Tagorihime had completely lost the ability to resist. She lay limp on the ground. Her eyes, though still holding a flicker of awareness, were filled with despair.
Byakuya's chakra was also bottoming out. His stamina and spiritual energy had plummeted, and his breathing was rough and heavy.
If Pakura were to come kill him now...
Byakuya still had one last trump card: forcing his body past its limits to use the Flying Thunder God Jutsu one final time.
Throughout his battle with Tagorihime, he had constantly been gauging his physical condition. If he reached a point where even overexerting his body wouldn't allow him to use the Flying Thunder God to escape, he would have immediately abandoned the plan to subdue her as a summoning beast.
Once again, he marveled at the importance of Vitality.
Because his Vitality had been boosted by the "Hard Work Pays Off" system, he had the confidence to "dance on a tightrope."
Of course, it still couldn't compare to the Uzumaki clan's constitution.
Kushina Uzumaki survived the extraction of the Nine-Tails and could still use the Adamantine Sealing Chains to restrain the beast—all right after giving birth to Naruto. That showed just how heaven-defying the Uzumaki Vitality was.
Pakura arrived beside Byakuya using her Scorch Style Body Flicker and asked kindly, "Can you still manage?"
The hairs on Byakuya's body stood on end. Alertness maxed out, he stared into her eyes. "Are you going to kill me?"
"Shuten-doji, you're too suspicious. Since we've agreed to cooperate, I won't kill you, for the sake of the Sand Village's future. Although this is the best opportunity to eliminate you, I doubt I'll ever get another chance like this."
"I'm fine. Please leave for a moment, senior."
Pakura looked at him deeply. "Shadow Clone? Where is your main body? Even with your chakra this weak, you're still guarding against me."
"Senior has sharp eyes."
"Fine. I'll wait for you at the spot we were at before."
"No need. After this, I'll find another place to rest. We'll meet at the big rock the morning after tomorrow. Senior also needs to return to the Sand Village and report Danzo's 'goodwill' to the high command."
"Heh. Cunning brat. I won't provoke you further."
Pakura smiled. She had done it on purpose. She turned her back to him, glancing at Byakuya out of the corner of her eye. "Sweet words, but you don't even trust your ally."
With that, she left.
Byakuya let out a long sigh of relief.
He dispelled the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
His main body rose from the bushes beneath a large tree near the blue-black snake.
Just now, he had used Water Style: Water Formation Wall infused with Storm chakra to block Tagorihime, immediately followed by the Shadow Clone Jutsu, while his main body held its breath and hid.
Better safe than sorry.
The more critical the moment, the less he could relax. He had to lay low.
Now that Pakura was gone, all that remained was the "tender moment" between him and the blue-black snake, Tagorihime.
"Hey, stop playing dead. I know you can still talk. We're pressed for time, so make a decision quickly. I'm worried you'll recover too much if we wait."
The natural energy around Tagorihime was extremely dense.
Sage Mode users were known for their astonishing recovery abilities. As a giant snake from Ryuchi Cave, a holy land of Senjutsu, Tagorihime's regenerative power was bound to be formidable, even if Ryuchi Cave's Senjutsu didn't specialize in healing.
"Not talking? I'm really going to kill you."
Seeing Byakuya approaching step by step with his katana drawn, Tagorihime finally couldn't pretend anymore. "Let's talk this out! Don't just start with killing and dying! I'm a good snake who loves peace!"
Tagorihime surrendered at light speed.
Byakuya sucked in a breath of cold air.
The scene he was witnessing was incredibly bizarre, you know?
The blue-black giant snake's appearance was terrifying. Up close, the toxins she emitted were enough to make one dizzy.
Her body was covered in palm-sized blue-black scales that gleamed with cold metallic light. Her triangular head was wrapped in wrinkled skin, and her vertical pupils glowed like red-hot branding irons.
With an image like that, her voice was that of a sweet, soft-spoken young girl.
Byakuya suspected he might be under a Genjutsu.
"Where are you from?"
"Ryuchi Cave. Scared now?"
Confirmed. He didn't beat up the wrong snake.
Intelligence was intelligence, facts were facts. Sometimes, the "certain" information in reports wasn't accurate.
"I need a summoning beast. You will be my summoning beast."
It wasn't a question.
Tagorihime asked incredulously, "You beat me up like this just to sign a summoning contract with me?"
"Correct."
"Where are you from?"
"Hidden Leaf Village, Land of Fire."
"Hmph. Leaf ninja are even more evil than ninja from other villages."
"Is that a refusal?"
Byakuya raised his katana.
Tagorihime immediately changed her tune. "In Ryuchi Cave, 'evil' is a neutral word, not derogatory."
"So you're an evil snake then."
"No, I'm a good snake! A unique good snake!"
"One word: sign or not?"
"What benefit do I get?" Tagorihime asked.
"I won't feed you humans."
Byakuya was treating her like Orochimaru's summoning beast, Manda. Every time Orochimaru summoned Manda, he had to prepare at least a hundred live human sacrifices for Manda to eat.
Tagorihime said disdainfully, "Except for the ninja hunting me, I never eat humans. Only extremely evil snakes like Manda and Garaga like eating people."
"You just said 'evil' is a neutral word in Ryuchi Cave."
"..."
Byakuya took a few steps back. The saliva she drooled onto the ground was poisonous.
"What benefit do you want?"
"Ah, let me think."
Subordinates of the White Snake Sage of Ryuchi Cave could indeed become summoning beasts for ninja. Several of Tagorihime's older sisters had chosen powerful ninja to sign contracts with during the Warring States Period.
They had long lifespans anyway. After a few decades, the contractor would die.
And the contract would naturally become void.
"I want... I want... I want to eat delicious food! The stuff here tastes terrible!"
"Is that the only benefit you want?"
"Can't you do it?"
"The food I make is definitely something you've never tasted before. Once you try it, I guarantee you won't want to leave me."
Tagorihime's branding-iron-like pupils suddenly brightened. "Really?"
"Don't believe me?"
"You have to prove it to me."
"Fine. Sign the contract first. Then I'll find some ingredients in the forest and make you a meal."
"Hurry, hurry, hurry! I can't wait! It's been so long, so long since I ate anything good!"
Byakuya took out a blank contract scroll.
Holding his breath, he spread it open in front of Tagorihime's head.
He bit his finger and wrote down his name.
Tagorihime had plenty of blood right now. Using Senjutsu chakra to manipulate her blood, she wrote her name.
Instantly.
Through the contract scroll, a chakra link was established between the two.
There were many ways to sign a blood contract in the ninja world, but the contract scroll was one of the most efficient.
Byakuya put away the scroll. "When will you be healed?"
"Here, take this."
Tagorihime spat out a black fruit resembling an apple.
"It's called a Snake Fruit. In the ninja world, it only exists in Ryuchi Cave. It takes a very long time to grow. Eat it, and you won't be afraid of my snake venom anymore. I'm worried that if you get too close, I might accidentally poison you to death with my breath before I get to eat your cooking."
Byakuya stared at the Snake Fruit coated in Tagorihime's saliva. In my old world, there are Red Delicious apples (Snake Fruit), and they look similar, but those are red. This one is black.
"Don't worry, eat it. We've signed a contract; I won't harm you."
Even after signing a contract, one had to be careful of the summoning beast turning on them.
Byakuya used Water Style: Wild Water Wave to wash off the saliva.
He picked it up.
Sniffed it.
It had a light fragrance.
He reasoned that with the system boosting his Vitality multiple times, even if the fruit was poisonous, he could probably survive it.
He took a bite.
Although the color was black, it was exceptionally sweet and fragrant.
Just like Tagorihime's voice—a complete contrast to her appearance.
"How does it taste?"
Byakuya crunched on it as if eating an apple from his old world. "Delicious."
"Besides my venom, your body will also become immune to most poisons in the ninja world."
As she spoke, Tagorihime propped up her snake body.
She breathed a puff of venom towards Byakuya.
He remained unmoved, only smelling a sickly sweet scent.
"See, see! My poison doesn't work on you! I didn't lie to you! I'm a good snake! I don't lie!!"
Byakuya's attention was focused on her scales. Visible to the naked eye, the scales were regrowing one by one.