Tagorihime glared furiously at the ninja who had woken her up. When she saw that Shuten-doji mask, her anger burned even hotter.
Last time, this ninja had rudely occupied her sleeping cave. She had only intended to teach him a lesson and chase him away, but he had actually tried to kill her.
How could she tolerate that!
The result had been terrible.
He had accidentally escaped, and her cave had been destroyed in the process.
"The Sage was right, ninja are all bad guys! Hmph. Just a while ago, someone else tried to kill me too. Luckily, I sensed them in advance and ate them all in one bite."
"When will my training be enough to return to Ryuchi Cave? There are so many bad snakes there; relying on just a few older sisters isn't enough to control them all. And the Sage is so merciful, unwilling to hurt any snake. Sooner or later, she'll spoil the bad snakes rotten!"
Tagorihime slithered through the forest, in no rush to reveal herself.
"Sigh. It's my fault. I asked for this suffering. I could have trained in Ryuchi Cave, but I insisted on coming out to see what the ninja world looked like. Now look at me—starving all day and with nowhere to sleep."
The reason she chose this forest in the Land of Rivers was actually because it was sparsely populated. She figured she could just wait out her training time and hurry back to Ryuchi Cave to help her sisters.
Gulping down natural energy, Tagorihime moved across the ground, circling around Byakuya, who was unleashing jutsu.
She was waiting for an opportunity. If he showed an opening, she would swallow him whole!
"I wasn't raised on fear! So many bad snakes in Ryuchi Cave couldn't kill me, and neither can you!"
Her so-called training was simply for her to survive in the outside world for a set period without relying on her sisters' help.
Compared to Ryuchi Cave, the ninja world was far more dangerous and unpredictable.
Then again, if Tagorihime hadn't heard her sisters talk about how beautiful and free the ninja world was, she wouldn't have ignored the Sage's advice and insisted on coming here.
"Bad guy!"
Tagorihime remembered unpleasant things and got angrier.
She hadn't appeared directly in the Land of Rivers. She had been chased by many ninja and ended up here after fleeing from place to place.
Those ninja were particularly interested in her scales. Some even said that selling her organs to Orochimaru of the Hidden Leaf would fetch a high price.
In short, there wasn't a single good person among ninja. They were all bad guys!
Hmm? Wait!
He seems to have found me!
How did he find me?
Tagorihime paled in shock (metaphorically) and hurriedly dodged the beam flying towards her. Although she didn't know what that thing was, judging by the explosion, getting hit by one would definitely hurt!
"Shiny. I'm not afraid of bright lights."
"So it's a kid. Hiss hiss. Based on human age, his scent suggests he's not even eleven years old."
"Ouch!!! That hurts!! Why is this jutsu so fast?! Stop hitting me! I'm not a bad snake! You're the one who destroyed my bedroom first, and now you come to the forest to destroy my home! You're the bad guy! My sisters said evil never triumphs over good—you should be eaten by me!"
"What do I do? I can't get close to him. The moment I get slightly close, I get hit by those shiny long needles! Hiss hiss! It hurts! It contains both Lightning and Water Style... it's a Kekkei Genkai."
"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do? I still haven't learned Sage Art yet. The Sage will only teach me Sage Art after I complete the training mission. Am I going to die? I don't want to die! Sister, which sister will come save me?!"
"Ah! Stinky ninja, stinky brat! I'm really angry now! You're finished!"
Byakuya saw the blue-black giant snake suddenly burrow underground.
The natural energy in the forest wasn't just fluctuating; it was boiling!
He immediately used Storm Style Body Flicker to constantly shift his position, worried the snake would burst from the ground and catch him off guard.
Byakuya was mid-jump in the air.
He suddenly sensed the surrounding natural energy churning like a storm.
He looked down.
The ground split open. Huge trees were brutally flung aside.
A massive snake head with a gaping, bloody maw filled his vision first.
Unbelievably fast.
In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of him.
The jaws snapped shut viciously.
A strange look suddenly appeared in Tagorihime's eyes.
There was no feeling of solid flesh and blood. It was like biting a mouthful of air.
Shadow Clone Jutsu?
"Storm Style: Torrential Lightning."
A river of lightning engulfed her.
The thunderbolts were like countless kunai, stabbing repeatedly at her scales.
That brat dared to trick me with a Shadow Clone!
Outrageous!
Tagorihime crashed to the ground, tracking Byakuya's scent.
She was already slightly injured.
The brat hadn't been seen for just a few days, yet he had suddenly become stronger.
This was going to be tough.
Byakuya stood on a tree trunk, watching the blue-black snake charge at him with lightning speed.
He formed seals.
"Storm Style: Thousand Blades."
He didn't hold back, releasing chakra to his utmost limit to unleash the jutsu's maximum current attack power.
The lasers became shorter and thinner.
They were now about twenty centimeters long and half the width of an index finger.
But their quantity, speed, and power increased by a whole tier.
This was the true face of the Storm Style: Thousand Blades that Byakuya had developed.
The smaller the length and width, the greater the number, the faster the speed, and the stronger the power.
The blue-black giant snake looked like it was crashing into a dense "curtain of rain."
But this rain curtain was extremely dangerous. It blew off her scales and wounded her flesh.
She hurriedly retreated, but the ninja was relentless, pressing her step by step.
Tagorihime gradually fell into despair.
It felt like she was really going to die.
"If I die, we die together!"
In Byakuya's eyes, the blue-black snake, beaten beyond recognition by Thousand Blades, had her ferocity triggered. She actually endured the barrage and slammed head-on towards him.
Flying Thunder God Jutsu!
The blue-black snake hit nothing but air.
She flopped onto the forest floor, gasping for breath.
Byakuya reappeared a thousand meters away.
He was also panting heavily.
Using Storm Style: Thousand Blades like that naturally came at a price; chakra was consumed rapidly.
Counting the chakra lost using the Flying Thunder God, he was nearing the end of his rope.
During the time he spent waiting for Pakura to arrive, Byakuya hadn't been idle. He had infiltrated this area during the day to leave a Flying Thunder God formula, waiting for this exact moment to evade the snake's desperate, full-power strike.
He popped a few chakra-restoring soldier pills into his mouth.
Rushing wouldn't help, so he chewed slowly.
"Thanks to the system significantly increasing my chakra quality... counting all the various upgrades, that's the only reason I could push this far."
The minor increase in Ninjutsu talent was also critical. With sufficient talent, he could reference Tobirama Senju's jutsu to develop his Storm Style.
To create a truly original jutsu from scratch, a minor increase wouldn't be enough; he would need a major boost to his Ninjutsu talent.
The benefits of increased stamina and vitality were undoubtedly highlighted in this moment.
Half an hour later, Byakuya's chakra had recovered to forty percent.
He cautiously approached the blue-black snake.
He stared at the behemoth before him.
"Can you speak human language?"
"Hmph! Evil ninja. Kill me or torture me, do as you please."
Byakuya froze instantly.
Although he knew Tagorihime was a female snake, this sweet, soft, feminine voice was too...
Too much of a genre shift.
Who could have imagined that a terrifying-looking giant blue-black snake would have such a lovely voice?
"Die together!"
Tagorihime saw the evil ninja get distracted. She mustered all her strength, opened her mouth wide, and lunged.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall."
"Ouch! It hurts! Why is there electricity too?!"