Reviving Uchiha Madara

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"Hiss!"

At first, Orochimaru couldn't help but suck in a cold breath after hearing what Kaito had done. With a look of shock, he licked his lips and said, "I never expected that during this trip, you'd pull off such insane feats, Kaito. Unbelievable!"

He was starting to regret not tagging along.

"But... is Uchiha Madara still alive?"

Orochimaru was genuinely stunned.

Actually, it wasn't just him. Almost everyone present had the same reaction.

"About that… you'll learn more in due time. No need to dwell on it now," Kaito said casually, not bothering to explain Madara's situation in detail.

It was too much hassle. And honestly, it wasn't something they absolutely needed to know.

"By the way!"

Suddenly, an idea popped into Kaito's head. He turned to Orochimaru and asked, "There should still be some prisoners from other ninja villages in the camp, right?"

"Do we have any particularly nasty ones—those who've committed heinous crimes?"

He figured it was best to revive Uchiha Madara through Edo Tensei as soon as possible.

He didn't need to awaken the resurrected Madara yet, but pulling his soul back first would prevent Black Zetsu from making a move.

"Huh?"

Orochimaru was slightly taken aback but nodded. "We do have a few. But why are you asking about them?"

"I need one. As long as we have one, it's fine!"

Without further ado, Kaito stood up, placing a hand on Orochimaru's shoulder, and told everyone, "Orochimaru and I have something urgent to deal with. You guys discuss the situation with the Sand Village for now."

"We'll be back soon!"

With that, Kaito and Orochimaru vanished from the command tent, reappearing outside the prison in the camp.

— — —

"Could you help me pick one of the particularly nasty prisoners?" Kaito asked Orochimaru.

"Alright," Orochimaru replied, though he was still trying to process the sudden turn of events.

He signaled to the ninja guarding the prison and entered. Not long after, he came out with a rugged, sinister-looking middle-aged Iwa shinobi who was a Chūnin.

Orochimaru turned to Kaito and asked, "Here's your guy. Now what are you planning to do?"

"Not here," Kaito said, shaking his head. "Let's head to your lab!"

With a flash of his Sharingan, the Iwa shinobi was instantly hypnotized and completely under Kaito's control.

Placing a hand on Orochimaru's shoulder and another on the prisoner's, Kaito teleported them to Orochimaru's underground lab at the front-line camp.

Upon seeing the familiar surroundings, Orochimaru shook his head in resignation. "Sigh. It's like my base is practically a free-for-all for you. You come and go as you please!"

"This makes me feel so unsafe!"

Kaito glared at him and said, "What do you even need security for? You're under a contract with me. What am I gonna do to you?"

"Besides, you can teleport now too using Space-Time Gate."

"And soon, you can also learn the Flying Thunder God Technique!"

Kaito knew full well what Orochimaru had been up to. Ever since they signed their contract, Orochimaru had been obsessively teleporting back and forth between dimensions.

The reason was obvious: to speed up the development of his space-time talent.

Each cross-dimensional jump slightly boosted the contractor's space-time talent, and Orochimaru was milking it for all it was worth.

"Hehe! Just kidding," Orochimaru chuckled, then asked curiously, "So, what's the plan? Why bring this guy here? Don't tell me..."

Orochimaru's eyes widened as he began to piece things together, glancing at Kaito with a questioning look.

"Exactly what you're thinking," Kaito confirmed. "I'm going to Edo Tensei Uchiha Madara right now!"

"Better to get ahead of Black Zetsu before he starts causing trouble again."

With that, Kaito moved to the center of the lab and knelt down, placing both hands on the ground.

In an instant, countless runes flowed from his palms, forming a complex and mysterious sealing array on the ground.

"Hiss..."

Seeing the familiar formation, Orochimaru clicked his tongue. "As expected! I didn't think you had even mastered the Edo Tensei technique, Kaito!"

"I've always been interested in this jutsu. Mind teaching me?"

"Oh, and the Spirit Transformation technique too."

"Speaking of which, I'd actually struck a deal with Danzo before you killed him. I was supposed to help him with Wood Release experiments in exchange for the Spirit Transformation and other forbidden techniques like Izanagi!"

"But before we could even start, you went and killed him. Now I can't get my hands on them!"

"Wait, what?"

Kaito, who had just finished setting up the array, stood up and gave Orochimaru a confused look. "Didn't I already teach you the Life Force technique and its upgraded version, the Eternal Life techniques?"

"You can just use those if you want eternal life! Why do you even need Edo Tensei and the Spirit Transformation technique?"

"Especially the Spirit Transformation technique? It's so suspicious!!!"

"Don't tell me you're planning to go back to your old ways—like in the original timeline—researching the Eight-Headed Serpent technique and swapping bodies all the time?"

"Are you secretly a woman or something?"

"Or do you prefer being a woman?!"

Otherwise, there was no way to explain why Orochimaru, despite having better options, was still obsessed with these two outdated techniques.

Hearing this, Orochimaru's face turned dark as he exclaimed, "Of course not! What the hell are you even talking about?"

"While I'm not overly concerned about gender distinctions, I'm definitely a man, through and through!"

"As for my choices in the original timeline, I can understand them."

"But that doesn't mean I plan to repeat those decisions."

"The future me only took that path because he had no other options—it was a road of no return!"

"But now, as you said, I have better alternatives. Naturally, I'm not going to mess around with body-swapping and all that anymore!"

"Still, I think those two jutsus have a lot of research value."

"They can help me explore the nature and application of souls in greater depth."

"Plus, I'm pretty curious about resurrection techniques and want to study them as well!"

"You can understand that, right?"

For a researcher like Orochimaru, the allure of such forbidden techniques was irresistible, even if he didn't intend to use them for body-swapping.

After all, the Eight-Headed Serpent Technique wasn't just about body-swapping—it was a powerful life-saving ability too.

"Fair enough," Kaito nodded, raising his hand and tapping Orochimaru lightly on the forehead. "Since you're interested, I'll teach you my improved version of the Edo Tensei technique."

"Just be careful when you're practicing or researching it."

"Don't end up killing yourself!"

"As for the Spirit Transformation Technique, I haven't learned it yet. Once I return to the village and take over as the Fourth Hokage, I'll pass it on to you."

In the next instant, a stream of light shot from Kaito's fingertip, entering Orochimaru's forehead.

Orochimaru immediately felt a surge of knowledge and experience about the Edo Tensei technique flooding his mind.

"Thanks!"

He quickly expressed his gratitude to Kaito before closing his eyes to focus on absorbing the new information.

Meanwhile, Kaito moved the controlled Iwa shinobi to the center of the ritual array.

Clapping his hands together, he activated the Edo Tensei array.

The array began to glow as countless sheets of paper emerged from it, crawling up from the shinobi's feet and wrapping around his body.

"Ahhhhhh!!!"

The Iwa shinobi let out agonized screams as his body was consumed by the technique, and in his place appeared the towering, commanding figure of Uchiha Madara, exuding overwhelming presence.

Even Orochimaru, hearing the commotion, paused his study and opened his eyes to witness the process.

Soon, Kaito confirmed that Madara's soul had successfully entered the Edo Tensei body.

He breathed a sigh of relief, feeling fortunate. "Good thing Black Zetsu hasn't used Edo Tensei on Madara yet. That would've been a real headache!"

A fully revived Uchiha Madara in his prime with infinite chakra would've been an absolute nightmare to deal with.

However, Kaito didn't awaken Madara. Instead, he waved his hand, storing both Madara's soul and Edo Tensei body into the Space-Time Gate.

There, he created a small isolated space where time was frozen, effectively sealing Madara away for now.

Without Madara's soul, even Black Zetsu wouldn't be able to revive him.

"Wow, so this is the Edo Tensei technique. Amazing!" Orochimaru marveled. "But I bet Black Zetsu is going to be absolutely furious when he realizes you've summoned Madara's soul."

"Without Madara, reviving his mother, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, is going to be a lot harder!"

Of course, it wasn't completely impossible.

Madara's Rinnegan was still in the ninja world.

Black Zetsu could guide Uzumaki Nagato to wield it and collect the tailed beasts for the revival.

The results might not be as perfect as using Madara, but they wouldn't be too bad either.

Well, assuming he could even gather all the tailed beasts.

At least, the Nine-Tails was off the table.

The best he could do was use the Nine-Tails chakra within the Gold and Silver Brothers as a substitute.

"Isn't this better?" Kaito smiled. "Rather than letting him revive Madara to fight us and cause chaos?"

"Without Madara, things will be peaceful for a few years."

"At least, that's what Konoha needs right now—a few years of stability to grow stronger."

"True," Orochimaru nodded.

No war meant more time for him to research the things that interested him.

To Orochimaru, wasting time on a battlefield was a pointless drain on his life.

"Oh, right. What's your plan for Madara's Rinnegan?"

"Since the Uzumaki Clan survived thanks to your intervention, what's the deal with the Rinnegan? How did Madara arrange it?" Orochimaru suddenly asked.

After all, it was the Rinnegan!

He was very interested in the most exalted eye amongst the Three Great Dōjutsu.

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