Blueprint!

"To awaken a Rinnegan of your own?"

After confirming Nagato's request, Orochimaru fell into thought.

"Nagato, based on the information you've provided, one who awakens the Rinnegan must possess the powers of both the Senju Clan and the Uchiha."

"Senju Power can be obtained through a Hashirama Cells transplant. But Nagato, your greatest problem is that you lack Uchiha blood. From the very beginning, you do not possess the conditions necessary to awaken it!"

In truth, the key to awakening the Rinnegan was to use the powers of Asura and Indra to draw out the power of the Sage of Six Paths.

Just as in the corridor, he did not expose this... First, he did not want Orochimaru to grasp the most crucial secret, in case Orochimaru was not of one mind with him in the future.

Second, although the Sharingan and Rinnegan were two independent ocular techniques, using the ultimate form of the Sharingan, the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, as a foundation would not conflict with the power of the Rinnegan at all. It would only benefit him!

Unaware of these details, Orochimaru's hoarse voice sounded once more. "Even if you transplant another pair of Sharingan from an outside source and manage to awaken the Rinnegan through effort, you still would not be the original owner of those Rinnegan... Do you understand what I mean?"

Nagato smiled. This truly was Orochimaru; he had seen the key issue.

Following that line of thought, Nagato expanded on it.

"I've already considered that, so let me explain my idea."

"The one to awaken the Rinnegan... does not necessarily have to be this body of mine."

"What did you say?" Orochimaru's eyes suddenly lit up.

Nagato said, "I will prepare an entirely new body. In my vision, this body will possess the following elements: my appearance, my consciousness, Senju cells, Uchiha bloodline... In short, through that new body, the elements my current body lacks in the Six Paths domain will be made whole."

Among those conditions, he particularly emphasized the words, "my consciousness."

This new body had to possess the consciousness of Nagato's original body. Nor could it be like a Shadow Clone, which shared the original's consciousness yet had an independent one of its own. The "my consciousness" Nagato wanted in the new body had to be like Pain's—completely and continuously synchronized with the original body in real time.

After hearing Nagato's series of demands, Yakushi Kabuto broke out in a cold sweat. "Th-this... This is far too reckless. How could it possibly be achieved?"

Nagato said, "I am only proposing an idea. I am not considering how to realize it."

Orochimaru wore a smile. The idea of this brand-new body happened to coincide with the immortality reincarnation he was researching.

"In other words, Nagato, do you intend to one day abandon your current body and transfer your soul into a brand-new vessel...?"

Nagato shook his head. "No. This body called 'Nagato' contains everything that belongs to me. If I abandon it, will I still be myself?"

"The new body will awaken the Rinnegan, while this body of mine will raise its existing power to the limit."

"Then, one day in the future, when my two bodies have each followed their respective paths and raised their own powers to the utmost limit, Orochimaru, you will find a way to integrate all the power of that body into this one."

"How you do it is up to you, but I want all of it! Every complementary element must be integrated, without conflict or compromise!"

"In other words, the XYZ Plan: X + Y ≥ Z."

Boom!

Orochimaru abruptly rose to his feet, unprecedented light bursting from his slit pupils.

An Uzumaki Body, Senju Power, Uchiha eyes—if Sage Power were added and all these elements fused into one, it would be far more than merely a brand-new pair of Rinnegan. It would be equivalent to the Six Paths.

If, on top of that, he integrated the power of all Tailed Beasts and became the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, that would be the complete form of the Six Paths.

But what Orochimaru did not know was that the complete form of the Six Paths was merely the beginning of the power Nagato sought. Afraid of frightening Orochimaru, he did not reveal his true ambition...

"Do you know what you are saying, Nagato? Since humanity on this land first learned to walk upright, through all those immeasurably long years, no one has ever accomplished what you are describing!"

"Perhaps someone could possess two bodies at once and have them grow in different ways, reaching the pinnacle in different fields. But, but... to integrate them completely without any compromise."

"Even if it is theoretically possible, I can guarantee that the actual chance of success will not exceed one in ten thousand. There are simply too many uncontrollable factors. The path you have chosen will almost certainly not end well!"

Yet madness welled up in Nagato's eyes. "Who cares about that!? If I don't do this, how can I obtain ultimate power?"

Without the resolve to stake everything on death and seek life afterward, how could I possibly be qualified to contend with those monsters who were born at the endpoint of being shinobi and have lived for thousands, even tens of thousands, of years? At this moment, only he knew clearly that his true enemies were not in this Shinobi World at all!

Yakushi Kabuto sighed inwardly. I cannot understand it. He is so young, yet as a shinobi, he already possesses power that even Lord Orochimaru cannot compare to. Why is he still so obsessed with power?

Orochimaru, however, had another interpretation. Just now, I had doubted whether Nagato's mention of Ayakashi was merely nonsense. But now, I can almost conclude that it is true. What kind of despairing future did he see that made him abandon the smooth and steady road for such a hellish path of gambles?

Genes were the art of the Creator.

It was precisely their uncontrollability that made them so fascinating.

Suppose... I completed Nagato's vision and successfully created another body for him. Then one day in the future, both of his bodies reached their respective peaks.

And I also successfully developed a technique to fuse the powers of those two bodies.

Yet even if, through his efforts and mine, every external condition that could be perfected was brought to perfection.

We would still face three uncontrollable outcomes!

Elimination, mutation... evolution!

X + Y ≥ Z, but in the worst-case scenario, Z would become 0. That is, nothing at all!

"Heh heh, truly insane..." Orochimaru said gravely, "Nagato, have you thought this through? Once you choose this path, there will truly be no turning back."

Nagato smiled. "The same goes for you, Orochimaru. If you choose to help me, you must be prepared at any time..."

"Oh? Prepared for what?"

"Prepared to die! Prepared to sacrifice yourself for truth and die in order to fulfill my mad plan, so full of selfish desire!"

"Heh heh, hahahahaha... Interesting, truly fascinating!" Orochimaru burst into hearty laughter.

"Lord Orochimaru..." Yakushi Kabuto was drenched in sweat.

At that moment, Nagato turned his gaze toward him. "Kabuto, may I ask you to do something?"

Yakushi Kabuto could scarcely believe what he had heard.

This monster, who was willing to make Lord Orochimaru sacrifice himself for truth... was actually asking him for help?

It left him feeling somewhat flattered.

"I-is there... something I can do?"

"Perhaps you are precisely the one who can do it."

"Yakushi Kabuto, Orochimaru will devote himself wholeheartedly to research for the XYZ Plan."

"And you will conduct... another line of research."

Gulp! Yakushi Kabuto swallowed hard. "What kind of research?"

Nagato smiled. "This is also my other objective: to make these Rinnegan, which do not originally belong to me, truly belong to me—to this body called 'Nagato'!"

"That's right... to turn Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan into Nagato's Rinnegan in terms of its very existence!"

Yes, Nagato intended to awaken a Rinnegan of his own, but that did not mean he intended to return Madara's Rinnegan!

"They treated 'Nagato' as a pawn to satisfy their ambitions and manipulated his life as they pleased. Why? Why should they be allowed to? Since I have become Nagato, I will never tolerate such behavior!"

"Uchiha Madara, since you placed these eyes into the body of a shinobi named 'Nagato,' do not ever dream of taking them back!"

As for the consequences that would bring about... Sorry, that was no longer something he needed to consider!