As the Djinn was lost in thought, Orochimaru suddenly let out a sharp scream.
Out of nowhere, flames erupted across his body. In an instant, they engulfed him completely.
The debris scattered across the courtyard ignited with ease, fueling the blaze until it devoured the entire area.
"What's happening?" the Djinn muttered, frowning in confusion. Just as the transformation seemed to be stabilizing, an unexpected flare-up had thrown everything into chaos.
Where did these flames come from? Could it be another side effect of the Sage transformation?
"…The sun…" Orochimaru's strained voice echoed in their shared mental space. His tone was weak—he was burning, physically and mentally.
The Breath of the Sun—a technique designed to harness the energy of sunlight. Orochimaru had thought he could rely on that abundant, cost-free source. But even with his bolstered mental strength, the toll was steep.
After all, even the Otsutsuki's Ten Tails only absorbed energy from the earth's leylines. They had never dared to use the sun itself.
"The sun?" The Djinn's expression shifted. He looked upward, piercing through layers of stone and sand.
On the eastern horizon, dawn had broken.
Half of the crimson sun had risen, and though far away, its presence pressed down with a suffocating force.
Morning had come.
And if this continued—Orochimaru would burn out before he could complete his transformation.
The Djinn had always understood the drawbacks of the breathing techniques. "Water Breath" couldn't be used near lakes or oceans, and "Sun Breath" was safest only in the depths of night.
Stopping it entirely was not an option—Orochimaru's first transformation relied on absorbing natural energy. After a moment of hesitation, the Djinn made his move.
But the moment he cast "Water Breath," Orochimaru screamed in agony.
The Djinn was startled. Though the flames momentarily stopped spreading, the special energy fueling the transformation sharply declined.
"Wait… is that energy not from the White Snake Sage Art, but from the sun?" he muttered. "It would make sense. Plants in every world rely on the sun. But why didn't the energy react this way before the molting?"
His mind raced, but he had no time to explore hypotheses.
One thing was clear: to complete the transformation, Orochimaru needed the Breath of the Sun. The only remaining problem was surviving it.
"Go underground," the Djinn ordered.
He wasn't sure how deeply solar energy could penetrate, but if it was like physical radiation, rock layers should help block it.
Though they were already a thousand meters below Roran, that clearly wasn't enough.
With a hiss, Orochimaru raised his snake head and dove deeper into the earth.
The rock and soil parted like water, and in moments, he had descended another two kilometers.
"…That's far enough…" Orochimaru's faint voice echoed. "Any further and we'll be too far from the dragon vein."
"But your condition is deteriorating," the Djinn argued. "I don't know how long this transformation will even take."
Allowing a human to evolve into a different species was absurd. It was only possible because Orochimaru's body had already shifted to something close to a plant—and even then, only with the aid of that strange solar energy.
"I've already got a plan," Orochimaru replied, his tone still faint, but his gaze determined. "Stop the breathing technique for now. Let me catch my breath."
"That'll burn your own vitality," the Djinn warned. "…Fine."
With a sigh, the Djinn ceased the Breath of the Sun and held back from casting another technique. Orochimaru clearly wanted a completely clean state—no chakra flow, no interference.
"…Hahh…"
Orochimaru took a deep breath and used the surrounding dirt to smother the remaining flames. His appearance was gruesome—scales charred, body blackened. The majestic white snake was no longer white.
But he had a moment of respite.
Still, his transformation now fed on his own energy. He didn't have long.
After regaining some control, Orochimaru raised his head. His golden eyes flashed with light.
He began to shift once again. Layers of flesh writhed and separated from the inner body.
"…Is this molting?" the Djinn murmured, puzzled.
But this wasn't like before. Nearly 90% of Orochimaru's body mass was now being peeled off—more like creating a second body than shedding skin.
Had he planned to use this body as a decoy—to absorb the sun's backlash?
That would be naive… solar energy didn't just affect the physical form—it also scorched the soul.
But then the Djinn's eyes widened.
"…Wait. Is he really trying that?"
He watched in silence as Orochimaru moved to the mental space and fixed his gaze on the snake ring—the space where the little white snake and the dragon vein were bound.
His golden eyes flared. The snake ring twisted into a figure-eight—the symbol of infinity—and then it launched outward, embedding into the outer shell of his discarded body.
Orochimaru poured pupil power into it, fusing the little white snake with the abandoned flesh.
The Serpentis had become a puppet—its resistance broken by Orochimaru's awakened ocular ability. No longer a threat, it was now a tool.
Turning to the Djinn, Orochimaru said calmly, "Now. Begin the breathing technique."
"…You're ruthless," the Djinn whispered. "Abandoning a part of yourself to bear the pain… truly decisive."
The little white snake was now a sacrificial pawn, doomed to endure the full wrath of the sun.
The Djinn hesitated only a moment longer before casting Breath of the Sun again.
In the next moment, twin howls of agony filled the mental space.
The little white snake and the dragon vein spirit were both caught in the solar fire.
But this time, Orochimaru was calm. The pain was distant. With the burden shifted, he could finally focus.
"Move us closer to the surface," he instructed. "The transformation energy is still too low."
Having severed nearly all physical ties to the outer body, Orochimaru was now little more than a spiritual core embedded in the innermost cells. But it was enough.
"…Understood."
The Djinn guided the snake body upward slowly.
At this point, two techniques were running in parallel: Bacterization acting on the entire snake body, and Breath of the Sun, focused through the little white snake.
Because of this division, the bulk of the energy flowed into the outer body.
Whether or not the little white snake wanted this benefit was another matter.
Inside the snake ring, the screams continued—but the white snake never stopped devouring. If anything, it fed on the pain to survive.
Eventually, the dragon vein spirit broke completely. The little white snake devoured its fragmented essence, accelerating its own growth.
Unnoticed, it began merging with the flesh. Its spirit stabilized under the sun's fury.
"…No," Orochimaru muttered.
If this continued, the little white snake would complete the transformation first—and break free.
"I can't allow that."
He turned to the Djinn and said firmly, "Take us to the surface. Now."
"…You're merciless," the Djinn said with a sigh, but complied.
The crisis had passed. Orochimaru's goal now was further evolution, and he was willing to gamble with the white snake's life to reach it.
As the Djinn surfaced, Orochimaru let out a sigh of relief. The little white snake, however, screamed in agony.
Bathed in sunlight, its body ignited like wax under a blowtorch.
Flakes of flesh burned away into ash, scattering like embers in the air—but they vanished instantly under the harsh light of day.
The white snake's fate was no different.
But its loss was Orochimaru's gain. His transformation surged forward, both physically and spiritually.
Then suddenly—silence.
The screams stopped. Orochimaru's body began to plummet from the sky.
"What happened?!"
The shock and frustration of being interrupted at such a critical moment nearly drove him mad.
"…The little white snake abandoned its body and escaped," the Djinn said, his voice complicated.
"What? That's impossible!" Orochimaru hissed. "How did it break free from your control?!"
In his mind, that should've been impossible. Not even Otsutsuki Kaguya could break the Djinn's hold.
The Djinn glanced at him. "The white snake completed its transformation—before you. It is now classified as an independent being by my contract's laws."
"Since it is not a host, I have no control over it."
"…Then where did it go?"
The Djinn replied solemnly:
"It fled to the Pure Land."
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