Teacher, Strangers Are Approaching

Anyone who knew Kaedeji knew his health was poor.

Especially after the war against Sunagakure ended, news had quietly spread that Sunagakure had sent an elite squad to abduct Kaedeji, and that Dan Katō had praised Kaedeji as a genius in front of many ninja.

Those who had never fought alongside Kaedeji were extremely curious, so they began asking around about what kind of person this new genius who had risen to prominence during the Second Great Ninja War really was.

Once they learned that he excelled at controlling his enemies' corpses in battle, this explosive secret technique left an even deeper impression—one that was absolutely impossible to forget.

If Kaedeji had not gone into seclusion to train bitterly for five straight months, his reputation would definitely have been far greater than it was now.

But now, what had Komatsu Fuji discovered while accompanying Kaedeji on a mission?

Kaedeji's physical stamina was absurdly powerful!

But how was that possible? Why had he suddenly become like this?

Komatsu Fuji was positioned slightly behind and to the side, observing Kaedeji closely. It was clearly not an act. He truly was not even out of breath, looking completely relaxed.

Yet the three Root ninja, who had endured brutal training year-round, were already exhausted. If they did not rest and recover soon, it would be difficult for them to display satisfactory combat strength.

"Lord Kaedeji, you seem to have changed," Komatsu Fuji said proactively.

"My health has improved?"

"What I mean is, you are no longer deliberately concealing your talent."

"Heh, that's true."

Kaedeji neither confirmed nor denied it. He took the first step forward and officially entered the Land of Rain.

From this point onward, they had to be more careful about their movements. If Amegakure ninja discovered them, things would become troublesome. They could only kill the Amegakure ninja; otherwise, they would have to wait for the enemy to summon more reinforcements.

"Lord Kaedeji, although the Land of Rain is a small country, it is still enormous for the four of us. Which direction do you intend to begin searching from?" Komatsu Fuji asked.

"Which direction? Searching like that would be far too inefficient. I plan to finish this mission quickly and return to training."

With a sweep of his arm, Kaedeji grabbed the Summoning Scroll at his waist as it spun at high speed. He flung it through the air with the momentum, and the scroll automatically unfurled, revealing densely packed characters for "corpse."

"Of course, we need to cover every direction... Summoning Technique!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The characters for "corpse" inscribed on the scroll bulged one after another. Amid clouds of white smoke, a full twenty figures emerged in succession, silently standing before Kaedeji.

Each wore a plastic mask over their face.

"Hmm, the effect looks pretty good. I bought large amounts of decorative masks in the village over the past few days and barely managed to fit them onto these servants. They look somewhat presentable now. At least I don't have to look directly at their faces anymore," Kaedeji said with a smile.

"Twenty..."

Komatsu Fuji committed that number to memory. He knew Kaedeji's strength had clearly increased. In the past, he had never once controlled twenty corpses at the same time.

But the next second, he was even more shocked, because Kaedeji summoned another twenty corpses!

Forty?

It had only been five short months. For most ninja, five months was not even enough time to learn a powerful new ninjutsu, and the Chakra they produced would not improve much from before.

Yet Kaedeji had already reached a higher level. His secret technique was finally beginning to reveal its true potential, and the fangs of Corpse Manipulation were first bared in the Land of Rain.

"Scatter!"

The moment Kaedeji spoke, all forty zombies moved at once, racing in every direction. Every zombie clearly knew which area it was supposed to explore.

Yet Kaedeji had never issued any detailed instructions from beginning to end. This deeply shook the three Root ninja, who racked their brains over every possibility but still could not figure out how Kaedeji had accomplished all this.

The value of the Corpse Release Secret Technique was truly impossible to measure. I fear even Lord Danzo had not anticipated this, Komatsu Fuji thought.

He also noticed that Kaedeji could now send zombies to carry out commands over extremely long distances. This meant that unimaginable changes had occurred within Kaedeji, while this secret technique system had become even more complete and inscrutable.

At the same time, in a patch of wilderness nine kilometers away from Kaedeji, a house stood beneath the curtain of rain.

Jiraiya had finished a day's instruction.

Compared to Konan and Yahiko, he undoubtedly paid more attention to Nagato, always finding chances to give him extra lessons. The talent Nagato displayed never failed to leave him astonished.

He was innately proficient in all five nature transformations and could quickly grasp ninjutsu of any attribute. Ordinary Ninja had no idea how long they would need to work to achieve even that, and some could strive their entire lives without ever managing it.

The passive buff of being a Rinnegan wielder was already a ceiling that Ordinary Ninja could scarcely touch in a lifetime. The disparity in talent was displayed so cruelly, making Jiraiya believe even more firmly that Nagato was the Child of Prophecy spoken of by the Great Toad Sage!

"Teacher, when Yahiko went out to buy ingredients, he heard people saying that the war is still continuing. Konoha and Iwagakure are locked in a stalemate." Nagato walked with his head lowered. The rain cape he wore could not fully shield him from the pouring rain.

The raging mist and splashing droplets alone were enough to soak the clothes beneath the raincoat.

But no one cared about that. No matter how terrible the weather was, training could never be interrupted. It was their guarantee of survival.

Nagato vaguely felt that Jiraiya would be leaving before long. After all, one of the Sannin could not remain anonymous in the Land of Rain forever, hiding away to teach them.

"War... Konoha has many problems, but its foundations are the strongest. As long as it doesn't make a major mistake, it can patiently wait for others to make one." Jiraiya's expression was complicated. "Though this will cause more people to die on the battlefield as pieces sacrificed for trial and error, in this cruel world, it is an unavoidable outcome."

Jiraiya himself knew how awful it was to leave the Second Great Ninja War halfway through without saying a word. But compared with teaching the Child of Prophecy, the war truly no longer mattered.

He firmly believed he had not made the wrong choice. This was not fleeing or retreating. Participating in the war could not prove his sense of responsibility; choosing to teach Nagato required even greater courage.

It meant that after losing a Kage-level combatant like him, more comrades would die on the battlefield. But the pain of today was so that more people would not suffer in the future.

"You can definitely do it, Nagato. If it's you, then one day, you will surely..." Jiraiya looked at Nagato's figure, his heart filled with immense expectation.

"Teacher."

Nagato suddenly spoke and pointed in a direction. "Something feels wrong over there. I can sense several unusual Chakras moving toward us."

"They probably aren't Amegakure ninja. Hanzō of the Salamander has chosen to close off his country and refrain from participating in any form of war. They might be wandering ninja again."

Jiraiya was somewhat helpless and was just about to go deal with them.

Nagato let out a surprised cry. "Strange, several more suddenly appeared out of nowhere... people? They have very strange Chakra and are confronting those people."