It was only a few weeks later that the second stage of the cloning project finally encountered a way to proceed forward. While they figured out how to create clones for people that already had souls. They always had issues with creating a body with a blank soul already inside it.
The main reason was that the people in Theo’s head needed a soul they could take over. Otherwise they would be closer to a shadow clone with a real body then anything else. That and their memories most likely wouldn't go back to Theo if the body was somehow destroyed.
Since that was the case, Orochimaru, Tobirama and the others spent the last few years trying to come up with a viable solution. They never figured it out themselves, but with some help from Tao and Agatha they finally figured out a way that might work. It wouldn't be easy because Theo had a lot of people he would need to create bodies for and they still weren’t sure if it would even work correctly in the first place.
The planned solution was a master level enchantment to help create magical items with a will of their own. The Cloak of Levitation was an example of one such item. The main point of the enchantment was for the caster to cut off a tiny wisp of their soul and attach it to an item. Over time that piece of soul would bond with the item and awaken.
When Theo first heard about the spell he asked, “What the hell? I need to turn into Voldemort?”
Agatha glanced up from the book she was reading as she asked, “Who's that?”
Theo pinched the bridge of his nose as he said, “Just some super evil douchebag in a kids book who split his soul apart and liked to preach about pureblood supremacy.”
“That's in a book for kids?” Tao asked as she placed her teacup down.
“Yeah, but it was from my past life. Actually, now that I think about it. I should probably write it myself since it doesn't seem to exist in this world.”
Agatha placed the book in her hands down as she asked, “Why? It's not like you need the money and besides you don't really wanna be famous right?”
Theo smiled to himself as he said, “It's a good story. Besides, I already shared the first book with my sister and she loved it. I might as well finish it for her.”
“So this Voldemort person also cut off part of their soul to create a magical item?” Tao asked with interest.
Theo shook his head as he said, “No, they split their soul apart and placed it in different items as a way to escape death. But it was some kinda evil ritual where you had to kill another person for it to work. It also damaged the person's soul.”
“Oh, well this enchantment is nothing like that. A master's soul would normally be a little weak after the process, but it will recover after a while. Sometimes days, sometimes weeks, just depends on how powerful their soul is.” Tao said as she studied Theo while she talked.
After a few more moments she said, “If you use the spell, I am sure you will heal within hours at most.”
“Uh? Why do you think that?” Theo asked curiously.
“Your soul is stronger than four or five souls combined together… It’s most likely because of your reincarnation but we're not completely sure since you're the only reincarnated person we’ve met.” Agatha said.
“What?! If that’s true, how come you never told me about it before? I think that would be kind of important to know, right?” Theo asked as turned to look at Agatha.
Tao smiled as she said, “Because you never asked. Besides, having a stronger soul is only useful for things . There are also some combat based soul powers and some other esoteric spells that use the soul, but I would never recommend learning or using them. Since you have a high chance of death when you do, unlike the enchantment spell which does not.”
Theo nodded along before he asked, “Oh… I. I guess that makes sense. Then why don’t more people use this enchantment? Wouldn’t it be beneficial to have a sentient magic item around?”
“Actually the only reason more master’s don’t attempt it, is because the chance you can make a relic that will accept you is extremely low and most masters don’t want to waste all of their crafting materials for nothing... I’ve personally failed over ten times myself.” Tao said with a bitter smile.
Agatha nodded in agreement as she said, “Ebony was created in a somewhat similar manner, except there was no chance of rejection and the cost was higher. It took over twenty years for my soul to recover since I basically split it in half.”
Theo thought it over for a while before he asked, “So if I use this enchantment and place a wisp of my soul in a clone body, it should slowly take over the body?”
“Maybe? Honestly this is all just theory. Besides, can you even transfer them into the clone body in the first place?” Agatha asked.
“Inoichi and some of the other Yamanaka’s already figured that part out and tested it a few times. So we should have no issue after the piece of the soul is in place.” Theo said.
“So all you need to do is master the enchantment and then we can go test it out.” Tao said with a glint in her eye as she floated a spell book over to Theo.
Theo’s back started to sweat as he realized what was about to happen next. The next few weeks flew by as Theo spent almost all of his free time while he mastered the special spell enchantment under Tao's ‘graceful’ tutelage. The only part he didn't attempt was cutting off a wisp of his soul, since that would cause needless injuries to himself.
Once Tao was satisfied with his mastery of the spell, she then allowed him to move onto the next step. Since no one was sure if it would actually work, Theo needed someone to act as the test subject for the experiment. Surprisingly enough though, he had a ton of volunteers and ended up having to choose one himself. With everything else ready he chose Orochimaru to create a clone body for himself. Once the body was finished a week later, that's when Theo attempted the enchantment spell with his soul.
Theo was seated in the lotus position with the clone body next to him. He double checked the spell components one more time before he closed his eyes and started to murmur the spell words to himself. Tao and Agatha were seated on either side of him and watched the entire process in case something went wrong with the spell. As Theo finished chanting the spell, he lifted his finger up and a tiny wisp of his soul came out.
It was still connected to his soul, but when he touched it to a small rune mark on the clone body it was cut clean from his soul and entered the mark. Next Theo, Tao and Agatha checked over the clone body and found that the soul transferred to the rune properly. As they studied it Tao said, “Interesting, it seems like it’s still part of your soul.”
“Really? But I thought the spell was supposed to completely sever it from me?” Theo asked.
“It was, but I still see it as part of your soul.” Tao said.
Agatha nodded in agreement before she said, “Remove the rune, I want to see what happens.”
“Is that a good idea? Couldn’t it dissipate if I remove it now?” Theo asked.
A spell settled over them and the clone body as Tao said, “That will protect it, so go ahead and remove it.”
Theo reached out and touched the rune before he injected a tiny bit of chakra to burn the ink away. Once the rune was destroyed, the wisp of Theo's soul trapped there, quickly went into Theo’s body. Tao and Agatha both watched with rapt attention as it quickly reconnected with Theo’s soul and disappeared into it making it whole again.
Once it finished Tao said, “That was fascinating, but definitely shouldn't have happened.”
Theo studied his hand where the wisp of his soul reattached and asked, “Alright, so I guess this isn't going to work?”
“Not necessarily. You should try the spell again but this time use it on a magic item.” Agatha said.
Tao nodded in agreement before she said, “I'm glad I came prepared.”
“You already have one completed?” Theo asked in surprise.
Tao pulled out a slender looking dagger made out of vibranium and some other materials as she said, “I was planning to enchant this myself, but I put it off.”
“Because you didn't want another item to reject you?” Theo asked with a smirk.
Tao let out a sigh as she said, “Yes.”
Theo took the dagger from Tao as he said, “Maybe it will work this time because your precious student is the one doing it.”
“I doubt that will be the case... Besides, this is just to test to see if it was a fluke, or your soul really can't be separated.” Tao said.
Theo studied the dagger for a few moments and realized it was completely ready for the enchantment process. So he placed the dagger down and started to cast the spell. Once he finished the enchantment Tao said, “Interesting.”
“Indeed. Maybe the first time was just a fluke.” Agatha said.
Theo looked at the dagger himself and noticed the soul wisp was different from the last one. The first one he felt a slight connection to, this one he felt nothing from it, like it was never part of him. As he studied it Tao said, “Try to enchant the body again.”
Theo handed the dagger to Tao as he said, “Alright, give me a minute to remake the rune.”
Once everything was set back up, Theo started chanting the spell again. When he finished and attached the soul wisp, he could feel a connection to it. Theo sighed in disappointment before he said, “Alright so this doesn't seem to work. Is it because it's a body and not an inanimate object?”
As Theo erased the rune to let the wisp of his soul reattach, Tao said, “That's the only logical thing I can think of. Let me try it and see what happens.”
Once the new rune was placed on the body, Tao quickly went through the enchantment process and the result was the same. For some reason trying to place a piece of a soul into a body left a trace of the original soul. As Tao erased the rune, Theo said, “Alright, looks like we need to go back to the drawing board again.”
“Not necessarily. We might be able to do a work around, but we’ll need to test it.” Agatha said.
Theo and Tao both turned to Agatha as she said, “Lets just enchant something and then transfer that piece of soul into the body. It’s an extra step but it should work.”
Tao nodded in agreement as she said, “That might work. Theo could enchant a piece of paper and then we destroy it to get the soul wisp and place it inside the body.”
Theo touched the sealing scroll on his arm and pulled out a sheet of paper and pen as he asked, “You sure it will work on a piece of paper?”
“Yes. The only reason you normally wouldn’t enchant a piece of paper is because it could be easily destroyed. That’s why all magic items that are enchanted this way are made with the best possible materials.” Tao said as she took the paper and quickly started to draw the proper runes on it.
Once she finished, she set it down in front of Theo as she said, “Mark the body and then let’s try this again, with the paper as the target first.”
Theo quickly completed the spell and attached a wisp of his soul to the paper. After he finished he couldn’t feel any connection to the soul, so he smiled faintly before he asked, “Alright, now what do we do?”
Tao picked up the paper and ripped it in half a moment later before she used a spell to restrain the wisp of soul that flew out of it. Once she had it, she placed it over the rune on the body and it instantly disappeared into the rune. Theo and the others studied it for a while before Tao said, “Congratulations, it looks like it worked this time.”