Even Karin was seeing such a form for the first time.
At this moment, Orochimaru's head had elongated, sharp teeth protruded from the corners of his mouth, and two whisker-like things gently floated along the sides of his nostrils.
"...Dragon?"
Although the dragon-headed, human-bodied appearance was somewhat abstract, Karin still recognized the creature he transformed into based on the head.
Hearing Karin's words, Orochimaru showed the joy of an artist whose work is recognized.
"Yes! Isn't it amazing?!"
"Even though a fruit capable of transforming into a divine dragon already exists in this world."
"This little one can still become a dragon!"
Although called a dragon, Orochimaru's current form looked more like a snake-man that grew claws.
This fruit, almost identical to Kaido's, was the product of Vegapunk's decades of research, later improved upon by Caesar.
Unfortunately, the little creature that ate it could only maintain the dragon form for short periods, even struggling to fly.
After Orochimaru came to Punk Hazard and successfully persuaded Caesar, Caesar didn't hide anything, even directly telling Orochimaru about its existence.
And Orochimaru also keenly realized the potential of this fruit.
In fact, among the priorities for body candidates, the eater of this pink dragon fruit was even above others.
Strictly speaking, this little boy with a 'sakayaki' hairstyle was Orochimaru's No. 1 'body snatching' target… Monet and Diamante were taken control of later.
Simultaneously, because this fruit wasn't mature yet, even with Orochimaru's ability to 'amplify' and 'strengthen' abilities after taking over a body, it wasn't enough to fully unleash this fruit's power. That's why he didn't choose this body to go to Dressrosa.
—Of course, it was also to leave a way out for himself.
And now it came in handy.
Unfortunately, Karin, unaware of the backstory, was completely confused.
"What on earth are you talking about?"
But she didn't dwell on it.
"So you're Sasuke's defeated opponent, right?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Orochimaru's previously eloquent demeanor immediately paused.
"..."
Although he didn't reply, the meaning was clear.
Seeing this, Karin also didn't bother with more talk.
"In that case… then if I can catch you, I can definitely humiliate that red-eyed weirdo properly."
Just thinking about leading Orochimaru with a chain in front of Sasuke, showing off, filled Karin with motivation.
So the next moment, everyone only saw a flash of golden light in mid-air as Karin directly crossed dozens of meters, appearing behind Orochimaru.
Simultaneously, chains wrapped around Orochimaru's neck, limbs… even the tail wasn't spared.
"Now captured—"
But before Karin finished speaking, the bound Orochimaru's neck suddenly elongated, his entire body instantly changing from half-human, half-dragon to a long shape.
Using the stretching from the transformation, Orochimaru abruptly opened his large mouth, sharp fangs biting toward Karin.
"Heh... compared to Sasuke-kun, you seem easier to handle."
Orochimaru laughed inwardly, but his laughter quickly froze.
Clang!
The crisp collision sound made everyone's teeth ache.
Even the dragon beast's sharp fangs couldn't penetrate Garuda's diamond-like feathers.
And whether by coincidence, in mythological stories, the divine bird Garuda also 'feasted on dragons'.
"Hmm?"
Karin, as if bitten by a mosquito, slowly turned her head.
Those eagle eyes glowing with golden light focused on Orochimaru.
In that moment, fear arising from biological instinct swept through his entire body.
Orochimaru almost instinctively stretched his body, wanting to use Flame Clouds to fly into the sky.
Under his control, this body, after less than ten days of adaptation, could already achieve flight, even breathe Bolo Blasts… though the destructiveness was completely incomparable to the original.
In contrast, that little brat really had zero ability development.
Unfortunately, this action was utterly futile.
Never mind that Orochimaru was still bound by chains.
Compare flight speed with Garuda?
Even Kaido himself wouldn't stand a chance.
Perhaps only Kizaru would qualify to compete in flight.
Karin's figure tumbled. Orochimaru only felt a blur before his eyes, then he was grabbed by a pair of sharp claws.
The claw tips pressed into a spot similar to the 'seven inches', instantly robbing Orochimaru of his ability to struggle.
Perhaps to 'punish' him, Karin stepped on him, then slammed him heavily onto the ground.
Despite Karin's current small size, her strength was terrifying.
The soldiers in protective suits only heard a loud boom, and the solid ground was instantly smashed into a crater over ten meters in radius.
Even Orochimaru, in dragon form, became disoriented after this 'small' punishment.
"Alright, don't resist, obediently put on the collar—"
Seeing the other's body soften a bit, Karin prepared to give him a dose of the [Life Lock] package she used on other crew members.
But Orochimaru truly was like a real venomous snake.
Seeing he couldn't break free, he simply stopped struggling, but the large mouth stretched open by the chains suddenly spewed out a burst of pink mist.
That was the highly concentrated Drug No. 2, hidden in his fangs in advance.
Pfft!
Although Karin used strong winds to disperse it immediately at the first moment, at such close range, a tiny amount of the drug was still inhaled.
Instantly, Karin felt her body stiffening.
And Orochimaru himself, being the closest, wasn't much better off.
The principle of this drug was adding [Pyrobroin factor] from Seastone… there was no possibility of pre-injecting an antidote.
Thus, both fell to the ground simultaneously.
"You bastard!"
Under Orochimaru's somewhat incredulous gaze, Karin, who inhaled a high concentration of the drug, could still move.
You should know, the amount of this drug was no less than in the Dressrosa palace.
In fact, the amount Karin inhaled might have been more than Sasuke's dose.
And this drug was completely volatilized, not mixed into gas, making it impossible to imitate Sasuke's method of actively igniting it.
It could only be said that Karin's current physical strength surpassed Sasuke's.
Comparing people is infuriating.
Perhaps because she was successfully ambushed by Sasuke's 'defeated opponent', Karin also became angry out of humiliation.
Afraid her current state couldn't properly control hurricanes, she simply used the sharp feathers to slice toward Orochimaru's neck.
"Wai... t... a... moment! Loo... k... that... way!"
Affected by the drug, even though Orochimaru himself wasn't a Devil Fruit user, speaking was still very difficult.
He used his eyes to signal the angry Karin to look to one side.
Feathers emitting a metallic chill cut halfway through Orochimaru's throat but still stopped.
For no other reason.
Caesar, who had disappeared earlier, had actually infiltrated the Shark Emeralda undetected.
None of the crew, including Naomi, were a match for him.
Explosive arrows were also ineffective.
Caesar didn't directly use poisonous gas to kill those people but released pink gas.
That gas, like the one Karin transferred away earlier, was laced with Drug No. 1.
Karin finally witnessed the effects of that gas.
Under the spreading pink mist, the crew members let out horrifying screams, their bodies rapidly stretching, quickly transforming from humans into snakes.
On the shore, the abnormally built children, seeing this scene, covered their eyes in fright.
In fact, not just them, even the soldiers watched in stunned silence.
They didn't know they themselves had almost ended up like that.
Originally, Caesar wanted to experiment on them, but Orochimaru abandoned the plan using 'insufficient manpower' as a reason.
"So... wha... how... about it? Are you... inte... interested, cough, interested in stopping to chat properly?"
Perhaps feeling this way of speaking was too troublesome, Orochimaru proactively 'lifted' part of his skin, revealing the face beneath, which had completely lost self-consciousness.
Without covering another person's body, the suppression of Drug No. 2 on Orochimaru immediately lessened a lot.
But he didn't plan to abandon this body and escape directly.
Because now, they had bargaining chips.
On the Shark Emeralda's deck, the crew members turned into snake-people immediately began attacking Caesar.
But facing Caesar, who could turn his body into gas, these snake-people's attacks were utterly ineffective.
Except for—
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
"Hmm?"
Three arrows in rapid succession precisely hit Caesar, then exploded violently before he could react.
As is well known, gas is a flammable, explosive substance.
"Ha... ha..."
And the person who shot the arrows was Naomi, whose body had already transformed.
At this moment, her lower body had become a snake-like tail, but her upper body remained humanoid.
Just like Rebecca in the Corrida Colosseum, Naomi also retained her sanity.
The original longbow now seemed much smaller in Naomi's hands.
But her drawing speed had increased significantly.
"...So the upper body remains humanoid? This is different from the situation you provided."
However, the violent explosion didn't seem to harm Caesar much.
His figure quickly coalesced, then looked with interest at the human-bodied, snake-tailed Naomi.