Female Orochimaru wanted to take Anko to find Orochimaru, but she suddenly hesitated.
Because if she brought Anko back, her main body would re-implant the Heaven Cursed Seal into Anko.
Just because Anko succeeded once didn't mean she could win every time, win it all, or win until she was numb!
When Anko was previously implanted with the Cursed Seal, she had nearly died from the erosion.
Female Orochimaru couldn't let Anko go back and endure that kind of pain again.
In truth, her hesitation was useless, because after losing the Cursed Seal, Anko had already been re-implanted with Ryou's spores.
Ryou had removed Anko's Cursed Seal primarily to turn her into his own private property.
Ryou dragged Yamato with vines and followed Ichikishimahime, preparing to meet the White Snake Sage.
But he saw that Female Orochimaru and Anko were still lingering in place.
He barked, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and follow!"
Anko snapped back, "Evil Uchiha Ryou, don't yell at Master Orochimaru, or I'll fight you to the death!"
"How bold!"
Ryou formed a hand seal, and the spores inside Anko's body immediately activated; Anko collapsed to the ground, her face flushed as she trembled.
Seeing this, Female Orochimaru grew furious. "Uchiha Ryou, do not take advantage of my student!"
Ryou aimed the seal at Female Orochimaru, and she too fell into a miserable state like Anko, her eyes rolling back as her internal organs felt like they were being overturned.
However, Female Orochimaru could still endure; she didn't collapse like Anko but simply knelt with her legs trembling.
Candy unwrapped a lollipop and ate it while watching the master and disciple pair. She lamented, "What a pair of ill-fated lovers!"
Seeing the plight of Female Orochimaru and Anko, Yamato roared at Ryou in anger, "Uchiha Ryou, you villain! Release Anko and Master Orochimaru at once!"
"Yamato, I haven't controlled you yet, have I?"
Ryou stopped controlling Female Orochimaru and Anko and approached Yamato, another spore appearing in his hand.
Since acquiring Hozuki Castle, Ryou had no shortage of spores; people died every day in Hozuki Castle, and they were all heinous criminals.
Being able to contribute to Ryou's growth was their merit.
Ryou implanted a spore into Yamato's Earth Cursed Seal.
Yamato tried to activate the Cursed Seal, but all the chakra in his body was absorbed by Ryou.
Furthermore, Yamato had been implanted with the Cursed Seal for a very short time; he could only enter State One and couldn't access the full power of State Two.
Even if he could enter State Two, he was no match for Ryou.
Ryou possessed Wood Release enhanced by White Zetsu cells; this Wood Release naturally had the ability to absorb chakra, making it even more terrifying than the Wood Release of the original Hashirama.
It was a complete suppression of Yamato's Wood Release.
Ryou implanted the spore into Yamato's Cursed Seal. Orochimaru's revival Cursed Seals weren't limited to just the Heaven Cursed Seal.
It was just that the Heaven Cursed Seal was special because it contained a soul fragment of Orochimaru, while the other Cursed Seals contained Orochimaru's chakra.
Calling it a soul fragment felt a bit out of place for the setting; it could be viewed as Orochimaru's special chakra.
After Ryou's spore was implanted, a white snake crawled out from Yamato's Earth Cursed Seal.
This was also a clone of Orochimaru, though not as complete as Female Orochimaru.
Ryou stepped on the white snake and then tossed it to Female Orochimaru, controlling her to absorb it.
After Female Orochimaru absorbed the white snake, her soul grew slightly stronger.
Chakra is a combination of spiritual energy and physical energy; it also contains the essence of the soul.
If Female Orochimaru could obtain more of Orochimaru's cells or chakra, she could replace the original.
Besides Orochimaru's chakra, there was one more pure substance in the Cursed Seal—Jugo's bodily fluids.
To put it more elegantly, it was Jugo's Sage Enzyme.
This enzyme could autonomously absorb natural energy from the surroundings.
Ryou took this enzyme for himself; he contacted the spores and had them transfer Jugo's Sage Enzyme over, concentrating it within his own Cursed Seal.
Ryou touched his neck. After absorbing some of Jugo's enzyme, the efficiency with which his Cursed Seal absorbed natural energy increased significantly.
This was a triple win.
Female Orochimaru gained Orochimaru's chakra, so she won. Yamato had his Cursed Seal removed by Ryou, eliminating the risk Orochimaru posed, so he won too.
Ryou's Cursed Seal obtained Jugo's Sage Enzyme, so he won even more.
A world where only Orochimaru loses had been born!
Among the three winners, Yamato won the most.
Because his Hashirama cells were now in their complete form.
Why say that?
Because Ryou's spores were functional Hashirama cells even stronger than White Zetsu cells.
They could provide Yamato with a massive amount of chakra, as well as all chakra attributes, absorption, sensory abilities, organic fusion, autonomous healing...
All of Yamato's shortcomings had been patched.
There was only one small drawback: his life and death now depended on Ryou's will.
The current Yamato was like a mini-Hashirama. If the spores didn't suppress him, the Wood Release he performed would be the complete version.
At his limit, performing Deep Forest Emergence would be no problem.
But Wood Dragon and Wood Golem would depend on Yamato's own base stats.
The spores only provided a bonus based on the host's Shinobi stats.
An ordinary person couldn't become an elite rivaling a Jonin just by receiving Ryou's spores.
So, Yamato won the most, he just didn't know how much he had won!
He looked at Ryou with a very angry gaze.
Ryou ignored Yamato's gaze and looked toward Anko, walking over. He wanted to obtain the Sage Enzyme contained within Anko's Heaven Cursed Seal.
Anko had been traumatized by Ryou. Seeing him approach, she hid behind Female Orochimaru in terror.
Ryou used a vine to pull Anko directly to him.
Anko cried out for help, "Master Orochimaru!"
"Anko!"
Female Orochimaru rushed forward, but another hand seal from Ryou sent her back into her previous state of tremors.
Female Orochimaru could only watch helplessly as Ryou harmed Anko, her body shaking as she made a weak threat. "Uchiha Ryou, if you dare hurt Anko, I'll fight you to the death."
Ryou looked at Female Orochimaru with disdain. "The weak have no right to choose how they die. That is reality."
"Uchiha Ryou—!"
Yamato wanted to break free from Ryou's vines and rush forward to save Anko. The enhancement from the spores was visible to the naked eye.
Yamato easily snapped the vines on his body.
He formed hand seals, and sharp branches extended from his hands as he charged.
Ryou formed a seal, directly causing the spores inside Yamato to release an electric current.
Yamato was electrocuted until he collapsed, becoming a useless Yamato.
Candy watched from the side and shook her head. "Trying to be sweet only to get served!"
Ryou then contacted the spores in Anko's body and absorbed Jugo's enzyme from within them.
Now, Ryou's Cursed Seal was no different from the Heaven Cursed Seal; he could enter State Two.
But Orochimaru was bringing people to chase them, so they couldn't stay any longer.
"Let's go!"
A few minutes after Ryou and the others left Tagitsuhime's trial grounds, Orochimaru arrived with his people.
Orochimaru's expression was somewhat troubled; he could sense that the spores he had implanted in Anko and Yamato were gone.
Either their Cursed Seals had been removed and they were captured by Ryou, or—they were dead!
Orochimaru was very worried about the second possibility.
It wasn't that Orochimaru had no feelings.
It was just that a snake's feelings are very faint; snakes are cold-blooded animals.
They lack the emotional centers of mammals and don't experience complex emotions like parental love, friendship, romance, guilt, or attachment.
Most female snakes leave immediately after laying eggs and do not raise their offspring. When members of the same species meet, it is more about competition or mating; there is no 'sense of companionship'.
Orochimaru's emotions were thin, but once he did feel something, it was hard to forget.
Just like his parents; after they died in battle, Orochimaru lost his whole world.
So Orochimaru told himself not to develop feelings again, for feelings were a burden.
Sending Anko to participate in the Sage trial of Ryūchi Cave meant he had already abandoned her.
Since he had abandoned her, there was no need to continue having feelings for her.
Orochimaru wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and put on a cold smile.
Tobirama saw Orochimaru's actions and was somewhat puzzled. Could this snake actually cry?