Chapter 51: The Mutation of Green Snake
Konohagakure, The Forest of Death.
At the edge of the forest, inside a massive cavern, Ryuya walked slowly toward the depths of the darkness. After navigating a long, narrow passage, a vast interior space opened up before him.
"Ryuya-kun, you've arrived."
Orochimaru's raspy, low voice echoed through the cave. This was one of the secret laboratories he had established covertly within the village.
"Orochimaru-sama!"
Ryuya offered a greeting, but his gaze quickly shifted to the hulking figure occupying the center of the space.
It was Green Snake/Aoda!
Currently, Aoda looked to be in poor condition. His massive serpentine body was covered in extensive burn marks, and the exposed wounds emitted a pungent, foul stench.
Hiss—
Sensing Ryuya's presence, Aoda turned his head and gave a soft hiss. Seeing this, Ryuya felt a surge of relief, and a smile finally broke across his face. Compared to before, Aoda's state and spirit were significantly better.
Nearly twenty days had passed since the outbreak of the Nine-Tails' Attack, and Aoda's crisis had been weighing heavily on Ryuya's mind. During the battle with Kazuma, Ryuya had decisively detonated a scroll containing sealed Nine-Tails Chakra. Once that malevolent chakra entered Aoda's body, it had begun continuously burning him from the inside out.
For a time, Ryuya had used vast amounts of Life Energy—converted from massive quantities of food—to stabilize Aoda's condition. However, it was a temporary fix, treating the symptoms rather than the cause. The Life Energy could only offset the erosion of the Nine-Tails Chakra; it couldn't heal the wounds. They were simply locked in a war of attrition inside the snake's body.
Had it been a simple matter of depletion, Ryuya might have gritted his teeth and spent a fortune on food until the Nine-Tails Chakra was exhausted. But according to the analysis of his Biological Chip, this chakra was actually capable of natural growth. Though the growth rate was extremely low, it was enough to cancel out the rate of consumption.
As the stalemate dragged on, Aoda's mental state began to wither. Having exhausted all other options, Ryuya finally had to seek help from Orochimaru. He wasn't willing to give up on a powerful Summoning Beast like Aoda.
Dealing with "Lord Snake" was dangerous, but Ryuya calculated that at this stage, Orochimaru wouldn't act recklessly against him. For Aoda's sake, it was a risk he had to take.
Orochimaru had accepted the request without hesitation. Why would he refuse such a rare and valuable experimental subject delivered right to his doorstep?
The result seemed to prove that Ryuya's gamble had paid off. In just a few days, Aoda's condition showed clear signs of improvement.
"Orochimaru-sama, have you found a solution?" Ryuya asked, his voice tinged with pleasant surprise.
"Kuku! Ryuya-kun, I must say, your Summoning Beast has incredible tenacity! For now, the issue should be resolved." Orochimaru gave a sinister smile, looking at Aoda as if he were a rare masterpiece.
"Orochimaru-sama, may I ask what method you used to deal with the Nine-Tails Chakra?"
Seeing Orochimaru's expression, Ryuya felt a slight chill. He stepped forward to sense Aoda's state and was immediately struck by a look of utter astonishment. Under his perception, the Nine-Tails Chakra had mostly vanished, replaced by a massive, unknown energy coursing through the snake's body.
Vaguely, Ryuya felt a sense of "quasi-familiarity" with this energy.
"Ryuya-kun, this is a gift from nature." Orochimaru licked his lips with his long, snake-like tongue, his eyes still burning with fervor.
As he spoke, Orochimaru suddenly pressed his hand against Aoda's body. Ryuya's expression shifted, and he was about to shout for him to stop, but he was instantly captivated by the transformation.
A large, black Three-Tomoe pattern slowly manifested on Aoda's scales. Immediately following, black markings began to crawl across his entire body, and his physique underwent subtle changes. On either side of Aoda's torso, two fleshy protrusions slowly grew out, stopping once they reached about half a meter in length.
A Cursed Seal. This was the Cursed Seal developed by Orochimaru!
Orochimaru laughed maniacally. "Ryuya-kun, do you see? This is the Juinjutsu (Cursed Seal Technique) I have meticulously developed. Your ninja beast was actually able to tame it perfectly. It's beyond my expectations!"
Watching Aoda, who remained calm even in the Cursed Seal state without a hint of a rampage, Ryuya could no longer hide his joy.
The Cursed Seal was a massive "power-up" that could boost combat strength exponentially. Although Ryuya didn't know if this was the Cursed Seal of Heaven or the Cursed Seal of Earth, it would undoubtedly elevate Aoda's power.
More importantly, the Cursed Seal was a derivative of Senjutsu (Sage Transformation)!
Ryuya realized that the "unknown energy" he sensed was likely Natural Energy or Senjutsu Chakra. He never imagined that by handing Aoda over for treatment, he would stumble into such a massive windfall.
The primary reason Ryuya had made no progress in training Senjutsu was his inability to perceive Natural Energy. Without a concrete sample to analyze, his Biological Chip was useless. But now that Natural Energy existed within Aoda, he finally had a subject for experimentation and analysis.
The first hurdle to mastering Sage Mode finally had a solution. How could he not be ecstatic?
In his excitement, Ryuya failed to notice that Orochimaru had stopped laughing and was watching him with unblinking intensity. After a moment, Ryuya felt the shift in atmosphere and turned to meet Orochimaru's scrutinizing gaze.
"Orochimaru-sama..." Ryuya gave a dry laugh to cover his tracks, his heart tightening.
"Ryuya-kun, you seem to know quite a lot about this 'Cursed Seal' of mine," Orochimaru said, emphasizing every word.
"How could I? How could I possibly know anything about a technique you've just developed? I'm simply happy that Aoda's strength has increased," Ryuya replied calmly, though his palms were slightly sweaty.
"Is that so? I thought perhaps you were also a researcher of Cursed Seals." Orochimaru didn't push further, though his gaze remained noncommittal. He turned back, observed Aoda for a moment, and then deactivated the Cursed Seal.
Ryuya breathed a sigh of relief, but his brow soon furrowed again. It was clear that Aoda could not yet control the Cursed Seal state on his own; it required Orochimaru to trigger and release it.
Ryuya had his doubts—was this a deliberate design by Orochimaru, or simply a matter of time? He wanted to ask, but he feared that prying into Orochimaru's core secrets would only provoke the Sannin's wrath.
For 60 advanced chapters,you can go to my Patreon: Patreon.com/Keiondir