That group of orphans had not been brought back to the village. Instead, they were housed in one of Orochimaru's former secret bases outside the village.
Shin had not gone to see what the orphans were like. They were war orphans Anbu had gathered from outside—young children with no parents.
Even if they had not been brought here, they would have struggled to survive in this world.
Orochimaru had gone to the base to inspect them, then told Shin that he was very satisfied.
Previously, at Shin's suggestion, some villagers who had lost limbs in the war had received replacement limbs from Orochimaru. This left them immensely grateful to the Hokage.
Orochimaru's research had made progress. Shin had gone to see it; mass production of White Zetsu was already underway. Orochimaru had produced several samples and implanted Sharingan and Byakugan in them separately, wanting to see how they differed from ordinary people.
Unfortunately, although these White Zetsu possessed complete, even stronger bodily functions, their intelligence was extremely low, like that of young children.
They could use the Byakugan and Sharingan as well, but only use them.
Orochimaru had then created several child-form White Zetsu to see whether they would grow. Unfortunately, several months passed without any changes. Their intelligence remained locked at a certain stage.
"Could it be an issue with their souls?" Shin asked Orochimaru.
Orochimaru was taken aback.
"Though these White Zetsu appear alive, they are incomplete. Because they are not naturally conceived humans, they have no cycle of reincarnation for their souls. They only move according to a fragmentary instinctive consciousness and are driven by others."
"Hokage, you believe souls exist, don't you?"
Orochimaru pondered for a long while before suddenly saying, "What do you think would happen if human souls were placed inside these White Zetsu