Snake Mark

"Your last move has something to do with Natural Energy?"

Orochimaru wasn't excited. If anything, he felt a vague sense of dread.

The Genie's tone right now sounded far too much like a mischievous child who'd found an interesting new toy.

And unfortunately, his body was that toy.

People didn't share one another's joys and sorrows, but the Genie was rather excited.

'Water Breathing: Total Concentration: Constant' was the threshold for becoming a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps.

He'd thought that with Orochimaru's constitution, there was no way he could adapt to the Constant state right away. If he managed to use it at all, he'd at least burst seven or eight blood vessels.

After that, he could push Orochimaru to study the First Hokage Cells with greater enthusiasm and develop a way to strengthen his constitution.

Yet not only had Orochimaru's body made it through, it still had energy to spare.

Had he misjudged him?

No. Orochimaru's body at this moment was indeed not as strong as Tanjiro Kamado's had been when he first managed Total Concentration: Constant.

The Genie was certain of that.

His perspective was different from an ordinary person's. Even the information gleaned by the Shinobi World's most advanced visual Kekkei Genkai—the Tenseigan and Rinnegan—couldn't compare to what he could perceive.

As for why he'd misjudged Orochimaru, the Genie had a theory: it might be due to the differences between the two worlds.

The Demon Slayer World was barren, and its Natural Energy was far too sluggish.

Even among the Demon Slayer Corps, those who reached Hashira rank relied on their physical strength to fight. Using the Breathing Technique at full power could even shorten their lives.

Only Tanjiro, born with a transparent world, could use Natural Energy efficiently after entering the Demon Slayer Mark state, wielding his sword techniques almost like a perpetual-motion machine.

The Shinobi World, however, was different.

Natural Energy was abundant, and shinobi had somewhat unusual constitutions. After a thousand years of intermingling among the various peoples, they all had at least a little Otsutsuki blood in them. Those with a strong affinity for Natural Energy could even master Senjutsu.

In other words, although very few had enough to master Senjutsu, shinobi might still unconsciously absorb and expel Natural Energy through their bodies.

Perhaps that was what had led him to misjudge how much Orochimaru's body could withstand.

To find out whether that was really the case, the Genie embraced the belief that "experimentation is the sole criterion for testing truth" and, ignoring Orochimaru's protests in his mind, decisively began his experiment.

The Demon Slayer Mark was the ultimate secret of Total Concentration Breathing. And in the Shinobi World, those capable of mastering Natural Energy were exceedingly rare.

Orochimaru might have that potential now, so of course the Genie had to give him a hand.

It was all for Orochimaru's own good!

A tremendous sense of danger immediately gripped Orochimaru. Beads of sweat emerged on his forehead, then slid down his cheeks under the pull of gravity.

Part of it was due to his unease. The other reason was that his body temperature was rising.

The Genie had stopped performing sword techniques, but the Total Concentration Breathing Technique continued without pause.

Orochimaru felt his heart rate climbing instead of falling, pumping his blood in and out of his body like a water pump. His eyes grew bloodshot until they turned red, and his whole body seemed to burn like fire as his consciousness began to blur.

"Genie." Orochimaru roared in his mind. "If this goes on, I'll die! I'll die!"

"No, no, you won't. I'm confident."

"You guarantee it? You dare guarantee it?" Orochimaru no longer trusted the Genie at all. He trusted only the sense of danger he'd honed himself.

The Genie's thoughts came haltingly. "Uh, I guarantee there's an eighty percent chance you won't die."

You bastard! Aaaaaaah...

At the brink of life and death, most people would struggle to remain calm. Orochimaru, however, could force down his emotions and stay composed—a state of mind honed through countless crises.

But when that life-or-death crisis was caused by someone else messing around on a whim, even one of the Konoha Sannin couldn't help cursing.

At that moment, the Genie understood this all too well, so he said, "How about this? I'll return control of your body to you, and you can circulate the Breathing Technique yourself. You just learned how, after all."

So the damned experiment still wasn't going to stop, was it? Bastard.

Orochimaru vented his frustration for a moment, then decided that he'd rather do it himself than be toyed to death. He promptly agreed.

The Genie relinquished control without hesitation, and Orochimaru seamlessly continued the Breathing Technique.

Once Orochimaru took over, the Demon Slayer Mark began to manifest much faster.

The Genie nodded in satisfaction. He could forcibly use abilities through replication, but the hosts' bodies were different, after all. The abilities were always better suited to their bodies when they used them themselves.

"Lord Orochimaru, what's happening to him?"

On the shore, Guy nudged the transfixed Kakashi and pointed at the Super Saiyan Snake powering up on the lake. "He looks a little like me when I use the Eight Inner Gates."

Kakashi gave an agreeing grunt, adjusted his Forehead Protector, and kept his Three Tomoe Sharingan fixed on Orochimaru.

Then he noticed strange markings beginning to appear on Orochimaru's face.

"What's that?"

The Genie noticed the change on Orochimaru's forehead too, and exclaimed in delight, "He succeeded already? Woohoo!"

The Great Snake's talent was every bit as good as expected. The Genie had thought he'd need a few more attempts to break through that barrier.

The Genie gave a thumbs-up and was about to praise him when Orochimaru's head lolled to one side. He collapsed into the lake, losing consciousness.

The problem was, his body was still unconsciously circulating the Total Concentration Breathing Technique. The newly awakened Demon Slayer Mark was like a death warrant, flooding his body with excessive Natural Energy.

The Genie had no time to figure out what had happened. He plunged into Orochimaru's body, stepped onto the lake again, and unleashed with all his might the move he'd been charging for so long.

"Water Breathing: First Form: Water Surface Slash!"

The sword swept through the air with a terrifying howl. Its razor-sharp blade force split the lake, and the water on either side poured toward the fissure like waterfalls.

"Now that's an incredible slash!"

The Genie was amazed. In the Demon Slayer World, even Tanjiro at his peak couldn't manage a stronger attack.

The Genie looked down at the lake. The markings on Orochimaru's forehead receded like the tide.

But if he wanted to, he could enter the Demon Slayer Mark state again at any time.

Clearly, this body had mastered and adapted to the Demon Slayer Mark—or rather, to the Snake Mark that belonged to Orochimaru.

The Genie couldn't understand. "He succeeded, so why did he lose consciousness?"

A heavy wave of exhaustion washed over him. Orochimaru's body had clearly reached its limit. Like his consciousness, it yearned for rest, and only the Genie's forced control kept him barely standing.

"Never mind. I'll ask him once he wakes up."

The Genie released control, and Orochimaru slumped helplessly onto the lake. Fortunately, his body was light enough to float faceup, sparing him from drowning.

Splash...

Splash...

The enormous gash left in the lake began to close, and the surrounding water surged into the fissure.

Just as the Genie was about to make Orochimaru's body flee, two figures came sprinting across the water, one behind the other.

It was Kakashi and Guy.

They hoisted Orochimaru onto their backs and ran for the shore without a word.

"So it was those two."

The Genie rubbed his chin. "That means they saw the whole training session."

A little vote, please.