chapter 88 part 3
Orochimaru chuckled; this was the most direct expression of his desire for a quid pro quo.
"Move out!" Tsukasa Kaede barked.
Including Orochimaru, a dozen figures quickly dispersed, swiftly pouncing on the seventeen Hidden Cloud Village ninja.
From a distance, they could still hide their movements, but the closer they got, the higher the chance of exposure.
"Who's there?!"
"It's not the Eight-Tails rampaging, but an enemy invasion? Damn it, how did they find Cloud Gorge?!"
"There are many of them. We don't know which village's invading force it is. Just in case, quickly fire a signal flare to call for reinforcements!"
A Hidden Cloud Village ninja in a watchtower gasped in alarm, immediately reaching for a signal flare to launch into the sky.
They had completely unexpected this—an enemy force had secretly infiltrated Cloud Gorge from outside? This had never happened in the past few decades! Ever since the Hidden Cloud Village obtained the Eight-Tails from the First Hokage, their biggest problem had been the losses caused by the tailed beast's periodic rampages. Never before had there been a large-scale attack on the tailed beast by invading enemies.
This kind of battle was unprecedented, catching these Hidden Cloud Village ninja, who were constantly monitoring the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, somewhat off guard.
Being caught off guard meant casualties; many were destined to die in the first wave of the surprise attack.
Amidst screams, half of the Hidden Cloud Village ninja instantly fell.
Araki of the Sand and Terai, two elite jonin leading the charge, along with Orochimaru and a horde of poisonous snakes, killed with astonishing speed.
"As expected, these guys are all ninja who master sealing jutsu formulas. They must have been systematically trained by the Hidden Cloud Village. Every one of them is skilled at using iron chains inscribed with sealing jutsu formulas."
Tsukasa Kaede was the only one who remained still, even finding a rock to sit cross-legged on, watching the battle in Cloud Gorge below.
Every time the Eight-Tails rampaged, a group of Hidden Cloud Village ninja would throw iron chains to restrain its movements. Now, it seemed they would all die. Re-training so many sealing-type ninja with experience in sealing the Eight-Tails would likely consume even more of the Hidden Cloud Village's time.
"The corpses can't be wasted. I'll reclaim all of them. That'll give me a Sealing Team, though so many of them combined might not even match the effect of a Four Symbols Sealing."
Tsukasa Kaede didn't mind. He hadn't systematically studied various sealing jutsu himself, only knowing Reaper Death Seal and how to seal items with summoning scrolls.
With this group of people, even if he sent them to hold the line during an emergency, they would still be valuable.
Soon, with Tsukasa Kaede's jutsu, the fallen ninja immediately stood up and attacked the Hidden Cloud Village ninja around them, killing three more in that instant.
"Tsukasa-kun is actually using Corpse Release Secret Technique to convert corpses so directly. It seems he doesn't intend to conceal it at all, completely unconcerned about exposure...? This could lead to diplomatic disputes."
Orochimaru's laughter was hoarse. He stood inside the watchtower, a thick poisonous snake emerging from his sleeve, tightly coiling around the Hidden Cloud Village ninja who was about to fire a signal flare.
"Who are you people?! These individuals seem to be dead... Are you from Konoha? If you're targeting the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, the Hidden Cloud Village will never let you go!!"
The Hidden Cloud Village ninja was already gasping for air, using his last strength to utter these words.
"That's not right. Even if we didn't do these things, you wouldn't let us go. Even now, aren't your village's people constantly invading and destroying the Land of Fire?"
Orochimaru shook his arm, and the poisonous snake snapped the man's neck.
He stood still, silently calculating the time. Not long after, he saw the man he had just killed stand up again.
"Roughly less than five minutes. I wonder if this conversion rate is the result of Tsukasa-kun accelerating it at any cost, or its normal effect." A strong sense of apprehension rose in Orochimaru's eyes.
It must be the result of acceleration at any cost, because Tsukasa Kaede had just replenished his life force, likely for this very purpose.
If it were the normal effect, and the range was wider, Corpse Release Jutsu would already exceed the scope of ninjutsu. Even a powerhouse beyond Kage-level couldn't produce such an effect with Corpse Release Secret Technique.
"Orochimaru is slacking off. Even counting those killed by his snakes, he's only killed five people."
Tsukasa Kaede watched Orochimaru through the zombies' perspective, not surprised by Orochimaru's tendency to wait it out when the situation was under control.
All the Hidden Cloud Village ninja were eliminated without causing too much commotion. The two hundred troops outside hadn't noticed anything abnormal, let alone the Hidden Cloud Village proper.
However, time was pressing. Tsukasa Kaede wasn't sure how often these seventeen Hidden Cloud Village ninja communicated with the two hundred troops. If they exceeded the agreed-upon time, the Hidden Cloud Village people would surely detect something was wrong.
"Hmm, accelerating the conversion of these corpses consumed too much chakra. We need to hurry."
Tsukasa Kaede first ordered all the Hidden Cloud Village zombies skilled in sealing jutsu to return to him, which he retrieved one by one. At the same time, he commanded Araki of the Sand to control the sand and dust, making it surge towards the hut in the canyon.
But it seemed unnecessary to do so, because the solitary Eight-Tails jinchuriki had already realized something was wrong.
"Who?"
A visibly exhausted Burubi opened the door and walked out, looking up at the silent zombies surrounding him.
Orochimaru also jumped down from the watchtower, lightly tapping the lake surface a few times before landing ashore, standing before Burubi.
"Are you the Eight-Tails jinchuriki? By your appearance, you don't look like a jinchuriki at all. Not only have you gained no benefits from the Eight-Tails, but your energy is being slowly drained."
Orochimaru stared at Burubi.
"Konoha people? And these corpses? The legendary Leaf Devourer actually came in person. Are you Tsukasa Kaede?" Burubi's expression turned cold.
"Leaf Devourer? That title actually reached the Hidden Cloud Village. Hanzo's efficiency is as high as ever," Orochimaru muttered, exasperated.
Eight-Tails chakra began to surge from Burubi's body. He said coldly, "Such fierce battles erupted in the Land of Rain. All the villages sent people to gather intelligence. Although most of the spies were killed, some intelligence still made it back."
"Then you'll be disappointed. I'm not the Leaf Devourer. I'm his subordinate now, here to assist him in hunting you."
"Then all of you will die here. Don't equate the Eight-Tails' power with the Four-Tails or Five-Tails. It is extremely powerful... If I kill you, the Eight-Tails will seek out the Leaf Devourer wherever he hides and kill him too."