For the next period of time, Kaede Tsukasa became extremely busy, shuttling nonstop between Orochimaru's experiments and Uchiha Madara's projects.
This time, Madara revealed more information to him, including that the birth of the Rinnegan required the combined power of the Senju and Uchiha clans, but he did not teach him the Six Paths' Yin–Yang Release techniques.
That kind of privilege would only come to Obito in the future.
Kaede Tsukasa wasn't surprised. He directly asked Madara to teach him the Izanagi technique, and after a moment of silence, Madara agreed.
Izanagi was currently the thing consuming most of Kaede Tsukasa's time and energy.
"However, since Madara hasn't tried to attack me yet, this should be good news—convenient for me to 'benefit' from him," he thought while conducting experiments.
Sometimes Kaede Tsukasa reflected on this—after this incident, his already fragile relationship with Madara had become even more precarious. Even if Madara suddenly struck, Kaede Tsukasa wouldn't be surprised.
He was already prepared for it.
"For now, it's better to just get some work done. Should I really go to approach Uchiha Obito now…"
Actually, it wasn't impossible. A person's personality is largely determined by genetics in the womb—though in the ninja world, chakra can introduce some deviations.
Chakra is essentially the fusion of mental and life energy. As with Asura's chakra, it can strongly suppress the darkness in one's heart, gradually tilting a reincarnated personality toward the light, completely indiscriminately.
But someone like Obito, with a strong, reckless, impulsive personality filled with emotion, is closely linked to both genetics and upbringing. Though still very young, he could be approached now. Later, Kaede Tsukasa could find an opportunity to involve Madara and guide Obito toward darkness, turning his deep love for the world into deep hatred—how exactly that would happen would be Madara's responsibility.
"Kaede Tsukasa, you're distracted,"
Orochimaru pushed open the door and entered the laboratory.
"You're back? What did the Hokage say?" Kaede Tsukasa didn't lift his head.
"As expected, he scolded me, saying I shouldn't have acted with you without permission. But it was just a scolding; nothing more, just as I anticipated."
Orochimaru didn't mind taking the blame for Kaede Tsukasa. Though he had been the one to first mention the Eight-Tails chakra and guide Kaede Tsukasa's actions, in the situation where Danzo had been demoted, Orochimaru stepped in to take responsibility, filling the vacuum left by Danzo—unexpectedly convenient, one might say.
"But that's also an accomplishment, isn't it? Together, we neutralized the Eight-Tails jinchūriki, preventing Kumogakure from deploying a tailed beast on the battlefield. Considering Kumogakure's lackluster sealing skills, finding a new host won't be easy. This alone could stall their development for at least a few months."
Kaede Tsukasa grabbed a corpse from the lab table, kicked it into the wall, where a massive iron hook pierced its chest and held it suspended.
There were many similar corpses in the lab—merely cheap consumables, purely for helping Orochimaru perfect the cell transplantation experiment. Their fate was already sealed.
"The Hokage's tolerance really isn't something ordinary people possess," Kaede Tsukasa said.
Fortunately, it was Orochimaru, a Hokage's subordinate, taking the blame. If Kaede Tsukasa had acted this aggressively without village permission, the consequences could have been severe, even losing the village's trust.
With Orochimaru, it was different. The Third Hokage knew him well and knew he had always been close to Danzo and secretly conducting forbidden experiments.
The Third Hokage hadn't intervened. If the results benefited the village, it reflected well on his leadership. If they were harmful, he would have immediately halted the actions to prevent damage.
Most importantly: Jiraiya leaving the village on his own to train Nagato was the true violation.
Without the death of Mito Uzumaki and the Rinnegan's exposure, there might have been debate. But now the Third Hokage knew everything, including that Jiraiya had concealed it even from him.
Yet the Third Hokage said nothing.
He didn't label Jiraiya a rogue ninja, nor would he act against Orochimaru for attacking the Eight-Tails—so Orochimaru was confident. Jiraiya had effectively lowered everyone's moral baseline. Orochimaru was curious to see whether Jiraiya would dare return to the village and, if he did, how he would handle his relationship with the Third Hokage.
"Tolerance… from a certain perspective, perhaps isn't wrong,"
Orochimaru sneered, his expression flickering under the dim light. "Kaede Tsukasa, we've presumably developed a certain level of trust, haven't we? I have some questions for you. If I don't clarify them, I'll be extremely dissatisfied."
"You want the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu? It won't do you any good. Only I can maximize its value, and I have no intention of giving it. As for a mere Eight-Tails chakra, I can get it even without you," Kaede Tsukasa said casually.
"No, it's not that. Although I desire this technique, it's not absolutely necessary. I have my own path for extending my lifespan… though naturally, having the technique would be even better," Orochimaru said.
"You're willing to accept my invitation to assist with these experiments, so you must have your own goals. In other words, perhaps you also have needs from me… right? I think it's time we were a bit more honest with each other."
"Mm, I've never hidden it. I need to cultivate superior corpses to enhance my combat power," Kaede Tsukasa replied, not even blinking as he spoke a lie. "As you can see, I specialize in corpse-based combat. The number and quality of corpses directly determine my effectiveness in battle. Since obtaining the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu, I am no longer inherently weak, and now I urgently need a large number of high-quality zombies."
Konoha had never allowed Kaede Tsukasa full access to all corpses; realistically, even during peacetime, that wouldn't have been possible.
Ninjas are already among the elite professions in the ninja world. Many civilians don't even qualify to become ninjas, which means ninja corpses are inherently valuable resources. Corpses with bloodline limits are even more precious; any village possessing them treats them as treasures.
The village wouldn't hand over all such valuable corpse resources to someone like Kaede Tsukasa, who could fully exploit their potential.
This made sense, and Kaede Tsukasa understood it. But understanding didn't mean doing nothing. If he could take advantage of participating in human experiments to cultivate perfect bodies to his satisfaction, while also collecting some failed experimental corpses with some value, it would be quite worthwhile.
"I see. So what type of body do you want? Could it be… Wood Release?"
"That's natural. During the human experiments, there will inevitably be a batch of failures. I take the opportunity to embezzle a few—hardly excessive, right? Even if the Hokage knew, as long as I'm not too blatant, he would likely turn a blind eye," Kaede Tsukasa said without lifting his head.
"Heh, exactly. That's his personality. Your strength benefits the village indirectly," Orochimaru said, looking at the young Kaede Tsukasa. He seemed so full of life—in every sense of the word. Despite his morbid methods, his future was bright.
I can't wait for the next war. If someone like him recklessly wields the Zombie Release secret techniques, what kind of power could he unleash…
"By the way, I received some unusual intelligence. At a border area in the Land of Rain, a fragmented forest suddenly appeared. That should be where Lady Mito perished with the enemy. Kaede Tsukasa, do you have any thoughts?" Orochimaru asked casually.
"None at all. Explaining matters I don't wish to explain annoys me. Not just you, but anyone who asks, I won't respond," Kaede Tsukasa said coldly.
No matter how much Hanzo tried to isolate the Land of Rain, it was still a small nation with limited strength. Spies from other countries would inevitably infiltrate, and some intelligence would leak.
No matter how much Hanzo sought peace or tried to minimize his presence, even a hundred mouths couldn't erase the fact that Mito Uzumaki had died in battle. At the very least, Konoha would continue gathering intelligence.
"I also contacted Danzo's people. He secretly sent a few Root shinobi to question Hanzo. Do you know how that old man explained the forest?"
Orochimaru licked his lips. "He claimed he had been persistently working on reforestation. Personally, I think that's a bit too much of a stretch."
The Land of Rain is rainy all year round—reforestation? Fooling the naïve?
"Hanzo is indeed clever. He'd rather play dumb than involve himself in matters he shouldn't… and Danzo sending people indirectly informed him of Konoha's internal changes. Normally, Danzo should have gone there himself," Kaede Tsukasa said.
Danzo knew the Land of Rain well and had personally visited multiple times in the normal timeline to communicate with Hanzo.
For example, the typical Rinnegan exposure incident—in the anime timeline, it wasn't Hanzo who first discovered Nagato's Rinnegan, but Danzo, who traveled to the Land of Rain. He attempted to seize it but failed, leading to him embedding in Hanzo's team, witnessing Yahiko's death and Nagato's legs being destroyed.
Kaede Tsukasa placed himself in Hanzo's position, witnessing the Senju Daibutsu and Nine-Tails, and felt he would also have to feign ignorance to conceal the matter.
"You've nearly mastered the cell transplantation technique, right? When can we truly start the Hashirama cell human experiments? And where will the volunteers come from?"
Kaede Tsukasa removed his gloves. "Since the Hokage has tacitly approved my participation in your experiments, he must know my technique will greatly assist the human trials. By the way, the Hokage likely doesn't know I possess the One's Own Life Reincarnation Jutsu. I can actually revive the dead from failed experiments."
"But would you actually do that?"
"Of course not. Resurrection isn't meant to be used that way. My life force is precious; I won't casually transfer it to someone who has nothing to do with me," Kaede Tsukasa said.
Orochimaru became somewhat excited. "The ideal candidates for participation in the transplantation experiments are naturally from the Senju clan. I believe many of them would willingly join. The only problem is we cannot approach the Senju as private individuals; the village must intervene."
The Senju clan, the famous clan of love, if persuaded by the village's authority to participate in this declining aristocracy, would certainly respond enthusiastically… they must.
Momoka Senju could not bear the responsibility for the Senju clan's decline!
It hadn't been long since the First and Second Hokage; the Senju clan had already been suppressed by the Uchiha in terms of population, number of strong shinobi, and clan prestige. If nothing was done, they might not even be able to contend with the Hyuga. After all, the Hyuga clan, thanks to the Byakugan and the "caged bird" system, had unimaginable resilience and risk resistance far beyond the Senju.
Kaede Tsukasa listened silently.
According to his consistent speculation, on any timeline, the major event that led to the Senju clan's complete decline, even disappearing from the village's mainstream view, was the human experiments conducted between the Second and Third Great Wars.
All the villages were engaged in an intense arms race; various forbidden projects were underway, and Konoha had no choice but to participate.
For Konoha, nothing could more effectively boost ninja strength in bulk than Hashirama cells. And no one was better suited than the Senju clan to repeatedly undergo transplantation to become the next, or even a new batch of, Wood Release ninjas!
There was no expectation to reach the level of the First Hokage—that was impossible—but even producing a batch of jōnin-level Wood Release ninjas would be invaluable for Konoha.
Facing tailed beasts from hostile villages, a group of Wood Release ninjas would be overwhelming on the battlefield.
But things could never go smoothly. The Senju clan's collapse proved that even descendants of the Senju could not endure Hashirama cells. All participating clan members perished; not a single one survived.
By the time most of the Senju had been expended, neither Danzo nor Orochimaru could produce a single viable subject, prompting the Third Hokage—who had been waiting to observe—to intervene and forcibly halt the project, strictly forbidding its restart.
But Danzo and Orochimaru ignored this, continuing their clandestine research and recruiting children for experiments, eventually leading to the birth of Yamato.
Kaede Tsukasa said, "Then, unsurprisingly, it seems the two of us will bear the responsibility for the Hashirama cell project. This is the most dangerous forbidden area among all human experiment projects."
"Exactly. That will remain the case until the Third Hokage reinstates Danzo. In terms of status, ability, achievement, and secrecy, only the two of us are most suitable. My research skills combined with your Zombie Release technique—our combined power would surpass anything imaginable; even the entire Konoha village could not match us."
Orochimaru thought about unleashing his research talents without restraint, delving into the mysteries of Hashirama cells, and became ecstatic. Not to mention, he still had the Living Corpse Reincarnation to develop, preparing to cultivate a Hashirama cell body for himself in the future—simply perfect!
Indeed, Kaede Tsukasa, a Zombie Release ninja destined never to stand in the sunlight, was the ideal partner—at least until a falling out.
No matter how torturous the forbidden experiments were, no matter how grim the project progressed, Orochimaru would never hear complaints or curses from Kaede Tsukasa, only cheers!
The more people died, the happier Kaede Tsukasa became. If the experiment succeeded and more people were killed, he would be even happier. What a perfect partner.
Not only could he provide experimental assistance, but the emotional payoff was maximized.
As for morality? Orochimaru observed that Kaede Tsukasa practically had none.
Fortunately, he didn't either.
"You're okay, right? The Hashirama cell experiments haven't started yet. Suppress your overflowing emotions for now, and try to maintain restraint."
Kaede Tsukasa glanced at Orochimaru, noticing him standing quietly but with hands trembling slightly—clearly too excited, probably brainstorming and envisioning a glorious future.
For the many people destined to die in these human experiments, Kaede Tsukasa felt no psychological burden. Even without him, they would have died on the original timeline. The Third Hokage knew this and did nothing to stop it.
With the Third Hokage and other village leaders closely monitoring the experiments and tacitly allowing many casualties, Kaede Tsukasa felt no need to act morally; he could fully commit himself to the experiments and contribute to the village.
The village should be thanking him.
For the foreseeable future, he and Orochimaru would enter a sort of honeymoon phase. The number and value of secrets they shared would soon surpass those once shared between Orochimaru and Danzo.
Kaede Tsukasa considered that a good arrangement.
"Orochimaru… by now, he must have started learning the Impure World Reincarnation technique too…" Kaede Tsukasa thought to himself.
The current version of the Impure World Reincarnation technique was indeed terrible—practically only useful for supporting chained explosive tags—but its potential for further development was huge.
Terrible as it was, it wasn't completely unusable… Kaede Tsukasa seriously considered its feasibility. Even if it could be used, he couldn't trust Orochimaru; he needed other methods as a backup.
For a while, Kaede Tsukasa and Orochimaru both went into brainstorming mode, and the lab fell silent.
After some time passed, Kaede Tsukasa suddenly said, "Orochimaru, when you went to see the Hokage, did you try to probe when he planned to start the First Hashirama Cell experiment?"
"He would never give a clear order. He'd rather say nothing and quietly watch us take action ourselves. Why? Do you think the village leadership will block us? They won't. We just act, and later we present the results to the village."
Orochimaru was puzzled as to why Kaede Tsukasa asked such a seemingly pointless question.
He should already understand the Third Hokage's personality. As long as nothing was done too outrageously or too publicly, nothing that would draw undue attention, the Third Hokage wouldn't immediately step out to criticize anything.
"There's still a slight difference. Because of the Mito incident, Danzo's situation is precarious. Since we're going to fill the gap left by the martial faction and take over some of Danzo's past work, it's best to accomplish it through some symbolic event… I'm not talking about that shady First Hashirama Cell experiment project."
Kaede Tsukasa said, "I want the Hokage to recognize our status and qualifications in the village and give his personal approval. We're working to strengthen the village, not to be constantly scrutinized like rats in the shadows."
"Is that so? Very cautious—you don't want to leave yourself any weaknesses to be attacked? So what's your plan?" Orochimaru asked, unconcerned but curious about Kaede Tsukasa's thinking.
Kaede Tsukasa replied slowly, "I want to create an event, something tangible to prove myself. And there happens to be an opportunity now."
Yes, he planned to do something.
Kaede Tsukasa had a vague feeling that he had already passed his weakest period. During the Second Great War, he had established some achievements and gained some reputation, but far from enough to be indispensable to the village.
Compared to people like Sakumo Hatake or Orochimaru, he knew he still lagged behind. As a result, the village was no longer a place that could fully protect him and allow him to grow freely; instead, it imposed invisible limits in many areas.
He understood this was because he had grown stronger and was now hitting limits in both tangible and intangible ways. Anyone growing in the same way would encounter the same issues.
Kaede Tsukasa had no intention of remaining passive. To grow freely again, he either had to defect or take action to break boundaries and demand more from the village.
Yes, it might sound harsh, but if he could become the next Danzo, casually browse the village's ninja techniques—even the Scrolls of Sealing—freely mobilize the powers of any clan to complete missions, and build his own armed force…
Being able to do whatever he wanted would be perfect for Kaede Tsukasa.
"The village protected me when I was weak. I won't easily do anything that harms its interests, but I want to break through reasonable limitations… so I plan to achieve something significant," Kaede Tsukasa said slowly.
Orochimaru understood immediately.
"How long will it take? You seem eager to start experiments, but if you do what you just mentioned, wouldn't it take even more time?"
"Very soon, very soon. Someone will give us the opportunity," Kaede Tsukasa said, his eyes filled with anticipation.
That night, Kaede Tsukasa went to the Hokage building, and afterward, went to see Kushina.
"Huh? You want to live here?"
Kushina, wearing pajamas and looking half-asleep, gaped in shock at this audacious figure entering her home.
"Yeah, no harm in telling you. Orochimaru and I went to the Land of Lightning, attacked the Eight-Tails jinchūriki, which caused the Eight-Tails to rampage and destroy a unit of the Cloud Village with the Tailed Beast Ball. No doubt, the Cloud Village will retaliate."
Kaede Tsukasa casually glanced at the shocked Kushina, slapped the ground, and summoned a coffin. Opening the lid, he climbed inside.
For the foreseeable future, he would stay here to ensure he could immediately detect any Cloud Village infiltration, preparing to strike them hard.
Kushina was stunned. "The Cloud Village is going to go to war with Konoha?"
"A full-scale war isn't likely. They're still reeling from the Eight-Tails incident and can't really fight, and we have no intention to attack either," Kaede Tsukasa said, closing his eyes.
"So, what else could possibly serve as a more suitable target for the Cloud Village to take revenge on Konoha than capturing you? You will become their target—make sure to believe that," he added.
"Me? Oh… because you attacked the Eight-Tails jinchūriki, the enemy is going after me, the Nine-Tails jinchūriki?"
Kushina's mind was overloaded with sudden information and couldn't process it all at once. For the moment, she didn't even dwell on the fact that Kaede Tsukasa intended to live in her house.
"No, they don't even know you're the Nine-Tails jinchūriki yet. After Lady Mito's death, her funeral hasn't been held, and the village has been secretly mobilizing troops to the Land of Fire border, preparing for any emergencies," Kaede Tsukasa explained.
He shook his head. "Coincidentally, the Cloud Village needs a vessel capable of restraining the Eight-Tails. Who else could be more suitable than you?"
"…I see," Kushina lowered her head.
Whether in Konoha or the Cloud Village, it seemed that because she was a descendant of the Uzumaki clan, she was more suitable than ordinary people to act as a host for a tailed beast, which drew attention to her.
"Why did you attack the Eight-Tails?"
"To put it simply, the Cloud Village has always made things uncomfortable for us. So we took the opportunity to make things uncomfortable for them. Their Eight-Tails jinchūriki showed a weakness, so Orochimaru and I went to take action."
Kaede Tsukasa glanced at Kushina in her pink pajamas. "What I need to do now is ensure you don't expose a weakness. If the enemy captures you on their first strike, I'll be at a disadvantage."
Kushina looked down at herself.
"Exactly—that's the weakness. As a ninja, wearing pajamas, and pink ones at that… I suggest you change them for the next few days. Once this period passes, there won't be any problem."
Kaede Tsukasa lay in the coffin and closed his eyes.
"…Got it. But are you sure you want to stay in a place like this? My house is quite large," Kushina asked.
"No need. I'm not interested in your house; this place suits me better."
"…Why is this person like this…"
Outside, some ANBU operatives were frustrated.
"Are we really just going to watch? Even though the Hokage clearly said not to interfere with the Nine-Tails jinchūriki interacting with village personnel, only ensure her safety… but in the middle of the night, a man just boldly shows up at her home. This is…"
"If you had space-time ninjutsu and could guarantee to remove the Nine-Tails when it rampages, you could do the same thing," the lead ANBU said coldly. "The Hokage has given orders; we are not to do anything extra. We just follow orders."
He had just returned from the Third Hokage. According to the Hokage's instructions, the level of surveillance and protection for the Nine-Tails jinchūriki would not increase in the near future; it would actually decrease. That was odd, indicating some major action was underway.
Three days later.
A group of outsiders from the northeast secretly infiltrated the Land of Fire.
"Lord Yozuki, everything is proceeding smoothly. The enemy hasn't detected us," reported a Cloud Village ninja, carrying a box-shaped device on his back. He closed his eyes to carefully sense the surroundings before reporting respectfully.
"Good. Be cautious. The village cannot send too many troops into the Land of Fire; that would draw too much attention. The capture of Uzumaki descendants must be carried out by people like us," said the future Fourth Raikage, observing those in front of him.
The team was small, fewer than three hundred, carefully selected by the Cloud Village. For this, the Third Raikage had specially assigned the elite jonin Troy as an assistant to his son.
"Troy, this will be hard on you. If we're discovered, your jutsu must slow down any pursuers as much as possible," Yozuki said, looking at a seemingly ordinary man beside him.
"Leave it to me. Even if the Hokage personally pursues us, I'll do my best to block him," Troy said expressionlessly.
Yozuki nodded, showing his full trust in this elite jonin of the village.
So far, all three Raikage had been from the Yozuki clan, whose members were tall, muscular, and skilled in Lightning Release techniques.
Under the leadership of the Yozuki clan, the entire culture of the Cloud Village had come to highly value muscular builds and tough, resilient personalities. This meant that people like Troy—quiet, reserved, and slight in build—were extremely rare.
Moreover, kekkei genkai were already uncommon in the Cloud Village, and Troy happened to possess the magnet release kekkei, a trait normally seen in the Land of Wind.
For this operation, Yozuki and Troy were leading the team—a rare, high-profile assignment. Although the three hundred members didn't constitute a large force, their quality was extremely high, and their goal wasn't merely to capture Uzumaki Kushina—it was also an opportunity to strike hard at Konoha.
Deploying a thousand troops would have been an open declaration of war, but three hundred was a middle ground: large enough to count as a major operation while still using the pretext of a routine border conflict.
"Maintain high-intensity sensing. Don't hesitate to use your devices. Once this mission succeeds, the village will provide you with upgraded sensing equipment," Yozuki ordered.
The sensing ninja acknowledged the order, faint currents of lightning release flickering over their bodies as they linked to their devices and began a new round of reconnaissance.
This was the Cloud Village's sensory corps. Unlike Konoha, which could rely on Hyuga, Inuzuka, Aburame, and other kekkei families and secret technique clans for sensing, the Cloud Village lacked both kekkei genkai and high-level sealing skills. Even their sensory ninja were only moderately skilled, forced to rely on clever improvisation: combining lightning release with sound detection tools to perform a "wide-area sensing technique," achieving radar-like results.
This sensory corps had been created by the Third Raikage and only rose to prominence during the Third Great Ninja War, mainly to counter the guerrilla tactics of the Iwagakure.
Now, to exact revenge on Konoha, this newly formed unit had to be tested in action. Hopefully, they would prove effective—otherwise, trouble would ensue. In terms of secret techniques and kekkei, the Cloud Village was at a disadvantage.
"No problems."
"No problems."
"After bypassing the routine border patrols, it seems Konoha hasn't deployed many forces within the Land of Fire. I haven't detected any issues on my end," the sensing ninja reported, putting Yozuki completely at ease. If one person or one device malfunctioned, it could be excused—but all of them? Impossible.
"Hmph. Those Konoha fools think they can relax just because they won the Great Ninja War," Yozuki sneered, clenching his fist so tightly that it emitted a low, resonant crack, a testament to his extreme physical strength.
Troy looked at the excessively young Yozuki before him, the son of the Third Raikage, realizing this was the future Fourth Raikage. The Cloud Village was like this: the top position was essentially a hereditary seat of the Yozuki clan.
Everyone addressed the Raikage as "Boss"—the Cloud Village's hierarchy resembled that of the mafia. Or rather, it could almost be considered a mafia, though all three previous "bosses" had been competent, fair, and reliable, and the Cloud Village had never experienced serious internal turmoil.
By contrast, in Konoha, on the original timeline, since the Third Hokage came to power, the village had reached its peak before swiftly declining. The Senju, Uchiha, and Kurama clans fell, high-level shinobi either died or defected, and even legendary figures like Tsunade and Jiraiya had long been absent. From the Cloud Village perspective, this was unthinkable.
Troy continued observing the young Yozuki, believing that once he became the Fourth Raikage, he would likely manage well, ensuring the Cloud Village avoided major internal issues.
The last time the Cloud Village experienced internal strife was during the First Great Ninja War, when the brothers kinkaku and ginkaku led a large group of followers into battle against Konoha, suffering heavy losses. Soon after, the village announced plans to ally with Konoha.
What followed was clear: kinkaku and ginkaku rebelled, using six-tailed ninja tools to assassinate the Second Raikage and Second Hokage, successfully preventing the alliance and becoming rogue ninja.
Only when the Third Raikage came to power and hunted them mercilessly were they finally eliminated, with the Amber Purifying Bottle recovered and used to seal the Eight-Tails. However, the other six-tailed tools were lost along with kinkaku and ginkaku's deaths.
"If kinkaku and ginkaku had survived, they might have founded a bloodline clan like the Senju or Uchiha. The village wouldn't be at such a disadvantage in terms of kekkei genkai. Only the Night Moon clan could consistently produce strong shinobi…"
Troy realized this. As a bloodline ninja, he knew magnet release required fusing two chakra natures and couldn't be inherited, so the Cloud Village could not establish a bloodline clan from it.
But kinkaku and ginkaku were different. Being brothers alone indicated incredibly strong bloodlines, possibly even stronger than the Yozuki clan, perhaps an unknown kekkei genkai.
When the Cloud Village was newly founded, the two brothers dared to lead six-tailed tools and a large force to capture the Nine-Tails. Though they failed, surviving inside the Nine-Tails by absorbing its chakra already demonstrated immense ferocity.
"Troy, are you paying attention to what I'm saying?" Yozuki called out.
"I've been listening. I'll handle capturing the Uzumaki descendant, and once the people from Konoha notice, you lead the others to ambush the pursuing forces."
"Exactly—that's the plan. Once they realize the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is missing, Konoha will mobilize heavily and scatter their troops searching. Their forces will be divided—that's our chance!"
Yozuki snarled, "Our sensing ninja have the advantage within their detection range. As long as we lock onto a Konoha unit, quickly eliminate them, and immediately retreat with the Uzumaki descendant, our mission is complete. Simple, right? We have to make those damn fools realize the strength of the Cloud Village. This is the price for attacking our Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and revenge for Blue B!"
Blue B—such a good-natured person, gone like that—had always weighed heavily on Yozuki's mind.
If possible, he would have liked to eliminate Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki as well, but he had heard that she was the wife of the First Hokage, and her power must be terrifying.
For now, taking another Uzumaki descendant would suffice—using Konoha's finest vessel to seal a Cloud Village tailed beast was the most satisfying form of revenge.
The team moved swiftly, using wide-area sensing to constantly avoid patrols while advancing rapidly toward Konoha.
Under the moonlight, Troy and several others crouched, activating the wide-area sensing and remaining perfectly still for hours.
"Master Troy, she's here. That's Uzumaki Kushina."
"Good. Act fast. If she returns to her residence, it'll be trouble. I don't want to confront that aged Nine-Tails Jinchuriki inside Konoha."
Troy and his team surged forward. He covered Kushina's mouth and carried her out of the village, and everything went smoothly.
"Isn't this too easy? Not even a single ANBU was protecting her? Konoha has really become careless," Troy muttered, glancing at Kushina struggling in his arms.
But the deed was done—the target had been captured, and there was no turning back.
Troy quickly regrouped with Yozuki and the others. From start to finish, Konoha had shown no signs of response.
"Excellent. This is going smoothly. Retreat immediately toward the Land of Fire's border and wait for Konoha's reaction," Yozuki said excitedly, clenching his fist and striking the air.
"Well, then you'll be disappointed."
Kushina lifted her head. She had remained silent until now, but at this moment she said, "I've been waiting for several days, and it wasn't for nothing. You're already surrounded by me. Die, all of you."
Bang! Kushina released his transformation, returning to his original form.
"Who… are you?!"
"Your village's sensory jutsu can only detect surface-level things—it can't even see through a transformation… Summoning Jutsu!"
Countless coffins shot up frantically from the ground, densely packed.
---
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