Seeing that only Yakushi Kabuto was in the research institute, the Shadow Clone was quite surprised.
"Is Orochimaru not here?"
Hearing the voice, Yakushi Kabuto set down his tweezers with a steady hand before turning around.
He pushed up his glasses, a humble smile appearing on his face.
"Yes, Lord Naruto."
He replied respectfully, "Lord Orochimaru has just broken through to a new stage and happens to want to experience his new body. He has gone to catch up with Lady Tsunade and Jiraiya."
"That is only natural."
The Shadow Clone nodded, accepting this explanation naturally, and then took out two scrolls.
"Here, this is the blood the Main Body asked me to bring. The one with the label is Uchiha blood, and the one without a label is the Main Body's blood."
"Thank you very much, Lord Naruto."
After Yakushi Kabuto solemnly took the scrolls, he pressed them tightly against his chest.
"Please rest assured, as soon as Lord Orochimaru returns, I will definitely hand these two items to him immediately. I guarantee their safety with my life."
The Shadow Clone waved his hand. "Oh! Then I'm off!"
He then went next door to Tobirama's place.
The Second Hokage looked a bit dissatisfied at the arrival of the Shadow Clone.
"Can't your Main Body come over himself once in a while?"
"The Main Body can come over at any time if needed; after all, even the Flying Thunder God Mark of a Clone can be used by the Main Body."
The Shadow Clone didn't lose his temper at the Second Hokage's dissatisfaction.
He really didn't know why the Main Body liked hanging out with a group of girls so much. Wasn't playing with Da Huang better?
The Shadow Clone was even planning to discuss teaching Da Huang how to speak human language with the Main Body the next time he came out.
Language learning must start from when they are puppies to be effective.
"Alright, Orochimaru and I have a plan. Come with me and take a look."
The Second Hokage led the Shadow Clone to the entrance of a staircase leading downwards.
"You might be in for a big surprise."
The Shadow Clone nodded and followed the Second Hokage down.
Below were several tall incubation pods.
Teenage versions of Uzumaki Kushina, Minato Namikaze, Hashirama Senju, Senju Tobirama, Uzumaki Mito, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Orochimaru, Tsunade, and several people the Shadow Clone didn't recognize were all inside the incubation pods.
The Shadow Clone raised an eyebrow.
"You guys... you've cloned so many people, but isn't this speed a bit too fast?"
"These Clones are not yet perfect; they can only be considered semi-finished products."
The Second Hokage began to introduce them to the Shadow Clone.
When Tobirama told the Shadow Clone about their idea of achieving immortality through Clones and Living Corpse Reincarnation, the Shadow Clone's eyes lit up.
"That's actually possible?"
"Yes, that fellow Orochimaru calls White Zetsu has Big Brother's cells in his body, so it's very easy to have Big Brother use Wood Release to stimulate its rapid growth."
"The First Hokage actually agreed to this?"
"Big Brother and Sister-in-law asked Little Tsunade if she had any plans to start a family. Little Tsunade said her lover was already dead, and Big Brother was originally going to give up.
At that time, Orochimaru suggested that Kato Dan could be resurrected.
After being resurrected this time, Big Brother isn't as obsessed with the Village as before. He only agreed to help after Sister-in-law persuaded him."
"Does that include these Clones?"
The Second Hokage smiled.
"Future battles will still require Big Brother's strength, so he must possess at least eighty percent of his peak combat power after resurrection.
Although the details regarding the Ōtsutsuki weren't explained to him in detail, Big Brother didn't ask much either."
It wasn't that the Second Hokage didn't want to tell the First, but mainly that he didn't know much either; the person who truly knew was still keeping it from them.
"These Clones do not have White Zetsu components in them. We used a method similar to the rapid cell division of Medical Ninjutsu to make them grow quickly.
Therefore, their lifespans are very short. They are only for research use; they can only be truly put into practical use after gradual improvements later on.
White Zetsu is something used to improve Edo Tensei. When the time comes, it might even be possible to refine Edo Tensei into a true resurrection technique."
"What a crazy idea."
The Shadow Clone couldn't help but marvel.
Life and death are things no one can avoid, yet Orochimaru and Tobirama actually wanted to reverse life and death!
"With Living Corpse Reincarnation, the body needs to be changed every so often, but these bodies are all cultivated from the original person's cells. Since you've intentionally controlled these bodies so they haven't developed consciousness,
Is there a possibility that we could improve the Spirit Transformation Jutsu to allow Souls summoned by Edo Tensei to leave their Edo Tensei bodies and enter these vessels through a 'homecoming' method?"
Naruto had previously thought about forming a Soul army using Edo Tensei plus the Spirit Transformation Jutsu, but he was currently stuck at the step of learning the Spirit Transformation Jutsu.
"An interesting perspective."
Tobirama commented, his tone carrying a hint of interest in discussing the feasibility.
"Regardless of whether it ultimately succeeds, this line of thought is worth experimenting with. A 'targeted return' of Soul and body... perhaps it could reduce the risks of Living Corpse Reincarnation, or even find a new path for Edo Tensei.
Later, when that boy named Kato Dan is 'resurrected,' we can have him assist with the testing.
He was skilled in the Spirit Transformation Jutsu during his lifetime, making him very suitable for participating in this research."
It was true that the Second Hokage had created many forbidden techniques, but that didn't mean he had the time to learn every single forbidden technique.
Furthermore, the Spirit Transformation Jutsu was not created before his era; he only learned of it by using a Shadow Clone to check Konoha's records after his resurrection.
The Spirit Transformation Jutsu is not only dangerous but also has a high learning difficulty. Most people, let alone Soul Emergence, find it difficult even to perceive the existence of their own Soul.
Ninjutsu is constantly evolving; being ancient doesn't mean it's powerful. Perhaps it's just that the user's stats were so strong they could simply brute-force everything.
The Clone Jutsu has been passed down since ancient times, but the Shadow Clone was a technique developed by the Second Hokage.
In every aspect, the Shadow Clone completely outclasses the Clone Jutsu.
The same goes for Sealing Jutsu; the sealing strength of the Four Symbols Seal is inferior to the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style improved by the Fourth Hokage.
The Second Hokage continued forward with the Shadow Clone while introducing everything.
When the two arrived at a new room, the Shadow Clone was stunned.
Because this place, like the outside, had incubation pods.
Three of the incubation pods were empty, while two remained.
Inside were Orochimaru and Tobirama.
"What is this?"
"As you can see, relatively complete 'finished product' vessels. However, because I am in an Edo Tensei state, I don't need to eat or rest, and my body can repair itself automatically, so there's currently no need for a replacement."
Tobirama pointed to that male Clone.
"As for Orochimaru, the body she was previously using for Living Corpse Reincarnation was approaching its limit.
And with current cultivation technology, female Clone bodies develop relatively faster and have slightly higher stability, so she chose to use that one first.
This male body is still being cultivated."
"Then, what about the other two?"
"Orochimaru took them."
"Took them?"
"Yes, supposedly he wants to take on an apprentice."
The Shadow Clone thought about it but still couldn't figure out who Orochimaru could have taken an interest in, so he simply stopped thinking about it.