That mocking curve still lingered at the corner of his mouth.
Time passed extremely slowly outside. Jiraiya and Tsunade stood outside the Four Violet Flames Formation, sweat covering their foreheads. They clearly saw the change in Chiya's expression. There was no agonized struggle against possession, only the amusement of someone watching his prey. A powerful sense of danger rose in both their hearts.
Inside the mental space.
The white-scaled serpent Orochimaru had become thrashed its massive body wildly. Black-Gold Karma Flames surrounded him, their temperature immense. There was nowhere to stand, only dark-red scorched earth seared by flames. Orochimaru marshaled all his mental power and created an exit node in the empty air.
"Release!" Orochimaru growled within his consciousness.
The spatial node lit up with white light. The white-scaled serpent lunged toward it. As long as he returned to the real world, he could regain the initiative.
Thud.
A dull impact sounded. A translucent blue screen of data appeared across the white light. The white-scaled serpent slammed headfirst into it, instantly lost his balance, and fell dozens of meters.
Orochimaru steadied his spiritual form and looked up at the screen blocking his path. Countless unknown characters flickered across it.
An icy notification tone echoed throughout the mental space.
[System warning: foreign high-density spiritual entity intrusion detected.] [Scanning initiated.] [Scan complete.] [Assessment: premium high-density soul fuel.] [Spatial entrance locked. Defense mechanism activated.]
Orochimaru stared at the flickering characters, overwhelming panic rising within him. System? Fuel? Program? These terms lay completely beyond the common knowledge of the Shinobi World. He had spent his entire life studying ninjutsu and performed countless human experiments, believing he understood the truths of the world, yet he had never encountered energy operating in this way. He understood one thing: his escape route was gone.
Chiya