Genie Lamp spoke at length, trying to make his words sound reasonable.
Orochimaru wasn't purely self-interested. On the contrary, he had a strong sense of pride.
This man had reached the pinnacle of the ninja world in both ninjutsu and scientific research. He could find no one to communicate with on a completely equal footing, and over time, a deep-seated arrogance had grown within him.
The Third Hokage, Jiraiya, and others could communicate with him normally, but they weren't discussing the principles of ninjutsu research, but rather emotions.
This was why Orochimaru had left in the original timeline. His own pursuit of his career was not understood, and he was constantly held back by emotional ties. He felt extremely stifled in Konoha.
But in these past few years, he had poured all his effort and used his intellect to its fullest. Whether it was test subjects or other materials, he had used the highest-level resources in the ninja world.
However, after all the effort and sacrifices, the results he obtained were denied. He still couldn't break free from the limitations of his bloodline. This was a significant blow.
Genie Lamp believed Orochimaru could overcome this, but the timing... it had to be as soon as possible. Orochimaru didn't have much time left.
"..."
In the silence, Orochimaru let out a long breath. He propped himself up with his hands, his snake tail coiling around him, and suddenly sat down. He spoke slowly,
"This method might be effective, but the 'Tail Devourer' is not an easy entity to deal with. Although it is currently under many restrictions, it won't be so simple to recall it once it's released."
The sudden outbreak of the little White Snake last time had served as a stern warning to Orochimaru. Even during the most critical moment of the surgery this time, he had kept a close watch on the little White Snake to prevent any "accidents."
Such unstable factors were the greatest enemy of his plan.
"You don't have to worry about that..."
As he spoke, Genie Lamp paused slightly and looked at Orochimaru, surprised. "Your mindset is actually quite good. I thought you would need a bit more time to adjust."
He could face problems and think about how to solve them, instead of dwelling on emotions... It was one thing to maintain such calmness under normal circumstances, but to recover so easily when facing such a significant issue? Had he underestimated Orochimaru?
No, that wasn't right... his emotions had clearly been very unsettled just now.
"I am a bit disheartened, yes,"
Orochimaru gave a self-deprecating smile but quickly suppressed that demeanor, returning to his usual composure. "But as you said, such is the environment of the ninja world. I can only go with the flow."
"It's just that, for now, I'm not qualified. But later, I will definitely master this knowledge."
The righteous path might be possible, but the time and accumulation required were beyond him. At this moment, the evil path was the correct way forward.
And once he traversed this path through the evil route, Orochimaru would re-derive the correct path.
"Your disposition is indeed rare..."
Genie Lamp nodded slightly, then a smile appeared on his face. "That's perfect. I have some bad news for you."
Orochimaru frowned, suddenly feeling a sense of impending doom. "What news?"
"Please take a look!"
Genie Lamp waved his hand, and a blue light screen suddenly unfolded in the air.
The attribute data on it was still as numerous and unrefined as before. However, the data he wanted to show Orochimaru was helpfully highlighted in red.
"Life span 31,536,000... seconds?"
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. Although he couldn't calculate it instantly, his intuition told him that this wasn't a very long time, just that the unit was very small.
"Converted to the ninja world's units, that's about a year," Genie Lamp floated in front of Orochimaru and said earnestly, "You only have a little over a year left to live."
"That's impossible..."
The words of doubt escaped his lips, but he stopped midway. Orochimaru's face was extremely grim. "Is it because of the shedding technique I used before?"
"Perhaps, perhaps not. It might also be related to First Hokage cells,"
Genie Lamp shrugged and spread his hands. "After all, First Hokage Senju Hashirama died under suspicious circumstances and had a short life. Who knows if there's any connection?"
According to Konoha's records, the First Hokage sustained some hidden injuries during his battle with Uchiha Madara, which led to his early death a year or two later.
But having witnessed the effects of First Hokage cells so many times, Genie Lamp didn't believe this idea at all. He thought Senju Hashirama might have "died of old age," just like Orochimaru now – healthy and with vigorous vitality, yet facing death.
This possibility was very high, as after all, no matter how you looked at it, they were only approaching the Sage level, and it was still a vast distance away.
However, this outcome was too ironic for Orochimaru. After toiling for so long for eternal life, he was instead facing death even sooner.
"This shouldn't be the case. White Snake Sage has shed her skin far more times than I have, yet she seems to have no lifespan limit."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, and he pondered with a frown. "Looking at the sages from the three great hermitages, natural energy definitely has the function of extending lifespan..."
This was why he had used senjutsu without hesitation before. However, this assumption had led to the current dire consequences.
He didn't regret it, but Orochimaru regretted not being better prepared.
"You can think about that later," Genie Lamp smiled. "What you should do now is try."
"..." Orochimaru nodded slightly, a hint of emotion on his face. "This is something I have to do now."
"That's not necessarily true," Genie Lamp pointed upwards and smiled. "Isn't there the Pure Land? As long as you're willing to give up this body, perhaps there's a chance for reincarnation with the help of the Pure Land."
"There's no time."
Orochimaru shook his head. The small tricks he had played on Nagato could only last a few months at most.
And if he were no longer in the ninja world, no one would be able to suppress Nagato's ambition. But that was secondary. The problem was that behind Nagato, there was Obito.
Whether Nagato could contend with Obito was a question mark. After several encounters, Nagato relied too heavily on brute force, while the latter was much more despicable, even using something as sensitive as his master's wife giving birth.
However, Orochimaru didn't deny that this was indeed a good opportunity to deal with Minato.
And if the target were Nagato, he wondered what opportunity Obito would wait for, or deliberately create.
His presence in the ninja world was a guarantee against its collapse.
The Sage of Six Paths might have more power, but as long as his mother didn't appear, he didn't care about the state of the ninja world and preferred to play role-playing games.
Due to his identity, such behavior was blameless. In fact, Orochimaru also wished for him to continue acting like that. But in return, he had to deal with these troubles himself and, for that, abandon certain choices.
Seeing that Orochimaru had made up his mind, Genie Lamp quickly said, "This time is different from the previous transplant surgery. Once the combination of the two powers begins, it cannot be stopped. If I were to intervene, I could only do so after everything has settled down."
"No problem."
Orochimaru nodded slightly, and his consciousness suddenly delved into the depths of his soul.
There, on a stone pillar, the little White Snake was coiled up, dozing idly, its state resembling hibernation.
His spiritual space was naturally far richer than Naruto's sewer prison. It had mountains, rivers, flowers, and trees. There were no restraints or shackles, and the little White Snake was not restricted in any way.
But, the only requirement was that it couldn't leave.
This place was indeed not small, but to the little White Snake, it was merely a large cage, no comparison to the Pure Land.
Orochimaru's spiritual will drifted to the little White Snake. Its eyes opened for a moment, then quickly drooped. It paid him no mind.
"You guy..."
Orochimaru raised his hand and pressed it onto the White Snake's head. Countless tadpole-like black runes appeared on its scales and then surged towards that arm.
The little White Snake suddenly opened its eyes and looked at Orochimaru in surprise. It found that all the restraints on him had vanished.
Its simple, ignorant consciousness didn't consider the calculations behind it. It only knew it was free.
"Hiss..."
With an excited hiss, the little White Snake's consciousness leaped out of its spiritual space. Just as it had done in Takigakure Village before, it directly possessed this body. Its half-human form immediately changed.
Its arms merged into its lower abdomen, and its human face gradually turned into a snake's face. In just a moment, Orochimaru transformed back into a White Snake.
Although this "body-shaping" senjutsu was learned by Orochimaru, the speed at which the little White Snake performed it was much more natural than his own.
And as the body integrated from the inside out, a change abruptly occurred.
The little White Snake, with its golden eyes, rolled on the sand, coiled around the stone tripod, and seemed to soar like a dragon... it couldn't stay still for a moment.
But Genie Lamp could see that a special kind of energy was being generated within the body, and the little White Snake's transformation was only a part of it.
In the consciousness space.
Orochimaru spread his hands, examining his body, his face filled with confusion. "What exactly is going on?"
According to his experimental records, Yang release, representing physical strength, and Yin release, representing spiritual power, would fuse when they reached a certain level, transforming into the power of all things.
He had previously thought his spiritual power had reached the standard but hadn't obtained this power. But now, it was the 'Tail Devourer' that was fusing. How come...?
"Don't forget, the little White Snake was originally a part of you."
Genie Lamp appeared in the consciousness space, tilted his head, and smiled. "And although its soul strength is a level higher than yours, it only represents the spiritual power aspect."
Whether passively or actively, when the little White Snake fused with the Yang release power within the body, Orochimaru was unavoidable.
If you were to say, he was the initial product of the natural fusion of Yin and Yang release.
Orochimaru stared at Genie Lamp. "You already expected this?"
If that were the case, then his previous decision to go all out, to burn his boats and break his supplies, in Genie Lamp's eyes was...
"No, definitely not." Genie Lamp spread his hands helplessly. "This body isn't mine, after all. All my opinions are based on experience and speculation."
He could speak freely in ordinary times, but when it came to such important matters, making a mistake would be embarrassing.
Moreover, telling Orochimaru in advance would have been useless. In the end, it still had to be tried. And having Orochimaru approach it with the determination to burn his boats and break his supplies might increase the probability of success.
"Don't be too careless either. Grasp this transformation," Genie Lamp warned. "After this, you and the little White Snake might still have a challenge ahead."
The little White Snake had been released for so long, yet there was no sign of its bankai. This meant Orochimaru couldn't control it at will. This might be an opportunity.
"I will be careful." Orochimaru closed his eyes and sat cross-legged in the void, concentrating on digesting this rare opportunity. His semi-transparent body was enveloped in white light.
In the outside world.
The little White Snake twisted its body, swimming and surging, flipping and darting, almost non-stop, as if enduring a thousand itches.
However, no matter where it went, it would always return to the location of the great tripod. This was the core of the Dragon Vein, the place richest in natural energy, and the energy needed for the White Snake's transformation was vast and boundless, greedily absorbing everything around it.
But... it wasn't enough!
The White Snake stared at the ground, suddenly coiled around the stone tripod, and let out a hiss.
Around the stone tripod, circles of sand and stone surged, pushing outwards. In just a moment, the location of the stone tripod formed a stone pillar, and this pillar continued to extend downwards.
Ten meters, a hundred meters, five hundred meters...
After an unknown amount of time, the White Snake coiled around the stone pillar and climbed down. Its golden eyes flickered in the darkness, staring at its prey.
At almost the same moment, the land trembled continuously. Dozens of light beams pierced through the earth and stone, releasing natural energy that seemed tangible and bombarded the White Snake.
...
In an open space several miles away, the moment the anomaly occurred, Queen Roran and her daughter Sara's eyes suddenly snapped open. Streaks of blood flowed from their nostrils and eye corners. They both collapsed to the ground, their breathing as faint as a mosquito's.
Jiraiya and Kazekage Rasa, who were guarding them, saw this and their faces darkened. They quickly knelt down to check on the two. Relieved to find that it was just overexertion, they fed them water and military rations. Once they recovered, Jiraiya asked, "What happened?"
"The Dragon Vein... the Dragon Vein is awake?"
Queen Roran spoke in broken sentences, her eyes flickering with an emotion that was hard to distinguish between fear or shock.
Her and her daughter's contribution to Orochimaru's ability to perform the surgery smoothly was not insignificant, but now, things had completely gone beyond their control.
"Awake?"
Jiraiya and Kazekage Rasa exchanged glances, surprise in their eyes. From Queen Roran's attitude, they sensed something different.
According to the intelligence Orochimaru had previously provided, this Dragon Vein's consciousness was rudimentary, and it might have instinctively resisted when too much natural energy was consumed.
But such behavior would at most be a riot. "Awake"... this word indeed had a profound meaning.
And by the way, whether it was awakening or a riot, why did such a massive entity as the Dragon Vein not create a disturbance that could be felt here, entirely concealed by the wind and sand?
"We were wrong. Our previous assumptions were all wrong."
Queen Roran looked at their confusion and said weakly, "It has always been in a deep sleep, so for the past hundred years, what we encountered was merely a vague consciousness."
"But now, because of Orochimaru, it seems to have woken up."
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