Asana followed the three elders of Ryūchi Cave through a stalactite-filled cave and arrived before the White Snake Sage.
"Young one who wishes to learn Sage Art, welcome to Ryūchi Cave!" the old woman in white robes said lazily, leaning on a stone bed.
"Old woman, who are you?" Asana asked, feigning ignorance.
"I am the White Snake Sage," the old woman on the stone bed replied with a smile.
"What is the White Snake Sage?"
"Orochimaru's disciple, how long are you going to keep pretending? There are no Konoha Ninja here."
Asana was startled, then dropped her puzzled expression and said with a smile, "As expected of the White Snake Sage, my little trick was indeed seen through by you!"
"I know both your and Orochimaru's intentions. To be honest, compared to that Orochimaru fellow, you do have some talent in learning Sage Art and are very suitable to be our next spokesperson for Ryūchi Cave. Are you interested in learning from us?"
"So, White Snake Sage, can I learn Sage Art?"
"Of course you can!" the White Snake Sage said without hesitation.
"Then I'll learn!"
"Very good! Tagitsuhime, this girl is entrusted to you!"
"Yes, White Snake Sage!"
After Asana left with Tagitsuhime, Ichikishimahime quietly asked the White Snake Sage, "Do you really want her to be the next spokesperson for our Ryūchi Cave?"
"Do you think I'm joking?"
"But she is a member of the Hyuga Branch Family, with that troublesome cursed seal on her head. In a sense, she is a puppet of the Hyuga Main Family. Is it appropriate for us to teach Sage Art to a puppet..."
"Hehe! Did you not notice, Shimahime? Her Byakugan is different from the Byakugan of a typical Hyuga Clan member. Don't forget that the Hyuga Clan is also a descendant of that woman."
"You mean her bloodline has regressed?" Ichikishimahime asked, shocked.
"Your vision is still too shallow. She is clearly a Hyuga Clan member, yet she possesses the bloodline of the Senju Clan. With these two combined, it's normal for her internal genes to be supplemented." With that, the White Snake Sage ignored the two and slowly closed her eyes.
Unknowingly, it had been almost a week since Asana went to Ryūchi Cave.
Throughout this week, Uchiha En would come every day to ask Orochimaru about Asana's situation.
For the first few days, Orochimaru didn't know how Asana was doing, but today when Uchiha En came again, Orochimaru suddenly told him that Asana had already begun to learn Sage Art.
This was a message Asana had specifically sent back via a small snake.
Upon learning that Asana had begun to learn Sage Art, Uchiha En let out a long sigh of relief.
"Orochimaru-sama, generally, how long does it take to learn Sage Art?" Uchiha En asked.
"That depends on individual aptitude. I heard the White Snake Sage say that some talented individuals mastered Sage Art in just a few days in the past.
But most people who learn Sage Art take several months or even a year or two to master it."
"I see! Well, Orochimaru-sama, if there's any news about Asana in the future, please notify me immediately."
Orochimaru nodded in agreement.
Knowing that Asana had successfully begun learning Sage Art, a weight was lifted from Uchiha En's heart.
He returned to Konoha to prepare for the approaching Night of the Nine-Tails.
It was now April of Year 48 of Konoha, and Uzumaki Naruto was born in October of Year 48 of Konoha, meaning the Night of the Nine-Tails would arrive in another six months.
Uchiha En planned to integrate the Uchiha Clan within these six months, taking control of both the hawk faction and the dove faction, and effectively sidelining Uchiha Fugaku as clan head.
The Uchiha Clan must participate in the Night of the Nine-Tails to seize this opportunity to change the Uchiha Clan's image in the hearts of Konoha villagers.
In addition, Uchiha En also wanted to take the opportunity to obtain Nine-Tails Chakra. With the Nine-Tails Chakra, he could begin to construct the Lesser Ten-Tails.
"Knock knock, En-senpai, are you home?" A sudden knock on the door interrupted Uchiha En's thoughts.
"Shisui! Is something wrong?" Uchiha En asked.
"En-senpai, Hokage-sama invited me to join the Anbu a few days ago, and I wanted to ask for your opinion," Shisui said as he walked in.
Uchiha En was surprised by this; Minato Namikaze hadn't discussed this with him!
"Did Hokage-sama only invite you to join the Anbu? Or did other clan members also receive invitations?"
"Not just me, two other clan members from the dove faction also received invitations. Hokage-sama said he sent someone to inform you about this, En-senpai, didn't you know?"
Hearing Shisui say this, Uchiha En suddenly remembered that Minato Namikaze had indeed sent Kakashi with a scroll, but at the time, Uchiha En's mind was on Asana, so he casually put the scroll aside without looking at its contents.
Uchiha En took out the scroll from his Storage Ring and opened it. Inside were indeed matters related to the Anbu.
According to Minato Namikaze's idea, he planned to form a special squad within the Anbu, composed entirely of Uchiha Clan members.
This was Minato Namikaze extending goodwill to the Uchiha Clan, relinquishing some of the Anbu authority that the Uchiha Clan could not normally touch.
Minato Namikaze was able to do this thanks to the continuous compression of Danzo and the two Advisors' powers recently, preventing them from interfering in this matter.
"Does the clan head know about this?" Uchiha En asked after closing the scroll.
"No, Hokage-sama said he only discussed this with you."
Uchiha En nodded, beginning to ponder how to allocate the spots for this squad.
Generally, an Anbu squad also consists of 10 people. Minato Namikaze invited three from the dove faction, leaving seven spots.
After a moment of thought, Uchiha En decided how to allocate the remaining spots. He planned to visit the Great Elder tonight to discuss it with him.
"Shisui, you can join the Anbu. Go tell Hokage-sama that I have arranged for the other seven people to join the Anbu, and this squad can be assembled in three days at most."
"I understand, Senpai. Is there anything else you want me to tell Hokage-sama?"
"Nothing else. Speaking of which, Shisui, you've been very active lately! The name 'Body Flicker Shisui' has even reached my ears," Uchiha En said with a smile.
"It's all thanks to your excellent teaching, Senpai."
"I only taught you the most basic Body Flicker Technique; everything else you achieved through your own effort. Shisui, to have this level of strength at your age, your talent ranks among the top five in the history of the Uchiha Clan."
"You're exaggerating too much, Senpai. And speaking of talent, I recently met a child whose talent is not inferior to mine at all."
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