chapter 103 part 3
Tsukasa Kaede replied dismissively, "Summoning and controlling such powerful Ninja would increase my burden and could potentially cause my Impure World Reincarnation body to disintegrate. It's best to be cautious and proceed step by step. Even I don't know the limits of this body."
The first batch of Zombies had already charged, surrounding the opposing group.
The Ninja on alert immediately sounded the alarm. Following that, a chaotic group of people immediately rushed out of the houses, standing together nervously.
A single glance at their actions revealed them to be a disorganized rabble.
"How can there be enemies? Is it the Hidden Rain Village?"
"Impossible. We deliberately avoided the Hidden Rain Village Ninja and never had any conflicts with them during our operations. Why would they come to a place like this to attack us?"
"Hey, everyone, look closely. These enemies don't seem to be from the Hidden Rain Village. Their attire belongs to Ninja from other countries! And from more than one country!"
"They're not Living Humans! They're Corpses controlled by the Leaf Devourer! Why is that guy here?!"
After these dozen-plus people clearly saw the dozens of Zombies rushing towards them, they immediately fell into chaos.
Throughout the entire Shinobi World, the place where the name "Leaf Devourer" was shouted the loudest wasn't the Hidden Leaf Village, nor the Hidden Stone Village or the Hidden Cloud Village, but the Land of Rain, which deliberately spread such propaganda!
How could these people have expected to be attacked by the Leaf Devourer in such remote place, in this weather? Remembering all the rumors about the Leaf Devourer, their faces turned ashen.
"I don't want to fight Corpses! Killing Corpses is useless, and I'll just end up becoming a Corpse myself!"
"Don't panic, we're here."
Finally, Yahiko stepped forward and let out a sharp cry, which managed to steady everyone's resolve.
People looked at Yahiko, this incredibly young but highly charismatic person, and their gaze unconsciously shifted to the quiet, red-haired boy standing beside him.
To put it bluntly, those who had fallen to living day-to-day with Yahiko's trio were all Rogue Ninja with little ability, the kind who struggled even to earn a meal. Not having resorted to becoming robbers and plundering Civilians was already considered morally upright. But as for taking Missions from employers to earn remuneration? Forget it, that was simply impossible.
Given the terrible weather and war-torn environment of the Land of Rain, even if there were Missions, they would be taken by the Hidden Rain Village Ninja. These Rogue Ninja, unaffiliated with the Hidden Rain Village, had no opportunities whatsoever.
However, whether they merely followed Yahiko to get by, or were genuinely moved by Yahiko and his companions' naive but firm ideals and intended to make some attempts, these people had all, more or less, witnessed Nagato's Rinnegan.
Even if Nagato didn't activate any Eye Power, a simple gaze from his Rinnegan was enough to send chills down one's spine. Even those completely unaware of what the Rinnegan was could sense Nagato's uniqueness and power.
"Everyone, prepare for battle! No matter what, maintain a strict formation! If the enemy breaks through, it's over; you won't even be able to escape, only to be relentlessly pursued to death by these tireless Zombies and become one of them! No one is to harbor any illusions of luck!"
Yahiko shouted sternly and was the first to attack, launching Ninjutsu at the Zombies in one direction.
The others followed suit, but the quality of their Ninjutsu was truly appalling. Most were only Genin-level, and being able to cast two Ninjutsu was already quite impressive, let alone the fact that they had mostly received no rigorous training and simply couldn't learn high-tier Ninjutsu.
They still had to rely on Yahiko's trio.
Zombies continuously fell, and even if individual Zombies charged forward, they were immediately taken down by other Ninja with their Ninja Tools.
Soon, twenty Zombies had fallen.
But they also lost three people. For this, Yahiko, trembling, personally pierced the heads of these three, which subjected him to intense mental torment.
"Good, it seems we held them off. But why are there Zombies here, attacking us? Tsukasa Kaede must be here, what is he trying to do?" Yahiko was furious. "Nagato, did you find anything?!"
"There, there are three people watching us from that direction. One of them is Tsukasa Kaede… but his state is very unusual," Nagato said nervously, pointing in one direction.
If there was any glimmer of hope, Nagato didn't want to stand against Tsukasa Kaede. Tsukasa Kaede had helped Jiraiya save them, but now the scenario he least wanted to see had come to pass.
Tsukasa Kaede was standing with Danzo, launching an attack on them.
"Shimura Danzō, it's you again, still harboring evil intentions!" Konan's face flushed crimson as she looked at the approaching figures.
"This old man is saving you! What's the point of staying in this land of constant war? You'll only hinder Nagato; you're killing him!"
Danzo leaped forward, standing before them, calmly unwrapping the bandages from his right forearm, circle by circle, appearing not to be in a hurry at all.
It was this composure that put immense pressure on Yahiko and the others.
"So it really is you three. Though you've grown quite a bit, I recognized you at a glance. I should have killed you earlier back then; otherwise, that Jiraiya wouldn't have gained an advantage and done such childish and naive things."
Orochimaru scrutinized Yahiko's trio, recalling what happened in the Land of Rain back then.
Back then, those three brats had boldly asked them for food… Orochimaru had suggested simply killing those three kids who struggled even to find food, allowing them to leave this painful and desperate world sooner.
If he hadn't just made a suggestion back then, but directly taken action, Orochimaru felt he definitely would have noticed Nagato's eyes and obtained the Rinnegan much earlier.