Indeed, upon hearing the words "Wood Release," Orochimaru's pupils contracted slightly.
Seeing this, Sora no longer hesitated and retrieved a sealed glass container containing Yamato's cell tissue from his ninja tool pouch.
"This is..."
Orochimaru's gaze was instantly drawn to the container. As a top-tier biologist and forbidden jutsu researcher, he immediately sensed the unique power characteristic contained within that tissue.
"This is the only surviving cell tissue from a successful Wood Release experiment subject."
Sora calmly stated the name of his bargaining chip.
He deliberately emphasized "only" and "Wood Release." These two words struck Orochimaru's heart like a heavy hammer.
Orochimaru's breathing hitched slightly for a moment. He looked at Sora, his eyes shifting uncertainly.
A Wood Release experiment subject... a successful one...
This information held immense attraction for him.
If what Sora said was true...
But he did not agree immediately. Instead, he slowly, step by step, began to walk towards Sora.
His footsteps were light, landing on the leaf-covered ground with almost no sound.
However, as he drew closer, a chilling, viscous chakra began to permeate the air, like invisible tentacles reaching out to entangle Sora.
"Information on a Wood Release experiment subject... is indeed very valuable." Orochimaru's voice remained steady, but the light in his serpentine eyes grew increasingly dangerous. "However, Sora-kun... I am very curious, how did you learn of this?"
"And, compared to that uncertain information..."
"Sora-kun, your body is the truly most fascinating 'treasure'!"
Orochimaru was now less than five meters from Sora. Before his words even finished, Orochimaru's arm suddenly elongated as if it had lost its bones, his fingers forming a claw, shooting towards Sora's throat with lightning speed!
A sneak attack! A sudden assault without any warning!
Orochimaru's abrupt strike was incredibly fast, arriving before Sora in an instant!
However, Sora had never let his guard down against Orochimaru from the very beginning!
Almost the moment Orochimaru's chakra showed abnormal fluctuation, the chakra within Sora's body erupted like a floodgate opening!
"Eight Gates Released Formation. Fifth Gate, Gate of Limit, Open!"
Boom!
Vast chakra mixed with vigorous life energy surged from within his body, forming a green energy steam that enveloped Sora entirely. His aura abruptly rose several levels!
Utilizing the explosive speed brought by opening the Gate of Limit, Sora's figure slid backward like a ghost!
Swoosh—!
Orochimaru's venomous claw grazed past Sora's throat.
"Quick reaction... Sora-kun." Missing his strike did not surprise Orochimaru. Instead, he extended his long tongue to lick his lips, the interest in his golden vertical pupils growing even stronger. "It seems you have been guarding against me all along."
Sora's eyes were cold, but his mind raced.
'He attacked after all! I knew this poisonous snake wouldn't engage in a straightforward trade! He mentioned my body just now... has he discovered something?'
Though internally on high alert, Sora's expression remained unchanged. He asked in a deep voice,
"Lord Orochimaru, what is the meaning of this? Is this your attitude towards a trading partner?"
"Keh keh keh..."
Orochimaru let out a low, hoarse laugh. His posture straightened slowly, but his chilling aura locked onto Sora.
"A trade? Of course, that is possible. But I suddenly feel there might be a more direct way to obtain what I want..."
His gaze was palpable, sweeping over Sora's body as if trying to see through him inside and out.
"Sora-kun, you hide it well... but your blood has betrayed you."
Blood?!
Sora's heart jolted violently. He instantly remembered the mouthful of blood he had intentionally forced out during his battle with Pakura to feign injury!
'To make it realistic, I did spit blood onto the ground at that time... I never expected this guy to have secretly collected it?!'
He cursed himself internally. The battlefield situation was chaotic. Although he had tried to be careful, he had still left a trace.
Seeing the slight change in Sora's eyes, Orochimaru knew he had hit the mark. His smile grew even more eerie.
"It seems you remember. Yes, that little 'gift' you left behind during your fight with Pakura."
"I have studied your blood sample carefully. It's truly astonishing vitality... incredibly vigorous, far exceeding ordinary people in cell activity. Even..." A flicker of fanaticism passed through Orochimaru's eyes. "Even in terms of pure life energy, it is not far off from the First Hokage's cell samples I have researched!"
Sora was profoundly shaken internally.
The life level enhancement brought by the Azure Dragon Fruit had indeed been detected!
Although not on the level of Senju Hashirama's Sage Body from being the Asura transmigrant, it was still far beyond the scope of an ordinary ninja!
Orochimaru continued, his tone carrying a note of inquiry and amusement.
"However, what's very interesting is that I found the blood seemed to have been scorched by a high-temperature energy. Though very slight, it indeed damaged the integrity of some cells, greatly reducing their activity and contained life energy... You did this yourself, didn't you, Sora-kun? The moment you spat the blood, you treated it with fire in your throat, similar to the Great Fireball technique?"
"I must say, you are very cautious. But clearly, you underestimated your own cells' resistance to fire, and you underestimated my detection methods."
Orochimaru stepped forward, the powerful pressure rolling towards Sora like a tide.
"A processed, inferior product has such potential. Then your true body... what a wonderful 'specimen' it must be! Compared to Wood Release cells of uncertain authenticity that still require effort to cultivate."
"You, Sora-kun, are the most readily accessible treasure right before my eyes!"
Before his words finished, Orochimaru moved again!
His body twisted as if boneless, attacking Sora from bizarre angles that defied human ergonomics in a furious storm of assaults!
His arms and legs elongated like rubber, striking at Sora's vital points from all directions. Simultaneously, he continuously spat out dense swarms of snakes from his mouth, disrupting Sora's vision and movement.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
"Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid!"
Facing Orochimaru's unpredictable and bizarre attacks, Sora pushed the speed and power of the Gate of Limit to the extreme. Combining it with Super Strength, his fists and feet hammered like heavy maces, constantly blasting the attacking snake swarms while evading the venomous sneak attacks with high-speed movement.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
Sora fought while retreating, analyzing the situation rapidly in his mind.
'So part of my physical secret is exposed after all... This guy Orochimaru is too sensitive to life energy!'
'His current attacks are more about probing, trying to force out more of my cards or confirm the uniqueness of my body.'
'This cannot continue! I must display sufficient strength to make him understand I am not a soft target he can easily handle. Only then can the trade proceed!'
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━