Nawaki's screams, sharp enough to pierce the toughest armor, echoed through the cold, deathly silent laboratory.
This was no ordinary pain. It was a wail from the deepest reaches of his soul as his very form of life was forcibly torn apart and rebuilt.
The chakra erupting from him could no longer be described as merely "immense." It was a torrent of savage, primal energy, brimming with vitality yet utterly devoid of order, like a volcano that had lain dormant for a thousand years awakening in a single instant.
The force churned the air in the laboratory like boiling water. The precision instruments blared shrill alarms under the strain, and the data streams on their screens had become a sea of meaningless red gibberish.
Every elite jonin present blanched in horror and instinctively stepped back. Chakra Cloaks of various colors flared around them as they assumed defensive stances.
It felt as though they were no longer facing their comrade, Senju Nawaki, but an ancient, ravenous beast that had just broken free of its shackles.
Minato Namikaze's pupils contracted sharply. His right hand had already closed around a specially crafted Flying Thunder God Kunai, but he did not move.
His gaze remained fixed on the man who was still leaning against the cultivation tank, without so much as changing his posture.
"It worked! It worked! Hahahaha!"
In stark contrast to everyone else's terror, a look of sick, absolute ecstasy spread across Orochimaru's face.
Rather than retreating, he took a step forward, his golden, serpentine eyes fixed on Nawaki's body as it twisted in agony, as though he were admiring an unparalleled masterpiece.
"Do you see it, big brother?! This perfect rejection response! This intense cellular restructuring! The Ōtsutsuki gene fragments are forcibly awakening the dormant factors deep within his bloodline!
This