Ryuchi Cave

Chuan Yu spent a full day traveling with Karin before finally arriving at the border of the Land of Stone.

This place looked quite interesting.

It was not a very large country.

Every building was constructed by stacking stone upon stone.

However, it was clear that those stones had been refined using some kind of ninjutsu.

Viewed from a distance, they looked exceptionally uniform.

Unlike other nations, the Land of Stone had always remained open.

The country lacked a hierarchical system.

The resident villagers managed the country themselves.

Therefore, for many years, war had never broken out here.

After all, the Land of Stone was not exactly a land of strategic advantage.

The mountains full of rocks looked incredibly desolate...

The two had been on the road for a day and were not familiar with the Land of Stone.

As the sky began to darken, Chuan Yu decided to wait until the next day to make further plans.

So, after having a meal, they found an inn nearby to stay in.

Inside a room, Chuan Yu and Karin both maintained a mutual silence.

The air was terrifyingly quiet.

Inexperienced in such matters, Chuan Yu coughed violently twice.

He then took out the clothes he had purchased for Karin earlier that day.

"Go take a bath and change into these."

"Also, I've prepared a hat for you..."

"For the sake of your safety..."

Taking the clothes Chuan Yu handed over, Karin felt a sudden warmth in her heart.

Aside from her mother, this was the first man to ever treat her with such tenderness.

Karin's face flushed a bright red.

She looked up and cast a shy glance at Chuan Yu.

Chuan Yu did not yet understand what she meant.

"You..."

"If you want to stay here for a while..."

"It... it would be fine..."

After saying this, Karin's face turned even redder.

However, her eyes were suddenly filled with complex emotions.

As she looked at Chuan Yu, she actually began to take off her outer coat.

"Wait!"

Chuan Yu finally realized what was happening.

Taking a bath naturally meant...

"I'll be right outside; call me when you're finished."

Chuan Yu's face burned, and he turned to leave the room.

Standing in the hallway, he took a deep breath.

If he hadn't met the right person, Chuan Yu would never have bothered.

Matters of the heart remained the same.

The strong have no need for women.

Drawing a blade requires absolute speed.

Watching Chuan Yu's retreating back, for some reason, Karin felt a sudden sense of emptiness and disappointment in her heart.

The next morning, the two packed their things and climbed the mountain behind the village, just as Karin remembered it.

The lives of the residents here remained in a primitive state.

Their attire was extremely simple, devoid of heavy makeup, and their faces were weathered by the elements.

"Karin, use your sensory abilities..."

Arriving at a hill on the back mountain, Chuan Yu looked through his Sharingan and saw that the air seemed to contain powerful natural energy. It had to be somewhere nearby.

"Understood."

Closing her eyes, she activated Kagura Shingan. Everything within several kilometers was captured in Karin's mind's eye. The source of this dense natural chakra followed the hill down to the river nearby, leading to a massive waterfall.

However, after sensing this location, Karin completely lost her sense of direction. Beneath the waterfall, there were multiple forks in the river, and the water flow was extremely sluggish. Yet, one could see the riverbed clearly.

To describe it in one word: shallow. If Chuan Yu were to jump in, it would only cover his ankles. How could one possibly tell where Ryuchi Cave was from a place like this? It was surrounded by nothing but hills and cliffs.

Finding nothing, Chuan Yu had no choice but to ask the residents. Descending from the back mountain, he found an old man lying comfortably on a chair at the village entrance, basking in the sun. Judging by his attire, which was far more luxurious than the others, Chuan Yu concluded that this man must be the village chief.

"Excuse me, may I ask you something?"

Opening his hazy eyes, the old man glanced at Chuan Yu and Karin before turning his head away to continue sleeping. Seeing this attitude, a surge of killing intent welled up in Chuan Yu's heart.

"Who are you people?"

Just then, a young man walked over, appearing to be the old man's son.

"We are here to find Ryuchi Cave."

He stated his purpose directly. Chuan Yu did not like to dawdle; rather than giving the other party time to prepare, it was better to get straight to the point.

The old man on the chair sat up abruptly upon hearing Chuan Yu's words, scrutinizing the two of them carefully.

The old man suddenly revealed an eerie smile.

"That is naturally welcome! It has been a long time since anyone has come by!"

This smile immediately made Karin's skin crawl.

At the same time, Chuan Yu also sensed that something was wrong.

Because the villagers in the village had suddenly gathered around them at this moment.

There were more and more people.

Their gazes were icy cold.

It was as if they were looking at prey.

Karin hugged Chuan Yu's arm in fear.

"To find Ryuchi Cave, one must pass the Sage's trial..."

"At the eighth hour of the night, the moon upon the water becomes perfectly round."

"That is when the Sage will come out to forage."

"If you can keep up with him,"

"You will be able to reach the inside of Ryuchi Cave."

No sooner had the old man finished speaking, than a skull suddenly fell out of the kitchen cabinet behind him.

The old man crouched down and unhurriedly picked up the skull.

"Just a monkey I finished eating."

Chuan Yu did not believe him.

Judging by the size of that skull, it should have belonged to an adult human.

"Karin, let's go."

Without paying any more attention to these villagers, Chuan Yu took Karin and returned to the back mountain the way they had come.

Little did they know that after they left, the skulls inside the kitchen cabinet all spilled out because there were too many piled up.

There were well over a hundred of them.

Finding a cool, shaded spot, Chuan Yu and Karin began to wait for nightfall.

The moon gradually climbed into the sky.

The night was blanketed in black.

At the eighth hour, the river below suddenly began to flow in reverse.

The moonlight reflected on the water's surface was now perfectly round.

Suddenly, a large white snake crawled out from the wall to the west of the waterfall.

It twisted its slender body.

Under the moonlight, the position of the snake's head looked more like a human head.

Having crawled out above the waterfall, the white snake began to forage all around.

Chuan Yu and Karin hurried to follow it.

The winding path of the back mountain was difficult.

After circling the entire hill in a large loop, the white snake finally prepared to return.

The two of them hid on the left side of the rocks beneath the waterfall.

The white snake did not notice them.

As it returned to the cave, a black hole suddenly appeared on the wall.

Chuan Yu poked his head out and looked carefully.

In the instant before the cave entrance closed, he threw a specially crafted Kunai with precision, and it embedded itself into the wall.

"Got it..."

Chuan Yu took out the map and began to study it in detail.

According to Chuan Yu's memories from his past life.

Orochimaru was already capable of summoning Manda during the Third Great Ninja War.

Yet, he had told him that he had never been to Ryuchi Cave.

It seemed Orochimaru had ulterior motives.

Besides Manda.

Ryuchi Cave was also home to three special snakes.

Tagitsuhime.

Ichikishimahime.

Tajitsuhime.

These three snakes were the trusted confidantes of the White Snake Sage within Ryuchi Cave.

They were in charge of maintaining order in Ryuchi Cave.

They stood apart from the high-ranking Manda.

If I can slip past those three snake beauties and reach the White Snake Sage directly.

I should be able to gain the White Snake Sage's initial approval...

Everything that follows will be much easier...

He pulled Karin up.

Flying Thunder God, activate!

The figures of the two vanished from the spot in a flash.

At the same time.

A multitude of residents suddenly appeared by the waterfall.

They opened their mouths wide with ferocious expressions.

Their clothes slid off their bodies.

After molting.

They transformed into one white snake after another.

"We can still make it in time to share the feast later!"

The white snakes covering the ground now scrambled and vied with one another to crawl toward the snake cave.