Sage Mode!

Damn!

The sudden attack even caught Orochimaru off guard.

Before he could make any defensive or evasive move, a sharp pain shot through his shoulder.

Hiss... This old hag... no sense of fair play at all!

She attacked just because she felt like it?

Before he could think further, a cold, violent energy brimming with vitality flowed through the fangs and into his body.

This energy was incredibly tyrannical. The moment it entered his body, it began rampaging through him, attempting to alter his flesh, meridians, and even cellular structure.

Was this a Cursed Seal?!

Feeling the changes in his body, Orochimaru's expression shifted.

He looked down at his right hand and saw white snake scales with a cold sheen emerging uncontrollably across his skin, spreading rapidly.

"Hehehe..."

The old woman formed by the White Snake Sage released her bite from atop the stone seat. Watching Orochimaru's transformation, she smiled.

"This is the introductory method of Ryūchi Cave Sage Art."

"Only by enduring this power and allowing your body to initially adapt to it will you be qualified to learn the Sage Art that follows."

"If you cannot endure it..."

"You will turn into a stone statue and become part of Ryūchi Cave. I will not save you."

She was somewhat curious about what made Orochimaru special, but she did not care whether the little fellow lived or died.

After all, to her, such an unexpected variable was merely a diversion in her long life...

Tch...

Orochimaru glanced at the old hag, feeling rather displeased.

That attitude was truly infuriating.

Still, this was not the time to dwell on that.

The priority was figuring out what was happening inside his body.

Enduring the pain and strange sensations surging through every part of his body, he sat cross-legged, focused inward, and began carefully sensing the nature of that foreign energy and its effects on his body.

This power... was it Natural Energy?

Sure enough, it resembled what he had felt when he had previously tried to absorb it, filled with violence and aggression.

But it was also somewhat different...

Or rather, it carried a particular "mark."

The White Snake Sage's mark?

Under the impact of that power, his body was being forcibly remodeled in the direction of a "snake."

His cells were tearing apart and recombining under the influence of this power. The principle was similar to the Transformation Technique, but far more violent.

This feeling...

Orochimaru instantly recalled the scene from the original Naruto story where Naruto Uzumaki trained in Sage Art at Mount Myoboku.

According to his previous conjecture, Chakra was essentially foreign energy originating from the God Tree.

Natural Energy, meanwhile, was a power native to this world.

Perhaps there was some fundamental rejection between the two.

If one directly absorbed Natural Energy, the native power would instinctively reject and attempt to assimilate the foreign Chakra user, with the ultimate result being turned to stone.

But the Natural Energy carrying a "mark" that the White Snake Sage had injected into him now seemed to be... forcibly increasing his body's "compatibility" with Natural Energy?

By transforming his physical structure toward that of a "snake," a life-form better adapted to Natural Energy, was it avoiding the risk of being completely assimilated?

At that thought, a flash of insight struck Orochimaru.

He seemed to understand!

This was probably the core secret of the Sage Arts of the Three Great Sage Regions!

The toads of Mount Myoboku, the white snakes of Ryūchi Cave, and the slugs of Shikkotsu Forest...

These three sages were all creatures that had existed before Kaguya Otsutsuki and the God Tree descended.

Their long lives had allowed their bodily structures to evolve to the point where they could perfectly adapt to, and even control, Natural Energy, while also accommodating the foreign power known as Chakra.

The so-called Sacred Land Sage Arts were not actually teaching someone a "technique."

They used some method to make one's own life-form and bodily structure "imitate" and "approach" those three sages!

Thus granting a constitution compatible with both Natural Energy and Chakra...

That also explained why corresponding Sacred Land creature traits appeared on the body when Sage Art was used.

The toad eyes and toad hands of Mount Myoboku Sage Art.

Ryūchi Cave Sage Art probably involved traits such as snake eyes, snake scales, and horns.

As for Shikkotsu Forest... Orochimaru guessed it might be related to the First's monstrous recovery ability, corresponding to a slug's monstrous regenerative and splitting abilities.

Conversely, without adaptation, one would intermittently fall into a berserk state, just like Jugo, the source of the Cursed Seal...

So that was it!

Once he understood this, Orochimaru's mindset immediately changed.

Since this was an adaptive transformation, rather than passively enduring it, he might as well actively embrace it!

The next moment.

He no longer tried to suppress or guide the violent energy. Instead, he opened his mind and actively experienced and adapted to the sensation of transforming into a "snake."

Buzz—

Almost the instant his thoughts changed, the chaotic and violent aura around Orochimaru miraculously began to stabilize rapidly.

The snake scales that had been growing wildly and uncontrollably over his body also stopped spreading, stabilizing within a particular range.

Hm?

A trace of barely perceptible surprise flashed through the White Snake Sage's murky golden vertical pupils as she sat atop the stone seat.

So quickly... he had already adapted to the first stage of the energy's impact?

She had lived for thousands of years and had seen no fewer than eight hundred, if not a thousand, humans attempt to learn Ryūchi Cave Sage Art.

Among them were plenty of exceptionally talented individuals.

But someone who could stabilize the initial "snake transformation" state in such a short time—this Orochimaru before her was absolutely the first!

This little fellow... had some skill!

The White Snake Sage mused inwardly, her gaze toward Orochimaru gaining a few more traces of interest.

However, what shocked her even more was yet to come.

The very next second after Orochimaru's aura completely stabilized.

A faint purple eyeshadow silently appeared at the corners of his eyes, as eerie as a shedding snake skin.

At the same time, the snake scales that had appeared on his exposed skin not only did not vanish, but became more solid and distinct, gleaming with a dark, cold luster.

Purple Chakra burned around his body as if it had substance...

Th-this was?!

The White Snake Sage abruptly widened her eyes, her face full of disbelief.

Sage Mode?!

Was this some kind of joke?!

This kid had actually entered Sage Mode directly?!

Sage Art cultivation was not something achieved overnight!

The first step was enduring her power, allowing the body to initially adapt to Natural Energy, and completing the basic "snake transformation."

This step alone eliminated ninety-nine percent of people.

The second step was to sense, absorb, and merge the Natural Energy of the outside world on that foundation, then perfectly combine it with one's own spiritual energy and physical energy, reaching an exquisite point of balance.

This balance point varied from person to person. It required a long period of exploration and experimentation before one could finally find the Sage transformation form best suited to oneself.

But this kid!

It was clearly his first time encountering Ryūchi Cave Sage Art—indeed, it could even be said that this was his first true encounter with Natural Energy!

Yet he had accomplished it in one step, directly skipping the process of searching for the balance point and completing Sage Mode?!

How was that possible?!

Could he have been born with a Sage Body?

That could not be right! Even those legendary monsters with Sage Body constitutions could not possibly be this outrageous, could they?!