Meanwhile, in Roran, the queen stood still, feeling the flow of the Dragon Vein's energy.
She quickly sensed another force within it.
"I can't interfere with this power? Well, I suppose that makes sense. My own strength is still too weak."
Although she noticed the strange disturbance in the Dragon Vein, she had no idea what was actually happening.
But she could clearly tell—this power didn't come from the present. It came from the future.
"So, Shanks probably doesn't belong to this time... I wonder how long he'll stay here. But since we owe him a favor, we should repay him in the future."
"Not that he'd necessarily care."
The Queen of Roran sighed. She didn't know what the future would bring, but it was a fact that her country owed Shanks.
Then again, when she thought about it, there really wasn't anything in Roran that would interest him.
She could only hope that in the future, Roran would produce a few powerful warriors.
With that thought, the queen simply shrugged and walked away from the underground Dragon Vein.
Whatever happens in the future, it's not my problem!
But just as the Queen of Roran left, a faint white glow appeared within the swirling Dragon Vein energy.
Within the light, the outline of scales flickered in and out of sight.
Shanks wasn't the only one who had traveled through time.
The moment Orochimaru made contact with the Dragon Vein, he too stepped into its space-time vortex.
However, Orochimaru's journey was different—only his chakra had entered this strange flow of time.
And in the time he arrived in… there was no Shanks.
The point in time Orochimaru traveled to was the moment of his own birth. At that instant, his chakra-form self entered his infant body.
"Is this really going back to the past, or… am I just seeing the future from where I am now?"
Orochimaru pondered this, but when he sensed the faint yet overwhelming power in the sky—something that could easily crush him—he snapped back to reality.
This was his only chance. His power was already linked to the Dragon Vein, which meant it was now connected to this world itself.
"Shanks used his own power to tilt the world's forces in his favor, while I have fused my own power with the world's energy."
Even though the result was the same, compared to Shanks, Orochimaru couldn't yet handle the attention of the world itself.
After figuring things out, Orochimaru immediately focused his thoughts.
Unlike Shanks' situation, his own experience felt more like being reborn.
Everything happening in this world was exactly as he remembered.
His parents died on the battlefield not long after, and as for Orochimaru… well, he never entered the ninja academy.
From the day he arrived in this world, Orochimaru had already set his goal.
A young body, a healthy physique, and a complete soul.
He had to catch up to Shanks within the limited time he had and continuously grow stronger.
By the age of eight, Orochimaru had finished all his studies, but his strength hadn't improved at all.
His chakra level was only at the Chunin level.
At twenty, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Hiruko had already graduated, and Orochimaru joined the Second Great Ninja War as an ordinary Genin.
Looking at the war from a future perspective, he couldn't help but see it as nothing more than a farce.
The battles between the villages affected the nations, but they were nothing compared to the great upheaval Shanks would bring to the ninja world decades later.
"If Shanks could do it, can I do it too? Even though I know the path Shanks took, knowing it alone isn't enough. Right now, I just don't have what it takes."
Gazing at the war-torn battlefield, Orochimaru sighed.
He looked around at the corpses of his fallen comrades—his entire team was dead, including the Jonin leading them.
He was the only Genin who survived.
"A pointless war, meaningless sacrifices… If that's the case, then let me witness Shanks' power in this era!"
Orochimaru clenched his fists. Over time, he could feel the energy in the sky growing stronger.
All the chakra in his body came from the Dragon Vein, but it wasn't nearly enough.
If he couldn't resist that overwhelming force, then the amount of power he could take from the Dragon Vein would be pitifully small.
At that moment, Orochimaru understood—his path was one of defying the Dragon Vein, of challenging the will of this world.
If he lost, there would be only one outcome—death!
So his plan was simple: he needed to use this timeline's Shanks.
While gathering his power and strengthening his body, he was also waiting for the right moment.
Finally, not long after the Second Great Ninja War ended, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina entered the ninja academy.
By this time, Orochimaru had become an academy instructor. He remained an ordinary Genin of Konohagakure.
That year, Orochimaru often led his team on missions.
But no matter what he did, he found no trace of Shanks.
"Shanks' Observation Kill, huh?"
At that moment, Orochimaru seemed to understand something.
Isn't his current state exactly like the "future sight" ability of Observation Haki?
"That makes sense. Shanks' power can block the future I see, which means I won't be able to find Shanks in this future.
I can only rely on myself."
In an instant, Orochimaru grasped the key to the situation. Over the past decades, he had been constantly training.
Although his chakra reserves grew slowly, for Orochimaru—who already knew history—using this chakra to master powers he was already aware of was an easy task.
For example: Observation Haki and Armament Haki.
As time passed, the Third Great Ninja War erupted as expected.
By this time, Orochimaru's Observation Haki had become quite strong, and his Armament Haki had also improved significantly.
To be precise, even though he wasn't in Sage Mode, Orochimaru could be considered to be in a pseudo-Sage state, possessing power on the level of the Six Paths.
However, even with all that power, Orochimaru still wasn't confident—because what he had to face wasn't something that could be solved with strength alone.
During the Third Great Ninja War, Orochimaru reached the peak of his power, yet he found himself unable to break through any further.
At the same time, various schemes began to surface within Konohagakure. Even on the front lines, Orochimaru heard about the situation back in the village.
The Third Hokage was preparing to step down, which meant something was going wrong within Konohagakure.
Just like before, whenever he faced a problem he couldn't solve, the Third Hokage chose to run away.
"Starting over again… Teacher, you really are a disappointment."
"What's the reason this time? Danzo? Or pressure from the other elders?"
Orochimaru had no attachment to the position of Hokage. Coming from the future to this era, he looked at the village's schemes and the wars between villages and found it all laughable and boring.
"A world without Shanks is really dull. Even with all this power, there's nothing fun about it."
With a sigh, Orochimaru reached into his robe and pulled out a specially made kunai.
It was a gift from Namikaze Minato. After all, Orochimaru had once been Minato's teacher at the ninja academy, even though Minato had still been just a low-ranking ninja back then.
Out of concern for his former teacher, Minato had given Orochimaru a kunai.
But in the next moment, Orochimaru activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The amount of chakra in his body was only at the level of an ordinary low-ranking ninja—but in battle, he didn't rely on chakra consumption.
At that instant, on the other side of the battlefield, Minato—who was being attacked by Killer Bee and A—noticed something.
With a flash of white light, Orochimaru appeared beside Minato.
"Tea—Orochimaru-sensei!"
"How do you know the Flying Thunder God?"
"I can do more than just the Flying Thunder God."
Orochimaru loosened his forehead protector and tossed it aside.
"Minato, go. I'll handle these two."
With a grin, Orochimaru flashed a bold smile. The moment had finally arrived.
"Sensei…"
"Don't worry. Your teacher is strong. In this world, other than that guy Shanks, no one can defeat me."
As Orochimaru spoke, a massive tentacle suddenly shot out from the forest, destroying countless trees the moment it made contact.
Seeing this, a layer of chakra appeared on the kunai in Minato's hand as he rushed toward the tentacle.
But Orochimaru was faster. In the next instant—
"Boom!!!"
Orochimaru appeared right in front of Minato and threw a punch.
With immense force, the Eight-Tails' tentacle was blocked with a single strike. Then, a dark energy spread over Orochimaru's arm.
"Bang!!"
The Eight-Tails' tentacle shattered into pieces. From a distance, the Eight-Tails suddenly felt a terrifying sense of danger.
"Bee, be careful!!"
The Eight-Tails shouted urgently.
The next moment, a massive shadow appeared high in the sky. Its enormous form seemed to block out the sun, and its fist carried an overwhelming sense of threat in the Eight-Tails' eyes.
"Boom!!"
Orochimaru's punch landed. Below, the Eight-Tails had already fully transformed into its complete form.
All eight tentacles came together, and its chakra erupted with full force.
"Ugh!!"
Inside the Eight-Tails, Killer Bee spat out a mouthful of blood. He could no longer handle the immense power the Eight-Tails was unleashing.
But when he saw the shattered ground, Killer Bee instantly understood just what kind of monster was in the sky.
"Aye, run!!"
Killer Bee roared.
At that moment, Aye finally took in the terrifying scene.
"How… how is this possible? Just using his body, he's able to suppress the complete form of the Eight-Tails. Not even the Third…"
"Something like this… only the Third could do. No… not even the Third could dominate like this. He took down the Eight-Tails in an instant."
Aye was completely stunned.
What the hell was going on?
But before he could think any further, Orochimaru threw another punch. The Eight-Tails' defense was shattered instantly, and all eight tentacles were severed.
At the same time, the Eight-Tails' body began to fade. In its final moment, it threw Killer Bee out of its body.
"Run!"
Killer Bee grabbed Aye, his face filled with fear as they fled the battlefield.
At the edge of the battlefield, Minato looked up at Orochimaru, who was nearly ten meters tall. His massive body, strangely out-of-proportion limbs—especially those two legs—
His hair drifted wildly in the wind, and his eyes were now completely white, exuding a terrifying presence.
At that moment, Minato felt like he was facing something even scarier than a tailed beast.
But no matter what, Orochimaru was still his teacher.
"Sensei!!"
"Don't worry, Minato. I'm not dead yet."
"You should leave now. This place won't be safe much longer."
After speaking, Orochimaru looked up at the sky. At that moment, his Observation Haki fully expanded, making the natural energy in the surroundings completely visible.
At the same time, a terrifying chakra surged out from Orochimaru's body.
This wasn't his own power—it was the power of the Dragon Vein.
The chakra within his body was already connected to the Dragon Vein, and at this moment, Orochimaru fully unleashed its power.
A terrifying surge of chakra shot up into the sky, and an invisible force descended from above. Minato, who was at the edge of the battlefield, immediately sensed this overwhelming power.
"Sensei!!"
Gritting his teeth, Minato quickly retreated beyond the range of this energy.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru, who had just felt the will of the world descending upon him, had a crazed look on his face. At this moment, the entire will of the world was shifting toward him.
"Hahaha!!!! Shanks, let me show you the power of the world's strongest creature!!"
"Using myself as the medium, I will draw in the will of the world and merge the spiritual and life forces of the world into Dragon Vein chakra."
"Then, I will combine it with natural energy to create Senjutsu chakra."
"This is the power I have pursued—the legendary might of the strongest creature."
"Hahaha, who cares about Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode? The real Sage Mode is about becoming the legendary dragon."
"Those old fools in Ryūchi Cave, just watch! I'll show you what the true strongest creature looks like! Watch as I, Orochimaru, bring legend itself into the New World!"
In the next instant, the three forces surged into Orochimaru's body.
The "Dragon Transformation Senjutsu" he had prepared was now activated—using Sage Mode as the foundation, merging the Dragon Vein's power with the will of the world to create the strongest fruit in existence!!
"A world without Shanks would be too boring. Shanks, wait for me in the New World!!"
Amid the radiant glow of Dragon Vein chakra, two horns slowly emerged from Orochimaru's disheveled hair.
At this moment, he stepped onto the same path Shanks had once walked. If he succeeded, he would become the world's strongest creature.
If he failed, he would die.