After a fierce battle, the surroundings had become a wasteland, and a dense fog floated above the ground.
The White Snake Sage gazed at the dust raised by the destructive power of her last attack. She thought that with Tōshirō's strength, he couldn't have died from that move.
Soon, her guess was confirmed. As the fog gradually thinned with the wind, a faint figure was about to emerge.
The White Snake Sage's eyes locked onto the figure.
As the fog dissipated, Tōshirō was seen kneeling on one knee, with blood at the corner of his mouth. His face was quite pale and he seemed a bit weak. He looked disheveled, but in reality, he still had the strength to fight.
A hint of appreciation for his talent flashed in the White Snake Sage's eyes. As strong as Tōshirō was now, he was still far from reaching his limit.
The White Snake Sage had lived longer than anyone, so she naturally knew many unknown secrets.
For example, the Ōtsutsuki who once set foot in this land were beings she was wary of. In the future, there might be a use for Tōshirō.
Tōshirō put a hand on his knee, slowly got up, and licked the blood from the corner of his mouth with his tongue: "That was truly terrifying..."
The White Snake Sage returned to her grandmotherly appearance, with kind eyebrows and a benevolent face. It was impossible to tell that she had just been a ferocious monster: "You're a good boy. I'll provisionally acknowledge you."
"So, can I receive your Sage Art now, ma'am?"
"It's going to hurt a little. You have to endure it."
"???"
What kind of wild words were those?
The White Snake Sage's neck suddenly stretched out, as fast as a white afterimage. In an instant, she aimed her fangs at Tōshirō's neck, biting down and piercing the surface. A massive amount of Sage Art chakra was injected into his body through her teeth.
After doing all this, the White Snake Sage retracted her neck and said faintly: "It's done."
Orochimaru came to Tōshirō's side, showing concern: "Tōshirō, how do you feel?"
When he first received the Sage Art chakra, Orochimaru's body caved in on the spot. Fortunately, he managed to survive using a secret jutsu.
The corner of Tōshirō's mouth tilted: "It feels very easy to control."
Tōshirō's body was already a Sage Body. The difficulty of simply injecting Sage Art chakra into it was naturally a trivial matter.
"Don't speak too soon."
The White Snake Sage had not only injected Sage Art chakra into Tōshirō, but also a bit of her original power.
"It should be reacting by now," the White Snake Sage muttered.
Just as Tōshirō was about to ask what she meant, his body reacted. His brows furrowed, and his body began to grow uncontrollably, stopping only when he reached the height and appearance of a young man of about 1.8 meters.
Orochimaru watched all of this in surprise. Before he could ask what was happening, Tōshirō's symptoms changed even further.
His face continuously exuded ice crystals, which spread and grew. In the blink of an eye, Tōshirō himself had disappeared, replaced by a massive creature the size of a Tailed Beast.
Its outline was somewhat similar to a lizard, its body was covered in ice-like crystalline substances, and it had a pair of huge wings on its back. The aura of the White Snake Sage could be faintly sensed from this creature, and the surrounding temperature dropped considerably with the appearance of this ice dragon.
Orochimaru had set a psychological expectation, but seeing this still shattered his self-awareness: "Tōshirō, you..."
The ice dragon spoke in a human tongue, in a familiar, magnetic voice: "Don't be nervous, Orochimaru. It's not like you to be so jumpy."
After saying that, it moved its gaze to the White Snake Sage, waiting for an explanation.
The White Snake Sage looked up at the creature and laughed: "So this is your true form. How interesting."
"This isn't interesting at all."
The ice dragon said this in a literally cold tone. Whenever it spoke, cold air would pour out of its mouth, which would cause frostbite to anyone who simply touched it.
But that was secondary.
The real killer was that he couldn't return to his human form.
The ice dragon said in a deep voice: "I can't revert to my human form now."
Orochimaru was startled, his eyes wide: "You said you can't revert to being human?"
Tōshirō further explained his situation, especially why he had remained in the form of a child.
After listening, Orochimaru suddenly understood: "No wonder~ you've always remained in the form of a child."
The ice dragon extended a claw and slammed it forcefully on the ground. The ground trembled twice. Its eyes were locked on the old woman below: "Old hag, change me back now, or I'll tear down your broken temple."
In his current form, he was far too conspicuous. If he couldn't change back, many things would be difficult to deal with.
"I think you look a lot more pleasing to the eye like this."
The White Snake Sage covered her mouth and chuckled.
With that, she deliberately asked Tagorihime and the others next to her: "Don't you agree?"
As the three of them were about to speak, the ice dragon glared at them with a fierce look, and they immediately and tactfully shut their mouths.
The ice dragon activated its Sharingan, locking its gaze on the White Snake Sage. The scarlet eyes were filled with a brutal aura, as if it was ready to fight to the death if she didn't change him back.
The White Snake Sage had tricked Tōshirō, and she was in the wrong. She reined in her smile and let out a sigh: "I know, I'll teach you a Sage Art."
"A Sage Art?"
The ice dragon was bewildered. Looking at the White Snake Sage in her grandmotherly form, it suddenly understood what was happening.
The White Snake Sage's true form was a giant white snake. She could now use a human form, which was probably due to some special jutsu.
Tōshirō asked: "How long will it take?"
The White Snake Sage was ambiguous: "It depends."
Tōshirō mused: "When do we start?"
"Whenever you want, we can start."
"Then, right now."
"Very well."
After reaching an agreement, Tōshirō told Orochimaru: "Have this clone return to your main body first. We'll discuss the specifics later."
Orochimaru nodded. If the clone didn't return, his main body wouldn't know what was happening here.
"Then, goodbye."
Orochimaru formed hand signs, transformed, and turned into a puff of white smoke that dissipated with the wind, his figure disappearing without a trace.
Within the Akatsuki organization, Orochimaru received all the information from his clone, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up: "Hehe, this is getting more and more interesting."
Orochimaru's long tongue darted out and licked his lips.
Since they were working so hard over there, he had to work hard too. First, he'd take care of Hiruko, then he could use the excuse of forming a new team to trick Zetsu in the organization...
After making up his mind, Orochimaru began to look for a chance to kill Hiruko while also contacting Tōshirō at Ryūchi Cave to pass along information.
A few days later, Orochimaru returned to Ryūchi Cave via the Reverse Summoning Jutsu and found that Tōshirō was no longer where he had been. With such a large body, he should have been quite conspicuous.
However, he just couldn't see him.
Out of curiosity, he went to the temple where the White Snake Sage resided and happened to see Tagorihime. He asked: "Where's Tōshirō?"
Tagorihime smiled: "He should be sleeping in his room."
As she spoke, she saw a figure appear behind Orochimaru, and she raised her chin, smiling: "Isn't that him now?"
In fact, without her saying a word, Orochimaru had already sensed it from the sound of the footsteps. He turned around, and standing behind him was a young man with white hair and clear blue eyes. His face was handsome and he was about 1.8 meters tall. It was Tōshirō in his young adult form.
Orochimaru looked at this face, was stunned for a moment, and then understood what had happened. He laughed in congratulations: "It seems you've successfully mastered that jutsu."
"More or less."
Orochimaru noticed that Tōshirō's expression didn't seem very happy: "What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
"In a way, you could say there's a small problem."
These words reminded Orochimaru. Just now, when Tōshirō appeared, he had faintly felt the surrounding temperature drop, but his mind had been on other things at the time.
Seeing Orochimaru's confused expression, Tōshirō extended his hand, signaling a handshake: "Feel it for yourself."
Confused, Orochimaru reached out to touch it. It was unusually cold. A dead person's temperature would feel warm in comparison: "What's with the low temperature of your body?"
Tōshirō's body temperature was at least minus forty degrees Celsius.
(End of Chapter)
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