"That Hagoromo wanted you to inherit Ninshu, and he also said... you should come to Ryūchi Cave to learn Sage Mode?" the White Snake Sage asked, bringing her enormous head a little closer.
Orochimaru: ...
Orochimaru suddenly felt that Ryūchi Cave really was a perfect match for the Uchiha Clan!
Ever since Akaseki had started talking, Orochimaru had remained silent.
He was preparing himself so that, if Ryūchi Cave turned hostile, he could still say, "I barely know this kid."
After all...
Orochimaru still wanted to learn Sage Mode from Ryūchi Cave!
"Exactly!" Akaseki nodded righteously in response to the White Snake Sage's question.
Well, there was just one tiny difference in the order of events-Uchiha Hagoromo had granted Akaseki dominion over Ryūchi Cave the time before last they met; it was during their most recent meeting that he had entrusted him with Ninshu...
But Akaseki magnanimously refrained from correcting the White Snake Sage.
"Oh? Do you know who the last person entrusted with those hopes was?" the White Snake Sage asked, her pupils narrowing into vertical slits, as though she would swallow Akaseki whole if he failed to answer and proved himself a liar.
"Who else but Hashirama Senju!" Akaseki replied as though it were obvious. The White Snake Sage faltered at his answer, then drew back her enormous head and reared up again.
"To think..." A contemplative look appeared in the White Snake Sage's eyes.
Seeing her reaction, Akaseki's mind raced, and he quickly figured out how the White Snake Sage's thoughts worked!
She...
Must have been displeased that the Fairness Sage had previously sent "the person entrusted with the hope of reviving Ninshu" to Shikkotsu Forest to learn Sage Mode...
Knowing that the First possessed a sage body, Akaseki had asked Ranwu about these matters before.
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