The Village Within

In the not-so-distant battle in the Land of Grass, Yuzuru had caught a fleeting glimpse of the combat prowess of Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. Though they were merely immature young ninja at the time, their ability to stir up the battlefield was far beyond that of ordinary ninja.

Looking at them, then at himself, Yuzuru felt they were not on the same wavelength.

They were all ninja, yet it felt like they were from different worlds.

The future Sannin were in the same camp as Yuzuru, so there was no immediate prospect of them becoming enemies. However, while the "Sannin" were strong, other ninja villages were not without their own powerhouses capable of matching them. In fact, Hanzō of Amegakure could even fight three of them and gain the upper hand...

Essentially, Yuzuru wasn't envious of their abilities. It was just that considering the enemy also possessed such strong individuals, he had to imagine himself encountering them... This forced him to pursue greater self-preservation capabilities.

Acting in the real world and acting in a dungeon were entirely different. Death in a dungeon was illusory; he would wake up in reality afterward... Even so, when acting in a dungeon, Yuzuru was bold when he needed to be, and remained cautious when necessary, because he aimed to utilize his dungeon time in the most efficient way possible.

So, when he arrived at the entrance of Orochimaru's underground laboratory, Yuzuru didn't hesitate and walked straight in.

The dim indoor space felt slightly cramped, filled with various equipment. The surroundings were terrifyingly quiet, with some instruments emitting regular beeping sounds. Using the faint light from the experimental equipment, Yuzuru's eyes gradually adjusted to the dim indoor light.

As he gradually made out the situation within the laboratory, Yuzuru felt his breathing involuntarily lighten... In fact, what met his eyes gave him a sense of suffocation.

Various corpses, pickled, hung up, cut open and spread out, were everywhere in this not-so-spacious room.

Coupled with all sorts of experimental instruments and haphazardly piled scrolls and experimental data, this made the space, despite its localized brutality and messiness, present a certain sense of order as a whole.

Anyone familiar with the stories of the Shinobi World would know that Orochimaru was a madman. In his pursuit of ultimate ninjutsu, he spared no effort in conducting all sorts of cruel human experiments. However, stories were stories, and when one personally witnessed all of this, it was still an extraordinary challenge to human nerves.

One could only say it was befitting of a mad scientist's laboratory. Yuzuru even felt his rationality being stripped away.

Fortunately, Yuzuru wasn't here for Orochimaru's experiments. He just wanted to find some practical ninjutsu, preferably something that could enhance battlefield survivability.

So, would he find anything?

Yuzuru took a deep breath. He ignored the notes recording various experimental data piled on the test benches and walked directly to the bookshelf by the wall where a large number of scrolls were stored. Then, he reached out, took down scroll after scroll, and quickly flipped through them.

The first scroll was about soul and spirit research. It was too profound and complex, and offered no help to Yuzuru at his current stage, so he set it aside.

"These are some ninjutsu used in conjunction with summoning... I understand summoning techniques, but I don't have a contract."

Because his goal was clear, Yuzuru flipped through them quickly. Orochimaru's research materials were quite messy, likely because Orochimaru discarded completed research projects as if they were trash, hence the haphazard piling.

As Yuzuru was diligently flipping through them, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his ankle. He looked down and saw a green snake biting him... The snake venom was injecting the toxins from its oral glands into Yuzuru's body.

Yuzuru merely glanced at the snake. It wasn't that he didn't care, but rather he completely disregarded it. His eyes were solely on Orochimaru's research data.

He had no time to deal with a venomous snake; this was a race against time.

Discarding overly complex research, he only recorded the formulas he could understand, and chose to record the general principles and research ideas, rather than all the research details... Only in this way could he increase his learning efficiency.

Then another snake bit him, and Yuzuru's reaction was to switch to another scroll and continue his research.

The venom soon took effect. Yuzuru could only sit by the bookshelf. As he felt his entire body go numb, cold, and his thoughts begin to stiffen, he used his last moments to spread out a large number of scrolls on the floor in front of him.

"Finally found something useful."

"Logbook for the development of a special Substitution Technique..."

"Soft tissue modification technology..."

Most of Orochimaru's research was too high-level. What Yuzuru needed were these practical techniques.

He tried his best to record what he saw, but the snake venom soon rendered him stiff. Even when only his eyes could still move, he didn't stop memorizing... If this attitude towards learning were applied in his original world, no exam could stop him.

And just as he could barely maintain consciousness, Yuzuru suddenly heard the sound of a forked tongue flicking. Immediately, a giant white snake descended from the ceiling. It looked down at Yuzuru with a very human-like gaze filled with curiosity.

"You..."

The snake observed Yuzuru for a while, then suddenly opened its large mouth and swallowed him whole.

"Well, it's observing a little cookie..."

As the last thought flashed through his mind, Yuzuru's consciousness plunged into darkness.

However, the white snake's intention was not to devour Yuzuru. After swallowing him, it actively released the Summoning Technique with a soft pop.

The scene shifted. The summoned snake returned to its origin and spat out Yuzuru, who was covered in slime.

Yuzuru was unconscious and was directly thrown into a darker, more humid place with a gentle breeze blowing... Due to the snake venom, he had turned into a small purple person by now.

Snakes were crawling on his back.

More snakes bit him, and then... the snake venom began to be cleared, and Yuzuru's consciousness gradually began to recover.

"Is the dungeon not over yet?"

"Right, I should actively leave the dungeon, but what were the steps to leave..."

His sluggish thoughts began to reactivate, but Yuzuru's brain felt like it was rusted. After a while longer, he gradually recovered.

"Hmm, this isn't Konoha?"

Yuzuru slowly stood up, shook his head vigorously, and then looked up. He immediately noticed a huge stone throne.

And coiled upon the throne, a giant white snake whose long body had completely disappeared into the darkness.

Above the giant white snake was a stone beast head, holding a giant scroll in its mouth. The scroll bore these three characters...

"Ryūchi Cave."

This was Ryūchi Cave? One of the three Great Sage Regions?

The White Snake Sage, seated majestically, maintained its serpentine form but carried a strong sense of humanity in its posture. It looked down at Yuzuru with its eyes, then, as if understanding something, it suddenly spoke in a human voice:

"I can't see your fate clearly... I see, so this is a dreamscape?"

The word "fate" sounded like a charlatan's trick, but the mention of a dreamscape made Yuzuru feel that the other party wasn't talking nonsense... In a way, the so-called dungeon could indeed be considered a special dream for Yuzuru.

"Interesting, very interesting."

Yuzuru finally understood. He had been brought to Ryūchi Cave by Orochimaru's summoning beast. At this point, regardless of what the White Snake Sage was saying, Yuzuru had only one question:

"White Snake Sage, can I learn Sage Mode?"

"No, although you are the master of this dreamscape, your Chakra is insufficient to withstand Natural Energy..."

Yuzuru wasn't disappointed about not having the aptitude to learn Sage Mode. After all, people with such aptitude were one in ten thousand. Let alone him, even Orochimaru didn't have it at first.

The White Snake Sage continued to look down at Yuzuru, a dangerous glint flashing in its narrow snake eyes. Then, as if it remembered something amusing, a strange smile appeared on its snake face.

"However... meeting in a dreamscape is truly rare. I don't want to end this game so easily."

"Although you can't directly withstand Natural Energy, I can modify your body first."

"Modify?"

The White Snake Sage was quite capricious. After saying a single sentence, without giving Yuzuru any time to react, it suddenly lowered its head and bit down with lightning speed.

Let alone Yuzuru still being poisoned, even if he were in perfect condition, he wouldn't have been able to dodge such an attack.

The next moment, the White Snake Sage's massive fangs easily pierced his side.

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