Deep within Ryuchi Cave, before the grand temple.
"Cough~ cough~" Tagorihime knelt on the bluestone ground, the panic on her face yet to fade, her hands rubbing her reddened neck, a white dress stained with dust.
Shin'yu glanced at her indifferently, ignoring her, and turned to Orochimaru, saying, "So, you have passed the Trial?"
"Yes, Master." Orochimaru nodded, his gaze calm. "To be honest, the difficulty of these three stages was not as great as I imagined."
At this moment, an old-fashioned voice came from within the temple:
"This shows that you are naturally suited for the Ryuchi Cave's inheritance..."
The voice seemed to come from an old woman, grating and discordant, with a very heavy accent. Although low, it was unusually loud, and the air in the entire temple was vibrating slightly.
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Shin'yu smiled slightly, took Orochimaru up the stone steps, directly pushed open the Temple Gate, and stepped into the temple.
Tagorihime twitched her nose and stood up on her own. A breeze flowed behind her, and two graceful figures in white quietly emerged, namely Tagorihime and Ichikishimahime from before.
"How embarrassing, didn't White Snake Sage tell you not to attack him?" The little loli Ichikishimahime leisurely put her hands on her waist, with a gloating expression. "You really don't learn your lesson."
Tagorihime glared at her unhappily and whispered in defense, "I was just curious and wanted to test his strength..."
"Test and then die." Ichikishimahime floated past Tagorihime, reaching out to fiddle with the ribbon on her back. "But you are really lucky. I almost thought you were going to die today."
Just now, Tagorihime used Sage Art to merge with nature, thereby concealing all her aura, completely hiding herself in the mist, and launching a simultaneous surprise attack on Shin'yu and Orochimaru, dividing into two.
Orochimaru was undoubtedly hit, but Shin'yu's reaction was terrifyingly fast!
Not only did he instantly see through Tagorihime's sneak attack, but while dodging sideways, a Big Hand turned into a blur that was indistinguishable to the naked eye, tightly gripping her neck.
At that moment, Tagorihime only felt that it was difficult to breathe, and the Sage Art Chakra all over her body fell into stagnation, as if she was a prisoner being executed with a noose, unable to muster any strength to resist, and could only watch the darkness engulf her.
The terrifying pressure was like Mount Tai pressing down on her, but this was only with pure Physical Body brute force. She felt that she was facing not a person, but a bottomless abyss!
Fortunately, Shin'yu only gave a slight warning and let go, and did not really kill her.
Otherwise, her cultivation that took a full 400 years to obtain would have been completely lost today.
"Curiosity will kill the snake." Tagorihime covered her face with her sleeve, looking solemn.
Ichikishimahime tilted her head, looked inside through the half-covered Temple Gate, and narrowed her eyes, "It seems that Shin'ya brought back an amazing person."
...
Shin'yu took the lead and stepped into the Inner Hall. What appeared before him was a wide and long staircase, covered with a Scarlet Carpet. Under the dim light, it flowed with a strange color between blood and roses.
He looked up slightly. At the end of his vision, he could vaguely see the outline of a huge seat. On the Dragon Head Stone Carving at the top, there was a Vermilion Scroll printed with the three characters "Ryuchi Cave".
In his perception, the most powerful soul in the entire Ryuchi Cave was coiled on the highest seat, its aura so strong that it was not inferior to the Nine-Tails at all.
Orochimaru looked around. Suddenly, his sleeves trembled. He reached out and touched them. They were the little snakes he usually kept. When he walked into the Inner Hall area, they began to tremble all together.
A rare hint of awe appeared in his eyes.
"Keep up."
Shin'yu said lightly, with one hand behind his back, and disappeared on the spot the moment he stepped forward.
He didn't bother to climb the Stone Steps properly, his figure turning into an afterimage as he effortlessly reached the top in just a few flashes.
"You are... the White Snake Sage?"
He sized up the incredibly massive white-scaled snake on the seat, narrowing his eyes slightly.
The snake before him occupied almost his entire field of vision, its enormous body coiled lazily on the seat, its white scales neat, its vertical pupils chilling. Beneath a gray canvas hat was a waterfall of orange hair, and despite its snake form, it held a slender, Telegraph Pole-sized pipe in its mouth.
"Uchiha Shin'yu, you..." the White Snake Sage opened its mouth languidly, its voice echoing through the entire Inner Hall with a heavy, aged tone, "You have a very fine pair of eyes."
"You know me?" Shin'yu asked with a smile.
"I've heard of you for a long time," the White Snake Sage drawled. "In our long lives, the history of you humans is but a drop in the ocean. Throughout the ages, few people have caught my eye. No matter how talented and brilliant, they are but fleeting moments."
"Recently, two decent newcomers appeared, one named Uchiha Madara and the other Hashirama Senju. From them, I could smell a rather strong scent of old acquaintances."
At this point, the White Snake Sage turned its head slightly, its golden lamp-like pupils fixed on Shin'yu. "And both of them are closely related to you. One is your guide, and the other died indirectly at your hands. Tell me... shouldn't I remember your name?"
Shin'yu was quite surprised and said softly, "I really didn't expect that a reclusive existence like you would know about me?"
"Heh heh..." the White Snake Sage let out a chilling laugh, long and piercing. "I am a Sage, my snake children and grandchildren are all over the Shinobi World. Everything that happens in this world will reach my ears."
Shin'yu's heart stirred, and he inexplicably thought of the Cat House. "I have a Summoning Beast named..."
"Shapeshifting Cat Bochi..." the White Snake Sage smiled slightly, the pipe emitting a huge amount of thick smoke. "A greedy little fellow. As the only Ninja Cat in the Cat House who has mastered Sage Art, it's not easy for him to have survived to this era."
A trace of understanding flashed in Shin'yu's eyes. These Shinobi Beasts who have mastered Sage Art really know each other's details.
Suddenly, he caught a key point: "Bochi has lived for a long time?"
The White Snake Sage said, "It has been more than 600 years since it rose to fame."
"It... is that old?" Shin'yu widened his eyes slightly. It was really hard to imagine that this rather unreliable blue cat, who didn't look very serious, had actually lived for more than 600 years.
"There's nothing strange about that," the White Snake Sage said lightly. "The lifespan of beasts is inherently weaker than that of humans. The lifespan of ordinary Shinobi Beasts is equal to that of humans, but Shinobi Beasts who have mastered Sage Art can naturally live for many years."
"Cultivating Sage Art can prolong life?"
Shin'yu raised his eyebrows. It seemed that this old antique also possessed a lot of information that he didn't know.
During the conversation, Orochimaru finally ran up and stood obediently behind Shin'yu.
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