The Edo Tensei was a technique stolen by Black Zetsu long ago, kept hidden as a last-resort trump card. Now, in these desperate times, he had finally brought it out.
With Obito dead, Konan captured, and the Land of Rain absorbed into the Leaf's control, the Akatsuki was on the brink of collapse.
But with just this single technique, Edo Tensei, it could be resurrected from the ashes!
The Reanimation Jutsu was far too powerful.
As long as the reincarnated bodies were refined well enough, the revived shinobi could retain over 70% of their original strength. Moreover, the jutsu placed no burden on the caster. With enough corpses and sacrifices, it could theoretically be used without limit!
And when it came to gathering information and retrieving corpses, who in the entire ninja world, aside from the Sage of Six Paths and Hamura Otsutsuki, could compare to Black Zetsu and White Zetsu?
No one could.
As for the sacrifices required by the technique, there was no need to worry either, White Zetsu could serve as the perfect offering. With 100,000 White Zetsu available, that meant 100,000 powerful shinobi could be reanimated!
A closer look revealed that each coffin in the canyon bore a clearly marked name, First Mizukage, First Hokage, First Tsuchikage, First Raikage…
Since the Warring States Period, nearly every previous generation of Kage had been gathered here by Black Zetsu!
And that wasn't all.
Black Zetsu had even managed to dig up the remains of several legendary figures from before the Warring States Era and brought them here. In terms of sheer military might, excluding Kaede, this army alone was nearly on par with the entire shinobi world!
If Nagato could refine the precision of the Reanimation Jutsu to its highest level, and if Black Zetsu could gather even more powerful corpses from past Kage and elite shinobi, then this army might even surpass the combined might of the current world.
That was exactly why Nagato hadn't lost hope.
Why, after all these years, he had regained his resolve, continuing to work with Black Zetsu in secret, fully believing that success was still within reach.
"The moment to change the fate of the ninja world... is drawing near."
Nagato muttered, eyes deep and distant as he stared at the row upon row of marked coffins.
=============
Elsewhere,
Underground, burrowing deeper in search of more corpses using both memory and intel, Black Zetsu had other thoughts on his mind.
"Mother's resurrection will require immense power. I can't let her be brought back through Edo Tensei. If she's reanimated like that, she won't have the strength to oppose Kaede. Everything must be prepared before she returns in full…"
"These Edo Tensei shinobi alone won't be enough…"
"Kaede has Hamura's chakra, he already possesses Six Paths power. To challenge him, Madara Uchiha must be revived in full…"
The plan was to use the reanimated army to launch a full-scale assault on the Five Great Nations, capturing the tailed beasts that had not yet fallen into Kaede's hands. All of it was to pave the way for Kaguya Otsutsuki's revival.
With Six Paths power, Kaede was a serious threat, far too dangerous to face directly.
Even if Madara were revived via Edo Tensei, it wouldn't be enough.
But Black Zetsu knew: Madara could resist the jutsu. Once brought back, he'd immediately break free of the summoning, reclaim the Rinnegan from Nagato, and use the Rinne Rebirth Technique to resurrect himself completely.
Once alive again and in possession of both Rinnegan, Madara would only need a portion of the tailed beasts' chakra to ascend to Six Paths level power.
"You probably think the entire ninja world is already in your hands, don't you…"
"Kaede…"
Black Zetsu's eye curved upward into a strange expression.
"To rise from a mere ordinary ninja to one who wields Six Paths power… you truly are the strongest shinobi in a thousand years, greater than any incarnation of Indra or Asura. But in the end, this world will still return to Mother… and no one can stop it."
=============
Konoha.
Raindrops pattered softly down from the cloudy skies.
Standing atop the Hokage building, Kaede gazed into the distant horizon. Raindrops fell on his head, yet none could soak his hair or clothes, they simply slid away, repelled silently by his power.
It had been a month since Yuhi Kurenai became the Seven-Tails' Jinchuriki.
During that month, within his Time Domain, she had successfully learned to control the power of the Seven-Tails.
Now able to synchronize with the beast's chakra and even fully transform, Kurenai's strength had soared to Kage level, placing her firmly among the strongest of that tier.
It was also worth noting,
Kaede's Time Acceleration limit had now reached ten times speed, and the range of his Time Domain had expanded from an initial ten meters to nearly thirty meters in radius.
The past month has been peaceful across the ninja world.
After the Land of Waterfalls was annexed by the Land of Fire, the final two remaining minor nations had surrendered as well.
There were now no small nations left near the Land of Fire.
Though countries like the Land of Snow and Land of Demons still existed, they were far removed and separated by other great nations. At present, the only major countries bordering the Land of Fire were the Land of Wind, Land of Earth, and Land of Lightning.
"And still… there's no sign of you."
Kaede murmured, staring at the rainy, clouded sky.
After all, Black Zetsu had hidden for over a thousand years. Even the Sage of Six Paths hadn't detected him in the beginning. If Black Zetsu truly wanted to stay hidden, finding him wouldn't be easy.
Kaede had sent Konan out regularly to gather intel, but Nagato had never contacted her. No clues about his whereabouts had surfaced.
"Six Paths power means near-immortality. Black Zetsu surely understands that. He's not going to sit around waiting for me to die and start over. That only leaves a few options, like using the Rinnegan to revive Madara, and then combining that with Edo Tensei…"
Kaede could more or less guess Black Zetsu's plan.
There were only so many ways to try and turn the tides.
But he had no intention of scouring the world in search of them, there was no need. After gaining the Seven-Tails' chakra and unlocking the Seventh Gate of the Eight Gates technique, he now wielded nine Truth-Seeking Orbs in his Six Paths form.
That alone marked him as having reached the second stage of Six Paths power.
In other words,
Even if comparing just their raw Six Paths strength, he now stood on equal footing with Six Paths Madara. Not to mention, his time-based abilities were far superior to Madara's Limbo or any other technique.
Kaede had never felt the need to worry.
He simply continued to carry out his plans methodically, waiting for Black Zetsu to finish preparing and reveal himself, only to be crushed with one hand.
Obito controlled by Nagato was the first layer.
Nagato controlled by Madara was the second.
Madara, manipulated by Black Zetsu, was the third.
And Black Zetsu, thinking he controlled everything, was the fourth layer.
But,
Kaede stood in the fifth layer.
He stood silently in the shadows of the fifth layer, calmly watching the schemes of the first four unfold.
"It's about time to make a move on the Great Nations."
With that thought, Kaede turned away from the rainy horizon and stepped back inside the Hokage building, vanishing into the mist.
=============
Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria