Ye Zi was on the verge of collapse, almost at the point of failure. Once he failed, he would turn to dust and vanish from this world without leaving a trace, as if he had never existed. Even Orochimaru's Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu would be unable to revive him.
That was the fate of a failure, as well as the risk he had to bear after making his choice from the very beginning.
Failure meant having one's existence erased, while success meant gaining a new life. The answer would be revealed over the next ten seconds.
In the silent, spacious cavern, Orochimaru had already retreated to the rock wall because Ye Zi's swelling body occupied nearly two-thirds of the cave.
At this point, Ye Zi should have been torn to pieces, yet he remained like a stubborn old man, continuing to hold on. His body had expanded to such an inexplicable degree, but he still had not burst apart and died.
Even without knowing Ye Zi's exact condition, Orochimaru could tell that he was in extreme danger. Yet there was nothing he could do to help. All he could do was watch Ye Zi walk step by step toward death.
After devouring nearly half of the White Snake Sage's energy, Ye Zi endured incomparable agony. Just as his consciousness was about to collapse and fall into eternal darkness, the devouring still did not stop. It continued plundering the White Snake Sage's energy and vitality, advancing toward sixty percent.
If this had been a Jinchuriki sealing ritual, Ye Zi could have easily sealed the White Snake Sage inside his body, turning her into an existence like Chū or a tailed beast. But this was devouring—forcing energy far beyond his body's capacity into himself. An ordinary person could endure at most five