"Argh..." Diarmuid suddenly let out a cry of pain, rolling around on the sofa with a contorted, horrific expression, as if enduring some unimaginable agony.
However, Orochimaru sat across from him, expressionless and cold, completely ignoring Diarmuid's antics.
After struggling for a while, Diarmuid sat up with a slightly embarrassed look. "Why didn't you react at all?"
"If I recall correctly, you are a man in your forties. Why are you still so childish? Besides, your acting was terrible," Orochimaru said with a sigh of exasperation.
"Cough... Are you even a man? A man remains a boy until the day he dies. Don't you get it? You're no fun at all," Diarmuid coughed, trying to save face.
"I don't, and I have no desire to," Orochimaru replied.
Diarmuid, too embarrassed to continue that line of conversation, spoke up. "Is it over? Why is there no reaction? Didn't you say there'd be an invasion of natural energy, and if my body couldn't adapt, I'd face physical collapse?"
It was just like last time. That Wood Release 'seed' was planted in his body, yet Diarmuid hadn't felt a thing. To this day, there were no signs of Wood Release manifesting. It made Diarmuid constantly wonder if Orochimaru had failed, planting nothing but a placebo.
But just as he spoke, the Tomoe Cursed Seal on his wrist suddenly began to burn. The black marks, which looked like tattoos, began to rotate inexplicably...
"It's starting!" A flash of tension appeared in Orochimaru's eyes as he explained, "The Cursed Seal is merely a key; it opens your 'door,' allowing your body to sense, accept, and absorb natural energy. The amount of natural energy I personally injected into you is negligible..."
Diarmuid roughly understood. The Cursed Seal would passively absorb natural energy from the environment. Orochimaru hadn't pumped a massive amount of energy into him directly, which was why it hadn't been particularly painful at the start.
Of course, this was also because Diarmuid possessed an incredibly powerful constitution. Orochimaru's previous twenty-nine test subjects had all shown violent reactions the moment they were bitten. In other words, even the tiny spark of natural energy Orochimaru used as a primer was more than their bodies could handle.
"That makes sense..." Diarmuid murmured softly.
Conservation of energy. In the original story, those Cursed Seal tools under Orochimaru couldn't possibly run back for a 'refill bite' every time they spent their energy. Therefore, it was only logical that the Cursed Seal passively absorbed natural energy to replenish itself after use.
By the same token, if one couldn't freely use the Cursed Seal to vent that energy, the pressure would build, causing periodic flare-ups and intense pain. Sasuke's early struggles were likely due to this accumulation. Only when Kakashi used the Evil Sealing Method was the condition alleviated, effectively cutting off the Cursed Seal's ability to automatically absorb natural energy.
After a few moments of waiting, the Cursed Seal on Diarmuid's wrist spun faster and faster, and the black marks began to spread. This made Diarmuid slightly worried. He didn't want his whole body covered in patterns; that would seriously sabotage his handsome looks.
Orochimaru watched with a mix of tension and anticipation, but he was also genuinely worried about Diarmuid, fearing he wouldn't be able to withstand the agony of the energy invasion.
Just as the seal began to crawl up his arm, much to Diarmuid's annoyance, it suddenly and rapidly retracted.
As the seal receded, Diarmuid felt it clearly. A brand new sensation, something he had never experienced personally but had seen on Jiraiya.
Natural energy, or rather, the power of Senjutsu!
It was as if a valve had been opened on his wrist. A massive amount of natural energy, which he previously couldn't even perceive, began to flood through the 'key' of the Cursed Seal. It surged into his wrist and began to spread throughout his entire body.
"Ungh..." Diarmuid frowned, feeling a sharp pang of pain.
He could have easily activated Iron Will to negate the pain, but he chose not to. That particular talent was a double-edged sword; while it granted immunity to pain, it would also make it difficult for him to truly grasp the essence of 'Natural Energy.'
So, Diarmuid gritted his teeth and endured!
This was different from the transformations seen in the Three Great Sage Regions like Mount Myoboku or Ryuchi Cave, where the influx of natural energy eventually leads toward petrification, turning into a snake or a frog before becoming a stone statue.
With Diarmuid, or rather, with Orochimaru's Cursed Seal, the change was unique. The color of his arm began to shift, turning a sickly grayish-white, appearing mutated rather than petrified. It was the specific transformation of the Cursed Seal.
His body was being reconstructed by natural energy. Forced adaptation.
As Diarmuid focused on the pain and the erosion of the energy, the powerful vitality within him suddenly flared up. His innate life force launched an instinctive counterattack against this foreign energy that sought to seize control and modify his body.
The surging vitality clashed with the equally potent natural energy within his arm. His skin tone fluctuated wildly. One moment normal, the next grayish-white. Bone spurs even began to erupt from his elbow, looking horrific and monstrous. It truly looked like he was "rejecting his humanity."
As the two forces wrestled for dominance within his arm, the pain became clearer and heavier. It was an indescribable sensation. Orochimaru could see sweat pouring down Diarmuid's forehead, his veins bulging, and his scalp tightening with tension.
Yet, seeing this, the tension in Orochimaru's eyes dissipated, replaced by a thickening sense of wonder. He had seen this stage many times before. His twenty-nine previous subjects had all reached this point, their bodies rapidly eroded by natural energy and undergoing mutation, only for their physical forms to fail, collapsing into a heap of mangled flesh.
But Diarmuid's powerful constitution was actually holding its ground against the natural energy, confining the mutations to his arm for the time being.
This proved, at the very least, that Diarmuid was in no immediate danger of dying.
Furthermore, according to Orochimaru's theory, this conflict was temporary, a contest between two unknown variables. Once Diarmuid's vitality proved it could endure, the stalemate would shift toward integration. The body would adapt, and the natural energy would begin to harmonize with Diarmuid's life force and physical essence.
His vitality would stop rejecting the energy, and the erosive effect would dissipate, becoming a symbiotic fusion.
A new state would manifest.
If Orochimaru's calculations were correct, this new state of harmony should resemble the marks seen on the First Hokage, Minato, or Jiraiya when they entered Sage Mode, patterns appearing on the skin or shadow around the eyes.
The appearance of such marks would signify that a state of equilibrium had been reached between the individual and the natural energy!
If successful, he would have achieved his goal: Orochimaru-Style Sage Mode!
This would be a revolutionary breakthrough. From that moment on, the power of Senjutsu would no longer be the exclusive domain of the Three Great Sage Regions. Orochimaru would have mastered it through science! To reach the heights of a Sage through research, that was his path.
"Success or failure... it all rests on you, Diarmuid," Orochimaru whispered.
Ten more minutes passed. Diarmuid was soaked in cold sweat, but his expression had turned resolute. Having grown accustomed to the intense pain, he didn't make a sound, and his features gradually steadied.
A few minutes later, a light sparkled in Orochimaru's eyes. "It's here! The turning point!"
Sure enough, the mutations on Diarmuid's arm began to recede. First, the monstrous bone spurs protruding from his elbow withered and vanished, returning his arm to its normal shape. Then, the grayish-white skin tone stabilized, the flickering frequency slowing down.
After a few more minutes, his skin returned to its normal color and stayed there. The conflict between his vitality and the natural energy had ceased.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Diarmuid felt that the Cursed Seal Orochimaru had just placed on his wrist seemed to have faded in color slightly. But one thing was certain: the internal agony was vanishing rapidly.
"Did I actually adapt? This quickly?" Diarmuid thought, surprised.
Just then, Orochimaru looked at his face, his expression shifting from surprise to joy. "Your face!?"
Orochimaru quickly propped up a mirror he had prepared on the table, reflecting Diarmuid's current appearance. Diarmuid could see thick black markings around his eyelids. Aside from the color being slightly off, it looked almost exactly like the facial markings of Sage Mode.
The markings were slowly extending outward, and a pitch-black diamond shape, resembling the Yin Seal, was beginning to form in the center of his forehead.
Was this the manifestation of Diarmuid's Sage Mode? Had they actually succeeded?
Diarmuid felt a surge of excitement. Was it really this easy?
However, before the thought could finish, the black diamond mark on his forehead suddenly shattered and faded away. The black markings around his eyes followed suit, dissolving instantly.
In the blink of an eye, Diarmuid returned to his normal self.
"What was that?" Diarmuid asked, bewildered.
All discomfort had vanished as if everything that had just happened was a mere hallucination. He looked at his arm; it was perfectly normal. The only change was the Tomoe Cursed Seal on his wrist. It had definitely faded, becoming much less distinct than before.
"Did we fail!?" Diarmuid frowned, looking at Orochimaru. They had felt so close, how could it fail at the finish line?
"It was a failure, yes," Orochimaru said, a smile actually forming on his lips. "But it also represents a total success! You truly are special, Diarmuid. You successfully adapted to the invasion of natural energy. Without even entering a meditative state or systematically learning how to guide the energy, you used your sheer vitality and constitution to force a victory over it!"
Orochimaru's tone was ecstatic.
"I knew you were using me as a lab rat, you bastard!" Diarmuid cursed before asking, "What exactly happened? Explain it!"
"Most likely, the Cursed Seal's rate of absorbing natural energy couldn't keep up with the speed at which you were adapting and converting it. In the end, there wasn't enough natural energy to sustain the completion of a full Sage Mode..." Orochimaru explained after a moment of reflection.
Diarmuid nodded, then excitedly extended his arm again. "Then what are we waiting for? Come on, give me another bite! I can take it!"
Orochimaru: "???"
Do you think I'm a dog?