Naruto: Zombie Release

Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Zombie Substitution



Arata crouched low to the ground, eyes sweeping across the battlefield as he studied the changes in his surroundings. 

This was the first time he had used the jutsu in live combat. 

It required performing the technique in conjunction with a zombie, linking chakra and virus, and guiding the connection through his sensing of the undead. 

But it had worked.

"Even though, in theory, I can reduce the casting difficulty and chakra cost to a bare minimum... it's still a form of space-time ninjutsu. 

No matter how cheap it gets, with the chakra I have left, I shouldn't use it more than twice."

He quickly assessed the situation and sighed inwardly, again, the same issue: not enough chakra.

Fortunately, the main chakra cost of Zombie Release techniques came from accelerating the transformation of the undead. 

If he really needed to conserve energy, he could just let the zombies act on their own instincts in battle.

He could even hang back and watch the fight from a safe distance. That wouldn't allow the zombie ninja to reach their full potential, of course, but at least it saved chakra.

But Corpse Substitution Jutsu was a different story. Instantaneous teleportation couldn't be faked. The cost was very real.

"The farther the distance, the more it drains me. Best to keep the straight-line switch under fifty meters, any further, and it'll mess with my body."

He couldn't afford to spend all his chakra on this jutsu. He still needed it for other Zombie Release techniques. That inherently limited how far he could push the substitution.

Still, it was a lifesaver in a pinch.

"Flying Thunder God?!"

"Was that the Flying Thunder God Technique?"

Ninjas on both sides turned to look, eyes filled with disbelief as they stared at Arata, still in his half-crouch. He was just now rising to his feet.

Araki was stunned, but quickly steadied his mind. "No... that's impossible. Space-time ninjutsu is incredibly hard to master. 

There's no way Konoha has produced two young ninjas in the same generation who can use Flying Thunder God."

"Is that so? You'd better think carefully before jumping to conclusions. What if the reality you don't want to see... is exactly the truth?" 

Arata rose fully, a shuriken already gripped in his hand, ready to strike.

The brief moment of shock created hesitation among the Sunagakure ninja. The Konoha side seized the opportunity, quickly taking down a genin and a Chunin.

Araki didn't care about the deaths of his subordinates. His tone was cold. 

"Every shinobi village has been researching Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God, trying to kill off that Konoha prodigy completely. But no one's found a real answer. 

Namikaze's talent in ninjutsu and battle is visibly extraordinary. And you? You expect me to believe you can master both Zombie Release and the Flying Thunder God?"

His logic was simple: if Arata truly had this level of talent, how could he have remained under the radar until the age of sixteen?

Minato Namikaze had dazzled the world at thirteen. 

With a single hand, he'd used Flying Thunder God to dominate Iwagakure, and no matter how hard they tried, the Iwa ninjas couldn't find a way to stop him.

But Yoshida Arata?

In a world like the shinobi world, filled with madness and endless war, anyone with real talent would be discovered early. 

Especially in a major village like Konoha, with its robust training system and talent-scouting infrastructure.

If it weren't for how uniquely his Zombie Release techniques aligned with Sunagakure's human puppet doctrine, Araki wouldn't even have paid attention to him.

After all, that puppet path was the only method Sunagakure had found to narrow the gap with Konoha. Unlike Konoha, Sunagakure had no bloodline clans that could shake the world. 

Occasionally there were ninja with Magnet Release or Scorch Release, but those were cobbled together through forced chakra-nature fusion, not true, heritable Kekkei Genkai.

"Ah, so you've already made up your mind. In that case, there's nothing more to say."

With that, Arata suddenly hurled the shuriken in his hand. Honestly, it was barely at genin-level, his muscle strength, explosive power, and neural control weren't up to par.

Using ninja tools like this could at best serve as light harassment.

Araki smirked coldly. This just confirmed his assumption.

"So what if it really is Flying Thunder God? 

They say Minato Namikaze could instantly pierce an enemy's skull with a kunai the moment he teleported, his opponents didn't even have time to react. 

You? With that weak taijutsu and sluggish reflexes, you can't pull that off."

True mastery of Flying Thunder God required not just the jutsu itself, but top-tier reaction speed, physical prowess, and battle instinct. 

Even Namikaze hadn't perfected it yet, he had the potential, yes, but hadn't reached his peak.

And Arata? Sure, he had moved, changed his position, but hadn't been able to capitalize on that moment for an attack.

"But if you can swap positions with a corpse just by performing hand signs together... Flying Thunder God needs custom-marked kunai as space anchors. But this kid, no, this technique, feels more like... mutual summoning substitution...?"

As an elite Jonin, Araki's intelligence analysis was top-tier in the shinobi world. His mind worked at lightning speed, and the more he thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed.

A technique this absurd actually existed?

And this kid wasn't even that old. He'd not only perfected Zombie Release but had also developed supportive space-time jutsu to go with it?

Space-time supportive jutsu?

Could Zombie Release really have such overpowered potential? He'd never heard anything like it!

Impossible. Absolutely impossible. There had to be something he was missing.

"Maybe it's a broken version of Flying Thunder God? Or some unknown simplified space-time jutsu? But the odds are low. 

My preliminary guess: his movement range is very short... I don't have enough intel. I need to probe more out of him."

Boom!

A violent gust erupted from Araki's hand, stirring up a whirlwind of sand and stones that swept up a storm of shuriken toward Arata.

Araki had a bad feeling, if he didn't take Arata out now, he'd regret it.

But focusing all his attention on Arata gave Terai, another elite Jonin, the opening he needed.

"Don't think you're the only one with Wind Release. Letting me get this close was your mistake," Terai growled, kunai flashing.

Wind Release: Wind Cutter!

A torrent of wind chakra surged through the kunai, transforming into sharp blades of wind that slashed through the sandstorm, cutting off Araki's escape routes.

In an instant, the tide of battle shifted. Despite having fewer numbers, the Konoha side appeared to gain the upper hand, having already inflicted casualties on the enemy.

But everyone knew, it wouldn't last. Fighting deep in enemy territory, without reinforcements, they would lose eventually.

Arata summoned another zombie, ordering it to block the storm of wind and sand in front of him. 

Then, with a vicious kick, he launched himself backward using the recoil, slamming into the sand and carving a trench as he tumbled, until he reached the gravely wounded Nono.

"Are you alright? I'm out of chakra, so I can't heal you, you'll have to manage on your own," Arata panted heavily, eyes locked onto the priestess's stunned expression. 

"Please... hand over the intel. I'll get it back to Konoha, no matter what."


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