As for Mount Myōboku, Kiyohara had never interacted much with the toads there.
The main reason was simple. Compared to the old toads, the Snake Princesses of Ryūchi Cave suited his aesthetic preferences far better.
More importantly, Kiyohara was actually far more wary of the Great Toad Sage than he was of the White Snake Sage.
Among all the legendary sages, only the Great Toad Sage had truly been the driving force behind the conflict between the Sage of Six Paths and his brother with Otsutsuki Kaguya. It had even been the Great Toad Sage who, a thousand years ago, foretold the existence of the "Child of Prophecy" to Hagoromo.
The ability to peer a thousand years into the future was a level of foresight that surpassed every other prophetic method in the shinobi world.
The priestesses' prophecies could only glimpse brief scenes surrounding those near them, usually nothing more than the manner of a person's death.
Even the White Snake Sage's prophecies were limited. Like Otsutsuki Momoshiki, she could only vaguely perceive fragments of a person's destiny. She was completely incapable of spanning such an unimaginably long stretch of time.
"So..."
Tagitsuhime looked toward Kiyohara, the enthusiasm in her voice noticeably stronger than before.
"What exactly is your request?"
Although Tagitsuhime had signed a summoning contract with him, she did not believe for a second that Kiyohara would help her out of pure goodwill.
"It's simple." Kiyohara stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I happen to know a path that carries very little risk but offers extremely high returns."
"What path?"
Tagitsuhime immediately pressed for an answer.
Only after seeing the confusion appear on the beautiful Snake Princess's face did Kiyohara continue.
"I wonder... have you ever been interested in becoming the ruler of Ryūchi Cave?"
"...!"
His words startled Tagitsuhime so badly that her pupils instantly contracted.
Kiyohara's audacity was beyond anything she had imagined.
The White Snake Sage could hear the changes occurring throughout the shinobi world, and naturally that included everything happening inside Ryūchi Cave itself. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the entire sacred land existed beneath her watchful gaze.
"No need to be nervous."
Kiyohara shook his head calmly.
"Take another look."
He pointed toward the surrounding space.
Following the direction of his finger, Tagitsuhime looked carefully around her.
Only then did she realize that, without her noticing, a fuinjutsu barrier had already enveloped the area.
She studied it carefully for a while.
It looked remarkably similar to the fuinjutsu techniques of the Uzumaki Clan.
She silently marveled to herself.
Kiyohara's mastery of the Uzumaki fuinjutsu arts had actually reached such an astonishing level.
"Aren't you afraid I'll report everything you've said to the White Snake Sage?"
She turned back to look at him.
"If you want to tell her, then tell her."
Kiyohara had absolutely no reason to believe that the White Snake Sage could somehow mobilize all of Ryūchi Cave to attack Konoha.
To put it bluntly, perhaps these sacred lands had once stood at the peak of glory a thousand years ago.
But now?
They were merely lingering remnants of their former selves, barely surviving.
When the Fourth Great Shinobi War came, what had they done?
Nothing more than hide like frightened turtles.
If they truly possessed overwhelming strength, they should have emerged the moment Six Paths Madara unleashed the God Tree's Advent.
Otherwise, everyone would inevitably fall into the eternal dream of the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
There were only a handful of ways to avoid it.
Either one possessed the Rinnegan.
Or one existed as the dead did, like the shinobi resurrected through the Impure World Reincarnation.
As for Otsutsuki Isshiki, he belonged to the Otsutsuki Clan himself. Naturally, he already understood how such harvesting techniques worked and knew how to counter them.
The reason Kiyohara remained cautious of the Great Toad Sage had nothing to do with the old sage's combat strength.
What truly concerned him was prophecy.
There was always the possibility that the Great Toad Sage maintained some hidden connection with the Sage of Six Paths. Kiyohara's appearance had already altered the course of history, and that connection might have prompted preparations far earlier than expected.
"Besides..."
Kiyohara gently lifted Tagitsuhime's chin, forcing her gaze to meet his own.
"I doubt you're truly willing to spend your entire life beneath the White Snake Sage's shadow."
Within those eyes, the tomoe slowly rotated.
The moment Tagitsuhime showed the slightest sign of refusal...
Kiyohara intended to place her under complete control.
Silence immediately filled the room.
After what felt like an eternity, Tagitsuhime slowly nodded.
"I... can agree."
After thinking it through, she realized that with Kiyohara's strength, he truly had no reason to fear the White Snake Sage.
If she actually became the new ruler of Ryūchi Cave...
Then every serpent living there would obey her commands.
She would even be free to cultivate in the areas where the cave's natural energy was at its richest.
"Agree to whom?"
"...Master."
Tagitsuhime reacted quickly, lowering her head as she addressed Kiyohara by that title.
Hearing her answer, Kiyohara nodded in satisfaction.
Very good.
Those who understood the times were wise indeed.
He admired decisive people.
"But if you want to become even stronger..."
Kiyohara slowly withdrew his hand from beneath her chin before letting it settle lightly upon her thigh.
"...then you'll have to prove your loyalty."
Tagitsuhime's body stiffened almost imperceptibly.
She neither dodged nor pushed his hand away.
She merely lowered her head, quietly watching the hand resting upon her thigh as his fingers gently traced across the fabric.
"How... do I prove it?"
There was obvious nervousness in her voice.
She had lived for centuries.
Yet throughout those long years, she had devoted herself entirely to cultivating Sage Arts, hoping that one day she could stand alongside the White Snake Sage.
She had never once experienced intimacy between a man and a woman.
Kiyohara's hand slowly slid upward from her knee until it reached the inner part of her thigh.
He could clearly feel the softness and fullness beneath his palm.
"Let's first see whether you still have a conscience."
Tagitsuhime looked up.
Her golden vertical pupils were filled with confusion.
"A conscience?"
"That's right."
Without another word, Kiyohara's hand continued moving upward.
A section of her fair skin became visible, gleaming softly beneath the warm light.
Tagitsuhime's breathing gradually became uneven.
She could distinctly feel his fingers slowly gliding along the inside of her thigh.
Every gentle touch sent a tingling sensation across her skin.
Her body instinctively tensed, and her fingers unconsciously clenched the edge of her clothing.
Then...
His hand left her thigh.
Instead, it settled against her slender waist.
Her breathing became even faster.
She could feel his hand wandering slowly across her upper body.
Within those golden snake-like eyes, a faint layer of moisture gradually appeared.
Just when she thought he intended to continue...
His hand stopped.
Tagitsuhime froze.
"That's enough for today."
Kiyohara casually waved his hand.
"I'll spend a little while training Inorganic Reincarnation before I leave."
For now, he only intended to satisfy himself with a little harmless teasing.
He still had more important matters to deal with afterward.
With that, Kiyohara stood up and walked toward the door.
Tagitsuhime remained seated where she was.
Her chest still rose and fell heavily.
The blush covering her beautiful face had yet to fade.
She bit lightly on her lower lip as she watched Kiyohara's retreating figure.
"You..."
She wanted to say something.
But no words came.
Kiyohara stopped and glanced back.
"What is it?"
"...Nothing."
Tagitsuhime turned her face away.
"You should go."
Kiyohara smiled faintly before pushing open the door and walking outside.
The door closed quietly behind him.
The room was left with only Tagitsuhime.
Still sitting upon the tatami, she folded her hands across her knees before gently pressing one hand against her chest.
Her alluring eyes shimmered softly.
That infuriating Master...
Had he really stirred her emotions only to stop at the last possible moment?
...
In the backyard of Tagitsuhime's residence.
Kiyohara stood upon an open patch of ground.
Several stalagmites jutted upward from the earth before him.
The natural energy within Ryūchi Cave was far richer than anywhere outside.
The air carried the damp scent of fertile earth.
Within his perception, streams of natural energy were vividly visible, flowing silently through the air like countless invisible rivers.
He drew a slow breath.
The surrounding natural energy poured into his body.
Spiritual energy.
Physical energy.
Natural energy.
The three forces converged within him, gradually merging into a single existence.
Sage Chakra.
Emerald markings slowly appeared around his eyes.
Dark green chakra flowed across his body like a thin cloak.
Opening his eyes once more, the three tomoe within his vertical pupils reflected the stalagmites standing before him.
"Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation."
At that very instant...
One of the stalagmites began to writhe.
Its shape slowly twisted and transformed.
Kiyohara could clearly sense that the once lifeless stone had gained life.
It was no longer a cold, unmoving rock.
It had become something possessing will.
Something capable of movement.
The stalagmite tore itself free from the ground, raising its body upright like a giant serpent.
Moments later, it slithered rapidly across the earth.
Wherever it passed, a shallow trench was carved into the ground.
Its speed was astonishing.
So fast that only a gray blur remained visible.
Then...
It slammed directly into another stalagmite.
Boom!
The instant the two collided, shattered fragments of stone exploded in every direction.
The animated stalagmite remained completely unharmed.
The other one snapped cleanly in half.
Its upper section tumbled to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
A slight change appeared in Kiyohara's expression.
He slowly raised his other hand toward another stalagmite.
Immediately...
The second stalagmite awakened as well.
It pulled itself free from the earth and stood shoulder to shoulder with the first.
Kiyohara lowered his right hand.
Now he controlled them using only his left.
Driven solely by his will, both living stalagmites began moving across the clearing.
They slithered side by side with perfect coordination.
"Stop."
Instantly...
Both stalagmites froze in place without the slightest movement.
"Attack."
At the same moment, the two living stone pillars shot forward toward the rock wall ahead with incredible speed.
BOOM!
Two enormous craters were blasted into the cliff face.
Fragments of shattered stone flew everywhere as dust billowed into the air.
Kiyohara withdrew his chakra.
Immediately, both stalagmites lost their vitality.
They fell heavily back onto the ground, reverting into nothing more than ordinary stone once again.
Standing where he was, Kiyohara quietly stared at the rocks, deep in thought.
"Inorganic Reincarnation... It merely grants life to an inanimate object. Once the chakra supply is cut off, everything returns to its original state."
He pondered the technique carefully.
Its operating principle was fundamentally different from ordinary ninjutsu.
Traditional ninjutsu manipulated objects through chakra.
Puppet Technique was the perfect example.
Chakra strings connected the puppeteer to the puppet, allowing every movement to be directed through the user's fingers.
Inorganic Reincarnation worked nothing like that.
It wasn't control.
It was the act of granting life itself.
Rather than manipulating stone through chakra strings, it infused the stone with natural energy, allowing the stone to awaken on its own before acting according to his will.
It was almost as though...
Kiyohara's brows slowly furrowed in contemplation.
It was much like the First Hokage's Wood Release.
The principle behind Wood Release was to transform chakra into the life force of trees, allowing seeds to sprout, saplings to grow, and towering trees to move according to the will of the user.
Yet there was still a fundamental difference between the two.
Trees were living organisms to begin with. Even without chakra, seeds would eventually germinate, saplings would continue growing, and forests would flourish on their own.
Stalagmites, however, possessed no life whatsoever.
They were nothing more than lifeless stone.
They would never move by themselves.
Inorganic Reincarnation was the act of creating life.
Not creating life in the biological sense.
Rather, creating life at an even more fundamental level.
It infused vitality into something that had never possessed life in the first place, awakening it from complete lifelessness.
Kiyohara slowly raised his hand and looked at his palm.
Sage Chakra continued flowing steadily within it.
"Interesting..."
The corners of his mouth curved upward slightly.
His thoughts had already moved elsewhere.
What would happen if this technique were used on materials capable of storing chakra?
And what if it were further combined with certain properties of Earth Grudge Fear and the Chimera Technique, allowing all of them to fuse together into something even more perfect?
Kiyohara had the distinct feeling that if he followed this path, he might eventually reproduce effects remarkably similar to Yin-Yang Release.
At that point...
Even the vessel for an artificial Tailed Beast would become virtually flawless.
"I should start collecting some Dragon Vein chakra in advance and begin preliminary experiments."
Kiyohara silently made up his mind.
If the theory truly proved workable, then the next step would be figuring out a way to guide massive amounts of Dragon Vein chakra into a specially prepared vessel before sealing it inside.
By the time evening was approaching, Kiyohara returned to Tagitsuhime's residence.
She had already composed herself and tidied her appearance.
The moment she saw him, she shot him a rather resentful glance, as though silently complaining that he had utterly failed to appreciate the mood earlier.
"You're leaving already?"
She found it difficult to believe.
He had only practiced for about an hour at most.
In Tagitsuhime's eyes, a Sage Art of such extraordinary complexity should require years of painstaking training.
"It's already simple enough."
Kiyohara casually shook his head.
"There's no reason to keep practicing here."
Ryūchi Cave's abundant natural energy certainly made Sage Art training much faster than outside.
But he had already mastered nearly everything there was to master.
Continuing to stay here would simply be wasting time.
Once he returned, he could begin practical experiments using chakra-conductive materials instead.
"Your talent..."
Tagitsuhime clicked her tongue in amazement.
"...is honestly terrifying."
"The White Snake Sage once taught this technique to quite a few snakes."
"But not a single one of them ever learned it."
Kiyohara picked up a teacup and took a leisurely sip.
"Perhaps..."
"...they simply weren't as talented as I am."
Tagitsuhime fell silent.
She genuinely had no idea how she was supposed to respond to such a statement.
...
Inside the Hokage's Office.
Having just returned from Ryūchi Cave, Kiyohara had barely settled back into his chair when someone knocked on the door.
Knock.
Knock.
"Come in."
The office door slowly opened.
Akimichi Choza stood at the entrance, holding a scroll in his hand.
"Hokage-sama."
He walked into the room before stopping in front of the desk.
The chair creaked loudly beneath his weight, bending ever so slightly.
Leaning comfortably against the backrest, Kiyohara looked at him.
"So..."
"You've made your decision?"
Choza nodded.
He placed the scroll upon the desk.
His fingers lingered atop it for a single second before slowly letting go.
"This is the Akimichi Clan's Yang Release Secret Technique."
"It has been passed down orally since the Warring States Era and has never been shared with outsiders."
"But today..."
"...I am presenting it to Hokage-sama."
Kiyohara made no move to pick it up immediately.
Instead, he simply looked at Choza.
Those black eyes revealed no emotion whatsoever.
"Choza."
"What do you want in return?"
Choza remained silent for several moments.
Finally, he answered.
"The Akimichi Clan wishes to obtain a forbidden technique."
"A forbidden technique?"
"That's right."
He raised his head.
His expression was completely serious.
"Our clan's secret techniques possess considerable power."
"But the price they demand is simply too great."
"The Expansion Jutsu consumes body fat, which is essentially our stored chakra. That much can be replenished afterward."
"But the techniques that can truly change the outcome of a battlefield..."
He stopped speaking there.
There was no need to continue.
Kiyohara already understood.
The Akimichi Clan's Butterfly Mode normally required consuming the clan's secret Red Chili Pill before it could be activated.
Yet that pill forced the body beyond its natural limits.
Death was an extremely common outcome.
Only an exceptional individual like Choji had managed to awaken Butterfly Mode solely through his own strength, completely avoiding any side effects.
For that reason, it was also known as Butterfly Choji Mode.
"So..."
"You want a technique capable of replacing it?"
Kiyohara asked.
Choza nodded again.
"The Akimichi Clan doesn't lack shinobi."
"What we lack..."
"...are shinobi who survive."
"If there were a forbidden technique capable of saving someone's life during a critical moment..."
"Even if it could only protect them once..."
He paused.
Then lowered his head.
"...more members of our clan would be able to come home alive."
Kiyohara was not surprised by Choza's request.
The leaders of the great shinobi clans, or those occupying positions of authority within them, almost always prioritized their family's interests first.
The higher a clan's survival rate became...
The easier it would be for that bloodline to continue for generations.
A moment later, Kiyohara snapped his fingers.
Snap.
A dark figure silently emerged from the shadows before kneeling on one knee in front of the desk.
The figure possessed an unmistakably feminine silhouette beneath the standard ANBU uniform.
An animal mask concealed her face.
Long purple hair spilled from beneath her hood.
It was none other than Yugao.
"Take Lord Choza to the Forbidden Technique Vault."
"Let him choose one."
Kiyohara had no interest in having someone retrieve the Scroll of Seals again just so Choza could browse through it slowly.
"Understood."
Yugao stood up before turning toward Choza.
"Lord Choza."
"Please follow me."
Choza also rose to his feet.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
Kiyohara waved dismissively.
"Go."
Choza turned around and followed Yugao toward the office door.
Their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
Silence once again returned to the Hokage's Office.
Kiyohara remained seated, quietly staring at the scroll resting on the desk.
Finally, he reached out.
He picked it up.
Untied the cord.
And slowly unrolled it.
The parchment was densely packed with handwritten text, the varying shades of ink revealing the work of countless generations.
Every line recorded the Akimichi Clan's inherited Yang Release Secret Techniques.
How body fat was converted into chakra.
How chakra was then used to enlarge the user's physical body.
How every stage of the techniques functioned.
"So..."
"Is this finally enough?"
Kiyohara spoke softly.
At that moment, Mangekyo Kiyohara slowly floated out from within his body.
His silver-white hair cascaded down to his waist.
His Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan gazed at the scroll upon the desk, the intricate patterns within his crimson eyes rotating slowly.
"The Akimichi Clan's Yang Release Secret Technique..."
"...combined with the Yamanaka Clan's Yin Release Secret Technique from before..."
He paused.
A slight smile appeared.
"...is sufficient."
Kiyohara looked toward him.
"Good."
He nodded faintly.
Had it still not been enough, he would have needed to continue collecting additional secret techniques.
Very soon...
A glowing sphere slowly drifted out from Mangekyo Kiyohara's body.
The orb flew directly into Kiyohara.
The instant it merged with him...
He closed his eyes.
At that moment, he experienced an unprecedented surge of spiritual energy.
His already immense spiritual power increased dramatically once again.
"As expected..."
"...the Eternal Mangekyo truly lives up to its name."
Unable to stop himself, Kiyohara silently marveled.
The amount of spiritual energy inherited this time far surpassed every previous occasion.
Even as he was still immersed in that feeling...
His eyes quietly began changing.
A warm current of power emerged from the depths of his eye sockets, enveloping both eyeballs.
He could clearly feel it.
His Mangekyo Sharingan was being nourished.
Strengthened.
Enhanced.
Its already formidable eye power was receiving an entirely new source of vitality, continuously expanding outward.
Then...
The transformation spread beyond his eyes.
His chakra followed.
Beginning from his pupils, the newly awakened power coursed through his entire chakra pathway system.
Every meridian was gradually widening.
The amount of chakra his body could contain increased at a rate almost visible to the naked eye.
Kiyohara slowly opened his eyes.
The world before him had changed.
Colors appeared far more vivid than before.
Every outline had become incomparably sharper.
Even the tiniest specks of dust drifting through the air could be seen with absolute clarity.
Nothing escaped his sight.
Everything lay fully exposed before his eyes.
Kiyohara took out a mirror.
Looking into his own reflection...
He saw that the crimson background of his Mangekyo Sharingan had changed once more.
The pattern itself had evolved.
Beside the previously overlapping black crescent shapes, entirely new markings had appeared.
They resembled twisting vines.
Growing outward from the edges of the twin crescents.
Gradually intertwining.
Finally converging at the very center of his pupil to form an even more intricate design.
The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
At that same moment...
The memories of an entirely new dojutsu technique surfaced within Kiyohara's mind.
(End of Chapter)