Danzo immediately poured cold water on Orochimaru: "The essence of the Gate of Death is burning life force; Edo Tensei is a dead soul attached to a sacrifice, it doesn't have the concept of life force."
"So even if you bring Duy back with Edo Tensei, you won't be able to have him open the Eight Gates."
"This—"
Orochimaru was somewhat unwilling; if the Eight Gates couldn't be opened, Might Duy with only the Seven Gates would at most be at the Sannin level. How could he contend with Madara then?
But where there's a will, there's a way; as long as Orochimaru could solve the support of Duy's life force, he could make him open the Eight Gates.
A person must always give themselves hope.
Under the immense pressure of Madara, even Orochimaru had to rely on a Genin's Forbidden Jutsu to bring a sense of security.
"Alright, enough of that!"
Danzo looked at Orochimaru: "Orochimaru, I have a surprise for you. Kinoe, come out!"
A small Root Ninja named Kinoe appeared before Orochimaru.
Orochimaru was a bit puzzled; what was so strange about this little Ninja by Danzo's side?
Could he sprout water or something?
Anko pulled Orochimaru's hand and said, "Lord Orochimaru, this person is like me; our Chakra is of the same type."
Orochimaru's pupils constricted as he looked at Kinoe greedily: "Could it be?"
Danzo nodded: "That's right, Orochimaru. Do you still remember the First Hokage's cell transplant experiment we collaborated on a few years ago?"
Around Konoha Year 44 or 45, Danzo and Orochimaru conducted Hashirama cell transplant experiments.
They kidnapped 60 young children from Villages around Konoha for human experimentation.
These children were implanted with Hashirama cells for cultivation. During the experiment, the children died one after another, unable to withstand the powerful erosion of the Hashirama cells.
Even Yamato was discarded by Orochimaru, who deemed him a failure.
But Yamato managed to survive the erosion of the Hashirama cells through his own stubborn will, and was later fortunately discovered by Danzo.
Listening to Danzo talk about Yamato's origins, Orochimaru felt a bit terrible: "Damn it, at the time I thought this child wouldn't be able to withstand the power of the First Hokage's cells either; I didn't expect him to actually hold on."
"Danzo, you kept me in the dark so well!"
Danzo said: "Orochimaru, don't get excited yet. Kinoe only inherited the First Hokage's techniques. In terms of power, it might not even be a tenth of the original."
"How could that be?"
Orochimaru was somewhat skeptical and immediately had Yamato perform Wood Release to record the data.
After a while, Orochimaru recorded Yamato's Wood Release data and believed Danzo's words: "It truly isn't as good as the First Hokage's."
"I understand. An ordinary person's body cannot withstand the First Hokage's cells. The First Hokage's cells underwent a degenerative mutation in Kinoe's body."
"The erosion and auxiliary abilities of the First Hokage's cells have all been neutered, which is why Kinoe inherited the First Hokage's techniques."
"If Anko and Kinoe were fused together!"
Orochimaru looked at Anko and Kinoe. Anko leaned towards support, while Kinoe leaned towards Ninjutsu. Together, they would be a complete Wood Release.
Orochimaru wanted to extract the variant of the Hashirama cells from Kinoe's body and then transplant it into Anko's body, so that Anko could perform complete Wood Release.
But on second thought, it would be better to just transplant Hashirama cells from the start!
The power of Hashirama cells is something ordinary people cannot withstand; if they want to withstand it, they can only inherit a diminished power.
Danzo said: "Orochimaru, I'll leave Kinoe for you to train from now on. Find a way to let him obtain the First Hokage's true power."
As Danzo spoke, he gave up on Kinoe. A trace of pain appeared on Kinoe's face; he struggled for a moment before resigning himself to fate.
Because Ninjas were originally tools that could be discarded at will.
If it were before, Danzo would have held onto Kinoe, but now Danzo was basically penniless and waiting for Orochimaru's support.
At this stage, he had to keep Orochimaru happy and let him see his value.
Orochimaru nodded and looked at Kinoe, saying: "Kinoe, you will be my disciple from now on. The name Kinoe doesn't sound good; from now on, I'll call you Yamato."
Yamato stood blankly. Having just been abandoned by Danzo, he was like a blade that had lost its master.
Orochimaru then instructed: "Anko, you will be responsible for his daily life."
"Yes! Teacher!"
Anko agreed, giving Yamato a fierce look where Orochimaru couldn't see.
Anko was afraid that Yamato's joining would steal all of Orochimaru's favor from her.
Picking on the weak has always been thus.
Yamato was moved by Anko's gaze. Root Ninjas never had their own emotions, like puppets being manipulated.
Anko's eyes were so expressive, giving Yamato a feeling he had never experienced before.
Perhaps leaving Root wasn't a bad idea.
Then Orochimaru and Danzo discussed their cooperation.
Orochimaru needed a spokesperson on the surface, and Danzo also needed to restore the Root's vitality as soon as possible.
If the Roots of the great tree don't recover their vitality, Konoha will die.
Orochimaru and Danzo shared the same foul tastes. Now that they were united, they were in cahoots, wishing they could become sworn brothers on the spot.
Danzo brought up some serious matters with Orochimaru: one of Ryoma's arms was ruined, and Danzo wanted Orochimaru to use White Zetsu cells to grow an artificial arm for Ryoma.
Orochimaru agreed.
Danzo promised to provide Orochimaru with more corpses of powerful Ninjas to expand Orochimaru's Edo Tensei roster.
Danzo then warned Orochimaru: "Orochimaru, you still need to be a little careful when acting in the Village in the future. It's impossible for Hiruzen not to have noticed anything about your affairs."
Orochimaru nodded.
Having dug up the tombs of Hashirama and Tobirama, and with the remains of several powerful Ninjas missing, it was impossible for the Third Hokage to have no reaction at all.
The Third Hokage was currently busy with the Five Kage Summit and organizing the Shinobi Allied Forces, so he didn't have the time or energy to deal with Orochimaru.
To deal with Madara, the Third Hokage's method was to unite the Shinobi Allied Forces and fight him fair and square.
In his view, unity of purpose was the strongest power.
Orochimaru disdained such power; what he wanted was a surprise force!
Danzo suggested again: "Orochimaru, let my teacher awaken. With our wisdom, there's no way to solve a scourge like Uchiha Madara."
"The Village needs the teacher's wisdom! Moreover, the teacher's research capability is top-tier; the Edo Tensei technique was developed by the teacher."
"Only he can bring out the strongest power of Edo Tensei."
Orochimaru shook his head: "No, precisely because Edo Tensei was developed by the Second Hokage, I cannot let him awaken."
Before Minato, Tobirama was known as the fastest in the Ninja World. Battles between Ninjas are a competition of error tolerance.
A Genin, if given the chance, can kill a Kage-level powerhouse.
Keeping a Ninja like Tobirama by his side, Orochimaru might be killed by him in a moment of distraction.
Orochimaru wouldn't negotiate and left with Anko, Yamato, and the others.
After Orochimaru left, Ryoma and Yakushi Nonō stood by Danzo's side, listening to his instructions.
Danzo unwrapped the bandage on his right eye, revealing an eye without light.
Danzo also wanted to integrate White Zetsu cells so that he could exert the true power of the Sharingan.
But even the Sharingan couldn't contend with Madara; one must know that his eyes were the Rinnegan, the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths.
"That damn Orochimaru!"
Danzo was somewhat annoyed that Orochimaru wouldn't listen to his suggestion to awaken Tobirama.
Was the matter of Madara something that mediocre talents like them could solve?
There must be a wise man capable of taking the lead; he wasn't such a person, and the Third Hokage wasn't such a person either.
Only Tobirama, who laid the foundation of Konoha, could have a global perspective of the Ninja World.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru wouldn't listen to Danzo. In the cooperation between Danzo and Orochimaru, Danzo was at a disadvantage.
Danzo wanted to change this disadvantage.
The only way was to find a way to learn Edo Tensei and snatch all of Orochimaru's Edo Tensei bodies.