A hand formed from pure darkness reached out from the crack, slowly descended, and pressed down on the boy's head.
The boy's body trembled violently, yet an expression of utter fanatical devotion covered his face.
"Come... my lord... my body... I offer it to you..."
Before he could finish speaking, the mass of darkness cascaded down like a waterfall and swallowed him whole!
Boom—!
A terrifying aura erupted from the altar, and a violent gale swept through the surroundings!
Jiraiya and the other two were blown back again and again before barely managing to steady themselves.
The light faded.
The boy was still standing on the altar.
But he was no longer the same boy as before.
His eyes had turned pure black, without any whites, like two bottomless black holes.
A faint black mist lingered around him, and his aura was so terrifying it made it hard to breathe.
He slowly lowered his head, looked at his hands, and let out a low chuckle.
"Finally... I have descended."
Orochimaru's pupils contracted sharply.
His senses had never been this clear—the aura, the pressure—
"Chunin..."
He muttered, then his expression changed drastically. "No, Jonin... still not right!"
He suddenly turned to Jiraiya and Tsunade, his voice rising in pitch. "It's Kage Level!"
Jiraiya's scalp went numb.
Kage Level?
He had only seen a few people of that caliber in Konoha—the Hokage, his teacher, and those legendary powerhouses...
And now, this monster possessing a boy's body actually possessed Kage Level strength?!
He instinctively took a step back and turned toward Gamabunta behind him.
"Big brother!"
His voice trembled. "Are you confident you can handle it?"
Gamabunta held a pipe in his mouth, and for the first time, a grave expression appeared on his enormous frog face.
He stared at the figure on