I Won't Let a Genius Die Here

Kaedeji's heart was also stirred. It was a feeling he had not experienced in many years, allowing him to feel a long-lost passion within this body that had been ravaged beyond recognition by illness.

He surveyed the battlefield. The Sunagakure force that had forcibly broken in was already trapped in layers of encirclement, blocked in by Konoha Ninja who seemed as if they had been injected with adrenaline. That brief delay had allowed even more Konoha Ninja to continuously converge on them.

Sandstorm Araki's condition had visibly deteriorated as well.

Everyone could be certain of one thing: this elite Sunagakure squad would be wiped out here!

This would be an exceptionally rare military achievement, something they could brag about for years to come.

At the same time, it would deal a devastating blow to Sunagakure's morale. Just thinking about what the status of an Elite Jonin represented made it clear how great an honor it was to take part in killing a squad led by one.

Sandstorm Araki wanted to say something, only to discover that his throat was in agonizing pain. The sensation felt strangely familiar—oh, it was like when his body had not fully developed as a child, when illness and fever made his throat swollen and sore.

But why was he feeling this? What method had Kaedeji used, and when had he cast his technique on him? Why did being hit feel like this? Perhaps...

Sandstorm Araki erupted with his last reserves of strength, his face twisted as he poured every ounce of power into one final attack on Kaedeji. If he could not complete the mission of capturing Kaedeji, then he would at least kill him!

At that moment, in the entire ninja world, only Sandstorm Araki realized how terrifying Kaedeji truly was. Only at the brink of despair did he finally understand what Kaedeji's technique was all about!!

Dead Soul Technique? Bullshit!

Everyone had been deceived. Just because he could control corpses, they had assumed it was the Dead Soul Technique from the Medical Ninjutsu system. That was far too presumptuous.

Kaedeji's medium for casting techniques—especially his method of casting them on a living person like him—was most likely the flesh and blood of corpses, perhaps even cells!

Yes, even now, Sandstorm Araki had only suspected the cellular level. Though he knew germs existed, he truly did not dare consider that possibility.

At present, the ninja world's cutting-edge biological research had only advanced to the cellular level. The deeper mysteries of DNA would still need to wait for Orochimaru's research years later. The finished product would be Yamato, who possessed Wood Release.

Sandstorm Araki's dying struggle also spurred the other Sunagakure Ninja into action. They attacked without regard for anything else, trying to kill as many Konoha Ninja as possible before they died.

Farther out, Sunagakure's main force had already arrived and was about to clash with this Konoha unit, but they definitely no longer had the opportunity to rescue Sandstorm Araki.

So he noticed. The efficiency of casting techniques on living people is still too low, making it easy to expose troublesome information. But that is also because my body is too weak and produces Chakra far too inefficiently.

Kaedeji's mind raced as Sandstorm Araki's blood-soaked figure was reflected in his eyes, still charging toward him without hesitation.

Like a dying beast, he attacked with utter hysteria, ignoring every injury and every pain for the sole purpose of killing Kaedeji, a mere Chunin.

Kaedeji's face grew even paler, with barely any Chakra left in his body. He watched as the many ninja standing before him were blown away by the sudden sandstorm, watched Sandstorm Araki's twisted face, now close at hand, filled with the delight of impending success.

It seemed things truly had become troublesome. To speed up Sandstorm Araki's transformation, Kaedeji had risked consuming too much Chakra. Now, he had no choice but to cast the Void Realm Technique once more, even at the cost of exhausting his Chakra and dying...

This was also the first time he had been forced into such a situation. He had witnessed the terror of an Elite Jonin in full.

Kazematsuri Takuya wanted to stop him, but everyone knew that as a conventional Medical Ninja, there was little he could do.

Then I can only gamble with my life. Though I have gambled many times in the past, and every time I struggled back from death's doorstep, this time...

Cases of ninja dying from Chakra exhaustion were not uncommon.

A typical example was when the Six Paths of Pain attacked Konoha. Kakashi used his final bit of Chakra to perform Kamui, successfully transferring away the Asura Path's tracking missile and allowing Akimichi Choji to escape.

But after performing the technique, Kakashi died. At the boundary between life and death, he met Hatake Sakumo and spoke with him for quite a while.

False Chakra exhaustion was merely a descriptive term, referring to when the body was nearing its limit and no longer had any spare strength.

True Chakra exhaustion meant Give Everything, squeezing every cell in one's body dry and forcing both mind and body to operate beyond their limits to create new Chakra. Once that Chakra was used up, the body's functions would fail completely, and death would follow.

Just as Kaedeji formed the "Rat" hand seal and was about to forcibly create Chakra to perform the Void Realm Technique—

A figure he had not expected suddenly appeared before him, raising the side of his right hand. "It hasn't come to that yet. I won't let a companion Tsunade and Sakumo care about die before my eyes."

Kaedeji's eyelids twitched, and he stared in utter shock. "You are—"

Spirit Transformation Technique!

White light surged from Dan Katō's body as an illusory spirit body lunged straight at Sandstorm Araki. One solid and one ethereal collided head-on. In the instant they crossed, the phantom spirit entered Sandstorm Araki's body. Immediately afterward, Sandstorm Araki, already weakened beyond measure, was completely powerless to resist an invading soul. His mind collapsed, and he died on the spot.

The Spirit Transformation Technique was an S-rank secret technique even more advanced than the Mind Body Switch Technique. It allowed one to move at high speed in soul form, possess a target and control their actions, engage them in a mental conversation, or directly cause their mind to collapse and kill them.

Naturally, it also possessed the ability to sense other souls across vast distances.

This technique was simply far too overpowered. It would have been terrifyingly powerful even during the Fourth Great Ninja War, let alone appearing at the end of the Second Great Ninja War.

Sandstorm Araki thus became another soul slain by this technique. His death at the hands of an Elite Jonin further cemented Dan Katō's illustrious reputation.

A deep look of delight appeared on Kazematsuri Takuya's face as well. "Lord Dan Katō! Could it be that Lady Tsunade arranged for you to join this unit's operation?"

"That's right. Your unit is mainly responsible for supporting the head-on battlefield. To expand their gains before withdrawing, the enemy may instead take certain unusual actions. Besides, this unit has a genius like Kaedeji, someone Sunagakure cannot rest easy over."

The spirit body returned, and Dan Katō smiled warmly.

His long hair drifted in the wind, and his tall frame fully displayed its lean elegance. His tone was casual, filled with concern for his companions. As for killing an enemy on Sandstorm Araki's level, it seemed hardly worth his extra attention.