"Ahhhhh—!"
The enraged screams of the White Snake Sage echoed throughout Ryūchi Cave. Her massive body thrashed violently, sending tremors through the ground. The quake rippled across the entire Land of Stone, terrifying both civilians and shinobi alike.
She had tried to swallow the bait—only to find herself hooked.
The White Snake Sage had underestimated Orochimaru's planning.
In her mind, using the three snake priestesses as test subjects was merely Orochimaru's way of gaining her trust. She believed he wouldn't dare act against her until he attempted the final procedure on her directly. She had thought she held the upper hand.
But the real trap hadn't been hidden in the snake priestesses—it was Orochimaru himself.
The clone she had swallowed carried the same corruptive essence as the Divine Tree, but in an even more refined, lethal form. Its erosion was far more terrifying than what had infected Togarihime .
Maybe I shouldn't have swallowed Orochimaru...
Regret briefly flickered in the Sage's mind—but there was no time for doubt. She couldn't afford to sever the connection to Orochimaru, not while Togarihime's transformation remained ongoing. His body had served as a vital channel for the process. Now, that channel had become poison.
And she had walked right into it.
Through clenched teeth, enduring the growing pain and chaos inside her, she rasped, "So this... is the power beyond transformation..."
For centuries, she'd ruled Ryūchi Cave unchallenged. Over time, that dominance had dulled her vigilance. She had let her guard down. She had seen the weaknesses of the snake priestesses as mere reflections of her own, never realizing they were warnings.
But she wasn't ready to die.
"Don't think I'll die so easily! Just wait—!"
With a shriek, she crushed Orochimaru's clone—body and soul—inside her. She wasn't about to leave any trace of him inside her, especially not now.
Yet even as she destroyed his clone, she couldn't dispel the infection spreading within.
What now...?
She recalled Orochimaru's final words—a seemingly casual suggestion. "Shed your skin if things go wrong."
At first, she'd dismissed it as another manipulative tactic. But now, with nothing else working, it might be her only hope.
Without hesitation, she began.
Her massive head slammed into stone walls, the pain keeping her grounded, focused. She refrained from using senjutsu, wary of backfiring. Instead, she triggered the most primal instinct of her species.
Snakes shed their skin to survive. So would she.
---
Outside, the quakes intensified. Mountains trembled. The Land of Stone reeled from the violence deep beneath the earth. Ryūchi Cave itself was in chaos—beasts that had slumbered for centuries now fled in panic. Thousands of snakes scattered in all directions, unwilling to remain near the berserk Immortal.
The White Snake Sage roared as her old skin split open, layer by layer, revealing raw, unblemished flesh beneath. The pain was excruciating, but it gave her clarity. For a moment, she regained control—just enough to begin pushing the corruption out.
But unknown to her, deep within the shadows, another figure watched with cold eyes.
Orochimaru's true body.
He had already slipped into the deepest parts of the cave. And as the White Snake Sage shed her skin, he consumed it—every last trace of natural energy left in the discarded husk.
"Hmph... still not enough," he muttered. His breath fogged from the rush of power, snake-like markings crawling across his face.
Absorbing so much senjutsu chakra in such a short time strained even his transformed body—but it was manageable. After all, his evolution had already surpassed the White Snake Sage.
He stared at her colossal figure as golden light flickered in his eyes.
And then she noticed him.
"You again! Haven't you done enough?! What do you want now?" Her voice thundered through the cave, trembling with fury. "Do you want me to die with you?!"
Orochimaru's expression remained calm. "I'm not afraid of that. You've clung to life for a thousand years. We both know you won't throw it away so easily."
"Then what do you want?" she snarled.
"To help you," he said, almost mockingly.
"Help? You call this help?!"
Orochimaru smiled faintly. "You've grown too large. Your body is bloated with natural energy, but you can't refine it anymore. If you continue down this path, you'll collapse under your own weight. I'm simply showing you the way forward."
"Bullshit!" the Sage spat.
"I'm not wrong," he said quietly. "If you want to continue growing—truly evolving—you must refine, not devour. Store it. Shape it. Not just expand blindly."
He gestured toward the skin she had just shed.
"This is part of your growth. But you're still clinging to an outdated form. Even the Divine Tree creates vessels. So did the Ōtsutsuki. Even Kaguya."
The White Snake Sage fell silent.
"You think I'm plundering you," Orochimaru said, "but I'm actually helping you release the excess. Think of me as your container, your stabilizer. You're hoarding power you can't control. Let me refine it—for both our sakes."
"And what's your real goal?"
"To ensure you don't destroy the world in your blind hunger. If you keep absorbing at this rate, the entire ninja world's ley lines will dry up. I won't let that happen."
He stepped forward.
"If you want to continue your journey, I'll help guide it. Otherwise..."
His eyes narrowed. The threat was unmistakable.
"I'll end it here and now."
---
The White Snake Sage stared at him, seething—but beneath the rage was calculation. She could destroy them both. Her accumulated energy might be enough to annihilate Orochimaru entirely.
But would it really?
She didn't know anymore.
And that was what terrified her.
"…Fine," she hissed at last.
Orochimaru's golden pupils gleamed.
"Wise choice."
_____________________
The story is Finished on patreon (394 Chapters)
Join my patreon
patreon.com/Silver757
Or Tip me on
coff.ee/silver7959
http://buymeacoffee.com/silver7959