Heaven and Earth Curse Mark

When Manda saw that Orochimaru did not immediately start beating him up and instead said he wanted to talk, he was stunned.

Manda, who had long been prepared to make a run for it, eyed Orochimaru suspiciously. He had been beaten into submission these past few days; before his old wounds could heal, new ones had appeared, leaving his entire body in excruciating pain.

If not for Sage Mode Chakra, he suspected Orochimaru would have long since torn him apart and made him into snake stew. He had learned to be smarter now. If I can't afford to provoke him, can't I at least hide from him?

"What do you want to talk about?"

As he spoke, Manda even pulled his head back slightly, utterly devoid of his former majesty.

Seeing his reaction, Orochimaru knew the first stage of his plan had succeeded. He immediately smiled harmlessly.

"Take me to Ryūchi Cave. I want to see the White Snake Sage!"

Hearing that Orochimaru wanted to go to Ryūchi Cave, Manda's pounding heart finally settled somewhat. As long as Orochimaru was not going to beat him up or make some excessive demand of him, it was fine.

"I can take you to Ryūchi Cave, but whether you get to see the White Snake Sage is beyond my control!"

To him, it was merely a matter of leading the way. He had no interest in asking what Orochimaru wanted to do at Ryūchi Cave.

Besides, once they reached Ryūchi Cave, it would be his home turf. There were countless figures stronger than him there. Not to mention the three elders capable of taking human form—Tagorihime, Ichikishimahime, and Tagitsuhime.

Even one-eyed Garaga was not much weaker than him, and that fellow had a terrible temper. When the time came, all Manda had to do was stir things up a little, and Garaga would become his enforcer.

At that thought, Manda's previously dispirited mood gradually vanished, replaced by increasingly bright snake eyes.

"You only need to take me there. I have my own way of handling everything else!"

With that, Orochimaru leaped up. When Manda saw him approach, he thought Orochimaru was about to attack him again and instinctively drew his head back.

Orochimaru ignored him and grabbed his lip.

"Open your mouth!"

Hearing Orochimaru's words, Manda could only obediently open his enormous jaws. Orochimaru then endured the rank stench and slipped into his mouth.

Seeing Orochimaru standing inside his mouth, Manda briefly wanted to tear him apart and swallow him whole.

But when the corner of his eye caught Orochimaru's faintly smiling expression, he hastily extinguished that thought.

That expression had been deeply branded into his heart over the past few days. Though Orochimaru had his back to him, Manda knew that if he made the slightest unusual move, Orochimaru would not mind punching a hole through his mouth.

What he had not expected was that Orochimaru would use such a method to travel to Ryūchi Cave. It was not that it could not be done; it was simply that no one had ever thought of it.

Since Summoning Beasts could travel freely between the two places, the food inside their bodies naturally could as well. The two had already become one whole; it was just that no one had tried it before.

As the snake's mouth slowly closed, white smoke rose the next moment, and Orochimaru and Manda vanished from where they stood.

When the white smoke appeared again, Manda had arrived at the entrance to Ryūchi Cave.

Before Orochimaru could react, Manda impatiently spat him out, then immediately slithered into Ryūchi Cave.

His massive body seemed to have been fitted with a motor. By the time Orochimaru had climbed up from the ground, Manda had already vanished without a trace.

"How disgusting! It seems I should avoid using this method unless absolutely necessary."

Looking at the sticky saliva coating his body, Orochimaru saw that in just that short time, much of his clothing had already been corroded away. What disgusted him even more was the fishy stench permeating his entire body.

"Since this method can be used for reverse summoning to get here, why didn't Jiraiya use it to escape when he went to Amegakure to gather intelligence?"

Orochimaru truly could not understand why Jiraiya had not let Gamabunta swallow him, then return to Mount Myōboku and escape safely.

If that would not work, then why had he not tried reverse summoning to leave Amegakure?

Though reverse summoning could very likely leave one lost in another dimension, there was still a sliver of hope for survival. Remaining in Amegakure had only one possible ending.

Perhaps it had been guilt, or perhaps he had already resolved himself to die and was willing to risk his life to make up for his mistakes. Who knew?

As he pondered the question, Orochimaru used a Water Release to rinse himself off. If Manda had kept him inside any longer, the smell would probably have seeped into him.

He carefully examined his surroundings. Dense jungle covered everything, making it impossible to tell where he was. Even at midday, the environment remained somewhat dim. A peculiar energy also floated through the air, as though it had isolated this place from the outside world.

Orochimaru noticed it only because he was particularly sensitive to all kinds of energy. Ordinary civilians, or even shinobi, might enter such a place without realizing it.

It reminded Orochimaru of stories from his previous life, where someone would climb a mountain to gather herbs, accidentally enter a cave, and return to find that his grandson was already older than him.

He wondered whether time flowed differently here from the outside world. Even if it did, it probably was not that extreme. Otherwise, by the time Jiraiya returned after learning Sage Mode, he would have become a repeat student!

Orochimaru walked toward the entrance of Ryūchi Cave, most of which was covered by grass and trees. The moment he stepped inside, the system's mechanical voice sounded in his mind!

"Detected that the host has triggered a plot event: First Arrival at Ryūchi Cave. You have the following choices:

① Learn Sage Mode and master the cultivation method of the demon race. Reward: optimized Heaven and Earth Curse Mark!

② Refuse Sage Mode cultivation. Those not of our kind are sure to harbor different intentions. Reward: Living Corpse Reincarnation."

This triggered event did not surprise Orochimaru, but the reward for the first choice did.

In his memory, the Heaven and Earth Curse Mark was a low-grade version of Sage Mode created by extracting and researching the cells of Jūgo's special physique. With the Heaven and Earth Curse Mark's enhancement, the body's reactions, speed, Chakra circulation, and more would all accelerate.

It could further squeeze out the energy within the body. The second stage even caused physical changes, such as Uchiha Sasuke's wings.

In the Original Work, besides mastering the Heaven and Earth Curse Mark, Orochimaru had also mastered the Beast Curse Mark and the Curse Marks of the Sound Four, though their power naturally fell far short of the Heaven and Earth Curse Mark.

Orochimaru's Heaven's Curse Mark could allow him to revive after his own death. It was somewhat similar to the "Karma" mark used by Jigen of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, the leader of Kara during Boruto's era.

That was enough to show how many years ahead Orochimaru's research had been. Moreover, activating a Curse Mark, like activating Karma, also produced tattoo-like markings.

Putting aside the gap between the Heaven and Earth Curse Mark and theirs, it at least proved that this research had limitless potential!

Now that the system was directly awarding it, Orochimaru did not need to research it himself. He was rather curious about this optimized Curse Mark.

Anything produced by the system was bound to be top-quality! As for the Living Corpse Reincarnation in the second option—heh! Who the hell wanted that?

Still, the line about those not of our kind being sure to harbor different intentions made some sense. Yet humans learning the demon race's cultivation methods was also a helpless choice.

Who told the Sage of Six Paths not to leave behind any cultural inheritance? All day long, he only knew how to pass things down through bloodlines, blocking so many determined seekers of immortality and the Dao.