The explosive buzzing swallowed everything, and a torrent of blue and crimson chakra engulfed the entire hall.
As the chakra slowly faded and the air stilled again, a dark silhouette stood quietly in the center of the storm. Bit by bit, its outline became clear.
"He's still alive?" Tagorihime asked, stunned.
"This is impossible!" was Ichikishima-hime's first reaction.
Murezukihime swept her arm, dispersing the lingering chakra in front of them. Only then did she see Boruto standing there unscathed, like he hadn't taken a single step since the blast.
The ground beneath and all around him had been gouged into deep craters. Only the patch of earth directly under his feet remained intact, like an untouched island in a sea of destruction.
How did he do that?
His clothes weren't even ruffled, but his eyes clearly showed impatience. His arm was still slightly extended.
To the three sisters, that simple pose looked like the hand of a god stretched out—calm amid chaos—letting the raging shockwaves slip past him as if they weren't there.
It was like placing a wall in the middle of a river. The water struck it and naturally split to either side. Hidden behind the wall, you stayed completely dry.
"Call that a draw?" Boruto's voice floated out lightly.
The three sisters were speechless.
"Draw…?" Murezukihime repeated, a little lost.
"So I've passed your test," Boruto said calmly. "Take me to see the White Snake Sage."
"Hmm…" Ichikishima-hime frowned. For some reason, irritation surged in her chest.
Ryūchi Cave's Sage Techniques incline heavily toward pure Yang Release, so when one uses that power, their mind is easily affected—more irritable, more intense, more violent.
"Human, tell me!" Ichikishima-hime's voice cracked like a judge's hammer. "How did you block that attack?!"
"Big Sis, isn't that his own secret?" Tagorihime stepped forward and tugged at her sleeve, reminding her that asking like that was rude.
"Alright." Boruto nodded and answered simply, "I just pumped out all the air around my body and created a vacuum."
Sound can't travel without air as a medium.
Tagorihime: ?!
Ichikishima-hime:?
Murezukihime blinked. "What kind of theory is that? You're saying you just removed the air in front of you and that stopped that terrifying sound wave?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Boruto replied, completely serious.
The three sisters froze.
Don't try to fool honest immortals like us. We're illiterate!
Boruto thought to himself: If you've mastered math, physics, and chemistry, you don't have to fear even an immortal.
They stared at him, incredulous—he had barely used any noticeable chakra to defend himself. And yet… they couldn't help but believe it.
"Alright, human. I'll take you to the White Snake Sage," Tagorihime finally said after a moment's hesitation, choosing not to press him further.
"Good." Boruto leapt lightly over a pit several meters deep. That entire section of ground looked like it had been erased from existence, leaving nothing behind.
As he moved past, Ichikishima-hime smiled faintly and brushed by him, stopping at the edge of a crater. She crouched down and pressed her hands to the ground.
"Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation."
An immense surge of chakra rushed into the earth. The soil, as if answering a silent call, began to writhe and flow, quickly filling the hole until the ground looked completely restored.
Boruto watched without surprise. Instead, he thought to himself that the Sage Arts of Ryūchi Cave seemed even closer to the essence of Yin–Yang Release.
The power to create something from nothing and give it life—that was what Yin–Yang Release truly was.
And the scene before him fit that description perfectly.
Ichikishima-hime glanced back at him, a trace of resentment in her eyes. Not impressed at all…? Or is he just stubbornly calm?
…
Inside the main temple of Ryūchi Cave.
Boruto followed the three sisters along a winding path, the dense mist still coiling around them, turning the entire space into a mysterious, dreamlike world.
In the distance, under the dim glow of hanging lanterns, a colossal temple rose from the ground.
Inside, seated upon a throne, was a woman with orange hair and yellow eyes, a green cat's-eye stone set at her chest, and a purple silk headband inlaid with a horn-shaped, military-green ornament.
Coiled around the throne itself was the immense body of the White Snake Sage—her head adorned with a glowing red pearl, a pipe resting in her mouth, her long white body looping in elegant spirals, two golden rings jingling softly at the tip of her tail.
"Humans. What rare guests," she said. "It has been nearly ten years since Yakushi Kabuto last came here."
"That human's talent and character were outstanding," Tagorihime said. "But it's a pity… he always lived in someone else's shadow."
Ichikishima-hime frowned. "Orochimaru, is it? A human who forcibly replicated our Ryūchi Cave Sage Techniques through his own efforts."
The White Snake Sage tapped her pipe. "I wonder—what is your relationship with Orochimaru?"
Boruto answered with guarded politeness, "Granny Sage, that matter has nothing to do with you. I've passed Ryūchi Cave's tests, so shouldn't I receive the reward I'm owed?"
"Hehehe… You'll get what you deserve. Not a drop less," the White Snake Sage said. "However, before we begin your Sage training, I have a few questions for you."
She lifted her pipe with one hand, took a light drag, and peered at Boruto with open curiosity.
"What do you want to ask?" Boruto replied. Though puzzled, he gestured respectfully for her to continue.
"I'd like to know… what kind of agreement you made with that toad from Mount Myōboku. Lately, I've had a feeling—the shinobi world is about to fall into chaos."
The White Snake Sage exhaled a thick plume of smoke, her brows drawing together.
"That was a bet," Boruto said. "The stakes were the safety of the entire ninja world. I gambled on whether I could salvage a shattered future."
"Oh?" The White Snake Sage's interest deepened.
"Granny Sage has lived from Kaguya's era to the present, right? What do you think of that so-called 'God of Chakra'?" Boruto asked in return.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, Infinite Tsukuyomi had been cast, wrapping the entire world in endless illusion. Yet the three great Sage Lands remained untouched.
It was obvious: the mysteries of the three sacred places were in no way inferior to Kaguya's Amenominaka.
"Kaguya?" the White Snake Sage said. "She wished only to reclaim the chakra scattered throughout the world. What does that have to do with my Sage Arts? Our paths don't intersect."
Boruto showed no surprise. "During the Fourth Ninja War, Ryūchi Cave stayed completely on the sidelines. You only sent one blue serpent."
"If they weren't strong enough or crazy enough, that's their problem," the White Snake Sage replied coldly.
"So then… this unsettling energy I've been sensing—was that Kaguya?" she asked.
"No." Boruto shook his head. "If anything, it's me. I've been preparing all this time."
Preparing for war.
The White Snake Sage was taken aback. Without realizing it, she found herself studying Boruto more closely. This human… she couldn't see through him at all.
"Once you obtain the Sage Arts of Ryūchi Cave, whatever you do afterward—whether you start a war or protect the world—has nothing to do with me."
"However, if you truly encounter trouble you cannot overcome, Ryūchi Cave can offer you shelter."
Her voice was solemn.
The three sisters stared at her in open shock, then flicked their gazes toward Boruto again.
This kind of treatment had never been offered to anyone before.
"Then I'll accept your kindness, Immortal," Boruto said with a slight bow.
"You are the one who has shown the least interest in our legends and power in thousands of years of Ryūchi Cave," the White Snake Sage remarked.
It was as if he believed he was naturally entitled to all of this.
Boruto remained silent, only smiling faintly.
"Your heart is too vast, too far-reaching. Even I can't read it. I suppose that's why that toad was willing to gamble on you, isn't it?" she said.
"I just promised I'd live and die with the ninja world," Boruto answered simply.
"Come closer. I'll inject Sage Chakra directly into your body. How much you can grasp will depend entirely on your own strength."
The White Snake Sage removed her pipe, her eyes taking on a gravity she rarely showed.
Boruto stepped forward. The White Snake Sage slowly uncoiled, rising before him. They faced each other, and she laid a hand on his shoulder. In that instant, the frail-looking old sage unleashed a staggering wave of Sage power.
Like a surging river bursting its banks, a torrent of chakra poured into Boruto's body in a single breath.
Boruto stayed steady, quietly accepting and savoring this power.
Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode was different from Mount Myōboku's—it allowed one to continue drawing in natural energy even while maintaining Sage Mode.
Whether you could do that depended entirely on your physical endurance.
The method by which the White Snake Sage imparted Sage power was different as well. Traditionally, she would bite through the skin to infuse it. But now, she appeared graceful and composed, transferring the power through the contact of her hand on his shoulder.
How much power you absorbed depended purely on your capacity. That was the uniqueness of Ryūchi Cave's inheritance. The infusion was more like opening a separate space in your body dedicated to storing Sage Chakra.
The amount you could hold afterward would equal the amount you could take in now. Once that initial power naturally dissipated, your capacity for Sage energy—what you could draw in on your own—would always be fixed.
The first time is equivalent to a constant value.
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A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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