The more Shinji thought about it, the more feasible this plan seemed. Whether it was awakening the Rinnegan or sealing the Ten-Tails—even an underdeveloped small Ten-Tails—it was an extremely risky endeavor. Not just anyone could handle it.
In the original timeline, Obito had already proven that he possessed the capability to drive the Rinnegan and seal the Ten-Tails.
In other words, Obito was one of the rare shinobi in the current world with the potential to advance to Six Paths Level!
This was only natural.
Obito's stubborn, extreme personality made it easy for him to generate reckless determination. Combined with the Uchiha lineage, it wasn't surprising that he could pull off such feats.
Moreover, if the plan succeeded, Shinji would not only gain a new sacrifice but also a brand-new pair of Rinnegan.
As for whether this method was too sinister or cruel, Shinji didn't care much. Obito's hands were covered in countless blood debts; planning and participating in the massacre of the Uchiha clan alone was enough to justify killing him ten times over.
If the price of Shinji becoming stronger was Obito's life, then for Shinji—as an Uchiha—there was not a single shred of psychological burden.
"But how to operate it?"
Shinji frowned slightly.
Whether it was opening the Rinnegan or sealing the Ten-Tails to strike for the Six Paths Level, what was required was ultimate willpower!
Simply treating Obito as a puppet and controlling him with genjutsu or other means would make it very difficult for him to advance to Six Paths Level. He had to exercise his own subjective initiative and use his own will to push through, only then would it be possible to overcome the challenges of opening the Rinnegan and sealing the Ten-Tails.
This was the difficulty!
Obito had been used successively by Uchiha Madara and Black Zetsu. By now, he should have realized it and become completely disheartened. Using him again would be difficult.
With a thought, Shinji turned and went to the cell where White Zetsu was held.
"Leader!"
Seeing Shinji, White Zetsu was exceptionally respectful.
After scrutinizing the White Zetsu before him, Shinji confirmed he was the original body.
Indeed, while White Zetsu had thousands of clones, there was actually only one original body!
Walking up to White Zetsu, Shinji reached out a hand, pressed it onto White Zetsu's head, and activated the Rinnegan's ability to extract souls.
White Zetsu wailed while pleading piteously: "Please spare me!"
After violently reading White Zetsu's memories and confirming there were no hidden risks, Shinji deactivated the dojutsu and released White Zetsu's partially extracted soul.
White Zetsu was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but the moment his eyes met Shinji's, he froze instantly.
Shinji had activated Kotoamatsukami on White Zetsu, twisting his will.
If there was anyone Obito still trusted right now, it was probably only White Zetsu.
Precisely because of this, Shinji had to target White Zetsu. He would have White Zetsu act as his mole, temporarily playing the role Black Zetsu previously held, to help and guide Obito to ascend to the Six Paths Level.
However, because of the precedent with Black Zetsu, if Shinji did anything physical to White Zetsu or parasitic power, it would be easily detected by Obito. Only Kotoamatsukami's distortion of the will leaves no traces once the jutsu is complete.
After planting this mole, Shinji began to formulate the entire plan.
The next day, Obito was led out of his cell.
Because his eyes had been plucked out, Obito had lost his sight. He could only learn through the idle chatter of the lab personnel that he was about to face a human experiment.
Upon being brought to the laboratory, screams reached his ears.
"That's... White Zetsu's voice? He's in the laboratory too!"
Obito's heart skipped a beat.
...
The piercing screams continued to ring in his ears. Even without sight, he could guess that White Zetsu was likely undergoing unimaginable pain.
He was long used to human experimentation.
Back when he was in the Akatsuki, he had seen the experiments conducted by Moryo and those by Hiruko. He had even performed some himself.
Therefore, he knew exactly what kind of cruel treatment an experimental subject would face!
"Damn it!"
Cruel as he was, even he couldn't help but feel a trace of fear at this moment.
...
Sixth Ring World.
Shinji was participating in a meeting hosted by Arcane. Also attending were Glory Alice, Greedy Wolf Hengo, and the old warrior—several Lampbearers involved in the plan.
On the stage, Arcane was describing the progress of the Plague Hegemon's invasion of the Sixth Ring World over this period.
Shinji, who wasn't very interested in the details, let his mind wander, secretly pondering the three paths to increasing his strength.
The first path was being pushed forward, and the second was a last resort. So, he was mulling over the third path.
Using Susanoo Tomoshibi to drive high-level dojutsu Bloodline Limits was actually his fastest way to increase strength currently.
However, the conditions were also very demanding.
For the current him, the eyes that could still be called "high-level dojutsu Bloodline Limits" were few and far between.
In the Rinnegan lineage, including various sub-categories like the Sharingan, the boost to his pupil power was already very limited. Unless it was Otsutsuki Urashiki's pair of blue Rinnegan or Otsutsuki Momoshiki's golden Rinnegan.
These two pairs of Rinnegan clearly possessed chakra attributes different from Shinji's, so driving them might still significantly increase his pupil power.
Aside from those, the only ones Shinji could think of were Eida's Senrigan and the Jougan awakened by Boruto in the original timeline.
Eida was already under Shinji's control; if there was a need, he could take her Senrigan at any time. But Shinji didn't know what to do about the Jougan.
"I can't exactly wait for Naruto and Hinata to give birth to Boruto..."
He gave a helpless, self-deprecating laugh in his heart.
Self-deprecation aside, he still carefully thought about the possibility of creating a Jougan.
In the original timeline, Boruto, who awakened the Jougan, possessed the bloodlines of both the Uzumaki and Hyuga clans. Waiting for Boruto to be born was obviously too late, but Shinji could try injecting Hinata's genes into Naruto's body. In a way, this would be a roundabout way of creating a "Boruto."
Furthermore, it was hard to say whether Momoshiki's parasitism had any positive promoting effect on Boruto's awakening of the Jougan.
At this point, Arcane on the stage said: "The above are the changes in the various polluted zones over the past month."
Glory Alice asked: "Are there any traces of invasion from the Propagation Hegemon?"
The other Lampbearers, including Shinji, all turned solemn upon hearing Alice's question.
Arcane shook his head: "No traces of the Propagation Hegemon's invasion have been found for the time being."
Greedy Wolf Hengo said: "It's been one or two months since 'T33' was destroyed. Why hasn't there been any movement? Could it be... our plan failed?"
Suddenly, a mage burst into the conference room and reported to Arcane: "We just received a plea for help from the Knowledge Tower. They have come under attack by unknown creatures!"