It was still that same underground laboratory.
Kurogane Ren appeared atop a massive scroll.
He hadn't come here directly through the Summoning Technique at first. Instead, he had made a short stop at a location not too far from the battlefield. It wasn't because the distance exceeded the range of the technique, but because he couldn't notify his crow in time. So he had заранее placed a shadow clone on a high ground he was almost certain was safe. In a forest, he wouldn't have been so confident—after all, White Zetsu could hide within wood almost undetectably—but the place he chose didn't have a single tree.
Even so, White Zetsu's hiding techniques were extremely troublesome. He had checked the area multiple times and even set up a sealing technique just in case something was lurking underground.
Once he confirmed it was safe, the shadow clone's job was simply to observe how the situation developed.
For instance, if Nagato or Uchiha Obito's strength exceeded his expectations, the shadow clone would immediately summon him away. He wanted a portion of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, but not at the cost of his life.
Fortunately, things had gone more smoothly than he anticipated, so the clone's contingency role never came into play.
In the end, the shadow clone merely summoned back the sealed scroll—already marked with the Tool Summoning Technique—and Kurogane Ren himself, before he used the crow in the laboratory to transfer here.
Now, in his hands, was the sealed scroll containing one of the Demonic Statue's arms.
His next objective was clear.
Using this arm of the Ten-Tails, he intended to cultivate a miniature Ten-Tails capable of devouring the chakra of the nine tailed beasts.
That was why he had risked exposure to White Zetsu earlier just to obtain the Three-Tails' chakra from Nohara Rin.
However, he didn't immediately break the seal. Instead, he placed the scroll into a storage room. Before beginning his research on cultivating a miniature Ten-Tails, there was something else he needed to handle first.
Just as he was about to leave, his steps paused. He turned and walked toward several experimental subjects—individuals who had undergone fusion using the Chimera Technique with Hyuga branch family bloodlines.
Their vital signs were stable. There was no sign of the Caged Bird Seal activating. However, their eyes were still ordinary, not Byakugan.
That was because the Byakugan in the fused branch family bloodlines had already been destroyed by the Caged Bird Seal.
And the Chimera Technique couldn't restore a destroyed Byakugan.
Kurogane Ren narrowed his eyes slightly. Perhaps this was the key.
The Caged Bird Seal seemed to rely on the Byakugan as its medium. That would explain why Hyuga Hizashi, when revived through Edo Tensei by Kabuto Yakushi, still bore the Caged Bird Seal. Because he was summoned in a state where his Byakugan was intact, the seal naturally reappeared as well.
Meanwhile, these subjects, who had fused with deceased branch family bloodlines, no longer had their Byakugan. As a result, the seal disappeared along with it.
Which led to a new question.
If they were implanted with a fresh Byakugan, would the Caged Bird Seal reappear?
Theoretically, it shouldn't. A Byakugan from the main family wouldn't carry the seal. But what if something went wrong?
Kurogane Ren rubbed his temples. Testing this would require experimenting on a member of the Hyuga main family.
If he had that option, why bother fusing branch family bloodlines at all? He could just directly fuse with a main family bloodline and solve everything in one step.
Or perhaps the Caged Bird Seal wasn't tied to the eyes at all, but to the soul?
That possibility was even more troublesome. The soul was an elusive and difficult subject to study.
Maybe he could modify the Chimera Technique to only fuse the body?
But altering such a complex forbidden technique would take an immense amount of time. Compared to that, would it be easier to simply replace someone's head?
After all, surviving something like a head transplant… that kind of research was likely only within Orochimaru's capabilities.
"Orochimaru…"
Kurogane Ren murmured, considering the possibility of obtaining techniques from him. Orochimaru was nothing like Hiruko.
Now that his chakra reserves had been resolved, Kurogane Ren could already perform at the level of a jonin. With some effort, he might even contend with elite jonin.
But against Orochimaru? That was still far from enough.
Even if Orochimaru hadn't yet reached his later peak or mastered countless forbidden techniques, he was still at least at the early Kage level.
Trying to obtain resources from someone like that would be extremely difficult.
Still…
"It's not impossible to try."
Kurogane Ren thought about the timing and reasons behind Orochimaru's eventual defection. He didn't need to surpass Orochimaru—he just needed to be able to restrain him.
Moreover, during this period, his strength would grow rapidly. It wasn't impossible that he could eventually stand on equal footing.
Of course, killing Orochimaru was another matter entirely. The man's reputation as the ultimate survivor wasn't for nothing.
If Orochimaru used his forbidden techniques in combination with the Caged Bird Seal, then Kurogane Ren would have no choice but to accept failure.
He mentally labeled this as Plan A, then began considering alternative approaches.
It was always better to have a backup plan. If the primary plan failed, he could switch to another. Only when all options were exhausted would he abandon the experiment and proceed with direct fusion.
For example… capturing a member of the Hyuga main family.
He hadn't considered this before due to his lack of strength. And if exposed, it would be equivalent to defecting from the village.
Defection itself wasn't a problem—but only after he had completed everything he needed to do in Konoha.
"It's not entirely impossible."
He muttered to himself. After all, Kumogakure had once attempted to kidnap Hyuga Hinata. That alone proved they had their eyes on the Hyuga clan.
Of course, Hinata was heavily protected by Hyuga Hiashi, making her a difficult target. But the Hyuga main family wasn't limited to just his branch.
That was where the true imbalance lay.
From Kurogane Ren's perspective, this was the greatest injustice. If only the clan head and heir were exempt from the Caged Bird Seal, it might not have caused such resentment. After all, people are less troubled by scarcity than by inequality.
Leaders having privileges could be justified, even if not everyone agreed. But what about the other members of the main family?
Why were they also exempt from the Caged Bird Seal? Why did the clan head's brother have to bear it?
It was only natural that such a system bred dissatisfaction.
Kurogane Ren didn't dwell on it further. He wasn't a Hyuga, and it wasn't his place to fix their internal issues.
What mattered was this…
Perhaps he could take advantage of the chaos to target another branch of the Hyuga main family—and shift the blame onto Kumogakure.