Because the Fourth Hokage personally arrived, the hospital cleared out an entire operating room.
In the hallway, doctors whispered nervously.
"Why did the Fourth bring a toad into surgery?"
"No idea… experimentation?"
"Kushina is guarding the door. We can't see anything."
Inside the operating room—
Drake held surgical scissors and carefully examined the toad lying on the table.
Minato looked anxious.
"Drake… are you going to start?"
"I'm searching for any part that hasn't been fully assimilated," Drake replied calmly.
But after scanning from head to toe—
There was nothing.
Not a single piece of untransformed human tissue remained.
Finally—
Snip.
Drake cut away the cloth Minato had tied around himself.
Then froze.
"…Sensei."
"Where is it?"
Minato closed his eyes.
"…I don't know."
The natural energy transformation had been absolute.
Drake sighed.
"This complicates things."
Originally, he planned to cultivate human tissue through Yang Release stimulation.
But Minato's body had been completely rewritten into amphibian physiology.
No residual human cells remained.
"Sensei, I'm going to check internally."
"Do it."
Minato lay flat, belly exposed.
Drake performed a precise incision and examined the internal organs.
Moments later—
He shook his head.
"Nothing usable."
Yang Release chakra flowed from his palm, sealing the incision instantly.
Minato managed a weak chuckle.
"Your medical skill is impressive."
"You're still complimenting me at a time like this…"
"I've accepted reality."
His wide amphibian mouth stretched into something resembling a smile.
"I've always tried to grow stronger… so I wouldn't fall too far behind you."
"But I was impatient."
Drake sat beside him.
There was silence.
Then—
"There is one more option."
Minato's eyes brightened again.
"What is it?"
"I can create a White Zetsu body and transplant your consciousness into it."
Minato shook his head firmly.
"No."
"That wouldn't be my body."
Then—
He produced a scroll from his mouth.
A summoning contract.
"I modified this this morning."
"If you sign it, we'll form a summoning contract."
Drake understood immediately.
Minato planned to go to Mount Myōboku.
And perhaps—
Become Drake's summoning creature.
His expression grew complicated.
He stared at the toad before him—
Then suddenly paused.
"Sensei. Don't move."
Drake reached up and touched the toad's head.
A tuft of blond hair.
He plucked it free.
Minato blinked.
"My hair?"
"Yes."
"Your entire body transformed… except this."
Drake's eyes shone.
Minato frowned.
"What can hair do? There's no blood or flesh in it."
Drake smiled faintly.
"You underestimate me."
Yang Release Cultivation
Yang chakra gathered in Drake's palm, enveloping the strand of hair.
At the same time—
His mental force extended into Minato's consciousness and carefully extracted a sliver of spiritual essence.
Minato felt it immediately.
A strange resonance.
The hair trembled.
Then shriveled—
Condensing into something new.
A tiny embryo.
No larger than a fingernail.
Minato's heart pounded.
"That's me."
"I can feel it."
Drake nodded.
"It is you."
"But it needs time to grow."
Minato didn't hesitate.
"I can wait."
Drake placed the embryo into a glass cultivation vessel.
"I've wrapped it in Yang chakra."
"It will grow ten times faster than normal."
"Even so, it will take one month to reach infant stage."
Minato was overwhelmed with relief.
"That's more than enough."
At tenfold growth—
Adulthood would only take slightly over a year.
Then Drake added the crucial condition:
"When the infant body is ready, you must transfer your entire consciousness into it."
Minato nodded immediately.
"I understand."
It would be true rebirth.
Not possession.
A genuine second life.
Meanwhile — Land of Hot Water
Zōzō Bathhouse.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stepped inside.
He stopped.
"…Why are you here?"
The figure before him smiled faintly in the steam-filled room.
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