More than ten minutes later.
Orochimaru finished Obito's Sharingan transplant operation, then left the lab with Minato.
"How long will he take to recover?"
"That kid has a considerable amount of Hashirama cells in his body, so his healing speed is incredibly fast. Coupled with medical ninjutsu, he should recover in about half an hour."
Orochimaru's research on Hashirama cells was quite advanced, and after all this time, he almost knew Obito's body better than his own.
He even knew Obito's sensitive spots, let alone mere healing speed.
Minato nodded: "That's good then. Once he's recovered, let Obito and Rin meet. Then we can start the mission."
"By the way, are you really sure about letting him move freely? After regaining a pair of Mangekyou Sharingan, that kid's power is immense. In the entire village, besides you, perhaps no one can defeat him in a one-on-one fight."
Orochimaru still had some concerns. The more he understood the great power of dual Kamui, the more he feared the terrifying strength of this Mangekyou.
"Are you not confident you can win?"
"It depends on the situation. If I'm alone, I'm indeed not his match."
Orochimaru was very honest.
If alone, he truly couldn't defeat dual Kamui Obito.
But if his Edo Tensei army was full, his Jinchuriki army was full, plus the Great Tenseigan... wait.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Orochimaru was at the peak of Konoha Village's combat power.
This was the difference between being fully equipped and being naked.
However, the dual Kamui's stealth attack ability was too abnormal; even Orochimaru might not be able to defend against it.
"Relax. With so many Flying Thunder God marks, Obito won't act rashly. Besides, I just left a few other small things in his body. Including the black rods that shrink after using the Black Eye, and the Yin-Yang cross-space soul marks given by the Six Paths Sage..."
Minato explained reasonably.
Orochimaru trembled inwardly, not expecting that he still underestimated the Fourth Hokage!
With so many layers of 'protection' preventing him, if Obito really dared to rebel, it was guaranteed he would immediately turn into an Edo Tensei body.
"Minato, you've really learned bad things!"
"Huh?"
"You've become more cautious!"
Orochimaru immediately changed his words and smiled gleefully.
It wasn't Minato's fault either. Anyone who personally experienced the life and death of their wife and children would become extremely cautious.
Minato was already considered a relatively mild case.
Nagato, who had died once in Parallel World 5 next to him, almost became a second black Madara due to his caution.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
"Orochimaru, there's one more thing you need to prepare."
"What is it?"
"I need the Juubi!"
"Oh?"
Minato's expression became serious, and he explained very earnestly:
"Otsutsuki Isshiki's power is immense. You've seen it with your own eyes, you should be very clear. To defeat him, we need enough power and sufficient preparation!"
"My Black Eye, and the Rinnegan that Obito needs to retrieve, along with all the power of the ninja world; are our first confidence and strategy to fight Otsutsuki Isshiki."
"If that fails, we can only initiate the second plan. That is, we need the power of the Juubi! Even if I seal it to become the Juubi Jinchuriki, we must win!"
"So we must prepare the Juubi first, and transform the Gedo Mazo into the Juubi!"
Hearing this, Orochimaru was immediately interested.
Although the research materials and topics he currently had were too numerous to complete, as a pure scientific research explorer, who would hate more valuable research materials in their hands?
Moreover, this was the unique Juubi in the entire ninja world.
Although the Gedo Mazo had fallen into Konoha Village's hands, due to various ethical issues before, Orochimaru hadn't dared to be crazy enough to directly kill Jinchuriki and revive the Juubi.
But now Minato, as the Hokage, actually agreed.
Didn't that mean he could legally research it?
'Subarashii (Wonderful)!'
Orochimaru immediately rubbed his hands and asked excitedly: "If you want the Juubi, you must seal all the Bijuu into the Gedo Mazo."
"I know, right now inside the Mazo, there's only a small amount of Ichibi and Kyuubi chakra, right?"
"Correct."
The Ichibi and Kyuubi chakra from Edo Kinkaku and Ginkaku were all sealed by Obito before.
And the six Jinchuriki of Nibi, Sanbi, Gobi, Rokubi, Shichibi, and Hachibi were all in Konoha Village.
There was only one Yonbi Jinchuriki, Roshi, who was still wandering outside.
"If you extract the Bijuu from the six Jinchuriki in the village, they will all die, you know? Minato, are you sure?"
"No, they must not be killed."
Minato firmly denied. He and Kushina were Jinchuriki, so of course he wouldn't casually abuse the lives of Jinchuriki.
"Then what will you do? Jinchuriki are bound to die after their Bijuu are extracted, this cannot be changed!"
"Do you know the characteristics of the Hachibi?"
"Huh?"
"I heard that the Hachibi can cut off its tentacles and permanently save them..."
"You mean?!?"
Orochimaru was shocked, and immediately guessed Minato's intention.
"Use the Hachibi' tentacles as a substitute. After the Bijuu are extracted from the Jinchuriki, seal the Hachibi' tentacles; that should cover their shortcomings and save their lives. And once successful, these Jinchuriki won't have to worry about their Bijuu rampaging in the future. They will be able to live normal lives, I'm sure they will be willing, right?"
Orochimaru's eyes shone brightly, and he immediately became excited:
"Good idea! I'll try it right away! If they don't cooperate, I'll come..."
"Don't worry. They will be very, very cooperative, I guarantee it!"
Orochimaru licked his lips and said excitedly.
Even the strong-willed Obito was easily dealt with by him, let alone a few mere Jinchuriki?
"Alright, please be gentle with them."
"Relax, I'll be gentle. Oh! What about the Yonbi Jinchuriki?"
Minato was ready: "I'll ask Fugaku to go and bring him back. Please start the other Jinchuriki extraction experiments first. If there are any problems or abnormalities, let me know immediately!"
"Understood. I just didn't expect you, Minato, to be so cautious."
"However, if backup plan number 2, the Juubi, still fails to defeat Otsutsuki Isshiki?"
Minato was very calm: "No problem. I also have plan number 3 ready."
"I will ask Tenshou Sennin to bring Hashirama-sama and the other Hokage to watch the battle first. If an accident occurs, they will surely intervene to save..."
"Even if they all fail, I still have plans number 4 and 5..."
"Everything is according to plan, don't worry!"
Minato spoke fluently, clearly having planned for a long time.
Kushina was also preparing to participate in the battle. Minato now wanted to pull out all tactical and defensive strategies, and would never let Kushina face the slightest threat!
"Tsk tsk tsk! Minato, you've really changed!"
"But I like this. Your style has become stronger than before... I'm already looking forward to the day of battle against Otsutsuki Isshiki, hahahaha..."
Orochimaru laughed wildly, not knowing if he was excited about Minato's change, or imagining the body of Otsutsuki Isshiki that he coveted.