Although they already knew that the sly Hiashi had likely hidden some key information, Takeshi and the others couldn't exactly fly over there to beat it out of him.
After all, their group was still wandering through Ōtsutsuki territory. Who knew whether that scheming little brat was secretly waiting for them to expose a weakness?
Besides, Takeshi only knew that in the movie timeline, Toneri ended up a lonely hermit after the Fourth Great Ninja War. Right now, Naruto was only just about to graduate. How many Ōtsutsuki actually existed on the moon, Takeshi had no clue.
More importantly—the moon housed the Tenseigan.
If that guy lost his temper and decided to fight them to the death, wouldn't that be a perfect opportunity for Isshiki to swoop in and laugh?
"Raku!"
Thinking of this, Takeshi decided to take the most cautious approach possible to solve the problem at hand.
...
Konohagakure.
Since the Third and Fifth Hokage were both absent, Sakumo, the Fourth Hokage, was forced to host the graduation ceremony of the Ninja Academy.
"This brat Takeshi really knows how to make trouble for me."
Watching the new generation of kids tie on their forehead protectors and officially become genin, Sakumo should have been happy.
But Takeshi had left him a very serious problem.
"Asuma will serve as the jōnin instructor for Team Ten, handling the new generation of 'Ino–Shika–Chō'—that's fine. But Team Seven..."
Sakumo sighed helplessly and turned toward Uchiha Itachi.
"Kakashi's still in the Land of Snow and hasn't returned yet. We can't just let Team Seven act without a jōnin leader, can we?"
Uchiha Itachi looked equally troubled, but he didn't know what to say.
The team assignments were set by the Hokage, and Takeshi had insisted that Kakashi lead Team Seven. What could a Hokage's student like him possibly say about that?
"Sigh..."
Seeing Itachi hesitate, Sakumo realized he couldn't decide either. He exhaled softly and resolved to appoint a temporary leader for Team Seven.
"Right... that sky-nin Obito brought back—how is he doing?"
After dealing with the Academy matters, Sakumo suddenly remembered Shinnō, who had been captured alive.
"He's been sent to Orochimaru-sama's research bureau. I suppose..."
Thinking of Orochimaru's methods, Itachi knew that man's fate wouldn't be pleasant.
And sure enough, Shinnō at that moment lay completely naked on an operating table, every chakra point that allowed energy to flow through his body sealed off, forced to endure Orochimaru's experiments.
"More than ten years since we last met, and you've ended up like this."
Orochimaru looked at the older, more worn face of Shinnō, and, unusually, found himself recalling the past.
Back then, he had harbored grand ambitions. Worried that Hiruzen wouldn't approve of his research, he had secretly contacted several of Konoha's enemies—among them, Shinnō.
The data on physical activation had, in fact, been leaked to him by Orochimaru himself.
Later, however, Orochimaru chose to change his ways, while Shinnō was noticed by Yōwan and ended up joining Ōnoki's camp.
"The person who performed these bodily modifications on you was truly impressive. This power even surpasses the vitality granted by Hashirama's cells."
Seeing that the gagged Shinnō refused to respond, Orochimaru didn't mind in the slightest. He simply continued speaking to himself.
"I heard the Internal Affairs Division couldn't extract any information about the Akatsuki Organization from you?"
Orochimaru operated the control panel. A mechanical arm guided a scalpel down to slice open Shinnō's abdomen.
Shinnō's eyes widened in shock. He tried to speak, but with his mouth bound, he couldn't even utter a muffled cry.
"I've heard about the division's methods—some of their techniques are leftovers from the old Root days. And to think you still managed to hold out."
Gazing at Shinnō's exposed organs, Orochimaru leaned in and took a slow, deliberate sniff, as if he could smell the difference from a normal ninja.
"Mmmph... mmmph..."
"It's fine if you don't want to talk. I'm not an interrogator anyway. My job... is to uncover the secrets of your body."
Orochimaru picked up another surgical tool.
"Mmmph! Mmmph! Mmmph!"
"Don't move. The forceps are right next to your intestines."
"MMMPH!!"
"The torture unit can be quite brutal. I'm starting to wonder if your pain receptors were modified too."
"Ugh..."
After collecting the biological samples he needed, Orochimaru watched, intrigued, as Shinnō's wound began to close.
Even with all his chakra sealed, the flesh still healed visibly fast.
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with fascination, utterly oblivious to the fact that Shinnō had already passed out from the pain.
Outside the lab, several Internal Affairs agents who had escorted Shinnō stood guard by the door.
Bored out of their minds, they started whispering among themselves.
"That Shinnō guy's really something—not a single word even now."
"No kidding. I used to work in Root, and I've never seen anyone maintain their sanity through those kinds of tortures."
"And even genjutsu couldn't extract the intel we wanted."
"True that. Hey, what's that in your hand?"
As they chatted, one of them noticed his comrade holding something strange.
"This? Oh, it's a sedative. One of the research staff gave it to me earlier. Said I should inject it into the subject before Orochimaru-sama begins the experiment."
"When does the experiment start?"
"How should I know? Orochimaru-sama didn't say anything."
The agent holding the anesthetic continued waiting foolishly for orders, unaware that Orochimaru had already locked the door and begun his experiment the moment Shinnō was wheeled in.