"Hiss~ hehehe, I'm not as much of a genius as Nidaime(2nd)-sama; I just found a natural substitute."
"Is that so? Let me guess, this thing is inefficient? Or is it dangerous? Otherwise, Senior Orochimaru wouldn't have given it up so easily, right?"
"Hehe, Ling, you are indeed very clever. This item comes from Ryūchi Cave, one of the Three Great Sage Locations."
A playful smile appeared on Orochimaru's lips. This time, he was probing the forces behind Ling.
"Ryūchi Cave? It wouldn't happen to be the snake venom used to cultivate Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode, would it?"
Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode is probably the Sage Mode most prone to failure and death among the Three Great Sage Locations.
After a trialist passes through three checkpoints, they decide whether or not to attempt cultivating Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode.
If they agree, a large amount of Natural Energy mixed with snake venom is directly injected into the trialist's body. If they endure it, they succeed; if not, they become food.
Orochimaru passed the trial but chose to give up. He wouldn't gamble on something with a low success rate, especially since he had a gambler who never won right beside him.
"Hehe, Ling, your intelligence is indeed impressive, but this isn't snake venom; it's snake saliva with reduced potency.
There are no side effects when using it, but once you ingest too much Natural Energy, you will undergo snake transformation."
Orochimaru let out a mischievous laugh, seemingly mocking Ling for not daring to take risks.
"The Third Kazekage died at the hands of Sasori of the Red Sand and was made into a Third Kazekage Human Puppet. Give me enough snake saliva; don't make me come to you a second time because I don't have enough."
Facing Ling's threat, Orochimaru's heart remained undisturbed. Although Ling had a trump card for a do-or-die situation, it was only temporary. Once he developed Reanimation Jutsu, no one would be able to kill him.
Ling took the slime-covered sealing scroll that Orochimaru spat out, and the white phosphorus snake also turned into white smoke and disappeared from its original spot.
"Damn, I feel like a villain, always making evil deals. I just want to live a normal life, but why are there so many troubles, and why am I caught up in them?"
Ling shook off the slime from the scroll. At this level of disgust, Ling could already remain expressionless.
Opening the scroll, the first section was Orochimaru's research on the properties of snake saliva, and the dozens of sealing runes thereafter all stored snake saliva.
According to Orochimaru's research, this stuff is actually somewhat similar to Mount Myōboku's toad oil, both of which can be used to assist in cultivating Sage Mode.
However, snake saliva is extremely cold. Applying it to the center of the eyebrows can calm the mind, eliminate distracting thoughts, and even draw in Natural Energy.
After awakening his Curse Power, Ling could perceive the violent Natural Energy in the air.
When this Natural Energy combines with Chakra, it becomes extremely volatile, which is why Sage Mode is difficult to cultivate.
Most people cannot withstand this volatility, leading to various abnormalities in their bodies.
However, Ling discovered that Curse Power does not react with Natural Energy. Natural Energy, when surrounded by Curse Power, does not become violent, which allows Ling to wrap excess Natural Energy within Curse Power and expel it from his body.
He could also draw Natural Energy into his body through Curse Power, but doing so was too dangerous, and Ling had not yet tried it.
This means that Ling can cultivate Sage Mode, and it will be a Sage Mode unique to him.
Now with the snake saliva, he can, to a limited extent, calm his mind, thereby slowly soothing the volatile Natural Energy.
It's very metaphysical; Natural Energy seems to become violent with the emotional changes of the absorber, and emotions also become irritable due to the volatility of Natural Energy.
Snake saliva can help one enter a state of no thoughts or desires, which is of great help for both Reincarnation Technique and Sage Mode.
As for why Ryūchi Cave in the original work still used such an intense and low-success-rate method like snake venom, Ling could only guess that these demon snakes are inherently evil and only want to obtain a delicious snack full of Natural Energy after the trialist fails.
Ling obtained snake saliva for cultivating Sage Mode and Reincarnation Technique, and Orochimaru obtained intelligence that troubled the Ninja World. It seemed like a win-win, but both sides believed they were the true winners.
Although Orochimaru profited and could gain many benefits through this intelligence,
Ling also didn't lose out. Although his current Chakra reserves were insufficient for cultivating Sage Mode, if he could successfully cultivate Reincarnation Technique, he could smoothly cultivate Sage Mode once the requirements were met.
Ling created two Shadow Clones to assist him in cultivating Reincarnation Technique.
Following the requirements for cultivating Reincarnation Technique, Ling first sat in meditation to calm his mind. Just as Ling was about to fall asleep, the Shadow Clones pulled out the unsealed test tube stopper and applied a small amount of snake saliva to Ling's forehead.
The two Shadow Clones then applied it to each other and began practicing the state of oblivion.
With the two Shadow Clones plus Ling, the speed of comprehending this state was also faster, as they each tried different methods.
One used a counting method, attempting to clear his mind and approach that state.
The other visualized a green lotus swaying in the wind in his mind, with the breeze representing distracting thoughts and the green lotus representing his cultivated mental state.
Ling's main body focused on his lower dantian, observing his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, allowing himself to approach a state of no distracting thoughts.
The effect of the snake saliva was indeed powerful. A bone-chilling coolness seemed to permeate the soul and seep into the brain.
Originally, when Ling used these methods, the effect was only minimal. Perhaps with years of persistent effort, he might one day reach the state of oblivion.
But now with the snake saliva, the effect was immediate, improving efficiency by at least dozens of times.
The only downside was the Natural Energy that seeped in with the coolness. Initially, the small amount could be diluted and absorbed by the body and mind.
But as it continuously poured in, Ling's Chakra also unconsciously began to come into contact with the Natural Energy, and both became volatile.
Ling had no choice but to use Curse Power to wrap the excess Natural Energy and transfer it out of his body, then continue his practice of the state of oblivion.
Early the next morning, Ling's two Shadow Clones instantly dispersed due to insufficient Chakra.
A large amount of techniques and proficiency in eliminating distracting thoughts flooded his memory, along with a small amount of returning Chakra and some Natural Energy.
Ling had to expel the Natural Energy once again, then closed his eyes to rest and absorb the experience and progress of the Shadow Clones.
Although he had two Shadow Clones cultivating all night, Ling felt no fatigue at this time.
Firstly, because the practice of the state of oblivion itself could allow the spirit and body to dilute and absorb some Natural Energy, leading to a certain degree of enhancement.
Secondly, the two Shadow Clones did not have much physical activity or knowledge to process, so they easily endured it.
After a night of cultivation, Ling felt his mind was much clearer now, no longer suddenly having unrelated distracting thoughts.
This progress was astonishing. Perhaps in less than one or two years, Ling could successfully cultivate Reincarnation Technique.