The Dragon Vein has awakened!
Upon hearing this from Queen Roran, Jiraiya and Kazekage Rasa were both shocked.
The latter had witnessed the Dragon Vein's power before. The storm Orochimaru had created was formidable, but by hiding in underground shelters, they had remained safe, only feeling slight tremors.
Jiraiya, already in Sage Mode, could almost "see" the Dragon Vein's presence through his senses.
The monster underground gave him a sense of pressure even greater than that of a Tailed Beast, but even so... it had only just awakened?
"Is there any other way?" Jiraiya asked, frowning as he looked at Queen Roran. "If we can calm the Dragon Vein down again, whatever you need us to do, just say it."
"It's impossible now." Queen Roran's face was pale, and she spoke with difficulty. "If it were just a surge of power, Roran's inherited sacrificial songs might still offer some hope, but now..."
Before the Dragon Vein forcibly severed her consciousness link, she clearly saw Orochimaru rush towards the depths of the earth.
How could they make two monsters fighting to the death fall asleep again? Sing them a lullaby?
Jiraiya fell silent for a moment, about to say something else, when a loud explosion drowned out all words.
Immediately after, earth and stones flew, and a rumbling sound, approaching from afar, reached them in an instant. The open space tore apart, and from the cracks, countless white lights shot up into the sky.
Jiraiya and Kazekage Rasa reacted quickly. As soon as the explosion roared, they had already moved, respectively taking Queen Roran and her daughter, either dodging at high speed or ascending on their golden clouds.
However, the shockwave from the massive explosion was so fierce that the four of them were directly blown away by the immense force.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Kazekage Rasa spat out a mouthful of muddy water. After stabilizing his golden cloud in mid-air, he quickly looked down. Seeing that Jiraiya had escaped the blast radius, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The golden cloud descended rapidly. Upon reaching Jiraiya's location, Kazekage Rasa and Sara leaped down.
"Sara..." Queen Roran struggled to her feet and hugged her daughter, who was close to unconsciousness from weakness.
Jiraiya sighed softly at this sight and turned his gaze towards the direction of Roran City. "There's nothing we can do now. Orochimaru will have to overcome this challenge on his own."
"Lord Jiraiya, you don't need to worry. I've witnessed Lord Orochimaru's strength with my own eyes. Even the Dragon Vein might not be his match; at least he can escape."
Although Konoha and Sunagakure Village were currently rivals, Kazekage Rasa did not wish for Orochimaru to die.
If nothing else... the funds promised to Queen Roran were all still in Orochimaru's hands.
"Let's hope so." Jiraiya frowned as he looked at the rising yellow sand.
...
The White Snake burrowed deep underground around a stone pillar, finding its target within moments. It let out a hiss and lunged with its huge maw.
At the same moment, countless vines shot out from the darkness, binding the White Snake tightly.
Numerous fine thorns pierced its flesh between its scales, then began to grow and branch, then grow again and branch again... densely covering every inch of the White Snake's body.
"Roar..." The White Snake let out a fierce roar, coughing up a large mouthful of blood from its mouth.
With such severe injuries, its previous body would have already lost its ability to move and been completely destroyed moments later.
But now, after the transplantation of First Hokage's cells, his control over Wood Release was theoretically far superior to Yamato's.
With his immense chakra reserves and the ability to freely use senjutsu, he was even showing signs of catching up to the First Hokage.
Almost by instinct, or perhaps forced by the life-or-death crisis, the young White Snake quickly mastered Wood Release. The vines and thorns were forcibly pulled out of its body under its control.
The blood flowing from the gaps between its scales stained half of its body crimson.
The young White Snake stared into the darkness below. After breaking free from the restraint of the tree branches and vines, it lunged deep underground and began to ferociously tear at its target.
Bite by bite, it swallowed everything, accompanied by the immense natural energy.
The damage it sustained, though insignificant compared to its whole body, was enough to ignite its primal survival instinct. The Dragon Vein roared repeatedly, its voice more akin to a fierce tiger. Countless tree branches and vines stretched towards the White Snake, trying to—once again—turn it into a dried husk.
The young White Snake was solely focused on devouring its prey, only dedicating thirty percent of its attention to barely defending itself, preventing the thorny roots from entering its flesh. It let all other entanglements be.
From an outsider's perspective, the Dragon Vein's deadly attacks were incredibly fierce; few in the ninja world could withstand them. Even an entire army of toads from Mount Myōboku would be reduced to dried skins in a short time. However, if these initial swift attacks proved ineffective, it would be left with few options.
Currently, the Dragon Vein was powerless to stop the White Snake's consumption.
In the mental space, Orochimaru was multitasking, temporarily sharing his vision with the Genie Lamp. After taking in the entire Dragon Vein, he frowned deeply.
"Is this really... a tree root?" Its giant, intertwined body did indeed resemble a tree root.
"It should be..."
The Genie Lamp shrugged helplessly, "This thing has been underground for who knows how many years. Its body has been buried by sand and stones, and it has even begun to petrify... Even I misjudged it before."
"A tree root... the root of a Divine Tree." Orochimaru quickly grasped the origin of this entity, as he had seen something similar before. A thousand years ago, a similar root was what created the current White Snake Sage.
However, this root in Roran was no luckier than the one in Ryuuchi Cave.
In a desert region, the surrounding geothermic energy had been completely drained by the Divine Tree long ago, leaving no replenishment. Although it had managed to supplement itself somewhat by sealing itself, it still couldn't avoid the fate of slow death.
And now... Orochimaru watched the Dragon Vein being devoured by the White Snake.
Whether it would continue to die slowly remained to be seen, depending on how large its appetite truly was.
Orochimaru had no intention of stopping the young White Snake. Slow digestion like a frog boiled in warm water might yield greater rewards than a brute force consumption now, but what he lacked at the moment was time, not the natural energy within the Dragon Vein.
Moreover, he felt incredibly comfortable right now.
Even without specialized tests, he could feel himself steadily improving. In just a short period of consumption, his body had almost recovered to its peak state, but this was clearly not the limit.
Orochimaru stretched his body and slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, his eyes half-open, a golden light flowing within them.
Seeing this, the Genie Lamp tilted its head and guessed, "If this continues, Orochimaru might develop his own special bloodline ability..."
Of course, this was not a significant matter for Orochimaru. Possessing a special bloodline itself merely reflected a higher level of spiritual power due to the organ's extensive connection to the brain's neural pathways.
But when he thought about how Orochimaru in the original timeline had painstakingly schemed for mere unstable Mangekyo Sharingan that were destined to go blind, the Genie Lamp couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy.
Even with Orochimaru's talents, insufficient opportunities could blind him to what he sought. And he happened to be a very patient person, one who could endure loneliness, but also... easily become obsessed.
Excessive attachment turned into stubbornness. His fate in the original timeline was a shame.
Although he had saved his life, he had lost the bigger picture by missing the opportunity of the Great Ninja War, leading to the destruction of many precious things. Even with immortality, what could be achieved through continued research? There would be no breakthroughs in the short term.
"Tsk tsk... If there were no other opportunities, that Orochimaru would be ruined, only fit to be an old grandpa to the younger generation of ninjas."
The Genie Lamp's gaze fell upon the Orochimaru before it, a flicker of anticipation in its eyes. "I wonder what level this Orochimaru will reach."
Although he had chosen Orochimaru initially because of his unique personality and goals in the ninja world, making him a unique asset that could guarantee maximum benefits if handled well, witnessing him break through his original shackles and grow still brought a sense of accomplishment.
However, it was still too early to say these things. While the Dragon Vein was somewhat similar to a Tailed Beast, it bullied others by relying on its physique and special abilities, failing to unleash its full power. But this entity was, after all, too vast.
To consider it a harmless caterpillar would be to underestimate it greatly.
"Let me help take a look." The Genie Lamp smiled slightly and leaped out of the mental space.
Deep underground, terrifying chewing sounds continued to echo, with fragments of stone or wood splintering and scattering.
The young White Snake's sharp fangs had long since been worn down. Rather than a carnivore, it looked more like the protruding front teeth of something like an Ushiuma.
This transformation meant it might not be able to eat meat, but it was much easier to gnaw through such tough material. Perhaps the original grass-eating snakes of Ryuuchi Cave had undergone a similar change.
But regardless of its hearty appetite, the young White Snake still had its limits.
From the perspective of an observer, the Genie Lamp knew this clearly.
Essentially a Zanpakuto, the young White Snake might have a higher level of mental strength than Orochimaru, but it was still inferior to true Six Paths level beings.
The world-spanning power generated by the fusion of the young White Snake and Yang Release was, at best, a key, allowing Orochimaru to access true power. To reach that level, he would need to strive for it himself.
Thinking about it, the Genie Lamp felt a touch of emotion. "I truly care so much for my host."
It neither allowed the host to slack off nor deprived him of opportunities and resources for growth. This was truly killing two birds with one stone.
Even if Orochimaru knew this, he would have nothing to complain about. Perhaps some hosts preferred to complete extremely difficult missions with immediate, substantial rewards, but Orochimaru was not that kind of person. He knew how precious the gift of growing from zero to one was.
"However, it seems it's time to stop here." The Genie Lamp shook its head slightly, watching the White Snake continue to devour.
From its perspective, it was easy to see that the little thing was continuing not out of hunger. The natural energy it had acquired had already reached saturation; it simply wanted to eat.
Even with large amounts of energy leaking out during the process, it didn't seem to care, just wanting to satisfy its craving for "eating."
"Such a great appetite, too bad you're not a Pixiu."
As the Genie Lamp mused, the Dragon Vein, the object of consumption, was clearly thoroughly enraged.
While its individual consciousness might not be as clear as a Tailed Beast's, its intelligence was sufficient to understand what the young White Snake was doing.
Even without hunger, it would chew it thoroughly before being willing to stop.
This was simply unbearable!
"Roar!" A furious roar exploded in the mental space. In the next instant, boundless natural energy surged forward, directly pouring into the young White Snake's body.
Perhaps driven by instinct for survival, or simply by extreme anger, the Dragon Vein completely abandoned its millennia-old body and sought to possess this serpent's form.
The Genie Lamp's expression changed. "A mere tree root can do this?"
But on second thought, it made sense.
Tailed Beasts were formed from the chakra of the Divine Tree, and the current Dragon Vein originated from the same source. The difference might only be whether it had undergone the creation of the Sage of Six Paths' Yin-Yang Release.
The latter might need to exist within a vessel, but perhaps not necessarily that specific one.
Seizing the young White Snake's body might be the best option now. Due to the existence of White Zetsu and First Hokage cells, the compatibility would not be low.
"If it really succeeds, things will get very interesting..."
With this thought, the Genie Lamp leaped directly into Orochimaru's mental space.
The two chakras were now mixed together, much like the relationship between a Tailed Beast and its Jinchuriki. Only one could suppress the other; there was no other possibility.
"What is... what is happening?" Orochimaru's expression changed slightly, a hint of pain on his face. If before it was due to hunger, now it was due to being too full! It felt as if an endless stream of natural energy was flooding into his body.
"This is what happened..." The Genie Lamp, seeing that Orochimaru had woken up, quickly recounted the events in a few words.
"...This guy." Orochimaru put his hand on his forehead, his mouth twitching. "Every time he comes out, he has to stir up some trouble."
If he were controlling this body, he would have stopped at the appropriate time.
However, there was no use saying that now. Without the young White Snake's outstanding performance, he would not have begun his transformation.
"What do you say, do you need me to step in?" The Genie Lamp tilted its head and asked with a smile. "Currently, the Dragon Vein's consciousness is struggling against the young White Snake, but your body's natural energy is not yet too excessive. If handled properly, we might still be able to provide some assistance."
Orochimaru pondered for a moment and soon made his decision. "Let's wait for now. This might be an opportunity."
Although it was possible to re-imprison the young White Snake with the Genie Lamp's power later, it would make fully controlling it a distant prospect.
Orochimaru was not greedy for its power, but at the moment, this little thing was unreliable, yet he genuinely needed its help in some matters.
"Hey, hey... you're making a pretty big gamble." The Genie Lamp shrugged. "If it goes wrong, you might just explode on the spot. You've seen it, this scale of natural energy is no joke."
"I have that confidence." Orochimaru smiled, a golden light flashing in his eyes.
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