Chapter 12: Ninjas on Assignment
Ryoma Aburame's fingertips caressed the paper of the toxin analysis report. Occasionally, Parasitic Destruction Bugs would crawl on his body, emitting a faint rustling sound.
But his mind wasn't actually on this report. Such reports weren't just being done by the Corpse Disposal Unit; Konoha Hospital was also doing them, and medical ninjas on the frontline were reporting fragmented analysis results.
Ryoma Aburame needed to ensure that the department he controlled could participate in the research and development process, so he wouldn't be completely ignorant of it.
After all, in developing antidotes, he was far inferior to Tsunade.
Furthermore, the deaths of a batch of ordinary ninja could not make Ryoma Aburame hesitate in the slightest. What interested him, on the contrary, was the content Morino Idate reported: intel, recorded in tiny script on the scroll, that Tsukasa Kaede might have improved the "Soul Death Technique."
And there was also rough progress.
"Compared to the ordinary Soul Death Technique, it can control corpses for a longer time. It sounds a bit like a puppeteer, but doesn't require Chakra threads. Does Tsukasa Kaede actually possess the talent to develop ninjutsu? This matches the questionable parts of Kazematsuri Takuya's oral statements."
This thought popped into Ryoma Aburame's mind, but it was only fleeting. He wouldn't regret it; back then, when he personally screened people from that group of war orphans, he hadn't thought highly of Tsukasa Kaede. If he didn't rate him then, he rated him even less now.
The Soul Death Technique wasn't some ninjutsu with insane difficulty. Even if it could be further developed and perfected, it wouldn't be enough to make Tsukasa Kaede a powerful ninja of significant importance.
For such war orphans, it was already immense fortune to be able to live as a Konoha ninja; they must risk their lives to shine and contribute to the village.
"Besides, the improved Soul Death Technique might not have been developed by Tsukasa Kaede; perhaps he's just trying hard to learn and master it... You agree, don't you, priestess? No, I should call you by your new name now... Nonō Yakushi." A large number of Parasitic Destruction Bugs crawled out onto Ryoma Aburame's cheeks.
"If Tsunade knew you were doing this, she wouldn't agree. The Will of Fire and Root's ideology are in conflict."
Nonō Yakushi emerged from the shadows. She pushed up her glasses, the lenses reflecting the light. "Returning to a place like this again, I have absolutely no attachment."
Buzzing! Ryoma Aburame's swarm of bugs suddenly lunged towards Nonō Yakushi's throat, but froze half an inch from her skin. Nonō Yakushi's fingertips pinched a test tube of light red liquid, and she casually dripped a single drop. "This is a toxin I meticulously prepared for you. It has a special affinity for the ganglia of Parasitic Destruction Bugs."
"So it's still poison. I thought you'd directly use the improved Soul Death Technique to counter, for example, by making corpses self-destruct."
Ryoma Aburame's tone was cold. "Teaching such evil ninjutsu to war orphans isn't your style. The more special talent these war orphans have, the less likely they are to live longer; instead, they'll have to undertake more dangerous missions and die faster."
Nonō Yakushi pondered. She actually had some impression of Tsukasa Kaede: his body was very weak, emaciated, with a look of deep-seated suffering, and he rarely approached others.
Less than half a year after she took over the orphanage, Tsukasa Kaede chose to leave, and after that, there was no more interaction.
But Ryoma Aburame actually thought it was her who taught Tsukasa Kaede the Soul Death Technique... Logically speaking, only she indeed had that capability.
Nonō Yakushi did not refute, and said, "Protecting every child who survived the war is my responsibility. Anyway, ordinary genin also find it hard to survive on the battlefield... This war is even more cruel and bloody than the First Shinobi World War twenty-odd years ago; no one dares to say they are certain to survive. However, this isn't a reason for you to threaten me with the orphanage's funds."
"So you're here to negotiate with me?"
"No, I'm here to warn you."
"You want me to stay away from those children you love? The Wandering Priestess, whose name strikes fear into every nation, is actually an overly emotional person. You're going to be disappointed; soon, more children will step onto the battlefield."
Ryoma Aburame said coldly, "The war with Hidden Sand Village is going badly. We need more ninja to rush to the frontline, especially medical ninjas who have some ability to counteract Hidden Sand Village's toxins."
The war with Hidden Rain Village and Hidden Sand Village consumes the most medical ninjas. This also means that those children in the orphanage who have grasped half-baked medical ninjutsu will also have to rush to the frontline.
This is the will of the village, everything for victory.
Ryoma Aburame said, "I can save two or three young children for you, and at the same time ensure that the orphanage's financial subsidies arrive on time."
"What do you want me to do? Infiltrate Hidden Sand Village to obtain toxin intel? That's difficult. After that woman Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law were killed by Sakumo Hatake, she's been single-mindedly seeking revenge against Konoha. She won't leave any openings for her trump card."
"No, she has an opening. Chiyo also has a grandson." Ryoma Aburame threw a long-prepared mission scroll to Nonō Yakushi. "Kidnap, deceive, disguise—whatever method, obtain as much intel as possible. If possible, prioritize obtaining Hidden Sand Village's deployment maps, financial reserves, and other intel."
When it came to how to be a spy, Ryoma Aburame believed he didn't need to instruct Nonō Yakushi on what to do. He only needed to set the desired outcome, and Nonō Yakushi would complete the process.
"Sasori of the Red Sand..." Nonō Yakushi looked at the intel scroll in her hand, engraving the name into her heart.
Not long after, a mission scroll for rushing to the frontline appeared in Tsukasa Kaede's hands.
Although Tsukasa Kaede had already prepared himself mentally, knowing that he would inevitably still go to the battlefield, he didn't expect it to come so quickly.
"Our opponent is Hidden Sand Village... it seems our efforts have yielded results. Compared to others, we medical ninjas can last longer after being poisoned."
Morino Idate's expression quickly returned to calm, and he ordered the temporary closure of the Corpse Disposal Unit.
"This is probably the follow-up to a B-rank mission," Tsukasa Kaede said calmly.
"After the war ends, perhaps some of us will return alive to continue working in this department," Morino Idate said. "We depart in three hours. Get ready."
No one spoke; everyone was quietly organizing their equipment.
Someone like Tsukasa Kaede, who had no clan member or descendants to care for, naturally spent all his funds purchasing various ninja tools for unforeseen needs.
A large number of chunin and genin died in the war. Among those present, except for Morino Idate who was a Special Jonin and had a slightly higher survival rate, no one else dared to say they would return alive.
"Kaedence it's come to this point, then it's fine for me to make some more preparations, right?"
Tsukasa Kaede directly went to the Memorial Stone outside. Many of the nameless corpses here were buried by his own hands; now, it was time to dig them up.
The new grave in the southeast corner subtly stirred. A Hidden Rain Village zombie pushed open the coffin and climbed out of the grave, stumbling towards Tsukasa Kaede.
Beneath even more tombstones, movements were heard.
"Unfortunately, in these past two months, I've only acquired two jonin zombies. That should be enough for emergencies; I'm just a genin, after all."
There were also some jonin corpses sent to the Corpse Disposal Unit, but Tsukasa Kaede only managed to get his hands on two.
Hidden Sand Village was at its most frantic at this time. As long as Konoha endured this period, it could use its abundant village power to wear down the impoverished Hidden Sand Village until its demise.
But the enemy's desperate counterattack before defeat required people like Tsukasa Kaede to step up and delay it.
Swish! Tsukasa Kaede unrolled the sealing scroll and began to seal one zombie after another into it. Each time a zombie was sealed into it, the scroll would gain an additional character "corpse."
He, of course, wouldn't engrave sealing jutsu formulas. He was using a ready-made ninja tool scroll; he only needed to seal specific objects into it.
At dawn, a group of five had assembled. They headed west all the way, advancing towards the Land of Wind.
(end of chapter)