"Huh? Y-yes..."
The unexpected question caught Dan Katō off guard, and he nodded somewhat awkwardly.
Facing the legendary Second Hokage, especially "meeting" him in this way and discussing something so personal, felt particularly strange.
Still, he was Tsunade's great-uncle, so it was only natural for him to care about her.
"All right, Lord Second Hokage, it's time to get down to business."
The figure standing nearby, shrouded in a roomy lab coat, spoke up.
Orochimaru pointed to the operating table beside Dan Katō.
A body lay quietly on it, covered by a thin sterile sheet that left only its head and part of its neck exposed.
It had the face of a young man, eyes closed and expression peaceful. Its healthy, rosy complexion was starkly different from the claylike texture of Dan Katō's current Impure World Reincarnation body, brimming with vibrant life.
And... that face was unmistakably Dan Katō's!
"Dan."
Orochimaru turned toward Dan Katō, watching him with keen interest through his snake-like eyes.
"That's the body Lord Second Hokage and I prepared for you. It's a new Clone Body cultivated from a sample of your cells, perfectly attuned to the essence of your soul."
His tone carried a scientist's expertise and certainty. "You're currently in an Impure World Reincarnation state. Try using your Spirit Transformation Technique and see whether you can achieve a perfect fit, making this body your soul's new, permanent home."
Dan Katō froze.
Create an entirely new body through cloning technology, then have the soul actively "move in" through the Spirit Transformation Technique, thereby achieving resurrection.
What an astonishing idea.
But what shocked him even more was the voice he had just heard.
Dan Katō focused intently, looking past the limitations of his reincarnated body to "observe" the figure shrouded in the white coat more closely.