Chapter 337: Freshly Killed, Freshly Used
Outside Konoha Village, within dense forest.
Inuzuka Kiba and others carefully hid among a large tree's thick foliage, concentrating intently while staring at the distant village.
That place was once their home. But now they could only watch from afar like thieves, not daring to approach.
Looking at that once-familiar Hokage Rock—now completely unrecognizable, only two statues remaining.
Besides recognizing one as Lord First Hokage's statue, the other belonged to Uchiha Yasushi—whom everyone both hated and feared.
"Damn it!"
Just thinking about how this bastard caused the village's dissolution, caused family decline, caused parents' tragic deaths—Kiba's hatred made his teeth ache with rage.
He clenched his fists forcefully. His palms nearly bled from nail punctures. He desperately wanted charging directly into the village, eliminating that evil Uchiha who usurped the Hokage position—returning everything to normal.
But merely thinking about Uchiha Yasushi's terrifying god-like power immediately deflated him like a punctured balloon. He couldn't muster any fighting spirit whatsoever.
Their strength disparity proved too vast—so vast that even fantasizing couldn't make him believe in victory.
Moreover, his clan's current situation was already terrible. He absolutely didn't dare recklessly provoking more trouble.
Akamaru seemingly sensed his master's inner pain. Considerately approaching, he nuzzled Kiba's cheek with his fluffy head.
After receiving comfort, Kiba silently sighed, suppressing his belly full of resentment back down before continuing to concentrate intently on the distant village.
They watched for a long time—until seeing a familiar figure emerge from the village, slowly walking toward the dense forest.
The crowd immediately stirred with commotion.
"Stay calm!" Kiba spoke in low tones. "Not time for relaxing yet. Shino, have your insects discovered anything?"
Aburame Shino extended his hand from inside his sleeve, briefly interacting with airborne insects before shaking his head:
"Nothing. Everything's normal. No surveillance."
After the emerging figure entered the forest, she formed hand seals, releasing the Transformation Jutsu to reveal her true appearance—a girl with face paint.
Only then did everyone emerge reassured from hiding places.
"Big sister, how is it? What's the village situation now?" Kiba immediately asked impatiently upon emerging.
Inuzuka Hana glanced back at the distant village before sighing.
"The village has completely transformed."
"The original Hokage building was demolished. The new Hokage building is at the Uchiha compound—styling unchanged, but everyone inside has been replaced."
"Now the Uchiha clan rules everything. The village's current layout centers entirely around the original Uchiha compound reconstruction."
"The village interior is extremely spacious now. Villager numbers are very few. Many people are very unfamiliar—I don't recognize them at all."
"When I entered the village, though gate guards checked me, security was actually quite lax. Inspections weren't strict whatsoever."
"They seem more focused on gathering people to supplement village population. They fundamentally don't care what arrivals are doing."
"I personally witnessed many rogue ninja on wanted lists now wearing Konoha headbands, brazenly active throughout the village."
"What?" Kiba immediately erupted with fury. "How can that guy conduct things so recklessly?"
"Those rogue ninja weren't loyal to the original village. Now joining Konoha Village—how could they possibly have loyalty?"
"If something happens, those rogue ninja will probably flee first!"
"Moreover, recruiting so many rogue ninja inside—is this even still Konoha Village?"
After hearing Inuzuka Hana's words, other Konoha ninja immediately frowned, discussing heatedly—extremely dissatisfied with the Uchiha clan's methods.
"Him acting so recklessly, accepting any garbage into the village—surely the village interior is very chaotic now?"
"Actually not." Inuzuka Hana shook her head, expression complexly indescribable.
"I deliberately observed inside the village. Someone did dare causing trouble in the village, but was quickly suppressed by rapidly arriving Police Force."
"You probably don't know what kind of people currently comprise the Police Force."
"All of them are the original Police Force—that batch of deceased Uchiha."
"After Uchiha Yasushi took power, he rebuilt the Police Force—specifically responsible for village security issues."
"They're Edo Tensei bodies. Fundamentally unafraid of death. Their methods are extremely ruthless."
"Whichever rogue ninja dares causing trouble in the village—without even asking questions, they directly kill and drag them away. Immediately turn around and Edo Tensei them for labor."
"Huh?" Everyone immediately stood dumbfounded. "Freshly killed, freshly used—nice and fresh?"
"But such Edo Tensei bodies—don't they require casters specifically controlling them? Aren't they afraid these bodies will cause chaos relying on immortality?"
"Who knows?" Inuzuka Hana smiled bitterly. "Perhaps Uchiha Yasushi has some special control technique for Edo Tensei bodies!"
"Moreover, this doesn't even compare!" Inuzuka Hana sighed again. "Perhaps because the village currently lacks manpower, the village's core personnel now primarily rely on those Edo Tensei bodies."
"Not only security forces use Edo Tensei bodies—even management personnel, construction workers—all Edo Tensei bodies."
"Just from what I saw, there were already three major categories: Uchiha clan, Hyuga clan, and Uzumaki clan. Who knows how many more exist in the shadows!"
"What?"
These Konoha ninja suddenly felt their knowledge was truly too limited, imagination truly insufficient, moral baseline truly too high.
"Though previously when Lord Kazuma and Lord Mizuki were present, the village also used Edo Tensei bodies—primarily for combat. Later discovering they were useless, we'd already cancelled it!"
"How does that Uchiha Yasushi bastard dare using them so extensively?"
"Him desecrating deceased souls like this—sooner or later he'll face retribution!"
"Hehe, Mizuki..." Inuzuka Hana sneered coldly, speaking with some anger: "Guess who's currently Uchiha Yasushi's Hokage aide?"
"It's that Mizuki bastard!"
"Thinking back on all those things Mizuki and Kazuma recklessly did in the village back then, now looking back—don't you feel something's wrong there?"
"Ah!" Kiba slapped his thigh while exclaiming: "That Mizuki belongs to Uchiha Yasushi! He was sent to disrupt the village as a spy!"
"Damn it! How could he do this!"
Thinking about those past chaotic incidents and people who died consequently, everyone's hearts burned with even greater fury.