Ryūchi Cave.
As one of the three great Sage Lands, it's said that only those who truly seek it with a sincere heart are qualified to stand before the White Snake Sage.
The method of entering is unknown. Without a guide, it is almost impossible for an ordinary person to find their way in.
So far, only Yakushi Kabuto, the former orphanage director and man of fulfilled ambitions, had successfully mastered Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode.
According to the original flow of fate, Boruto should have stumbled into Ryūchi Cave by accident while looking for Mitsuki, and there he would have met Shikūjū, the strongest snake summoning beast.
In short, the entry threshold was sky-high—like going on a pilgrimage. It demanded a devout heart.
…
After a brief moment of disturbance, ethereal clouds surged up from nowhere. In the white mist, the gates to the Sage Realm slowly opened.
When the fog cleared from his vision, Boruto saw it: at the end of the dense mist, a gate loomed. On the plaque above, bold gilt characters were carved, and golden lanterns hung neatly from the beam.
—Ryūchi Cave.
Wow, that's really something, Boruto thought.
He remembered: to reach the central temple, there were three trials, each prepared by one of the three attendants of the White Snake Sage.
The fog obscured his surroundings, and Boruto walked forward as if on flat ground.
As soon as he stepped through the gate, the environment shifted. The mist vanished, and a grand castle stood before him.
The massive doors stood wide open, like they were welcoming travelers to come in and rest. Inside, everything was lavish—red-and-gold carpets, glittering décor, and an almost suffocating extravagance.
But with his Byakugan and Pure Eye, this level of illusion— even enhanced by Sage power—was nothing to Boruto.
Tagorihime's unique "transformation of objects" technique was meant to project what lay deepest in a person's desires, reflecting the greed in their heart.
The more intense the craving, the more vivid the illusion. For ordinary people, it might be a hedonistic feast or a hall full of beautiful women.
But to Tagorihime's frustration, she couldn't grasp any clear greed from Boruto's heart. She refused to believe there was actually someone in this world who was completely detached.
That could only mean two things: either her own skill wasn't high enough, which was impossible for a girl who had cultivated for hundreds of years—
Or the boy who had come to learn Sage Mode had already seen through her illusion entirely.
Sure enough, Boruto lifted his gaze. In his calm eyes, the pale blue-white glow of his Pure Eye locked directly onto her.
Tagorihime stared back in disbelief. She hadn't expected an eleven or twelve-year-old brat not only to see through her illusion, but also to spot her hidden body.
This was an invisibility technique that even blocked chakra perception.
"Let's not drag this out," Boruto said. "I can already see the two fairies hiding behind as well. Let's get straight to the point."
He raised his hand lightly, and a thread of water shot from his fingertip. Two round drops of water slipped into the castle wall in front of him, passing through effortlessly as if the wall weren't there.
Not far away, in the real space behind the illusion, two beautiful figures stared in shock at the two water droplets heading straight for their faces, clear and sparkling.
"This human can see through our invisibility!"
Realizing they'd been found, the two sisters dropped their concealment and appeared, ready to swat away the incoming drops. But just as they moved, the droplets halted in mid-air.
Boruto, standing behind, flicked his wrist. The droplets scattered into a fine mist, adding another thin layer of haze to the hall.
"Human, your chakra control is quite advanced," one of the sisters said. "You must have come for the Sage Power of Ryūchi Cave."
"Yes," Boruto admitted without hesitation.
"As expected." The other had a knowing look. "But there are rules. To gain this power, you must pass the trials of us three sisters… or in this case, us two first."
"Okay." Boruto nodded, then urged, a bit impatiently, "You two can come at me together."
Ichikishima-hime and Murezukihime exchanged a glance, anger rising. Never before had a challenger dared look down on them like this.
Ichikishima-hime was the first to step forward. She didn't bother with invisibility this time. With a light tap of her foot, her body shot forward like a bullet.
Her speed was nearly instantaneous. She thrust a finger straight at Boruto's heart, while Boruto stood there calmly, his Pure Eye tracking every motion.
At that speed, that simple finger strike could pierce clean through Boruto's heart—even without the amplification of another jutsu.
Boruto's pupils shifted; the horizontal toad-like sage pupils replaced the original azure blue. One eye remained the clear Pure Eye; the other turned into the mark of Sage Mode.
With a single blink, Boruto slipped past the fatal strike. In that instant, his speed rivaled the Flying Thunder God's instantaneous movement—or rather, at the highest level, speed itself could break through the limits of time.
Boruto hadn't reached that level yet, but for Ichikishima-hime, he was already far beyond reach.
"It's Sage Mode! You've already mastered Sage Power—why are you still so greedy as to reach for another Sage style?" Murezukihime exclaimed.
"But if he's that greedy, why didn't Tagorihime's illusion work on him?" she added, even more confused.
Watching from the side, the sisters were full of doubts they couldn't resolve.
"Human, you've mastered Sage Mode perfectly. Among humans, you truly are a genius," Ichikishima-hime said.
But you're still far from qualified to provoke the sages of this land!
Ichikishima-hime then released a terrifying surge of Sage Chakra—power born from hundreds of years of Ryūchi Cave cultivation, far beyond what any human could normally wield.
A violent wave of pressure roared out silently, like a hurricane sweeping across the hall, thinning even the lingering pale mist.
Not bad, Boruto thought. Feels kind of like a Dragon Ball power-up scene.
Under Sage perception, Boruto clearly saw the scale of her power. Her chakra volume was almost at the level of a Tailed Beast.
As expected of a sage from one of the three Great Sage Lands. If her power is like this… just how strong is the White Snake Sage herself?
"Well, human, are you stunned by my overwhelming power?" Ichikishima-hime laughed.
"Senior is indeed incredible," Boruto said. "You can store a chakra volume comparable to a Tailed Beast—and it's all high-grade Sage Chakra."
He paused lightly, then added, "But… that's about it."
"Oh? You don't seem very afraid of my power," Ichikishima-hime said, smile tightening. "Want to test it for real?"
She stared at Boruto's still-calm expression, her irritation rising visibly.
"Let's decide it in a single move," Boruto suggested.
"Fine, fine! Human, you have guts!" Ichikishima-hime's face was already twisted with fury, and the smile on her lips carried a chilling killing intent.
"I was thinking of leaving your body intact so I could enjoy a proper meal, but if you're so eager to die, I'll just erase your existence!"
"Calm down, Ichikishima! Granny chose him—you can't kill him!" Tagorihime quickly intervened.
"Yes, yes! Granny said she still has questions for this human," Murezukihime echoed, trying to rein her in.
Seeing this, Boruto just said evenly, "It's just a spar. If I die, it means I wasn't strong enough. That has no value for the White Snake Sage anyway."
"You do understand your place," Tagorihime muttered, "but Ichikishima's power is way beyond your imagination."
Even so, Boruto had already started gathering Sage Chakra and adjusting his stance. Seeing this, Ichikishima-hime snorted, and her evaluation of him quietly ticked up a notch.
"Sage Art: White Rage!"
"Sage Art: Super Big Ball Rasenshuriken!"
Two super S-rank Sage Techniques appeared in the void between them, colliding head-on in mid-air. Several crimson, luminescent dragons coiled and writhed, each clutching a dark purple sphere in its claws.
Not to be outdone, Boruto unleashed a Super Giant Rasenshuriken, its core modeled after the Stellar Rasengan used by the white-robed man.
The instant it left his hand, an immense gravitational force erupted from the shuriken, yanking the crimson dragons into its spiral and grinding them into chakra, all of it feeding back into the jutsu.
A piercing whine echoed throughout the hall, and the surrounding mist scattered from the shockwaves, revealing the true landscape of Ryūchi Cave.
No one had time to care about that anymore.
White Rage was a sonic Sage Technique that could destroy the structure of a human body down to the molecular level, erasing a person from existence.
Boruto's Rasenshuriken was just as monstrous. Sage Chakra itself was a chaotic fusion of energies; the nature transformation inside was like countless microscopic vortex needles shredding everything apart.
The sound it produced subtly overpowered White Rage. Many of the dark purple spheres were shattered by the Rasenshuriken before they could fully resonate, and the chakra dragons were dragged into the storm.
"Hmph!" Ichikishima-hime exhaled sharply.
She flew through hand seals and seized control of every remaining chakra dragon, merging them into a single massive dragon that swallowed the Rasenshuriken whole.
At the same time, all the dark purple spheres fused into one enormous orb, comparable to a Tailed Beast Bomb fired at point-blank range.
Without hesitation, the massive dragon dove into the giant purple sphere, fusing and resonating with it. Violent fluctuations rippled out, shaking the air at a molecular level.
The force was so powerful that even the caster could barely endure it. Only by combining their strength to erect a soundproof barrier could the three sisters withstand the blast.
"Ichikishima, using that much power… that human has probably been shattered into gas by now, hasn't he?" Tagorihime said, a little shaken.
"There was no need to be that ruthless…" Murezukihime muttered, lips twitching, a hint of reluctance in her eyes.
"…" Ichikishima-hime fell silent. It had started as play… but she realized she'd gone a bit too far.
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