The days of cultivating in Ryuchi Cave were even more pleasant and comfortable than Rei Kaguya had expected.
Because Ryuchi Cave was the holy land of "snakes," a large number of creatures lived there to satisfy the dietary needs of summoning snakes of various sizes.
And under the influence of Ryuchi Cave's active natural energy, most of these living beings contained a certain amount of senjutsu chakra in their bodies.
As a result, Rei could not only rely on them to stack [Dark Harvest], but also use the effect of [First Strike] to occasionally obtain skill proficiency for Sage Mode: Ryuchi Cave from these creatures that carried senjutsu chakra.
Although the single-instance gains from the latter were not high, small amounts accumulated into something considerable.
Combined with Rei's own understanding and development of Ryuchi Cave's senjutsu, by the time Tagorihime came looking for him, Rei had already raised Sage Mode: Ryuchi Cave to LV6 and successfully unlocked a new physical change.
When he activated Sage Mode, a pair of dragon horns appeared on his head.
"Oh my, my. This truly is an astonishing speed of improvement."
Looking at the horns on Rei's head, Tagorihime sighed sincerely.
"To be able to enter a perfect sage state in less than ten seconds without making any preparations in advance, and even grow dragon horns… It seems you will soon be able to shed your snake skin and ascend into a dragon, Lord Rei Kaguya."
"Although I can understand that you are praising me, I always feel like after you said that, I'm about to run into something unlucky."
Rei opened his eyes and looked at Tagorihime.
"Did you come looking for me for something, Tagorihime?"
"The White Snake Sage asked me to inquire. Around seventy days have passed outside. Do you plan to continue staying here to cultivate, or do you already intend to leave?"
"Seventy days… Two months passed so quickly?"
Rei raised his brows in surprise.
Then he called up his system panel in his mind and looked at his current Dark Harvest stacks.
[Dark Harvest has harvested souls 4,936 times. Soul strength amplification stacks obtained: 3. Current special soul fragments held: Danzo Shimura, Kushina Uzumaki. These may be used to break through the 9,999-stack limit.]
The soul fragment from Obito Uchiha had already been used to break through the 999-stack harvest limit.
Subtracting the stacks he had saved before, he had farmed nearly four thousand stacks of [Dark Harvest] in Ryuchi Cave.
No wonder balancing and producing senjutsu chakra had become easier and easier recently.
It seemed his soul strength was finally beginning to catch up with the strength of his vitality.
"I understand. I'll clean myself up a little, then go meet the White Snake Sage and tell her that I will temporarily leave."
"The spare clothes are here. I will wait for you over there."
Tagorihime nodded gently and handed Rei a men's outfit similar in style to the clothes she wore.
Then she silently retreated outside the snake path leading to this area.
"The strength of his senjutsu chakra has clearly become much stronger than before. If I compare him to when he first arrived in Ryuchi Cave, then the current him should be able to suppress the version of himself who had just arrived quite easily. But his vitality has not changed that much. If both sides wanted to truly determine victory and defeat, it would most likely become a long deathmatch lasting several days…"
"What a monster, Rei Kaguya."
Tagorihime withdrew her perception of the surrounding area and thought this to herself.
…
"It has been some time, White Snake Sage."
"Mm. It seems you are planning to leave, Rei Kaguya."
Looking at Rei, who had changed into a white Ryuchi Cave robe and whose long black hair still carried a few glittering droplets of water, the White Snake Sage lightly nodded her enormous head and asked slowly.
"I will not ask about your understanding of senjutsu. The dragon horns on your head are enough to explain everything… Rather, has there been any progress with your idea of making that Curse Mark more popularized and widespread?"
"I have found a way to reduce the side effects and transplant risk, but the problem of how much senjutsu chakra should be injected into my Curse Mark has not been solved yet."
Rei summoned a small white snake with a three-tomoe pattern on its forehead.
Watching it obediently coil around his fingertip, he said with some annoyance.
"If the amount is too small, the Curse Mark's effect will weaken to the point where only genin can use it somewhat. But if there is slightly more, problems with popularization immediately appear…"
"Sigh. Turning such a high-end product into something for the masses really is troublesome and requires patience."
"But you seem to be enjoying it," the White Snake Sage said leisurely, exhaling a breath of smoke.
"As the village's Kage, I have to bring out something that can make everyone sincerely recognize me."
Rei casually teased the little snake that carried the power of the Curse Mark and spoke calmly.
"Although Kirigakure is a village where one can rise through strength and suppress all dissatisfaction, making everyone lose heart and morality toward me would not be good either."
"Besides, I do not intend to stop at the position of Mizukage. If I cannot even govern a single Kirigakure properly, how could I realize greater achievements?"
"Speaking of Kirigakure, the things that happened over these two months have not been very good for them, Rei-kun."
The White Snake Sage paused.
Then she curled her tail around an intelligence scroll and tossed it toward Rei.
After catching the scroll and unrolling it, Rei saw some news that was both good and bad.
First were the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
They had taken advantage of the chance created by Rei attracting Konoha's attention and infiltrated the Land of Fire.
Then, as if guided by fate, they had run into Might Guy and his genin father, Might Duy.
Before Might Duy, who opened all Eight Gates, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen nearly had their names erased in a single battle.
Only Juzo Biwa and Fuguki Suikazan escaped successfully with their companions' ninja swords.
In order to evade the pursuit of Konoha's Anbu, they had no choice but to make a massive detour inside the Land of Fire, wasting nearly a month before finally returning to Kirigakure-controlled territory.
During that month, because the combat strength and command of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were missing, and because Rei Kaguya had entered Ryuchi Cave and disappeared without a trace, Kirigakure's battlefront had been directly pushed back over a hundred kilometers by Konoha.
In one move, they had nearly lost all the advantages they had previously accumulated.
The only fortunate thing was that under such an extremely unfavorable battlefield situation, Mei Terumi, who possessed the dual Kekkei Genkai of Lava Release and Boil Release, had stepped forward.
She led Kirigakure in repelling several of Konoha's counterattacks and heavily injured a number of Konoha jonin, including Choza Akimichi and Hizashi Hyuga, buying Kirigakure precious breathing room.
Then came the issue of Root's transfer of authority in Konoha.
What Rei found somewhat difficult to understand was that the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had not allowed one of the two Hokage advisors, nor Orochimaru, who had once stayed in Root, to inherit Root.
Nor had he directly merged Root into his own Anbu.
Instead, he continued keeping Root and Anbu parallel to each other, while he himself simultaneously served as Root's leader.
"If he wants to reclaim power, wouldn't directly merging Root into Anbu be enough? What is the meaning of keeping two departments running side by side now?"
"Is he planning to maintain his influence inside the village even after handing the position to Minato? Or is he planning to consume more of Root's strength during the war, then bring Root with him off Konoha's stage when he steps down?"
Because Hiruzen Sarutobi had too many contradictions as a person, Rei could not determine what exactly he intended with this move.
However, the next piece of intelligence instantly drew all his attention.
"Iwagakure's Four-Tails Jinchuriki led a team in a surprise attack on the Land of Fire's border. When he clashed with Jiraiya, who was stationed there, he was stopped by an organization calling itself 'Akatsuki'?"
"White Snake Sage, do you have more detailed information about this?"
"I do, but not much."
The White Snake Sage put down her pipe and looked meaningfully at Rei, whose interest had clearly risen.
"That organization called Akatsuki claims that it intervened to prevent the Land of Earth and Land of Fire from restarting hostilities. It hopes both nations will properly abide by the peace treaty they have already signed."
"Their leader is very strong. He easily stopped the battle between the Four-Tails Jinchuriki and Jiraiya. However, Akatsuki's people did not help Konoha pursue the Iwagakure troops that were forced to retreat, even though Jiraiya knew their leader."
"Not bad, Nagato. If you persuaded your companions and started acting this early, then it is worth giving you another round of investment."
Rei closed the scroll and looked up at the smiling White Snake Sage.
"Can you tell me where Akatsuki is currently located, White Snake Sage?"
"They are still on the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire. If you go looking for them now, you may even be able to meet that lecherous little brat chosen by the old toad."
The White Snake Sage took a puff from her pipe and said so.