chapter 102 part 4
When Tsukasa Kaede spoke these words, he was truly sincere.
His original body was nearing its bottleneck; with only three or four hundred trillion cells, it was pitifully small, not even comparable to the lowest-tier ordinary people in this world.
Even though he could extract Life Force from Zombies to replenish himself and then use that Life Force to create Chakra, there were still limits—a frail body and a strong body could hold vastly different amounts of Life Force.
Less Life Force meant more frequent replenishment, which was a weakness. Currently, it wasn't fatal, but it was only harmless at this particular time point. When Kaedex Paths Level individuals emerged in the future, Tsukasa Kaede's weakness would become too great.
At that time, if Tsukasa Kaede used a Jutsu Formula with massive Chakra consumption, he would be depleted after just one or two uses, forced to flee to replenish his Life Force. But on a Kaedex Paths Level battlefield, Tailed Beast Bombs flying everywhere and carpet bombing were merely basic maneuvers. Tsukasa Kaede's constant retreats from battle to replenish his Life Force would ultimately be a problem.
If there was an opportunity to compensate for it, Tsukasa Kaede would absolutely find a way to improve.
"You seem to be using the cultivated experiment subject as a Vessel. Is that the Sacrifice?"
"Precisely. To resurrect one person, one must sacrifice another. It's fair. And the stronger the Sacrifice's body, the closer to their living power the Edo Tensei Ninja can unleash… But looking at you, the effect seems even better than I anticipated."
"Naturally. You should be aware of my original body's condition: sparse Chakra. During the period when I first started undertaking Village Missions, I often needed my comrades' care, using Chakra only when absolutely necessary. It wasn't until I acquired the Living Corpse Reincarnation Jutsu that this problem was truly resolved." Tsukasa Kaede calmly stated, "By using the experiment subject as a Sacrifice, the physical strength I possess is far greater than before. At the very least, I don't have to worry about physical fatigue and overload."
He was very satisfied. Next, he just needed to find an opportunity to autonomously release the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu's control over him, and then use his Edo Tensei body to merge with a Hashirama Clone and a Sharingan…
"Impure World Reincarnation is indeed an incredibly complex Forbidden Jutsu with enormous room for improvement," Tsukasa Kaede said, looking at the intricate Jutsu Formula on the ground. An experiment subject cultivated using Hashirama Cells would certainly be countless times stronger than mass-produced entities like White Zetsu.
In the original Timeline, after Edo Hashirama joined the battle, he could at most activate Sage Mode and Wood Golem Jutsu, seemingly unable to use True Several Thousand Hands. This implied that the Impure World Reincarnation version using White Zetsu as a Vessel was insufficient to allow Hashirama Senju to exert his full power from when he was alive.
Kaedence Tsukasa Kaede had a choice, he definitely wouldn't use White Zetsu. Not only did he need to ensure White Zetsu's existence wasn't exposed to Orochimaru, but he also needed a Sacrifice that surpassed White Zetsu as a Vessel.
Orochimaru chuckled, "Don't worry, Tsukasa Kaede. I will continuously refine this Jutsu, and in the future, I will cultivate even more satisfying bodies for you, so you can resurrect in an even more powerful form."
"Then I truly must thank you, Orochimaru."
"Tsukasa Kaede, is it my imagination, or do you seem overly calm? You don't seem to resist being resurrected by my Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu at all… This doesn't align with your initial plan, does it?"
"It certainly doesn't align. I knew you would make a move, but I didn't expect it to be Impure World Reincarnation. Now, I have no other choice; this is how it has to be," Tsukasa Kaede said.
Orochimaru stared at Tsukasa Kaede, one hand continuously maintaining a Hand Kaedegns pose, constantly placing strong restraints on Tsukasa Kaede's movements. But he waited and waited, never finding any sign of Tsukasa Kaede attempting anything.
Orochimaru certainly didn't believe Tsukasa Kaede had simply accepted his fate; he was sure Tsukasa Kaede would try to find a weakness in the Impure World Reincarnation.
"Tsukasa Kaede, let me kindly remind you that the weakness of the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu is me, the caster. But even if you kill me, you won't be able to release the Jutsu Formula… I hope you won't do anything to jeopardize our relationship."
"Got it, you don't need to emphasize it. I know what to do."
Tsukasa Kaede replied casually; by now, he had roughly familiarized himself with this body.
The plan was progressing very smoothly. Orochimaru was far too cooperative, saving him from having to hide inside the Reaper's Belly and wait for Kushina to release him and resurrect him with Impure World Reincarnation in the future.
Moreover, this Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, while not necessarily stronger than the improved version Orochimaru used during the Konoha Crush plan in the original Timeline, was definitely sufficient. In any case, this Edo Tensei body was merely for temporary use.
"Hmm, it's time to send the signal to Kushina. The plan is going smoothly…" Tsukasa Kaede's heart stirred. He commanded the Zombies in Kushina's home to become active. As per their previous agreement, Kushina would see this and know that everything was proceeding smoothly, and she wouldn't need to do anything for now.
If Orochimaru hadn't resurrected him with Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, he would have chosen to enter the Reaper's Belly. Then, once Kushina learned Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, she would break the Reaper Death Seal to release him, and then resurrect him with Impure World Reincarnation.
This would all depend on Kushina's actions. In the entire Hidden Leaf Village, Kushina would be the most suitable person to do this—it would be a long time until Nagato initiated his Tailed Beast capture plan, Madara needed time to train Obito, then there was the Third Great Ninja War, and the generation of Naruto and Sasuke still needed to be born and grow up.
With so many years ahead, Kushina wouldn't need to go to the battlefield, perform Village Missions, or face attacks from powerful enemies. She would have ample time and energy to acquire and learn the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu.
Fortunately, things didn't reach that point. Orochimaru resurrected him with Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, just as Tsukasa Kaede had hoped.
"Tsukasa Kaede, can you tell me now who the person was that forced Mito Uzumaki to resort to mutual annihilation to deal with? And did you manage to get his corpse?"
Orochimaru had always been very curious about this: "Lady Mito possessed the Nine-Tails and even used it to unleash a Tailed Beast Bomb. What kind of enemy could force her to such an extent?"
"I don't know. I told the Third Hokage the same thing. I couldn't participate in a battle of that level. Afterward, I merely brought her back according to Mito Uzumaki's orders," Tsukasa Kaede replied.