Snake Mark

"The final technique, it has to do with natural energy?"

Orochimaru felt no joy; instead, he felt a vague sense of impending doom.

The tone of the Genie at this moment was too much like a mischievous child who had just found an interesting toy.

And unfortunately, his body was that toy.

The joys and sorrows of men are not shared, yet the Genie felt a sense of pleasant surprise.

Total Concentration: Constant is the threshold for becoming a Hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps.

He had assumed that given Orochimaru's constitution, it would be impossible to adapt to the constant state immediately; forcing it would surely cause seven or eight blood vessels to burst at the very least.

After that, he could have spurred Orochimaru to research the First Hokage Cells with greater enthusiasm and develop methods to enhance his physique.

However, not only did Orochimaru's body hold up, but he still had energy to spare.

Had he miscalculated?

No, Orochimaru's current physical strength was indeed inferior to that of Tanjiro Kamado when he first mastered Total Concentration: Constant.

The Genie was quite certain of this.

His perspective was different from that of ordinary people; even the information captured by the top-tier Kekkei Genkai of the ninja world—the Tenseigan and the Rinnegan—could not possibly exceed his own.

As for why he miscalculated, the Genie had his suspicions; it likely stemmed from the differences between the two worlds.

The Demon Slayer World was barren, and its natural energy was far too inert.

In the Demon Slayer Corps, even those who reached the level of Hashira fought relying on their own physical strength, and running the breathing techniques at full power would even consume their lifespan.

Only Tanjiro was naturally transparent; after entering the state of the Demon Slayer Mark, he could utilize natural energy efficiently, performing swordsmanship like a perpetual motion machine.

The ninja world, however, was different.

Natural energy was abundant, and the constitution of ninjas was somewhat special. After thousands of years of ethnic integration, they all possessed the bloodline of the Otsutsuki to varying degrees, and those with high affinity for natural energy could even master senjutsu.

In other words, although the amount was very small—insufficient to master senjutsu—the bodies of ninjas might be unconsciously inhaling and exhaling natural energy.

Perhaps it was this portion of energy that caused him to misjudge the load-bearing capacity of Orochimaru's body.

As for whether that was truly the case, the Genie, holding the mindset that "experimentation is the only criterion for testing truth," ignored Orochimaru's mental resistance and decisively began the attempt.

The Demon Slayer Mark was the highest mystery of the Total Concentration Breathing, and in the ninja world, those capable of mastering natural energy were few and far between.

Now that Orochimaru might have this potential, he certainly had to give him a helping hand.

Everything was for Orochimaru's own good!

A massive sense of crisis immediately surged in Orochimaru's heart. Sweat beaded on his forehead, sliding down his cheeks under the influence of gravity.

Part of it was due to his agitation, but another reason was that his body temperature was rising.

At this moment, the Genie had stopped performing sword techniques, but the Total Concentration Breathing had not stopped for a single second.

Orochimaru felt his heart rate increasing rather than decreasing, pumping blood throughout his body like a water pump. His eyes were bloodshot to the point of turning crimson, his entire body felt as if it were burning like fire, and his consciousness began to blur.

"Genie," Orochimaru roared in his mind, "if this continues, I will die! I will die!"

"No, you won't, you won't, I have it under control."

"You guarantee it? Do you dare guarantee it?" Orochimaru did not trust the Genie at all right now; he only believed in the sense of crisis he had honed himself.

The Genie's thoughts were hesitant, "Uh, I guarantee there's an eighty percent chance you won't."

This bastard, ahhhhh...

At the brink of life and death, most people would be unable to remain calm, but Orochimaru could suppress his emotions and maintain composure—a mindset honed through countless crises.

However, if this life-or-death crisis was caused by someone else's whim, even one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha couldn't help but curse.

At this moment, the Genie realized this deeply and said, "How about this, I'll return control of your body to you, and you can run the breathing technique yourself. You learned it just now anyway."

So, this damn attempt still wasn't going to stop, you bastard.

Orochimaru vented his emotions for a split second, and with the mindset of "rather than being toyed to death by someone else, I might as well do it myself," he decisively agreed.

The Genie released control cleanly and efficiently, and Orochimaru seamlessly took over the breathing technique.

And after Orochimaru took over, the progress of the Demon Slayer Mark's manifestation accelerated instantly.

The Genie nodded with satisfaction. He could force the use of abilities through replication, but since the hardware conditions between hosts differed, the abilities performed by the individuals themselves were always more suitable for their own bodies.

"Lord Orochimaru, what's wrong with him?"

On the shore, Guy nudged Kakashi, who was staring intently, and pointed at the "Super Saiyan Snake" surging with energy on the lake, asking in surprise, "He looks a bit like me when I open the Eight Inner Gates."

Kakashi responded in agreement, straightened his forehead protector, and fixed his Three Tomoe Sharingan on Orochimaru.

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

"What is that?"

The Genie also discovered the changes on Orochimaru's forehead and said with pleasant surprise, "It worked! Yay!"

Orochimaru's talent was truly no joke; I had expected him to need a few more tries before breaking through that barrier.

Genie gave a thumbs-up and was just about to offer some praise when Orochimaru's head lolled to the side, and he collapsed into the lake, losing consciousness entirely.

The trouble was that his body was still unconsciously running Total Concentration Breathing, and the Demon Slayer Mark he had just awakened acted like a death warrant, funneling excessive natural energy into his body.

Genie had no time to dwell on what exactly had happened; he dove into Orochimaru's body, stepped onto the lake surface once more, and unleashed the move he had been charging up with all his might.

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

The blade sliced through the air, emitting a terrifying wail, and the sharp sword energy parted the lake, causing the water on both sides to pour into the chasm like a waterfall.

"Impressive, such a powerful strike."

Genie exclaimed in admiration; in the Demon Slayer World, even the strongest strike from a fully realized Tanjiro would barely match this.

Genie looked down at the lake surface, where the markings on Orochimaru's forehead were receding like a tide.

Yet, he could re-enter the Demon Slayer Mark mode whenever he wished.

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

Genie couldn't figure it out, "He succeeded, so why did he lose consciousness?"

At that moment, an overwhelming sense of fatigue surged up; Orochimaru's body had clearly reached its limit, and just like his consciousness, it was craving rest, only remaining upright due to Genie's forced control.

"Forget it, I'll wait until he wakes up."

Genie released his control, and Orochimaru fell limply onto the lake surface; fortunately, his body was light enough to float face-up, avoiding the consequence of drowning.

Splash...

Splash...

The massive gash previously cut into the lake began to heal, causing the surrounding water to surge violently back into the trench.

Just as Genie was about to take control of Orochimaru's body to flee, two figures came sprinting across the water, one after the other, at high speed.

It was Kakashi and Guy.

They hoisted Orochimaru onto their backs and, without a word, began running toward the shore.

"So it's those two."

Genie rubbed his chin, "That means they saw the entire practice session just now."

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