"It has begun."
Inside the Temple deep within Ryuchi Cave, the White Snake Sage shifted her massive body, slowly descending from her seat, the shadow she cast completely enveloping Orochimaru's diminutive figure.
She opened her enormous mouth, her sharp fangs reflecting a dazzling blue light in the lamplight, inching closer to Orochimaru's body.
Orochimaru took a deep breath, his face tense, but he didn't close his eyes. Instead, he gazed intently up at her head.
From Shin'yu's perspective, the scene was quite terrifying. The White Snake Sage opened her bloody maw, revealing her hideous fangs, as if she were about to swallow him whole.
Watching Orochimaru, who hadn't retreated a single step, Shin'yu nodded with satisfaction. Hmm, unflustered in the face of danger, truly worthy of being my disciple.
What he didn't know was that Orochimaru was currently pale-faced, his pupils trembling as he watched the ever-approaching, enormous fangs.
The White Snake Sage was gigantic. Her fangs alone were the size of an adult. If those things were to pierce his body, he'd be done for, even without the injection of Natural Energy, right?
Just as Orochimaru's mind was racing, the White Snake Sage actually shrunk in size. Her snake head abruptly contracted, her white scales wriggling, and even her flesh and blood shrank inch by inch, until she transformed into a short old crone wearing a Gray Scarf right before their eyes.
The old crone floated lightly in front of Orochimaru, her mouth open, revealing her fangs. The extent of the opening stretched her wrinkles to their limit.
"Pfft."
Just as Orochimaru's heart was pounding wildly, the old crone plunged her fangs into his neck.
Orochimaru's expression froze. To be honest, it wasn't as painful as he had imagined. In fact, it was gentler than when Tagorihime had attacked him.
Immediately afterward, a light and natural aura flowed into his veins along with the snake fangs. It felt like being gently caressed by a breeze, and Orochimaru couldn't help but shudder.
The White Snake Sage released her mouth, retreated with a smile, and returned to her seat.
"Is that it?" Orochimaru was somewhat baffled.
However, Shin'yu, who had been silently observing, frowned slightly.
In his perception, that seemingly gentle aura contained extremely violent energy. If left undisturbed, it would be as still as a distant mountain, unmoving and majestic. But once it erupted, it would be like a storm passing through, like a monstrous wave destroying a boat. It was definitely not something an ordinary person could control.
At this moment, enveloped by the White Snake Sage's Chakra, this Natural Energy began to flow along Orochimaru's meridians. Although slow, it was rapidly breaking away from the White Snake Sage's Chakra as a medium, gradually and truly merging into Orochimaru's body.
In just a moment, Orochimaru's expression changed.
Pure Natural Energy invaded his cells, and his body began to tremble.
He uncontrollably fell to his knees, gasping for breath, cold sweat pouring out of his pores as if it were free.
It was a rather strange feeling. If he had to describe it, it wasn't pain, but a kind of inexplicable detachment, as if he had lost control of his body.
His hands and feet were completely numb, and even his ears and eyes didn't feel like his own...
He opened his mouth wide, his long tongue hanging down. He could clearly see saliva flowing uncontrollably, but he didn't feel anything, as if he were staring at a quietly flowing stream.
Soon, sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch... these basic senses were drifting away from him, dominated by the power within his body...
This was a kind of alternative "loss of the five senses." Orochimaru could see and hear, he hadn't lost his senses, but he felt that they had become different.
In addition to the changes in his body, his consciousness also floated up and down, as if his soul had turned into a small boat, rising and falling on the turbulent sea, being arbitrarily torn and kneaded...
For a moment, Orochimaru couldn't even feel his own existence, and then it was as if he had mastered everything.
Shin'yu's gaze was fixed on Orochimaru, reflected in those Jade Black pupils was no longer the gentle-faced youth, but a monster with a human body and a snake's head.
His body turned pale inch by inch, and fine scales slowly grew on the surface, like white armor, dense and terrifying...
Narrow eye sockets, cold vertical pupils, bluish-black snake tongue... all kinds of characteristics indicated that he was being swallowed by Natural Energy and evolving in the direction of failure.
The old woman transformed from the White Snake Sage crossed her legs, watched coldly, and even blew a smoke ring.
Shin'yu frowned and pondered. As far as he knew, if a Ninja wanted to use Sage Art, they had to enter Sage Mode.
To enter Sage Mode, one must first rely on oneself to "see" the Natural Energy wandering between heaven and earth, and then drive the secret method to absorb it with the body and store it in Chakra.
In the original timeline, when Uzumaki Naruto was learning Sage Art at Mount Myoboku, he first applied Toad Oil, a specialty of Mount Myoboku, to his body, which helped him absorb Natural Energy little by little in a gradual manner.
However, the White Snake Sage directly skipped the step of perception and chose to directly inject Natural Energy into Orochimaru's body. Although this would allow Orochimaru to come into contact with Natural Energy more clearly and directly, it also increased the danger of this matter a hundredfold.
Once he failed to adapt, it would be irreversible.
Compared with the cultivation method of Mount Myoboku, it was indeed a bit rough and unrestrained.
Looking at Orochimaru, who was gradually turning into a monster, Shin'yu suddenly understood why Sage Mode was more suitable for people with a very large amount of Chakra to cultivate.
People with a small amount of Chakra cannot easily grasp Natural Energy and are easily swallowed by Natural Energy, just like Orochimaru now.
Even people with a huge amount of Chakra are at risk. If they are swallowed by Natural Energy, they will become a part of nature. For example, those who failed to cultivate at Mount Myoboku turned into stone frogs, and those in Ryuchi Cave turned into monsters.
Just as Shin'yu was hesitating whether to take action, Orochimaru's breathing suddenly calmed down.
He slowly stood up, and as he raised his eyes, his transformed body had returned to its original appearance.
The White Snake Sage marveled and took off her pipe for the first time, opening her eyes to look at the young man below.
"Well, it's a success," she said softly.
Shin'yu flashed to Orochimaru, pressed his palm on his head, and after some investigation, he let out a surprised "Huh."
"Those Natural Energies actually disappeared?"
The White Snake Sage said with a smile, "Born of nature, naturally it must return to nature. The way of circulation is just this principle."
Orochimaru showed a look of relief, "I... did I really succeed?"
The White Snake Sage said leisurely, "The operation just now was actually testing your potential for perfect fusion with Natural Energy. The body, spirit, and Natural Energy only need to achieve a moment of balance, and that's it..."
Shin'yu patted his disciple on the shoulder, "Good job. In the next period of time, you will stay with the White Snake Sage to learn Sage Art."
"Master, what about you?"
"Me?"
"Yes, do you want to cultivate Sage Art?" Orochimaru nodded, "If it's you, you definitely can!"
Shin'yu shook his head slightly, meaningfully, "I'll watch you practice once first."
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