Uchiha Yuan directly opened the scroll. Its contents were Uchiha Madara's accumulated results from years of covert research on the First Hokage's cells.
Some of it might even have benefited from Senju Tobirama's work.
What Madara described as the method to perfectly fuse Hashirama's cells was, simply put, eliminating the cells' rejection response.
The specific procedure was to reduce the activity and life force of the cells.
The arm Madara handed over was a finished product he had created. When Yuan activated his Sharingan and examined the arm, then looked at Tobi, he completely understood Madara's method.
This arm, suppressed by Yin Release, had significantly reduced cell activity—making it more stable, just like the life force inside Tobi.
What surprised Yuan, however, was that despite the lowered activity, the chakra volume and vitality remained intact.
Continuing to examine the arm, Yuan noticed that the concentration of Hashirama cells in it was unusually high—much higher than that in a typical White Zetsu body.
At that point, Yuan fully understood Madara's method.
It had to be admitted—Madara's understanding of the First Hokage's cells was incredibly deep.
First, using the Yin Release power of the Sharingan, he suppressed the vitality of the cells, lowering their life force and chakra output.
Then, he increased the cell concentration, allowing the chakra and vitality to remain sufficient despite lower activity.
After confirming the arm was safe, Yuan casually sealed it back into the scroll.
By then, Madara had already closed his eyes and was no longer paying attention to him.
"Uchiha Madara, you handed over your bargaining chip so easily—aren't you afraid I'll take the goods and walk?" Yuan asked, not liking Madara's calm demeanor.
"I trust my eyes. They don't misjudge people," Madara replied calmly, opening his eyes.
"No wonder you're Uchiha Madara." Yuan felt a bit of admiration for this aging but sharp-minded elder.
"The deal is done. Tobi, take him out," Madara instructed.
"Wait!" Yuan wasn't ready to leave—there was something he hadn't gotten yet.
"What is it now?" Madara asked with some impatience.
"Nothing much. I just want the arm of that big guy behind you," Yuan said, pointing at the Gedo Statue.
"You want the arm of the Gedo Statue? What for?" Madara asked, pretending to be indifferent—though inwardly, he was shaken.
Because he knew the Gedo Statue was the husk of the Ten-Tails.
That Yuan had taken an interest in the statue made Madara more cautious.
"I sensed a massive life force inside it. I need that vitality to complete a certain technique."
Madara stared at Yuan for a long time before eventually agreeing to the request.
He was confident that, aside from him and White Zetsu, no one else knew the secret of the Gedo Statue. Yuan's interest likely had nothing to do with the Ten-Tails.
Still, Madara thought that if Yuan was interested in the statue, it might be worth letting White Zetsu watch him more closely—he might develop new ideas for using the statue.
Yuan was undeniably a genius. As far as Madara knew, his space-time jutsu had nothing to do with Konoha, suggesting it was self-developed.
Such a genius might bring unexpected innovations.
Madara's thoughts were, more or less, guessed by Yuan.
He had directly asked for the Gedo Statue's arm precisely because he knew Madara didn't fully understand the Ten-Tails' body either.
Perhaps Madara hoped to piggyback off Yuan's creativity to develop new powers from the statue.
And just as expected—Madara agreed.
Yuan didn't hold back. With a leap, he used his katana to sever the statue's right arm.
He then sealed the detached arm and followed Tobi out of the cave.
Just after Yuan left, a White Zetsu emerged from the ground and asked, confused, "Lord Madara, why did you give him the Hashirama-cell-infused arm so easily?"
"There's a seal in that arm. Without the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, he won't notice it. If Yuan fuses the arm and the seal activates, he'll be forced to become my pawn," Madara explained.
"What if he doesn't use the arm?" Zetsu continued.
"Then we've lost nothing—and gained a powerful guardian with Senju Tobirama-level strength to protect Nagato. Nagato is key to the Eye of the Moon Plan. He cannot be lost."
"Lord Madara, truly wise. And the statue's arm...?"
"No need to worry about that. Our plan won't activate for a long time. That's enough time for the statue to regenerate its arm.
Keep sending more clones to observe Yuan and see what he plans to do with the Gedo Statue's husk.
If his research proves useful, we can copy it for our own use." With that, Madara stopped talking and closed his eyes to rest.
This encounter had left Madara with a very high opinion of Yuan.
He now believed that Yuan's strength and talent could one day rival Senju Tobirama.
Among the Senju, Madara hated no one more than Tobirama—but even he acknowledged Tobirama's genius.
Tobirama's mastery of ninjutsu was unmatched—even Madara had to admit inferiority.
Flying Thunder God Technique (Hiraishin), Edo Tensei (Reanimation), Soul-Based Attacks like Spirit Transformation, and powerful Water Release techniques…
Yuan had developed his own space-time jutsu at a young age and showed remarkable Sharingan talent. Madara was convinced his potential was no less than Tobirama's.
Yuan, of course, was unaware of the high regard Madara held for him.
After leaving the cave with White Zetsu, he teleported back to the Land of Bears, heading toward the Konoha camp.
He had spent almost half a day meeting with Madara. By now, Hyuga Asana and Yamanaka Kagetsu had probably finished reporting their mission.
Given Asana's relationship with Orochimaru, he probably wouldn't question Yuan's brief disappearance too much—but just in case, it was better to hurry back.
(To Be Continued...)