This Isn't the End, but the Beginning

"Your Void Realm Technique isn't a Kekkei Genkai, is it?" Sasori of the Red Sands suddenly asked.

"No, it is definitely a secret technique. In theory, anyone can train in it."

Kaedeji placed particular emphasis on the words "in theory."

Sasori of the Red Sands understood what Kaedeji meant. In any case, he refused to believe that he himself would be unable to learn Kaedeji's secret technique.

So if the problem was not the threshold for learning it, then it had to be the conditions required for training?

He likewise placed a scroll on the ground. "That old woman still hasn't perfected this technique. Hmph, a forbidden technique that transfers one's own life force... I roughly know what she intends to do. How boring. Does she think she can change my mind this way?"

"I'm not interested in prying into the conflict between you and your grandmother."

Kaedeji slowly stepped back, immediately summoned a zombie, and retrieved the scroll containing the One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique. Sasori of the Red Sands did the same.

There was no ambush, no poison. After repeatedly confirming that nothing was wrong, both of them finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Kaedeji directed the zombie to open the scroll. Looking at the densely packed text on it, he nodded in satisfaction.

Sasori of the Red Sands' clone directly controlled his puppet away. After several twists and turns, it met up with the original body at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.

"Far smoother than I imagined. My opinion of that guy has risen another notch... Perhaps he really is a genuine fellow traveler."

Sasori of the Red Sands remained tense inside. He had yet to reach his peak, and making such a risky trade could put him in a troublesome position if it were exposed.

Clashing with Kaedeji or other Konoha Ninja would also be troublesome.

Whoosh!

Sasori of the Red Sands opened the scroll and carefully read the Void Realm Technique from beginning to end before closing it expressionlessly.

"To learn Corpse Transfer: Void Realm Technique, I first have to master the prerequisite secret technique of Corpse Release—Corpse Transformation Technique?"

Sasori of the Red Sands snorted. He refused to believe it. The Void Realm Technique essentially used corpses to perform Space-Time Ninjutsu.

If corpses could be used to perform the technique, then why couldn't he use puppets?

Were corpses and Human Puppets not fundamentally the same thing? Besides, corpses had far less room for modification than Human Puppets!

"Just wait. It won't be long before I learn it."

Sasori of the Red Sands put away the scroll and walked into the wind and sand, but soon had no choice but to stop. He looked ahead expressionlessly.

"I thought you would focus your efforts on negotiations with Konoha or the war with Iwagakure." Sasori of the Red Sands sized up Chiyo.

"The war has already ended. The village's losses were too severe; there was no point in continuing. We have also agreed to a ceasefire with Iwagakure. The Kazekage is negotiating with the Tsuchikage."

"The Third Kazekage ultimately chose compromise. The man hailed as the strongest Kazekage gained nothing from this war? But that has nothing to do with me," Sasori of the Red Sands said coldly.

Chiyo's expression was complicated. "Sasori, what did you do?"

"As you can see, I made a decent trade with that guy. I exchanged your useless One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique for his Space-Time Ninjutsu."

Sasori of the Red Sands said, "You should be happy about this. His technique is far more useful than yours. Our village will possess a Space-Time Ninjutsu like never before."

Chiyo sighed. "When I found fresh traces in the secret room, I knew something was wrong. So it really was you. This behavior... Why would Kaedeji know that I was developing the One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique?"

She truly did not know what she should do. Arrest Sasori of the Red Sands for betraying the village? What a joke. She valued Sasori's life more than her own, or else she would never have developed a forbidden technique for transferring life force.

"Who knows? Perhaps that Miko did it. It only shows that our village has already been infiltrated by Konoha like a sieve. If I were you, I wouldn't waste time tracking me down in a place like this."

Chiyo felt that was absurd. She had never told anyone about her secret development of the One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique. Only Sasori had the ability to enter her secret room, so she concluded that Sasori had revealed it to Kaedeji.

She said solemnly, "You're still too young. You have no idea how cunning those Konoha people are! The fact that he gave you Space-Time Ninjutsu means he obtained benefits from you far exceeding the value of Space-Time Ninjutsu!"

Use the One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique to revive zombies? No—Chiyo merely considered it for a moment before immediately guessing Kaedeji's intentions, feeling even more disappointed and helpless.

No wonder. No wonder he had set his sights on the One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique. From now on, Kaedeji would break free of his shackles and truly become a strong person.

"The village will gain a powerful enemy, perhaps one even more troublesome than Hatake Sakumo! Hatake Sakumo cannot use Space-Time Ninjutsu!" Chiyo let out a deep sigh, feeling more exhausted than ever before.

She had fought desperately to capture Kaedeji, only to fail. Worse still, the One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique she had painstakingly researched had fallen into Kaedeji's hands, becoming the greatest aid on his path to becoming a strong person.

Yes, the greatest aid. Without question!

Chiyo hardly dared imagine how troublesome Kaedeji would become if he gained the means to have zombies transfer life force to him, easing the restrictions of his physical condition, allowing him to use corpses from the battlefield anytime and anywhere, and even move through space and time!

"He will eventually take the path of Human Puppets. I had originally planned to give him the techniques for Human Puppets. This is only the beginning. Your One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique has not yet been perfected, and it has many flaws when performed. It is extremely difficult to learn. In the future, he will come to me for a more complete One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique. When that time comes, it won't be too late for us to obtain the complete Corpse Release Secret Technique from him."

Sasori of the Red Sands slowly walked to Chiyo's side, brushed past her, and headed toward Sunagakure. "I thought of what you thought of as well. No matter what he intends to do, he must accomplish one thing—control corpses with entirely different physical traits and have those corpses perform this S-rank forbidden technique. Is that possible?"

According to Chiyo and Sasori's estimate, even if Kaedeji exhausted every possible means, he could at most make one or two zombies master the One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique. They never imagined that Kaedeji wanted every zombie to learn it.

Corpses were ultimately not puppets. Corpse Release certainly contained many unknown secrets, but by all common sense, it should never be this outrageous. Could it be that once Kaedeji learned it, every corpse under his control would automatically know it too?

The principles of the One's Own Life Reincarnation Technique and the Void Realm Technique were completely different.

Chiyo watched Sasori of the Red Sands' retreating back and felt that her grandson had become utterly unfamiliar, as though he had completely turned into another person.

"It's all that damned Hatake Sakumo's fault. If not for you... this is absolutely not the end. It is only the beginning!!"

Chiyo gritted her teeth. This war had ended, but there would be new wars in the future. She would have the opportunity to kill Hatake Sakumo eventually.

Perhaps Sasori's trade with Kaedeji was not a bad thing. They could use the techniques obtained from Konoha to perfect Human Puppets, then kill Hatake Sakumo in the future.

As for Kaedeji becoming even stronger... she could not worry about that now.

Kaedeji returned to the camp as if nothing had happened, greeting both familiar and unfamiliar shinobi along the way. Everyone was fairly relaxed now.

After avoiding the crowd, he took a deep breath and opened the scroll.

"Finally... the crucial first step has been achieved. This is the most important and hardest-to-obtain piece of the puzzle in all the plans to come. I didn't expect it to go even more smoothly than anticipated."

Kaedeji began painstakingly working through this forbidden technique bit by bit. It was no easy task—One's Own Life Reincarnation had absolutely reached the level of an S-rank ninjutsu, fully qualified to be included in the Scroll of Seals. Its learning difficulty was off the charts.

Fortunately, Kaedeji might not have much Chakra, but his learning ability was Very Strong.