After that, Orochimaru didn't let Uchiha Ao ask any more questions.
He simply kicked him out of the house.
He was afraid that if they spent any more time together, he'd lose his temper and expel Ao from his tutelage. That brat's questions were more infuriating than the last.
After saying goodbye to Orochimaru, Ao headed to the outskirts of the Hidden Village next door, where Manda lived. The area was mostly occupied by various groups of snakes.
Manda coiled atop a tall stalactite. As their leader, he commanded the entire snake population.
After receiving Orochimaru's instructions, Manda quickly summoned the younger members of his clan who had the aptitude to become ninja animals.
"Come out, my kin!"
At Manda's call, a great many snakes of all shapes and sizes crawled out of the shadows.
Some were enormous, several meters in diameter.
Others were tiny, as thin as strands of hair.
There were even flying snakes with wings.
Together, they formed a sea of snakes across the flat ground.
"Pick one yourself."
"After the contract, you'll need to offer me ten blood sacrifices."
Manda glanced at Ao and said coldly.
Ten blood sacrifices?
Ao gave him a sidelong look. His Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared, and as his icy mental energy spread, his spiritual power stabbed straight at Manda.
Manda's heart clenched. He silently turned his head away.
It wasn't that he was afraid.
He just couldn't bear to watch one of his younger clansmen spend the rest of their life with an erratic lunatic.
He was doing it for the Sage's sake.
You'd better remember that, you brat!
"I'll take that one."
Ao didn't give Manda any more trouble. He swept his gaze across the snakes with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and used the Spirit Transformation Technique. Once his spirit vision opened, he spotted a black-and-white little snake with a hint of something unusual about it and chose it on the spot.
Manda looked at the chosen snake in surprise, then opened his mouth. "Why would you pick that one... Little Silver has the weakest body in the whole snake population, doesn't she?"
"She's even weaker than some snakes that aren't a meter long."
"Why don't you pick another one?"
Manda suggested cautiously.
Although he acted arrogant, forcing Orochimaru to provide him with all sorts of live food, deep down he understood perfectly well that the two contracted shinobi of Ryūchi Cave were important pieces the Sage had placed in the human world.
He held a lofty position.
If he offended the Sage, he might well incur her displeasure.
Besides, Ao was Orochimaru's prized student.
"I'll take that one!"
Ao repeated, ignoring Manda's suggestion.
Manda said no more. He only looked at the utterly helpless little snake with a complicated expression.
Manda couldn't understand why Uchiha Ao had chosen her.
"Your name is Little Silver? That's a pretty good name. It suits your appearance..."
Ao examined the little snake coiled before him. Her black-and-white body and flat head made her look rather cute.
In his previous life, this kind of snake had another name—the silver-banded snake.
It was highly venomous.
Its neurotoxin targeted nerve cells, and even a tiny dose could be fatal.
The silver-banded snake before him was just a little runt in Manda's eyes, but she was actually nearly three meters long and as thick as his wrist—far larger than a normal snake.
Compared with other kinds of snakes, though, she wasn't very robust. She was near the bottom of the pack.
"From now on, you'll come with me."
Ao looked at the little snake and held out his hand in a friendly gesture.
"Master... My name is Yinqian!"
Yinqian twisted her body, quickly slithered over to Ao, coiled herself into a ball, and raised her head respectfully.
Snakes with the traits of ninja animals held a much higher status in Ryūchi Cave than ordinary, unintelligent snakes. Most of them had some talent for absorbing Natural Energy.
Ao nodded in satisfaction, then asked, "Can you read Snake Script?"
Yinqian nodded. "I know a little. I studied with Elder Zuijinji for a while."
"Very good. Then from now on, we're partners. If you ever need help, just tell me!"
Ao smiled. She could read Snake Script, which was great. In the future, she could help him translate some of the snake clan's documents.
He wouldn't have to teach her from scratch.
Even with Yinqian's help, Ao had no intention of slowing down his study of Snake Script.
After completing his teacher's assignment, he left the outskirts of the Hidden Village with Yinqian and headed into the central hall, where his quarters were.
He continued on to find Zuijinji at the entrance to the hall.
He wasn't there to look at a beautiful snake woman. He simply loved to study.
Three days later.
Ao had finally learned everything written on the Snake Slough. After studying it, he realized that the way Ryūchi Cave used Natural Energy was completely different from the way Mount Myoboku used it.
Ao sat on the bed in the guest room beside the temple. His eyes stayed fixed on the Snake Slough's description of how to use Natural Energy, and he couldn't help falling into thought.
He recalled watching Naruto train in Sage Mode back then. The process required him to apply Toad Oil to forcibly sense Natural Energy, feel nature while meditating, and keep his mind calm, maintaining a perfect dynamic balance between Natural Energy, physical energy, and spiritual energy.
It relied on an external aid to sense Natural Energy.
The Sage Arts training at Ryūchi Cave worked in a different way.
And the method the White Snake Sage had given him was especially unconventional.
It actually involved merging with Natural Energy in spirit form. It didn't require any physical strength at all...
Only the fusion of spiritual power and Natural Energy, forming a unique Sage Art...
Wait a minute!?
A Sage Art!?
Shouldn't he first gather Senjutsu Chakra?
Where was the Senjutsu Chakra!?
This didn't seem anything like the Sage Mode he remembered!
Ao jolted in surprise, then realized that the method he had learned was entirely different from the Sage Modes of the two younger successors he knew of.
Yakushi Kabuto and Mitsuki had both received the White Snake Sage's infusion only after passing the Three Princesses' trials, gaining the power of Perfect Sage Mode.
The Sage Mode they possessed was nothing more than a cheat bestowed on them by the White Snake Sage—she had used an external force to infuse them directly with Senjutsu and grant them Senjutsu Chakra.
That wasn't Ryūchi Cave's method of training.
After obtaining the Snake Slough, Ao had never expected it to contain the training method for Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode.
He knew that to inherit Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode, he would have to let the White Snake Sage bite him with her fangs and inject her own Senjutsu Chakra into him, granting him a Sage Mode that was practically permanent.
To qualify for the bite, he would first have to pass the Three Princesses' trials, and he would also need an exceptionally powerful body.
His body would have to withstand the White Snake Sage's Natural Energy continually eroding it. As his flesh gradually became covered in scales, deformed, and regenerated, he would have to keep his will from being assimilated by the White Snake Sage's spirit and retain his sense of self.
Then he would slowly merge with his body, forming a unique Sage Mode marked by the traits of the snakes of Ryūchi Cave.
In the end, he would be completely transformed into a snake-man, a monster with countless snake-like traits.
He would lose his human appearance.
No wonder...
In the entire Naruto World, aside from those bitten by the White Snake Sage, not a single person had mastered Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode.
The training requirements were that harsh.
For ordinary people, it was practically impossible.
And unlike Mount Myoboku's clumsy method of sitting still and meditating to fuse with Natural Energy, Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode let its user absorb Natural Energy anytime, anywhere, even while moving, ensuring that the mode could be maintained continuously.
Mount Myoboku's Sage Mode was much gentler by comparison.
So you had to become a freak before you could get stronger?
Once Ao realized this, he couldn't help looking toward the massive figure of the White Snake Sage deep inside the hall...
Could this Sage... exist in spirit form?
After the Snake Kiss Ritual.
Were Yakushi Kabuto and Mitsuki still themselves after gaining Sage Mode?
Ao thought of the terrifying aura of white mist behind the White Snake Sage and the Natural Energy it contained. A growing unease stirred within him.
Then he thought of the soul-transformation method the White Snake Sage had provided to Orochimaru...
His heart gave an even greater jolt.
He had a vague sense that he'd glimpsed one corner of the White Snake Sage's research.
"Sage... What exactly are your intentions? You even gave me such an important training method... I wonder how many test subjects I am?"
"And... Senju Hashirama... Did he train for his Sage Mode this way?"
"White Snake Sage... You really are a Sage, huh!"
"Isn't this just cultivating immortality?"
A jumble of thoughts rose in Uchiha Ao's mind.
In that moment, a thousand thoughts crowded into his head.
Faced with this way to grow stronger,
he didn't dare try it lightly.
There was no such thing as a free lunch.
He wasn't close to Ryūchi Cave. In fact, he could hardly say he knew them, and he didn't know the White Snake Sage's true intentions.
The Sage Art cultivation method in his hands could change everything he thought he knew. It was far too precious.
So precious that he didn't dare put it to the test.
As things stood, he couldn't bear the cost of the consequences that came with obtaining it.
This was training that involved the soul.
And the Natural Energy was the most violent kind. Who knew how many dangers it concealed?
Ao pondered for a long time, wavering indecisively. In the end, he decided to go straight to the White Snake Sage and ask her openly what she really wanted.
That way, he wouldn't wear himself out worrying over nothing.
After all, the only thing he had that might be worth anything to the White Snake Sage was his soul.
There was nothing else she would want to wager on.
The worst that could happen was that the White Snake Sage swallowed him whole.
Before you continue