"Ssss..." Countless venomous snakes slithered out from all corners of the cave, flicking their tongues—green, red, white, purple—every color and species imaginable. Their sheer number alone was enough to make one's scalp tingle.
"Trying to start something?"
Naruto muttered, no longer suppressing himself and releasing part of his aura. A massive pressure radiated from him as the center, shaking the entire Ryūchi Cave. Small stones began falling from the ceiling, and around Naruto's body, a faint but tangible, transparent flame-like aura began to blaze.
Burst Aura—one of the techniques for manipulating ki.
It was a move Z Warriors commonly used during battle.
Snakes are extremely sensitive to aura. Under Naruto's overwhelming presence, many of the venomous snakes were crushed into pulp by the pressure alone.
Meeting Naruto's explosive gaze, Lady Ichikishimahime, who had just struggled out from beneath a pile of rubble, suddenly felt like she was prey locked in a predator's sights. Her entire body froze as if bound by a paralysis jutsu.
Standing off to the side, Sasuke was equally shocked by Naruto's presence. Even though he wasn't a sensory-type shinobi, he could still clearly feel Naruto's strength.
"I thought opening the Mangekyō Sharingan would let me catch up to him, but... looks like I'm still a bit behind."
"No, Sasuke, you're wrong," Naruto corrected him sternly, looking serious. "You're not just a bit behind—you're way behind."
Sasuke flushed with embarrassment and anger. "Quit reading my mind!"
"I'm not reading your mind!"
"Liar."
"It's true," Naruto said earnestly. "Usually I just look at your face and figure it out."
Sasuke: "Uzumaki Naruto, you—!"
This guy Naruto... Everything about him is great—except that he can be so infuriating sometimes.
"Honored guests... please stay your hands."
A graceful voice approached from the distance, and another elegantly dressed woman appeared before them. Like Ichikishimahime, she had a "dumpling-style" hair bun—though hers was tied at the nape of her neck instead of on top.
This was Tagitsuhime, another of the White Snake Sage's most trusted attendants.
"Honored guests," Tagitsuhime floated gently down from the air, the ribbon around her neck fluttering despite no wind. She truly looked like a celestial maiden. If this weren't Ryūchido, she could probably cosplay as a goddess.
"Ryūchido certainly has... a unique way of receiving guests," Naruto remarked, casting a glance at the now-dispersing venomous snakes.
By human logic, Naruto was the one in the wrong for intruding uninvited. Ichikishimahime was simply defending herself. But this logic didn't apply to beasts.
"Might makes right." Among Tailed Beasts and Summon Creatures, that was the true law.
Showing off your muscle always worked better than words or titles.
Tagitsuhime waved her hand gently, and the venomous snakes scurried away like a receding tide—none daring to linger for fear of being squashed. One by one, they disappeared into tiny crevices and holes throughout the cave.
"Lady Ichikishimahime and these children were ignorant of proper etiquette and showed you disrespect," Tagitsuhime said, bowing deeply to Naruto.
A textbook 90-degree bow.
"I ask that the honored guest not be angered."
Her posture was low, her tone humble.
"No problem," Naruto replied, waving his hand dismissively and suppressing his aura back to normal levels. "We're here to see the White Snake Sage."
Ichikishimahime let out a breath of relief and bowed even more respectfully. "Then please, allow me to guide you."
With that, she led them deeper into the Ryūchidō.
Naruto found himself fascinated by Ichikishimahime and Tagitsuhime's humanoid forms. They were almost like yokai (monsters) from folklore.
But the Naruto world didn't really have a "beasts turning into humans" concept. Otherwise, so-called sages like the White Snake and Toad Sages would all basically be yokai.
So what does that make the Sage of Six Paths? A humanoid yokai? And the Ten Tails? A sentient alien tree monster?
While Naruto's thoughts drifted into the absurd, the trio soon arrived at a massive underground temple located in the deepest part of the cave.
It looked grand and imposing—but Naruto knew this wasn't real.
This entire temple was an illusion created by the White Snake Sage.
It looked and felt real to the touch, but it wasn't physical—it was a product of senjutsu chakra: a phantom construct.
To be able to conjure an entire temple with illusion alone, the White Snake Sage's genjutsu was clearly at its peak.
Senjutsu-level genjutsu.
In the Naruto world, very few ever displayed genjutsu on this scale. The Sharingan didn't count—it was a dōjutsu, not standard genjutsu.
"I wonder if this fake temple can survive one of my punches..."
Inside the temple, seated cross-legged at the center, was a massive white-phosphorus serpent smoking a pipe. Standing beside her was another woman in a formal court kimono.
The third of the White Snake Sage's three attendants—Tagorihime.
"Honored guests, welcome. Please forgive our poor hospitality." The Sage's voice was calm and emotionless.
The White Snake Sage, her eyes half-closed, studied Naruto as if trying to see straight through him.
The White Snake Sage was known for her eccentric nature and extreme pride. The fact she used such courteous words already meant she acknowledged Naruto's strength.
To be fair, most snakes had bad tempers—her three attendants were prone to fighting at the drop of a hat. Their clan leader, Manda, was even worse—always threatening to eat people.
In comparison, mild-mannered Aoda was a complete outlier.
"White Snake Sage, I apologize for coming uninvited," Naruto said calmly. Like the Sage, he kept his eyes half-lidded, all the while trying to analyze her using ki—hoping to glimpse the depth of her power.
Despite having lived for millennia, the White Snake Sage's aura was not decaying, but ancient and deep—like a bottomless well. Naruto could even sense that she was concealing a part of her power.
She was the first being Naruto had ever encountered in this world who could hide their aura from him.
No wonder she had lived since the era of the Sage of Six Paths.
'Kurama, how much do you know about the three great sage lands? What about the three Great Sages themselves?' Naruto asked the Nine-Tails in his mind.
'Dunno. Don't care. Never bothered.' Kurama grumbled, flipping over on his cushion. 'I've seen the old man with a fat toad once. Probably some toad sage from Mount Myōboku. Looked weak. Definitely no match for us Tailed Beasts.'
In Kurama's view, humans were too crafty to compare—but among beasts, the Nine Tailed Beasts were unmatched.
Forget sages and summoners—one blast from a Tailed Beast Bomb and they were toast.
'Really? Because I can sense a massive amount of chakra here... Even these humanoid snakes have chakra rivaling Tailed Beasts. Especially the White Snake Sage—her chakra is almost on par with yours.'
'Hmph. Don't lump me in with that one-tailed freak Shukaku.' Kurama muttered. 'I'm incomplete right now—only half of my chakra is present. Once I get my other half back, you'll see my true power.'
'I've got nine tails—the strongest, and the one with the most chakra of all the Tailed Beasts!'
"That big snake looks tasty..." came a voice from little Goku, peeking through Naruto's sensory window. Drool was practically leaking from the corners of his mouth. "I used to love eating roasted snake and civet cats in the forest."
If you eat her, we'll have to rename it the "Two Great Sage Lands" instead...
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