Burning, pain…
The venom of the white-scaled serpent was ravaging Orochimaru’s internal tissues, causing cells to necrotize and flesh to dissolve. The Sage Chakra, unwilling to be outdone, began to rapidly assimilate his body and spirit the moment it entered him.
Although the physical pain was indeed more severe than Orochimaru had initially anticipated, his mind was not in the state of panic that the White Snake Sage had imagined.
Before coming to the Dragon's Lair, Orochimaru, well aware of the nature of snakes, had made thorough preparations.
His body, already modified by the Body Revitalization Secret Technique, could even negate the fatal side effects of opening the Death Gate. While the white-scaled serpent's venom was potent, it was not so formidable that the Body Revitalization Secret Technique would be powerless against it.
Cellular necrosis?
By activating the forbidden jutsu within the Body Revitalization Secret Technique—Body Activation—necrotized cells could be regenerated.
Flesh dissolution?
By activating the forbidden jutsu within the Body Revitalization Secret Technique—Flesh Regeneration—new flesh could be grown with ease.
Having resolved the threat of the white-scaled serpent’s venom to his body, Orochimaru turned his attention to the more troublesome Sage Chakra of the Dragon's Lair.
Unlike the impure Sage Chakra energies within Tsumugitsune and the other two Hime—energies that could be easily dispersed by Dark Chakra—the Sage Chakra accumulated in the White Snake Sage’s body over thousands of years was so pure it made Orochimaru’s heart tremble.
Unlike humans who practiced Sage Mode in Mount Myōboku, where Elder Fukasaku was responsible for their safety, ensuring that any signs of the body being assimilated by natural energy would be expelled from the body through a secret technique before continuing their attempts.
The method by which the White Snake Sage injected Sage energy was brutal.
Having never encountered Sage Mode power before, and facing such a predicament alone without guidance, Orochimaru could only mobilize the Dark Chakra sealed within him to its fullest, slowly diluting the natural energy injected by the White Snake Sage.
In the beginning, the natural energy, having just entered his body, had not yet gained a firm foothold. Relying on the Dark Chakra within him, Orochimaru could maintain a stalemate with this natural energy, repairing the damage caused by its erosion to his body while assimilating it with Dark Chakra.
However, this situation lasted only for a short period before the Dark Chakra, which had the advantage of being indigenous, began to retreat steadily.
The reason was quite simple.
This natural energy was not like the masterless power refined from the natural environment by the practitioner during Sage Mode training in Mount Myōboku. Instead, it carried the will of the White Snake Sage.
The more evil the White Snake Sage's will was, the more terrifying the erosion and destruction of Orochimaru's body by this Sage energy became.
In mere moments, the skin that had been pierced by the poisonous fangs and was the first to be affected by the Sage energy began to sprout a dense layer of greenish snake scales.
The complete control over his body provided by the Body Revitalization Secret Technique allowed Orochimaru to keenly perceive the changes in the skin at the wound.
"Dark Chakra alone might not be enough to completely digest this Sage energy. It seems I have no choice but to take a risk!"
Orochimaru gritted his teeth inwardly and gradually released the restraint that the fragment of Yin-Yang Release Chakra gifted by the Nine-Tails placed on the dark power, leaving only the cage formed by eight radiant golden chains to barely maintain the seal on the Dark Chakra.
Temporarily suppressing his worry about the Dark Chakra eroding his body, Orochimaru mobilized all the Yin-Yang Release power within him, fiercely striking at the expanding Sage energy.
"Sizzling!"
A series of energy annihilation sounds, audible only to the soul, rang out. Under the gaze of Orochimaru's spiritual body, the Sage energy that had been wantonly assimilating his flesh and blood was instantly decomposed and assimilated by the potent Yin-Yang Release power.
"It works!"
"As expected of the fundamental power that forms the basis of Rikudō's power. This Sage Chakra, like a rootless source, is no match for the assimilation power of Yin-Yang Release."
"Then, the next step is to erase the imprints within this Sage energy and completely transform it into my power!"
"White Snake Sage, I, Orochimaru, will remember this kindness!"
Orochimaru sneered inwardly, controlling the Yin-Yang Release power within his body and focusing on clearing the Sage energy.
Now that he knew how to counter it, the assimilation and attraction of Sage energy became much simpler.
First, he attached Yin-Yang Release to the outer layer of the bitten wound, completely severing the connection between this energy and the outside world. Then, he controlled the Yin-Yang Release to form channels within his body, guiding the Sage energy that had nowhere to go to slowly diffuse throughout his meridians.
With the meridians of his entire body distributed, the Sage energy allocated to each part was not much, but it was enough to form a large net of Sage energy seeds within his body, laying a solid foundation for future successful training of Sage Mode.
This operation, though simple to describe, was fraught with difficulties in practice.
Firstly, the Yin-Yang Release power within Orochimaru's body had to be sufficiently abundant, reaching at least the standard of covering all the meridians in his body.
However, the Yin-Yang Release power within Orochimaru's body originated from the Nine-Tails, a chakra charging bank that could be considered the strongest in the ninja world. Coupled with the conversion of Dark Chakra through the seal over the past month and a half, Orochimaru's Yin-Yang Release Chakra was more than sufficient for this undertaking.
Secondly, Sage energy was an external power and was not controlled by Orochimaru's will, merely coursing through his body instinctively.
This posed a great challenge for Orochimaru in organizing the energy, as he had to meticulously maintain the protection of his meridians with Yin-Yang Release while simultaneously mobilizing Yin-Yang Release to drive the Sage energy to where it should go.
Dispelling clusters of Sage energy and driving excess portions to relatively sparse areas…
After such an operation, even with Orochimaru's resilient spirit, he could not help but feel physically and mentally exhausted.
Fortunately, no matter how difficult the process, as long as the inner goal was firm enough, there would always be an end to it.
He did not know how much time had passed. Under Orochimaru's deliberate control, while the Flesh Regeneration Secret Technique decomposed all the snake venom, the Sage energy was also completely assimilated into Orochimaru's own power.
In conjunction with the nature of Yin-Yang Release creating all things, the Body Revitalization Secret Technique was activated to its fullest, repairing all the bodily tissues that had been damaged by the snake venom and Sage energy.
He then immediately withdrew all the Yin-Yang Release power, re-restrained the now restless Dark Chakra, and calmed all the energy within his body once more.
Orochimaru let out a long sigh and slowly opened his eyes.
His eyes, clearer and brighter than before, met the astonished gazes of the White Snake Sage and Tsumugitsune. Orochimaru wore a confident and composed smile.
"Great Sage, I have not failed my mission!"