Ao continued his methodical dissection—severing limbs, shredding organs—before finally decapitating the zombie with a kunai.
He gripped the head by its forehead, watching in horror as the jaws snapped wildly, teeth clacking like a rabid beast.
"Still alive?! Even like this, it tries to attack?! What kind of monstrous will is this?!"
Never in his career had Ao encountered such an abomination. A head that refused to die, clinging to its mission like some folkloric yokai.
"Konoha... did you breed this demon?"
No answer came. When Ao turned, Takuya had vanished.
No matter. He'd found something far more valuable.
Wrapping the head in torn cloth, Ao smirked. "These eyes... so similar to the Byakugan. Is this a Hyuga kinjutsu? Or did some Hyuga fall victim to one?"
The promise of obtaining a Byakugan burned in his mind. Just one could shift the balance of power—and earn him the Mizukage's favor.
As for his missing comrade? Expendable.
"If Konoha had mass-produced these things, they'd have used them in the war. Which means... this is unique."
Ao licked his lips, imagining an army of unkillable soldiers.
"If only these were real Byakugan..."
With that, he vanished into the forest, the zombie's gnashing teeth his only farewell.
"Out of range."
Perched on a branch, Kaede opened his eyes with a sigh.
Too cautious, that Ao. Had the Kiri-nin been even slightly reckless—let himself get bitten or scratched—the outcome would've differed.
Corrupting a jonin remotely would've drained Kaede's meager chakra. But the psychological warfare alone would've been worth it.
"Pity."
Grunting, Kaede hoisted the two unconscious patients. Every muscle screamed in protest—this wasn't acting. The battle had pushed his frail body to the brink.
When Konoha patrols finally found him, a kunoichi with fierce eyeliner gasped at the sight.
"You brought them back... in this state? You're incredible!"
Her ninken sniffed Kaede, letting out a curious woof.
"Luck," Kaede coughed. "Drove the enemy off. But we lost one."
"I'm Inuzuka Tsume! You're that sickly kid from—"
"—The orphanage, yes." Kaede recognized her—future mother of Kiba, and handler of the legendary one-eyed war-dog Kuromaru.
(A dog that could easily maul him to death, he noted.)
At the gates, he reunited with Takuya and Tonbo—saved by none other than Minato Namikaze's squad.
"So the 'Yellow Flash' himself intervened? How fortunate."
Kaede's relief was genuine, though he knew better than to approach the golden boy of Konoha.
Minato moved through the crowd like sunlight through leaves—warm, brilliant, and utterly unreachable for a dying genin like him.
The 12-year-old prodigy comforted the wounded with practiced ease, his smile radiating undeniable charisma. Then, like a fleeting breeze, he was gone—off to his next mission without so much as a glance at Kaede.
"Expected."
Unlike his hot-blooded future son, Minato operated with ice-cold precision. Every action, every word—calculated for maximum efficiency.
No room in that calculus for expendable pawns.
As villagers gushed over Minato, Takuya caught Kaede's arm.
"That thing... was it your—?"
"Dead Soul Technique," Kaede confirmed. "I've practiced it for years."
Takuya paled.
The Dead Soul Technique—infamous for letting users puppeteer corpses as disguises. Normally, the reanimated could barely lift a kunai...
Yet Kaede's creation had fought like a demon.
"But... that's not just Dead Soul! That thing—"
"—Saved us." Kaede's gaze hardened. "Will you report the truth?"
A beat. Then Takuya nodded. "I'll say it was standard Dead Soul. But... be careful. This technique ruins reputations."
Their silent pact held.
(Tonbo, meanwhile, remained blissfully unconscious—destined in another timeline to proctor the Chunin Exams, now possibly destined for something far darker.)
Two hours later, the mission desk stamped Kaede's report: FAILED.
"Did not reach the northern border. Objective incomplete."
Never mind that he'd killed an enemy chunin. In this era, mission completion trumped all—even lives saved.
"My record's a graveyard of failures," Kaede mused. "Future genin will laugh at my profile card."
The "protect comrades over missions" ideology wouldn't flower until Naruto's generation. For now, cold pragmatism ruled.
As he turned to leave, a masked figure blocked his path.
"Genin Kaede. Lord Ryoma summons you."
The Root operative (disguised as ANBU) led Kaede to a dim chamber where Aburame Ryoma waited like a spider in its web.
"Takuya claims you used the Dead Soul Technique to kill the enemy." Ryoma's glasses gleamed ominously. "Why would the 'Walking Nun' teach you such forbidden arts?"
Yakushi Nonō—the legendary spy who'd escaped Root alive.
Now Ryoma suspected Kaede as her pawn.
"A useless orphan like me must cling to every opportunity," Kaede bowed. "I owe Konoha my life."
Ryoma analyzed him with insectile detachment, mentally tagging him:
No potential (frail body)
Loner (actually germaphobic)
Overly sentimental (future corpse hoarder)
And now—Nonō's possible protege?
"Prove your loyalty. Spy on Nonō for Root."
"Why would I betray my benefactor?"
"Refuse, and I'll cut all orphanage funding. Send every war orphan to the frontlines." Ryoma's voice dripped venom. "Your friends will die screaming. Unless...?"
Kaede's face twisted in perfectly feigned anguish.
Inside, he laughed.
"Fool. My technique was never Dead Soul. And Nonō barely knows me."
Root's play was transparent—leverage sentiment to control assets. They'd done the same to Nonō with orphanage funds and Kabuto's life.
But Kaede?
He had no bonds to exploit.
"Very well," he whispered. "I'll comply."
Ryoma nodded, satisfied. "Your new assignment: Corpse Disposal Unit. Plenty of... materials to practice your art."
As Kaede exited, his lips curled.
Ryoma had just handed him the keys to a graveyard.
(To be continued...)