In front of the group of Ninjas, Tsukasa Kaede displayed a look of relief.
As for taking the opportunity to befriend the young Minato Namikaze... that was simply impossible, because Minato Namikaze didn't even register Tsukasa Kaede in his eyes.
Minato Namikaze was a rapidly rising super genius, noted even by the Higher-ups. Although he was known as the Little Sun, it was impossible for him to remember the name of every ordinary Genin in the Village.
There were tens of thousands of permanent Ninjas within the Hidden Leaf Village, and even more scattered across the various towns of the Land of Fire.
Furthermore, Konoha, as the Land of Fire's highest military institution, had the authority to issue mandatory conscription orders to the country's nobles and Daimyo, meaning the number of Ninjas directly controlled by Konoha would continue to surge.
Even if not fifty or sixty thousand, there were definitely thirty thousand Ninjas — a number cultivated by the Hidden Leaf Village over twenty years of extended Peace after the First Great War.
Of course, after several years of the Second Great Ninja War, the total military strength had certainly been sharply reduced, and it was normal for over ten thousand people to have died.
With so many Ninjas, no matter how knowledgeable with a sharp memory Minato Namikaze was, or how radiant and benevolent his presence, could he possibly remember every single person? Furthermore, 12-year-old Minato Namikaze was burdened with patrol Missions and met far too many Ninjas to remember them all.
(end of chapter)