"Pure Land?"
Orochimaru's expression darkened instantly—something was clearly wrong.
Previously, when the Djinn controlled the little white snake, it could safely be thrown into the Pure Land to harvest pure soul energy. But now that it had broken free from all restraints... who knew what it might do?
The Sage of the Six Paths might tolerate him sipping a little soul energy here and there—but if Orochimaru tried to overturn the bowl? That could be fatal.
He wasn't ready to face a being on that level yet.
"Trying to escape? It won't be that easy!"
Orochimaru's pupils flared, and he snarled, "Pure Land: Summoning Technique!"
A spiritual glow burst from the charred flesh surrounding him. A massive surge of energy shot upward, tearing through the void—searching, grasping, dragging.
"Whoa... is that even possible?"
The Djinn was impressed. As expected of one of the legendary Sannin, Orochimaru's instincts and combat sense were razor-sharp.
Thanks to his deep research into the Impure World Reincarnation technique, Orochimaru could forcibly summon souls from the Pure Land using the flesh of the deceased.
Sure enough, the snake's tail appeared first—then the body, and finally the head. Piece by piece, the little white snake was wrenched from the Pure Land.
It stared at the charred corpse below—the source of its tether—with unmistakable human-like disgust and fear. It shook its ethereal form desperately, trying to escape.
But summoning, for all its accessibility (even Might Guy could learn it), had no defined upper limit. Even the monstrous Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was a form of spiritual summoning.
There was no escape. The little white snake was sucked back into the burnt outer layer of Orochimaru's body.
"Hah..."
Orochimaru gasped, feeling the stolen energy flood back into him. The transformation, which had been interrupted, resumed instantly.
But there was no time to rest.
His eyes gleamed with gold. "Heaven's Authority!"
Massive waves of pupil power exploded from his eyes, coalescing into a swirling vortex of light that consumed the little white snake again, sealing it in a new spiritual cage.
Though his transformation wasn't complete, Orochimaru's pupil power now rivaled the Rinnegan in sheer strength—if not in versatility.
Last time, he'd underestimated the little white snake. He never imagined it could become an independent entity, escaping even the Djinn's control.
But this time, he wouldn't make the same mistake.
As he reinforced the cage with all his might, Orochimaru began absorbing the surrounding energy and resumed his evolution.
"Hissss!"
The little white snake thrashed wildly inside the snake ring, but this time, it couldn't break free. And with the dragon veins gone, the natural energy that once surged from Roran's depths no longer flowed.
Now, Orochimaru was absorbing the snake's own energy.
"That snake's transformation is complete, but it hasn't digested the power yet..."
The Djinn, watching calmly, muttered to himself, "If that thing were stable, Orochimaru would be in serious trouble."
"Hiss..."
The white snake suddenly stopped struggling. Then, it let out a long shriek as the scorched flesh surrounding Orochimaru trembled—then opened its jaws wide and swallowed him whole.
"...What the hell?"
Orochimaru felt a sudden surge in energy around him—but also pain. The burning was intense. He was being digested.
Devouring and absorbing—that was the white snake's specialty. Whether it was thousand-year-old sacred wood or fossilized sand veins, it could break it down.
Still, Orochimaru didn't blame the snake. Their relationship had already become adversarial—life or death. One of them had to go. The only question was how: through elimination, or through control?
This inevitable clash was the cost of condensing a spiritual weapon through the Djinn's Soul World ability. He couldn't allow another consciousness to remain inside him unless it was totally under control.
But now, with the snake fully independent, that was no longer possible.
He frowned.
"We'll think about how to deal with it later... First, survive this."
Orochimaru refocused. Even as he maintained the transformation, he roused his chakra.
The burned mass of flesh swelled. From its surface, countless vines and tendrils burst out, colliding with the digestive juices in sizzling bursts. Though many dissolved instantly, new ones replaced them.
"Hiss!"
The little white snake shrieked, curling into a tight ball and clutching its bloated stomach—but it couldn't stop the process.
Still, the battle was taking its toll. Orochimaru was expending too much energy to both evolve and defend himself.
"This can't go on..."
He frowned. He hadn't expected the transformed snake to pose this much of a threat. If it had more intellect, he might have already lost.
"We might need to change plans," the Djinn appeared in his spiritual space.
"Suppressing the snake and completing your transformation at the same time is impossible right now. Choose one."
Orochimaru hesitated—then nodded.
"Understood."
He released his pupil power. The snake ring shattered. The little white snake burst free, letting out a triumphant hiss as it vanished once more into the Pure Land.
Orochimaru smiled faintly.
Spiritual black lines flowed from his body, engraving themselves into the charred flesh.
"What's this?" the Djinn asked.
"Pure Land Summoning... or more accurately, a Pure Land Summoning Circle," Orochimaru replied, grinning.
He infused it with massive pupil power—his highest-level chakra—and supplemented it with the natural energy lingering in the burned flesh. It was extravagant, yes. But worth it.
The moment he activated the circle, an enormous pull erupted. The little white snake was yanked back.
And again.
And again.
"Ah... I see." The Djinn finally understood.
"You're training the elephant."
If you break a young elephant's will with enough failure, it won't even try to escape a flimsy chain once grown. Orochimaru was doing the same.
With enough repeated failures, the little white snake would simply stop trying.
And without needing to use pupil power to restrain it, Orochimaru could divert that energy into his transformation.
"Hiss..."
After dozens of failed attempts, the little white snake stopped moving. It coiled up, trembling.
It wasn't just the failure—it was the feeling of losing energy, helplessly watching it be drained away.
Then, suddenly, it stopped.
It let out a furious hiss, and flames ignited on its body.
"Wait… is that…?"
Both Orochimaru and the Djinn stared in shock.
"He actually used the Breath of the Sun… on his own."
It wasn't surprising—after all, Orochimaru had used that breath countless times while the snake was still part of him.
What impressed the Djinn was its sheer willpower.
Even if it meant self-destruction, it would devour until the end.
"Such obsession… fitting for Orochimaru's offspring," the Djinn murmured.
"If Orochimaru seeks eternal life, this snake just wants to devour, digest, and repeat."
The fire intensified. Orochimaru's spirit surged, surpassing even Hashirama in the Pure Land, nearing the realm of the Shinigami and Ōtsutsuki Hamura.
The snake's self-sacrifice had drastically accelerated his evolution.
But suddenly… something felt off.
"What is this heat...?"
The Djinn's voice rang out.
"Orochimaru, something's wrong with its body."
The snake's charred flesh was burning too fast—seventy percent was gone in moments. Spore-like particles scattered in the wind, glowing with lingering soul energy.
"So that's the real escape plan... using Breath of the Sun to launch a spiritual dispersal..."
The Djinn nodded.
"Even you can't retrieve every scattered soul fragment. But..."
The problem? Those spores were still activating Breath of the Sun—burning themselves away even faster.
"May you be blessed..." the Djinn muttered, then turned to Orochimaru.
"So, what now?"
Eight-tenths of the snake's body was gone. It couldn't be used for energy anymore.
Orochimaru was silent for a long moment.
Then he clenched his fists.
"No retreat. Not now."
He had come too far. Giving up now was not an option.
"Use my body to cast it!" he shouted.
"Just a bit more—I can endure it!"
The Djinn paused, then nodded solemnly.
"Then let's begin."
Flames roared. Orochimaru screamed.
The body shrank, hardened, blackened.
Then—
A charred mass, roughly human-sized, fell from the sky and crashed into the desert, forming a deep crater.
"...You fool," the Djinn sighed as he floated above the wreckage.
"You didn't have to go that far..."
He glanced to the southeast.
"Still… you're lucky."
A wind picked up, lifting a cloud of glowing spores into the air.
Among the sand and wind, one set of particles clumped together—forming a tiny snake made of gravel and light.
It raised its head to the sun and began to crawl forward—
Like a devout believer, inching toward its god.
_____________________
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