Year 36 of Konoha, deep in Ryūchi Cave.
Inside the temple, under White Snake Sage's seat, a young man sat cross-legged, as still as water.
He was bare-chested, his expression neither happy nor sad, like a meditating old monk. His pale skin was slightly thin, and his black hair fell naturally, swaying slightly with the cyan-blue magatama earrings.
His breathing was long and natural, as if he had just closed his eyes, or had been sitting there for a long time.
Suddenly, White Snake Sage on the seat turned his gaze, staring unblinkingly at the young man below, revealing a hint of surprise.
The young man's eyelids trembled slightly, and he opened his eyes slightly. The amber-colored vertical pupils had become crystal clear, as if a layer of water film covered the pupils.
His appearance had also changed greatly. The original black hair had become as white as snow, and a layer of seemingly thin white scales covered his skin. The corners of his eyes had a hint of purple, and the color of the eyeshadow extending to the nostrils was even deeper.
The most eye-catching thing was his forehead.
The original smooth brow center now grew a sharp bone horn, its color was lead-black, but there was no sense of disharmony.
"Is this... Sage Mode?"
He looked at his hands, clenched his fists slightly, and finally showed a smile after feeling the vast and majestic power in his body.
This young man was naturally Orochimaru.
Two years had passed since he passed the test of Ryūchi Cave and signed a summoning contract with the giant snake Shinza.
During this period, he had been following his teacher's arrangements, staying with White Snake Sage to practice Sage Art, and after a period of hard training, he finally achieved what White Snake Sage called the perfect "Sage Mode."
"Among the humans I have seen, you are not the first to succeed in cultivation, nor are you the fastest to cultivate," White Snake Sage opened his mouth, and the powerful sound pressure made the air tremble: "However, you are the smoothest I have ever seen."
Beside her, another giant snake also moved. It was scarlet all over, and had inverse scales on its neck. It was Shinza, the giant snake.
"As expected of the person who signed a summoning contract with this great master, I am very pleased to have done this step~"
"Hehe, you didn't say that two years ago."
Shinza slowly lowered his huge head, and on top of his head sat a black-eyed, black-haired, handsome man.
White Snake Sage turned his head slightly, looked at the thoughtful man, and chuckled:
"Lord Kamihane, how is the Sage Art of my Ryūchi Cave?"
"Hmm..." Kamihane touched his chin, and the red spiritual pattern on his brow center flickered like breathing, "Perfectly merging Chakra and natural energy, while communicating with the heaven and earth, so that the newly generated Chakra and the external natural energy continue to resonate and form a cycle, thus maintaining Sage Mode all the time?"
"That's right," White Snake Sage spat out a smoke ring and said in a heavy accent: "In fact, Sage Mode is also divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower."
"Being able to temporarily control natural energy, refine part of the body's Chakra into Sage Art Chakra, and exert its power, it must rely on the assistance of psychic beasts to maintain the state. This is the lowest level of Sage Mode, which can only be maintained for a very short time."
"Integrating the Chakra of the whole body with natural energy, using as much as it loses, this is considered to be the middle level. The disadvantage is that if you want to enter Sage Mode, you must go through a long period of accumulation to sense and absorb natural energy."
"Breathing and breathing, blending into the heaven and earth, so that the absorption and storage of natural energy form a natural reaction, and natural energy exists in the body every moment. This is the upper level, that is, the perfect Sage Mode. At this stage, you can abandon the disadvantage of needing to accumulate power in advance. As long as the body is in a full state, you can enter Sage Mode anytime and anywhere."
Kamihane nodded slightly. These stages were all experienced by Orochimaru, and he had seen them all.
After all, he came to Ryūchi Cave every once in a while in these two years. Therefore, he was clear about the changes in Orochimaru's cultivation stage.
"However, to be honest, this cannot be called the most perfect," White Snake Sage changed the subject, and his narrowed vertical pupils were filled with yearning: "At my stage, I have done the best I can in resonating with natural energy, but I am still stuck at the bottleneck. It seems that there is a shackle that seals the upper limit of continued promotion."
"If I can break through that shackle, the Sage Art of my Ryūchi Cave will definitely become stronger, and one day it will shed its snake skin and sublimate into a dragon!"
"Hmm," Kamihane echoed, admitting that the Sage Art of Ryūchi Cave did have some tricks.
You know, not counting Shinza, White Snake Sage, Tagitsuhime, Ichikishimahime, and Tagorihime, who can freely transform into human bodies, from another perspective, are all demon sages in the transformation stage.
This point makes it difficult for the toads of Mount Myōboku to achieve.
Although that "Gamamaru" has also lived for many years and has a long life, he is still a toad in the end.
White Snake Sage was a little proud and looked at Orochimaru below, "His current aura is more than ten times stronger than it was two years ago. I think he is also one of the top ninja world powerhouses among your humans."
Kamihane showed a thoughtful look and said lightly: "Whether it is strong or not, you have to try it to know."
As soon as the words fell, he took a step and instantly appeared beside Orochimaru, leaving only an afterimage slowly dissipating in place.
"Teacher!"
"Hmm," Kamihane patted Orochimaru on the shoulder, and judging from the touch transmitted back by the fingertips alone, he could judge that the smooth and delicate snake scales must be unusually strong.
He smiled lightly and said to his disciple: "Use all your strength to attack me."
"What?" Orochimaru was slightly stunned and suspected that he had heard wrong.
Kamihane said earnestly: "By fighting with me, I can judge your current strength."
"So that's it," Orochimaru understood immediately, and the expression on his face became eager to try. The teacher was evaluating his current value.
"Start with taijutsu first."
"Okay."
The moment these words came out, Orochimaru burst out and attacked. His arms were like a spiritual snake, leaving a winding and twisting white shadow in the air, and his combined fingertips stabbed straight at Kamihane's eyes.
The air vibrated violently. This simple move actually broke the sound barrier.
Orochimaru knew clearly in his heart that when fighting against his teacher, he must have the determination to kill the opponent. Only by bursting out all his strength would he be the correct approach.
"Pa!"
The fingertip suddenly stopped in front of Kamihane's eyes, and a big hand steadily grabbed Orochimaru's wrist, cutting off the attack, and all the kinetic energy instantly returned to zero.
"The speed and strength are good," Kamihane casually commented. Although he easily grabbed Orochimaru's wrist, the wind pressure carried by the fingertips still made the water molecule barrier on his body rippling slightly.
"Orochimaru-Style Substitution!"
Suddenly, the figure of Orochimaru in front of him collapsed, or turned into twisted white snakes and slipped away from Kamihane's fingers, thus escaping the bondage.
Kamihane waved his fist casually, and the back of his hand swung towards the air on the right like an iron hammer. With a muffled sound, accompanied by the violent scattered airflow, a white figure was blasted away and shot into the darkness.
"Continue."
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