Sasuke held Itachi with his left arm. With his right, he pulled a smoke bomb and hurled it at the ground.
BOOM!
Smoke billowed. From within it, Sasuke charged straight at the Snake Princess!
"Hehehe… In hundreds of years, this is the first time I've seen someone dare to make a scene in Ryūchi Cave!"
— Sage Art: Stone Saliva!
Her small mouth parted slightly. A glob of spit shot out, hitting Sasuke's sleeve.
CRACK!
The saliva soaked through the fabric. Starting from Sasuke's wrist, his flesh began rapidly turning to stone.
Sasuke's pupils constricted. "Petrification…!?"
In the blink of an eye, Sasuke was completely petrified, frozen mid-air!
"Hehehe!"
The Snake Princess threw a savage punch. CRACK! Sasuke shattered into a thousand pieces across the floor!
But she didn't stop. Her vertical pupils remained fixed on the dissipating smoke.
As the smoke cleared, Sasuke was still there—holding Itachi, standing in the exact same spot.
"A clone's trickery?! You humans love your cheap tricks!!!"
Mid-charge, she spat another wad of saliva, infused with sage chakra!
— SPLAT!
With Itachi beside him, Sasuke couldn't dodge. He instantly conjured the ribcage of his Susano'o.
The spit struck the skeletal frame. The outermost ribs began petrifying on contact.
"Hehehe…!"
The Snake Princess lunged. Her legs fused, morphing into a powerful serpent's tail. Its tip sharpened like a drill, smashing into the petrified section of the Susano'o.
— Rattler Kick!!!
CRACK—!!!
The petrified ribs of the Susano'o shattered into fragments.
The Snake Princess's upper body elongated, serpentine. Jaws widened—a maw large enough to swallow them whole—and descended upon the brothers!
Sasuke timed it perfectly. A single Chidori Sharp Spear lanced forward, piercing straight through the snake's throat.
"Khehehehe…!!"
RRRIP!
But from the Snake Princess's shredded back, a brand new version of herself slithered free, continuing the deadly descent!!
Sasuke grabbed Itachi, flashing to the side just in time!
BOOM…!!
Her maw snapped shut on empty air. She reverted to human form and charged again.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed, analyzing. The Snake King of Ryūchi Cave… She can take human form, proving her mastery of Sage Arts is complete. But her most troublesome ability—that 'saliva'—seems to only work in human form.
This Snake Princess was strong. 'Hundreds of years'… she must be a second-generation Snake King.
Time to show a deliberate opening.
— Sage Art: Stone Saliva!
She spat again.
Sasuke 'failed' to evade. His body began hardening to stone.
The Snake Princess sneered. "Hehe… You're not a clone this time. My sage senses are crystal clear."
CRACK!
Then, without warning, a tear split open across Sasuke's back. Through a layer of viscous fluid, a fresh, new Sasuke emerged.
The Snake Princess recoiled, shocked. "What?! You know this technique too…!?"
SWISH!
In a blur of motion, Sasuke appeared behind her. His palm clamped down with precision on the back of her neck—right at the seven-inch mark.
The Snake Princess stiffened. "You… you know the weak point of my human form's seven-inch spot?!"
Sasuke's voice was flat. "There's a saying among mortals: 'To beat a snake, strike seven inches.' I just noticed this spot glowed a different color in my Sharingan. Took a guess."
"Kyaaaah… Damn it! You found my sensitive spooot~!!"
Under the pressure of his grip, her body went limp, powerless. Even her molting technique was useless now.
Sasuke's grip tightened. "If you don't want things to get worse, take me to the White Snake Sage."
The Snake Princess glanced at Itachi, who was struggling to stand. "You want the Sage Medicine for him? To save this tired-looking guy?"
"He's my brother. He has an incurable illness. Only Ryūchi Cave's Sage Medicine can save him. Attacking you was a last resort. I ask you to take me to the White Snake Sage."
"This isn't my call," she hissed. "The White Snake Sage foresaw someone coming for medicine today. Sent me to wait. You subdued me, so you've earned the right to proceed. Take the right fork. Follow it to the end. That's the temple where the Sage meditates. If you can fight your way through the serpents released from the Ten-Thousand Nest Snake Cave along the path, you'll earn an audience."
"Understood."
"But let me be clear! If a single one of Ryūchi Cave's descendants dies, even if you see the Sage, you won't get a drop of medicine!"
"Don't need to tell me."
As the last word left his lips, a swift hand-chop connected with the back of her neck. She slumped, unconscious.
Sasuke walked back to Itachi.
Itachi's expression was heavy with shame. "Sasuke… I've caused you trouble."
"Don't say that."
Sasuke turned his back and knelt.
"I'll carry you."
Itachi felt a surge of emotion, mixed with deep embarrassment. "This…"
"You carried me all the time back then. Let me carry you now. Once you're better, I probably won't get another chance."
Itachi stopped protesting. He leaned forward, draping himself over Sasuke's back.
Sasuke hooked his arms under Itachi's knees, just like his older brother used to carry him as a child. He stood, his steps firm and steady, and walked toward the right fork.
Hiss… Hiss… HISS!
Ahead, in the mist, pairs of golden eyes glowed with an eerie light.
Each pair belonged to a giant serpent.
These were the same monsters Orochimaru summoned long ago. During the Konoha Crush, just a few dozen had given the village ninja hell.
Here in Ryūchi Cave, there were thousands.
Blocking the path now were three hundred.
Sasuke could handle the numbers. The problem was… he couldn't kill them. And he had to break through their blockade while carrying Itachi on his back.
His gaze lowered.
— Kagutsuchi.
As Sasuke took his first step forward… spear-like projections of black flame ignited, swirling around him on either side.
"Back off, if you value your lives!"
Hiss…! The blocking serpents recoiled from his aura and the Amaterasu's menace. But suddenly—their golden eyes flickered violently. Fear vanished. They surged forward, a suicidal wave!
"Being controlled?!"
FZZT! Sasuke extinguished the black flames instantly!
He leaped, avoiding a plunging serpent head. Wood erupted from his forearm, coiling around the lead snake's body. A powerful judo throw—heaving the massive creature over his shoulder and slamming it down behind him!
BOOM!!
The ground shook. The horde descended in a chaotic dance.
"No choice, then…"
WHOOM!
The skeletal Susano'o materialized. Its massive arms shot out, grabbing two snakes attacking from left and right, and smashed them into the canyon walls on either side!
CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
A great sword coalesced in the Susano'o's grip. Sasuke swung it horizontally—but as it moved, the blade's sharp edge shifted, flattening into a broad, unsharpened plane.
— Susano'o: Unsharpened Blade!
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP-THUMP-THUMP!
The Susano'o advanced like an unstoppable plow. With the symbolic, non-lethal flat of its blade, it met the endless tide of serpents.
Slowly. Relentlessly. Deliberately. Pushing deeper, deeper into the heart of Ryūchi Cave!
When the final serpent of the three hundred lay dazed upon the ground…
What awaited him ahead were… four titanic figures.
Sasuke halted, lifting his eyes.
"Azure, White, Crimson, Black… The fourth generation of Snake Kings. All here."
His gaze lingered, tinged with a strange familiarity, on the young, blue-scaled Snake King at the leftmost position.
"Aoda… It's been a long time."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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