Konoha Had a New Secret Technique System

Genius!

This was the first time anyone had publicly used such an extravagant word to describe Kaedeji.

And the one who said it was Dan Katō, an Elite Jonin who had mastered a one-of-a-kind ninjutsu.

"You flatter me. I'm just an ordinary Konoha Ninja, unworthy of the name genius. I'm only trying to do what I should. Without my comrades' protection, I would have died in some unknown corner long ago." Kaedeji steadied his breathing before speaking slowly.

"The Dead Soul Technique you further developed was enough to make Sunagakure dispatch an elite team specifically to capture you. That already says everything."

Dan Katō first glanced at Sunagakure's main force in the distance. "Those Sunagakure fools thought we didn't value you at all and had failed to discover your worth. In reality, it was precisely the opposite. Lord Sakumo and Tsunade sent me to protect you, intending to use you to lure Sunagakure into making an aggressive move."

Everyone could see that the result had been an overwhelming success. Sandstorm Araki's death would have been an astonishing achievement in any era.

Whether in strength, status, accomplishments, or reputation, an Elite Jonin was a potential future member of the upper ranks—perhaps even a Kage!

Killing even one of them greatly diminished an enemy village's potential.

"I'm sorry. It seems I accidentally took your credit by delivering the final blow to Sandstorm Araki? I'll explain the situation to Lord Sakumo. The village has never been stingy when rewarding its heroes." Dan Katō suddenly remembered and scratched the back of his head somewhat sheepishly.

No one would have guessed that this humble, gentle, long-haired man was a god of death who had mastered the Spirit Transformation Secret Technique.

"No, I truly don't deserve it. This was your achievement to begin with. Everyone also helped me hold back many enemies. Without all of us working together, I wouldn't be standing here now." Kaedeji stood by his view.

This left Dan Katō with an even better impression of him.

"I saw you use your technique on the still-living Sandstorm Araki, and I know you used some unknown method to influence him. You needn't worry about that either."

Dan Katō patted Kaedeji's shoulder. He had watched the entire battle—not merely to protect Kaedeji and hunt Sandstorm Araki, but also to observe Kaedeji's character.

No matter what, Kaedeji was a War Orphan who had never received a proper education at Konoha's Ninja Academy, and his ninjutsu involved dealing with corpses.

It was not that Dan Katō doubted Kaedeji's loyalty or thought he might defect. He simply wanted to conduct a systematic assessment at close range.

If Kaedeji's character proved wanting, then they would need to carefully consider how to deal with him.

The assessment had left Dan Katō extremely satisfied. Every objective had been perfectly achieved, adding a few extra touches to this battlefield.

"Modest, cautious, or perhaps somewhat lacking in confidence? That's perfectly normal. His physical condition is poor, and it seems he was once tormented by illness. Has he recovered now? There's too little intelligence on that. I can look into it later."

"Even with the Dead Soul Technique as his core ninjutsu, he hasn't fallen into becoming some dark and twisted evil spirit. He has even relied on the Dead Soul Technique to continuously develop other ninjutsu, including Space-Time Ninjutsu... His sensitivity toward techniques and talent for developing them are beyond imagination. Truly remarkable."

Kaedeji had already surpassed most Konoha Ninja. The more Dan Katō observed him, the more astonished he became.

Especially by the Dead Soul Technique. As Tsunade's lover, once he had received the mission to protect Kaedeji and lure out Sunagakure's strong fighters, he had naturally needed to learn about Kaedeji and had asked Tsunade about the Dead Soul Technique.

Dan Katō still remembered Tsunade's judgment—it probably was not the Dead Soul Technique at all. At the very least, it had undergone major development and could fully serve as the core secret technique of an entirely new system.

Yes, a secret technique within an entirely new system. The key was the new system.

Like the Nara Clan's Shadow Manipulation and the Yamanaka Clan's Mind Manipulation, these were complete systems. Every ninja who studied one merely needed to Follow The Plan, improving themselves and learning the system's secret techniques at different stages.

Regardless of how strong they became, such secret-technique ninja were at least specialized types of ninja, indispensable to teams of any level.

And Kaedeji, a ninja who seemed to have developed an entirely new system? Even if it truly extended from the Dead Soul Technique as its foundation, he was absolutely worth taking seriously. No matter how thoughtless Hatake Sakumo and Tsunade might be, they would still pay extra attention to him.

Not to mention that he had also developed new Space-Time Ninjutsu!

That was why Dan Katō had come instead of someone else.

Even if a Kage-level strong person made a move against Kaedeji, Dan Katō's abilities would absolutely allow him to retreat safely with Kaedeji. He might even catch the attacking Kage-level strong person off guard and kill them.

Dan Katō patted Kaedeji's shoulder and said quietly, "I can tell that your technique has already departed from the original Dead Soul Technique. But if you claim it is the Dead Soul Technique, then you must have your reasons. Still, you need to plan ahead. It can derive Space-Time Ninjutsu, and it can use an unknown method to influence a living Elite Jonin..."

This entirely new system possessed immense potential and immense value. The only question was whether Kaedeji had developed it to its limit. At present, clearly not—Dan Katō felt that, At Least, the Space-Time Ninjutsu that was somewhat similar to the Flying Thunder God Technique and could instantly change Kaedeji's position possessed enormous room for development.

For now, its movement range was simply too short. Perhaps that was related to the pitifully small amount of Chakra produced by Kaedeji's poor Physical Quality.

What about when Kaedeji recovered his health in the future? What if he learned the Chakra Cell Stimulation Technique, or Tsunade personally taught him precious Medical Ninjutsu to improve his Physical Quality?

Could the movement range be extended? Could the number of movements be increased?

He could control more corpses, disguise them as ordinary ninja to lie in wait around the area, then use Space-Time Ninjutsu to move at high speed... And don't forget, the Flying Thunder God Technique's specially made kunai could not move on their own, but Kaedeji's corpses could!

Not only could they move, they could even use all kinds of ninjutsu to kill enemies! At worst, they could drag their enemies down with them!

A "Flying Thunder God Technique" whose space-time coordinates constantly moved on their own?

Just imagining it, Dan Katō felt the scene was too beautiful. Even if there would surely be all kinds of limitations in reality and it could not truly be so flawless, it was enough. At the very least, it proved that this technique had far greater and more astonishing prospects for development.

"Be more confident. You are important. No matter what your past was like, you changed your own fate through your efforts, and you will change many people's fates as well. Chunin Kaedeji, I can see that before long, you will become someone of great importance. The village and your comrades need your strength."

Dan Katō's words were inspiring. Kaedeji smiled faintly but neither confirmed nor denied them.

Of course he knew how much potential his Corpse Manipulation possessed. He had only developed the tip of the iceberg so far.

Kaedeji was actually more interested in something else: How great an achievement would he need to earn before he could read the Scroll of Seals?