Orochimaru might have seemed indifferent to emotions, but not experiencing them personally did not mean he failed to understand them.
As one of the shinobi world's greatest recruiters of rogue talent, his persuasive abilities were hardly weak.
Naturally, dangling a grand future in front of Amado to motivate him into working harder on their research made perfect sense.
"With this material as supporting evidence, combined with all our previous experiments, we can finally explain the underlying mechanics of the Edo Tensei," Orochimaru continued.
Makoto had previously proposed the scientific hypothesis of energy conservation.
Yes, a hypothesis.
As mentioned before, the fundamental laws of different worlds were not necessarily identical, so one could not blindly force the physics of one universe onto another.
Still, nearly everything they observed supported the theory.
Even the Ōtsutsuki clan traveling across the universe, planting Divine Trees, draining planets of their life force, and harvesting high-quality Chakra Fruits served as evidence.
The only anomaly Orochimaru had been unable to explain was the source of the Edo Tensei's limitless regeneration and endless chakra.
If someone could stand inside a fountain and magically recover health and chakra without limit, where did the fountain itself obtain that water?
Now they finally had an answer.
Perhaps it wasn't the complete picture, but a significant portion of that infinite energy came directly from natural energy.
Not through the Sage Mode method of actively absorbing it, but through a passive conversion process similar to the Ten-Tails and the Divine Tree, which aggressively converted ambient natural energy into usable chakra.
This breakthrough also proved that their earlier caution had been correct.
They could not recklessly continue performing the Edo Tensei without restraint.
For Makoto, natural energy did not originate solely from the shinobi planet. It existed throughout the universe.
Even starlight and solar radiation could be considered forms of natural energy.
However, for the basic formula of the Edo Tensei and for everyone else in the shinobi world, the natural energy they could access was strictly limited to their local environment.
It appeared endless, but if enough people abused it simultaneously, they would eventually drain even a vast planetary resource.
This was especially dangerous now that Sage Mode was about to be distributed globally.
The living and the undead would soon be actively competing over the exact same pool of natural energy. In the past, almost no one tapped into it.
Its only purpose had been to sit dormant beneath the surface like untapped oil, waiting for parasites—the Ōtsutsuki clan—to covet it and invade.
Things were different now.
Humanity would finally weaponize it.
More importantly, it was the single most crucial resource for resisting the alien threat. That meant its consumption needed to be strictly regulated.
"The shortcut is still unbelievably vulgar," Senju Tobirama finally said, unable to resist complaining.
"Uzumaki Naruto has completely disgraced Konoha's!! How can a brat that young have nothing but this absolute nonsense in his head?"
Every jutsu Tobirama developed in his lifetime had been mysterious, lethal, undeniably stylish and anti Uchiha.
Yet Uzumaki Naruto was about to promote this incredibly inappropriate Sage Mode shortcut throughout the entire shinobi world.
Soon, everyone would know Naruto's name—and they would also know Konoha was the village responsible for raising him.
Even worse, Naruto's degenerate shortcut relied heavily on the Shadow Clone Technique, a jutsu Tobirama personally invented.
Naruto was not merely being vulgar; he was dragging Tobirama's pristine legacy straight into the gutter with him!
"Lord Second, I'm afraid you're entirely mistaken." Orochimaru shook his head, calmly rejecting Tobirama's criticism.
"What? I'm mistaken?" Tobirama frowned, unsure which part of his statement Orochimaru was objecting to.
Was he denying that Naruto embarrassed Konoha? Or was it something else entirely?
"It is perfectly reasonable for Naruto's mind to be filled with such vulgar things. Jiraiya is another excellent biological example."
"?" Tobirama froze.
He had not expected Orochimaru to defend that particular point.
"Wait, Orochimaru. Shouldn't you be completely uninterested in that subject?"
Tobirama never imagined Orochimaru would hold a philosophical opinion on this, much less begin actively defending Jiraiya's perversion.
From everything Tobirama had observed during their time working together, Orochimaru was even more detached than he was.
Tobirama simply remained unmarried for his entire life.
If political circumstances genuinely required him to marry and produce an heir, he wouldn't have resisted all that strongly.
Orochimaru was entirely different.
Orochimaru truly had no interest in human intimacy whatsoever.
Even in the alternate future, he created his son using cloning vats and genetic technology rather than through ordinary reproduction.
"My lack of personal interest does not prevent me from understanding the biological imperative."
While organizing the test tubes and documents on the table, Orochimaru began his lecture.
"Lord Second, I originally studied genetics in pursuit of true immortality. During that long period, I discovered a certain phenomenon—or perhaps it would be more accurate to call it a universal truth."
"What truth?"
"Humans—or rather, all living organisms—are born to accomplish only two baseline directives: eat and reproduce. One could even argue that there is only one true overarching purpose: reproduction.
Eating merely allows an organism to survive long enough to reproduce. Everything exists solely for the continuation of its genes.
Therefore, for an ordinary, hormone-driven human or any normal living creature, fixating on such matters is entirely reasonable. There is no logical need to blame Naruto for his biology."
Orochimaru delivered the explanation with complete academic seriousness.
A similar evolutionary theory existed in Makoto's previous world.
The fact that Orochimaru independently reached the exact same conclusion suggested that the shinobi world operated on comparable biological foundations.
That didn't necessarily mean the theory was universally absolute.
There were certainly exceptions. After all, this world contained functionally immortal, long-lived species
The Ōtsutsuki clan showed no interest whatsoever in continuing their genes through reproduction.
They pursued only their own personal immortality by consuming energy, so naturally, they had no biological drive to think about anything inappropriate.
That also perfectly explained why Kaguya initially appeared in the ancient shinobi world as a strict, emotionless ascetic.
Compared to the humans and other natural creatures of the planet, she truly was a biological abnormality.
Orochimaru's explanation was structurally flawless.
Unfortunately, Tobirama's next deadpan question mercilessly shattered the entire academic theory.
Rather than mentioning the alien Ōtsutsuki exception Makoto had just considered, the Second Hokage asked—
"So Naruto and Sasuke's intense, obsessive bond also exists for the continuation of their genes? How exactly are two men supposed to continue them?"
"..."
After that debate, the laboratory awkwardly plunged into an intense new round of silent research.
Makoto had only just left the underground complex when several guards approached him and led him to a secluded, open area outside the village.
It was a specialized, reinforced training ground built specifically for the jinchūriki.
Fū and Rin both trained there, and ordinary civilians were strictly forbidden from approaching in case they were caught in the explosive crossfire.
Fū, Rin, and the others had explicitly sought Makoto out because the Tailed Beast fragments inside Naruto had forwarded classified information to their own inner beasts about jinchūriki practicing Sage Mode.
They wanted to ask Makoto for the exact tactical details.
"Didn't I already give you one of my stones?" Makoto asked Fū in genuine confusion. "How far have you progressed with it?"
He remembered that during her previous sparring match against Hanabi, Fū had already displayed some highly unusual physical abilities.
It resembled a rudimentary, insect-like danger sense that automatically helped her evade incoming attacks.
Whenever Makoto handled important tactical business, he never forgot to distribute a stone to his closest allies first.
At present, Rin was the only jinchūriki who did not possess one.
Her primary research assignment was developing a controllable Baryon Mode, and she had joined their faction relatively late, so she hadn't received one yet.
"Um... I completely mastered it the day before yesterday," Fū murmured, keeping her head lowered shyly.
"What?" Makoto wondered whether he had misheard her.
Completely mastered it?
What exactly did completely mastered entail?
How hard had she been secretly training behind everyone's backs to pull that off?
And why was Fū speaking so quietly?
Had Hanabi started treating Fū like an older sister and somehow accidentally transferred Hinata's entire timid personality onto her?
What happened to the loud, cheerful jinchūriki he knew?
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