Chapter 164: Activating the Ten Thousand Seals Technique
Orochimaru tore off his upper garment and tucked it into his waistband, revealing a well-toned and symmetrical muscular body.
He surged all the remaining Chakra in his body. His right chest and lung area suddenly radiated a soft, magnificent deep-blue Chakra light. An enigmatic and profound seal-array pattern suddenly materialized on the skin of his right chest.
Orochimaru looked down at the mysterious seal-array and then surveyed Shukaku's massive body inside the stone coffin, his gaze slowly becoming sharp and resolute.
Orochimaru's right hand pressed onto Shukaku's massive chest, which pulsed rhythmically like a piston. The thump-thump of the powerful heartbeat indicated the tremendous power of the lifeform.
In an instant, the Ten Thousand Seals Technique on his right chest burst forth with a soft, radiant, deep-blue Chakra glow.
The colossal One-Tails felt an unknown force suddenly surge into its body through Orochimaru's right hand.
This mysterious power flowed through its limbs and bones, ultimately rushing toward the sublime and ethereal location of its soul.
Sensing the powerful threat brought by this strange energy, Shukaku trembled restlessly. However, with its entire body sealed by the giant coffin and chains, it couldn't make the slightest movement to affect Orochimaru, leaving it powerless to resist his actions.
Orochimaru's powerful mental strength and Chakra converged within the Ten Thousand Seals Technique.
A faint yet visibly real blue arm, covered in complex, subtle line patterns resembling black ants, suddenly extended from the enigmatic seal-array glowing with deep-blue Chakra. This illusionary hand, identical to that of an adult's, extended from the Ten Thousand Seals on Orochimaru's right chest. It followed Orochimaru's own arm and plunged into Shukaku's enormous heart.
If one could see through the materials, they would notice that the blue, phantom arm, covered in patterns, continuously extended into a mysterious location, seizing a wondrous, deep-blue substance that hovered between the illusionary and the real.
That was the One-Tails, Shukaku's, soul and life force!
The phantom hand extending from Orochimaru's Ten Thousand Seals immediately latched onto a corner of Shukaku's soul the moment it made contact with the soul and life force, like a prostitute seeing a naked beautiful woman.
Orochimaru licked his lips, the madness and excitement in his eyes clearly visible.
He slowly closed his dark-golden eyes. His formidable mental strength and will controlled the phantom hand, fiercely drawing and absorbing Shukaku's life force and the Chakra surrounding its body.
The pain of having its soul drained—like a steel needle being thrust into the spinal marrow at the back of its neck—made the colossal Shukaku struggle and tremble incessantly.
A surge of savage, murderous, and violent will, filled with malicious intent, crazily rushed into Orochimaru's mind through the phantom hand. Like a bomb detonating in his head, Orochimaru's mind was overcome by an intense dizziness. He nearly lost control, coming close to a mental breakdown.
After developing the Ten Thousand Seals Technique, he knew that while success would yield immense benefits, this terrifying sealing Jutsu not only had extremely harsh prerequisites but also an exceptionally grueling process.
What he hadn't fully anticipated was that while absorbing Shukaku's life force, he would also have to endure its terrifying mental resistance.
Had Orochimaru not possessed the powerful and resilient mental strength and will of two lifetimes—which were several times stronger than that of a Kage level ninja—he would have been instantly invaded by Shukaku's will, destroying his own soul and consciousness and turning him into a vegetable.
The waves of savage and malicious will transmitted by the One-Tails crashed relentlessly against Orochimaru's mind and will like a surging tide. The moment Orochimaru relaxed, the will would flood his soul, shattering his fragile spirit.
Orochimaru endured several terrifying mental attacks. With a hardening of his resolve, he transformed his own formidable mental strength and will into a sword of light within his mind—a sword imbued with great fortitude, perseverance, and wisdom. He viciously slashed and annihilated the madness, malice, savagery, and murderous intent within Shukaku's mental tide.
His own will and spirit grew significantly stronger and more resilient through this tempering.
Orochimaru's tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open. Two beams of dazzling cold light seemed to shoot out, momentarily illuminating the darkness inside the stone coffin with a fleeting flash.
This was a manifestation of having reached a certain peak in mental strength.
The current Orochimaru could now, in the instant of making eye contact with another ninja, use his powerful mental strength to subtly cast a Genjutsu, and could simultaneously use his immense mental strength to break out of any Genjutsu cast on him.
Having dealt with Shukaku's invasive will, Orochimaru's mental sword of light reversed course, fiercely cleaving Shukaku's soul. It sliced off a large, pure mass of life force—the absolute maximum Orochimaru could tolerate—which the phantom hand snatched and sealed into the Ten Thousand Seals Technique on Orochimaru's right chest.
The moment the phantom hand retreated into the Ten Thousand Seals, Orochimaru felt an immediate, profoundly comfortable and satisfying sensation surge through his entire body, like someone suddenly sitting in a hot spring after being in an icy wilderness.
He clearly perceived an unknown substance within him rapidly being replenished. He knew this was his life force, or more accurately, his lifespan.
Moreover, in that moment, Orochimaru felt a miraculous change in the lung that bore the Ten Thousand Seals Technique. Its structure became more logical, moving closer to the perfect ratio of the human evolution project he was pursuing.
In this instant, Orochimaru could clearly perceive the deep secrets of the human body. With every inhale and exhale, large currents of air rushed into his lungs, removing waste gases and leaving behind oxygen vital for survival. The oxygen was transported through blood vessels to his limbs and bones, providing the necessary chemical conditions for the body's metabolism. This metabolism, in turn, generated strength, converted into Chakra, and was finally infused into the Chakra system.
This entire sequence of the human body's profound processes had never been so clear and completely laid bare to Orochimaru's mind.
He felt his understanding of the essence of the human body was more thorough, and the direction for his entire bodily modification and evolution project was much clearer.
In just a few breaths, Orochimaru had gained significantly. The Chakra and life force absorbed from Shukaku were simply too vast to be entirely absorbed and converted into his own power immediately. Orochimaru sealed the excess within the Ten Thousand Seals Technique, to be understood and converted slowly after the war.
🗒️NOTE:
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
Explore the Finished Work in advance!