Cells?

"Cell?"

Minato frowned, somewhat puzzled, but instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

Suppressing his unease, Minato continued asking questions, which Sasori answered one by one.

More than an hour passed quickly during this question-and-answer session.

"Finally, one last question," Minato cleared his throat, looking into Sasori's eyes, "Have you ever heard of Madara Uchiha?"

"Ha?"

This time, even Scorpion was a little confused.

I thought they'd ask something more, but it turned out to be... such a stupid question?

"Are you mocking me...? Wait, are you saying that Wood Release brat isn't the real mastermind? And Madara Uchiha is the real culprit?"

A genius is a genius after all; their minds work much faster than ordinary people's. They were able to deduce astonishing information from the Minato scandal alone.

"This can't be real, right? Madara Uchiha... shouldn't he have been killed by the First Hokage long ago? How could he still be alive..."

"As expected of a genius Puppet Master." Minato didn't deny it, but simply praised Sasori.

"It's actually true... Haha, how interesting. Is the former Asura God of Slaughter of Konoha now turning around and trying to wipe out Konoha?"

Scorpion laughed heartily.

That's really what he heard.

Minato frowned. "Lord Sasori, is there anything else you'd like to say?"

"What do I want to say? Let me think... There's nothing in particular I want to say. If I really had to say something... I hope that a natural disaster will end my life in the end."

These last words made Minato's eye twitch, and he remained silent for a few seconds before giving a reply.

"I'll ask about it, considering how cooperative you've been."

After saying that, Minato took Itachi and left.

Inside the cell, Scorpion's eyes darted around as he watched Minato and Itachi's figures disappear into the depths of the passageway. Then, he slowly closed his eyes, not even glancing at the guards who surged out again.

Walking through the long, underground passage, the dim lights on both sides flickered, and the long shadows danced in the dark like demons and monsters.

"Itachi, what do you think the cells from stolen corpses will be used for?"

"This... I don't know. I'm not good at biological sciences. You might find it helpful to ask Lady Tsunade or Lord Katsuki. The Lord Hokage has collaborated with Lady Tsunade on research in this area, so he might have some knowledge of it."

"Hmm, let me think."

Minato lowered his head, pondered for a moment, and then made a decision.

"I need to go ask the Lord Hokage first. I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight until I get to the bottom of this."

"I'll go with you."

"Okay, come here and let me grab your shoulders."

Minato did not refuse Itachi's kindness and reached out to grab Itachi's shoulder. A golden light flashed in the darkness, and the long corridor became empty once again.

The Hokage Building was brightly lit in the night.

Looking out the window, you can see people hunched over their desks writing furiously, people hurrying by with documents in their hands, people yelling at their subordinates for making mistakes—all sorts of people, except for those who have nothing to do.

"Minato, it looks like the interrogation has yielded results?"

Orochimaru threw the red pen he was holding onto the document, rubbed his eyes, and then looked at the Root's chief and deputy chiefs who had rushed in.

"Please feel free to tell me what's going on; I'm pretty resilient."

"Ahem, after interrogation, it was confirmed that Sasori of the Red Sands's actions were influenced by external forces. Whether it was Madara Uchiha or not is still unclear, but it's related to those white monsters... Katsuki gave those things a code name, White Zetsu. Sasori launched this assassination attempt against Uzumaki Shuyuan with the support of the White Zetsu."

Minato reported the interrogation results methodically.

"White Zetsu? That's strange! Does it have any special significance?" Orochimaru tapped the table and asked curiously.

"Huh? I'm not really sure about that."

Minato shook his head. Although he didn't think White Zetsu was pretty at all, when he mentioned having a code name, Katsuki firmly refused.

"Okay, let's continue!"

"... Furthermore, Senju Zen, a defector from the Senju Clan, is also involved in this incident. It was he who persuaded Sasori of the Red Sands. And the mastermind behind the grave-digging incidents that occurred in Kusagakure and Sunagakure was also Senju Zen."

"It really isn't surprising at all!"

Orochimaru pressed his temples wearily.

"But what about the grave-digging incident? Does anyone know what Senju Zen's purpose was?"

"That's why I came here. Sasori of the Red Sands isn't entirely clear on this either. All he knows is that Senju Zen opened the graves of various noble families in Sunagakure and stole some cells from them, which makes me very uneasy."

You mean cells?

Orochimaru's voice instantly rose eight octaves.

"Yes, that's what Sasori of the Red Sands said, and Itachi was observing with his Sharingan, so it shouldn't be a lie." Minato nodded.

"Cells? Did you find out whose cells they were? Did you steal cells from all the graves of dead ninjas? Or did you only find a portion, such as the graves of Jonin or those renowned ninjas?" Orochimaru pressed.

"Hmm, judging from what Sasori of the Red Sands said, it seems that he only selectively dug up some graves."

Minato answered cautiously, his eyes fixed on Orochimaru. It seemed the Lord Hokage did indeed know something.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Orochimaru frowned deeply, cursing incessantly, his golden vertical pupils seemingly concealing unspeakable troubles.

"Lord Hokage, Senju Zen steals the cells of dead ninjas. Do you have any leads on this?" Minato asked cautiously.

"Haa!!" Orochimaru sighed. "Well, since Senju Zen has already made preparations, it seems this matter can't be kept secret any longer..."

"Minato, Itachi, you know about the Scroll of Seals, right?"

"The Scroll of Seals? Of course, that's where I learned my Flying Thunder God Technique." Minato nodded without hesitation.

The weasel nodded slightly, indicating that it understood.

"I almost forgot if you hadn't mentioned it. Anyway, the Scroll of Seals records the Forbidden Jutsu developed by the Second Hokage. They're either taboo techniques that violate morality or Ninjutsu with enormous consequences." Orochimaru looked at Minato. "For example, the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique is one such example. People with insufficient Chakra will break their bodies if they learn this technique, so the Second Hokage listed it as Forbidden Jutsu. The Flying Thunder God Technique that Minato learned is also one of them."

"Is that so? I haven't noticed any side effects of the Flying Thunder God Technique." Minato was confused by Orochimaru's words.

"The problem with the Flying Thunder God Technique isn't the aftereffects, but rather the extreme danger of its training. Since the Second Hokage, only you, Minato, have mastered this technique. The other practitioners... either suffocated inside rocks or had their internal organs ripped apart inside trees. None of them met a good end; their deaths were all more gruesome than the last."

Minato's lips twitched; he truly hadn't realized the Flying Thunder God Technique was so difficult to master. (To be continued)