Astonishing Learning Speed, Go Find Orochimaru

"Let them suffer a bit more for now; I will find a way to help them grow. The future is not a war between ninja villages, but a war between civilizations."

"For the sake of this world, these fledglings must learn to spread their wings and soar."

In the days that followed, Fei Shi turned a deaf ear to the outside world, focusing entirely on mastering the Sage Mode of Mount Myoboku.

Jiraiya did not leave either. Upon hearing that even greater challenges awaited the Ninja World after peace was achieved, he began to study Sage Mode as well.

His Sage Mode was unrefined; without prior preparation, the chances of him successfully manifesting it in combat were slim. Furthermore, his Sage Mode... was quite ugly.

After reporting the situation here to Minato Namikaze and Tsunade, he practiced Sage Mode repeatedly.

Every day after training, he would exchange insights with Fei Shi.

Fei Shi used the Shadow Clone Technique as a cheat-like training method, allowing him to master the most basic level of Sage Mode within half a month.

Fei Shi checked his mission panel.

Mission: Master the Sage Mode of the three holy lands.

Progress: 2/3

Reward: Unknown.

"Only Ryuchi Cave remains, but there's no rush. I'll perfect the Mount Myoboku Sage Mode before leaving; there's nothing major happening before the Chunin Exams anyway."

Fei Shi muttered to himself.

"Jiraiya! You should put in more effort. Look at me, I've already mastered Sage Mode. Look at yourself—tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk."

Veins bulged on Jiraiya's forehead.

"Don't get cocky! You've only achieved the initial stage of Sage Mode! I'm close to mastering the perfect Sage Mode myself!"

"Hahahaha, then let's wait and see. Let's see who masters the perfect Sage Mode first."

Jiraiya's expression stiffened, and he gritted his teeth in frustration.

How is this kid such a monster? Who knows how much longer I'll have to study.

But... I should look quite dashing once I master the perfect Sage Mode. I should be able to charm Tsunade with it.

Jiraiya thought narcissistically.

Fei Shi shook his head at the daydreaming Jiraiya and continued practicing Sage Mode.

He already knew Orochimaru's location, as his own clone was currently keeping an eye on him.

Once he finished mastering the Mount Myoboku Sage Mode, he would go find Orochimaru. He was quite interested in the man. He hadn't bothered to go before, and there was nothing urgent to attend to. It was better to wait until Orochimaru finished his human experiments and perfected Living Corpse Reincarnation before simply snatching him up.

If he brought him back, it wouldn't be good for him to conduct human experiments on his own turf.

During his time at Mount Myoboku, he declined Sage Shima's invitations to dine, opting instead to take ingredients from his space scroll to handle his own meals.

Poor Jiraiya was dragged away by Sage Shima; unable to refuse, he could only bite the bullet and go along with it.

A month later, Fei Shi had mastered Sage Mode.

This left Jiraiya and the two sages dumbfounded.

What followed was Jiraiya getting a lecture from the two sages. Having studied for so many years, he was still outperformed by someone who had only been at it for a month and a half—how could they not be angry?

After all, they viewed Jiraiya as their junior; they wouldn't have been this upset otherwise.

And so, under Jiraiya's resentful gaze, Fei Shi left Mount Myoboku. He now intended to head toward Orochimaru to obtain intelligence on Ryuchi Cave.

Fei Shi had only just returned from Mount Myoboku before rushing out of the village, heading toward Orochimaru's base.

Come to think of it, Orochimaru should still be in the Akatsuki organization.

He then hurried toward the address provided by his shadow clone.

Land of Grass.

Fei Shi arrived at the Orochimaru base mentioned in the intelligence. Through his Byakugan, he detected a cold, sinister chakra.

If he wasn't mistaken, it had to be Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was currently standing by an operating table, performing experiments on the person lying upon it.

Fei Shi entered Orochimaru's base silently, observing the situation within.

Along the walls on one side were many cages, all containing people. Adults, children, the elderly—both men and women.

There were ordinary people as well as ninjas.

Their expressions were numb, and they ignored Fei Shi as he entered.

Some revealed looks of supplication, hoping Fei Shi would save them.

Fei Shi frowned.

Since his transmigration, he had seen life and death, and he had wielded the butcher's blade to kill.

But he had never seen people kept in iron cages like livestock, forced to undergo horrific human experiments.

This was worse than just killing them outright.

Using the Sharingan to control Orochimaru's subordinates, he walked to the laboratory door. Bang!

Hise kicked open the door to Orochimaru's lab, causing the focused Orochimaru's hand to tremble... the experiment failed.

The person suffering on the operating table was also released, departing from this world.

Orochimaru cast a cold, sinister gaze over, his pupils constricting the moment he saw Hise with his flowing black hair; he clearly recognized Hise's identity.

"Hehehe, I never expected the renowned Uchiha Hise of Konoha to grace my humble base. This truly brings light to my dwelling."

Orochimaru dared not be careless. After all, with Danzo Shimura as a cautionary tale, he had no desire to follow in his footsteps.

Danzo Shimura, a man whom even his own teacher Sarutobi could not easily eradicate, had been hacked of an arm and a leg by Hise.

Orochimaru had offered to help him craft new limbs using Hashirama Cells, but Danzo had refused.

He knew exactly what kind of man Danzo was—ruthless and unscrupulous, someone who wouldn't even hold his own teacher Sarutobi in high regard.

Yet, that one time, he had clearly seen fear in Danzo Shimura's eyes.

This spoke volumes about Hise's terror.

He was also aware of the reports that Hise had single-handedly repelled the elite forces of the Cloud Village led by the Fourth Raikage and stood his ground against the Nine-Tails.

In his list of people to avoid, Hise was at the top.

Why would this person come looking for him? He didn't recall causing him any trouble. He had heard that as long as you didn't provoke him, this guy was actually quite... easy to get along with (a slacker).

It was no wonder Orochimaru was afraid; after all, this was someone who had stood against the Nine-Tails at eleven and defeated the Fourth Raikage at fourteen. Now at eighteen, who knew what his current strength was?

Although he had his own survival techniques, no one wanted to provoke such a monster. It was always better to have one less enemy than one more, wasn't it?

"Since you recognize me, I don't need to introduce myself. I've come to make a deal with you."

"?"

Seeing Orochimaru's confusion, Hise was in no rush and slowly explained his reasoning.

"Although I am a ninja of Konoha, I don't care about the grudges between you and the village. I only want you to take me to Ryuchi Cave."

Orochimaru hadn't expected this, but it meant the possibility of the other party attacking him was very low.

Orochimaru flicked his long, snake-like tongue across his lips and asked Hise with excitement.

"If you wanted to learn, Tsunade would likely let you go to the holy land of Shikkotsu Forest, or at the very least, Jiraiya, with whom you have a good relationship, would take you to Mount Myoboku. Yet you came to me. You... want to learn the Sage Mode of all three holy lands, am I right?"