Minato absorbed the intelligence and gave a firm nod.
With Kabuto’s assurance, Obito’s cellular degradation was essentially solved.
That left only the diplomatic fires in the Hidden Sand and the Hidden Mist.
As for Kirigakure, Obito’s infiltration mission would dictate the board.
If the Uchiha could successfully recruit Madara, the Mist would fall in line.
If diplomacy failed, the fallback strategy was simple: establish a quarantine perimeter around the subterranean graveyard and wait for the ancient ghost to succumb to old age.
It was a bleak worst-case scenario, carrying immense unpredictable risks, but Minato would only cross that bridge if negotiations shattered.
Minato shifted his focus to the ultimate threat.
“Kabuto, do you have a plan for engaging the Otsutsuki clan?”
Kabuto glanced at Obito.
Seeing the Uchiha lean back against his pillows in silence, Kabuto stepped forward, adjusting his wire-rimmed glasses.
“The Otsutsuki present two primary biological anomalies,” Kabuto stated, his tone shifting into a clinical, academic register.
“First, they possess total immunity to standard ninjutsu.
Their Rinnegan variants allow them to absorb chakra constructs and convert them into raw energy reserves.
Second, they possess anomalous spatial abilities and a virtually indestructible cellular vitality.”
Kabuto held up a single finger.
“To counter the first anomaly—the chakra absorption—we must completely overhaul our combat training.
Elite taijutsu and space-time ninjutsu are the only viable vectors of attack.”
Minato and Obito both nodded.
The assessment matched their own future battle data flawlessly.
“As for the second anomaly—their sheer vitality—I theorize that high-tier fuinjutsu will yield disproportionately lethal results,” Kabuto continued.
“Which sealing jutsu specifically?” Minato asked.
Obito answered from the futon.
“The Reaper Death Seal used by you and the Third Hokage.
The Rinnegan’s Chibaku Tensei.
Itachi Uchiha’s Totsuka Blade.
And the Uzumaki clan’s Adamantine Sealing Chains.”
“Precisely,” Kabuto agreed.
“The Adamantine Sealing Chains, for example, materialize chakra into a physical, hyper-dense construct.
It acts much like the Uchiha’s Susanoo or Naruto’s Tailed Beast state.
Because the chakra is stabilized and solidified, it is exponentially harder for the Otsutsuki to absorb.
If an Uzumaki can bind their limbs, they lose their absorption vectors.”
Kabuto paused, pacing a slow circle on the tatami mat.
“Chibaku Tensei is powerful enough to seal Kaguya herself.
The Totsuka Blade traps the target in an eternal genjutsu void.
And the Reaper Death Seal summons an actual Shinigami to consume the target’s soul.
The power of these jutsu is absolute.”
Minato frowned, crossing his arms over his flak jacket.
“The theory is sound, but the execution is severely flawed.
Those techniques require specific bloodline limits or unique ocular jutsu.
The Reaper Death Seal is an S-rank kinjutsu that few can even comprehend, let alone master.
Furthermore, the Otsutsuki are terrifyingly fast.
If a shinobi pays the price of their own soul to cast the Reaper Death Seal, and the target evades the strike…
we lose a top-tier asset for absolutely nothing.”
Kabuto stopped pacing.
A chilling, razor-sharp smile touched his lips.
“Lord Minato, you are assuming we must cast the jutsu at its maximum output.
What if we alter the parameters to lower the toll?”
Minato narrowed his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“The Reaper Death Seal demands the caster’s soul because it consumes the target’s soul,” Kabuto explained smoothly.
“It is an equivalent exchange.
But we don’t need to rip out an Otsutsuki’s soul.
We only need to sever their capacity to absorb ninjutsu.
What if we restrict the Shinigami’s target solely to the Otsutsuki’s arms?”
Kabuto raised his own hands, mimicking a striking motion.
“If we only seal their hands, the toll is drastically reduced.
The caster sacrifices their own arms, or perhaps an immense volume of chakra, instead of their life.
Once an Otsutsuki loses the use of their hands, their absorption ability are crippled.
They become toothless tigers.
Then, we simply leverage our numerical advantage and beat them to death.”
Minato stared at the ten-year-old boy.
The sheer, ruthless ingenuity of the strategy was staggering.
Kabuto had taken Konoha’s most sacred, lethal forbidden jutsu and casually proposed hacking its fundamental mechanics to create a tactical exploit.
“I have already drafted the combat formation,” Kabuto continued, completely unfazed by the Hokage’s silence.
“We do not engage them in single combat.
We utilize our overwhelming roster of veterans.
We deploy Might Guy, the Third Raikage, and A as the vanguard.
Their pure physical speed and taijutsu will pin the target down.
We position Gaara and the Third Tsuchikage on the perimeter for absolute defense and environmental control.
Lady Tsunade remains in the rear echelon for continuous medical support.
Obito utilizes Kamui to constantly harass the target’s blind spots.”
Kabuto pushed his glasses up his nose.
“The moment the vanguard creates an opening, our Uzumaki operatives lock the target down with the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
The designated caster executes the modified Reaper Death Seal, or Itachi strikes with the Totsuka Blade, instantly crippling their arms.
The moment their chakra absorption fails, the heaviest hitters in the shinobi world swarm the target and tear them to shreds.”
“And the caster who sacrificed their arms to the Shinigami?” Minato asked quietly.
“A temporary inconvenience,” Kabuto dismissed cleanly.
“Lord Orochimaru already proved during the Fourth Shinobi World War that the Reaper Death Seal can be bypassed.
He cut open the Shinigami’s stomach to restore his own arms.
We simply repeat the procedure after the battle.”
Kabuto’s dark eyes hardened into flat, cold obsidian.
“Once the target is dead, Lady Tsunade, Lord Orochimaru, and I will dissect the Otsutsuki corpse.
We will map their cellular structure and engineer a highly specific, lethal biological poison.
Any subsequent Otsutsuki invaders will be eradicated exponentially faster.”
Minato’s tactical mind reeled.
He and Shikaku were orthodox strategists; they analyzed troop movements, supply lines, and standard jutsu counters.
But Kabuto and Orochimaru were amoral scientists.
They viewed the fundamental laws of life, death, and chakra as mere suggestions waiting to be dismantled and weaponized.
Kabuto cherished the family he had regained at the orphanage, and he would butcher the laws of nature to protect them.
It was terrifying.
And it was exactly what the shinobi world needed to survive.
Why didn’t Naruto and the Allied Forces utilize this plan in the future?
Minato wondered.
The answer materialized instantly.
In the post-war era, the political landscape had shifted.
Kabuto was managing the orphanage, completely isolated from top-tier military planning.
Orochimaru was kept under strict surveillance, his brilliant, unorthodox mind kept at arm’s length.
Itachi Uchiha was dead, taking the Totsuka Blade with him.
The future timeline simply hadn’t possessed the assets to execute this raid.
But here, in this era, the board was full.
They had everything they needed to kill gods.