Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
Naruto bringing back Edo Tensei Minato didn't cause much of a stir. After all, Minato had already been active around the Land of Waves in the form of shadow clone for some time now.
However, Naruto didn't immediately use Edo Tensei on Kushina. Based on Minato's firsthand experience, the Edo Tensei body wasn't as comfortable as one might think.
It lacked taste and smell, and the body was constantly in a state of hunger, which couldn't be alleviated by eating. In short, it was quite unpleasant… far worse than the Chakra Clone Minato had used before.
On Minato's advice, Kushina decided not to be reincarnated prematurely. However, they also didn't immediately have Hidan perform the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.
Hidan was still recovering from an experiment Orochimaru had conducted on him.
Perhaps because Orochimaru had discovered that Hidan's immortality couldn't be replicated, and after already equipping him with Wood Release and various minor Kekkei Genkai, Orochimaru's interest in Hidan had plummeted.
Not long ago, Orochimaru extracted a large amount of Senjutsu Chakra from Hidan for research purposes and then essentially discarded him.
Hidan was now slowly recovering his Senjutsu Chakra. The only reason Orochimaru was still keeping an eye on Hidan's condition was because of the need to prepare for the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.
Currently, Orochimaru was focusing most of his energy on researching Sage Mode. This was the primary task Naruto had assigned to him, and it was a mission that had to be completed.
That's why Orochimaru had extracted so much Senjutsu Chakra from Hidan. The Senjutsu Chakra in Hidan's body was a natural combination of Natural Energy and Chakra, making it an excellent research material.
In addition, Orochimaru was also studying the Cursed Seal power from Jugo. By comparing the two, the research on Sage Mode was just a matter of time.
At the same time, Orochimaru was also conducting experiments on the Byakugan. He would occasionally take time to study the Byakugan Naruto had given him.
Naruto had already provided him with the main research direction: how to increase the purity of the Byakugan.
Naruto remembered from the movie that Otsutsuki Toneri had awakened the Tenseigan by taking Hanabi's high-purity Byakugan and combining it with his own Otsutsuki Chakra.
As long as they could find a way to increase the Byakugan's purity and then harvest some Otsutsuki Chakra from the moon, creating the Tenseigan shouldn't be too difficult.
If all else failed, they could always just take the Giant Tenseigan already on the moon.
Conducting both research projects simultaneously wasn't a problem for Orochimaru. After all, he now had many researchers from the Land of Snow working under him.
As time passed, Hidan's Senjutsu Chakra had fully recovered, and the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique could now be performed at any time.
Naruto arrived at the hospital.
"Thank you for your hard work, Kabuto." Naruto said, nodding to Kabuto.
On the hospital bed, Nagato no longer looked as emaciated as he once had. Though still thin, his body had filled out considerably compared to before, and was no longer just skin and bones.
"I didn't do much, really. With Kaho-san's case as a reference, it was easy to solve the issues with Nagato's body." Kabuto replied humbly. "The real credit goes to the blood you provided, Naruto-sama."
"You don't need to be so modest, Kabuto. Your medical skills have already surpassed Nono-san's. You're now the strongest Medical-nin in the Land of Waves." Naruto said, his tone filled with praise as he noticed the diamond-shaped mark on Kabuto's forehead.
Kabuto was indeed a natural talent. In a short time, he had mastered all the Medical Techniques Nono had taught him, which was why he had become the director of the Land of Waves' hospital.
He was now studying the Yin Seal from the Scroll of Seals, though it was unclear if he would be able to develop techniques like Creation Rebirth and the Hundred Healings, as Tsunade had.
Unfortunately, the Scroll of Seals only contained the Yin Seal.
It's a pity that there is only one Yin Seal in the Book of Seals.
"Indeed, Director Kabuto is an exceptionally skilled doctor." Nagato said from his bed, expressing his gratitude.
Over the past few days, he had felt the changes in his body and had even attempted to stand up. He had managed to stand a few times, though it wasn't without difficulty.
As he spoke, Nagato placed his hands on the sides of the bed and slowly pushed himself up. After adjusting his position, he placed his feet on the ground and stood up.
However, the process wasn't smooth. His knees buckled several times, and he nearly fell, struggling to maintain his balance. He forced himself to take a few steps forward, but his movements were unsteady, like a toddler learning to walk.
Naruto and Kabuto watched nervously.
But even so, Nagato stood up by himself and walked on his own legs.
Despite this, Nagato had managed to stand and walk on his own. The difficulty wasn't due to any shortcomings in Kabuto's treatment.
Because Nagato had been confined to a wheelchair for over a decade, his legs had atrophied to the point where they were little more than skin and bone.
He had simply forgotten how to walk, and with a few more days of practice, he would fully recover.
"I never thought that after all these years, I would be able to stand again." Nagato said, touching his legs, which had regained their muscle.
He turned to Kabuto and Naruto, his voice filled with emotion. "Thank you both so much, Director Kabuto, Leader."
Kabuto smiled politely. "You only need to thank Naruto-sama. This was just part of my job."
"However, Nagato-san, while your legs have recovered, your Chakra is still a significant issue. If it's not addressed soon, your body will remain in a weakened state for a long time."
Hearing this, Nagato turned his gaze to Naruto, who smiled and said, "Once your legs are fully recovered, I'll seal the Eight-Tails into you. One Eight-Tails should be enough to sustain a pair of Rinnegan. After that, you won't have to worry about Chakra shortages anymore."
"Eight-Tails?!"
Nagato was surprised. He hadn't expected Naruto's solution to the Rinnegan's rejection to be giving him the Eight-Tails. This was quite extravagant.
"Won't this affect our future plans?" Nagato asked, concerned.
Naruto also possessed the Rinnegan, so Nagato assumed he would want to collect all nine tailed beasts and use the Gedo Statue to create the ultimate weapon.
And sealing the Eight-Tails into Nagato would undoubtedly impact those plans.