Before this was Hashirama Senju, but Hashirama had trained in Shikkotsu Forest, and that enormous power was never something she could control as she pleased.
If Kiyohara also trained in Ryuchi Cave Sage Arts and continued practicing them without interruption in the future, then there was a very high chance he would qualify to "become a dragon."
While Kiyohara was thinking, the sound of scales sliding through the thick darkness grew louder and louder.
The three snake princesses had also arrived in the temple hall.
Hearing what the White Snake Sage said, they looked at Kiyohara with open desire in their eyes.
The White Snake Sage swept a glance over them, and a trace of displeasure flashed through her gaze.
Kiyohara possessed the Sharingan, which meant he carried the "sage's eyes."
In theory, he could also push those "sage's eyes" to their limit and obtain Yin Release power.
That power, too, could be elevated into dragonhood, making him an excellent vessel.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, her enormous tail struck the floor.
The hall shook violently, and the three snake princesses hurriedly lowered their eyes.
That was the White Snake Sage's expression of displeasure.
Kiyohara was not someone they were allowed to covet. The White Snake Sage had already claimed him in advance.
If they continued lusting after him without knowing their place, the White Snake Sage would punish them.
That was not a consequence the three snake princesses could bear.
Even now, the White Snake Sage was still the true ruler of Ryuchi Cave.
Kiyohara glanced at the White Snake Sage looming right in front of him, then at the three snake princesses, but showed nothing on his face.
"Did you understand what I said?"
The White Snake Sage stared at Kiyohara as she asked.
"I understood some of it."
Kiyohara deliberately acted as if he only half understood.
"You've been fumbling your way into sage arts on your own, while also trying to touch Ryuchi Cave Sage Arts."
There was amusement in the White Snake Sage's voice.
"And you carry white snake cells in your body."
Kiyohara nodded.
"Orochimaru gave them to you?"
The White Snake Sage turned to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru gave a slight nod.
"He did."
"Heh heh… interesting."
The White Snake Sage shifted her gaze back.
"A human mixed with multiple bloodlines, trying to complete his own sage arts."
She paused.
"Do you know the greatest difference between Ryuchi Cave Sage Arts and Mount Myoboku Sage Arts?"
Kiyohara thought for a moment.
"Perception?"
"Correct."
The White Snake Sage nodded.
"The toads of Mount Myoboku rely on power. Their Sage Mode greatly boosts the force of ninjutsu and strengthens taijutsu."
"But the snakes of Ryuchi Cave rely on perception."
Her voice dropped lower.
"We can sense the flow of natural energy, sense an enemy's weaknesses, and even sense… the course of fate."
Sense fate?
That was what caught Kiyohara's attention.
Was that how the White Snake Sage could see Boruto's fate?
Then what did his own fate look like in the White Snake Sage's eyes?
"That old toad Gamamaru predicts the future through dreams."
There was a trace of disdain in the White Snake Sage's tone.
"In Ryuchi Cave, we listen."
Listen?
"All things have sound."
The White Snake Sage spoke slowly.
"The movement of wind, the surge of water, the growth of trees and grass, the birth of life and its death… everything has a sound. Ryuchi Cave Sage Arts teach you how to hear those sounds."
Her gaze settled on Kiyohara.
"Do you want to learn?"
Kiyohara raised his eyes.
"Yes."
Like that was even a question, Kiyohara thought to himself.
He had come to Ryuchi Cave for exactly two things: to learn the complete Ryuchi Cave Sage Arts, and to deal with Garaga and fulfill the lingering wish.
If he managed both, he would go even further on the path of sage arts.
The White Snake Sage smiled.
"Then come."
She suddenly opened her huge maw, wide enough that it looked like it could swallow the entire hall.
The massive fangs showed in the dim light.
At their tips, there was a faint milky-white glow.
"Humans are born for desire, fated to slowly sink into darkness. Every human who has come seeking me has thrown everything away in pursuit of their desires."
"Even Orochimaru is only a failure on that path, unable to truly grasp sage power."
"But you are different. You have already crossed the threshold of sage law. You are descended from Indra."
"Do not fear. Do not shrink back from the darkness. This old one's power will help you lay the foundation, so that one day you may ascend into dragonhood."
"The time to feast has come!"
One of the White Snake Sage's fangs stabbed into Kiyohara's neck.
In the next instant—
Blood burst from his neck, leaving a grotesque hole there.
It was nearly the size of half a fist, so deep that bone could be glimpsed within.
At the same time, however, that wound began healing with astonishing speed.
Natural energy from the surrounding area formed a vortex and rushed toward the wound, stirring gusts of wind.
The wind whipped Kiyohara's clothes and made his black hair sway like flames.
The White Snake Sage silently watched his reaction.
Come.
Take this natural energy as your food, and devour it.
"Orochimaru, what's happening?"
Tsunade moved on instinct, but Orochimaru stepped in and stopped her.
"If he can bear it, Kiyohara will gain Ryuchi Cave Sage Mode. If he can't…"
Orochimaru paused.
"There's no need to panic. He already knows another Sage Mode. He can simply use that one to burn off the excess natural energy."
Orochimaru said it, but there was a trace of envy in his voice.
If he too had known another kind of sage arts, then training in Ryuchi Cave Sage Arts would have meant having a fallback route.
But in truth, this was a dead end.
Because the entry barriers to all sage arts were roughly the same.
That was exactly why Orochimaru had gone on to create the curse mark as a lower-threshold path.
Thinking that, Orochimaru looked at Kiyohara.
Kiyohara's curse mark techniques were already superior to his own.
Tsunade's brows were tightly furrowed.
At first she had thought the White Snake Sage had suddenly attacked Kiyohara.
Now that her initial surge of rage had passed, the sight of blood on Kiyohara's body made her feel faint.
"Anko, hold Tsunade up."
Orochimaru said.
"Huh…?"
Anko froze for a second.
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama."
She noticed Tsunade swaying a little and hurried over to support her.
Orochimaru, meanwhile, never took his eyes off Kiyohara.
The three snake princesses were watching too.
Their round pupils had narrowed back into vertical snake slits from intense focus.
Whoosh…
The wind stirred through the thick darkness, making the flames flicker and seeming to peel back some of the shadows.
And where the firelight occasionally reached, there were enormous white scales.
In the darkness, the rasping slide of scales kept sounding.
"Oh?"
The White Snake Sage watched closely.
The natural energy from outside had actually begun forming snake-like shapes on its own.
So this was Kiyohara's… influence?
It seemed this human had fused with the white snake cells far more deeply than she had imagined.
She did not know that Kiyohara had directly inherited White Snake Kiyohara's bloodline.
"How is this taking so long?"
Tagitsuhime asked.
"Don't tell me he's turning into a snake?"
Ichikishimahime was looking at the scale patterns appearing on Kiyohara's skin.
Her arms were folded over her chest, though with her childlike body, it created only the slightest curve.
"Let's keep watching. He's not simple."
Tagitsuhime, however, felt this wouldn't end so simply.
After all, this was someone the White Snake Sage herself had taken an interest in.
Kiyohara was clearly different.
While the others were lost in thought, Kiyohara could feel his senses changing.
His nose twitched, and he could smell the damp moss growing in cracks in the rock, the scorched scent of oil from the burning candles.
Those smells intertwined into an invisible web that covered the entire Ryuchi Cave.
Then his sense of smell extended outward.
He could smell beyond the hall.
He could smell the snakes outside slithering by. Some stank of raw musk, some carried the sickly sweetness of rotting meat, some smelled cold and reptilian.
He could distinguish the distance and size of each one, and even vaguely sense their condition.
Then came his hearing.
Kiyohara could hear his own heartbeat.
Thump… thump… thump…
He could also hear the faint scrape of scales against stone outside the hall, sounds that should have been barely audible, now amplified hundreds or thousands of times over.
Then those sounds began building images inside his mind.
He no longer needed his eyes.
Through hearing alone, a three-dimensional image of the entire temple formed in his mind.
Like the instinct of a bat.
A way of seeing beyond sight.
Finally, his vision itself changed.
Kiyohara opened his eyes.
His pupils had become serpentine slits, with three black tomoe floating within them.
The world before him had changed.
There were colors now he had never seen before.
Gradually, those colors blended into one another.
Red melted into orange, orange into yellow, yellow into green… seven colors merging, until they condensed into a color beyond language.
That was the true appearance of natural energy within Ryuchi Cave.
Dark green chakra began leaking through every inch of his skin. At first it was only a faint glow, but it quickly grew brighter, fiercer, until it became a complete mantle of burning light around his body.
That light flowed slowly, like a green robe draped over him.
Behind him, natural energy was drawn together and began gathering on its own.
A phantom serpent shape slowly took form.
Its body coiled, its scales distinct, and it flicked out a tongue of the same dark green chakra, circling Kiyohara and making his figure seem even more uncanny.
A single horn appeared on his forehead as well.
The hall fell completely silent.
The pupils of the three snake princesses had narrowed fully into long slit eyes, their hunger only deepening as they watched.
Through the drifting smoke, the White Snake Sage's gaze rested on Kiyohara.
Those orange-gold slit pupils reflected his burning figure.
After a long while—
"Interesting…"
She murmured inwardly.
This boy was even more extraordinary than she had imagined.
Kiyohara stood there.
"I guess it worked?"
He asked inwardly.
This looked very close to Mitsuki's Sage Mode, just darker in color.
"Yes. It should be a success."
White Snake Kiyohara nodded, though his own body had grown much more transparent.
"Try adapting to it first."
At that, Kiyohara began moving his body, testing the suddenly sharpened hearing, vision, and sense of smell.
He casually thrust out one palm, and around his hand there appeared the natural energy outline of a giant serpent opening its fangs.
Snake Striking Hand!
The air exploded with a crack, and a massive compressed air blast shot out of the temple, sending dust billowing in the distance.
This was Kiyohara using his current sage chakra to drive Frog Kata.
Only now it had become serpent-shaped.
"Not bad, brat."
Tsunade looked at him.
The hole in Kiyohara's neck had long since closed, and with the green chakra covering him, Tsunade could no longer even see the traces of blood.
"Kiyohara-kun, how does it feel?"
Orochimaru stared at him.
Since he himself had failed in this training, he assumed this was simply what a successful Ryuchi Cave Sage Mode looked like.
"It feels good."
Kiyohara nodded.
But he had already noticed that this mode boosted ninjutsu and taijutsu much less than Mount Myoboku Sage Arts did.
That said, compared to their normal state, his techniques were still significantly stronger.
After a while, the strange signs around him gradually faded.
Kiyohara released Ryuchi Cave Sage Mode.
The dark green flames extinguished.
The horn on his forehead withdrew back into his skin.
The phantom serpent around him dissolved into the air.
The green eyeshadow faded, and his pupils returned from slits to ordinary human circles.
The White Snake Sage watched him for a long time.
Smoke continued to rise in slow curls from her pipe, partially obscuring her face, but it could not hide the satisfaction in her eyes.
"You succeeded."
Her deep voice echoed through the hall.
"From this moment on, you are one of the inheritors of Ryuchi Cave Sage Arts."
Kiyohara gave a slight bow.
"Thank you, White Snake Sage."
Then he added,
"White Snake Sage, I'd like to tame one of the summons of Ryuchi Cave and form a contract."
The White Snake Sage held the pipe in her mouth, her orange-gold slit pupils turning slightly.
That request was nothing serious.
If anything, she wanted Kiyohara to be bound more closely to Ryuchi Cave.
"Granted."
She answered casually.
"Come back later using Reverse Summoning, and I'll teach you proper sage arts."
Ryuchi Cave, of course, had its own exclusive sage techniques.
"All right."
Kiyohara agreed.
Whatever that old White Snake Sage was plotting, all Kiyohara had to do was eat the sugar-coated shell and fire the cannonball back at her later.
"Take him to choose."
The White Snake Sage glanced toward the three snake princesses standing at the sides of the hall.
Tagorihime, Ichikishimahime, and Tagitsuhime all bowed at once.
"I want to pick a strong one."
"Strong?"
"Yes."
Kiyohara raised his eyes.
"The fiercer the better. I don't want a well-behaved one."
Hearing such a strange request, the White Snake Sage took another pull from her pipe.
She slowly exhaled the smoke.
"In the depths of Ryuchi Cave, there is a nest of violent serpents."
"There is a snake there named Garaga."
"He lost his left eye in battle and became extremely violent afterward. He destroys things constantly, and has even killed some of his own kind, causing the others to avoid him."
She paused.
"If you can subdue Garaga, then let him become your summon."
…
The three snake princesses led Kiyohara through twisting cave passages. The deeper they went, the colder and damper the air became.
The rock walls on both sides were covered in moss, the ground underfoot was slick with limestone, and water dripped from the ceiling at irregular intervals, each droplet sounding clear in the silence.
Tagorihime walked in front, her pale green hair faintly glowing in the dim light.
Every now and then she looked back at Kiyohara, curiosity in her eyes.
"You're sure you want Garaga?"
Her voice was soft and alluring.
"He's not easy to deal with."
Kiyohara nodded.
"Mm."
"Do you know what he's done?"
Ichikishimahime cut in.
She was small, her dark blue hair swaying behind her.
"When that guy goes crazy, he even kills snakes he used to get along with."
"Quite a few snakes with good tempers were bitten to death by him."
There was obvious disgust in her voice.
"All because they told him a few times to stop wrecking the caves…"
Tagitsuhime walked behind them and said nothing.
But the look she gave Kiyohara was more complicated than the others'.
Ever since she had first seen this human, she had felt a strange… familiarity.
She couldn't quite explain it.
After failing to make sense of it, she shook the thought away.
After another stretch of walking, the tunnel suddenly widened.
The temperature rose sharply.
The air was thick with a choking mix of sulfur and rotting flesh, strong enough to sting the eyes.
"We're here."
Tagorihime stopped.
Ahead of them was a massive cavern.
On a giant rock in the middle of it lay coiled a snake.
A giant snake.
Its body was so thick that several people would have needed to wrap their arms around it to encircle it. Its scales were a deep crimson, the edges of them dark and dull.
Its head was lowered, as though asleep.
Across its left eye ran a grotesque scar, slashing through the entire socket and completely destroying the eye that should have been there.
Only the right eye remained.
Even while sleeping, its body rose and fell faintly, the scales scraping against the stone with each breath.
Around it lay countless bones.
Some were snake bones, some belonged to beasts of unknown origin, and there were even what looked like human skulls scattered among them.
The three snake princesses all stopped, not taking another step forward.
Tagorihime tilted her head toward Kiyohara and asked one more time,
"Are you sure?"
Kiyohara didn't answer.
He simply walked into the cavern.
His steps on the loose stones made a light crunching sound.
Garaga's right eye snapped open.
He stared at Kiyohara.
At this human who had dared to step into his domain.
His huge crimson body slowly rose, scales grinding against one another with a terrifying hiss.
"Hiss…"
Garaga opened his mouth, revealing rows of bone-white fangs.
"A human… dares to enter my territory…"
His voice was hoarse and low, like rocks scraping together.
"Do you wish to become my food?"
Kiyohara stopped walking.
The wind displaced by Garaga's rising body blew Kiyohara's black hair backward, his clothes snapping in the air.
"Garaga."
"I want to form a summoning contract with you."
Kiyohara said calmly.
Of course, that was only the pretext.
Because what Kiyohara actually planned to do next was "accidentally" kill Garaga, fulfill the lingering wish, and then go find another snake to contract with instead.
~~~
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