When the Moment Calls, Be Thick-Skinned

Pushing open the door and entering the temple, a sense of absurdity suddenly rose in Sosuke's heart.

Why did those non-human powerful beings always like to hide in temples?

The White Snake Sage hid in a temple, the Great Toad Sage had also built a temple for himself to cultivate in, and even the parasite Isshiki went to the temple every day to burn incense and worship Buddha.

He'd been knocking on a wooden fish for a thousand years, but it didn't seem like he'd achieved anything.

"If I remember correctly, the White Snake Sage's true body should be the Phosphorus Great Snake."

Thinking of this big shot he was about to meet, Sosuke couldn't help but recall the most outstanding disciple of Ryūchi Cave, Orochimaru.

Choosing to transform himself into a Phosphorus Great Snake—it was hard to say whether Ryūchi Cave had influenced him. Perhaps Orochimaru's path to immortality was an imitation.

A being that had survived for thousands of years and still possessed surging vitality—if it were him, he'd find it hard not to learn from it.

As for strength, it was difficult to assess the White Snake Sage's power level, but Sosuke had never underestimated Nature Energy. The power gathered from this stuff wouldn't be inferior to a complete Ten-Tails.

Kurama could drain all the natural energy from the earth; if he said the White Snake Sage couldn't do it, he wouldn't believe it himself.

"Hiss, thinking about it this way, doesn't that mean she has Six Paths Level combat power?"

Lost in thought, Sosuke and the other were led before the White Snake Sage's throne.

"Hey, Sosuke." Mito, feeling a bit creeped out, could only timidly hide behind her companion.

It wasn't that she was cowardly, but the White Snake Sage really did look overwhelmingly oppressive.

Orange hair, yellow pupils, her indifferent gaze silently observed the two below.

Her body coiled on the throne was abnormally massive; even the section of her torso exposed from her abdomen was more terrifying than Kamihime after her transformation.

Taking the pipe out of her mouth, the White Snake Sage blew a long smoke ring, her gaze sweeping back and forth over the two humans below.

Finally, she looked at the youth standing in front.

"So you're the one who defeated Kamihime?"

"I didn't lose." Kamihime interjected, defending herself: "Because of his Space-time Ninjutsu, I was forced to terminate the trial. At best, it was a draw."

But the beauty snake seemed to have forgotten that just because she couldn't hit him didn't mean Sosuke had no way to deal with her.

The youth was a hundred percent confident in the attack power of Chidori; if it really came to a fight, making her bleed a little was definitely no problem.

Clearly, the White Snake Sage understood this reasoning too, but she just didn't press the issue out of consideration for her daughter's pride.

After a brief pause, the White Snake Sage's voice rang out: "I sense Nature Energy on you. Can you tell me what's going on?"

At these words, Kamihime immediately turned her head. She hadn't detected any fluctuation in Nature Energy from start to finish.

Could what the White Snake Sage said be true? Kamihime couldn't quite accept the reality of her defeat.

Having no intention of speaking, Sosuke decided to let them see for themselves.

With a thought, the Cursed Seal on the back of his neck suddenly began to spread, and soon he became a being completely covered in Nature Energy.

"I see." The White Snake Sage nodded, roughly understanding the principle of how humans used Nature Energy.

She had never imagined that Nature Energy could have such a unique application. It seemed that the progress of human society over the years was not to be underestimated.

With a simple gesture, the White Snake Sage could see through the secret of the Cursed Seal, but this put the two ladies beside him in a tough spot.

"Oh, isn't this Sosuke's Cursed Seal?" Muto blinked, slowly placing her hand on her companion's shoulder, trying to get a close-up feel of the legendary Nature Energy.

As for the unwilling Kamihime, she stared at him with a grave expression for a long time, then suddenly, a smug smile unconsciously curled at the corner of her mouth.

She realized that the youth's use of Nature Energy was very crude; he couldn't even perform the step of condensing Sage Chakra.

What seemed like a simple operation actually discarded the most core element.

"Hmph, he's nothing special after all."

No one noticed Kamihime's thoughts, and the White Snake Sage, ever since she saw the Cursed Seal, had fallen into a strange, contemplative silence.

It was only after a very long time that she seemed to wake from a dream, looking down with a surprised expression: "Unexpected, truly unexpected. But thinking about it carefully, it's not really strange."

No one present knew what she was talking about, not even Kamihime, who knew the White Snake Sage best, had a clue.

Riddle-speaker, get out of Ryūchi Cave. Sosuke rolled his eyes internally. He hated it when big shots put on that "heaven's secrets cannot be revealed" act.

But the White Snake Sage was someone he couldn't afford to provoke right now. Besides, he would need to come here to study in the future; he was very interested in Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode.

"Boy." The White Snake Sage's voice suddenly rang out: "The Ninja World is fraught with danger. Space-time Ninjutsu may not guarantee your safety. If you ever encounter something you can't handle, I allow you to return to Ryūchi Cave for help at any time."

Oh, the White Snake Sage is easy to talk to. Sosuke nodded, pondering whether he should say a few polite words.

He was well aware of the dangers of the Ninja World: the Ōtsutsuki roaming outside, Black Zetsu hiding for a thousand years, the Moon watching covetously, and the Sage of Six Paths lurking in the Pure Land.

None of them were easy to deal with, and he didn't even trust the Sage of Six Paths.

After devouring the Chakra Fruit, a life form evolves to another level. They might be injured, but such a powerful being could never be killed.

Even someone as strong as the Sage of Six Paths couldn't eliminate his mother Kaguya; even after a thousand years, he could only seal her away in the end.

Sosuke didn't believe that the Sage of Six Paths, silent for a millennium, hadn't considered a solution.

If an Ōtsutsuki who had devoured a Chakra Fruit were to attack in the future, even if he and his brother joined forces, they might not be a match.

So, how exactly could one deal with an enemy of that level?

The answer was simple: make himself a consumer of the Chakra Fruit as well.

No matter the outcome, the Sage of Six Paths would not be as straightforward as he appeared on the surface.

Besides, Sosuke felt he had nothing the Sage valued. If worst came to worst, the Sage of Six Paths probably wouldn't treat him the same way he treated Naruto and Sasuke.

"Sigh, pitfalls everywhere."

He didn't need the White Snake Sage's warning; he understood the dangers of the Ninja World better than anyone.

Seeing that the White Snake Sage was about to dismiss him, Sosuke gritted his teeth and suddenly spoke up: "Junior has been caught up in clan conflicts, fighting and killing on battlefields all along. That thing, uh—"

"Speak your mind."

"Er, I just wanted to ask, does the Sage know where any decent treasures are stored? Nothing too good, just a few Six Paths Tools, a Kusanagi Sword, a Yata Mirror, something like that."

Looking down at the shameless youth on the platform, the White Snake Sage suddenly laughed.

"A thousand years ago, I met a little brat who looked a lot like you."

"Huh?"