"No, I'm here to see the White Snake Sage," Orochimaru corrected Ichikishimahi.
"No way! You have to pass the trial first before you can et the White Snake Sage! That's the rule of Ryūchi Cave!" Ichikishimahi shook her head.
"Don't say that. I can sense your malice from a distance. I have sothing important to discuss with the White Snake Sage."
Orochimaru's tone was cold. He had no interest in talking to the three sages of Ryūchi Cave. He knew very well that these three were mischievous and cruel. If they decided to ss with him, it would be troubleso.
As for the trials… who knew what kind of tornt they would co up with?
"Sothing important? What could be so important? The affairs of the ninja world have nothing to do with Ryūchi Cave! We're not like those old toads of Mount Myōboku, always ddling in the outside world."
Tagorihi, the most mature-looking of the three, stepped forward.
"How strange! Manda, haven't you always looked down on everyone? Why are you acting so obedient today?"
Suddenly, Tagitsuhi shifted her gaze to Manda, who had been unnaturally quiet. Floating in the air, she moved closer and stomped on him a few tis.
"I'll eat you!"
Manda lunged at Tagitsuhi, snapping his jaws. But even though his attack was fast and unexpected, Tagitsuhi lazily dodged it with just a hair's breadth to spare.
"I sll blood. Looks like you got beaten up," Tagitsuhi sniffed the air and covered her mouth as she laughed.
"Enough!" Orochimaru stomped on Manda and locked eyes with the three sages. "Can you take there?"
"Leading the way isn't a problem, but…" Tagorihi suddenly pointed at the figure behind Orochimaru.
"He has to take the trial!"
"That's the rule!"
"Looks like negotiations failed."
As the three Snake Princesses spoke in unison, Orochimaru, who understood their intentions, lost his patience. His face was suddenly covered in markings resembling oil paint. A powerful aura condensed into a tangible force, pressing outward in all directions.
The three Snake Princesses, struck by Orochimaru's aura, instinctively revealed their hostility.
Their originally beautiful and delicate faces turned terrifying in an instant.
Snake scales erged on their skin, and their mouths split open into gaping maws, revealing forked tongues flickering from within.
"Sage Mode! How could you possibly master the Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode?"
Tagorihi roared instinctively, sensing the familiar energy within Orochimaru's body.
"No, this isn't the Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode!"
Tagitsuhi imdiately corrected Tagorihi's mistake. No one knew the power of the Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode better than them. While Orochimaru's current form carried traces of that power, it was only a superficial resemblance at best.
A closer inspection made it easy for the three of them to detect the differences.
Moreover, as this power erged, a strange sensation—both intoxicating and insatiable—spread through them, making it even harder to suppress their urges.
"It's a different Sage Mode... How strange! I didn't think there was another way to wield natural energy in the current ninja world."
As Ichikishimahi spoke, her figure slowly faded into the air.
"Looks like I'll have to prepare sothing to deal with you first."
Seeing the three Snake Princesses take their battle stances, Orochimaru sighed helplessly.
"Sage Art: Dragon Pearl Technique!"
Forming hand seals, Orochimaru took a deep breath. Tilting his head back, he spat out a glowing pearl—radiant white tinged with pink—spinning at high speed as it soared into the sky.
The mont the pearl appeared, both the three Snake Princesses and Manda, who lay beneath Orochimaru's feet, experienced a brief mont of trance.
Manda suddenly felt an uncontrollable craving surging through its mind!
It wanted that pearl!
It wanted to swallow it whole!
He had a strong premonition and an intense urge—if he could just absorb that pearl and make its power his own, his strength would grow rapidly. He could even evolve from a snake into a dragon!
At that point, he wouldn't just control a single area. The entire Ryūchi Cave would beco his territory!
Neither the White Snake Sage, the Three Great Snake Princesses, nor the other giant snakes in Ryūchi Cave would be his match.
Driven by this impulse, Manda even forgot about Orochimaru. He coiled his massive body and leaped high into the air, his mouth wide open, aiming for the pearl that was rising and radiating power.
However, the Three Snake Princesses were even faster. Almost instantly, all three lunged forward, their hands reaching for the pearl at nearly the sa ti.
In an instant, four snakes clashed fiercely, each fighting for possession of the pearl.
Plop!
Orochimaru and Kagetsu leaped gracefully from Manda's body and landed steadily on the ground.
"Let's go. The hidden cave where the White Snake Sage resides is just ahead."
Dismissing his Sage Mode, Orochimaru ignored the chaotic battle raging above him and took the lead, walking forward.
"Genjutsu?"
Kagetsu followed, curious about the technique Orochimaru had just used.
The way the Three Snake Princesses and Manda were fighting so frantically—it seed as if their minds had been strongly influenced or manipulated, causing them to lose all composure.
"Just a little counterasure."
Orochimaru neither confird nor denied it. To him, Ryūchi Cave's environnt was far too dangerous.
If he hadn't prepared so trump cards, he wouldn't have brought Kagetsu here so easily to et the White Snake Sage.
After all, no one understood the cold-blooded nature of snakes better than he did.
He had made ample preparations to deal with the snakes of Ryūchi Cave. The only thing he couldn't fully predict was the White Snake Sage, hidden deep within the Ryūchi Cave.
The two moved swiftly. After spreading out their perception, Orochimaru barely paused as he led Kagetsu forward at high speed in a single direction.
Eventually, they stopped in front of a dark and desolate torii gate.
"It seems the White Snake Sage hasn't refused to et us."
Seeing the torii gate, a faint smile appeared on Orochimaru's face.
Inside the torii, the atmosphere was bleak and shadowy. The only sound breaking the silence was the clear echo of Orochimaru and Kagetsu's footsteps in the dimly lit space.
At the deepest part of the torii, on a large cushioned platform, they finally saw her—a hunched yet still massive figure. Her face was deeply wrinkled, her skin sagging like aged leather, and her withered hands held a long smoking pipe, exhaling clouds of smoke.
"White Snake Sage!"
Orochimaru gazed at the elderly woman before him, his tone carrying both respect and wariness.
If Kagetsu had never appeared… if not for Kagetsu's research… perhaps his long-sought ideal form of ultimate life would have been this very woman before him!
In the past, he had tirelessly modified his body and soul, striving to get closer to the White Snake Sage's existence.
"You've finally arrived."
The elderly woman set down her pipe, shifting her head slightly on the enormous cushion, her gaze landing on Orochimaru and Kagetsu.
****
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