Orochimaru took out the vial holding the secret medicinal pills and carefully poured one out, preparing to drop the pitch-black pill into his mouth.
Suddenly, a movement occurred on his chest. Yamata's small snake head emerged. Its crimson eyes were fixed intently on the secret medicine in Orochimaru's hand. It continuously flickered its tongue, its snake pupils showing a human-like look of craving. In a childish voice, it said, "Master, I want that one! I want that little black pill!"
Surprised by Yamata's words, Orochimaru, naturally agreeable to his wondrous and endearing golden python, placed the pill in his palm and offered it to Yamata.
A slender, equally crimson snake tongue flashed out, and the secret medicine was immediately swallowed by Yamata.
Orochimaru closely observed Yamata's changes.
Only to see Yamata slowly close its crimson eyes, retracted its flickering tongue, and coiled itself into a beautiful pale-gold and white snake knot. After about ten breaths, it suddenly straightened up, opened its mouth, and exhaled a plume of thick, faint-gold breath onto Orochimaru's arm, which quickly permeated his body.
Orochimaru, having previously experienced the miraculous properties of Yamata's breath, immediately realized this was the optimal moment to use the forbidden technique and secret medicine to temper his body. Without hesitation, he poured out another black, acrid secret pill and swallowed it.
Sitting cross-legged on the cushion, Orochimaru closed his eyes. His pale hands rapidly wove a succession of arcane and intricate Forbidden Jutsu hand seals, commencing the body tempering.
Orochimaru distinctly felt the secret medicine decompose instantly in his mouth. An acrid, pungent odor, several times stronger than before, shot into his nasal cavity. Fighting the impulse to tear up, his hands kept weaving the hand seals.
After decomposing in his mouth, the medicine turned into a pungent, saliva-mixed liquid that flowed into his body.
Upon entering Orochimaru's body, the liquid immediately exhibited a powerful, violent medicinal property, just as unbearable as its taste.
The dominant property surged instantly through his limbs and internal organs. Orochimaru's cross-legged body shuddered violently. Fine, cold sweat broke out on his back and forehead. It felt as if tiny razor blades, the size of fingernails, had been inserted into his body, constantly slicing and grinding every muscle, every chakra pathway, and every cell. The intense pain, strong enough to push a person to the brink of mental collapse, persisted for a long time.
This secret medicine was originally intended to temper the bodies of ninjas from great clans. However, due to its overly aggressive properties, even ninjas with resolute willpower dared not use it frequently, fearing the intense properties would drive them insane.
Yet, Orochimaru, relying on his powerful spiritual energy acquired from his rebirth, had daringly increased the medicine's dosage by more than half. While the effect was enhanced, the resulting pain was more than doubled.
Enduring the agonizing pain, various regrets and frustrations from his past life flashed through his mind. Orochimaru's face, still calm as water despite the agony, suddenly broke into a wicked smile. A faint madness flickered in his dark-golden snake eyes. I endured a lifetime of loneliness and isolation, I survived endless sorrow and darkness—what else can defeat me? What else? Come on, let me suffer a little more, let me become a little stronger!
As if responding to Orochimaru's words, the faint-gold breath from Yamata, which had permeated his body, encountered the violent medicinal property and underwent an inexplicable, wondrous transformation. Like fire meeting water, or ground-fire stirring up heavenly thunder, the pain throughout his body instantly intensified by more than double.
This fierce, aggressive pain, continuous like an endless ocean tide, ramped up once more and continued unabated.
Apart from the even greater cold sweat pouring out, Orochimaru's only change was the increasingly wicked yet gentle smile on his lips.
He could feel his body rapidly strengthening amidst this pain that seemed to pierce his very soul.
As the final hand seals were formed, the Forbidden Jutsu—used in conjunction with the secret medicine—began to activate.
If the secret medicine and Yamata's faint-gold breath served to strengthen and temper Orochimaru's body beyond its original state, then the Forbidden Jutsu he was now using was intended to influence and restructure his body's growth and development under the control of chakra and willpower. It was a process of reorganization toward a more rational, perfect structure and proportion—one better suited for unleashing power. This was a monumental, and indeed a great, project that even touched upon the evolution of life itself. It could not be completed overnight; tonight was merely the beginning.
This structure was a proportion, or rather, the closest possible measurement to the perfection of all bodily aspects, which Orochimaru had deduced in his past life after dissecting thousands of powerful ninja corpses and analyzing the cell structures of various Kage-level masters.
Now, under the control of the Forbidden Jutsu, Orochimaru was undertaking this self-modification, or rather, evolution, which pointed directly toward the evolution of the life form itself—the very belief and ideal Orochimaru had pursued throughout his past life but had strayed from.
With everything starting anew in this life, Orochimaru was perfectly implementing his beliefs and plan.
Cells, skin, pathways, and muscles—all were undergoing metabolism with the intervention of Orochimaru's chakra. They changed at a degree so slow it was almost imperceptible, inching, slowly, slowly closer to that near-perfect proportion.
Due to Orochimaru's intervention and modification, and in order to approach that proportion, the metabolism of his somatic cells was artificially accelerated. However, the division of human somatic cells is finite. In other words, this modification and evolution was built upon the consumption of his lifespan.
Yet, Orochimaru didn't care. As long as... as long as that jutsu succeeded!
The effects of the secret medicine and Yamata's breath gradually faded. Orochimaru slowly stopped using the Forbidden Jutsu and modifying his body, opening his eyes.
He could perceive the vastness and profundity of this life-form evolution project. His current strength and modification progress were merely a drop in the ocean for this massive endeavor. Even with the consumption of his lifespan, the progress wouldn't be too fast; the entire night's modification only brought his bodily proportion closer to that perfect degree by about one ten-thousandth.
But those drawbacks!
Orochimaru's dark-golden eyes looked through the transparent door toward the distant sky, where a sliver of dawn was appearing. His deep gaze seemed to contain countless universal truths and a powerful conviction, making him incomprehensible, yet instilling awe and reverence.
As long as that Ninjutsu, which is even stronger than eternal life, can succeed, the progress of this life-form evolution project can be greatly accelerated. It can be completed. The life force consumed can be replenished, and I can even attain a lifespan far exceeding that of humans. Eternal life and immense power shall all be completely mine!
A shocking ambition once again permeated Orochimaru's profound eyes.
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