chapter 101 part 5
"Tsukasa-kun, there's been a slight breakthrough. While the difficulty is still immense, it won't deter me."
Orochimaru looked at the barely humanoid anomaly before him with a satisfied expression, then destroyed it. He had found the right direction, and the next step was continuous improvement.
Tsukasa Kaede was not surprised. Orochimaru could eventually cultivate an arm for Danzo; creating a person now was just a matter of time.
"Orochimaru, having conducted so much Human Experimentation, you must realize the enormous gap between an ordinary Senju Clan Member and Hashirama Senju; they're almost not the same species. To fully unleash my strength and potential, I must have a sufficiently perfect body."
"Heh heh, of course. I've always been very diligent; you can certainly rest assured."
A glint of madness flashed in Orochimaru's eyes.
Tsukasa Kaede clearly realized that Orochimaru's patience was also running thin, and he could make a risky leap at any moment. However, for now, Orochimaru wouldn't do anything too outlandish regarding body cultivation, and that was enough.
Even if Orochimaru was becoming more dangerous than ever before, Tsukasa Kaede didn't care. The body Orochimaru cultivated was, in essence, merely a Vessel.
In fact, Tsukasa Kaede had another option: hand White Zetsu over to Orochimaru. White Zetsu Cells were more docile and controllable than Hashirama Cells, and Orochimaru would certainly be able to research excellent bodies. But Tsukasa Kaede himself was unwilling.
Unless he had no other choice.
When the time came, he would find an opportunity to use the Hashirama clone he snatched from Madara...
"I'm counting entirely on you, Orochimaru. For me, this is the best choice," Tsukasa Kaede suddenly said, with a hint of deeper meaning. "If I don't change bodies, my own strength has gradually reached a bottleneck, and it will be difficult for a qualitative change to occur in the future."
Orochimaru glanced at Tsukasa Kaede strangely, unable to understand. "You've already acquired Roshi's corpse, right? Even without the Four-Tails, Roshi was a powerful individual. When the opportunity arises, you'll have a chance to hunt other villages' Kage-level powerhouses."
Once Tsukasa Kaede mastered a few more corpses of Kage Level powerhouses, he would be considered a super powerhouse among Kage Level individuals. What "bottleneck" could there possibly be then?
Orochimaru hadn't personally witnessed the terror of Super Kage-level, much less knew that Kaedex Paths Level was enough to instantly obliterate individuals below Kaedex Paths Level.
No matter how strong Tsukasa Kaede was, even with a pile of Kage Level powerhouses' corpses at his command, he wouldn't last more than a few rounds against a Kaedex Paths Level enemy; this was a qualitative gap.
And to control Kaedex Paths Level Zombies, one must first possess Kaedex Paths Level strength, to kill Kaedex Paths Level enemies. This created a vicious cycle.
Furthermore, Tsukasa Kaede didn't believe that a few Super Kage-level and Kage Level individuals could pile up enough to kill a Kaedex Paths Level enemy.
Super Kage-level strength was already overpowered; Kaedex Paths Level was an entirely different kind of being. Merely traversing the cosmos in a flesh-and-blood body was an unimaginable feat, with Space-Time Ninjutsu cast effortlessly and an immunity to all Ninjutsu attacks that seemed like a fairy tale.
At the very least, the two ninja pinnacles, Madara and Hashirama Senju, were incomparable to Kaedex Paths Level life forms.
"You don't understand now; you will in the future," Tsukasa Kaede casually replied.
Following this, Orochimaru plunged even more frantically into his experiments. However, he significantly reduced his Human Experimentation on the Senju Clan and other ninja, publicly citing that he had found a way to improve Biotechnology, which might increase the survival rate of transplants.
This sparked higher expectations from the Village.
Because the situation in the Shinobi World was growing increasingly tense, and it had only been a little over two years since the end of the Second Great Ninja War, the next Great Ninja War would only be more brutal. The Higher-ups of Hidden Leaf Village also hoped to cultivate a batch of powerful ninja.
Subsequently, Tsukasa Kaede lived a life moving between two points: either staying in the laboratory or returning to the Mountain Graveyard to nurture the Hashirama clone with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
He also clearly knew that each time he took such action, the risk he bore increased.
Until one day, three months later, Tsukasa Kaede had just pulled the Hashirama clone out of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and carefully sealed it into a Summoning Scroll.
Madara had quietly risen. Obito cautiously stood behind Madara, craning his neck to look over. While his eyes still held childlike innocence and purity, they also now carried a hint of curiosity and wariness.
In the past six months, Obito had undergone noticeable changes. He had gained a bit of recognition in Hidden Leaf Village. Although he hadn't become a genius who crushed his peers—after all, Kakashi in his generation was simply too strong, and Might Guy also excelled in Taijutsu—he was at least no longer the Dead Last.
In a few more years, Obito might even become a super genius renowned throughout Konoha, one of the benchmarks for the new generation.
With Madara's constant guidance and admonishment, if Obito were still the Dead Last year after year, it wouldn't be because Obito was incompetent, but rather that Madara's teaching ability was trash. But such a thing wouldn't happen.
"Teaching Obito again, are you? Truly remarkable, Madara. To both preserve Obito's emotions and personality while also making him understand the dark side of the world, an ordinary person couldn't achieve that," Tsukasa Kaede paused.
If Obito were taught to be a cold and ruthless individual too early, it might increase the difficulty for him to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan in the future.
On the original Timeline, Sasuke, after defeating Orochimaru and before awakening his Mangekyo Sharingan, still showed mercy to enemies other than Itachi. He hadn't become a cold-blooded animal driven solely by hatred.
As for what monstrous state he might turn into after awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, with his Brain stimulated by extreme emotions, it no longer mattered. In any case, Madara was very pleased to see Obito, after obtaining the Mangekyo Sharingan, retaliate against the world recklessly, as this would make him Madara's best pawn.
In Madara's eyes, the three Tomoe slowly rotated. "Obito, watch carefully. The human heart is complex. Humans are creatures who constantly exhaust themselves immersed in superficial things. People born into this world are beyond redemption if not controlled by powerful means."
"Understood. So, what do you plan to do?" Obito looked at Tsukasa Kaede, then at Madara.
He vaguely realized what was about to happen, yet he found it somewhat unbelievable.