An utter sense of emptiness surged from every corner of his limbs and bones, like the deep sea after the tide had receded.
Hyuga Xiao knelt on one knee, gasping violently. Only by bracing himself against the cracked ground with one hand did he barely manage to stay upright. That savage bloodline surge had nearly drained the last trace of chakra from his body. His meridians were barren, like a wasteland after a wildfire, with not even a lingering ember of energy to be found.
Yet in stark contrast to his weakened body were his eyes.
The Tenseigan, having surpassed a fifty percent fusion rate, was analyzing this world with unprecedented clarity. He could "see" the path of every wisp of heat rising from the lava dozens of meters away; he could "hear" the faint stresses constantly building deep within the collapsing rock layers; he could even "smell" Orochimaru's distinctive chakra scent in the air, mixed with earth and snake musk, like a venomous serpent lying in wait as it silently adjusted its breathing in the darkness.
"Heh..."
A cold, amused curve lifted at Hyuga Xiao's lips.
He knew what Orochimaru was waiting for.
That cunning viper had witnessed him devour the God Tree Remnants and complete an unbelievable evolution. Fear had long since been branded deep into Orochimaru's soul. But more terrifying than fear was a scientist's fanaticism for unknown truths, and an ambitious man's greed for supreme power.
Those eyes...
Those eyes, which stood above the Rinnegan and seemed to contain the mysteries of the birth and death of stars throughout the cosmos, were the ultimate treasure to Orochimaru—far more alluring than immortality.
And now, the owner of that treasure was in an unprecedented state of weakness.
This was an opportunity that came once in a thousand years.