"Let's hear your conclusion," Uchiha Madara said.
"I suspect that on that night, Minato Namikaze used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to split the Nine-Tails into two halves. One half was sealed inside Uzumaki Naruto, and the other half was sealed within Minato's own soul," Zetsu explained.
"The Nine-Tails was split in two… and half of it still remains within Minato's soul?" Uchiha Obito was shocked by this revelation, but after thinking it over, he realized the theory made sense.
"Although Minato is dead, it's possible to cut open the Shinigami's stomach and use Edo Tensei to summon his soul back. If Minato's soul really holds half of the Nine-Tails, obtaining it would allow us to revive the Ten-Tails in a much more complete state…" Madara mused.
Reviving the Ten-Tails with just the chakra Naruto carries would result in an incomplete form, one prone to unpredictable variables that could disrupt their ultimate plan. But reviving it with half of the Nine-Tails would make the Ten-Tails far more stable, minimizing risks and keeping everything under their control.
"Whether Minato's soul contains half the Nine-Tails or not, we can only confirm it by summoning him back. Which means what we need now are three things: the method to cut open the Shinigami's stomach, Minato's corpse, and the forbidden technique—Edo Tensei," Obito said.
He hadn't seen Edo Tensei himself, but he knew it required human remains to perform.
"I know the details of Edo Tensei," Madara replied. "What we lack are Minato's body, and the method to cut open the Shinigami's stomach. When I left Konoha, I took many forbidden scrolls with me—including Edo Tensei. But the Dead Demon Consuming Seal was Minato's creation. By then, I had already left Konoha, so I don't know how to release its hold."
"I'll infiltrate Konoha and steal Minato's body," Obito volunteered.
Capturing the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki was difficult, but stealing a corpse was another matter. Konoha's protection of a body couldn't be too strict.
"No, Minato's corpse is no longer in Konoha—it's already fallen into Orochimaru's hands. He's been studying Edo Tensei. It's even possible Orochimaru has already cut open the Shinigami and revived Minato with Edo Tensei. What we need to do now is find Orochimaru," Zetsu corrected.
"Orochimaru… very well then. Search for him at all costs!" Madara ordered.
The next morning, refreshed after a night's rest, Uchiha Fugaku arrived at the Hokage's office.
"Lord Hokage, while you were away, we've sorted and categorized all the documents. They're stacked on your desk," Uzuki Yugao reported.
"Have there been any unusual disturbances across the shinobi world recently?" Fugaku asked.
Yugao blinked at the odd question but answered honestly. "No, none at all."
Fugaku silently confirmed his suspicions. He had asked to verify whether Akatsuki had already revived the Ten-Tails. With the Nine-Tails' chakra sealed inside Naruto, they had enough to attempt it. But such an event would cause chaos impossible to conceal. Since no disturbances had occurred, Akatsuki had not yet revived the Ten-Tails. Likely, Madara was avoiding the risk of reviving it in an unstable state.
"The most important thing now is making sure Naruto doesn't fall into Akatsuki's hands. Fortunately, that's not something I need to worry too much about," Fugaku thought as he sat down.
The Naruto living in Konoha wasn't the real one at all—it was a spore clone disguised as him. The real Naruto had already been secretly taken to Mount Myōboku. This not only protected him from capture but also allowed him to train in senjutsu and grow stronger.
After finishing paperwork, Fugaku went to a hidden chamber near the Naka Shrine. Inside, he unsealed several scrolls—each containing dozens of White Zetsu corpses.
"Let's see if I can really obtain Hashirama's complete physique, and awaken the Rinnegan," Fugaku muttered, eyes burning with determination.
His theory was that by fusing hundreds of White Zetsu bodies, he could refine a perfect Hashirama-like constitution and gain the ultimate Asura lineage. He already bore Indra's bloodline in its purest form; if the two merged, his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan should evolve into the Rinnegan.
But it was still just a theory. Perhaps the Zetsu corpses weren't enough. Perhaps true Rinnegan required the chakra of Indra's and Asura's reincarnations—not just their pure bloodlines.
"Unseal!"
Fugaku pressed his hand to a scroll, releasing over a hundred corpses into the chamber.
"Corpse Refinement!"
A black vortex opened, pulling the corpses inside. From his left eye oozed a strange organic substance—not cells, but a bloodline-rich tissue—that spread through his body, triggering subtle but profound cellular and genetic changes. His body burned as though fevered.
When the first five corpses were consumed, the burning faded. The changes were small, so he fed in more. Again and again, until his eyes ached from exhaustion.
"Thirty corpses in total… let's see if the results show."
He weaved hand signs. "Wood Release: Tree Wall Barrier!"
Vines erupted from the ground, interweaving into a massive wooden wall.
"It's working," he nodded, satisfied. He had gained strength in Wood Release—proof his Hashirama cells were growing stronger. His chakra reserves had also swelled, approaching Hashirama's legendary levels.
"I've refined half of the Zetsu corpses. When I finish the rest, will I finally obtain the complete physique of Hashirama Senju?" he wondered. If not, he would need more bodies.
But just as he returned to the Hokage's office one day, sorting through documents as usual, Uzuki Yugao burst in.
"Lord Hokage—something has happened!"