"Isn't this a little inappropriate?"
Senju Hashirama, who had been "invited" over, wore a deeply conflicted expression.
That's right—Tobirama had no intention of "acting first and reporting later" by secretly reanimating Madara behind his brother's back.
Because Tobirama knew full well that doing so would be meaningless.
Even if he could hide it for now, it would be exposed sooner or later.
And if his older brother wanted to protect Madara then, he would still protect him.
So it was better to make everything clear from the start.
—Or better yet, drag his big brother into it too!
"Brother, don't you want to mess with Madara a little too? I can refrain from interfering the entire time and hand full control of Madara over to you."
Tobirama began darkly tempting his brother, Senju Hashirama.
And sure enough—
The moment he put it that way, Hashirama's previously "righteous" heart began to waver!
His objection had only been because he was worried Tobirama's long-standing hostility toward Madara would lead him to do something outrageous, like forcing Madara to work in the pleasure district.
But now Tobirama was promising not to intervene at all and to hand Madara's "usage rights" over to him, and suddenly Hashirama had thoughts.
If that were the case, then if he were the one messing with Madara, he would definitely show more restraint than Tobirama.
'No, wait. That wasn't it!'
Hashirama hurriedly shook the evil thoughts out of his head.
He was supposed to use this opportunity to properly talk things through with Madara—to use some serious talk-no-jutsu and try to change Madara's mind about the Infinite Tsukuyomi, making him believe in the wisdom of future generations!
"Kehehe."
Hashirama let out a strange laugh that made everyone's skin crawl.
—Was that really the kind of sound a heroic figure was supposed to make?
While the group was discussing the matter of reanimating Madara, Makoto arrived.
Makoto was here to collect materials.
Now that he had Gold Experience, all he needed were the corresponding cells cultivated by Orochimaru, plus the target of the Impure World Reincarnation, and he could perfectly revive the corresponding shinobi.
Right now, Makoto had come to collect some of the cells he had reserved in advance.
He didn't necessarily need to bring everyone back to life immediately, but he could at least prepare the materials first.
After all, in terms of combat power, in most cases, being fully revived actually wasn't as useful as staying in an Impure World Reincarnation body with infinite regeneration and infinite chakra.
"Here."
Orochimaru handed Makoto a sealing scroll.
"Wait a second. Don't any of you think there's something wrong with this?"
After his gaze moved between the two of them for a while, Hashirama finally couldn't hold back anymore.
"What's wrong with it?" Orochimaru asked casually.
If that question had come from Tobirama, Orochimaru would have taken it more seriously.
But since it was the First Hokage asking, it didn't matter much.
"Using ninjutsu to break through the boundary between life and death—so far, that sounds like a good thing, and I don't see any cost involved, but... if this is left unrestricted, then the shinobi world won't really have the concept of death anymore. Won't the population just keep increasing?"
Hashirama raised a hypothetical concern.
Mainly because the research projects being carried out by Orochimaru and his younger brother Tobirama were simply too incredible.
Unlike ordinary ninjutsu, which required specific talent, these scientific techniques had universal applicability.
Once developed, that meant the principles behind them had been understood, which meant they could be copied and used endlessly.
What once required the Rinnegan and the sacrifice of a life to achieve resurrection had now become something that could be done almost casually.
"Brother does have a point. This is different from Impure World Reincarnation. Reanimated bodies don't need food or drink and don't consume resources, but revived people are another matter."
For once, Tobirama actually found himself agreeing with his brother.
"Don't worry. It won't be widely implemented for now." Makoto waved his hand dismissively.
Come on—if he really started reviving people on a large scale, then sooner or later, he'd have to switch careers and become a full-time sculptor of human bodies!
As for the point about resurrection increasing the population and straining resources, Makoto didn't refute it.
Instead, it reminded him of that purple guy who wanted to wipe out half of all life with a snap.
The biggest flaw in that kind of thinking was the same as those people who thought a single loaf of bread in the apocalypse could buy them a beauty—they didn't treat life itself as a resource.
That purple guy snaps his fingers, and half of all life disappears.
"Hiss, hiss."
A small snake slipped into Orochimaru's sleeve.
"Please wait a moment, everyone. Someone is looking for me... hm, it's Sasuke-kun. He brought the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki and Hatake Kakashi as well."
A few minutes later—
Orochimaru received the group and learned why they had come.
"Using Impure World Reincarnation to bring back Uchiha Obito's grandmother, Uchiha Mika, is not particularly difficult. The problem is..."
As he spoke, Orochimaru turned to glance at Makoto, who was sitting nearby as an observer and spectator.
"I refuse."
Makoto's expression changed immediately.
He understood exactly what Orochimaru meant by that look.
He had no desire to "share blessings" with Kakashi—especially not that kind of blessing!
So he refused on the spot.
"In that case, there's no helping it. I can only use Mika's cells to cultivate substitute components and a few necessary structures, then implant them to barely simulate the condition of a revived body, But you should understand that an Impure World Reincarnation body has no physical sensation." Orochimaru spoke earnestly.
Kakashi had no choice.
Since he was already acting, he had to commit to the bit all the way through.
His current persona was someone whose long-lost first love had been Obito's grandmother.
He couldn't very well say he didn't need any of that.
There was no such thing as purely platonic love in the shinobi world.
If something could be done, then it would be done.
"It's fine. That's enough, I not only like older women—I specifically like the unresponsive kind, the expressionless kind, the ones who look at me with disdain, the sleeping kind, and the dead kind!" (Wtf)
Kakashi spoke slowly in a calm, emotionless tone.
His reputation had already hit rock bottom anyway.
Adding a few more labels made no damn difference now.
Naruto and Sasuke had already retreated into a corner, trembling.
'Kakashi-sensei was way too deranged!'
So deranged, in fact, that even they were struggling to handle it!
Only Orochimaru remained calm, as though this were all perfectly ordinary.
"Sasuke-kun, you should understand what your next objective is. So if you want me to help with reanimating Uchiha Mika, then you'll need to help me accomplish one thing as well."
Orochimaru suddenly turned his gaze toward Sasuke and Naruto.
"What objective?"
Naruto didn't immediately understand what Orochimaru was referring to.
After all, back in the Land of Waves, that discussion had mostly been directed at Sasuke.
As a largely unrelated bystander, Naruto remembering that such a thing had even been mentioned at all was already pretty impressive.
"What thing?" Sasuke asked.
"I want the two of you, for the time being, to avoid achieving complete mutual understanding and reconciliation."
Orochimaru stated his goal.
"Why?"
Naruto immediately jumped to his feet.
"The Rinnegan depends on the fusion of the chakras of Indra's and Asura's reincarnations, drawing out the power of the Sage of Six Paths.
It was precisely because the Sage's two sons, Indra and Asura, remained entangled in conflict with one another that their reincarnations continued over and over again.
In other words, once the brothers are completely reconciled, then Indra's chakra and Asura's chakra will also return to a calm state and will no longer continue reincarnating in conflict."
Orochimaru explained in detail.
"Wouldn't returning to calm be a good thing?"
Naruto still failed to grasp the main point.
Sasuke, on the other hand, had already understood.
For the shinobi world to continue producing a steady source of Rinnegan power, Asura's and Indra's chakras had to remain entangled.