Transforming Orochimaru

"Orochimaru is back?" Yota raised his head from the archives. "Looks like he achieved his goal. He should have brought the Star back too, right?"

At Yota’s side, Shizune said with an odd expression, "It wasn’t just the Star he brought back. He brought the entire Star Ninja Village with him! They’re preparing to join the Sound Ninja Village now!"

Yota was instantly dumbfounded. Well then, it seemed Orochimaru was not only skilled at abducting children—he was no less capable when it came to recruiting adults! He had actually lured an entire shinobi village over!

Of course, Yota guessed it was also due to the Star Ninja Village’s unique circumstances. After practicing the Peacock Method, their ninjas did not have particularly long lifespans. They must have been persuaded by Orochimaru because they wanted to resolve that drawback.

Yota had also been getting restless lately. For more than a month, aside from reading and training, he had barely left the underground base. He felt like he was about to grow moldy. So he went to see Orochimaru and the others.

Naturally, he had another purpose as well: to ask Orochimaru about the many questions he had accumulated.

There was no one he could discuss this material with. Only Shizune, who was proficient in Medical Ninjutsu, could exchange a few thoughts with him. However, Shizune’s personality left her uninterested in cruel human experimentation, so Yota had built up quite a few questions by now.

When he went outside, he happened to see Lady Tsunade, who had somehow already undone her seal, examining the Star Ninja Village ninjas’ physical conditions.

It was not particularly surprising that Tsunade had broken the seal. After all, Yota’s Sealing Jutsu was only mediocre, and he had never studied it seriously. Besides, Yota had never truly intended to keep her restrained forever.

Tsunade herself was a master of Sealing Jutsu. Her attainments could be seen from the Yin Seal alone.

Still, after breaking the seal, Tsunade had not left. That surprised Yota quite a bit. He had no idea what she was thinking.

"This radiation is truly strange… It doesn’t just affect Chakra. It causes intense mutations in the cells and internal organs… But these mutations are completely disorderly, so most of the results are deterioration."

As Tsunade examined them, she muttered to herself. Orochimaru, standing nearby, showed an interested expression. "Most of the results are deterioration? So there are beneficial mutations as well?"

"That’s right. This Star Shadow from the Star Ninja Village is a beneficial mutation. He’s even older than my grandfather. Being able to live nearly a hundred years is entirely thanks to the Star!"

"Ha, Star Shadow?" Yota said, sounding almost mocking. The leader of such a tiny shinobi village could actually be called a Shadow?

Orochimaru licked his lips and said with a faint smile, "He is indeed the Star Shadow. He probably had that title long before the Five Great Shinobi Villages were established."

"I see." Yota nodded. No wonder the leader of such a small shinobi village dared to call himself that. There had been no Five Great Shinobi Villages back then. Still, considering that this Third Star Shadow was nearly a hundred years old, the Star Ninja Village had likely been founded much earlier than he had imagined.

Perhaps Hashirama Senju had even been inspired by the Star Shadow, which was why he gave Konoha’s leader the title of Shadow!

But if that was true, then the imitation had truly overshadowed the original. The Star Ninja Village’s ninjas probably did not even dare mention the title Star Shadow when they went outside!

Yota did not care much about such matters. Instead, he directly asked Orochimaru, "What about the Peacock Method? Can the Star be used on a large scale?"

"Of course." Orochimaru smiled. "The disorderly mutations in the cells are nearly impossible to repair through ordinary methods, but that should not be a problem for your transformative Bloodline ability, should it?"

"As for the Peacock Method, there is nothing particularly mysterious about it. It simply changes the nature of Chakra, then uses simple shaping techniques."

Yota nodded, but he remained deeply interested in the Star. The reason was that it bore great similarities to Susanoo.

Both were Chakra constructs. Susanoo far surpassed the Peacock Method in every respect, of course. Whether in durability or destructive power, the Peacock Method was utterly incomparable.

Susanoo was based on pure Yin Release Chakra, naturally making it vastly superior to ordinary Chakra altered by the Star’s energy.

Yet there was one aspect in which the Peacock Method surpassed Susanoo: flexibility.

The Peacock Method could grow large or small, take any shape, and even produce wings to fly. Susanoo, however, had only one fixed form. Its only variation was Majestic Attire Susanoo. Compared to the Peacock Method’s endless transformations, it was far inferior.

Yota’s demands were not high. If he could completely compress Susanoo onto his body and turn it into a suit of Majestic Attire Susanoo like personal armor, merging it with his Pirate World abilities, he would be completely satisfied.

Well… Yota might have felt that his demands were modest, but if Madara Uchiha were resurrected and heard them, he would probably be left staring blankly.

If a massive Susanoo could be compressed into the size of an ordinary suit of armor, how high would its defense be? How great a boost would it give to one’s own strength?

If such a wonderful thing were possible, Madara Uchiha would have accomplished it himself long ago. Would Yota have had any chance to think of it?

Previously, Yota had been completely at a loss when it came to shrinking Susanoo. Now that he had the Peacock Method and the Star to draw upon, he naturally wanted to give it a try.

Of course, things had to be done step by step. He already had many research projects on hand, along with some Akatsuki missions. Still, he could entrust those matters to Orochimaru and his subordinates.

"I’ve brought you the Star and the Peacock Method. When will you fulfill the request you promised me?" Orochimaru looked at Yota and asked.

Yota casually extended one hand. Strange black mist spread out, instantly sweeping Orochimaru into the Dark Space. A moment later, the transformation was complete.

After emerging from the Dark Space again, Orochimaru stretched out his hand, seemingly unable to feel anything tangible. Yet sensing the Chakra within him surge severalfold, along with the Natural Energy constantly flowing into his body from outside, he knew very clearly that he was now completely different from before.

Of course, even after the transformation, Orochimaru still could not compare to Yota. After all, Yota possessed the physical qualities of the Pirate World. With that level of capacity, the amount of Hashirama Cells he could absorb, as well as his own bodily energy, far exceeded Orochimaru’s.