The Zombie Sage in Naruto

"Eh? Lord Fukanma can already go toe-to-toe with a Jinchūriki, and he's only a Special Jōnin? He should at least be an Elite Jōnin!"

"Didn't Lady Tsunade say earlier today? He was just restraining the Jinchūriki, not actually fighting! But yeah, Elite Jōnin… He'll probably get promoted when we're back."

During war, some talents rise quickly. But someone moving up at Fukanma's pace? That's unusual.

Only Minato Namikaze could compare.

Now, Fukanma was gaining praise for saving comrades by using enemy corpses, which earned him a lot of respect. Naturally, that brought admiration and a growing number of supporters.

Soon, lively discussions and speculations spread. Everyone looked to Fukanma, hoping he'd speak up. But to their disappointment, he just sat there quietly.

Everyone was curious—what kind of technique did he use to hold a Jinchūriki? Maybe it involved a swarm of corpses and space-time ninjutsu? Many thought he just bombarded the enemy with jutsu while flying around—most assumed this was how he managed to contain the Jinchūriki.

"Iroha, you look unsettled. What's going on? You've been acting strange ever since we retreated from the northern coastline of the Land of Hot Water."

Ibiki Morino approached casually and pointed to the distant Shibi Aburame. "He's noticed too. He may seem quiet, but he's very cautious and sharp."

"Lord Fukanma said you have a good mind for gathering intel. Looks like he was right." Iroha didn't answer directly.

He was dealing with an internal storm, trying to suppress his shock. Keeping it together like this was impressive.

Ibiki grew more suspicious—if Iroha was just upset about the defeat, that would be hard to believe. This was Hyūga Iroha, a recognized talent from the branch family.

Not exactly a genius like Fukanma or Minato Namikaze, but not someone who'd simply fall apart without a good reason.

With no solid intel in sight, Ibiki stopped pressing. He figured Iroha had likely noticed something the others missed.

The Byakugan...

"A dōjutsu with long-range vision... Iroha must have seen something," Fukanma thought. He had already caught Iroha glancing at him, clearly trying to get his attention.

Late at night, Fukanma rested briefly before opening his eyes and getting up.

"I'll take a group out to patrol."

"You should rest. I can handle that," Dan Katō said, showing concern. "With my Spirit Transformation Technique, I can patrol quickly. Your condition…"

"No need to worry. I'm back to normal. Others would perish using the Self-Reincarnation Technique, trading their life for another's, but I'm different. My situation is unique. You've probably figured that out."

Fukanma brushed it off. "My Corpse-Release techniques are great for patrol and recon. I can summon several corpses to roam around... And besides, I need to speak to a junior."

From a distance, Dan and Tsunade watched as Fukanma pulled Iroha aside for "patrol" and stopped the others from following.

They immediately got it—this wasn't about patrolling. Fukanma clearly had something to discuss with the Hyūga kid.

Following the seemingly weak Fukanma, Iroha kept a tight expression.

He understood well—the kind of terrifying power hidden in this thin frame.

"Seems you've seen it. You have a fine pair of eyes—makes me a bit jealous," Fukanma said slowly.

"Yes... I did see something. Though it was distant and at the edge of my vision, I couldn't make out the details. Even so… what I saw shattered everything I thought I knew…"

A person with half their upper body blown away—still alive?

And the price Fukanma paid… was just becoming skinny again? Just that?

An unknown forbidden technique capable of reviving an Elite Jōnin… at the cost of one's own flesh and blood? Iroha realized it couldn't be that simple, but he couldn't grasp the deeper truth either.

The scene he witnessed was ingrained in his mind like a cursed seal—something he would never forget.

"Shattered your worldview... That's what most people say after seeing my Self-Reincarnation Technique." Fukanma spoke calmly. "Iroha, as a member of the Hyūga branch family, it seems your senses are sharper than most. Maybe you've begun connecting some dots."

Iroha flinched internally, then exhaled, hesitating to speak.

"Just say it. Seeing me revive Dan with organs and a spine taken from an Explosion Release corpse to perform surgery on the spot—isn't it natural to think things? Without Lady Tsunade's help, I might have stitched his body together all wrong."

Fukanma stopped, looking at the evasive Iroha.

The Hyūga branch family—so much of their fate is determined at birth.

Other ninjas can wear their Leaf forehead protector however they like—on their arm, waist, thigh, or neck.

But the Hyūga branch family always wears it on their foreheads, covering the Caged Bird Seal.

This act of covering—whether out of shame or habit—eventually just became normal.

There's only one way to escape the Caged Bird Seal: death.

But now… Iroha had seen another way.

"If you die and come back to life, of course the seal disappears. That's what you're thinking, right? No need to feel ashamed. Anyone who sees my technique would want this."

Fukanma raised a hand toward the sky, as if trying to grasp the moon. "I'm not here to judge the Hyūga clan's main and branch system. But if you've started resisting and have taken action, then be ready for the consequences."

"Lord Fukanma… you're willing? But the cost of this resurrection technique—"

"That's not your concern. Once you return to your clan, think carefully about what I said—and make your choice."

Fukanma looked up at the faint moon.

Ōtsutsuki. Hyūga. Tenseigan...

No one knows when the Caged Bird Seal was created. But one thing is clear—it was necessary, because the Hyūga clan still exists.

Yes, it's that simple.

Descendants of Ōtsutsuki Hamura. One branch went to the moon, had a civil war, and wiped out the main family, taking all their Byakugan to create a giant Tenseigan.

The ones who stayed behind in the shinobi world became the Hyūga clan. To make sure the Byakugan never leaked out, they used the Caged Bird Seal to control most of their kin.

Without a way to control them, like the moon faction, who's to say that over the years some Hyūga genius wouldn't have discovered a way to fuse Byakugan and destroy the clan?

Even the Uchiha figured out how to evolve the Sharingan into Mangekyō, and then into Eternal Mangekyō. It's not unreasonable to think the Hyūga could have made discoveries too.

Fukanma could see right through Iroha's thoughts.

"I'll tell you one more thing. My Self-Reincarnation Technique can reactivate dead cells in a corpse. You know what that means, right? Even though I don't fully understand the Caged Bird Seal," Fukanma said calmly.

Iroha understood immediately.

It meant that even Hyūga branch members who'd lost their eyes due to the Caged Bird Seal... might have them restored after resurrection.

Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

Dan had been revived from a pile of mismatched, decayed body parts. If that worked, then bringing a Hyūga back with functional Byakugan didn't seem impossible.

"But don't get your hopes up too high. It's not guaranteed. At the very least, I'll need to study the Caged Bird Seal first," Fukanma added.

Iroha took a deep breath. "Understood, Lord Fukanma. This concerns the fate of my entire clan. I need to think carefully."

"You'll eventually agree. Even if you don't, some branch member will risk everything. It's just a matter of time before someone joins me."

Fukanma patted him on the shoulder. He could give the younger man time—after all, Iroha wasn't the one making the real decisions.

"Lord Fukanma, someone is approaching us," Iroha said seriously.

Fukanma nodded. "I know. The fact that they waited until now to show up proves they're cautious."

A team of ROOT ninja appeared before Fukanma and knelt on one knee, formally. Iroha guessed they were Fukanma's subordinates—maybe he had already joined the ANBU?

That made sense. ANBU identities were always secret.

"Lord Fukanma, should we eliminate this Hyūga?"

The lead ROOT ninja's first words stunned Iroha.

ANBU were this extreme? To eliminate a fellow village ninja just like that?

"…No need. Don't waste time on childish tests. Withdraw," Fukanma said coldly.

When they returned to camp, nobody noticed anything unusual. Those who saw them assumed Fukanma was giving private guidance to a favored subordinate.

Even Tsunade and Dan didn't ask what they discussed.

By dawn, the group resumed movement and reached a border outpost.

"This defeat was my fault alone. I'll accept full punishment from the village," Dan wrote in his report, conveniently leaving out the part about his own death and resurrection.

Fukanma comforted him. "Don't blame yourself too much. Who knows—this might have been a victory. If the Four-Tails went berserk, it probably targeted the Iwa-nin first."

Dan smiled bitterly. Many had died, over six hundred. If that counted as a "victory," then it was a cruel joke. The village would never call it that, right?

Two days later, ANBU messengers arrived with word from the Hokage.

Just as Fukanma predicted—it was a victory, and a significant one.

"What? The enemy lost more than us? Their entire thousand-man force was wiped out?" Dan was shocked.

"Yes," the ANBU replied flatly. "Our intel says the Four-Tails went berserk and destroyed the Iwa forces with several Tailed Beast Bombs. It eventually collapsed into a coma, consistent with your report."

This wasn't just a win—it was a crushing victory. Iwa lost 200–300 more troops than Konoha. Even a 1:1 trade is a win for the larger, richer Konoha. And this? It was a blowout.

Even more importantly, Dan had taken down a Jinchūriki without a scratch—sure, the Tailed Beast's rampage helped, but still.

"If that Jinchūriki is out of the war, this could change the main battlefield," Tsunade said with relief.

A single Jinchūriki often poses a greater threat than a Kage-level ninja just a few Tailed Beast Bombs could wipe out entire forces.

Even the current Legendary Sannin might struggle against a fully rampaging Tailed Beast.

"Too bad our own Jinchūriki can't be deployed," Fukanma reflected.

"Grandma's too old. If it comes to the point where she needs to fight, it'll be a disgrace to us younger generations," Tsunade replied. She wouldn't let Mito go to battle. Mito was now focused on training Kushina, the future Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.

Some in the village wanted to hand the Nine-Tails to someone not from the Uzumaki.

Why must it be an Uzumaki?

Why not a Senju?

Tsunade and Senju Tōka—they were still around. And sealing techniques could be learned, unlike bloodline limits.

Still, no one dared voice these thoughts—not in front of Mito. Only Danzo and the Third Hokage quietly debated it.

Half a month later, after confirming Iwa wouldn't invade from the Hot Water side, the Konoha unit began returning.

Officially, they had won. But the atmosphere was heavy. No joy in victory.

Iroha was among the first to return—and immediately began his own quiet operations.

The villagers, thrilled by the "victory," looked forward to Orochimaru's army defeating Iwa on the main front.

They had no access to the real details. As far as they knew, Dan Katō had brilliantly defeated a Jinchūriki.

"Lord Dan is an Elite Jōnin now? He's strong enough to fight a Tailed Beast?"

"They say he uses the Spirit Transformation Technique. But can that beat a Jinchūriki?"

"Remarkable! Another powerful ninja for Konoha! No wonder we're the strongest in the shinobi world!"

"The Hokage hasn't even needed to fight personally, and we're already winning the war!"

"Disgusting."

Danzo stood in his lab, staring at body parts floating in formaldehyde with a blank expression. He hated how the Third Hokage handled things.

The villagers' naive words were becoming increasingly exaggerated. Danzo worried that soon enough, people would declare the Third the "strongest Hokage ever."

Just like the so-called "strongest Kazekage," the Third Kazekage.

However, the speed at which this war ended surprised even Danzo, and the strange details in the report made him uneasy.

"If the information from Nonō Yakushi is right, Dan's official report has too many inconsistencies. Hmph, Hiruzen probably suspects something too, but he won't look too closely."

Dan scoffed.

He understood exactly what Dan could do. The Spirit Transformation Technique was powerful, but it left the body immobile—essentially a sitting target.

"If the immobility was masked by Fukanma's space-time jutsu, wouldn't that destabilize the connection between the spirit and body?"

Could just the spirit really force a Jinchūriki into full transformation and knock them out? That would need some significant outside factors, like the changes Old Jinchūriki made to the terrain beforehand.

Any fight that required this many excuses to explain meant something was wrong.

"Fukanma... did he use Self-Reincarnation on Dan with Tsunade's help? If the three of them teamed up, maybe they did manage to take down the Four-Tails…"

(To Be Continued)