Orochimaru's eyes lit up when he heard the idea.
"No way… How did I not think of that?!"
"Damn it!"
"Me, the idea king of the Leaf Village, missing something like this?!"
"You're something else, Hirofumi!"
Orochimaru was convinced that Ito Hirofumi was spot-on. Right now, Hashirama Senju's body was missing that one key piece. Uchiha Madara was able to awaken the Rinnegan, likely because he was an Uchiha and already had the Sharingan.
So, what if they transplanted a pair of Sharingan into the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju? Could that do the trick?
The moment the thought hit him, Orochimaru sprang into action.
Luckily, Danzo had "donated" an armful of Sharingan before, and they were all three-tomoe!
Orochimaru pulled two bright red eyeballs from a couple of culture dishes. The sight gave everyone in the room a slight shiver. Those red eyes, with their three tomoe spinning inside… it was creepy, to say the least.
Without wasting time, Orochimaru and Tobirama Senju got to work on transplanting the Sharingan into Hashirama.
The surgery was straightforward—dig out Hashirama's old eyes, pop in the three-tomoe Sharingan, and in just a few minutes, it was done.
When Hashirama opened his eyes again, he blinked, looking around in a daze.
"Whoa! Is this the dynamic vision of the Sharingan?! Holy crap! Madara, I can see you so much clearer now!"
Thwack!
"Shut up, you idiot! Focus and tell me if you feel any changes in your eyes!"
"Oh, right, got it!"
Hashirama quickly shut his eyes and started focusing. Everyone watched him curiously.
Then, in a flash, Hashirama's eyes snapped open!
The three-tomoe Sharingan in his pupils began spinning wildly…
And slowly, they morphed into the pinwheel pattern of the Mangekyou Sharingan!
Tobirama, standing nearby, nearly jumped out of his skin.
"That's it? The Mangekyou, just like that?!"
Izuna Uchiha nodded in agreement, equally stunned.
"Yeah… that was way too easy! He just closes his eyes, opens them, and boom—Mangekyou Sharingan? That's ridiculous…"
The Twelve Rookies were just as shocked. Even Ito Hirofumi hadn't expected Hashirama to awaken the Mangekyou so effortlessly. At this rate, it seemed like Hashirama might actually awaken the Rinnegan too!
But then, Hashirama frowned slightly.
"Madara… does the Mangekyou Sharingan always drain this much chakra?"
"Duh! You're not an Uchiha. Of course it's gonna burn through more chakra for you!"
Then Hashirama dropped another bombshell.
"It's like… the same amount of chakra I lose when I let out a fart."
Madara's eye twitched. He had a sneaking suspicion this idiot was flexing.
Everyone else was dumbfounded.
Was it really okay to say something like that?!
Kakashi, who'd been running on fumes just keeping one Sharingan active, would probably keel over if he heard this. Hashirama, rocking two Mangekyou Sharingan, was comparing the chakra drain to a fart?
Orochimaru sighed, a little exasperated. The First Hokage's priorities were… unique, to put it mildly. Still, Hashirama's chakra reserves were insane—practically a human Tailed Beast!
"Lord First Hokage," Orochimaru said, "can you sense a new kind of energy forming in your eyes?"
"Yeah… it does feel like something's coming together. The Yin and Yang chakra in my body are starting to blend slowly…"
Orochimaru nodded, satisfied.
"It looks like it's working! Once those two chakras fully merge, you should be able to awaken the Rinnegan, Lord First!"
"Awesome! Madara, we've got matching tattoos and matching eyes now! Hehe!"
Hashirama leapt off the operating table and, in one swift move, jumped onto Madara's back, rubbing his big head against Madara's neck.
"You idiot! Get off me!"
"No way, Madara~!"
Thwack!
"Get lost!"
Hashirama rubbed his head, pouting dramatically as if all the color had drained from his world.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru started tidying up the lab equipment.
"Uncle Snake, hold up!" Hirofumi called out.
"What's up?"
"Since the First Hokage's experiment worked, how about we look into Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha next? Their relationship is kinda like the one between my two teachers!"
Everyone froze at that, including Naruto and Sasuke.
"Hirofumi… what do you mean by that? What's this about me and Sasuke being like the First Hokage and Madara?" Naruto asked, confused.
Sasuke was equally lost. "Hirofumi, what are you getting at?"
The group looked puzzled, but Madara seemed to catch on. Hashirama glanced at Naruto and Sasuke, starting to piece things together himself.
Madara had been the first to notice something off. After Hirofumi gained a special chakra from him, Madara felt an odd, hard-to-explain connection. Then, when he met Sasuke, he got the same vibe from him as he did from Hirofumi.
And Naruto? He gave off a vibe similar to Hashirama's!
Hirofumi, in a way, felt like a mix of both Madara and Hashirama…
Seeing everyone's confused looks, Hirofumi sighed and began to explain.
"A long, long time ago… there was this legendary guy—not some random punk, but the Sage of the Six Paths!
This guy had two sons: Indra and Asura. After they died, their chakra kept reincarnating, and in every lifetime, they'd get tangled up in all sorts of love-hate drama.
My two teachers, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, were the last generation's reincarnations of Indra and Asura.
And Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha? They're the current reincarnations of Indra and Asura's chakra.
So, in a way, you two are basically brothers from different mothers!"
Hirofumi's explanation was a lot to take in. The Sage of the Six Paths? Indra and Asura? Everyone was struggling to process it all.