Orochimaru stepped forward, never pausing for a moment. Manda's heart sank.
If White Snake Sage wanted to stop him, she could have spoken up already. What could be hidden from her in Ryuuchi Cave?
Manda knew it had lost its mind, actually saying such desperate nonsense.
But what could it do? Its proud strength was useless against Orochimaru's trickery. It was captured without even a fight.
No, even if they did fight, it wouldn't be a match for Orochimaru.
Manda struggled to lift its snake head, its gaze passing over Orochimaru, looking at the dark shapes in the distance.
All this time, it could be sneaky and willful in front of Orochimaru, not because of itself, but because Orochimaru was afraid of White Snake Sage.
But now, Orochimaru had used some kind of trick to get White Snake Sage's approval.
And without White Snake Sage's protection, was it really so weak?
Manda raised its head, but felt a sense of failure in its heart. A long-forgotten feeling spread through it. It realized it was fear.
Fear of Orochimaru, fear of the unknown surgery… a long, long time ago, before it became the Snake King, it had endured this fear day and night.
Looking down at Orochimaru coming closer, Manda's snake eyes narrowed. It suddenly closed its mouth, not saying a word.
The gray giant snake's body was similar to its own. It didn't have the confidence to withstand Orochimaru's experiment, but if it really was going to die today…
Crying and begging… would be too ugly.
And, Manda knew, those things were useless to Orochimaru.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… your courage right now really surprises me. I thought you would struggle and beg for mercy a bit more,"
Orochimaru stroked Manda's hard, cold scales, and said with a smile, "After all, snakes don't have human qualities and ideas, so they don't really have dignity. But it seems like… besides being sneaky, you've learned a few other things."
Manda's voice was hoarse, "Orochimaru, don't insult me!"
"Insult? You misunderstand. I'm praising you."
Orochimaru smiled. Shadow clones arrived with experimental equipment. In front of Manda, he put them all back into a scroll.
This scene didn't look like he was going to do the experiment from before. Manda looked at Orochimaru below it, and asked suspiciously, "What are you trying to do?"
"Can't you tell? I'm taking back the experimental equipment."
Orochimaru licked his lips, "In your current condition, you can't withstand this transplant surgery. A careless move could cause you to end up like that snake from just now. So, I don't plan to do the surgery on you now."
"You're my summon, if I wasn't completely sure, how could I do that to you?"
"The purpose of this surgery was to increase your strength anyway."
Hearing this, Manda was stunned. It stared blankly as the shadow clones injected the antidote to the anesthetic into its body. It gradually regained control of its body.
Happiness came too suddenly!
The sudden change, from almost dying to being safe, made Manda a little confused.
It stared with dazed eyes and asked, "Then why did you say all that before, and why did you inject me with anesthetic?"
If he didn't want to do the surgery on it now from the very beginning, what about the drug in the boar? Did he just want to trick it?
Was that really necessary? It was also a waste of a good meal.
"This is a lesson."
Orochimaru was still smiling, but his words had a cold edge to them. "You've been too free lately."
The simple, direct words made Manda understand that it really was just a trick.
If it were normal, it would definitely be enraged. It wouldn't care about anything and would just attack, to teach Orochimaru a lesson.
But now, Manda didn't.
Not just because of fear, but because it was ridiculous.
In nature, it was ridiculous for the weak to get angry at the strong.
The strong eat the weak, what right did it have?
Orochimaru's joke shattered some unnecessary daydreams it had been having.
"Heh… but don't be too happy too soon."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly, "You can't escape this surgery. You'll have to go through it eventually."
Manda's eyes changed slightly. It was silent for a moment, but then lowered its head and said,
"Will the surgery be safe later? Can it really increase my strength?"
"There will naturally be some risks, but it really can increase your strength."
Orochimaru smiled, his tone a little regretful, "It's a pity you don't know Sage Arts. If you had Sage Arts, you could not only do it now, but the risks could also be minimized."
Speaking of this, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, "So, is there a chance you can learn Sage Arts? I heard that there's a red snake named Garaga in Ryuuchi Cave. It can use Sage Arts."
"Garaga?"
Hearing this name, Manda's eyes flashed with a hint of fear, but it lost some face.
It really didn't know Sage Arts, and there was no chance it could learn Sage Arts. It could become the Snake King of this area entirely because of its tough body.
What if Orochimaru went to find Garaga?
This thought shocked Manda. The more it thought about it, the more it felt that Orochimaru might do that.
This surgery wasn't just for increasing its strength, it knew that.
He chose it because the chances of success for the surgery were high. If there was a Garaga with an even higher chance of success to choose from, Orochimaru would choose it without even having to think about it.
Manda lowered its head and looked at Orochimaru, "I can't learn Sage Arts in a short time, but my body is a level better than Garaga's…"
It began to brag about its experiences in Ryuuchi Cave and the results of its battles with Garaga.
If it were before, Manda would never have done such a thing, and it would even be happy to have Orochimaru choose Garaga. But now it wanted to have the surgery. Manda never wanted to feel that powerlessness again.
"I see…" Orochimaru was noncommittal, interrupting Manda's endless talking, and just smiled, "Then you just wait, until I'm ready…"
As he was saying this, he paused. He suddenly felt something and turned to look behind him.
"Three snake princess, why are you here? Could it be for that snake? I was wrong to do this. I wonder what kind of compensation White Snake Sage wants?"
The three snake princesses appeared together. Tagorihime, who was in the lead, smiled, "Compensation isn't necessary. It's just that you have to continue this surgery on Manda. The Sage is very interested in it."
Orochimaru looked surprised, "Is that so? But Manda doesn't know Sage Arts. It's too dangerous to do this surgery now."
He thought for a moment, and said slowly, "I heard that there's a red snake named Garaga in Ryuuchi Cave that can use Sage Arts. If it's done on it, the chances of success are very high."
Manda, who was on the side, glared at Orochimaru. This bastard really liked the new and hated the old.
Tagorihime shook her head and said, "No, it must be done on Manda. This is what the Sage ordered."
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