The celestial phenomenon appeared as expected, and light from the stars spilled across the night sky, illuminating the whole world in a dazzling display.
"I have to succeed!"
With a roar, Owl drew all the Demon Seeds—which had already devoured their sacrifices—into his body, pushing the ritual to its peak!
The dazzling colors in the night sky were reflected by the mirrors around the ritual site and cast onto Owl, who stood at its center. His Chakra broke through its limit, reaching a level never seen before.
In an instant, white mist billowed from Owl. In just a few breaths, it engulfed the entire ritual site.
Observation Area.
Beep, beep, beep.
Piercing alarms rang out from the instruments, one after another. The researchers hurriedly recorded the readings displayed on their equipment.
"How is it?" Tsunade called out.
A Hyuga clansman whom Tsunade had promoted to assistant immediately activated his Byakugan. Watching the ritual site wreathed in white mist, he answered gravely, "The test subject's Chakra is holding at an extremely high level. It's still getting stronger, with no sign of letting up!"
Shizune said nervously, "Does that mean Cocoon Transformation worked?"
Cocoon Transformation was the latest conclusion reached by the Research Institute.
In the eyes of many researchers, completing the ritual meant making a leap in the evolution of life. The test subject would therefore have to undergo a process of rebirth, just as Orochimaru had in the beginning.
Anyone who tried to force their body to contain everything, like Hiruko, could only end up exploding.
Tsunade didn't answer Shizune. Until the results were in, no one could know for sure whether the ritual had succeeded.
After a long while, the white mist at the ritual site gradually dispersed, revealing a huge fleshy cocoon.
The enormous cocoon looked grotesque and