The room was filled with all sorts of the most advanced instruments.
Under the focused lights, on the surgical table lay a humanoid white body.
Orochimaru conducted only a simple examination of the corpse, but before long, his face was covered with astonishment.
He had expected this corpse to bring him some surprises—but he never imagined that the surprise it brought would far exceed his expectations.
The corpse of White Zetsu was full of Hashirama's cells, and those cells were astonishingly stable—so much so that they could practically be used as prosthetic tissue without any significant side effects.
Back when Orochimaru was still in Konoha, he had been ordered by the upper ranks to study Hashirama's cells in detail, so he was able to reach this conclusion almost instantly.
Seeing Orochimaru's shocked expression, Tōshirō's lips curved upward as he deliberately asked, "How is it? Surprised?"
Orochimaru couldn't suppress the excitement in his raspy voice—it even rose in pitch: "This is truly fascinating!"
"Can you extract the cells from it and inject them into my body?"
Obito had his body half-replaced with White Zetsu tissue when he was twelve or thirteen and was fine. Tōshirō's Sage Body was far stronger; there was nothing to worry about.
"It's possible…" Orochimaru glanced at Tōshirō, waiting for further explanation.
"I told you before—this guy is the key."
"The key?"
"When two opposing forces interact, they can create all things."
"What do you mean?"
"The power of the Uchiha clan corresponds to that of the Senju clan."
Orochimaru nodded. That much was true—Uchiha's Sharingan represented yin, while the Senju's body represented yang. What he didn't understand was why combining the two could create "all things."
Tōshirō continued explaining: "At the Naka Shrine, there's a stone tablet passed down through the Uchiha line. It records something interesting—the Sage of Six Paths once had two sons. The elder became the ancestor of the Uchiha, and the younger became the ancestor of the Senju. Do you see what I mean?"
Orochimaru's eyes widened as if a new door had opened in his mind. His tongue slid across his lips, voice trembling with excitement. "You mean you intend to reach the realm of the Sage of Six Paths?"
Tōshirō smiled. "You could say that."
Orochimaru suddenly connected the dots.
The Sage of Six Paths: Rinnegan, two sons.Uchiha: descendants of the Sage, Sharingan, Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Wait—if the Uchiha are descendants of the Sage, and their Sharingan can evolve into the Mangekyō Sharingan, doesn't that mean the Mangekyō has a further level of evolution?"
"You're quite perceptive. You caught on quickly."
"The Rinnegan…"
"It's possible."
Learning this truth filled Orochimaru with immense satisfaction. "So this is the 'truth of the world' you spoke of?"
Tōshirō shook his head. "Only a part of it."
Orochimaru froze. "A part?"
"The inscriptions on that stone tablet—different portions can only be read as one's eye power grows."
Orochimaru immediately understood. "So, you mean, to read the rest, your eyes have to evolve into the Rinnegan?"
"Exactly."
For a scientist like Orochimaru, the desire for knowledge outweighed everything else. Upon hearing this, he became eager to help Tōshirō awaken the Rinnegan.
After a moment of silence, Orochimaru asked, "If the Rinnegan evolves in that way, then how did the Akatsuki's Rinnegan come about?"
Tōshirō replied, "I've been investigating that for a while. What I'm certain of is that those eyes couldn't have been natural."
"You mean someone combined the powers of the Uchiha and Senju to create them?"
"Yes. And I have a theory about who that person was."
"Who?"
Tōshirō said solemnly, "Uchiha Madara."
Orochimaru was stunned. "W–what?"
"Do you remember the legendary battle between Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama?"
Of course Orochimaru remembered.
"Doesn't it seem suspicious to you? Why did Madara suddenly decide to attack the village?"
Linking it to what was said before, Orochimaru realized, "You mean Madara's true goal was to obtain Hashirama's cells?"
"Exactly."
Orochimaru analyzed aloud, "But that raises two questions. First, given their relationship, it wouldn't have been difficult for Madara to get Hashirama's cells. And second—didn't he die?"
Tōshirō smirked. "Who told you Madara was dead?"
"What do you mean?"
"Sometimes, what we see is merely what someone wants us to see."
"You mean the higher-ups hid the truth of his death?"
Tōshirō shook his head. "Yes and no."
Orochimaru frowned, confused.
"In the Uchiha clan's forbidden texts, there's a jutsu called Izanagi. It's a technique that sacrifices the light of one eye to rewrite reality itself," Tōshirō explained. "If used with the power of the Mangekyō, it can even delay its activation. Madara must have anticipated that the Second Hokage wouldn't destroy his body, so he set a delayed Izanagi on himself beforehand."
"Afterward, when Konoha found his body gone, they would just assume it was stolen. They wouldn't announce it publicly—they'd try to recover it in secret. But the truth is, Madara had faked his death. That way, he could move in the shadows and plan at leisure."
Listening to Tōshirō's meticulous reasoning, even the prideful Orochimaru was deeply impressed. "That does make perfect sense. Yahiko was still just a child, with normal eyes—yet when I met him again, he had the Rinnegan."
Tōshirō raised two fingers. "First possibility: the Rinnegan the Akatsuki's leader has was given to him by Madara, perhaps for some secret goal. Second: Madara still possesses the true Rinnegan, and the one in the Akatsuki is merely a puppet version. After all, we still don't fully understand what the Rinnegan can do, do we?"
Orochimaru concluded, "In other words, the Akatsuki's so-called leader is just a puppet—the true mastermind is Uchiha Madara."
Tōshirō nodded. "That's quite possible."
Orochimaru laughed excitedly. "This is getting more and more fascinating!"
"Whatever the old man's scheming, soldiers will block and water will cover—it's strength that best defends against conspiracies."
"Understood. I'll begin extracting the Zetsu cells and inject them into your body immediately. The sooner we can awaken your Rinnegan, the better."
"I'll leave it to you."
Orochimaru worked quickly. In less than an afternoon, he had extracted the White Zetsu cells, tested them for safety, and injected them into Tōshirō's body.
"How do you feel?" Orochimaru asked.
Tōshirō clenched his fist. "Not bad."
After the injection, he could feel his chakra increase, and as he expected, the strain of using his Mangekyō Sharingan had noticeably decreased.
However, he couldn't use Wood Release—after all, unlike Obito, he didn't have half a body made of White Zetsu.
Orochimaru frowned, dissatisfied. "Did something go wrong? Your eyes don't seem to have changed."
Tōshirō wasn't worried. "It probably still needs a certain condition."
"What kind of condition?"
"That, I'm not sure. Maybe time—or something else. In any case, we'll take it slowly. Haste makes waste."
Orochimaru nodded.
Then Tōshirō suddenly asked, "Orochimaru, can you modify the corpses revived by Edo Tensei?"
In the original accounts, Kabuto had perfected such a method—Madara, when revived, could use Wood Release freely, his power nearly matching Hashirama's.
"What do you mean?"
Tōshirō shared his idea.
"In theory, it's possible," Orochimaru mused, "but it would consume an enormous amount of Hashirama cells. Is it worth it? Edo Tensei bodies are weaker anyway—even with Wood Release, the power wouldn't be impressive."
Tōshirō shook his head. "That's only the first step."
Orochimaru froze. "There's more?"
In the records, when Madara was fully resurrected, his chest still bore Hashirama's face pattern—clearly, he retained Wood Release.
Tōshirō wanted the same result—though without that ugly face pattern; it ruined the aesthetics.
He would first allow the Edo Tensei version of Tsunade to use Wood Release—then use the Dragon Blood Rebirth Technique to bring her back to life for real.
That way, the revived Tsunade should theoretically be able to use Wood Release.
Orochimaru was astonished by Tōshirō's audacity and creativity. "Tōshirō-kun, you never cease to amaze me."
◎
Itachi stood at the edge of a cliff. He had to admit, the man had chosen a fitting place.
It was here that his closest friend had entrusted his eyes to him. And now, he was about to do something very similar—a kind of inheritance, in its own way.
Tōshirō, who had been waiting for some time, saw Itachi approach and said bluntly, "So—tell me your answer."
Itachi took a deep breath, stepped forward, and pulled out a container he had long prepared. Inside was Shisui's eye, preserved in a special solution.
Tōshirō narrowed his eyes, waiting for Itachi's next words.
"This is Shisui's eye."
After saying so, Itachi handed the container to him.
Tōshirō smiled and accepted Shisui's eye.
Everything was ready. The next step was to find Sarutobi Asuma—who was serving among the Guardian Twelve Ninja of the Fire Daimyō—and use Kotoamatsukami on him, commanding him to slaughter the entire Sarutobi clan.
Oh—and he'd spare one child: Konohamaru, who knew nothing.
Yes, exactly as the elders once ordered Itachi to do.
In a way, it was poetic—a perfect tribute.
Heh heh…
There could be no more fitting revenge than this.
End of Chapter)
────────────────────────────────────
"If you want early access to nearly 60+ chapters, join my patreon:- patreon.com/BaDwYGaMeR"