Devouring Senjutsu

The silent cave.

A damp smell hit them.

It seemed to be the same smell as in Orochimaru's laboratory.

But there was one difference.

A heavy stench of blood.

Even in the pitch-black cave, the Sharingan let Chuan Yu see clearly.

Karin followed close behind him, carefully making her way forward.

A multitude of tiny white snakes suddenly appeared on the rocks beside them.

They coiled around the stone pillars, writhing as they flicked their scarlet tongues.

They passed through a cavern.

Four passageways branched off ahead.

The map didn't clearly mark this area.

Chuan Yu was immediately annoyed.

The cave was saturated with Senjutsu Chakra.

Even Karin couldn't sense anything.

And his Byakugan could only make out a mass of fog...

He decided to take the third passage.

If he couldn't avoid trouble,

he'd face it head-on.

Water dripped into the stone cavern.

The silence throughout Ryūchi Cave was terrifying.

As Chuan Yu and Karin continued forward,

a pair of keen snake eyes watched them intently from a corner.

"It's been so long since I've tasted human flesh..."

"What a delicious smell..."

At the end of the third passage,

Chuan Yu saw a huge stone bed.

There was no one behind the curtains.

But the stone table in the corner was piled with human heads.

The blood on them had yet to dry.

The dismembered limbs had been chewed until they were a bloody mess.

"We took a wrong turn..."

Chuan Yu furrowed his brow.

He sensed a powerful presence right above him.

He gripped Karin's arm tightly, signaling her not to move.

Then he slowly raised his head.

A gigantic white snake hung halfway down from the ceiling of the cave.

A terrifying, grinning face stared at them.

Chuan Yu grabbed Karin's hand and hurriedly backed away.

Suddenly, something seemed wrong.

He turned to look.

Karin's head had turned into that grinning face!

"It's a genjutsu..."

The Senjutsu of Ryūchi Cave had many abilities.

Its sound waves could induce genjutsu.

But snakes didn't actually have throats.

So they couldn't make sounds at all.

The only way Chuan Yu could have fallen under genjutsu

was if the compatible Natural Energy had entered his lungs.

Unlike Mount Myoboku's Senjutsu,

Sage Mode required one to store and cultivate Natural Energy beforehand, then draw on it in battle.

The advantage of Ryūchi Cave's Senjutsu

was that there was no need to gather Natural Energy before a fight.

Since it had a high affinity with nature, it could be gathered even during battle.

So,

the real reason people who came here died...

was that their Chakra was completely depleted...

and then they were eaten alive...

But Chuan Yu had the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Even though Senjutsu enhanced the genjutsu,

it had no effect on him.

"Release!"

The moment the pattern in his left eye spun,

the genjutsu shattered.

He drew the long sword from his back.

Chuan Yu decided to trade a few blows with the giant snake before him.

"How interesting..."

"You actually broke my genjutsu..."

"That makes me even more interested in my meal!"

"I'm going to take my time eating you!"

The white snake's name was Ichikishimahime.

She was also one of the higher-ups in Ryūchi Cave.

She possessed a tremendous amount of Senjutsu Chakra.

Her main duty was to test those who entered Ryūchi Cave.

Anyone who failed the trial was devoured with the White Snake Sage's permission.

She could float freely through the air and turn invisible.

She could also forcibly drain her opponent's Chakra.

"Even if you're one of the White Snake Sage's closest aides, you can't decide whether I live or die!"

"Body Flicker Technique!"

A flash of his blade.

His speed was almost beyond compare.

Before Ichikishimahime could react, her body was sliced in two.

Ichikishimahime's severed snake body transformed into a human form, and she charged at Chuan Yu.

The instant she drew near, Ichikishimahime exhaled a thick white mist.

"Sage Art: Mist Devouring Technique!"

Her figure vanished at once.

Neither the Byakugan nor the Sharingan could see through the dense fog.

At the same time, Chuan Yu discovered that his Chakra was being devoured bit by bit.

"Mist Devouring Technique..."

But Chuan Yu knew the dense fog was confined to a small area around him.

He sensed that Karin, on the other side, was completely unaffected.

He immediately understood.

"The mist is inside your stomach, isn't it..."

"You didn't turn invisible..."

"You covered my eyes with the mist from the very beginning... and swallowed me whole..."

"Am I right?"

Ichikishimahime was taken aback by Chuan Yu's answer.

"I'm becoming more and more interested in you..."

"If I could, I really wouldn't want to eat you..."

"But even so, you still have no way out, do you?"

"Just stay here and become my nourishment!"

With that, Ichikishimahime let out a sharp laugh.

"Who says I can't get out?"

Chuan Yu smiled faintly, cutting off Ichikishimahime's laughter.

"See the Mangekyō Sharingan in my left eye?"

"Whether it's reality or genjutsu..."

"You've already lost!"

"Xieduo!" (Locks onto a target within a field and rapidly devours their Chakra.)

A powerful force surged through the entire expanse of mist.

The surrounding space began to warp.

Blood welled from his left eye.

Chuan Yu's body suddenly transformed into a flock of crows.

A mournful cry rang from their beaks.

Ichikishimahime suddenly felt her Chakra rapidly draining away!

Karin, not far off, felt the same thing.

Ichikishimahime returned to human form and collapsed to the ground.

Chuan Yu emerged from beside Karin.

He placed his right hand on her shoulder.

Chakra suddenly flowed into Karin's body.

Her complexion improved at once.

"You..."

"What the hell did you do?"

The Senjutsu Chakra inside Ichikishimahime was rapidly draining away.

Now she could barely even stand.

"It's just one of the abilities of my Mangekyō Sharingan."

Chuan Yu suddenly closed his eyes.

```

[Ding! Senjutsu Chakra is entering the host's body!]

[To help the host adapt to Senjutsu Chakra, the system is doing its best to suppress it!]

[29% of Senjutsu Chakra stored!]

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You have obtained 1 unit of pure Senjutsu Chakra!]

[Senjutsu Chakra: 1/100] (Stage One)

[Ding! The host is working so hard. The system can't afford to fall behind!]

[Automatic Senjutsu cultivation mode activated! 10 points of Senjutsu refined and converted!]

[Senjutsu Chakra: 11/100] (Stage One)

[18 points of Senjutsu Chakra remain unrefined!]

(Working hard to keep up!)

"Even though you've only lost a third of your Senjutsu Chakra..."

"Within my field..."

"Gravity..."

"Space..."

"Your goals..."

"Even the convictions you're so proud of!"

"I can control them all with ease!"

The moment Chuan Yu tightened his grip on the long sword,

the crushing force of gravity came upon them.

It would have a tremendous effect on their strength as well.

Its effect was ten times, even twenty times stronger than outside the field.

But the gravity would only last one minute.

Still, that was enough for Chuan Yu.

He strolled up to Ichikishimahime.

By then, the crushing gravity had left her completely helpless.

Chuan Yu wouldn't show her any mercy.

He slowly raised the long blade in his hand.

A powerful killing intent blazed from his eyes, filling the entire cave!

"This slash has twenty times the force."

"Can you block it?!"

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