Chapter 99: Orochimaru’s Plan

The newly resurrected Minato Namikaze looked completely bewildered.

He glanced around the laboratory, clearly trying to understand his surroundings.

Seeing this, Orochimaru greeted him with a smile.

"Minato-kun, we meet again."

The moment he saw Orochimaru, Edo Tensei Minato seemed to understand what had happened.

He looked at Orochimaru suspiciously.

"Orochimaru, is something wrong? What era is this? And where’s Naruto?"

Orochimaru’s eyes flickered.

He didn’t receive the memories.

He calmly answered,

"According to Konoha’s calendar, it is now Year 61.

"As for Naruto-kun, he has already graduated from the Academy and become a Genin. He’s currently outside the village on a mission.

"His Jonin instructor is actually your former student, Kakashi Hatake."

He paused before continuing.

"This time, Naruto-kun isn’t the reason I summoned you.

"I have a plan I’d like to discuss with you.

"Minato-kun, would you like to hear it?"

"It’s already Year 61?"

Edo Minato was momentarily stunned.

So Naruto is twelve years old now.

And he’s still in Konoha?

His instructor is Kakashi?

Can Kakashi really teach Naruto?

But Minato quickly calmed down.

Naruto must have his own reasons.

It’s a shame. We’re too far apart for me to receive his memories.

He didn’t dwell on it.

Instead, Minato looked at Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru, you’ve helped Naruto quite a bit over the years.

"I don’t know what you’ve done, but I won’t question it.

"Unfortunately, I’m too far away from Naruto to receive his memories."

Although Minato hadn’t received any new memories, his consciousness still remained at the point when Naruto had released the Nine-Tails.

And knowing that Orochimaru had fallen under Naruto’s Kotoamatsukami, Minato could naturally guess that Orochimaru had helped Naruto considerably over the years.

Orochimaru handed Konoha’s invitation scroll to Minato.

"That’s fine. I’ll discuss everything with Naruto-kun later.

"For now, I’m here because of you.

"Take a look at this."

Minato accepted the scroll and quickly read through it.

His expression changed slightly.

He shook his head.

"Looks like the Third Hokage has gotten senile.

"He’s sending an invitation without even properly investigating who the leader of the Sound Village is."

He paused.

Then, having roughly understood what Orochimaru intended, Minato’s expression became serious.

"All right, Orochimaru.

"Tell me.

"I’m interested."

Orochimaru had gone to the trouble of resurrecting him and had even shown him Konoha’s invitation.

It was obvious that Orochimaru was planning something against Konoha.

Minato didn’t mind.

In fact, he was genuinely interested.

The consciousness residing inside Naruto had already raged helplessly more than once.

But trapped inside the seal, he couldn’t leave or do anything.

Now that he had an Edo Tensei body, perhaps he could finally accomplish something.

Talking to intelligent people was always easy.

Seeing that Minato had agreed to listen, Orochimaru smiled.

"I plan to send Sound Village shinobi to Konoha for the Chunin Exams and use the opportunity to create chaos.

"We’ll secretly position our forces, cooperate with another hidden village, and launch an attack that crushes Konoha in one stroke.

"I’ll call it..."

Orochimaru’s smile widened.

"The Konoha Crush Plan."

"What do you think, Minato-kun?"

Minato fell silent for a moment.

Then he asked,

"Are you confident?"

It wasn’t that Minato underestimated Orochimaru.

Konoha was still one of the strongest shinobi villages in the world.

Even if it was no longer at its former peak, it remained one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

A few small villages alone wouldn’t be enough to threaten it.

Orochimaru smiled confidently.

"I believe Naruto-kun will agree to the plan."

The implication was obvious.

As long as Naruto agreed, Orochimaru had complete confidence in its success.

Minato nodded.

Then he sensed the strength of his current Edo Tensei body.

His expression became slightly disappointed.

"Unfortunately, Orochimaru... I can only use around thirty to forty percent of my original strength in this body."

Thirty or forty percent wasn’t enough.

If he wanted to accomplish anything meaningful, it simply wasn’t sufficient.

Minato couldn’t help feeling somewhat disappointed.

Orochimaru smiled.

"Minato-kun, are you dissatisfied because the body is too weak?

"That’s not a problem.

"The quality of the sacrifice determines the upper limit of an Edo Tensei body.

"If I replace this sacrifice with a superior one, I may not be able to restore one hundred percent of your original strength, but eighty or ninety percent is absolutely possible.

"And this body won’t die.

"It possesses practically unlimited chakra.

"Once you factor that in, I believe your combat ability won’t be much weaker than it was when you were alive."

Orochimaru turned toward Kabuto.

"Kabuto, bring me a White Zetsu.

"Choose the best one."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

Kabuto immediately obeyed.

Minato’s eyes showed a hint of anticipation.

An immortal body.

Unlimited chakra.

Perhaps I really can fight even better than I did while alive.

A short while later, Kabuto brought one of the White Zetsu that Orochimaru had specially kept alive for experimentation.

Orochimaru nodded toward Minato.

Then he dispelled the current Edo Tensei.

Using the White Zetsu as the new sacrifice, he performed the technique again.

Edo Tensei!

Once again, Minato Namikaze appeared.

He moved his body slightly.

"Indeed. There’s a huge difference."

Suddenly—

His chakra surged.

Special markings appeared across his face.

His pupils transformed into horizontal slits.

Sage Mode!

Minato instantly entered Mount Myoboku’s Sage Mode.

Orochimaru’s eyes narrowed with interest.

"Minato-kun can use Sage Mode?"

Orochimaru himself knew that Ryuchi Cave also possessed its own Sage Mode.

However, because he valued his life too much, he had never successfully mastered it.

And during his lifetime, Minato had never openly used Sage Mode.

Minato scratched his head.

"I could use it to some extent while I was alive, but I wasn’t particularly proficient.

"The preparation time was too long, making it impractical during battle.

"So I never really used it.

"But this body is much more suitable for absorbing natural energy.

"And I don’t have to worry about being petrified.

"So I decided to try it.

"I didn’t expect the result to be this good."

Orochimaru thoughtfully nodded.

It made sense.

The Edo Tensei body was essentially composed of matter from the natural world.

And the sacrifice this time was White Zetsu, whose body contained Hashirama’s cells.

Hashirama himself had mastered Wood Release and possessed an extremely close connection to natural energy.

Both the Edo body and White Zetsu were exceptionally compatible with nature.

On top of that, the Edo Tensei body possessed unlimited chakra.

Orochimaru immediately understood why Minato could enter Sage Mode almost instantaneously.

He smiled.

"I’m glad you’re satisfied, Minato-kun.

"From now on, you can move freely."

Minato dispelled Sage Mode and shook his head.

"Forget it.

"There isn’t much left for me to be attached to in the living world.

"Having a fragment of my consciousness inside Naruto is already enough.

"When the time comes, summon me again.

"I intend to settle some accounts with Konoha properly."

He suddenly seemed to remember something.

"By the way, won’t this waste your precious sacrifice?"

Orochimaru shook his head with a smile.

"Don’t worry.

"It won’t be wasted."

Minato nodded.

He said nothing more.

Orochimaru formed a single hand seal.

Minato’s eyes immediately became dull.

However, his Edo Tensei body didn’t disappear.

Orochimaru turned toward Kabuto.

"Kabuto, prepare a coffin.

"Preserve Minato’s body."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

Kabuto nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait."

Orochimaru suddenly stopped him.

A strange smile appeared on his face.

He had just thought of something.

With Minato here...

How could I possibly leave out Kushina?

The famous Red Hot-Blooded Habanero.

Orochimaru imagined her reaction if she learned about Naruto.

She’d probably tear my entire laboratory apart.

He considered it for a moment.

Then his smile became even more sinister.

Never mind.

I’ll prepare her body first.

When the time comes...

This is going to be spectacular.

Orochimaru turned toward Kabuto.

"Kabuto, prepare another White Zetsu.

"And another coffin."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

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