Chapter 255: Progress...

One day later, in Konoha, at the laboratory...

After about two days of Wind Release training—and while Link was in the middle of tackling Wind Release: Cast Net—he got an urgent call to the lab to assist with Orochimaru, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and Namikaze Minato's experiments.

First, he demonstrated Edo Tensei. Right afterward, Orochimaru—like someone cranking his "purple mood" to the max—crowded around the face of the newly-reanimated child with a freakish grin and an excited gleam in his eyes, until Minato pulled him away.

It left Link feeling slightly insecure: had he really resurrected an Anbu member, or had he just helped Orochimaru adjust his "toy's" settings?

"Once more!"

After calming down, Orochimaru tapped at the keyboard for a while, still wearing a few lingering traces of that mania on his face.

He did want to sidle up to Link and pepper him with questions, but alas, the Third and Fourth Hokage stood between them, and Sasuke plus Utakata wouldn't leave Link's side. The slightest suspicious move from Orochimaru, and Link would be whisked away by Flying Thunder God. Then, with the Four Symbols Seal that Minato had placed on him yesterday, Orochimaru would find himself beset by four Kage-level fighters. And in a few seconds, the First Hokage and Tsunade would arrive from outside.

He was still a prisoner, after all. Konoha worried about his potential schemes, so they had maxed out their security measures.

Link hesitated before, after seeing the nods from the Third and Fourth Hokage (the "supervisors"), saying, "We hardly have anyone left who needs reanimation, so we need to accelerate the experiments as much as possible."

Before, they'd gone too crazy. Konoha had effectively mass-produced black sludge from a conveyor belt of the dying, but with Utakata' support, Link had already resurrected most of those who both needed it and were actually possible to resurrect.

They also had to worry about leaks of information, so low-ranked ninja weren't queued for reanimation. The clans needed secrecy as well—Senju Tobirama would have wanted to install surveillance cameras in every clan compound, so there was no chance they'd allow the earlier resurrection of each clan's forebears.

"It's all about your position," Link thought. Even though he was Nara Shikaku's student, he was firmly in the Hokage faction. With Tobirama's reanimation, then disappearance, still a secret, he could only keep his mouth shut. The dozens reanimated afterward were largely the Hokage faction's core members and relatives. Their secret was still holding. Yesterday, the Hokage had quickly finished reviving the entire list of people they'd planned on bringing back.

The newly resurrected Anbu just now were among the top of the backup list—people who required extra surveillance once revived.

Tobirama had left a contingency plan: if there was no threat to the village, avoid reanimating too many from the backup list or from the clans. And if he should go missing, do not resurrect anyone outside of the named list.

Attitude-wise, this Second Hokage might seem to support using the secret technique of resurrection, but in actual practice, he strictly limited it. He'd even had a personal discussion with Link, emphasizing that unrestrained abuse of reanimation would lead to huge troubles in the future:

A miracle transcending life and death should not turn into a casual desecration of both.

Rather curious, isn't it? The master of forbidden jutsu himself demanded that it be restricted, officially labeled as forbidden.

"It's simple," Orochimaru said eagerly, reciting a string of codes. "They can contact some of my dead subordinates, so you could resurrect them, kill them, and then—"

"Shut up." Link shot him a cold look, cutting him off.

Standing nearby, the Third and Fourth Hokage didn't say a word.

While Tsunade was officially the Fifth Hokage, the actual core here remained this remarkable young man. But he was a "good kid," polite to his elders and willing to respect everyone's opinions. So if he really made a choice, nobody would oppose him—whether the decision was right or wrong.

Being a ninja always weighed upon nearly every Konoha shinobi's heart, impossible to excise. Rather like in another world: it's easy to cut a queue of hair from your head, but hard to free yourself from the queue in your mind.

Even Hatake Kakashi, who loathed the shinobi profession the most, mainly resisted the code through lip service and half-hearted subversion.

Link merely shook his head inwardly. He wasn't about to change anything now; whatever worked out in his favor—why not?

"Awfully gentle of you," Orochimaru said cheerfully, unoffended by Link's scolding. "Even with my worthless ex-subordinates, you're willing to show a bit of compassion, Link-kun—"

"So let me ask: do you plan on continuing, or what?" Link held up his palm, scrutinizing the glowing Five Elements Unseal there like it was some priceless treasure.

Orochimaru sighed silently, then replied in a serious tone, "Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely we can unravel the core structure and runic logic of the technique. If we really want to find Lord Tobirama, the Second Hokage, we'll have to replicate how the jutsu was actually used."

Last night, he, Hiruzen, and Minato had basically pinned down the usage steps and the fundamental framework. Drawing the formula wasn't too big a problem, but the jutsu's structure and runic theory were extremely difficult. It was like cracking an entirely new language system. Without Tobirama's personal notes or Minato's knowledge of space-time ninjutsu, they likely wouldn't even grasp the technique's logic.

To push research further—besides observing Edo Tensei—they had to actually use this new jutsu and watch the whole formula in action. Initially, they could test it on small animals, Summons, or whatever, but since a person had gone missing, eventually they'd need a person to test it.

Hence, the new thorny issue: who would dare attempt an unknown, ultra-long-range teleport? And once someone was teleported, how would they come back? They barely understood the formula or runes, so using it would recreate Tobirama's situation—a pure disappearance.

Using death-row inmates might let them confirm the teleport's effects, but in the end, someone had to go over there, find Tobirama, and bring him back. And the biggest problem: they needed Link's chakra to activate the technique in the first place. Meaning that, on the far side, they'd need Link there as well.

Everything was unknown. They'd be risking Konoha's core and taking away three Hokage. That wasn't a trivial decision.

As for Link, he was quite eager for a new world and fresh adventures. The real snag was how they had zero intel. Dashing into another realm was basically suicide. If he ended up somewhere strange and couldn't Summon Rashōmon, then what? You can't expect a summoner to run a mission without his summons, can you?

"Continue the experiments," the Third Hokage said sternly. They would puzzle out the deeper questions later, after doing what was currently possible.

Orochimaru just gave a wry smile and said nothing. He was truly curious about Tobirama's new jutsu—and the chance to research resurrection secret arts was too tempting to pass up. Otherwise, he wouldn't have voluntarily consented to be sealed and obediently work for them under watch.

Whether they chose to proceed with full-on experimentation wasn't his problem.

~~~

Patreon(.)com/Bleam

— Currently You can Read 100 Chapters Ahead of Others!