Before dawn, Neji was summoned back to the main tent. By the time he arrived, everyone was already there.
Hashirama sat in the seat of honor with a smile. Beside him was Madara Uchiha, cold-faced and travel-worn, apparently having rushed back overnight the moment he received the news.
Tobirama Senju sat with his arms crossed, seemingly dozing. When Neji arrived, he did not even lift his eyelids.
Tsunade sat below, yawning impatiently.
Seeing that Neji had arrived, Hashirama rose to his feet. "Everyone's here. Let's begin! Tobirama..."
Tobirama opened his eyes and muttered something. Then his hands flew through a series of seals as he shouted, "Sealing!"
Neji immediately sensed a ripple spreading through the area around the tent. Space itself seemed to be locked down, completely cutting off the exchange of information with the outside world.
"I'm counting on you, Tobirama!"
Hashirama's expression suddenly turned solemn as he spoke seriously.
Tobirama nodded without saying anything.
"I called you all here because I finally thought of a way to obtain Truth-Seeking Orbs..."
Hashirama paused. Seeing everyone perk up and listen intently, he nodded in satisfaction and continued, "Our previous failures were because, although Madara and I had touched upon the realm of All Creation, we were still two independent individuals. Even if we barely condensed a prototype Truth-Seeking Orb, the mismatch in our thought processes and our inherent ideological conflict would make it unstable. That was an insurmountable obstacle!"
Everyone nodded thoughtfully. They suddenly understood: a Truth-Seeking Orb was the result of a single person's spirit and energy undergoing a qualitative transformation. It could not be created simply by fusing two people together, so failure had been inevitable.
"So, Neji's words later gave me an idea. Since two people won't work, then we should complete the chakra attributes of one