Garaga

"Lord Kei, what kind of woman do you like?" Tagorihime kept crowding up to Hyuga Kei and bombarding him with questions, irritating him to no end.

Hyuga Kei rolled his eyes at her. "Could you be quiet for a while?"

"Even that disgusted look is so handsome!" Tagorihime swooned again.

Hyuga Kei had figured out what was wrong with her. She was a snake sage with masochistic tendencies—the more he scolded her, the more she enjoyed it.

Even as a transmigrator, Hyuga Kei had no idea how to deal with her.

After enduring it for a long while, the two finally reached the deepest part of Ryūchi Cave, where Garaga lived.

Hyuga Kei activated his Tenseigan and immediately spotted the massive crimson serpent coiled nearby. Its most distinctive feature was its missing eye. "So this is Garaga."

In the original story, one of its eyes had been blinded after being attacked by its contractor.

However, Hyuga Kei was not particularly concerned about that. All he wanted was the reverse scale beneath its chin.

Hyuga Kei drew the natural energy around him into his body, entering Sage Mode almost instantly.

Garaga also sensed an unfamiliar presence invading its territory and slithered toward them.

Hyuga Kei took the initiative to meet it, looking at the massive crimson serpent. "Garaga, I've come for your reverse scale."

"Is Ryūchi Cave so short on people that it has to let an outsider act?" Garaga sneered at Tagorihime, who stood not far behind Hyuga Kei.

Tagorihime did not care about Garaga's mockery. She continued staring at Hyuga Kei with lovestruck eyes.

"You actually learned Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode?" Garaga suddenly cried out, sensing the natural energy on Hyuga Kei.

"That's right. Sage Art: Thunderclap Palm." Hyuga Kei did not waste any more words and attacked directly.

Garaga swung its tail to meet him, but Hyuga Kei slammed his palm into it.

"Pain, pain, pain!" Garaga cried out.

Hyuga Kei was secretly astonished as well. He definitely could not have produced that much force in his normal state. Sage Mode's enhancement was truly obvious.

His ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu had all undergone a tremendous boost.

"Sage Art: Flame Form Fist."

"Sage Art: Exploding Body Palm."

Hyuga Kei continuously used Garaga to test various moves, releasing ninjutsu in the form of Sage Arts.

By the end, Garaga was nearly unconscious. Only then did Hyuga Kei walk over, pull out the reverse scale beneath its chin, and use the Mystical Palm Technique to heal it.

The instant Garaga woke up, it immediately crawled deeper into the cave, as though Hyuga Kei were some terrifying monster.

Tagorihime still had hearts in her eyes. "Lord Kei is still so handsome when he uses ninjutsu!"

The two then returned to the White Snake Sage's temple, where Hyuga Kei took out the red reverse scale and handed it to her.

"Mm, well done. I didn't expect you to become proficient in using Sage Mode so quickly."

Nothing that happened in Ryūchi Cave could escape the White Snake Sage's eyes, and she had witnessed Hyuga Kei's performance just now.

"Next, Tagorihime, Ichikishimahime, and Tagitsuhime will teach you the Sage Arts of Ryūchi Cave."

"Thank you, White Snake Sage."

"Mm. You may leave."

As Hyuga Kei walked out of the temple, he saw the three women standing outside.

"Ichikishimahime, it's time to fulfill your promise. Twelve Sage Arts in total," Hyuga Kei said.

The little girl Ichikishimahime pouted. "Tch, it's only twelve Sage Arts. I'll teach you."

Tagorihime raised her hand. "I want to teach him too!"

"Then I'll be troubling you all."

"As long as Lord Kei is happy!" Tagorihime nodded repeatedly.

Tagitsuhime, the eldest of the three snakes, watched this scene and did not know what to say. Those two had lived for so long, yet they had not improved at all.

After that, Hyuga Kei once again entered a frenzied period of training, constantly traveling back and forth between Ryūchi Cave and the Land of Rain.

Most of his time was spent training in Sage Arts with the three women. From time to time, he returned to the Land of Rain to make arrangements and contact Kabuto Yakushi to issue orders.

Kabuto Yakushi wrote to him, wanting to change the way Orochimaru was controlled. In his current state, Orochimaru was like a puppet, making many things inconvenient.

Hyuga Kei agreed to all of it. As long as Kabuto Yakushi could do it, that was enough.

Hyuga Kei was not worried that Kabuto Yakushi would betray him. What he had given Kabuto Yakushi was something Orochimaru could never provide.

Kabuto Yakushi also gave Hyuga Kei another surprise. He had found him another helper: Amado, the scientist from Kara Organization in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations. His only request was that his daughter's illness be cured.

Hyuga Kei had Kabuto Yakushi agree immediately. A genius scientist like that was hard to come by, and having him would accelerate his research.

November 13, Year 59 of Konoha

After Hyuga Kei finished another round of training at Ryūchi Cave and returned to the Land of Rain, Zetsu came to find him.

"The leader wants you to come over. There are some matters to discuss."

"Understood." Hyuga Kei bid farewell to several family members and headed to the Akatsuki Organization's meeting room.

Black Zetsu watched Hyuga Kei's departing back. "That guy is getting stronger and stronger. He even learned Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode."

Pain had already been waiting for Hyuga Kei. When he arrived, Pain took out a piece of intelligence and handed it to him. "Take a look at the shameless actions of these great nations."

While Hyuga Kei had been away, Iwagakure and Sunagakure had joined forces to pressure the Land of Rain, demanding that Hanzo of the Salamander hand over Kimura Takuya, the murderer.

Otherwise, they would launch a war and destroy the Land of Rain.

Of course, neither Hanzo of the Salamander nor Kimura Takuya was in the Land of Rain.

"What do you think, Leader?"

"Only pain can make them understand the meaning of peace."

Hyuga Kei advised, "There's no need to make such a big move. They are still defeated nations that haven't recovered yet. As long as we show a firm attitude and the strength to tear off a piece of flesh from them, they will naturally back down."

Nagato behind Pain pondered for a moment. As Hyuga Kei had said, now was indeed not the time to expose the organization's strength.

They only needed to intimidate them.

"Then Akatsuki will handle this. We'll wipe out their border outposts in the Land of Rain."

Hyuga Kei smiled. "Wise decision, Leader."

At the Akatsuki Organization meeting the next day.

Pain announced the mission. "The mission to eliminate the Iwagakure and Sunagakure border outposts will be handled by Sasori of the Red Sand, Deidara, and Hyuga Kei for Sunagakure. Kakuzu, Hidan, and I will handle Iwagakure."

"The objective: leave no survivors and intimidate the Five Great Nations."

Hidan smiled. "Now that's more like it. It's time for the great nations to experience Jashin's power."

This kind of slaughter mission suited his tastes perfectly.

Deidara turned to Hyuga Kei beside him and asked, "So, how has your artistic cultivation been after all this time apart?"

"Absolutely beautiful. I'll show you in a moment."

"Hyuga Kei is so sly. He actually wants to hog this chance to act for himself."

Deidara said, "Brother Sasori, you don't need to make a move. Leave it to Kei and me."

Sasori did not refuse. Though he had defected, it was still his former homeland.

After the three left the meeting room, Deidara and Sasori began arguing again over whether to ride a clay bird or a Puppet Hawk.

In the end, Sasori relented. Deidara simply talked too much; he could annoy someone to death.

"Watch closely, Brother Sasori, Kei. Behold my ultimate art."

Deidara stuffed the mouths in his palms into his clay pouch, chewing and taking in a large amount of clay.

Nearly five minutes later, Deidara finally finished preparing the ninjutsu.

"Watch this—my latest ultimate art, C2· Dragon!"

The mouths in Deidara's hands spat out a great deal of Explosion Release clay. After being molded with chakra, it formed a white clay flying dragon. Following a burst of smoke, the flying dragon grew even larger.

"Flashy but useless..." Sasori greatly disliked the huge yet insufficiently refined dragon. He felt it was inferior to the puppet Flying Eagle he had developed with Hyuga Kei.

"Brother Sasori, just watch. In a moment, I'll show you the power of my art."