Tobirama raised an eyebrow and asked Orochimaru, "Orochimaru, were you just laughing?"
Orochimaru hurriedly thought about the worst thing that had happened in his life to straighten his face into a serious expression.
"Certainly not, Second Hokage. If this war can be won, I will verify the relationship between the Sharingan, Wood Release, and the Rinnegan with you."
Tobirama nodded.
Orochimaru then thought, "Second Hokage, what do you think would happen if the First Hokage fused with Madara's cells? Would he awaken the Rinnegan?"
Tobirama frowned, "By saying that, you negate the evolutionary theory of the Sharingan and the Rinnegan."
Orochimaru smiled, "Hasn't the Shinobi World always circulated the concept of the Three Great Dojutsu? The Rinnegan, Byakugan, and Sharingan are hailed as the Three Great Dojutsu."
"If the Rinnegan evolved from the Sharingan, then why list them as the Three Great Dojutsu?"
Just like Japan, Korea, and the West, or cavalry and infantry; systematic classification must have distinctions.
If cavalry were mixed in with infantry, people would curse!
They would curse you out!
Since the Three Great Dojutsu are listed together, it proves they are three independent systems.
Upon hearing Orochimaru's theory, Tobirama praised him, "Orochimaru, your mind is very flexible. Very good. Researching Ninjutsu requires a lot of thought and contemplation!"
If Orochimaru had been born ten years earlier, Tobirama would definitely have taken Orochimaru as his apprentice and trained him into a little Tobirama.
He would have brainwashed him properly and made him a dog for Konoha.
Orochimaru and Tobirama were very similar; they were both exceptionally keen on Ninjutsu, as if they were born to research it.
Orochimaru smiled; being recognized by Tobirama made him quite happy.
Because Orochimaru had always been learning from Tobirama, whose talent surpassed his own.
Even just the Edo Tensei alone was something Orochimaru would have to think about for a lifetime.
Moreover, Tobirama didn't just focus on researching Ninjutsu. During the Warring States Period, he was one of the pillars of the Senju Clan, and during the Shinobi Village era, he was the Hokage, with many affairs to attend to.
There were too many things that occupied Tobirama's mind.
If such a person had poured all his energy into scientific research, he would definitely have shaken the entire structure of the Shinobi World.
What was Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan? It was nothing more than picking up the scraps of his predecessors!
Only science is the primary productive force of the Shinobi World; knowledge changes destiny, and technology changes life.
Immediately, the two began to brainstorm ways to experiment on the independent conjecture regarding the Rinnegan and the Sharingan.
The best method would be for Hashirama to fuse with Madara's cells.
But there were too many limiting conditions.
First, where could they get Madara's cells?
Second, Hashirama was a dead man.
Although an Edo Tensei body could be affected by external forces, such as Hashirama's Sage Mode or Minato's Nine-Tails chakra Mode in the original work.
But cell fusion was an internal change.
Previously, Hiruko had used the Chimera Technique to fuse with Orochimaru's white snake cells.
But afterwards, Hiruko's white snake cells disintegrated.
Every time he wanted to use Orochimaru's power, he had to activate the Forbidden Jutsu beforehand to fuse with Orochimaru's cells.
This was not a lasting fusion, just a temporary acquisition of Orochimaru's power.
Hashirama was an Edo Tensei body, and an Edo Tensei body did have cells; in the original work, when Itachi was an Edo Tensei body, his eyes bled while activating Amaterasu.
Also, when the Second Mizukage summoned his Summoned Beast, he bit his finger and used his blood to summon it.
Not only could they bleed, they could also shed tears.
This proved that the inside of an Edo Tensei body was not purely pieces of the Edo Tensei; they only turned into such fragments when reconstructing the body.
In reality, it was essentially borrowing the sacrifice's body to simulate the chakra meridian system from when they were alive.
Therefore, the better the sacrifice, the more perfect the chakra meridian system, and the closer they were to their strength while alive.
The strength an Edo Tensei body could exert was linked to the quality of the sacrifice.
However, no matter what, they were cells constructed by the Edo Tensei, and they could not fuse with the cells of the living.
Therefore, Orochimaru could not help Hashirama fuse with Madara's cells.
Tobirama rubbed his chin, frowning slightly, "That means Big Brother must be resurrected, right?"
Orochimaru nodded, "If the Second Hokage can do it!"
Tobirama shook his head, "The difficulty isn't Big Brother's resurrection; that's not hard for me. The hard part is that Big Brother won't accept his own resurrection."
Orochimaru's pupils constricted. Did Tobirama even possess a Secret Technique for resurrection?
But thinking about it carefully, Tobirama had even created the Edo Tensei. Resurrection was nothing; there were plenty of Secret Techniques regarding resurrection in the Shinobi World.
With the foundation of the Senju Clan, would they not have any?
Even if they didn't, with Tobirama's brain, if given some time, he could develop a Secret Technique for resurrection.
For Tobirama, getting Hashirama to accept his own resurrection was the biggest problem.
Because Hashirama was a conservative; birth, aging, sickness, and death were natural laws, and death was the way of heaven. Humans could not go against the arrangements of the heavens.
If Hashirama accepted his own resurrection, could he let relatives like Uzumaki Mito, Kawarama, and Itama continue to sleep?
Could the ones resurrected first not lead to the resurrection of the others?
If Hashirama was resurrected, and the Daimyo came asking for the Secret Technique of resurrection, could Hashirama's personality allow him to refuse absolutely?
A person like Hashirama would not accept his own resurrection; it went against the balance of life and death.
Furthermore, Hashirama's story had already ended.
Returning to the Shinobi World now was only because Madara was not dead and was still threatening the Shinobi World and the Village. Hashirama's sense of responsibility made him choose to fight for the Shinobi World.
This was righteousness.
A selfish person like Orochimaru could not understand Tobirama's distress over resurrecting Hashirama.
Tobirama was distressed for a while, but finally shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
He stood up, looked at Orochimaru, and said, "Orochimaru, let's go to Ryūchi Cave. The two of us will snipe Uchiha Ryou, that naturally evil brat."
"We absolutely cannot let him learn the Sage Mode of Ryūchi Cave! Otherwise, it will be very troublesome. If we can persuade him to surrender, it would be even better for dealing with Uchiha Madara!"
Orochimaru touched his head, "Second Hokage, didn't the First Hokage just tell you not to go and stop Ryou?"
Tobirama sneered, "Have I done few things behind my Big Brother's back?"
Orochimaru understood; researching a new jutsu required a hundred test subjects, and Tobirama had researched so many Forbidden Jutsu.
Who knew how many people had died in his Ninjutsu experiments?
Tobirama was never a kind person!
Only he could be worthy of the title Hokage; there was darkness, and there was also benevolence.
Orochimaru nodded and was just preparing to head to Ryūchi Cave when, suddenly, a white snake was summoned to Orochimaru's side.
It was intelligence from Hiruko, intelligence from Konoha.
Seeing it was intelligence, Tobirama stopped.
Orochimaru took out the scroll from the little white snake's mouth and looked at the intelligence on it.
As he read, he said to Tobirama, "Second Hokage, the Shinobi Allied Forces has been established, and they are setting off for the border of the Land of Rain today."
Tobirama snorted, "Too slow. When Madara was resurrected, the Monkey should have assembled the Five Great Nations immediately."
"Instead of waiting until after Madara retrieved his own Rinnegan and captured two Tailed Beasts."
Orochimaru explained, "Because the Five Great Shinobi Villages were previously in a state of opposition, Sensei did not have enough prestige to immediately assemble the Five Great Nations to open the Five Kage Summit."
Tobirama said nothing, just folded his arms and snorted coldly.