The ground shook, and snakes surged upwards, appearing like a ferocious, surging flood.
On a small hill in the wilderness of the Land of Stones, dozens of villagers huddled together, with women and children in the middle and men and elders on the outside. They held hoes and axes, their faces pale and bloodless, feeling no sense of security at all. Below the hill, snakes of all sizes stretched as far as the eye could see, almost forming a river and sea, flooding every area in sight.
This sight was enough to break most people, and the only reason these ordinary villagers from the Land of Stones could hold on was that the snakes hadn't launched a full-scale attack.
Though it was hard to believe, these creatures were different from any snakes they had encountered before; they were herbivores. Grass, shrubs, small trees, even houses built with wood – these creatures ate everything, like locusts passing through, consuming indiscriminately.
Someone noticed that the mouths of these large and small snakes didn't contain venomous fangs. Those two rows of thick molars could chew through anything. The greenery in their sight was rapidly disappearing, and the already sparsely wooded hill began to look bare at a visible speed.
"What in the world are these monsters?"
Someone swallowed a mouthful of saliva, their voice drowned out by the rustling sounds of chewing and movement. Everyone worried they would suffer the same fate as the trees, and some were so terrified their legs went limp, making it almost impossible to stand.
"Everyone, don't be afraid, it's okay, I won't let them attack you." On the outer defensive line, a man with a young face and a sturdy build, far exceeding that of ordinary people, reached out to a nearby villager, offering words of comfort. However, his eyes never left the snake swarm below.
He himself was puzzled as to why such a disaster had occurred. "That young man earlier only mentioned an earthquake, but where did these snakes come from? Could there be a snake pit underground?"
The strong man was naturally Jugo. He was now comforting the villagers, and his words weren't entirely empty. Since childhood, he had been influenced by natural energy and, by chance, awakened an ability to communicate with birds and beasts in the forest.
At this moment, Jugo vaguely sensed the thoughts of the snakes below. They didn't carry cold killing intent or a fanatical hunger, but rather fear. It was as if something monstrous was chasing them from behind, and their eating was merely a detour. Nevertheless, these snakes seemed to actively avoid the area where they were.
His mind was filled with many questions. Jugo was never a quick thinker, and now he had no time to ponder. Although the snake swarm had no intention of attacking, he dared not be careless. However, at this moment, a flippant laugh echoed from below.
"How strange, to be such a weak human, yet able to use our power." Before Jugo could even scan with his senses, the soil beneath the hill seemed to writhe as if alive. From a dark, lightless opening, an indescribable, colossal purple snake emerged, casting a large shadow that enveloped everyone.
Seeing this, the villagers on the hill could no longer suppress their fear, and nearly half of them collapsed in terror. Jugo couldn't help but swallow, and though he certainly wasn't a match for this giant snake, what flooded his mind wasn't fear, but confusion. It was one thing for that strange young man to be elusive and hide from his senses, but how could such a giant snake appear so abruptly? It was too strange.
Jugo masked his shock, "What is this thing..."
"Thing? I am not some mere thing..." Manda lowered its head slightly, its breath reeking of blood and exhaling, "You may call me Lord Manda."
"Little thing, answer my question, what exactly are you, and why can you use our power?" Jugo, seeing that the other party didn't immediately attack, felt a little relieved and replied, "My name is Jugo, and I am human. As for the power you mentioned, I don't know much about it; I've just been able to use it since birth." This wasn't information that needed to be hidden, and Jugo didn't mind using his honesty to dispel the other party's hostility.
"Human? You say you're human?"
A hint of mockery flickered in Manda's massive snake eyes. "Look at the little things around you; do they see you as human? Dare to lie to Manda, and I'll swallow you whole." This threat didn't frighten Jugo. In this perilous situation, death was the most natural thing.
However, as he instinctively looked around, he saw the villagers looking at him with disgust and fear. Jugo had always been an anomaly in the village, an unstable time bomb. If it weren't for their fear of him going berserk from hunger, no one would have dared to bring him food at the risk of their lives. The only reason the villagers were following Jugo's lead now was the current disaster, prompting them to think of using a monster to fight a monster.
But now, hearing from this giant snake that Jugo's power was of the same origin, the villagers lost even the slightest shred of closeness. Some even suspected that Jugo had attracted this terrifying snake swarm. Jugo, with his keen senses, perceived the villagers' malice and suspicion with overwhelming clarity, and his eyes dimmed slightly.
Even so, he didn't argue. He merely stared at Manda, his neck stiff, shielding the villagers behind him. "Lord Manda, this kid is talking nonsense. Let me teach him a lesson." A few ethereal figures emerged from Manda's scales, led by Suiren, who said with a fawning expression, "Then, you can ask him whatever you want."
Manda neither agreed nor refused, its snake eyes fixed on the insect below, with a hint of cruelty in its gaze. Suiren gritted his teeth and pounced. Although he had died before and become the Snake Princess's plaything, he had at least retained his self.
But now, the Snake Princess was dying one by one due to Orochimaru's experiments, and even the Great Sage of the Ryuchi Cave might not survive. In such circumstances, he had to find a new path. Ninjas or anyone else wouldn't do; Suiren knew his own kind too well – they were cliquish and couldn't tolerate an outsider like him. Only Manda, also an outsider, might have a chance.
But Manda had its own flaws. Suiren always felt that the way Manda looked at him was like looking at a dessert. Therefore, he had to prove that he had a use beyond being food. Now was the best opportunity.
An eerie wind howled as Suiren and his few subordinates swooped down, their momentum resembling legendary demons. Jugo dared not be careless. He roared and his body underwent a terrifying transformation. His skin quickly turned a leaden gray, and his joints sprouted strange sickle-like bone armor.
This appearance was completely unlike that of a normal person, and even the villagers had never seen it before, scaring them into taking a large step back.
"Whoa, what kind of monster is this?" Jugo's aura after transforming startled Suiren, who quickly stopped his charge with his subordinates. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the robust figure, and exclaimed, "Strange, why do I feel danger from him?" Konoha Village had the 'Spiritual Transformation Technique' which could extract a living soul from the body and travel to assassinate targets regardless of distance. Suiren couldn't do that, but turning his body from solid to ethereal and evading corpse attacks was as easy as breathing. Why would this brute, who clearly relied on physical combat, make him feel threatened?
However, the cunning Suiren naturally wouldn't be careless. He rolled his eyes and instructed a few of his subordinates before they all swooped down again. This time, their target wasn't Jugo, but the ordinary people around him. The ethereal figures moved as fast as the wind, and Jugo couldn't stop them in time, watching them enter the bodies of the villagers.
"Ahhh..."
After a few wild roars, the bodies of those villagers suddenly swelled, becoming visibly muscular, their skin flushing a strange, eerie red.
"Uncle..."
"Second Uncle..."
...
The surrounding villagers cried out in surprise, but when they approached to investigate, they were easily sent flying by an arm, crashing into several villagers.
"What's wrong with you guys..."
Jugo, of course, wasn't among those sent flying. He pressed a villager's shoulder with his own strong hands, but the other person looked up. Beneath his greasy, messy hair were eyes filled with bloodshot veins. The villager suddenly grinned and said, "Got you..."
This sentence seemed to be a signal. The deformed villagers then lunged forward, each grabbing Jugo's limbs and neck. Jugo tried to resist, but the villager in front of him laughed maniacally, "Come on, kill them, kill them all... We're all outsiders, you hate them too, right? I'll push them in front of you, give you a good reason so you can kill them all without hesitation."
"Come on, you're just protecting yourself!" Jugo, about to exert force, trembled slightly at the other's roar and dared not continue. The opponent's ability was strange; it could strip away people's minds and control their bodies. Jugo had no confidence that he could expel them from their bodies without harming the villagers.
"What a waste."
The villager's eyes were red, his expression twisted, but a clear mockery appeared on his face. "You want to save them? Fine, they were never our target anyway, it's you. If you go back to normal and offer no resistance to what happens, we'll obediently let go of this body."
Jugo paused slightly, and the leaden gray on his body slowly receded. The bone armor retracted into his body, and he once again returned to his somewhat stout, ordinary human appearance. He didn't blindly believe their words; he simply felt that they had no reason to lie. That purple snake could flatten the villagers and the hill with a simple flick of its tail. They had no reason to deceive him. Although Jugo didn't understand why his honesty wasn't met with trust... as long as he could give the villagers a glimmer of hope, he was willing to be slaughtered.
Seeing that Jugo had truly surrendered, cunning flashed in Suiren's eyes. In the eyes of Jugo and the villagers, he was allied with the snake swarm, but that was not the reality; he was merely borrowing the tiger's might. What Suiren was doing now was still the initial fawning—devouring Jugo's spirit and then telling Manda how Jugo gained this power. As for obtaining an extremely excellent and sturdy body, that was Suiren's self-awarded prize. He hadn't had the confidence to confront Jugo before, but now it was different.
The contest of souls and spirits was the most dangerous. When there was little difference, it was a battle of conviction and will. A warrior who had burned their bridges and fought desperately was clearly far stronger than a surrendered defector. The latter was not to be feared, no matter how much power they possessed.
A flash of red light in his eyes, and the deformed villager's body collapsed to the ground. Suiren's ethereal spirit emerged and directly entered the sturdy body. An eerie wind howled, and Jugo felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, sharp pain agitating every nerve. He instinctively wanted to resist, but a sinister laugh echoed in his ears, "If you resist, you know what the villagers' fate will be..." In reality, Suiren was also somewhat surprised. The spiritual power of both sides was similar, and their objectives were vastly different, yet the other party's soul strength was surprisingly tough, like tough, roast chicken meat, making it very difficult to rip apart.
He didn't know that since Jugo understood himself, he had been fighting against the bloodthirsty coldness of White Snake-type natural energy; the monotony of sitting alone in a cave for countless days had not been entirely in vain. Now, Jugo had to suppress his resistance and control himself, preventing the pain from igniting his ferocity. He was completely tying his own hands and offering his neck for slaughter.
Even so, it would take Suiren some time to completely devour him. But Manda had no such patience. It flicked its tongue, letting out hisses, its giant snake eyes looking down at Jugo, and said coldly, "Such a waste. This little thing offers no resistance, and you're still making me wait. Watch me swallow you."
"Lord Manda, give me a little more time..." A phantasmal head emerged from Jugo's back, and Suiren pleaded with a contrite expression, "I'll be done with him soon."
"Hmph, there's no need for that."
Manda's scarlet head shot out, and with a gulp, it swallowed Jugo whole, along with Suiren. After doing all this, its cold, vertical pupils swept over the villagers, showing clear disdain. It usually demanded sacrifices from Orochimaru on a per-person basis, but that referred to ninjas or extraordinary beasts. It disdained these ordinary people. Especially after it mastered Senjutsu, it would rather eat the snake species in the Ryuchi Cave than eat this pure meat.
But while Manda was disgusted, the snake swarm below the hill was not picky. They had long wanted a change of taste. After Jugo was swallowed by Manda and the deterrence of the Sage-like aura diminished, countless cold snake eyes surveyed the villagers, their eyes radiating clear lust. However, at this moment, a strange snake cry echoed from deep within the earth, clearly heard by all the snakes.
Manda lowered its head, a flicker of annoyance in its eyes. "It's the Great Sage's order... Did that Orochimaru fellow not deal with her?"
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