How could this investment be called a scam?

When the White Serpent Sage sheds her skin, the scales she leaves behind?

Orochimaru’s eyes flickered. He made no attempt to hide his interest, staring fixedly at the palm of the Snake Princess before him.

Such vast, pure natural energy held an irresistible allure to him now that he was cultivating the White Serpent sage art. Indeed, the sight of that scale stirred in him a desire to seize it at once, unwilling to leave it in her hands even for a moment longer.

Takasumi, holding the White Serpent scale, saw Orochimaru’s covetous expression and merely smiled without concern, for she herself felt deep reluctance to part with it.

Over the course of a thousand years, the White Serpent Sage had peeled away her own body layer by layer like an onion, shedding her skin more than a hundred times, yet not every shedding left behind a white scale; in total, there were scarcely more than ten.

Most of the time, as the skin came away, the natural energy running wild would petrify it on its own.

And in the last three hundred years, as the natural energy within the White Serpent Sage had become ever more densely compressed, the shedding process had grown increasingly difficult. Not every stretch of skin could come off cleanly; in some places, adhesion even occurred.

The White Serpent scale was a byproduct of addressing such complications.

It was of no use to the White Serpent Sage herself. Indeed, if it were not removed, it would be neither pleasing to the eye nor conducive to the growth of new skin, and it would hinder the next shedding. But to others who cultivated the White Serpent sage art, it was undoubtedly a rare treasure.

Because of the difference in understanding and aesthetics, when Orochimaru saw the scale, he did not think of it as the sort of dead skin humans shed. He only felt that with this thing assisting him, even if he left the Dragon Cave, his sage art training would proceed twice as fast with half the effort.

Seeing Orochimaru’s greed, the White Serpent Sage did not show disgust. She gave a slight nod. “You already have a method for using natural energy to alter your body’s constitution. With this, you can save yourself a great deal of trouble.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Sage.”

Orochimaru accepted the white scale from Takasumi and carefully put it away. Then he said in a measured voice, “May I ask what the Sage wishes of me, in return for granting me such convenience?”

He was pretending not to understand. The White Serpent Sage coveted the power of the First Hokage’s cells, hoping to obtain a transformation through them; Orochimaru knew that very well.

But whether that could be done or not, no one could say, and if it could not be done, then he would remain indebted to the White Serpent Sage indefinitely.

As for owing a debt, Orochimaru did not care. What mattered was that it would make it inconvenient to keep extracting things from her.

So the terms of the exchange could not be glossed over or left vague. They had to be made clear.

You, White Serpent Sage, want me to help you transform, but is this little bit really enough? It needs to be worth more... If not, then you must state a goal that does not exceed this reward.

Taking something impossible, or difficult, and breaking it into several small steps, then using the interim results to lure in investment... Orochimaru was already very used to that sort of thing.

“…”

Hearing Orochimaru’s question, the White Serpent Sage took a puff from her pipe. After a brief pause, she said slowly, “What I need you to do is not difficult. Perform that same operation once more on a gray giant python. However, this time, you cannot rely on my power.”

The White Serpent Sage saw it very clearly: the reason the gray giant python had died suddenly was the rampage of natural energy within its body.

And that was also the threat she herself might have to face.

If the thing could not absorb natural energy, then with her own physical abilities she could easily suppress it.

“Well... all right.”

Orochimaru was surprised by the White Serpent Sage’s discernment. He could not help licking his lips, and for a moment could not think of a suitable excuse. Under her gaze, he could only nod in agreement.

But in truth, he was not without a solution. From perfect fusion at the cellular level to partial cellular fusion... he could simply downgrade the First Hokage cell fusion serum.

Compared with requiring an increase in technical skill, this kind of thing was actually easier. After all, what it reflected in the individual was merely a smaller degree of improvement, and some time would still be needed to develop it.

Honestly, if Uchiha Jinzhu continued developing it and steadily strengthening his physique, he might even reach the level of Yamato’s wood release.

Not reached it? That absolutely had nothing to do with his surgery. It was an issue of personal effort—he simply was not ambitious enough.

The same reasoning could be applied to the gray giant python.

The White Serpent Sage did not know the trick behind it. Seeing Orochimaru agree, she drew on her pipe and transformed back into the image of an old grandmother, settling once more onto the cushion at the center of the seat.

Orochimaru, meanwhile, sat cross-legged in meditation for a quarter of an hour. Once he had replenished the sage chakra within his body to its limit, he rose and walked toward Takasumi.

He was very curious about the sage art the three snake princesses had previously used to penetrate Manda’s body. Such a technique, one that could manipulate the power within another’s body, was not to mention useful in combat—more importantly, it had immense research value.

If he could learn it, there would be far more he could make happen with experimental subjects in the future.

Takasumi was not averse to helping Orochimaru. He had already left his mark on the summoning scroll, and with the White Serpent Sage as his backing, their dealings would only grow more frequent in the future. Naturally, she did not wish to make an enemy of him now.

Besides, as the eldest of the snake princesses, she did not share the White Serpent Sage’s temperament. She was truly getting bored of staying cooped up in the Dragon Cave.

Under Takasumi’s explanation, Orochimaru soon formed a clear understanding of that sage art.

“Shapeshifting Body,” it was called—not only the name of the art, but also what they had distilled from countless shed skins through long experience.

It could be said that without this sage art, the three snake princesses would not be in human form as they were now; they would likely still be measured by the coil.

It was extremely powerful, but precisely because of that, it could not be used directly like “Inorganic Rebirth.”

The reason was that this art did not merely control outward form; it affected internal change even more profoundly.

And whether the White Serpent Sage or the three snake princesses, in essence they were snakes, no matter how human the latter might appear on the surface.

In other words, this sage art needed some improvement.

After a moment of thought, Orochimaru took paper and brush from his scroll, wrote the four large characters for “Shapeshifting Body,” and began recording what Takasumi had said.

The other two snake princesses were unwilling to be left behind and came over as well. The three snakes, like three hundred ducks, began chattering away.

Orochimaru’s brow knit as he listened.

To be frank, the three snake princesses had never been to school. Even though they had lived for hundreds of years, they had been confined within the Dragon Cave all this time; how could one expect them to be clear in logic or concise in speech?

This sage art of shapeshifting body... even though it was a sage technique they could perform with ease, it was ultimately only the product of time and experience. When they described it, they could hardly identify any key points, and their vocabulary consisted mostly of “I feel that...”

After filling more than a dozen pages with this flood of information, Orochimaru felt he would learn nothing more by continuing to ask. He flexed his wrist and stopped recording.

Meeting the three snake princesses’ unwilling, lingering gazes, Orochimaru’s face stiffened. He forced a smile.

“Thank you.”