This mission, in fact, gave Kaede Tsukasa a guaranteed trump card.
That's right—it was Might Duy.
The Eight Gates Technique is inherently a high-damage, explosive jutsu. Forget about self-harm or not—it's just useful.
The only thing Kaede Tsukasa cared about was how many gates 29-year-old Might Duy could open. If it was the Death Gate, all the better: fight the enemy head-on, and then Kaede Tsukasa could sacrifice a batch of zombies to revive him.
Eight Gates was the ultimate offensive ninjutsu Kaede Tsukasa could unleash.
The only downside was it was harsh on Might Duy. But considering Might Duy's lack of trust from others, only Kaede Tsukasa was willing to bring him on high-risk missions. He'd probably go all out.
As feedback came back from zombies one by one, Kaede Tsukasa nodded repeatedly. The suicidal attacks of several Explosion Release zombies had indeed inflicted tremendous damage on the Four-Tails, blowing off many body fragments—all high-concentration chakra.
Kaede Tsukasa immediately opened the sealing scroll, quickly sealing the Four-Tails' chakra brought back by the zombies.
This was good news, but there was bad news too: the immense pain caused the Four-Tails to lose consciousness, officially activating.
"Ahhh!! It hurts so much! Damn you all! Watch me melt you into stone with Lava Release!"
The towering Four-Tails, dozens of meters high, crouched and rampaged. Its four tails struck the ground, triggering another quake.
Its sheer size radiated an unfathomable pressure, making anyone shiver from the core of their being.
This was a super-high-chakra lifeform, an undead being in some sense.
The Four-Tails opened its mouth, compressing a huge amount of chakra into a dense, purple-black sphere that continued to grow over time.
"Already using the Bijuu Dama?" Kaede Tsukasa frowned. If he used a space-time ninjutsu to bring Might Duy over now, it should still be possible. Might Duy could probably kick this thing away.
Using the Void Technique to transfer the Bijuu Dama was impossible. While the Void Technique had many advantages, it had one limitation—it could only swap positions between Kaede Tsukasa and a zombie.
Unless Kaede Tsukasa risked his life, touched the Bijuu Dama, then used the Void Technique to transfer it along with himself to a distant zombie, and finally abandoned the bomb to return himself—such a maneuver was outrageously difficult and dangerous.
Even a few years later, Minato Namikaze wouldn't have been able to do it.
Two years later, when Jiraiya brought Minato and two subordinates on a mission, facing a Bijuu Dama, Jiraiya was at a loss, and Minato had to use Flying Thunder God to escape with the three of them in a hasty retreat.
Even a genius like Minato was stunned by the Bijuu Dama. Jiraiya had no choice but to flee. At that time, Minato had learned most of the sealing techniques left by the Uzumaki clan from Kushina, yet still couldn't directly transfer a Bijuu Dama.
Another key point: Minato wasn't a jinchūriki, yet his chakra was like an unfathomable bottomless pit.
Even if Kaede Tsukasa risked his life to transfer the Bijuu Dama, without first supplementing a massive reserve of life force, he wouldn't have enough chakra to pull it off.
And there was no need. The Four-Tails' chakra was already in his hands. There was no point in risking a life-and-death struggle with it. Until he could move into a more ideal body, Kaede Tsukasa prioritized his own safety.
"The village comrades have mostly escaped. Looks like it's time to retreat. Might Duy, my trump card, won't be used unless absolutely necessary. Sakumo Hatake may have noticed Might Duy's abilities a little, but he's far less aware than I am."
Kaede Tsukasa absorbed the rare zombie, Araki, then drew the majority of life force from all the ordinary zombies present. A vibrant surge of vitality visibly rolled off him—his accumulated, the most magnificent life force he had ever gathered!
He then canceled the summoning, retrieving the exhausted zombies into the summoning scroll, and used the Void Technique to escape, returning to Tsunade and Kato Dan's side.
Unfortunately, the Root ninja squad assigned to track him was too far away. By the time he could reach them and extract the life force from these living humans, it would be too late. Kaede Tsukasa had no choice but to painfully give up.
"Oh? How strange. Having so many corpses perform the same jutsu, and even switching them around… that's a space-time ninjutsu I haven't seen before. But running won't help—don't think a dead person can trick me!!"
The Four-Tails didn't care what kind of jutsu it was, nor did it notice the zombie that had been swapped in front of it. It immediately turned, aiming at Kaede Tsukasa, Tsunade, and the others, and fiercely launched a Bijuu Dama!
Boom!
The Bijuu Dama thundered forward. Wherever it passed, the ground was torn open by its overwhelming pressure, forming a deep chasm. The heavy clouds in the sky split momentarily, dividing into two.
"This is just a temporary pause. When I achieve my true goal, I won't let you off this easily."
Kaede Tsukasa glanced at the Bijuu Dama that nearly blocked their vision and performed a second transfer with Tsunade and Kato Dan.
At their previous location, a terrifying semicircular sphere of light erupted instantly. A mushroom cloud rose into the sky, and visible ripples swept outward in all directions. It was as if the world had lost its original colors and sounds.
The Konoha ninja in the distance watched in horror. It was their first time witnessing the sheer terror of a Bijuu Dama.
Meanwhile, the Iwagakure ninja beyond the Land of Hot Water's borders stood up, peering into the distance.
"Hah, that must be Four-Tails' jutsu!"
"At this scale, all the Konoha guys are probably dead. We've won!"
"Yeah, infiltrate the Land of Fire from the Land of Hot Water, destroy Konoha's rear, and end this war."
The Iwagakure ninja cheered, but a few showed concern. Being pushed to the point of complete Tailed Beast transformation to unleash a Bijuu Dama didn't exactly suggest that Lord Four-Tails was in a good position.
The risk of full Tailed Beast transformation was enormous!
Sure enough, before the Iwagakure ninja could fully celebrate, another Bijuu Dama came crashing toward them—the Four-Tails was deliberate.
Compared to Konoha, the Four-Tails saw Iwagakure as its true enemy. It would seize the opportunity to kill as many Iwagakure ninja as possible.
"I never expected it to come to this… two nations, fighting in a third, both suffering."
Kaede Tsukasa set Tsunade and Kato Dan on the ground and looked into the distance.
The terrifying impact was faintly perceptible. The sheer power was awe-inspiring, and even many Anbu-level fighters would struggle against a single Tailed Beast.
As for what would happen to the Land of Hot Water afterward, no one cared except its own citizens.
Tsunade had no time for anything else, desperately healing Kato Dan, but with time, his life force continued to drain.
"That's enough, Tsunade. Stop wasting your effort. Better to conserve chakra and lead our comrades back to the Land of Fire."
Kato Dan's lips twisted with difficulty. "It's frustrating… my dream hasn't been fulfilled. But my sacrifice was worth it… saving so many comrades…"
"…I see. But you're going to be fine. Look, the bleeding has stopped." Tsunade made a grimace worse than crying.
"Really… that's… that's great… I…" Kato Dan's eyes lost their light.
Tsunade wanted to bury her face and weep, letting tears roll with the rain, ready to howl in grief toward the sky.
At that moment, Kaede Tsukasa crouched down and said calmly, "Lady Tsunade, is it over? If it's over, I need to perform my jutsu. I know it's rude to say so, but judging from your state just now, I couldn't bear to interrupt… mainly because you're in the way here."
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