Walking through the entrance of the Ryuchi Cave, I raised an eyebrow at the sheer scale of the cavernous tunnels in front of me, each slick with moisture and adorned with ancient serpentine markings.
The closer I got to the walls, the more I noticed each marking glowing faintly with a blue light and as I took a closer look, I frowned as I saw it having the same flaming form that chakra has.
'Huh. Is this supposed to be chakra in a more physical form?', I thought with a frown as I ran my fingers lightly across the markings. They felt warm to the touch as the heat caressed my skin gently and I smiled before my eyes widened as I felt the hair on the back of my neck standing on end.
Spinning around while instinctively flaring my chakra, I frowned as I saw nothing standing behind me before I raised an eyebrow at the voice speaking from the shadows.
"Welcome, Nagato, to your first trial. Should you pass, you will move onto the second of three trials that will give you permission-!"
"Tagorihime, you know that I have the Rinnegan, right?", I interrupted her monologue with a deadpan stare, looking directly at the serpent priestess who blinked before her invisibility genjutsu vanished.
"Seriously? This is what the trials are?"
"It's tradition. Also, I should be more mad at you for cheating by using your Rinnegan."
"Hey, it's not cheating if the eyes are helping me. Also, I can see Ichikishimahime and Tagitsuhime hiding in here as well so I'm guessing the three trials are supposed to be based on genjutsu?"
"…Did we really forget that he has the Rinnegan?", Tagitsuhime asked as she and Ichikishimahime dispelled their genjutsu as well, making me smirk as Ichikishimahime just gave a sheepish giggle.
"I guess we kind of did."
"Well, that's inconvenient. We spent days on making sure our illusions were good enough to challenge," Tagorihime grumbled and I kind of felt bad as even the stern Tagitsuhime was pouting.
"If you ladies want, I can stop using them and we'll continue the trials."
"Nah, all the fun is lost. I guess it's back to the old ways," Ichikishimahime spoke and this time, I felt a cold chill going up my spine as the three shared a mischievous yet sadistic smirk.
"Uh, what old way?"
"The Trial of Shedding," The moment they finished speaking, all three stepped back and I flinched as the piercing sound of a loud crack echoed throughout the entrance.
Sage Art: Inorganic Animation
The markings around the walls began to shift, slithering across the stone as if they were alive as the entrance closed shut behind me. The ground beneath my feet trembled and the walls and ceilings spread further and further away from each other until I found myself standing in a gigantic cavernous hall.
'Oh, this is a summoning,' I thought with wide eyes as I watched a massive serpent rising from the floor, made purely out of bone and the chakra from the markings as it opened its mouth as if it was giving a yawn.
"The Trial of Shedding," There was this eerie echo to Tagorihime's voice as she spoke and I watched as the three serpent priestesses took steps back, leaving me alone with the decaying serpent in the centre of the room.
"This is the test of self. To walk the path of the sage, you must shed the skin of what you were and face the truth of what you are now. If you should fail…"
"You'll get eaten!", Ichikishimahime finished cheerfully and before I could ask what she meant, my head snapped to the serpent as it opened its mouth and lunged.
Instead of lunging at me, I was surprised as it lunged past my side before it began to coil, my vision spinning and the world turning inside-out as I swiftly activated the Rinnegan to try and see through the illusion.
However, I froze as the illusion didn't vanish, the snake speeding up its coiling and the space around me growing brighter and brighter until all I saw was a bright white light.
'Fuck! This is why I hate genjutsu!', I cursed as I waited until the sound of the snake coiling vanished before I slowly opened my eyes, blinking a few times to get rid of the white light.
"Damn, that thing…was bright…Oh shit," I muttered in shock as I stared at the rain pouring down around me, but that was not what caught my attention.
It was the sight of familiar faces lying on the floor. From the Uzumaki Clan members to Yahiko, Konan and Pakura to even my parents. All of them were lying down in a sea of blood and at the centre of it all…
'Oh, it's that kind of test, huh?', I thought with a frown as I stared at the figure looking back at me, standing tall with his Rinnegan blazing and his scarlet red hair tied into a low ponytail.
"Is this not what you'll become?", My older clone asked as he walked forward and I suppressed my urge to attack as he stepped onto Yahiko's back with a lopsided smirk.
"Amegakure is at peace, the Bijuu are yours to command and the villages fear your existence. Tell me, how many corpses did you think it was going to take for you to achieve that foolish pipe dream of yours?"
"Okay, is this like one of those introspective dreams or something like that? Not even sure if I used that word right," I muttered, raising an eyebrow as the older me laughed while raising a hand.
"Hahahaha~! You claim for it to be an illusion, but it can be real with a snap of our fingers like that!", As if to prove his point, older me snapped his fingers and the world shifted once again.
This time, I found myself standing in the middle of a mist-covered city, its buildings in ruins while thousands of bodies of all ages, genders and sizes littered the city.
There was one thing different this time. I didn't see any shinobi gear on any of them. Instead, everyone was dressed in civilian clothing and as I looked in the distance, I stared at myself bathed in the Bijuu's chakra while I tore and raged through what was left of Kirigakure's shinobi.
"See? You didn't mean to kill them, but when you want to fight gods and claim to be a saviour, you do not get to claim you have clean hands. You're not a boy anymore, Nagato. You're a weapon and you know what happens when a weapon hits the wrong target?"
"So, this is supposed to be some kind of trial, right? Is it one that wants me to become like you? To do what you want?", I asked and the older Nagato cackled as he stepped back, snapping his fingers and shifting the world once again.
The ruins of Amegakure was engulfed in fierce flames despite the rain pouring down and I stared at the jagged towers slowly collapsing down around me.
"And now, we're in Ame."
"Is this not what you did?", I blinked at the new voice and turned my head, frowning at the sight of a grinning Yahiko walking through the rubble before dropping besides me.
"We all made promises to bring peace to Amegakure and get rid of the tyrants trying to keep us down. Instead of keeping to that promise, you blow up a tenth of the village we wanted to save and killed the people we swore to protect."
"You call yourself a saviour, Nagato, but you wanna know what I think?", My older clone asked as he appeared on the other side and I took a deep breath to calm myself as he continued speaking.
"A tyrant."
"A child with too much power."
"A bastard that thinks he's the only one that can save people."
"A monster that steals Bijuu just because he feels like they would be better with him."
"Are you going to do that to everyone? Steal their Bijuu and then make yourself not feel guilt by saying it's for the greater good? Come on, answer us," Older Nagato asked and I didn't look at either of them as I kept looking forward.
"I know what I did. I know I killed hundreds because I needed to save you guys. I know blowing up the towers resulted in hundreds of people dying, people that I swore I was going to protect. Would I do it again?", I asked, both to them and to myself as I looked at the destruction before surprising myself with a chuckle.
"One hundred fucking percent. I know what it's like to feel helpless. Hell, the last time I felt helpless, I watched my parents get killed in front of me, so no…", I trailed off as I took a few steps forward before turning and glaring at both spectres with a confident grin.
"No, I don't feel guilty, I don't feel remorse and I would do it over again if it meant that my friends…my family…my fucking loved ones lived to see another day!", I growled and both stayed silent before I shook my head.
"I'm not proud of what I did, but I won't turn away either. If this power and my eyes are going to make me a monster, then I'll be the kind that protects my people from the other monsters."
"You pass," A deep voice echoed in the air and my eyes widened as the world around me shattered, revealing myself standing in the middle of a raised stone platform in front of a gigantic throne.
Kneeling in front of the throne and facing towards me with smiles were Ichikishimahime, Tagitsuhime and Tagorihime and seated at the top of the gigantic throne with her monstrous, serpentine form was the White Snake Sage.
Her name was fitting as she was an extremely large albino white snake, thick coils wrapped around her body that had yellow bands on them and on her head was a turban with two pointed edges and a red orb on top along with an orange headdress. Along with that, she wore a chain with a green orb around her neck and in her mouth was a long cigarette holder with a lit cigarette at the end.
'Holy shit…I am so in love with snakes.'
"You faced the echoes of your past yet did not run. The burden of death is something you carry with you, Nagato Uzumaki, but you do not flinch from it. That is a good quality to have and a sign that you may yet survive my training," Instead of saying something back, I smiled before falling to my knees, surprising the priestesses and the sage as I bowed low with my head touching the floor.
"Teach me the ways of the Snake Sage. If I am to carry this power, then I must learn how to control it fully."
"No being that has earned my respect has any need to bow that low, Nagato Uzumaki," I blinked at her words and looked, my expression making her chuckle as her cigarette holder vanished in a puff of smoke.
"We have tested the power of your mind. Now it is time to test the power of your body," She spoke as she dropped while shrinking down at the same time, growing to be only half the size of her three priestesses as I watched the snake getting closer.
'Why do I have a bad feeling about this?'
"Should you fail…Well, I shall feast well tonight."
"…Say wh-!", I didn't see her move as one moment, she was still coming towards me and the next, pain exploded in my side as she bit down.
Instinctively, I swung down with a Chakra Scalpel at her neck only for her to vanish and to appear as a gigantic white serpent on her throne once more, but I couldn't worry about that.
"Son…of a fucking bitch!", I gritted out as I pressed my hands to my side, gasping for air with every breath as the burning sensation spread out from it and flowed through my entire body.
'Poison? No, not poison,', I was trying my best to stay calm and analyse the wound as healing chakra flowed to my hands, but no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't find any sign of poison at all.
I wasn't able to concentrate any longer as the pain creased, the burning sensation making me write and roll as my vision spun.
"A bit dramatic, aren't we?", I wanted to curse her out as I heard her speak, forcing myself to look in their direction to see her smoking lazily while the three priestesses didn't look concerned whatsoever.
"You're not dying, Nagato. You're transforming."
"T-Transforming?! It…it fucking feels like I'm dying!", I growled before hissing as another wave of pain flushed over my body, rolling onto my stomach before banging my head against the ground.
"Yes, transforming. Unlike the Toad or Slug Sage Mode, the Snake Sage Mode first requires you to undergo Sage Transformation and that cannot begin until your body is stripped of its limitations. The Great White Snake Sage has injected you with potent natural energy and it will peel away the parts of you still clinging to your human fragility," Tagitsuhime spoke calmly as all three rose to their feet and walked over.
I was able to hear what they were saying as my heartbeat pounded in my ears like wardrums, forcing myself onto my side while curling in on myself to try and curb the pain somewhat.
"Welcome to the second and final trial of the Old Ways: The Trial of Flesh. You have shed your old self mentally. Now, your body must follow," The moment Tagorihime finished speaking, my eyes widened as I felt my chakra raged outwards, the red chakra of the Bijuu along with a foreign greenish-cyan chakra fusing with my violet chakra.
'Fuck! My control…it's slipping…', Every second, I could feel my chakra growing further and further out of my control and as I lifted a hand, my eyes widened as I saw the paleness of it as well as the rigged texture on my skin.
'Are…are those scales?', I thought in shock before a groan escaped my lips as a headache settled in accompanied by the sound of…hissing?
It sounded like thousands of snakes were hissing at the same time and it felt as if they were all judging me before the pain just…vanished.
Gasping in relief as my body relaxed, I rolled onto my back with a groan while looking up at the ceiling, taking in deep gulps of the sweet cold air to cool my scorching body.
"You've survived. A pity."
'Oh, don't sound too happy,' The sarcastic thought flashed in my mind as I just laid there, staring up at the now vivid serpentine markings in the ceiling that were overflowing with the same greenish-cyan chakra I saw in my body.
Speaking of my body, I raised my hands and stared at my chakra, the greenish-cyan chakra intertwining with my own blue chakra before the realization hit me as I smiled.
'Nature chakra…I can see nature chakra…Holy fuck…', I would be excited , but I didn't have the energy for it as especially after the hell that was trying not to become the Snake Sage's food.
It was not long before my sight was blocked by an elderly woman and the three priestesses, most likely being the Snake Sage's human form as she wore the same turban with the headdress and had the same cigarette holder in her mouth.
"Not bad. You're still far from mastering Senjutsu, but you now carry the blood of the Snakes in your blood," She spoke and I groaned as Ichikishimahime helped me up, supporting me with one arm around her shoulders as the Snake Sage gave me a fanged grin.
"Welcome, Nagato, to the beginning of your true transformation."
"Come on, tough guy. We've got a cozy room sat up just for you."
"How cozy are we talking here?", I asked as I began hobbling besides her, each step making my sore muscles burn as she giggled at my response.
"Well, cozy for a cave full of snakes and creepy murals," Despite her happy tone, her words were not and I sighed as we began walking through the winding tunnels that led out of the hall.
"You'll love it. There's warm stone, a thermal spring nearby and we even chased out the nest of giant centipedes just for you."
"Well, don't I feel special?"
"Oh, you have no idea," Ichikishima spoke with a grin and I rolled my eyes before taking one glance back at the throne room to see the Sage standing at the entrance with amusement dancing in her eyes.
"Rest well, Nagato Uzumaki," I raised an eyebrow as her voice echoed in my mind even though her lips didn't move and she seemed further entertained by my reaction as she grinned and nodded.
"Tomorrow, the true shedding begins."
'Great, more cryptic metaphors…Ah, this was my fault. I should have just trained with the Bijuu and their chakra,' I thought with a sigh as we arrived at some kind of small cave-like room, a stone slab being the only thing in the room.
Well, at least she wasn't wrong about the warm stone.
A/N: So it begins~ The path to become a Snake Sage~! Also, I was wondering if I should have him use some kind of companion snake at his side when I remembered that you guys told me of Jugo and his clan, which is something I completely forgot about.
Helping them with some seals in exchange for some of their flesh and blood seems like quite the good idea so now we've eliminated the Sage Mode Weakness.
Next chapter: Sage Training, Bonding with Serpents and Returning Home to Beat up a Kage.
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...