Kaedeji Didn't Register in Minato Namikaze's Field of Vision

"Uuuugh..."

Norio's footsteps paused. His mind had gradually become muddled, no longer enough for the remnants of his consciousness to control his body. Only the instinct to feed remained.

The Chakra Virus had gradually spread from the wounds on his body throughout his entire body, transforming him into a zombie step by step.

The instant he saw Ao, he let out a howl and pounced on him.

Ao frowned and sidestepped the attack, carefully sizing him up. The longer he looked, the more puzzled he became.

"Is that Norio? No, apparently not. He's carrying large amounts of rotten flesh, and his body is decaying at a visible rate... It's like he's been possessed by an evil ghost."

There were too many ninjutsu in the world, and even more he had never seen.

"Besides, this guy seems to be trying to attack me with taijutsu. His movements are distorted by his injuries, but overall, his taijutsu is above the level of an ordinary Genin."

In just a few seconds, Ao had made a swift analysis. He drew a kunai with his backhand, intending to kill Kazematsuri Takuya first.

Whoosh!

The zombie suddenly changed direction and stood in front of Kazematsuri Takuya, using its flesh and blood to block every kunai.

A preliminary judgment suggests this is a ninjutsu used by Konohagakure ninja. But it's using its body to block ninja tools? Does it have self-healing abilities that can recover its injuries? Ao had even more doubts.

Kazematsuri Takuya was also bewildered. He did not understand what was going on with the person before him, but he seemed to be an ally.

"I'll treat you..." He reached out to touch him, but the other party did not appreciate it. Ignoring the kunai embedded in his body, he howled and charged at Ao.

Ao was startled. Suspecting that this guy felt no pain, he retreated again and continuously launched attacks to test him.

After multiple long-range attacks, Ao completely confirmed that this thing truly felt no pain. It was like a flesh-and-blood puppet with no sense of self!

"I don't see any chakra threads remotely controlling it, nor have I found any traces of curse marks on it. What exactly is this thing?"

Ao was completely intrigued. The farther he retreated, the more the zombie tried to close in for hand-to-hand combat, and the more he widened the distance to observe it. With his cautious nature, once he realized he lacked absolute certainty, he would not easily take risks.

Besides, his intuition told him that figuring out what this thing was might yield no less than killing Kazematsuri Takuya.

Kazematsuri Takuya also realized something. Gritting his teeth, he squeezed his body dry one last time to refine Chakra and heal his injuries.

Meanwhile, Ao continued his probing attacks, from severing its limbs to destroying the organs in its chest. Finally, he approached and sliced off its head with a kunai, grabbing it in one hand.

"It's still not dead? It's become like this and still wants to bite me? What terrifying fighting spirit—what exactly is this thing?!" Ao was utterly shocked. Pinching the forehead of the head, he stared at its opening and closing mouth, overwhelmed by the sight.

He had never heard of such a monster existing in this world. Even with only its head left, it still insisted on completing its mission. It was practically like one of the demons from legend.

"Konohagakure brat, is this some monster your village raised?" Ao asked casually, but received no answer. When he turned around, he discovered that Kazematsuri Takuya had already fled.

Ao did not care. He had discovered a more valuable target. He immediately tore off part of his clothing, wrapped up the head, and planned to take it back for study.

"These eyes look very much like the Byakugan. I wonder if there's some connection... Could this be a forbidden technique of the Hyūga Clan? Or did a Hyūga Clan ninja become like this after being struck by someone else's forbidden technique?"

Ao still could not let go of the Byakugan. As long as he could obtain one, he would gain an enormous strategic advantage. He would also earn the Third Mizukage's favor and raise his status.

He recalled the legends of various demons that had spread throughout the ninja world. Immediately carrying the head with him, he swiftly fled. He could not even be bothered with the Mist Ninja who had gone after Tobitake Tonbo. After being gone for so long without returning, he had either been killed in return or encountered Konohagakure reinforcements. He was not worth saving.

"I've never heard of Konohagakure ninja mastering such a forbidden technique. Otherwise, they would have used it in the war long ago. That just proves this thing can't be mass-produced. Once I unravel its secrets..."

Thinking of that ability that feared neither pain nor death, Ao's heart burned with excitement.

"It would be even better if these eyes were Byakugan." With that thought, Ao's figure swiftly vanished into the dense forest.

"The distance is getting farther and farther. It's beyond the range of my rough perception now. Looks like he escaped."

Kaedeji sat cross-legged on a tree branch. He slowly opened his eyes and smacked his lips, somewhat regretful.

Ao was still too cautious. If he had been a little more reckless, even getting bitten or scratched by one of Kaedeji's zombies would have changed things.

Kaedeji did not know how long it would take to corrupt a Jonin without personally using Chakra at close range to accelerate the virus, but as long as Ao had been infected, he would live beneath Kaedeji's shadow.

The greater the distance, the more Chakra Kaedeji would need to precisely sense from afar and accelerate the corruption, with the cost rising exponentially. That was not something he could do now, nor was there any need to do so.

Most importantly, Kaedeji did not have enough Chakra to precisely control the virus inside a zombie and make it use the various ninjutsu it had mastered in life.

Yes, in theory, as long as Kaedeji became powerful enough, possessed enough Chakra, and developed Corpse Manipulation deeply enough, he could absolutely accomplish this and bring out two hundred percent of a zombie's former strength. After all, zombies no longer felt pain or fear. They could push themselves beyond their limits throughout the entire battle. Even trading injury for injury without defending would be a huge profit, until their bodies were destroyed or their heads crushed.

Kaedeji carried one unconscious wounded man in each hand and laboriously made his way toward the village.

His difficulty was not an act. This battle had placed an extremely heavy burden on his body.

It was not until Konoha's guard ninja came to meet him.

"You're already in such a state, yet you still brought back two companions? That's incredible. We'll escort you back to the village. Get some proper rest. We're lucky to have a companion like you."

The young female ninja who had come to meet him was astonished. Her face held the clear-eyed foolishness unique to recent graduates, and she was incomparably enthusiastic toward Kaedeji. The adult ninja hound she had brought also came over to sniff him and barked once.

"Yeah, I was lucky. I drove back the enemy, but this was all I could manage. Unfortunately, one companion still died." Kaedeji sighed. "I think I saw your photograph on the outer wall of the Ninja Academy before. You're Tsume Inuzuka, right? One of the outstanding graduates from the past few years?"

Tsume Inuzuka, the mother of Hana Inuzuka and Kiba Inuzuka, would later become a squad captain in the Konoha Patrol Unit.

Unlike the other Inuzuka Clan Members, Tsume Inuzuka had chosen an adult Kōhō ninja hound as her partner. That large dog named "Kuromaru," which was blind in one eye, possessed formidable strength.

At least, Kaedeji felt that he could not beat that one-eyed dog.

Before long, Kaedeji saw the heavily injured Kazematsuri Takuya and Tobitake Tonbo at the village entrance.

"Is that so? You were saved by the patrol squad led by Minato Namikaze and Choza Akimichi? That's wonderful. It means all our perseverance was not in vain. We survived a situation that should have meant certain death."

Before the gathered ninja, Kaedeji revealed an expression of immense relief.

As for taking the opportunity to befriend the young Minato Namikaze or something of that sort... that was simply impossible, because Kaedeji did not exist in Minato Namikaze's eyes at all.

Minato Namikaze was a rising super genius whose name had already reached the higher-ups. Though he was known as the Little Sun, he could not possibly remember the names of every mediocre Genin in the village.

There were over ten thousand resident ninja in Konoha alone, and even more ninja scattered throughout the towns and cities of the Land of Fire.

Moreover, as the Land of Fire's highest military institution, Konoha had the authority to issue compulsory conscription orders to nobles and lords within the country, meaning the number of ninja directly controlled by Konoha would continue to surge.

Not fifty or sixty thousand, perhaps, but there were definitely thirty thousand ninja—numbers cultivated by Konoha over the more than twenty years of prolonged peace following the First Great Ninja War.

Of course, the Second Great Ninja War had been going on for several years now, so total troop strength had certainly fallen sharply. Losing more than ten thousand people was normal.

With so many ninja, no matter how knowledgeable Minato Namikaze was or how brightly his sunshine spread, could he possibly remember every single one? Besides, twelve-year-old Minato Namikaze was tasked with patrol duty and had met far too many rescued ninja to remember them all.