chapter 124 part 3
Tsunade was indeed furious. Kato Dan had voluntarily stepped forward out of his inner sense of justice and morality to draw fire. This might have been a bit naive, but it was definitely not wrong; Kato Dan was precisely this kind of person.
And for something like a life-saving grace, this kind of response was not at all excessive. Tsunade's anger couldn't possibly be directed at Kato Dan and Tsukasa Kaede, so it could only be aimed at the two instigating Advisors.
*What, the Third Hokage?* Tsunade knew her teacher too well. For this kind of mess, the Third Hokage was, at most, the one who tacitly approved; he wouldn't actively step forward to lead such a thing.
The Third Hokage listened to the arguing voices of these few people, silently sucking on his pipe.
*Things are getting more and more complicated.* If he had decisively stopped this trend from the very beginning, it probably wouldn't have become such a mess now. Hopefully, Tsukasa Kaede could be sensible. But he also harbored the Will of Fire, so he surely understood the Village's earnest efforts... right?
...
Kakuzu scrutinized the person in front of him.
"You're the legendary Tsukasa Kaede, huh? Let me say this first: no matter what Mission you want me to execute, I'm very expensive. As long as the money is sufficient, I can accept any Mission," Kakuzu said.
"Money? To me, it's just a number."
Tsukasa Kaede glanced at Konan.
"..."
Konan gritted her teeth, having no choice but to demonstrate her Paper Release on the spot. Large amounts of paper fluttered.
Kakuzu was initially baffled. *Just a Secret Technique using paper to fight, what does that have to do with money?* But soon, his expression completely changed. He stared with shining eyes as a large amount of Jutsu Formula appeared on the white papers, finally transforming into... Explosive Tag!!
"Hiss!"
Kakuzu drew a sharp breath. He understood, he understood everything. Such a Jutsu actually existed!
"It's practically printing money! No, Explosive Tags are much more valuable than money. Anywhere you go, these are hard currency; no one can refuse an Explosive Tag." Kakuzu reached out and took an Explosive Tag that had just been created in the air. His gaze towards Konan became incredibly fervent.
Whoever could control this woman would have endless money. This was truly... unfortunate. Tsukasa Kaede had already taken the lead in controlling this woman, so he would have little chance.
"Do you understand now? Money is not a problem," Tsukasa Kaede said indifferently. "Join my team, and you will have a lot, a lot of money."
"So that's it. It seems you really intend to do the thing I guessed. When do you plan to act? I want to pick a valuable guy to kill in advance; then I can sell him to the Bounty Office for money..."
Kakuzu quickly understood. "Of course, you probably won't agree. If you want to buy directly from me with money, that's also fine."
"No hurry, I still have a helper who is pursuing Immortality, and his Secret Technique is almost complete," Tsukasa Kaede said.
The current Hidden Leaf Village was at its peak strength, but Tsukasa Kaede's side was not weak either. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was also on his side. If a real fight broke out, in terms of High-End Combat Power, there would be no need to consider the Hokage faction at all.
Kakuzu sneered, "Who would have thought the internal conflicts within the Hidden Leaf Village would reach such a point, on the verge of civil war? This kind of Intel must be very valuable. Just thinking about acting within the Shinobi World's foremost Ninja Village, I feel a rush of excitement. That First Hokage probably never imagined the Village he painstakingly established would become like this. Where exactly did things go wrong?"
"Anything can go wrong anywhere. In the eyes of the Village's Higher-ups, my uncontrollable power is the biggest problem. But I won't bow down and obey orders, suffering humiliation from those guys for no reason."
Tsukasa Kaede roughly understood the mentality of the Uchiha Clan wanting to launch a Coup d'état. He also understood how passive and helpless Fugaku felt in his heart when facing the result of his clan being infiltrated like a sieve by the Village.
But this method was useless for Tsukasa Kaede. Except for Hidan and a few other limited helpers, all his other Combat Power were Zombies controlled by him; there was no possibility of internal rebellion.
If one were to truly cast aside all objective factors, and Tsukasa Kaede were to act recklessly now, the War he would provoke would definitely be terrifying. Its destructiveness would absolutely exceed the losses caused by a successful rebellion of the Uchiha Clan.
It was simply that Tsukasa Kaede had no need to act right now.
"The Village's Higher-ups surely still harbor wishful thinking now, perhaps still deluding themselves, thinking of placating me afterwards and letting this matter pass. But some things, as long as they aren't done, everyone is willing to play dumb. Once they are done, however, even if just started, no amount of compensation can fix it... This thing called politics is truly troublesome."
Tsukasa Kaede snorted coldly.
He was certainly not Sakumo Hatake. The Sakumo Hatake on the original Timeline eventually committed suicide. With no sense of belonging to the Hidden Leaf Village or this world, it was absolutely impossible for him to do such a thing.
If interpreted politically, whether Tsukasa Kaede had a rebellious heart or not was unimportant. What was important was that he had the strength, and the characteristics of Corpse Release meant that as long as he was in the Hidden Leaf Village, if he acted recklessly and went all out, he could immediately turn countless Konoha Ninja and villagers into Zombies, triggering a terrifying Zombie Horde.
Yet, the Village couldn't stop Tsukasa Kaede from returning. Corpses were buried everywhere within the Village; no matter how much they investigated and marked, it was impossible not to miss any. This meant Tsukasa Kaede could rely on Spatial Rift Jutsu to enter and exit freely.
Even if the Village set up an Ultra-Large Barrier around the entire Hidden Leaf Village, it would be useless. A Barrier couldn't block Space-Time Transfer. Furthermore, it wasn't wartime; setting up a Barrier of this scale, not to mention the manpower required, just the sheer number of outsiders entering and exiting, meant the Hidden Leaf Village simply couldn't do such a thing.
The threat index of Spatial Rift Jutsu was still continuously rising.
"During this period, you all stay here obediently. Don't go out looking for trouble, and obey my orders," Tsukasa Kaede said indifferently.
Subsequently, Tsukasa Kaede made his move.
But he didn't use violent means to solve the problem; instead, he used public opinion.
Soon, a piece of news, like a storm, swept across the entire Hidden Leaf Village and spread towards other countries.
This news was so special that everyone had to pay attention. Even the Village's Higher-ups had not anticipated that Tsukasa Kaede would actually bypass them and make a decision independently.
"All those who serve the Village, as long as they accumulate a certain amount of Merit System, can use that Merit System to exchange for a Revival Slot."
A simple sentence utterly stunned everyone.
If Tsukasa Kaede had declared it was to serve him personally, that would have been one thing. But he precisely didn't say that; instead, he took a higher perspective, announcing this news from the Village's standpoint! This made it so that even the most critical people couldn't find any fault at first glance. Those who didn't understand even thought this was a policy announced by the Village. But for those who truly understood what was going on behind it, a bone-chilling coldness surged within their hearts.