Hearing "Four Violet Flames Formation," Tsunade shot Orochimaru a glare.
She had immediately thought of all the lovely things he had done during the Konoha Crush.
But she had to admit it really was a solid plan.
"Not enough," Tobirama said, shaking his head. "This concerns Rowan's future. We need to use an even stronger barrier technique."
Hashirama understood what his brother meant. "You mean the Four Red Yang Formation."
The Four Red Yang Formation first appeared during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
It required four users to release chakra simultaneously from the east, south, west, and north, creating a rectangular barrier made of red flames.
The barrier had a two-way sealing effect. It could block outside attacks from getting in and also prevent anything inside from escaping. Anyone who touched the barrier walls would be burned by the flames.
This technique was essentially an upgraded version of the Four Violet Flames Formation, with defensive power dozens of times greater than the base barrier.
Of course, the difficulty of using it was on a completely different level as well.
The Four Violet Flames Formation only needed four chūnin.
The Four Red Yang Formation, however, required four Kage-level ninja to activate together.
In the original story, Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Minato Namikaze used it together and successfully blocked the Ten-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb.
That alone showed how powerful the technique was.
"Exactly."
Tobirama nodded and said, "Me, my brother, Tsunade, and Orochimaru—we can absolutely use the Four Red Yang Formation together."
"Then we'll place a large number of fruits inside the barrier. After killing Blueno, we'll trap the Devil Fruit power inside the barrier so it can only reincarnate into one of the fruits inside."
"That way, we can obtain the Door-Door Fruit."
Tsunade said, "Nice plan, but I have one question. If the four of us are maintaining the Four Red Yang Formation, who's going to kill Blueno?"
"I'll do it."
Kabuto raised his right hand and pushed up his glasses with his left. "I should be able to take him down."
His strength was already respectable—outstanding even among jōnin—and now that he had eaten a Devil Fruit, his power had risen dramatically. Killing a CP9 agent shouldn't be a problem.
Tsunade nodded and approved the plan, but to be safe, she suggested testing it on another Devil Fruit user first, just to see whether the Four Red Yang Formation could really trap Devil Fruit power.
"Absolutely," Tobirama agreed without hesitation.
The power of the Door-Door Fruit concerned not just Rowan's future, but all of theirs.
They had to be cautious. Then more cautious. Then even more cautious.
So before going after Blueno, they absolutely had to run a test.
"Before that, though, there's one more issue."
Tobirama looked around the room and said, "If several of us head to the Grand Line to find a Devil Fruit user for the experiment, someone absolutely has to stay by Rowan's side to protect him."
Even though Rowan had awakened Conqueror's Haki, his weaknesses were still obvious.
Tobirama wasn't comfortable letting Rowan move around alone.
Not even with Nico Robin protecting him.
In Tobirama's eyes, Robin was still too inexperienced.
She couldn't protect Rowan properly.
Orochimaru flicked out his tongue and said with a smile, "I do happen to have a suitable candidate in mind."
Everyone turned to look at him.
"Minato Namikaze. What do you think?"
Tobirama immediately understood and nodded. "Good idea."
Even though Minato's soul should still be in the Shinigami's stomach right now, with Tobirama's and Orochimaru's abilities, cutting open the Shinigami's belly and pulling him out wouldn't be a problem.
After all those years inside the Shinigami, Minato had not only become a perfect Nine-Tails jinchūriki, he had also mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique.
If he were the one protecting Rowan, then whether it came to fighting or retreating, Rowan's safety would be guaranteed.
In fact, Minato was even better suited than Hashirama for close personal protection.
Because Minato really was the perfect ninja.
As for whether Minato would agree, Tobirama was certain that once he learned what kind of disaster the ninja world was facing, he would never refuse.
"Besides Minato, I want one more person."
Tobirama had thought of someone else. If she stayed by Rowan's side too, Rowan would be even safer.
"Who?" Tsunade asked curiously.
"Karin."
Tsunade immediately understood what Tobirama was getting at.
As a member of the Uzumaki clan, Karin's strength in Naruto wasn't actually all that impressive. At best, she was around jōnin level.
But she had awakened one of the rare abilities possessed by only a small number of Uzumaki:
healing through vitality.
By having someone bite her skin, she could rapidly restore their chakra and heal their wounds.
It was an absurdly powerful ability.
Tsunade remembered that in the story, her own body had been torn into two halves and still restored completely.
Part of that was thanks to her own strength and medical skill, of course.
But Karin's healing ability absolutely couldn't be ignored.
Minato could protect Rowan from harm.
And Karin could heal him if something unexpected happened.
If those two were protecting him, then as long as Rowan didn't go out of his way to provoke monsters like the Admirals or the Four Emperors, he wouldn't be in danger in either the One Piece world or the Naruto world.
Everyone present had seen the story and knew what those two could do.
No one objected to the combination.
Rowan didn't object either.
Honestly, when Hashirama, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and the others went off to the Grand Line to deal with Blueno, he could have just gone back to his own world and relaxed for a few days.
After all, his world was peaceful. He was basically never in danger there.
But seeing everyone rack their brains over his safety, Rowan quietly swallowed the words that had risen to his lips.
And silently accepted their goodwill.
Besides, compared to his own world, Rowan actually preferred wandering around the One Piece world.
This world really was interesting.
Once the decision had been made, Tobirama immediately started issuing orders.
"I'm heading to the Uzumaki clan's Mask Storage Temple to find the Shinigami mask. Orochimaru, Tsunade—you two go to Kusagakure and bring Karin out."
In the original story, Karin did indeed become one of Orochimaru's subordinates, but that was after the Konoha Crush.
At this point in the Naruto timeline, the Uchiha clan had only just been wiped out, and the main story hadn't fully unfolded yet.
Karin should still be in the Hidden Grass Village, being used as a human medicine source.
If they went to Kusagakure, they would definitely find her.
"As for you, Brother…"
Tobirama looked at Hashirama and said, "Until we get back, stay with Rowan and keep him safe."
Hashirama thumped his chest and said, "Don't worry. Leave it to me."
As for the Devil Fruit research, that was left to Kabuto and Shizune for the time being.
Once everything was decided, the group moved immediately.
~~~
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