Chapter 595: Orochimaru’s Method of Solving Problems

Chapter 595: Chapter 595: Orochimaru’s Method of Solving Problems

"Damn it..."

Danzo’s expression grew increasingly ferocious and twisted as he knelt on the ritual altar. Like a drowning man, he clawed wildly at his surroundings, desperately searching for a lifeline that simply did not exist!

The low, inhuman growls emerging from his throat resembled the roars of an evil spirit from the underworld, sending chills down the spines of everyone who heard them.

Undoubtedly, with Danzo stuck at the soul fusion stage, the progress of his physical fusion had also come to a standstill. This was evident from the Mangekyo Sharingan in his eye sockets, which showed no further signs of change.

After all, those newly awakened Mangekyo Sharingan were the most direct reflection of the fusion of chakra natures within Danzo’s body.

Whether chakra natures of different attributes were fusing within his body, how efficiently they were fusing, how quickly the fusion was progressing, and so on—all of these factors would be directly reflected in his Mangekyo Sharingan.

It could be said that this newly awakened pair of Mangekyo Sharingan was the most accurate indicator of Danzo’s physical fusion progress!

"Is this as far as he goes?"

Below the altar, Kagami sighed inwardly.

Now that the ritual had reached this stage, even he could not quite tell whether he should feel disappointed or breathe a long sigh of relief.

After all, although Danzo’s 2% chance of surviving the ritual was extremely low, the possibility still existed.

If Danzo truly had extraordinary luck and somehow managed to survive the Kekkei Genkai Fusion Ritual, then even if he ended up becoming a defective product like Hiruko, his strength would still increase explosively.

Not to mention, he now possessed a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan with unknown abilities.

Therefore, if Danzo survived, Kagami would be the one facing a headache next.

"Phew. The improvements to the Chimera Technique were successful, and there don’t seem to be any problems with the ritual’s setup either. This trial run has been more successful than I imagined!

"However, the issue of the new Chimera Bud suddenly going berserk still requires further investigation..."

After letting out a long breath, Kagami, who had been on edge throughout the ritual, began drawing his conclusions.

Overall, he was satisfied with this trial run. During the early and middle stages of the ritual, namely the devouring and fusion processes, everything had proceeded according to his plan. The entire process had gone remarkably smoothly.

This undoubtedly meant that his improvements to the Chimera Technique, the arrangement of the ritual, and everything else were correct. He could directly replicate them and apply them to himself.

Unlike Kagami, who stood quietly in place, waiting for Danzo to die so he could seize the opportunity to retrieve the Mangekyo Sharingan, the Root shinobi were growing increasingly frantic as they watched Danzo teeter on the brink of collapse atop the altar.

Root’s chief researcher even rushed over to Orochimaru and shouted, "Orochimaru, hurry up and think of something!"

Orochimaru kept his gaze firmly fixed on the altar as he replied, "Don’t panic. Wait a little longer..."

Hearing this, Kagami immediately frowned.

Anyone with eyes could see that Danzo’s current condition was beyond saving. Kagami was somewhat curious as to why Orochimaru could remain so composed, as though he wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

There were only two possible explanations.

Either Orochimaru, like himself, had already figured out the reason for Danzo’s failure and was therefore unsurprised, calmly accepting that the ritual had failed.

Or Orochimaru still had a trump card he had yet to play, and the ritual had not reached its conclusion.

Just then, Danzo’s twisted expression suddenly froze. A bewildered look appeared on his face as he muttered, "W-What’s going on? Where am I?"

Whether it was his tone of voice, expression, or mannerisms, the Danzo standing on the altar no longer seemed like Danzo himself.

Kagami narrowed his eyes, wondering, "Don’t tell me Danzo’s soul was defeated by the other souls he fused into his body, causing him to lose control of his own body?"

At that moment, the corners of Orochimaru’s mouth curled into a grin. His hands rapidly formed seals as he shouted, "Release!"

In an instant, dark markings erupted from within Danzo’s body. In the blink of an eye, they spread across his entire body, making it look as though he had covered himself in tattoos.

"A Cursed Mark!? When did he implant it? Could it have been during the modification surgery?"

Kagami immediately recognized the markings covering Danzo’s body. They were the Cursed Mark Orochimaru had developed based on Jugo’s unique constitution, containing both Orochimaru’s own chakra and natural energy.

At the same time, he instantly realized that Orochimaru must have secretly tampered with Danzo’s body during the previous modification surgery, implanting this Cursed Mark!

After all, human body modification was the one field in which neither Kagami nor Root’s chief researcher possessed sufficient expertise, making it difficult for them to effectively supervise Orochimaru.

With the activation of the Cursed Mark, new changes appeared on the altar.

Although Danzo’s expression remained vacant, the Mangekyo Sharingan in his eye sockets began undergoing further changes. Within their scarlet pupils, the black rings forming the gear-shaped patterns slowly started rotating once more.

"The fusion of chakra natures has resumed?!"

Kagami was startled.

Immediately afterward, realization dawned on him. He cast a wary glance at Orochimaru, who stood not far away.

"Tch, I underestimated him. Looks like he also realized there was a problem with soul fusion!"

Judging from Orochimaru’s secret implantation of the Cursed Mark into Danzo, it was clear that he had, to some extent, recognized the problem of soul fusion.

And the solution he had come up with was to introduce natural energy, using its ability to erode ordinary chakra to forcibly destroy the chakra carrying the souls. Without the chakra sustaining them, those souls would naturally dissipate into nothingness.

"So this bastard intends to solve the problem of soul fusion by destroying every single soul. What a madman!"

If all the souls were destroyed, there would naturally be no problem of soul fusion to begin with.

After figuring out Orochimaru’s intentions, Kagami was both shocked and impressed. This kind of approach to solving a problem was probably something only Orochimaru could come up with.

The subsequent developments unfolded exactly as Kagami had predicted.

With the introduction of natural energy, all the souls mixed within Danzo’s body began suffering its corrosive effects. As the interference caused by the conflicting souls gradually diminished, the stalled fusion ritual began progressing once more.

At this moment, the Mangekyo Sharingan in Danzo’s eye sockets underwent another noticeable transformation.

The edges of their gear-shaped patterns grew increasingly sharp, resembling jagged saw teeth embedded within the scarlet pupils.

"Th-This... Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!?"

Witnessing this scene, even Kagami, who had remained composed throughout the ritual, could not help revealing an astonished expression.

After resolving the problem of soul fusion, this Bloodline Fusion Ritual seemed to be developing in an uncontrollable direction.

Orochimaru, who was likewise staring intently at Danzo’s eyes, now wore an expression of fanatical excitement as he murmured:

"So the Mangekyo Sharingan isn’t the final stage of the Sharingan after all..."