Akaseki's emotions swung back and forth in torment between "heartless numbness" and "compassion."
Meanwhile, from the outside...
Akaseki's entire body first mutated into a snake-like form. The red-maned lion became something resembling an armored monster, and then... the crimson scales on his body gradually began falling off, dripping with foul blood!
"Lady White Snake, Akaseki doesn't seem to be embracing it, does he?" Orochimaru said with interest.
White Snake Granny: ...
"If you give up on training, you can leave." Hearing the brat taking a veiled jab at her, White Snake Granny's face darkened.
"No, I haven't given up. I just want to... see Akaseki succeed first," Orochimaru said calmly.
"Succeed? You certainly have confidence..." White Snake Granny curled her lip.
"Didn't you say... there was only one attack in the final stage..." Orochimaru frowned.
"Yes, but I also told you that nobody had passed before, didn't I?" White Snake Granny said frankly.
Orochimaru: ...
So the White Snake Sage didn't know how powerful the final "counterattack" was or how many waves it had. All she knew was that, over the past thousand years, even the one in ten challengers who reached this stage had failed to survive its first wave! But...
Once Akaseki actually survived the first wave, the White Snake Sage, who understood her own Sage Mode intimately, immediately realized... there was more to come!
Sure enough, although some of the red scales on Akaseki's body had dissolved along with the foul blood, his transformation into a snake hadn't stopped. Instead, it grew even more ferocious.
"Is there? Is there? What living thing is in here? Show me! Huh?" Mr. Wang grabbed Hong Yan, who didn't fight back, by the collar, looking ready to shove him into the cargo compartment to get a good look.
Hong Yan's