Facing Death to Find Life

Looking at the bridge and the empty space behind it, Uchiha Kō decided to walk down.

Due to years of neglect, its wooden planks are extremely loose, and now even Uchiha Kō is worried that he might fall off.

Crunch, crunch~

The sound of wooden planks approached, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He seemed to have forgotten that he had been bitten by the White Snake Sage, and that he had come here to cultivate immortal techniques.

At this moment, he was just an ordinary person, without any Chakra, Blazing Heaven Fan, or Flame Demon Necklace.

Just as he was hesitating about whether to move forward, he suddenly heard the sound of rocks falling from the cliff behind him, and darkness was constantly swallowing up the path he had come from.

Uchiha Kō had no time to hesitate and strode forward, the darkness following him like a shadow, keeping pace with every step he took.

The wooden planks creaked and groaned Uchiha Kō a step, his right foot crushing the plank, his leg wedged between the thorny old planks.

But at that moment, the darkness behind him not only did not slow down, but instead rushed towards him at an even faster speed.

When people encounter difficulties, they always yearn for salvation and hope that disaster will come later. But in reality, apart from family, no one will lend a helping hand, and disaster will not slow down just because you hope.

What can we do in this situation? What should we do? What should we do?

Uchiha Kō was sweating profusely. He looked at his legs and the darkness behind him, gritted his teeth, and suddenly exerted force with his right leg. The splinters of the old wooden planks cut his right leg, blood flowed out, and even tore off a piece of his skin. Countless small splinters pierced into his leg.

As darkness arrived as expected, just as it was about to engulf Uchiha Kō, he had no time to shout, no time to mourn, no time to bandage himself. Dragging his bleeding and aching leg, he took a step forward.

There's no time for you to shout, no time for you to mourn, no time for you to bandage your wounds and lick them.

Uchiha Kō didn't know what the darkness was, but he understood that being swallowed by it was definitely not a good thing.

Was he afraid? Yes, he was afraid of getting his leg cut, afraid of falling into the abyss, afraid of being swallowed by the darkness behind him.

Did he feel pain at the time? Yes, he did. His leg was cut by the splinters of the wooden plank, his muscles were cut by the splinters, and when he pulled his right leg out, a piece of skin was torn off. Small splinters of wood remained in his leg, causing stinging pain with every movement.

The darkness behind him didn't slow down because of his fear and pain; in fact, it seemed to speed up. Uchiha Kō had no time to think; he took a step forward, moving with incredible speed.

He had hesitated before, worried about slipping and losing his footing, worried about this and that, but compared to being swallowed by darkness, none of that seemed so bad?

And so, Uchiha Kō strode forward, and the creaking wooden planks suddenly fell silent. There were still splinters embedded in his right leg, constantly pricking his muscles with each Uchiha Kō.

But Uchiha Kō didn't shout, didn't mourn, didn't hesitate. He just stared straight ahead, his jaw clenched. That fighting spirit made his adrenaline surge, and his speed increased considerably.

Finally, dragging his badly injured right leg, he reached the opposite rock. The darkness behind him vanished, the wooden bridge disappeared, and even his leg was healed.

Uchiha Kō touched his leg with his right hand and found that there was no bleeding or stinging sensation. He felt a sense of joy.

Just then, his sense of smell suddenly returned, and he smelled a bloody and sour stench ahead. He frowned and walked forward, where he saw this scene.

A black snake flicked its tongue and crawled around in the valley ahead, while piles of bones formed a mountain. Watching the black snake move, it seemed as if it were swimming in a sea of bones.

A lush green mist swirled in the air, and the sour, foul smell emanated from it. Upon closer inspection, Uchiha Kō even noticed that the black snake was carrying rotting flesh in its mouth.

"Ugh!" Uchiha Kō had no memories of the Ninja World at this moment; he was just an ordinary person.

The black snake's eyes flashed, it spat out the rotting flesh from its mouth, and crawled towards Uchiha Kō.

Uchiha Kō was taken aback, then immediately started running. However, the black snake's speed increased, why? Because Uchiha Kō was looking at his own shadow as he ran.

The fewer shadows there are, the closer the giant snake is getting, blocking the sunlight and leaving its shadow in its own.

Driven by instinctive fear, Uchiha Kō kept running. Just then, the black snake opened its blood-red maw, intending to swallow Uchiha Kō whole.

With lightning speed, Uchiha Kō grabbed a bone and carried it to the black snake's belly.

A phrase flashed through his mind. "Put yourself in a desperate situation, and you will survive!"

On the black snake's belly, Uchiha Kō used all his strength to break a large bone in two. The ends of the two halves were uneven and sharp, Uchiha Kō's eyes hardened.

He gripped two bones with both hands and thrust them upwards! The black snake, who had been planning to take a nap after eating, suddenly widened its eyes and began to roll around.

Uchiha Kō writhed inside his stomach, but he didn't give up cutting into the flesh of the black snake's belly with his bone spikes.

The black snake writhed in agony, but Uchiha Kō dared not stop, for if he did, he might die and be digested by the snake's stomach acid.

Even a cornered beast will fight, let alone a human. Uchiha Kō ripped open the black snake's body, and although the black snake writhed and rolled around, it was to no avail. As the snake rolled, a bone spur in one of Uchiha Kō's hands pierced deep into its flesh. His other hand kept cutting into the flesh of its abdomen, switching hands when one got tired.

Finally, with Uchiha Kō's relentless efforts, the snake meat was sliced off piece by piece. With a final, powerful thrust, the bone spurs shattered, the snake skin was pierced, and Uchiha Kō grabbed the opening with both hands and tore it open with a fierce rip.

With a whoosh, Uchiha Kō tore the snake in two from its belly, his body emerging from within. He looked at the black snake and smiled, "Putting yourself in a life-or-death situation, didn't expect that, did you?"

Just as Uchiha Kō was about to rest, the black snake suddenly transformed into light and entered Uchiha Kō's body. At that moment, Uchiha Kō's memories slowly returned as the light entered.

After figuring out what was going on, he suddenly realized that this was a test given to him by the immortal, or rather, a test given to him by the Dragon Transformation Senjutsu and the Senjutsu Chakra.

Now it seems like a success, right? Uchiha Kō smiled, then the scenery before him continued to collapse and shatter, and he simply shook his head.

"It's time to wake up from this dream," Uchiha Kō murmured, as his last sense of taste returned.

The White Snake Sage waited outside for about a day, never leaving Uchiha Kō. She had dozed off a little earlier, but unexpectedly, a familiar Senjutsu Chakra pattern appeared, leaving her stunned, then overjoyed...

Bonus chapter! I don't know if everyone understood it. The wooden bridge represents the road to success, darkness represents death, the wooden spikes and blood represent difficulties, and the black snake represents despair.

Only by daring to face despair can we overcome it.