Konoha: Becoming a God Starting with Aburame

Chapter 257 The Final Piece of the Puzzle Tearing Apart the Pure Land

Root laboratory.

Orochimaru is cultivating new Soul Insects.

"The Soul Worm's abilities in terms of the soul have reached a limit, and it's difficult to enhance them further."

"...It's because the Soul Worm's own soul strength is insufficient to support it in fully utilizing its soul-related abilities."

"It's like using a genin-level chakra to perform an A-rank ninjutsu; the power will inevitably be greatly reduced."

"I need more information about souls to enhance the soul strength of the Dead Soul Worms, thereby supporting their evolution."

Orochimaru muttered to himself, but suddenly felt a familiar sense of being summoned.

"This is... the reverse spirit communication technique of Ryuchi Cave?"

"Who is it? The White Snake Sage? Or one of the Three Snake Princesses?"

Orochimaru stopped his experiment to enhance the Soul Insects, thought for a while, and decided to respond to this summoning.

Strength is the foundation of confidence.

With the Soul-Collecting Worms that gather soul energy and the Soul Reaper's Enhanced Armor that purifies it, Orochimaru now has no weaknesses in the soul realm.

Not to mention Orochimaru also has war weapons like the Titan Armor, and when necessary, he can even summon the unfinished Titan Armor.

If the remnants of the Ryūchi-dō forces really have some bad intentions, then it's hard to say who will be the one to deal with whom.

As it happens, Orochimaru was somewhat interested in the history and secrets of Ryuchi Cave.

Xinlongdi Cave.

After a puff of white smoke, Orochimaru was summoned by Manda.

"...Mandalas?!"

Orochimaru stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar giant snake before him, its entire body enveloped in boundless natural energy. He clearly felt the overwhelming pressure emanating from it and exclaimed in disbelief.

"No, you're not Manda!"

But Orochimaru immediately dismissed the idea.

From a purely rational perspective, it is impossible for Manda to have gone this far, no matter from any point of view.

Orochimaru thought of his own Reanimation Jutsu and immediately made the connection, exclaiming in surprise, "You are... the White Snake Sage?!"

That solves the problem.

How could that idiot Wanshe have gotten to this point? It must be the White Snake Immortal possessing his body!

Wan She stretched out his body and arrogantly replied, "That's right, I am the White Snake Immortal!"

"..."

"It's still not right..." Orochimaru frowned.

I originally thought that the White Snake Immortal possessed Wanshe, but now I realize that I was being too simplistic.

Orochimaru's impression of the White Snake Sage was that beneath his kind face lay a chilling and violent nature, not something so... arrogant and comical.

For a moment, Orochimaru couldn't tell whether the being in front of him was Manda or the White Snake Sage.

If the person before you is the White Snake Sage, this is perfectly normal. After all, an ancient demon who has lived for a thousand years is not so easy to kill. The myriad snakes would have no chance against the White Snake Sage's devouring power, and it's only natural that their bodies would be possessed.

If it's Manda, that would be very troublesome. It means Manda obtained something Orochimaru didn't know, perhaps even using it to defeat the White Snake Sage who had lived for a thousand years. This would further increase the already deep distrust between the two sides.

However, whether the being before him was Manda or the White Snake Sage, it didn't matter to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru had made up his mind never to summon Manda again.

"Let's assume you're the White Snake Sage. You defeated Mount Myōboku and gained new territory, so instead of managing it properly, what business do you have with me?"

Manda looked down at Orochimaru and said, "Orochimaru, I need you to hold off Sunagakure and Iwagakure, at least for the foreseeable future."

Orochimaru, upon hearing Manda's words, calmly replied, "Holding back Sunagakure and Iwagakure? That's no easy task. What benefit would I get?"

Orochimaru is no longer the one in need. If he can't get a satisfactory reward, he won't help someone who once wanted to eat him.

Upon hearing Orochimaru's words, Manda slowly swam towards him.

Orochimaru frowned slightly. He could sense an immense life energy lurking within Manda, as powerful as a volcanic eruption, brewing for the moment of its explosion.

But if Manda wants to use this to force him, then he's overthinking it.

If Sunagakure and Iwagakure were able to destroy Ryuchi Cave, then Konoha, as the number one ninja village in the ninja world, could certainly do the same.

The giant snake swam up to Orochimaru and spat out a scroll from its mouth.

Orochimaru was taken aback. After taking the scroll and opening it, he discovered that it contained the classics of Ryuchi Cave Sage Techniques, including the White Excitation Technique and the Inorganic Reincarnation Technique, which were the essence and experience of Ryuchi Cave Sage Techniques.

Just a quick glance was enough to spark Orochimaru's inspiration.

Orochimaru failed to master Sage Mode before, partly because his originally mediocre body was a constraint imposed on him by his genes and bloodline! In the ninja world, only a minority of ninjas are naturally close to natural energy.

On the other hand, the way sages practiced in Ryuchi Cave was simply too dangerous. Orochimaru was also wary of the sages of Ryuchi Cave, so he did not try it.

Orochimaru, who had never mastered Sage Mode, had his confidence in mastering it rekindled after seeing Manda take out the Sage Mode manual from Ryuchi Cave.

Orochimaru was confident that with this information, the Sage Techniques from Ryuchi Cave would be more suitable for him under his modifications, and might even become part of the Orochimaru-style ninjutsu.

What Orochimaru found most interesting was the method by which the White Snake Sage combined his own soul and chakra to increase his soul strength when he attempted to devour Manda's soul.

Orochimaru licked his lips excitedly. Ryuchi Cave really had a deep foundation, even possessing information on enhancing soul strength through chakra.

This directly solved the problem of the Dead Soul Worm's insufficient soul strength, accelerating the speed at which it tore apart the Pure Land.

"No problem. For the next period of time, I will order Root to focus on monitoring Sunagakure and Iwagakure to prevent them from making any rash moves."

Orochimaru agreed without hesitation; Manda had given him a condition he couldn't refuse.

"In that case, I will return to Konoha and send people to monitor Sunagakure and Iwagakure."

Orochimaru couldn't wait to return to Konoha to conduct his experiments.

Manda nodded slightly. In fact, it didn't matter whether Orochimaru was monitoring Sunagakure or Iwagakure; he was just looking for an excuse to send the information to Orochimaru.

When Orochimaru tears apart the Pure Land, it will be able to devour the natural energy of the entire ninja world, undergo a transformation into a dragon, and become a Six Paths level being.

The addition of Manda, a Six Paths-level being, to the ninja world is not an insurmountable problem for the Sage of Six Paths. Even if Manda absorbed all the natural energy of the ninja world, he would still be no match for the Sage of Six Paths.

At his peak, the Sage of Six Paths was the Ten-Tails, who had absorbed all the natural energy of the ninja world, plus the Otsutsuki clan's bloodline limit. His strength was so great that no native creature of the ninja world could possibly rival him.

But the Pure Land was the foundation of the Sage of Six Paths, a trump card to deal with the Otsutsuki pursuers. If it were to fail, it would be a major disaster. A thousand years of accumulation, all gone in a single day!

Manda believed that the Sage of Six Paths knew how to choose.

After Orochimaru returned to Konoha, he immediately began his experiments.

As the soul and chakra of the Dead Soul Worm became intertwined, the Dead Soul Worm began to change.

The strength of his soul continued to rise, and his body also began to become semi-spiritual.

Orochimaru was overjoyed.

The final piece of the puzzle to tear apart the pure land has been obtained!

(End of this chapter)