Over the next two months, Danzo gradually delivered over 60 children under the age of ten. Hyuga Asana used her Byakugan to carefully screen them. After the first round of selection, only 19 children remained. Orochimaru told her she could handle the rejected children however she saw fit.
Just as Asana was troubled by this, Uchiha Yuan arrived at Orochimaru's lab.
Previously, Yuan and Orochimaru had agreed to earn money together and build a secret lab unknown to Konoha's higher-ups.
Lately, Yuan had been coming by periodically to hand over mission earnings and other funds to Orochimaru.
"Asana, what's with that worried look?" Yuan asked.
Asana glanced at Orochimaru, who gave her a nod.
Only then did she explain the situation with the children.
Upon hearing it, Yuan immediately understood—Orochimaru was likely collaborating with Danzo to recreate Wood Style ninja. Soon, Orochimaru's human experiments would be exposed, and he would defect from Konoha.
Thinking of this, Yuan became concerned for Asana.
Her privileges within the Hyuga clan came from being Orochimaru's student and a key member of the Hokage faction.
If Orochimaru defected, the Hyuga main family would never tolerate a branch family member rising above them.
Should he just kill the entire Hyuga main family now?
Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata Hyuga—anyone who could threaten Asana had to die.
And with Susanoo's second stage unlocked, Uchiha Yuan had the power to overturn the table.
Besides, killing a few Hyuga main family members wouldn't expose him. Only Hiashi might be a challenge.
"What are you thinking, Yuan?"
Asana's voice broke his train of thought.
"I'm thinking about how to handle the kids. But first, can I see the 19 who were selected?"
Having just received a large payment, Orochimaru was in a good mood and readily agreed.
Asana led Yuan to the rooms where the children were kept—five per room, with the last room having four.
Yuan activated his Sharingan and used genjutsu to read their memories.
He was searching for Yamato.
In the fourth room, Yuan found the child he was looking for.
He put Yamato into a deep sleep and carried him upstairs.
"Orochimaru-sama, there's no need to test the others. If you use this boy, the experiment is sure to succeed!" Yuan said with confidence, knowing the outcome from the original timeline.
"Guaranteed success?" Orochimaru was surprised.
Over time, Orochimaru had come to understand Yuan's personality. He rarely made bold claims, but when he did, he never failed. If Yuan said the experiment would succeed, then as long as Orochimaru didn't mess up, it certainly would.
Orochimaru took Yamato from Yuan and licked his lips in excitement.
"What about the other children?" Yuan asked cautiously.
"I'll keep four for control experiments. You two handle the rest," Orochimaru replied.
Yuan sighed internally. That was the best outcome he could hope for.
Asana, too, understood that the number of participants couldn't be reduced further. Bringing the number down from over 60 to just 5 was already quite an achievement.
As long as she carefully oversaw the process, she might be able to minimize harm to the children.
Then, Yuan and Asana returned below to pick the test subjects.
Earlier, Yuan had used his Sharingan to read partial memories and identify Yamato. Now he needed to pick the children with the strongest life force and mental resilience.
The child with the most vitality would theoretically have the highest compatibility with Hashirama's cells.
Spiritual strength, representing yin chakra, could balance out the yang-heavy First Hokage cells. A combination of yin and yang gave the child a better chance of survival.
After thorough evaluation, they selected three children with strong vitality and one with high mental strength, then brought them to Orochimaru.
The rest were sent to the orphanage, and Yuan gave the head, Yakushi Nono, a sum to cover their care.
The sudden influx of children put a lot of pressure on Nono.
Sensing her struggle, Yuan said, "Director Nono, if the orphanage runs into financial trouble, come to the Third Division. I'll make sure you get support."
Nono's eyes lit up with gratitude. She thanked Yuan profusely.
Meanwhile, in the shadows of the world, Uchiha Madara's condition had worsened. He was like a candle in the wind, ready to go out at any moment.
Standing beside him was a young man—Uchiha Obito—now fully trained under Yuan's guidance.
The power of Uchiha eyes depends on the depth of one's love.
That Obito went from double tomoe straight to Mangekyo showed how deep that love ran.
And now, all that love had been twisted into ocular power and hatred for the world.
In a few months, Obito had become incredibly strong—one of the top among Kage-level shinobi. With his space-time ninjutsu, few could match him in the ninja world.
Cough cough "Obito, the plan is now yours," Madara said.
"Don't worry. I'll bring true peace to this world."
"Good. I look forward to it. From now on, you are Uchiha Madara. My time is over—this world is now yours."
Hearing this, White Zetsu understood. He had one of his clones send a signal to Black Zetsu.
Receiving the signal, Black Zetsu tunneled rapidly toward Madara's location using Mayfly Technique.
Seconds later, Madara told White Zetsu, "Summon one of your clones."
White Zetsu nodded and brought forth a clone. Madara, using his final strength, applied Yin-Yang Release to modify it.
As he granted the clone sentience, Black Zetsu arrived just in time and possessed the clone, boldly standing before Madara.
"Given your color, I'll name you Black Zetsu. White Zetsu, he's created from my will. When I'm gone, he'll assist you."
With that, Madara severed the tube linking him to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and closed his eyes.
Uchiha Madara had taken his leave from this world—at least for now.
(To Be Continued...)