As I opened my eyes, I blinked as I found myself on a rocky island about a dozen meters across in diameter in the centre of a vast lake, grey clouds rumbling above while I stared at the rocky outcroppings far in the distance.
I was a bit confused at how I was on an island and not standing in the middle of the rocky landscape from before, but I wasn't given more time as the lake rumbled before it began to rise at two points.
"So, you decided to continue with becoming a Sage, huh?", Isobu asked as he rose up from the lake on my left, turning my head to see Saiken rising from my right before I turned back to the turtle and nodded.
"Yeah, especially since having access to your nigh-impenetrable scales and Saiken's malleability is rather fitting for a snake," I said with a smirk and both looked at each other before Saiken shrugged.
"He does have a point there."
"True, true."
"Anyway, how's my body doing? Any point I need to heal or stuff like that?"
"What makes you think we know?", Saiken asked and I shrugged as I sat down on the island.
"A hunch, honestly."
"Well, you have good hunches. Your skin is slowly reconstructing itself into that of a snake's skin. You will still look human, but expect to be a lot paler than you were before."
'Honestly, that doesn't sound so bad.'
"Secondly, your senses are being enhanced drastically. Whereas you were unable to even see a speck of nature energy before, you will now see, breathe, taste, feel and smell nature energy all around you."
"Wait, as if I'll fully be able to see it?", I asked, my eyes widening slightly as both Bijuu nodded.
"That's correct. Although, in exchange for this, you'll have slit-like pupils, a slightly forked tongue and a taste for very rare meat. Oh, and your canines will extend to match that of a snake's," Saiken clarified and I blinked before crossing my arms.
"Okay, okay. I can understand that. What else?"
"Finally, it's your chakra. It's…well, to be put this simple…"
"It's enormous," Isobu finished for Saiken and I narrowed my eyes at that while crossing my arms.
"Explain."
"Remember how your mindscape used to look before your transformation as a sage?", He asked and I frowned before nodding as I looked at the sea.
"Yeah, it was just rocks and dirt."
"That's because our chakra and yours had not synchronised fully. When it did, your chakra took the form of a large lake barely big enough for both Saiken and I to stand in. Now, do you understand?"
"…So, you're telling me…that this Sage Transformation in combination with my genes as an Uzumaki and your chakra boosting my own chakra…made this entire lake?", I asked, spreading my arms wide at the water around us before dropping my arms as both Bijuu nodded.
"That's right."
"…Well, shit."
"Shit indeed. However, as you can see from the constant waves, the wind blowing and the dark clouds above, your chakra has increased tremendously, but your control has gone to absolute shit," Isobu spoke and I sighed as I nodded.
"Yeah, I expected that. Well, at least I'm not dying, right?"
"No, you are not. If you were, we both would be happy as hell right now," Saiken said and I heard their giggles as I palmed my face with a sigh.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, what have you two been up to? You know, other than being caught in my soul," I asked, watching as Isobu shrugged while Saiken submerged themselves happily in the 'water'/ chakra.
"Nothing much. Your memories of fighting against Iwa and Suna were entertaining since they killed one of my host, but other than that, the only thing I've had to do was play rock-paper-scissors with this one."
"You're just mad you keep losing."
"My scales are durable enough to crush diamonds with ease. How the hell is your feeble scissor fingers supposed to cut through my rock fist?!", I realized there and then that Isobu still had his flaw despite his calm nature as the turtle raged and Saiken just shrugged.
"Well, how about I make a new game for us?", I spoke, to which they both looked to me as I hummed.
"I spy with my little eye something with the letter I."
"…This game is stupid if the item is Isobu," Saiken spoke with a deadpan tone, Isobu nodding in agreement as I huffed.
"Very well. Go play rock-paper-scissors with Saiken and keep losing."
"…I spy something beginning with the letter R."
"Is it my hair?"
"No."
"Is is the colour red of his hair?"
"…Maybe…"
"I agree. This game is stupid," I spoke up, to which both of them rolled their eyes before I blinked and stood up.
"Actually, since I'm here, wanna play a game of tic-tac-toe?", I asked, watching as both of them looked at each other before looking back at me.
"Explain this tic-tac-toe."
When I awoke, it was to the feeling of my senses being driven into overdrive and I don't mean the traditional way either.
I could see sound, smell colours and taste the earthy scent of the room around me. That was not the only thing as the nature energy in the air was very visible to my Rinnegan to the point that I could see every single strand of the light green chakra wrapping around my body.
It felt a bit heavy, but also quite refreshing as I could feel it touching my chakra, but I stopped it from wrapping around my chakra as I did not want to see what would happen to someone trying to train Snake Sage Mode without any proper training?
'Oh, they were not kidding about my chakra,' I thought as I felt my reserves, which were not only triple the size they were before but have drastically increased in potency.
'To be honest, this is so much more of an increase than I was expecting,' Even as I called the chakra to my hand, it required far less chakra to form the Chakra Scalpel than I was expecting, but I frowned as I saw its dull and rugged shape.
'Less of a scalpel and more of like a dull machete. Okay, looks we're going to need far more training than I was expecting.'
"Hey, you're awake!", I blinked as I heard the happy voice beside me, turning my head only to blink as I didn't see anyone standing next to the stone bed.
"Down here," Slowly turning my gaze down, I blinked at the large snake with dark red scales and the head shape of a cobra.
"Oh, hey. What's your name?"
"Don't got one. Most snakes are given a name when they can feel nature energy."
"And you can't?"
"Well, yeah. I'm still very young," The snake answered and I blinked as it raised its head, coming up to head level with me as I swung my legs over the side of the bed while half of its body was still on the floor.
'A snake as long as I am still while standing…and it's still very young?…Right, the snakes of this world are as long as most skyscrapers are tall.
"Ah, got it. I'm gonna call you Cobra, then."
"That's a boy's name. I'm a girl."
"Boa Hancock, then," I spoke with a nod as I stood up, making the snake blink slowly before she looked at me.
"I shouldn't have a name yet. Can't sense any nature energy, remember?"
"Oh, you can still get your name when you can sense nature energy. I'll just call you Boa until then."
"Do you do this to everyone you meet?", She asked and I chuckled as I stretched my arms above my head.
"Only to those that have no name. So, what brings you to my room, Boa?"
"The Elder wanted me to come get you," She said and I focused my attention on her as she continued. "Said that she wants you up so she could get your Sage training started."
"Is there a place I can clean up first?", I asked and the snake simply blinked slowly before turning her head almost all the way around to stare at the hot spring in the corner of my room that I missed completely.
"…Forget I asked anything."
"Quite easy to do," She answered with a shrug, to which I rolled my eyes while taking off my clothes and climbing into the water with a blissful sigh.
To the regular person, they would be boiling alive right now as blisters forms on their skin, but to the average Uzumaki shinobi? It felt like a nice, warm bath to soothe my muscles.
'It is a lot more nicer, though. Snakes are supposed to be cold-blooded, right? Does that mean I feel the same now?', I thought with a raised eyebrow before looking back as I heard the sound of slithering and saw Boa slipping into the water as well.
"Want to sneak in some warmth, too?"
"Yes," I was amused by the complete bluntness of the snake, letting out a soft chuckle as I let out a sigh and relaxed my head on the edge of the hot spring.
"Did we not send a snake to come fetch you?", Unfortunately, my bliss did not last long as I heard Tagitsuhime, opening my eyes and looking at the doorway to see her standing there with a raised eyebrow and an amused smile.
"You did, but she's relaxing," I said while pointing at said snake, to which Tagitsu shook her head as Boa's head was floating on the surface while the rest of her body was underwater.
"Of course she is. Daughter, may I ask why you are not doing your job?"
"I did. He just decided to bathe first."
"Wait, she's your daughter?", I asked in surprise as I turned to Tagitsu, who raised an eyebrow as she nodded.
"Indeed she is. I also have an older son, but he is a bit…irritated at the moment."
"Huh, nice to know. Anyway, I'm guessing the Elder sent you to come get me?", I asked as I stood up, walking over to my clothes while using my chakra to evaporate the water droplets clinging to my form.
"Indeed she did. I had sent my daughter to come fetch you, but I then remembered that she's quite scatterbrained."
"Yeah, I learned that about Boa when we were talking."
"Boa?", Tagitsu asked and I nodded as Boa slithered out of the water while steaming as she evaporated the water with ease.
"Short for Boa Hancock. I didn't want to keep calling her 'red snake' so I decided to give her a name and yes, I know she's not supposed to have a name."
"Oh no, we don't mind. Actually, would you like that as your name when you can have one?"
"I would not mind it. It is quite a nice sounding one."
"Thanks. I always thought of it to be a good name for like a snake."
"Boa Hancock? You thought the name with the word 'Boa' in it…would be a good name for a snake?", Tagitsuhime asked, shaking her head as I shrugged.
"Hey, I'm a kid. Bad names are to be expected."
"Just get dressed before the Sage decides to eat you."
"Good morning~", I waved at the gigantic White Snake Sage sitting on her throne, waving at Ichikishimahime and Tagorihime as well as the two priestess waved back with amused smiles while the Sage just raised an eyebrow.
"I thought I called for you almost half an hour ago?"
"I got lost," Boa said with a bored look before she slithered away, all of us watching her leave before I smirked as the White Snake snorted.
"Reminds me of you during your younger days."
"Do not remind me, elder," Tagitsuhime spoke as she walked over, sitting down on the soft cushion in the centre between Ichikishima and Tagori before I stood up straight as the White Snake Sage looked at me.
"How do you feel after the trials?"
"A lot stronger, but my chakra control has also gotten far worse than I was expecting."
"That's to be expected. Sage Transformation boosts your physical and mental chakra tremendously and as everyone knows, chakra increasing in both quantity and potency results in your control being reduced drastically."
'Yeah. Also, the Bijuu said I would be pale, but holy crap am I pale,' To be honest, I wasn't at an Orochimaru level of pale, but I was quite a paler than I was before and I was already a bit pale since I grew up in a country that did not get that much sunlight.
"Yeah, which is why I wanna get on that asap. However, I want to start my Sage training as well. So, what am I doing first?"
"Senjutsu," She answered simply and I raised an eyebrow, which seemed to amuse them all as I watched them snicker and giggle at my expression.
"Explain it to me like I'm stupid. What's the difference between Senjutsu, Sage Chakra and Nature Chakra?"
"It's natural energy actually and not Nature Chakra. As for explaining those terms, natural energy or nature energy is the energy found in the earth, the atmosphere and one's surrounding. Senjutsu is the ability to absorb and fuse that energy with your own chakra to form Sage Chakra or Senjutsu chakra. Being able to mould Senjutsu chakra grants you access to a temporary empowered state of being called Sage Mode and when one has fully mastered Sage Mode, that is when one is classified as a Sage."
"Okay, I understand it all now. So, I first need to learn how to use Senjutsu to draw natural energy into my body and make Senjutsu chakra?", I asked, watching as the White Snake Sage nodded.
"Got it all in one. Now, get started."
"…How do I do that, though? Like is there a specific method or stance or…?," I trailed off, watching as the Snake Sage just grinned slyly.
"Sit still. That's it."
"…Okay," To their slight surprise, I just shrugged and nodded, plopping down on the ground before sitting up straight and taking a deep breath.
'Now if I remember correctly from Naruto's training, just sit still, let the energy flood in and take control of it. Oh wait, before I do that though…'
Shadow Clone Jutsu
With a bit of struggle, I watched as twelve clones formed behind me, not opening my eyes or saying anything as I hear them run up onto the walls and began sparring.
I wanted to see through their eyes what they were doing, but I figured that might count as slightly moving so I just took a deep breath and continued.
'Do not move…Do not move…Oh wait, I can just do this,' Without moving, I began to feel the nature energy wrapping around my limbs, but instead of fighting off the energy, I let it blend with my own chakra.
As I watched the energy slowly dye my own chakra from a violet to a slight mixture between purple and brown, I opened my eyes only to blink at the stone-like scales covering my arms.
"Oh…Shit!", I hopped to my feet and began hobbing around, trying my best to push out the excess energy trying to bind to me as well as the energy that was already in.
Keeping the excess energy out was quite easy, but as I continued to try and push out the chakra already in my body, I cursed as the energy did not want to let go whatsoever.
However, I was not given much more time to worry about that as something whipped into my back, a pained hiss escaping my lips before I blinked as I could feel my arms and legs flexing and moving around again.
"And that's what happens when you underestimate nature energy," Ichikishimahime spoke as she took a step back, with me raising an eyebrow at the whip in her hand before I shook my head.
"Oh, I can see that. Hah, how long is this going to take me?", I asked and she just smiled without saying anything, to which I just nodded and sat back down.
Well, this is about to become a painful experience.
A/N: I know I said this chapter was going to be the fight against a Kage, but I think the last two-thirds of next chapter is going to be that while the first half is just him training with the priestess and the sage.
Nagato's got his Sage chakra, his buffs and we're going to also be training his Bijuu chakra during this.
Anyway, next chapter: Time to begin the hunt~
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
"Ow!", I exclaimed as I fell to my side, skittering on the ground with a hiss while Ichikishimahime giggled as she tapped the whip against her palm.
"Come on, you can't be that bad at sitting still."
"I'm good at sitting still! I'm bad at keeping the chakra from infecting me," I answered with a grumble as I sat up, rubbing the welt on my chest that was already vanishing thanks to the Bijuu's chakra.
"Nope, I think you're just bad at sitting still. Maybe you should try and do something that makes you relax?"
"Like what?"
"Uh, dreaming, maybe? You can't do anything that has to do with movement so dreaming's about the only thing you got. Visualize yourself being a Sage that cannot move," Ichikishimahime spoke and I looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Fine, but if this doesn't work…"
"Oh, stop being so negative," Tagorihime spoke up with a frown and I just sighed before closing my eyes and taking another deep breath.
'Be a Sage. Be a Sage that is quiet, serene and calm. Be a Sa-This isn't working,' I thought with a deep breath, exhaling slowly as I felt my mind beginning to wander.
'Be a Sage. How the hell am I even supposed to do that? I mean, I like wanting to think I can sit still, but my chakra is still growing with every day from a combination of being a boy going through puberty, my Uzumaki genes, the natural energy passively boosting me every time I absorb it and my being a Jinchuriki. To be honest, I think I might compete with Naruto and Hashirama for the most chakra in the world when I hit my prime because there is no reason for one kid to be Kage level at 12 years old. Gods, it's like I'm this protagonist from a bad self-insert and power-gathering fanfiction that just got lucky at every turn and-!'
"Nagato?", Ichikishimahime's voice drew me from my thoughts as I opened them only to be confused by her pleased smile.
"What? Did I do something wrong?"
"You didn't even notice, did you?", She asked with a giggle and I blinked as she held up a mirror only for me to be shocked by my left Rinnegan having a dark gold hue instead of its usual violet one.
"…You're telling me that I spent almost five days struggling to figure out how to sit still…and all I had to do was to let my mind wander?"
"Like we said, you weren't sitting still enough?"
"I hate this. Okay, what's ne-Woah, did that always look like that?", I asked while pointing at the threads of natural energy wrapping in the air, noting the new golden strands that connected them all to each other as Tagorihime spoke up.
"That is going to be part of a technique that you're not going to learn until the end of your training. Now, the next step is learning how to gather it faster."
"Sounds pretty fun," I spoke with a grin as I sat back down only to blink as Ichikishimahime picked me up to my feet while shaking her head.
"Nope, no sitting down. This time, you're going to do it standing. Once you get to that level, you'll be ready to gather natural energy whether you're sitting, lying down or standing up."
"What if I'm moving?", I asked and they both looked at each other before shaking their heads.
"Unless you got some special genes, no one is capable of moving while gathering natural energy at the same time. It's just not possible."
'I can think of one clan that can,' I thought with a smirk, remembering the guy that went on a rampage after he absorbed too much natural energy in the series before remembering one other thing.
I have no clue where the hell Jugo or members of his clan is at this time.
I could find them considering people that randomly go on rampages can't be that common, but if I had to guess, I'd say that part of land between Kumo, Kiri and Konoha are probably the best places to look for a start.
Even if that doesn't work, I know that Kurama is able to gather natural energy for Naruto while he fights so I think I could get either Saiken or Isobu to do that while the other helps me in a fight.
'Yeah, that could work too. Oh, right. Still mad at her.'
"Also, you've been trying to get me to figure out how to gather nature energy while sitting just so you could make me do it while standing?"
"Exactly. Oh, don't be such a baby about it. The body of a Sage must as still and balanced as the mind," Ichikishimahime spoke with a wink and I just looked at the woman before turning to the amused Tagorihime.
"Tagori, your sister is trying to kill me with frustration."
"A master tests both the spirit and the ego. You're doing fine."
"I wish Tagitsu was here. She'd take my side."
"Considering you're best friends with her daughter, she would indeed, but it's a good thing she isn't. Now, learn to stay still standing," The White Snake spoke up from where she was lounging on her throne, to which I grumbled as I planted my feet shoulder-width apart before exhaling softly.
All right, time to do the same thing while standing…
'Hah, this is about to be hard,' I thought as I kept myself steady, ignoring the slight stabs of pain while feeling the golden and green threads of nature energy slowly wrapping around my body.
Each felt as if they was caressing my body, massaging my chakra and making it flare before I felt my knee twitch and a burning pain across the back of it.
"Son of a-Ow! What was that for?!", I shouted, hobbling on one leg as Ichikishima cracked her whip with a shrug.
"You moved again."
"It flinched."
"And in a battle, flinching can get you killed. Sage Mode is not just a power boost. It's serenity, stillness and control and until you master that, you're just a powerhouse with shaky legs."
"…I swear, once I get this right and I will, I'm going to make you regret ever picking on me," I grumbled as I stood up straight, ignoring their giggles as I took a deep breath.
Oh, now I'm making sure I'm getting it within the day if only to spite them.
"Okay, so one thing we've learned is that you get very determined when you want to spite someone," Ichikishimahime spoke with narrowed eyes while I grinned as I stared at my reflection in her mirror, a pair of golden Rinnegan with slitted pupils staring back at me.
My scaly skin was also a lot more visible than before and I also had the same purple pigmentation around my eyes that extended all the way to my shoulder blades like Kabuto had.
I didn't have the four horns on the side of my head like he did, but I'm guessing that was more of a unique thing to him like his stomach snake since I didn't get that as well.
Not that I was complaining since I could feel my mind, body and chakra being boosted significantly by the natural energy flowing through it, but it was only a minute later that I grimaced when the natural energy faded away.
"A minute, eh? That's not bad for a beginning. Not bad at all," The White Snake Sage spoke up as she slithered down, transforming halfway into her human form and making me roll my eyes at her theatrical flip.
"Thank you. It does feel a lot better having natural energy inside of me without it trying to force my body apart. Anyway, what's next up?"
"That's it for Senjutsu training. You've learned to sense it and gather it at the same time so now all that's left is teaching you all the Snake Jutsu that we have."
"When you say all that you have…", I trailed off, grinning as the Snake Sage just snorted and nodded while Tagorihime spoke.
"Yes, we mean every jutsu that a Sage should know."
"Yes! Okay, what's up?"
Sage Art: Inorganic Reanimation
Instead of explaining, Ichikishima made a hand sign before my eyes widened as the ground below me rippled, looking down to see mud hands growing out and grabbing onto my ankles.
"This is the pinnacle of Snake Sage Mode. Unlike the Toads' that allows them to use the natural energy in the air as an extension of their body or the Slugs' that allows them to have incredible regeneration, the Snake Sage Mode is what allows our summoners to breathe life into inorganic substances and control them."
"Now…when you say control them, do you mean like being able to just manipulate their normal structure or being able to manipulate them truly? Like, can I manipulate a rock spike and then shift it halfway into a water tentacle to tie up someone?"
"Unfortunately, our power is not to that level. You can grant that same rock spike the flexibility and fluidity of water, but you can't change its chemical composition."
"Ah, got it. So, how do I learn this?"
"That's where the golden threads you see come in. Grab onto them and pull at them to manipulate the object they are touching."
"Cool, cool. Quick question, how the hell do I do that?", I asked before shaking my head as the Snake Sage and her three priestesses just shrugged in unison.
"We cannot teach you that because the feeling is not something you can teach. Each Sage feels it differently compared to everyone else so what you need to do is feel out how to manipulate them in your way."
"Hah, how long is this going to take me?"
"At the very least? A couple of days. At most? A week or two. More than that and we'll help you figure it out," The White Snake said and I nodded as I stood still, letting the natural energy flow into my body and moulding it to my chakra to form senjutsu chakra at the same time.
As the golden strands became visible, I smirked as I reached out for the first one before sighing as it vanished immediately the moment I did so.
"That's too forceful. Coax it and invite it to flow as you want," Tagitsuhime said gently and I nodded as I reached for the next thread, this time taking it slow and offering my palm before smiling as the thread immediately slithered into my palm and back into the air.
'Progress. Okay, time to take this a step further.'
"And you're sure about this?", Saiken asked as he and Isobu floated in front of me, to which I nodded as I stared at both of them.
"Yeah. Unfortunately, I need more than just Sage Mode and my training to keep up with the strong of this world. If I'm going to start changing the world, I need to learning how to use both of your chakras."
"You do realize that there has never been a Jinchuriki that's able to handle the chakra of two Bijuu, right?"
"There was the Sage of Six Paths."
"He was built differently from every human that has ever existed. You do not even compare to him in the slightest," Isobu spoke up and I sighed as I nodded.
"I know, but I need more strength if I'm going to survive the coming years, especially since I know the bounty on my head has most likely skyrocketed after the Uzumaki thing."
"True and if he's going to become a real force in the world, he'll need more than just flashy chakra tricks," Isobu said as he looked to Saiken, who stared at me before I caught his eye tentacles narrowing.
"This isn't just about power anymore, is it?"
"No, it's about control. My reserves are slowly but surely growing bigger and bigger with every day, the Sage Chakra is boosting that growth even further and with both of you sealed inside of me…If I don't learn to balance it all, I think I might just self-destruct and take half a country with me."
"That is true, but combining the chakra of two Bijuu, especially one that is acidic slime and the other being dense armour…I don't think they're compatible."
"They don't have to be compatible because I'm not trying to blend your powers to make some new hybrid jutsu. I just need to understand your chakra, channel it and be able to call on either of you without blacking out or going on a rampage."
"And you are prepared for the pain that comes with this training?", Isobu asked, both him and Saiken smirking as I scoffed and shook my head.
"Not in the slightest, but I've got to do it anyway," I answered and we all stayed silent as the 'chakra water' of my mindscape churned and rippled around us before both of them nodded.
"Alright, then. We'll begin by teaching you how to properly separate each of our chakras without overlapping them," Isobu spoke and I nodded before turning to Saiken as he continued.
"Once you can enter either of our cloaks all the way up to the third tail without losing yourself or hurting your body, we'll move on to my fourth, fifth and sixth tail followed by learning how to use both in combination."
"I thought you said they couldn't be used in harmony."
"They cannot, but once you master control over our chakra, we can attempt to layer them on top of each other instead of mixing them. That is how the Sage used all of our chakras in unison even after he split the Ten Tails into us nine Bijuu. He didn't force our chakras back together, but controlled them all to work together in layered harmony," Isobu explained and I felt my heart racing in excitement and anticipation before I nodded.
"Got it. Okay then. Let's get this started."
The air above the Ryuchi Cave was warm and soothing thanks to the summer sun burning through the clouds, each ray of light warming up my body as I took a deep breath before exhaling slowly.
All around me, I could hear the sound of boulders being shifted about and as I opened my eyes, I smirked at the sight of three tails covered in segmented armour juggling a trio of boulders with ease while six slug-like tails kept me from touching the ground.
"Three years. It took us three years, but we finally managed to do it," I murmured as I stood up straight, stretching my back with a grunt before cracking my neck as well.
"Knew you would be up here," I turned and smiled at Ichikishimahime walking towards me with a smirk, rolling my eyes as I stretched my arms above my head before hearing my lower back pop with a relieved groan.
"Hey, Ichiki. Yeah, I'm just finishing up on my meditation before I leave."
"Oh, right. Today's the day you finally go home, right?", She asked and I nodded with a smile, excited about the fact that I will be able to get home today.
Hearing barking from behind me, I chuckled at the sight of Sessho chasing around Akahime, who was now nearly the same size as a bullet train in her true form and a large anaconda in her smaller form.
According to her mother, she still has a ways to go before she could achieve her illusionary human form, but she has finally achieved her title as a Sage and was allowed her name.
To my surprise, she seems to have outgrown the name Boa Hancock as she wanted her own original own, but I have to admit that I was not surprised that she chose a name that meant 'Red Snake Princess'.
Still, it was a pretty good name.
Also, I can't believe about Sessho that came with me, but thankfully, they didn't seem to want to eat him as the reason for Tagitsuhime being away during my training so much was to help train him and Akahime to be the best partners they could. I don't exactly know what that means, but hey, they're at least somewhat strong enough to hang with me.
"Sessho, Aka, come on. It's time to go."
"Of course."
"Coming!", Sessho barked and I had to admit that it took me a while to get used to that, especially when I just woke up one day to find Sessho standing over me while speaking happily.
As it turns out, natural energy can do all sorts of wonders, including enhancing a dog's brain to the point that he learned how to speak, read and do basic maths.
Yeah, this world may be a fun one after all.
It took us a few minutes to get down the rocky mountain, nodding and waving at every snake we passed since I had gotten quite close to a few of them over the years.
A few of the elder snakes even bowed their heads and I smiled as I bowed back, only feeling a slight bit of pride from them doing so since they don't even do it for the White Snake Sage herself unless she was really pissed off.
It was as we got to the base of the mountain that I noticed Tagorihime and Tagitsuhime standing at the entrance, the two whispering to each other and speaking most likely about either my departure or something else.
"You sure you can't stay any longer? We could still find a few more things for you to learn," Ichikishimahime asked and I just looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"You sure it's for training and not for...other reasons?"
"Oh, I ask you to be my mate once and all of a sudden, I'm the bad guy."
"You were naked, looming over him and about to suck him off if he didn't wake up and if Tagitsu and I didn't stop you," Tagori chimed in with a frown and I rolled my eyes as Ichikishimahime shrugged.
"I didn't see anyone else wanting him."
"I was 14!"
"Ignoring that, I meant like Jutsu and stuff, things that you could figure out here."
"We both know that I have learned every thing that the Ryuchi Cave has to offer, which also includes the Paths," Figuring out Catastrophic Planetary Devastation was honestly a lot harder than figuring out the Samsara of Heavenly Life, but I did manage to do both on top of mastering the other Paths.
I haven't used either much at all, but I have learned how to use them.
"Very well. Here you go," She said as she handed me my Akatsuki cloak that was slightly torn at the edges and I smiled at the two purple snake fangs near the collar, signifying my status as a Snake Sage.
"Thank you. Now, let's go before the White Snake comes and kills us for stalling," I said, to which Ichiki giggled while Tagori and Tagitsu nodded, the three of them leading me down the many tunnels of the cave before we finally entered the main chamber.
Seated on her throne like always was the White Snake Sage, in her full serpentine form with the added addition of having her body covered in ceremonial paint.
I then watched as the three priestess transformed into their giant snake forms as well, each bowing their heads to the Sage before turning around to face me as the Sage lifted her head.
"Nagato Uzumaki, you came here as no more than a young boy seeking strength three years ago," She began, both Sessho and I standing quietly while Akahime decided to stay beside me.
"Now, you leave here today as a bearer of knowledge few in this world possess. Should you fall, your name will echo through the cave for centuries. Should you ride, you will endure and change the world," As she finished speaking, I smiled at the slight shimmer of pride in her eyes before it vanished just as quickly, the Sage bowing her head along with her priestesses.
"I thank you all for allowing me to learn your techniques and learn your ways. Truly, it was a pleasure and an honour," I spoke with a smile as I bowed my head, Sessho and Akahime doing the same before I stood up straight as the Sage smiled.
"As it was for us. Now, go forth and bring change to the world and glory to your title as Snake Sage of Ryuchi Cave."
"You two ready?", I asked, looking to my two companions and Sessho just grinned as Akahime let out an approving hiss before turning to her mother.
"Return with glory to your name, daughter."
"I will, mother. Let us depart, Nagato," She spoke and I smirked before taking a deep breath as I made a clone and dispersed it.
Reverse Summoning Jutsu
The next, I felt myself being pulled through time and space, holding onto both Akahime and Sessho as we travelled hundreds of kilometers and appeared in front of a shocked group of people right as my clone dispersed.
"Nagato?", A familiar voice asked and I grinned at the shock in Yahiko's eyes before nodding as I spread my arms.
"Ya miss me?"
A/N: And we end off the childhood arc~! It has been a long ride, but we are now finally into the meat of the story.
Next chapter: The War Begins Anew and Destroying a Kage.
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Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...