"Shinya and Manda are the two strongest among the large snakes in this cave. They occupy the two largest territories along the shore, so they often fight over land.
In the past, Shinya was a bit stronger, but now it has lost an eye. While snakes don't rely entirely on sight for perception, it's still an injury. During a fight, Shinya has to be distracted protecting its weak point. Manda, on the other hand, has been with Orochimaru, so it's well-fed with offerings, has plenty of strength, and is in better condition.
So, for the past twenty or thirty years, Manda has had the upper hand. These past few years, Manda has been the one encroaching on Shinya's territory."
Ichikishimahime sat cross-legged, floating in mid-air, explaining to Qingshui.
In that case, it was the Third Kazekage's fault after all.
"Manda is Orochimaru's Summoning Beast, right? What if I were to… you know…"
Qingshui made a throat-slitting gesture.
"That… might not be a good idea. This is Ryūchi Cave, after all. If it's a personal grudge, then…"
"I get it, I get it. So, as long as no one… no snake dies, it should be fine, right?"
"I don't know, but if no snake dies, it should be fine. Even if one did, it's not unsolvable, but the White Snake Sage would likely demand some compensation."
Tagorihime propped her chin in her hand.
She understood the White Snake Sage.
"How about we help you deal with Manda? Our price will definitely be lower than the White Snake Sage's! I just need, just need… hmm, how many offerings would be appropriate?"
Takirihime asked Qingshui, then turned to Tagorihime.
"I don't know. How about we just trade based on Manda's weight?"
"Good idea! Can we trade humans? Preferably ninja, alive, fresh! Good texture!"
"That's not fair, is it? That's too much of a loss. Manda isn't weak. While the three of us together could take it down, it would still take considerable effort. If we get injured, it wouldn't be worth it."
Qingshui looked at the three divine princesses discussing among themselves, then at Shinya, who was subtly losing ground in its fight with Manda.
"What if we include Shinya? It must hate Manda to death, right? What if we could convince it to fight Manda with us?"
Qingshui pointed at the two large snakes causing a ruckus in the pond.
"That works. We can make it cheaper then. Two hundred human offerings for each of us three, ninja with Chakra, and they must be alive!"
"Right, right! I remember there's also a green snake. Its strength isn't as good as Manda or Shinya, but it's still decent. Its hunting grounds were also pushed outside the cave by Manda, so it could help a bit."
"Should we call other snakes too?"
"No need, right? The few of us should be enough. What if we make too big a fuss and the White Snake Sage gets angry?"
Are they not making a big enough fuss already?
Qingshui felt like these three divine princesses were a bit… simple-minded?
Who cares!
It's happening within Ryūchi Cave anyway. Getting rid of Orochimaru's Summoning Beast would be a good thing!
"Six hundred ninja, that's too many. How many ninja are there even in the outside Ninja World? You're certainly good at asking."
Qingshui haggled with the three snake princesses.
A single large ninja village outside only had one or two tens of thousands of ninja. The entire Ninja World, including smaller villages and rogue ninja outside the villages, might not even reach a hundred thousand.
To ask for six hundred for one intervention from these three… if they intervened ten times, he'd have to give them half a large ninja village. Which ninja village could withstand that kind of depletion?
Even the rogue ninja, spies, and enemy ninja imprisoned in the Sand Village's prison over the years would only be enough for one intervention by these three divine princesses.
"Eh? Is six hundred a lot? So Manda was bragging?"
"I think so. It probably ate a hundred ordinary people and said it ate a hundred ninja."
"It probably ate ninja too. It was with Orochimaru on the battlefield, so it must have killed a lot of people."
"Then what price should we ask for?"
"I don't know."
"When we get summoned outside in the future and see what the outside world is like, won't we know what price is appropriate?"
"So, let him owe us first?"
"Good!"
Qingshui listened, somewhat speechless, as the divine princesses loudly conspired behind him.
Talking so openly about eating humans in front of me, a human, is that really okay?
However, it seemed some snake species did eat other snakes.
Perhaps to them, it was a perfectly normal thing.
Tsk, I need to try and correct these snakes' ideas. Humans aren't delicious at all; there are so many other delicious things.
Hmm, I could collect some samples to study the taste system of these snakes in Ryūchi Cave. Apply some technology, and create some food that suits their taste. That should make things much easier.
"Tell them to stop fighting."
Qingshui looked at Shinya, who was sent flying by Manda's tail, and said to the three divine princesses.
"I'll go!"
Ichikishimahime responded, then formed hand signs and opened her mouth.
"Sage Art: White Rage Technique!"
A glowing red dragon, holding a pearl in its mouth, flew out of Ichikishimahime's mouth, circled above the two large snakes, and then burrowed into the pearl.
The next second, the pearl exploded with a bang. Not only did the explosion bring high temperatures and shockwaves, but it also caused extreme discomfort, blocking sight and hearing with intense light and sound. It could even use air vibrations to interfere with the enemy's body muscles, causing pain and reducing their control over their muscles.
The power was so immense that even Qingshui, standing far away by the pool, frowned slightly, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
If one didn't have the soft-bodied serpent-like modifications to absorb air vibrations like Orochimaru, or the snake-like eye membranes to shield against strong light, or the infrared sensing and scent-tracking abilities of snakes, they would have to rely on their own stats to endure it.
Fortunately, Qingshui's body stats were decent, and his control over his body was strong enough. At worst, he still had his armor to reduce the effects of vibrations, and he could also use Reverse Life Triple to become immune to such negative effects.
As for the intense light, it did indeed obscure Qingshui's vision, and the Sage Art Chakra fluctuations from the light explosion had a significant disruptive effect on most Perception Ninjutsu that relied on sensing Chakra.
However, for the Transparent World, which was like a divine sense, while there was some influence, it was much weaker. With Qingshui's mental strength, he could still perceive everything happening in the cleared area.
Shinya and Manda were also snakes, and had high resistance to the White Rage Technique. Ichikishimahime's attack wasn't aimed directly at the two snakes; they were merely slightly shaken by the shockwave of the explosion.
With Ichikishimahime's intervention, the two snakes couldn't continue fighting.
Qingshui stood in the distance, watching the loli goddess floating in the sky point her finger at the two large snakes below, gesturing as she spoke, and then pointing towards Qingshui's position.
The two snakes first stared intently, then simultaneously flicked their tongues to gather Qingshui's scent.
The purple snake then immediately swam further into the pool, giving off a strong sense of fleeing in disarray.
Orochimaru had summoned Manda to fight Qingshui on the battlefield before, and this snake had been tormented by several of Qingshui's Puppets and taken many hits. Seeing Qingshui again, it was immediately filled with fear.
Shinya, on the other hand, quickly swam towards Qingshui, stopping at the shore and coiling its body. The front part of its body rose high, reaching seventeen or eighteen meters.
Among its two golden snake eyes, one was dim and lifeless, while the other was filled with ferocity, continuously scrutinizing Qingshui, and then looking at the Three Goddesses. Its killing intent constantly spread outwards.
It smelled a familiar scent on Qingshui!
This person must have had contact with that person before coming to Ryūchi Cave!
Then, the massive snake body suddenly charged towards Qingshui, looking as if it intended to swallow Qingshui whole.
"Pluck out its seven-inch reverse scale!"
Tagorihime and Takirihime quickly dodged to the sides, warning Qingshui.
Qingshui immediately drew his Kusanagi Sword and used Body Flicker.
"Separation Breathing, Sixth Form: Parting Dragon Night Dance!"
A large amount of Separation Release Chakra surged out, transforming into a Chi Dragon whose size was in no way inferior to Shinya's, and clashed with Shinya.
This large snake was indeed thick-skinned and tough, with scales far stronger than expected. Qingshui's attack only left a few white marks and some barely noticeable small cracks.
The next moment, two robust Fatty Puppets were summoned from below, delivering two powerful uppercuts to Shinya's jaw.
The latter hissed in pain, then spat out black venom, which was then frozen by a barrage of Ice Blast bullets.
Two Blue Jerboa Puppets had appeared on the battlefield at some point.
In the sky, Big Ivan, Miss Akih, Little Boy, and several others also began a fierce bombardment.
Meanwhile, Qingshui activated Aiken Form, transforming into multiple copies of himself, some drawing talismans in mid-air, some releasing lightning, some unleashing wind blades, and others firing energy chains, all barraging Shinya.
In the distance of the pool, a purple snake head surfaced, its two snake eyes watching the familiar battle scene in the distance, flicking its tongue, full of schadenfreude.
But suddenly, Qingshui, sensing Manda's movement, turned his head to look in Manda's direction.
Because of the distance, Manda's eyes couldn't clearly see Qingshui's movements, but the snake's innate infrared sensing ability compensated for this deficiency.
Manda was suddenly startled and dove back into the water, not daring to show its head again.
The Three Goddesses also floated in mid-air, maintaining their distance, and all sat cross-legged, watching the battle below.
"Sage Qingshui is so impressive! Shinya probably won't last many more moves."
"Mhm mhm mhm, no wonder I got beaten like that when he first came in!"
"He's much stronger than Manda's contractor! He can definitely find us more and better sacrifices than Orochimaru!"
"Why isn't he using Sage Art? He knows how to, clearly."
"Didn't we say before? Sage Qingshui's Sage Art isn't perfected yet, that's why he came to Ryūchi Cave to seek guidance."
"Oh, right!"
"Look, the reverse scale has been taken off."
"Not just the reverse scale, he's… been beaten pretty badly."
Qingshui held a large red scale in his hand, recalled his Puppets, and looked at the large snake slumped by the edge of the pool.
"You're Shinya? Can you listen to me properly now?"
"I am, and you and…"
"That person asked me to deliver a message to you."
Qingshui said, looking at the snake, whose expression had calmed down considerably.
"I have nothing to say to that person."
"I'm just here to deliver a message, and while I'm at it, to heal your eye as he asked."
"I already said there's nothing to talk about."
Shinya snorted, but then remembered how Manda had been hampered by its eye injury during their fight, feeling restricted. It also recalled the territory Manda had seized from it over the past twenty to thirty years.
Finally, remembering the beating it had just taken from this guy, and feeling the pain and gaping wounds on its body, Shinya finally lowered its high snake head, stopping in front of Qingshui.
"You can heal my eye, but can you heal my other injuries too?" Shinya said heavily.
It didn't want to be beaten up by Manda again because of its injuries after Qingshui left.
"Alright, bring your head closer." Qingshui beckoned to Shinya.
Shinya obediently brought its head close to Qingshui.
Qingshui took a bottle of anesthetic from his Ninja Tool Pouch. He looked at the palm-sized bottle, then at the head that was almost as tall as himself, and simply put the anesthetic back. Then, he extended a single palm and placed it on the edge of Shinya's blind eye, releasing Chakra to form a Chakra scalpel.
First, he severed the nerves around the eye so Shinya wouldn't move erratically from the pain.
Then, he continued using the Chakra scalpel to scoop out the large eyeball. After that, he activated the Creation Rebirth Technique, stimulating the surrounding living cells to regenerate the eye, and finally reconnected the relevant nerves.
Because he was unfamiliar with the anatomical structure of snakes, Qingshui recreated the eye on the spot, referencing the structure and size of Shinya's other intact eye. Additionally, Shinya's eyeball was enormous, as big as a car tire, which took more time.
About ten minutes later, Shinya's eye was fully regrown.
Next were the injuries on its snake body that Qingshui had inflicted.
Shinya and Manda had fought for a long time, but the injuries on Shinya's body from that fight were less than half of what Qingshui had caused in just a short while.
This part took even longer, about twenty minutes, to completely treat all of Shinya's injuries.
"Thank you." Shinya felt its healed eye and body, and thanked Qingshui.
Even though just a short while ago, it had been taking a beating from Qingshui, and most of its injuries were inflicted by him.
After its inverse scales were removed, this guy's personality had changed quite a bit. At the very least, it was now capable of normal communication, compared to its previous fierce demeanor.
Shinya then asked Qingshui, "What did that person want you to convey?"
"He said that he didn't intentionally abandon you back then, but that doing so was the only way to ensure both of you could escape alive from the siege of the Stone Hidden army," Qingshui told Shinya.
The large red snake was silent for a few seconds, then raised its head.
"Not enough."
"Hmm? What's not enough?"
"Not enough sincerity. Tell him to come explain it to me himself. If he didn't feel like he'd let me down, why wouldn't he dare to see me for thirty years? I won't do anything to him, but I want him to come here in person and apologize to me. Otherwise, I won't forgive him."
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