Shikkotsu Forest, Ryūchi Cave, Mount Myōboku.
These Three Sacred Sites are famous worldwide because of the Sannin, collectively called the Three Great Sacred Lands.
But in reality, they're quite different.
Mount Myōboku is very mystic, more "concerned with the world," like a solemn, orthodox sect.
Ryūchi Cave is down-to-earth—the snakes don't ask for much, they just want a few extra bites of human meat for a snack. Basically your standard-issue villain faction.
Shikkotsu Forest is neutral. The slugs spend their days chilling, doing nothing because there's nothing to do.
There's nothing in this world that better embodies "lie flat and wait for death" than the slugs of Shikkotsu.
As for licensing patents, raking in big money—Slug Sage couldn't care less.
But it was pleased to see Tsunade return to the right path. So it supported her without hesitation: "If you want to use it, then use it," and let Yorin use the Shikkotsu name freely: "Just don't do bad things."
…
Shikkotsu Forest and the Senju have been allies for years.
Back in the Warring States era, when the Senju fought the Uchiha, the slugs of Shikkotsu fought beside the Senju—furiously poking at Sharingan.
It's said Hashirama Senju trained his Perfect Sage Mode in Shikkotsu Forest—that's why he had such absurd, broken levels of sage chakra to throw around. Who knows if it's true.
Perfect Sage Mode—enough to make you sigh.
When the Sannin fought Nagato, Yorin could feel how powerful Sage Mode is.
Without it, Jiraiya-sensei was just a run-of-the-mill Kage-level.
Open Sage Mode and—bam—a total upgrade.
…
Sage Art: Super Big Ball Rasengan and Sage Art: Goemon were devastating.
For precise single-target damage, they can't beat Yorin's stacked-box Thunder–Fire Sword.
But for large-scale wipe, even going all out, Lin Yang can't match those.
"Sage arts are great. Natural energy is great. If only there were a perfect Sage Mode with no cast wind-up and no constraints, that'd be even better."
Leaving Shikkotsu, Yorin sighed.
"Then why not ask the Slug Sage to teach you Sage Mode?" Tsunade asked, curious.
Yorin: "Mm, how to say it… my ambitions are a bit bigger."
Tsunade: "Bigger… Wait, don't tell me you're eyeing Grandpa's power? Perfect Sage Mode is talent-gated."
Yorin: "I think my talent's great. Why not try?"
Hearing that, Tsunade didn't answer—just kept giving him that doubtful look. She wanted to quip, "If you had it, why can't you sense natural energy already?"
Perfect Sage Mode doesn't need a sacred ground medium—you sense natural energy on your own. Pure talent; practically uncopyable.
As everyone has said 65535 times—the truly powerful one was Hashirama, not "Wood Release."
Yorin: "Doesn't matter. I have a cheat."
Tsunade: "There you go again, spouting weird things no one understands…"
His answer left her helpless.
The kid's great everywhere—just a little manic in front of people. But that's part of his charm, and she could accept it.
…
Yorin: "So next—Myōboku or Ryūchi?"
"Either is fine. But it feels like we don't need to make the business run this complicated," Tsunade said.
She'd rather go somewhere peaceful and fun with him—unlock a hot springs CG at Yugakure, for example.
No one picks Afghanistan for a honeymoon, right?
Yorin pretended not to catch it and decided: "Let's hit Ryūchi Cave first~"
Myōboku's toad oil is just branding; Shikkotsu's slug mucous too. The real efficacy comes from molecular compounds Orochimaru developed.
Of the three, the most medicinal and worth bulk purchases is Ryūchi Cave.
The snakes' antivenoms and sera are top-tier—excellent for killing and saving.
Also, in Uchiha Pharma's catalog, only Ryūchi Virility Powder actually contains Ryūchi snake drugs. A 3/15 fact-check nails it every time.
Before, Yorin sourced through Orochimaru.
Now that Orochimaru's opening a new lab and is too busy, Yorin had to go himself.
"Mm… be careful. Myōboku is fine, but Ryūchi—since I'm contracted to Shikkotsu, it's awkward for me to go," Tsunade said helplessly. "If I'm not there, it's negotiable. If I am, then it's straight to a fight."
Yorin: "Then… wait—what's that sound?"
They met eyes—and both ramped up their guard.
Unlike dimensional pocket realms like Ryūchi and Myōboku, Shikkotsu sits in a real location in the shinobi world—in the northern swamps of the Land of Fire.
The region is all giant lakes, swamp forests, and a scatter of islands; mist year-round; ground covered in rotted-leaf loam. Ordinary folk can barely move, let alone do anything productive.
If you meet people out here, there's only one likely answer:
Shinobi.
And very likely, enemy shinobi.
Given geography, most likely Kumo. Kiri and Iwa can't be ruled out. Suna's less likely, but never say never.
So what are these punks doing on Land of Fire soil?
Yorin: "…"
Tsunade: "…"
They looked at each other and decided to stop guessing—just go see.
Both are action-first. Once a plan's set, they moved at top speed.
He's not the Yellow Flash, but on a short sprint Yorin isn't slow—even carrying Tsunade, he could hit a ridiculous clip. In no time, they reached the source.
Closer meant clearer—the sound was a fight.
Yorin sped up. Unlikely—but if Konoha shinobi were engaged, they might be able to "put coats on more people on cold days."
They weren't.
When they arrived, Yorin confirmed with a twinge of disappointment: it wasn't Konoha vs. enemies—it was beauty vs. beauty.
Yorin's eyes lit up: "Nice."
Tsunade's went dark: "Not nice."