Jie did not need to worry about Orochimaru. The man knew better than anyone how to keep himself alive.
When Jie found him, Orochimaru was standing before an experiment table, holding a test tube and quietly recording his results.
"Kabuto, record this. Experiment number 782. Hashirama Senju's cells have shown a 38% drop in devouring ability, and the energy contained within the cells has decreased by 50%."
After destroying the failed sample, Orochimaru was about to begin the next experiment when he finally noticed Jie standing behind him.
Jie glanced at the packed experiment table. As expected of Orochimaru. When it came to research, no one in the ninja world could match him.
"Jie, you came at the perfect time." Orochimaru's eyes lit up. "After five years, the research on Hashirama's cells has finally produced some results."
He picked up a record sheet and continued, "This was an accidental discovery from experiment 678. Hashirama Senju's cells seem to react strangely with the Sharingan. When a Sharingan is soaked in a solution made from his cells, it remains active much longer than normal."
"I originally thought the Sharingan's Yin Release and Hashirama's Yang Release would only suppress each other. That was why I used that balance when creating Danzo's arm."
Orochimaru looked through the experiment records, his interest only growing.
"But I never expected the powers of two clans that had fought since the Warring States Period to complement each other instead."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Fascinating."
Jie was not surprised. After Shisui and Danzo died, he had given Danzo's corpse to Orochimaru, along with the few decayed Sharingan Shisui had dug out from the ancestral graves.
Those eyes were too damaged to transplant and could only be used for research. He had not expected Orochimaru to actually find something useful from them.
Of course, what shocked Orochimaru was already common knowledge to Jie.
After giving him a brief word of praise, Jie asked, "Orochimaru, how is the method I asked you to research? Can ordinary ninja transplant Hashirama's cells yet?"
Orochimaru's excitement faded at the question, and his expression settled back into its usual calm focus.
"It is not complete yet, but I have made some progress. The problem is that making the cells safe for ordinary ninja weakens them even further. If the effect is reduced that much, continuing in that direction may not be worth it."
Orochimaru had never forgotten Jie's order. He simply did not understand what Jie wanted from this research.
Jie did not explain. He only paused for a moment before saying, "This time, I brought you something else to study. It may be the most valuable specimen in the entire ninja world."
He took a sealing scroll from his ninja tool pouch and released the seal.
As the seal opened, a still-active Rinnegan appeared before Orochimaru.
Orochimaru fell silent for a moment.
"This… is the Rinnegan?"
His gaze stayed fixed on the eye, and his voice grew quieter.
"The legendary eye of the Sage of Six Paths. I thought your report only said you defeated Akatsuki's leader. I didn't expect you to bring back the Rinnegan itself."
Even Orochimaru found it hard to look away from a still-active Rinnegan. He clearly wanted to start studying it at once, but the Rinnegan was not the main reason Jie had come.
The real prize was the Gedo Statue's arm outside.
Jie remembered that Obito Uchiha had once used the Gedo Statue and Hashirama Senju's cells to mass-produce White Zetsu. There was no reason he could not try the same.
White Zetsu did not matter much to Jie, but they were exactly the kind of thing Orochimaru needed... stable bodies for experiments and spare tissue for injuries.
A severed arm or leg could be replaced with White Zetsu tissue almost as if it were the original. If Orochimaru could learn how to make them, Konoha would benefit too.
On top of that, the Gedo Statue was the husk of the Ten-Tails. Jie wanted to know whether it had other uses beyond prolonging life.
After Jie explained what he knew, Orochimaru's attention shifted from the Rinnegan to the severed arm.
The Rinnegan could satisfy his curiosity, but the Gedo Statue could push his experiments much further.
After assigning both tasks, Jie left Orochimaru to his work. He then took Izumi to the Hyuga clan and returned Ao's Byakugan as well.
With that, the last matter was finally settled.
Jie and Izumi walked through Konoha's streets. Seeing the villagers smiling as they passed, Izumi felt a quiet sense of pride. Konoha's peace today was thanks in large part to the man beside her.
"Jie, do you have any plans after this?" Izumi asked softly.
She knew he could not always stay by her side while carrying the duties of Hokage, but she still hoped he could spend a few more days in the village.
Jie understood what she meant. He looked at her and said, "I should be staying in the village for a while. Those three are almost ready. Once I teach them a few final things, they can start taking missions on their own."
Then he added, "After that, we can travel around the ninja world together. Just the two of us."
Izumi's eyes brightened slightly.
Just the two of them.
That was enough to make her look forward to it.
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