Inside Orochimaru's laboratory, rows of precision instruments and cultivation vats were meticulously arranged, filling the space with a cold, mysterious atmosphere.
At the very center, a pale corpse lay silently upon the operating table, serving as the focal point of the sterile room.
Orochimaru was hunched over a microscope, carefully observing a thinly sliced cell sample.
His pupils constricted slightly, and his voice trembled with a hint of feverish excitement. "Incredible... simply unbelievable. No organs, no blood, not even a network of chakra pathways... yet it can carry chakra. And this cellular activity... it's strikingly similar to the cells of Hashirama!"
"It's like... it's like..."
Orochimaru searched for the right word to describe this biological anomaly, but his agitation seemed to have stolen his vocabulary.
"A plant," Menma said flatly, standing on the opposite side of the table.
"Exactly!"
Orochimaru's eyes snapped wide, shimmering with the fanatical light of a man discovering a new continent. "It is exactly like a plant!"
This unseen novelty had ignited his thirst for research. He was already itching to dive deeper, to tear apart and explore every hidden mystery within those fibers.
"So, what exactly is this?"
Orochimaru set his tools down and looked up, his golden snake-like pupils locking onto Menma, trying to pry information from the mysterious "Shura."
In his forty-plus years of wandering the shinobi world, he had never seen—or even heard of—such a non-human creature.
"Do you really want to know?" the mask of Shura let out a soft snort.
Of course he did.
"This is White Zetsu. An ancient human whose chakra was drained by the God Tree. They have devolved into plant-like beings, capable of asexual reproduction, extreme compatibility, and possession of all chakra natures. They are... exquisite experimental materials."
Menma gave a brief summary of Zetsu's origins.
"The God Tree?" Orochimaru's keen mind instantly caught the keyword.
But Menma stopped there. He didn't intend to elaborate. He had shared the origin only to give Orochimaru a better direction for his tests.
"Use them sparingly," Menma warned. "They aren't easy to catch."
Orochimaru fell into thought. "It seems I truly must accelerate the development of cloning technology..."
White Zetsu cells possessed incredible compatibility and all five chakra natures. This was essentially the biological equivalent of high-grade laboratory equipment!
If he could mass-produce these beings as test subjects, his research would no longer be throttled by a shortage of materials.
"In one year, I will return for ten pairs of Sharingan, as well as the research results on White Zetsu and the Iburi clan."
Leaving those words behind, Menma turned to leave the lab.
While the commanding tone irked Orochimaru, the "future intelligence" and high-grade materials Shura provided were far beyond anything that old rat Danzo could offer.
They called it a partnership, but Orochimaru knew he had effectively become Shura's laborer.
Having traded blows with the man, Orochimaru was acutely aware that Shura's strength likely approached that of the "God of Shinobi." He simply didn't have the luxury of saying no.
"One more thing."
At the doorway, Menma paused. The three-eyed white fox mask tilted slightly.
"You would be wise to cut ties with Danzo."
Menma had no intention of letting his White Zetsu research fall into Danzo's hands, and he issued the warning clearly.
After Menma vanished, Orochimaru sank into contemplation, sifting through everything he knew about "Shura."
On the bounty list released by the Hidden Cloud, the name Shura used was "Danzo." It seemed that the rat in the sewer had provoked someone he shouldn't have.
"Is it you... Fourth Hokage?"
Orochimaru had a lingering suspicion that Shura was tied to Minato Namikaze, even wondering if the Fourth had faked his death.
But looking back at Minato's life, there was no reason for such a move. The clues were too blurry. Ultimately, Orochimaru shook his head and threw himself back into the study of White Zetsu.
Meanwhile, within the Hidden Leaf Village.
A clone of Menma was in a training room, practicing chakra fusion.
He was blending Yin and Yang chakra in varying proportions. Two energies—one dark, one light—shimmered in his palm, swirling together as Menma focused entirely on controlling the flow.
BOOM!
With a small explosion, the sphere of fused energy dissipated.
Another failure.
"The ratio is still off..."
Menma's small face creased in a frown. He reviewed his steps, walked to a desk, and recorded the data in a notebook already thick with experimental logs.
As a member of the Uzumaki clan, Menma was born with Yang energy and the five basic elements.
However, his experiences in the "Limited Tsukuyomi" had granted him Yin chakra, making him a master of all natures. Through his research, he had already developed "Dark Chakra" and the "Great Spiral Ring."
But Menma, who knew the ultimate secrets of this world, realized he was only at the threshold. He had the "key," but he hadn't mastered the "room."
The Yin-Yang Release (Onmyōdon) was the advanced ability to create form out of nothing (Yin) and breathe life into that form (Yang).
He thought of his "Nine Masked Beasts."
Though he had created them using the Dark Nine-Tails' chakra, they weren't products of "true" Yin-Yang Release. They were more like puppets—powerful, but lacking independent thought or speech.
To turn them into true living beings capable of independent action away from his side, he needed a profound mastery of the Yin-Yang Release.
Only then would they become a force capable of truly changing the world.