Naruto: Zombie Release

On the road, Arata would occasionally summon a zombie to carry him in order to conserve stamina. This method of travel ended up wearing out several of the corpses.

Summoning "ninja tools" from a scroll didn't actually consume much chakra. Besides, the expendables he summoned were essentially worthless genin.

Isuke watched as Arata sealed away another exhausted corpse and couldn't help but comment.

"I never imagined the Dead Soul Technique could be used like this. You can make corpses move for extended periods of time, that alone must burn through a ton of chakra, right? 

Even if you're saving stamina to convert into chakra, can you really keep up with that kind of drain?"

Arata carefully secured the sealing scroll to his waist and replied calmly, "Lord Isuke, you should know I've made modifications to the Dead Soul Technique. 

It's only natural that the effects would shift slightly. As for the details, I'm afraid I can't explain them to you."

He was meticulous about this. 

If he accidentally left behind a worn-out zombie, especially one that still bore traces of the Sunagakure insignia or symbols from any other hidden village, it could give the Konoha patrols enough to write up three mutually contradictory investigative reports.

Isuke was at a loss for words. The expressions of the others were also a bit awkward.

It was, after all, the first time they had seen Arata use the Dead Soul Technique up close, something bound to happen sooner or later. 

Not to mention, over two months ago, Kazematsuri Takano had already witnessed just how unique Arata's technique was.

Arata himself had long been mentally prepared. This battle would be nothing like his previous two engagements against Amegakure or that one-on-one fight against Ao from Kirigakure. 

This was going to be the most dangerous mission yet.

This time, it was true large-scale military warfare. The number of troops, the scale of coordinated action, and tactical execution, everything had leveled up dramatically.

"The worst-case scenario is dying on the battlefield as an anonymous pawn. If it really comes to that, I'll have to convert myself into a zombie. 

Whether I can succeed, and how much of my consciousness I'd retain after... that's the question."

Arata tried calculating the odds of success in his head, but came up blank.

The zombies he controlled lacked any self-awareness. 

Even if they could use ninjutsu from their past lives and fight with instinctive responses, those actions were nothing more than pre-programmed patterns created by complex neural pathways. 

They didn't contain any trace of their former selves.

He had wondered before: if a zombie were raised carefully and maintained over a long enough time, could a completely new, faint consciousness eventually form inside that body?

Maybe. But that would require pushing his mastery of the Zombie Release even further.

"If I'm really forced into a corner, I'll take that route. And if I'm lucky... maybe in a few years or decades, I'll regain my consciousness and truly awaken again."

Whether that version of himself would still be him, that, he didn't know...

The five of them said nothing more. Each lost in their own thoughts, they finally arrived at the front-line camp.

The moment they stepped into the camp, a heavy atmosphere weighed down on them. The brutality of war was everywhere.

Scars of battle marked every corner. Injured shinobi being carried back from the front let out painful, agonized cries, some barely clinging to life on stretchers.

"...Some of the wounded show signs of poisoning. That means the situation's turned against us." Arata analyzed quietly.

Wearing medical-nin uniforms, the group drew some attention upon entering. At first, some people's eyes lit up, only to quickly dim as they sighed in disappointment.

Normal poisons were manageable. A ninja's physique and chakra were usually enough to hold out until an antidote could be prepared on-site.

But Chiyo's deadly toxins were a different story, completely beyond help.

It was because of poisons like that that they'd had to abandon their comrades altogether.

The only silver lining was that ninja had fairly high poison resistance. Often, they could last for hours, even days. If they held on, there was still hope.

Everyone was waiting for Tsunade to return.

As for what kind of mission Tsunade was on, no one knew.

Until she came back, it would fall to skilled medical-nin like Arata, who understood the human body inside and out, to keep the injured alive.

More and more medical-nin arrived. Arata even spotted some war orphans, drenched in sweat as they desperately used chakra to close wounds.

"Even the kids from the orphanage have been sent here. Yakushi Nono must've mobilized too. Who knows, maybe she's already infiltrated Sunagakure ahead of us."

Arata looked away and focused on his work.

Before long, he was dispatched to the front lines, joining a squad of shinobi in active battle.

Mass-scale warfare was a different beast from infiltration missions. 

Even a seemingly ordinary jutsu, if used by hundreds of shinobi simultaneously, could reshape the terrain and throw the battlefield into chaos. 

It made everything more unpredictable, and more deadly.

A single lapse in attention could get you killed in the worst possible way.

Arata moved across the battlefield with utmost caution. Medical-nin weren't expected to spearhead attacks, which was a relief.

But the bad news was that the enemy targeted medical-nin first.

"Arata, behind you!" Isuke shouted in a low voice.

Without even turning around, Arata reached for the scroll at his waist and snapped it open in one swift motion, less than a second.

Bang!

A puff of white smoke rose as the "Corpse" symbol on the scroll activated. A zombie appeared behind Arata, intercepting the incoming attack.

Thunk!

The Sunagakure ninja's kunai sank deep into the zombie's chest, buried to the hilt.

"Oh? What kind of summoning jutsu is this?" the Suna shinobi sneered, baring his teeth. "Whatever it is, nothing survives in front of me. 

Especially not when my kunai's laced with poison. One scratch is all it takes to kill you."

His grin was full of cruelty, brimming with satisfaction.

The opponent looked strange, pale, discolored flesh that didn't seem quite human, but that didn't matter.

He and his comrades had taken down many Konoha ninja using poison. Just a graze was enough to doom them. That was all it took.

But then, his expression froze.

The "corpse" in front of him had just grabbed his wrist.

Still, the Suna shinobi didn't panic. With his free hand, he pulled out another kunai and launched a second strike, aiming upward, from chin to skull.

"It's over. You're next."

He finished off the enemy and lunged toward Arata. He had to eliminate him before Konoha's reinforcements arrived.

Just a scratch. That's all he needed.

"You're already dead," Arata said coldly. 

"To kill you, a scratch is all I need too."

With one hand, he formed a seal.

"Katsu!" (Release!)