[Underground Basement, Hidden Chamber Beneath Kakashi's Home]
Kakashi stood shirtless at the center of a complex seal array he had drawn by hand, precise lines of glowing blue ink formed interlocking spirals, testing old Uzumaki's seals infused with a twist of his own "Formula Reconstruction" technique.
After finishing what he was doing, he breathed out slowly and started focusing on the White Zetsu clone he'd devoured not long ago, the slow, strange piece of life that was human at the beginning but was turned entirely plant by the Shinju, or maybe they were the ones made by Madara.
His skin prickled as he bent his fingers into a specialized hand sign he invented.
"Spore Clone: Genesis Bud."
From his back, a patch of flesh writhed like boiling sap before bulging outward. A dull, clay-like pod pushed free, sloughing from his spine and falling to the floor with a muted thud. The pod twitched once… then split open down the middle.
From within, a figure emerged, humanoid, but clearly not human.
Its skin was pale grayish-beige, with an odd smoothness, like clay or soft bark. Thin, root-like veins crisscrossed the limbs and chest, pulsing faintly with life.
Its face was blank, only shallow indentations where eyes and mouth might have been. No hair. No gender. No voice. Just a mannequin made of organic matter, still, silent, and waiting.
"So that's what it looks like…" Kakashi circled it with his arms crossed, eyes narrowing.
The clone was thinner than him, about 90% of his mass, like a stripped-down version of himself. It didn't breathe. It didn't blink. But it radiated chakra. Low, dull, passive, and receptive.
"Empty vessel… pure White Zetsu tissue. No will. No identity. Just a container." He tapped the forehead gently.
He tilted his head and smirked behind his ever-thoughtful expression. A memory bubbled up.
"…I remember in the original timeline… Orochimaru possessed a White Zetsu body. That body held up better than most human ones under his soul's transfer…"
A grin started tugging at the corner of his lips.
"…What if I did the same?" he whispered, his eyes gleaming. "But with more control. What if… I take that sealed soul fragment of Orochimaru I pulled from Anko's curse mark… and transfer it into this clone?"
The idea rooted in his mind like a weed in cracked stone.
"He'd have a body. He'd have his mind. His memories. He is that fragment. And if I use the right seals-" his eyes lit with excitement "-I could bind his loyalty. Maybe even manipulate his thought patterns subtly… not enough to erase him, but just to steer him."
Kakashi chuckled under his breath. "A second Orochimaru, working for me. Helping with research. Unbound by ambition, snakes… okay, maybe a few snakes. It wouldn't be Orochimaru without the snakes.
He couldn't resist the pull of the idea anymore.
Still shirtless and buzzing with chakra, he jogged up the stairs toward the living room.
[Living Room, Late Afternoon]
Tsunade sat at the center couch, dressed casually in a low-cut green robe, sipping warm sake while reading a thick scroll.
Nearby, Kurenai had her legs curled beneath her while playing with a sleeping Ranmaru's hair, and Anko sat cross-legged on the floor, munching dango and tossing the empty sticks like darts at a target across the room.
No Naruto, no Sasuke, no Sakura or Karin, the brats weren't there, so it was peaceful.
The moment Kakashi burst in, panting slightly and half-covered in ink and dust, all three women looked up.
"Kakashi?" Tsunade blinked. "Why do you look like you crawled out of a cave?"
"I was in a cave," Kakashi said, waving his hand. "Never mind that! I've had an idea. A really good, possibly insane idea, but one that could change everything."
"Oh, this is gonna be good." Anko grinned.
Kakashi turned to Kurenai directly. "You remember the soul fragment of Orochimaru I pulled from Anko's old seal?"
"Yes," Kurenai on the side said slowly.
"Well… I can now create White Zetsu clones from my own body. Empty, loyal, customizable. So I thought: what if I create a soul-binding seal complex enough to implant that soul fragment into one of my Zetsu clones?"
"Wait, make another Orochimaru?" Tsunade frowned.
"Yes!" Kakashi pointed. "But loyal. Useful. Orochimaru's mind is in a vessel I control. He is a genius. With his knowledge on biology, chakra, genetics, not to mention all the kinjutsu he had tucked away… he could be a massive asset."
"What goes through your head all day?" Tsunade said as she stared at him. Her lips parted slightly in disbelief.
"I don't know," Kakashi replied cheerfully. "Usually jutsu theories, sealing models, and you three. Sometimes barbecue."
"Do you even have anything that lets you study or manipulate souls on that level?" Tsunade sighed, rubbing her forehead.
"Not yet," he said honestly. "But I figured… maybe you do?"
"You want me to help you recreate one of the most dangerous men in Konoha's history?" She gave him, a deadpan look.
"Controlled," Kakashi emphasized. "And only his brain. Not the ambition, not the body-stealing. Just science."
Tsunade leaned back, thinking for a long moment. Then her eyes lit up with realization.
"…My grand-uncle Tobirama," she said suddenly. "He had to research souls for his Edo Tensei. There are scrolls, notes from his private lab. I never touched them, but I know where they are."
"Really!?" Kakashi leaned forward excitedly.
"Yes," she said. "Wait here."
[Twenty Minutes Later, came from the Senju Clan Archives]
Tsunade returned, her hands full. She placed down a massive scroll nearly as long as her arm, followed by three medium-sized ones bound in silk.
"These are the original notes he left in his main lab at the Senju territory," she said. "I sealed them there for safekeeping. No one else could access them but me."
Kakashi gingerly unrolled the edge of the main scroll, eyes gleaming like a child opening birthday presents.
Each page was filled with diagrams of the soul lattice, chakra signatures, purification pathways, and jutsu layers overlaid on life force. It was madness, elegant, brilliant madness. This was the research that Tobirama hadn't even shared with the village.
"This… this is exactly what I need."
"You're the only one I'd trust with this, you know." Tsunade folded her arms, smirking.
"Really?" He paused. Looking up.
"You're my man," she said simply. "If you want to play god in your basement, I'll at least give you the blueprints."
He leaned up, kissed her full on the lips, then smirked and kissed Kurenai and Anko in turn. Anko pretended to gag with a teasing grin, while Kurenai chuckled and shook her head.
"Thanks, all of you," he said, clutching the scrolls to his chest like treasure. "I'm off to build Frankenstein's snake."
And with that, he dashed back down the hallway, scrolls trailing behind him like streamers.
"What is Frankenstein?" Tsunade asked as she flopped back onto the couch.
"Dunno, but we just agreed to help him revive Orochimaru, didn't we?" Anko leaned over to Kurenai and whispered,
"Mhm." Kurenai sipped her tea calmly.
"He's going to ask us to name it next, I know it…" Tsunade sighed.
"How about Orochimaru Jr.?" Anko grinned.
"Too plain," Kurenai added. "How about Snakey?"
Tsunade groaned and facepalmed.
[Basement, Hours Later]
Kakashi stood over his clone again, eyes sharp, breath steady. Beside him were Tobirama's notes, already halfway deciphered and translated into working seals.
He unsealed the soul fragment scroll and began etching the circle.
The experiment would begin soon.
And if he succeeded… the world was about to meet the new Orochimaru.