Obito knew very well just how much preparation the Chimera Technique required.
Even if Hiruzen Sarutobi, with his many years as the Third Hokage, had enough accumulated resources and a deep foundation to gather enough chakra to perform the ritual.
What was needed to endure this ritual was his own mind, body, and character!
Could a corrupt, old Hokage who had failed in the struggle for power actually have the character and ambition to complete the ritual?
And now, he had even collected so many bodies and created powerful clones... Had Hiruzen Sarutobi undergone a transformation and found a new lease on life after his dejection and low spirits?!
But even so, surely Konoha didn't have any cloning master capable of this level of technique.
Obito, who treated Konoha like his own backyard and had a deep cooperation with both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō Shimura, was very clear about the current state of Konoha's technology and the progress of its human body research.
During the Third Shinobi World War, Konoha's research on the human body was indeed the best in the shinobi world, but with Orochimaru's defection, all of Konoha's human experiments were completely banned by the Fourth Hokage.
Although they were partially restored after Fugaku took office, this level of restoration could not possibly give Konoha such mature cloning methods.
Who was it?
Obito's eyes were sharp as he stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi, but Hiruzen Sarutobi clearly had no intention of telling Obito these things.
"If you've come here just to probe into meaningless matters, then you can leave," Hiruzen Sarutobi said calmly. His expression was placid, and he seemed to have no fear of Obito in front of him: "Right now, you are the very instigator of this war. If the captains of the Allied Shinobi Forces — or Yuki Yoru himself — were to learn of your whereabouts… you would be in serious trouble."
"You think your little activities won't attract the attention of Yoru and the alliance?"
Obito sneered: "Insulting a corpse is much more serious to us humans than devouring a soul. After all, souls are something that ordinary people can't see or touch, but corpses are different."
"We're in the same boat, Hiruzen Sarutobi."
The White Zetsu army was just cannon fodder, and the shinobi of the Sunagakure and Iwagakure were a bunch of useless people.
This war would not last much longer — and Obito's usable forces would soon be completely exhausted. Yet now, Hiruzen appeared on the battlefield with clones in hand… How could Obito not be tempted?
After all, Edo Tensei could be restrained by the Shinigami and by those who wielded spiritual power.
But clones were different.
In a sense, a clone was a living human being.
Still, in the face of Obito's deliberate goodwill, Hiruzen remained unmoved. He was about to refuse outright — when something seemed to catch his attention, and the words died on his lips.
"You want to cooperate with me?"
"Our enemies are the same — and don't forget, we were allies once already." Beneath the white mask, Obito smiled. This war had gone on long enough that Hiruzen must have stockpiled a large number of bodies of bloodline limit users.
If he could use this power, the pressure he would face from Yuki Yoru would be greatly reduced!
At the very least, against the Shinigami and the Quincy, he would finally have enough force to resist.
Once, Obito hadn't even considered the Shinigami or the Quincy worth his attention. Even though that kid Kimimaro had done something almost defying the heavens, after completing the ritual and achieving the Six Paths, Obito had already thrown Kimimaro to the back of his mind.
What Shinigami or Quincy?
The only one worthy to stand against me is Yuki Yoru!
But the battle with Shisui had shattered Obito's pride and confidence, making him realize just how dangerous these people truly were.
He needed allies. Strong ones.
But in today's shinobi world, who could stand by his side and fight an enemy as powerful as Yoru — a man nearly unrivaled, like the sovereign of the shinobi world?
Within the shinobi world, no one.
But outside of it… a hidden force remained.
The people of the moon — descendants of Hamura Ōtsutsuki, the younger brother of the Sage of Six Paths!
That's right, in Obito's original plan, his allies were to be these moon-dwellers, who had once clashed with Yoru according to intelligence reports.
After absorbing the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails, Obito had already set his sights on them. Yet in the meantime, he received new information from White Zetsu — that Hiruzen Sarutobi himself had also completed the Chimera ritual!
Now, it seemed, he had another option for an ally.
"Being able to complete the Chimera Technique has proven that my judgment was not wrong. But with your power alone, it's impossible to shake Yuki Yoru." Obito looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi and proactively pulled the two of them to the same front: "Of course, with my power alone, I'm also not his opponent."
"Only by uniting and gathering all of our strength can we break through and see the light of resistance in this world that is shrouded in the shadow of his soul."
Hiruzen's eyebrows trembled slightly. Following the instructions of the voice in his mind, he said calmly:
"…What exactly do you want to do?"
"To gather every possible fighting force." Obito's voice deepened. "As you've seen, the war I started has failed to stir up any real waves. Its only value was to let me glimpse, to some extent, the scale of Mangetsu's true power."
"That's why I must seek out strong allies — allies who, like me, are determined to resist Yoru's domination."
"Don't worry, I can help you cover up the matter of you seizing corpses and bodies, and even help you find the corpses and bodies you need. All you need to do is accumulate enough troops and contribute a part of your strength when I have my final showdown with Yuki Yoru."
"…Fine."
This promise had no cost, and there was no reason for Hiruzen Sarutobi not to agree.
After getting Hiruzen Sarutobi's approval, a look of satisfaction also appeared on Obito's face.
In his opinion, Hiruzen Sarutobi was completely in the same boat as him. Under the high pressure of Yuki Yoru, Hiruzen Sarutobi clearly only had this path of cooperation to take.
After the two of them reached a verbal cooperation agreement, they did not proceed with further cooperation. Obito also did not pursue the source of Hiruzen Sarutobi's cloning technology.
Although they had a superficial cooperation, under the circumstances of preliminary cooperation, they both clearly held back.
Obito only left behind a White Zetsu clone to help Hiruzen find bloodline limit users and then left. Hiruzen Sarutobi also did not care about Obito Uchiha's whereabouts and continued to search for the bodies of bloodline limit users on his own.
He had to say, with the help of White Zetsu, the efficiency of Hiruzen Sarutobi's search had been greatly improved. In one day, he had completed the amount of several days!
After all the corpses in the entire area had been collected, Hiruzen Sarutobi did not give the White Zetsu a chance to gather intelligence and disappeared from the spot, which made the White Zetsu who had worked hard all day a little helpless.
He subconsciously wanted to greet the clone of his former colleague, but the puppet-like, mechanical reaction of the other party made the White Zetsu even more bored...
...
"He needs a clone army to help him share the pressure of the Shinigami and the Quincy."
In Konoha Village, in Root's dimensional base, Jigen leaned on his exclusive throne and took a sip of red wine: "And the reason I let you agree to him is naturally because he has something I want."
"Hmm?" Hiruzen Sarutobi was a little confused.
"A body."
Jigen did not hide anything and said calmly: "His ritual was more successful than yours and Danzō's. He has truly broken the limit and entered the Six Paths level. And a body like that is already qualified to become my vessel."
"He has entered the Six Paths level..." Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes couldn't help but widen, and a strange light flashed in his eyes: "Did that guy actually reach the level of the Sage of Six Paths?!"
"He has barely touched that level of realm."
Jigen's tone was calm, but he was also quite surprised that Obito could break through to the Six Paths realm, because in his estimation, even if Obito's Chimera ritual sacrifices were chosen well, he would at most be a little stronger than the current Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō.
But he never expected that Obito would give him such a surprise.
The Six Paths realm meant that Obito was no longer a 'lower creature' who was restricted by flesh, blood, and lifespan. If he could brand a Karma on Obito's body, even if he couldn't recover to his peak state, his strength would still be able to recover to eighty or ninety percent.
"Jigen-sama."
Hiruzen Sarutobi hesitated to speak, but he still couldn't help but ask: "Then what do I and Danzō need to do to break through to the Six Paths realm?"
The huge boost brought by the Chimera ritual had raised Hiruzen Sarutobi to the current 'super Kage' level, but as for how to take the next step, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no clue.
But the inner desire for a higher level made Hiruzen Sarutobi place this hope completely on Jigen.
Still, his inner craving for higher power made him pin all his hopes on Cixian.
"It's very simple." Jigen drained the wine in his cup. "Ultimately, breaking through to the Six Paths realm is the process of you humans shattering your limits and becoming like us—the Ōtsutsuki. All you need is the blessing of a pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki, and you will naturally break through."
"Unfortunately, I am currently living in this fragile body and cannot do that for now. If I can get a new vessel and be reborn, or if I have a Chakra Fruit, then none of this will be a problem."
In the end, it still came down to waiting for Jigen's rebirth.
Hiruzen Sarutobi silently handed the scrolls of the bloodline limit corpses he had collected during this period to Jigen.
Jigen took them and casually opened a dark dimensional space, throwing all dozens of corpses in the scrolls into the space.
"But this matter can't be rushed in a short period of time. That guy has too many people watching him. I can only act when the water is muddy enough."
A strange roar came from inside the space. Hiruzen Sarutobi could vaguely see branches and roots dancing, bringing up a bloody aura:
"In addition, Danzō has already regained control of Konoha. You can go back and take a look if you're interested."
"Danzō, huh… he really is impatient."
…
"My clone can't get any information from his side at all."
While Hiruzen Sarutobi was discussing Obito with Jien, Kenji also tried to ask the main body of White Zetsu about the situation—naturally, he got nothing in return.
Obito wasn't bothered. Hiruzen's sudden appearance was already an unexpected bonus, and leaving behind a White Zetsu clone had cost him nothing.
"Forget that for now. Have you locked onto the spatial coordinates where that moon Ōtsutsuki descended into the shinobi world before?"
"We've locked onto it, but do you really want to go to the moon?" The silent Black Zetsu slowly spoke: "Everything on the moon is almost unknown to us. As the descendants of Ōtsutsuki Hamura, the people of the moon who claim to look down on the shinobi world must have extremely terrifying means of power."
"Don't you have confidence in me?"
The descendants of Ōtsutsuki Hamura, people from the sky, descendants of gods, the Tenseigan...
For the former Obito, these things were like myths and legends. Even he, who claimed to be the successor of Madara Uchiha, could only look up to these things.
But now, he had completed his transformation. Having stepped into the Six Paths realm, he had long had a new perspective.
"We're all descendants of the Sage's bloodline," Obito sneered, his face full of confidence: "I have already set foot on the very realm of our ancestor. But what about them? They once clashed with Yuki Yoru, failed, and then simply went back into hiding. Against beings of that level, why should I cower?"
"Besides, there's little left in the shinobi world we can still make use of. The moon hangs high above us. Before Yuki Yoru fully consolidates his rule and reaches up to the heavens, we must seize the initiative."
"Whether that means claiming the relics Hamura left behind, or allying with his descendants and driving them to clash with Yuki Yoru—it doesn't matter. Either way, stepping onto the moon is a step I must take."
"…What you say isn't wrong."
Black Zetsu hesitated.
The idea of going to the moon hadn't come from him, but from Obito's own flash of inspiration.
Truthfully, if not for the desperate urgency of their current situation, Black Zetsu would never have wanted Obito to go there. After all, the moon was the very place where his mother was sealed. The more attention drawn to it, the greater the risks and unforeseen consequences.
If Yuki Yoru noticed his mother… what kind of disaster would that bring?
Black Zetsu didn't know. But he had no better options. He could only cling to a hopeful thought:
What if Obito's actions on the moon disturbed the seal, caused it to loosen—or even broke it altogether?
If his mother were freed, then with the power of the Rabbit Goddess, even without the Ten-Tails, she could still sweep away everything with unmatched might.
Of course, deep down, Black Zetsu knew this was wishful thinking. If the seal placed by that traitor Hagoromo could really be undone so easily, his mother would never have been imprisoned for so long…