Orochimaru, Neither Male Nor Female

Didn't Orochimaru have a Land of Sound now?

It seemed Orochimaru wanted to set up laboratories throughout the entire Ninja World!

If news of Orochimaru being stationed in the Land of Grass spread, the Five Great Nations would definitely make a move.

"Big Brother, the Land of Grass leader you killed was named Shatiao.

"On the surface, he managed the Land of Grass, but in secret, the Land of Grass could be considered a force of the Land of Earth.

"Perhaps Shatiao had some private schemes and didn't reveal news of the Uzumaki clan to the Land of Earth!"

The Land of Earth? Since Orochimaru had said it, it was probably true.

What role was the Land of Earth playing here?!

The current Tsuchikage was still that little old man, Two Scales Ōnoki, wasn't he?

The Land of Grass was wedged between the major nations. Its location could be considered a natural strategic stronghold for war.

Other than the Land of Water, the other great nations on the continent could easily reach it.

Whether for gathering military intelligence or cutting off an enemy's reinforcements and supplies, the geographical advantage of the Land of Grass gave it an absolute say.

The Third Shinobi World War had also come to an end within the Land of Grass,

The Battle of Kannabi Bridge!!!

Also, hadn't he sent Orochimaru out to look for the mask?

Why was he here?

Shao Nan said calmly,

"Orochimaru, you can't touch these Uzumaki clan members! Also, have you completed the task I gave you?"

Orochimaru shook his head and examined Shao Nan's body with great interest.

"Getting the mask is easy, but pulling souls out of the Death God's stomach will require extensive preparation!"

When Karin Uzumaki noticed Orochimaru staring at Shao Nan,

she sensed an inexplicable aura from him.

Then she pointed at Orochimaru and glared. "Brother Shao Nan! He has bad intentions!"

Shao Nan lowered Karin Uzumaki's hand. "Karin Uzumaki, it's fine! He's one of mine too. I can rest easy with the Uzumaki clan members following him."

Shao Nan and Orochimaru stared each other down. What Shao Nan found inconceivable was that the preparations Orochimaru mentioned were probably related to a sacrifice.

In the original story, Orochimaru had needed to sacrifice his own body in order to retrieve souls from the Death God's stomach.

And sacrifice meant death.

But before dying, Orochimaru had entered White Zetsu's body and taken it for himself. Through Living Corpse Reincarnation, he had ultimately emerged unharmed.

White Zetsu was composed of Hashirama's cells. No wonder Orochimaru had set his sights on him.

"Orochimaru, if I'm not mistaken, what you want is my flesh and blood, right?"

Orochimaru continued staring at Shao Nan without blinking and answered calmly, "Yes, Big Brother! Will you give it to me?"

"Since you're my little brother, as your big brother, I ought to support your research."

Orochimaru burst into delighted laughter, grinning from ear to ear. "As expected of Big Brother, you're so straightforward."

Then he approached Shao Nan step by step.

Fuck!!!

Orochimaru, what are you doing?!

Where did you get those two glass bottles?

You planned this all along, didn't you?

Now Shao Nan didn't think Orochimaru's appearance here had been a coincidence at all.

"Orochimaru, listen. If you take my flesh and blood, you'd better work hard for me. Otherwise, it's only natural for a big brother to teach his little brother a lesson, understand?"

"Hahaha, Big Brother, I understand. Of course I understand!"

As he spoke, Orochimaru poked and prodded at Shao Nan's body with a scalpel.

Shao Nan watched Orochimaru scrape away bit by bit, little by little.

He was instantly speechless. At this rate, when would he ever fill those two glass bottles?

Shao Nan snatched the scalpel from Orochimaru and directly cut a piece of flesh from his own arm, dropping it into one bottle.

Then he filled the other bottle with blood.

Before long, both bottles were full.

The wound healed instantly, as if nothing had happened.

Orochimaru was stunned by Shao Nan's wild maneuver.

"How crude. You're not rigorous at all when it comes to science, and it's wasteful too. Still, overall, it'll do!"

"It'll do my ass. Hurry up and examine and treat the Uzumaki clan members."

Orochimaru nodded, then stretched his neck until his head dropped to the ground.

He licked up the blood Shao Nan had spilled on the ground earlier.

After Orochimaru finished licking the blood off the ground and retracted his head,

at that moment,

Orochimaru's entire body became incomparably strange.

Dense white scales appeared all over him.

Then he fell flat onto the ground, curled up, convulsed all over, and foamed at the mouth.

Orochimaru cried out in agony.

"Ahh~"

Then two bulges appeared on either side of Orochimaru's head.

Splat~

The bulges suddenly burst open, spilling bright red blood.

Two white feelers grew out.

Shao Nan was dumbfounded. Was Orochimaru brain-dead?!

Hadn't he researched Hashirama's cells himself?

All his test subjects had been killed by him playing around with Hashirama's cells...

And he actually dared to drink his blood directly? He didn't even have a Sage Body. Wasn't this just asking for death?

Shao Nan hurriedly called out to the system.

"System, how do I solve this situation?!"

[Host, are you an idiot? Was there any need to call me over something this trivial?]

"Who else was I supposed to call if not you? Orochimaru can't die! System, help me!"

[Host, your blood is inherently a great tonic. It will only strengthen his physique. He became like this because it indirectly triggered the senjutsu chakra in his body. Besides, your chakra has healing properties.]

Shao Nan slapped his forehead. Right, how had he forgotten?! But would this work?

He might as well treat a dead horse like a live one!

In any case, Orochimaru definitely wouldn't die. Could an Orochimaru who died still be called Orochimaru?

Pure white chakra gathered in Shao Nan's hand, and he placed it on Orochimaru's body.

The instant the pure white chakra touched Orochimaru's body,

Shao Nan felt his own chakra being rapidly absorbed by Orochimaru.

No way? Orochimaru can absorb chakra too?

As Orochimaru absorbed the chakra, his pained cries ceased.

The white scales on his body all turned black, then fell off.

Immediately afterward, white scales grew back.

This time, the white scales appeared even purer.

They were as spotless as snow—hard and gleaming.

Even his hair turned completely pure white!

"Big Brother, you've given me new life! I love this body!"

Orochimaru opened his eyes, his slit pupils fixed on Shao Nan.

Fuck!?

Orochimaru's pure white hair, paired with his snowy skin,

along with those willow-leaf brows, phoenix eyes, and melon-seed face—who could withstand that?

Was he an impossibly handsome man or an unparalleled beauty?!

It was impossible to tell male from female!

"Orochimaru, are you male or female right now?" Shao Nan blurted out.

Orochimaru stood up and said vaguely,

"Big Brother, don't worry about that.

"Your blood can actually transform the strength of my body and trigger the small amount of senjutsu chakra within me.

"Thanks to you, Big Brother, I can enter Sage Mode."

Shao Nan still cared quite a bit about Orochimaru's current gender.

There was no other reason. He simply wanted to thoroughly understand Orochimaru's anatomy.

But it seemed Orochimaru had no intention of telling him.

"Orochimaru, is your current state the Sage Mode you learned from Ryūchi Cave?"

Orochimaru dispelled Sage Mode and reverted to his original black-haired appearance.

He nodded at Shao Nan. "Yes, Big Brother! I suffered greatly in Ryūchi Cave. Because of my body, I was never able to use Sage Mode.

"Now that your blood has transformed me, I feel that my power is immense."

"Big Brother, I can sense that your blood is filled with countless unknowns. Enough talk—I need to go back and research it."

Orochimaru tried to leave after saying that, but Shao Nan stopped him.

"Stop, Orochimaru. Haven't you forgotten something?"

Orochimaru turned to look at the Uzumaki clan members and slapped his forehead.

Then he shouted at them,

"My oversight. Come with me!"