"If you don't mind, could you tell me about 'my' past?"
"I'm really very curious."
Orochimaru moved his body, approaching Sasuke and Yamato across the distorted ground.
Strangely enough,
At this moment, the ground, curtains, and tablecloths had all reverted to their original materials.
Those seemingly soft 'fabrics' had now turned into oddly-shaped metal constructs.
"So, now you're speechless... It seems I overestimated—"
Orochimaru couldn't finish his sentence.
Because the moment he got close, Sasuke's beast-like claw had firmly grasped his head.
Sasuke's eyes were now filled with violence… he was struggling to control the destructive instinct raging in his heart.
"...It seems your willpower is even stronger than that of this Beasts Pirates' heir."
Surprisingly, even with his head fully enveloped by Sasuke's palm, Orochimaru's voice still came out clearly.
The white serpent tail that had been swung as a weapon earlier slowly raised, and Orochimaru's facial features gradually grew on it.
However, perhaps wary of Sasuke's Dojutsu, Orochimaru didn't create eye sockets on this new face.
"What... exactly are you."
Sasuke forced the words out with difficulty.
Under his gaze, Orochimaru seemed to melt into a flowing mass of flesh and blood, slipping through his fingers and falling to the ground.
What remained in Sasuke's hand was another person.
If other members of the Donquixote Family were here, they would recognize this puppet-like figure, now devoid of life, as Diamante, who had been controlled by Orochimaru earlier.
All the special abilities Orochimaru had displayed just now had relied on Diamante's body, that of a Devil Fruit user.
Yamato's attack was devastating… even her father Kaido would be dazed if hit unprepared, let alone someone like Diamante.
Even with Orochimaru enhancing Diamante's body further using the gas, he still couldn't withstand that blow.
"Me?"
Orochimaru seemed a bit troubled by Sasuke's question.
He thought for a few seconds, but ultimately could only shake his head.
"To be honest, I don't know what I am either."
"I don't know who I am, nor my past."
"I can't even define whether I'm in a 'living' state!"
The white flesh completely detached from Diamante's corpse, finally coalescing on the ground and reforming into a white-scaled, human-faced serpent.
"So, that's why I want you to tell me, Sasuke."
"Who am I, exactly?"
As he said this, Orochimaru suddenly lunged his head forward, aiming to bite Sasuke's neck.
Seeing this, Sasuke immediately wanted to dodge, but his body felt as if it were filled with seawater, unable to move.
But this was different from Seastone.
Both he and Yamato still had parts of their bodies in beast form.
This indicated they were only temporarily unable to control their bodies, not that they couldn't use their abilities.
Though uncertain what Orochimaru intended, the general rule was not to let him succeed.
A flash of sharpness crossed Sasuke's already clouding eyes. Feeling the rose-scented sweetness in the surrounding air, he clenched his teeth fiercely.
Then, blue-black flames spewed from the gaps between his teeth.
At first, just a few sparks, but upon contact with the high-concentration gas around them, these sparks spread outward at an astonishing speed.
Boom!!!!
All living beings in Dressrosa momentarily halted their actions at this deafening roar.
Chinjao, in his human-serpent form, threw Pica, who was already beaten to near-death, into the water and looked toward the towering castle's peak—
—No, there was no castle there now.
The castle that had stood since the Donquixote Family began ruling this country, for over nine hundred years, had been completely leveled to the ground in that explosion.
Simultaneously.
"I... I changed back!"
A pirate-like man stared incredulously at his arm, which had returned to human form, and cried out in delight.
There were many like him.
Those who had been turned into toys and enslaved in Dressrosa for years, even decades, all returned to human form at this moment.
By now, the gas had mostly dissipated, so they didn't immediately get reinfected and turn into other monsters after returning to human form.
But this wasn't entirely good news.
"Ah!! Help me!"
"Kill him! Aaah!!"
The snake-people hadn't been interested in the toys, but when they turned back into delicious-smelling humans, these predators immediately shifted their targets.
In their instincts, preying on humans took priority over cannibalism.
The pirates, Marines, and agents who had just regained their human forms, barely having time to adapt to their original bodies, were pounced on by snake-people and met their end being torn apart.
Of course, not everyone fared so poorly.
"Hah!"
Kyros, wielding a longsword picked up from a corner, effortlessly dispatched the other snake-people in the colosseum's preparation room.
As a non-Devil Fruit user who hadn't gone to sea and didn't know Haki, Kyros's strength among ordinary warriors was peak.
These beasts, physically powerful but relying only on instinct to hunt, were no match for him.
Just look at Rebecca.
Even with only the Toy Soldier as her instructor, Rebecca had trained to possess considerable swordsmanship skills.
But speaking of Rebecca.
At this moment, she stood rigidly in place, snake-eyes fixed unmovingly on Kyros.
Actually, she had remained like this from the very beginning, but now, the part of her gaze that was human gradually began to dominate.
"Rebecca..."
Kyros seemed to sense Rebecca's change. He planted his sword aside and softly called his daughter's name.
Memories, once sealed away, regained their freedom. The reflection in her eyes grew clearer and clearer.
A tear slid from Rebecca's eye.
"...Da... dad..."
She was doing her best to control her vocal cords, but the words still came out somewhat unclear.
But for a father, it was enough.
"Rebecca! My Rebecca!"
Even when his leg was severed, even when he was turned into a toy, the strongest gladiator Kyros, who had never shed a tear, now wept as if a dam had burst.
Without any hesitation, he rushed forward and tightly embraced his daughter.
"...Daddy... Daddy!"
Snakes don't shed tears, but daughters do.
…
"Cough... cough..."
A slender figure crawled out from the rubble.
He... or rather, she, let out painful coughs. The arms and most of the body of this figure were rapidly changing from 'snow' back to flesh and blood.
"Unbelievable..."
Orochimaru manipulated this body belonging to Monet to stand up, looking toward the secret chamber that had turned to ashes. Presumably, Sugar, the user of the Hobi Hobi no Mi, had perished in that great explosion.
'A bit unfortunate... but never mind. At worst, I can just search for the Hobi Hobi no Mi out on the seas later.'
'But this guy called Sasuke really has a death wish, daring to ignite a flame in such an environment.'
'What was meant to be a means to restrain him nearly got me killed as well.'
Orochimaru's understanding of the personalities of sea warriors was still insufficient.
That's right, the current Sasuke already had the qualifications to be called a sea warrior.
"However... even such an explosion couldn't kill you? Truly exaggerated."
Orochimaru turned to look. On the site of the castle, now a crater from the explosion, two figures still stood.
One was Yamato, whose body had begun to show some subtle 'serpentification' but seemed mostly unharmed.
Serpentification combined with her originally formidable body allowed her to withstand that massive explosion with little issue.
This made Orochimaru's eyes gleam.
This was different from his evasion using the Yuki Yuki no Mi's Logia intangibility… this was genuine, hard endurance.
'This kind of body... is so very tempting.'
Orochimaru's heart was filled with greed for Yamato's body… in the literal, physical sense.
But at the same time, he also greatly desired the other person standing there.
Tap... tap...
Footsteps trailing flames extended outward from the explosion's epicenter. Sasuke limped toward Orochimaru.
On his body, Calamity Flames directly turned him into a human-shaped torch, madly healing his injuries as if they cost nothing.
If Yamato survived thanks to her formidable physique, then Sasuke relied purely on technique.
The gas he inhaled exploded inside him, nearly killing him outright.
But at the exact moment the explosion hit, the drug's effect binding his limbs finally dissipated.
In an instant, [Body Revival Technique], [Regeneration Ability], and [Susanoo Armor] were all deployed simultaneously.
Sasuke withstood the explosion at point-blank... no, at negative distance.
Unlike natural Chakra powerhouses like Karin and Naruto with their massive reserves, Sasuke's usual Chakra Reserve was insufficient to sustain the three forbidden technique like Body Revival Technique.
Only in that earlier situation was Sasuke forced to use forbidden technique to cling to life.
Calamity Flame could heal, but it couldn't resurrect.
He had to ensure he wouldn't die in the explosion.
But now... it was his turn.
Feeling his shattered body healing rapidly and the power rapidly swelling within his flesh, Sasuke looked toward Orochimaru in the distance, his gaze filled with killing intent.
'As expected, with such a treacherous individual, you absolutely cannot give them any chance.'