Chapter 18

"..."

Hearing the White Snake Sage speak in that benevolent-sounding voice, Mingye genuinely wanted to cook and eat her. Unfortunately, he was no match for her at present. He couldn't even make himself consider attacking her, and she had already delivered his death sentence. With a helpless sigh, Ara once again coiled around Mingye's legs, then climbed onto his body and urged him on.

"Let's go, kid!"

In a forest, Madara and Hashirama were locked in what must have been their countless duel. Hashirama punched at Madara's face, and Madara leaned back to dodge. But he failed to anticipate Hashirama's other hand appearing at his chest. Seeing Hashirama's mischievous grin, Madara smiled confidently too. He suddenly dropped low, swiftly dodging Hashirama's attack again, then braced both hands against the ground and twisted rapidly like a propeller, kicking at Hashirama in a flurry.

Hashirama sprang backward, then picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it at Madara's arm. Seeing that he couldn't block the stone flying toward him, Madara quickly twisted around and took the hit on his back. His foot swept across the ground, sending a shower of pebbles flying at Hashirama.

Hashirama's legs bent like springs as he leaped nearly three meters into the air, dodging the flying stones. He shot toward Madara like a sword, and the two collided once more. With the added force of his dive, Hashirama had a slight edge in strength and knocked Madara to the ground. Hashirama grinned and was about to tease him, but Madara, lying on the ground and panting, had secretly hidden a stone in his hand. He flung it straight into Hashirama's knee, knocking him down.

"You used a hidden weapon again!" Hashirama was thoroughly displeased with Madara's cheap trick. He'd clearly been on the verge of winning, but every duel ended in a tie. At the last second, Madara always hit him with a stone—either in the head or the leg—leaving him unable to stay on his feet.

"We're shinobi! When you fight someone, do you make rules about what you can and can't do?" Madara was completely unfazed by Hashirama's reproachful look. He seemed to have grown used to it and casually lay down on the ground.

"Tch!"

Ara led Mingye to a huge dragon carved from rock, coiled across the landscape. A stone dragon more than a hundred meters long lay at the center of the valley, its massive head seeming to look down on visitors and scorn all things in the world. Beneath it, spring water continuously welled up from underground, sending up wisps of white steam like a hot spring. Mingye couldn't sense any of it, though. As he stood beside the spring, Ara sprang into the water.

"Take off your clothes and get into the pool, kid. You need to be in good shape to practice Sage Method. In your current state, you won't be able to learn it!"

"Isn't the deadline three days? He won't be able to learn it anyway. Why not just eat him now? Why go to all this trouble?"

Suddenly, Manda appeared above the dragon's head, a massive black serpent gazing down at Mingye as if eager to eat him. Ara swam through the spring, ignoring Manda completely, and urged Mingye again. "Hurry up. You've only got three days. If you don't want to die, do as I say!"

Honestly, if Mingye could see Manda, he would have been so paralyzed by that icy stare that he could barely stand. But Mingye was blind and couldn't sense Manda's chakra, so he couldn't detect anything from that cold voice. His seemingly perfect yet useless body also failed to register the pressure radiating from Manda.

Mingye knew this wasn't the time to be shy, so he quickly stripped and cautiously made his way into the spring, then sat down. The moment he entered the water, he felt a strange energy envelop his entire body. It eased all his aches and pains, and even the scar on his wrist began to heal as soon as it touched the water.

Excited, he immediately wanted to practice and refine chakra in the spring. But the water was like a cage: Mingye couldn't circulate chakra, or even produce any. Nearby, Ara swam through the spring and mocked him.

"The Dragon Transformation Pool is the secret inheritance of Ryūchi Cave. How could the chakra used by mere humans possibly flow here? Don't let your thoughts wander. I'll explain how to cultivate energy."

Mingye realized they'd finally gotten to the point and asked in confusion, "Does energy mean Sage Method?"

"Clever, kid. Yes, energy is the key to practicing Sage Method, though it differs from cultivating the complete Sage Method. Normally, you first sense the Natural Energy in the world around you and draw it into yourself, bringing your own energy, Natural Energy, and spiritual energy into a one-to-one-to-one ratio. That lets you unleash Sage Method at its full strength. Of course, Sage Method is divided into Yin and Yang paths. Ryūchi Cave passes down the Yin Immortal Path!"

Ara gave Mingye a rough explanation, speaking with practiced ease. Mingye furrowed his brow slightly. The manga hadn't said much about Sage Method, and only a handful of people could use it. Even the Fourth Hokage, a peerless genius, had hit a wall on the path to mastering it. Looking at the entire series, only four people could be said to use Sage Method in battle: Hashirama Senju, Jiraiya, Kabuto, and Naruto. It was unclear whether Hashirama Senju inherited Sage Method from his clan or from Shikkotsu Forest. Jiraiya and Naruto learned it from Mount Myōboku, while Kabuto had learned it here in Ryūchi Cave. And the only one who could use Sage Method with truly incredible skill was Hashirama. Naruto was also remarkably adept at using it, but Sage Method wasn't his main path. He had the will of a Tailed Beast within him, as well as the protection of the Sage of Six Paths. Even a fool wouldn't lose.

"How do I cultivate it?"

That was all in the future. Even if Naruto wanted to be born, it would be another seventy or eighty years before that happened. Mingye didn't even know if he'd still be alive by then, so he stopped thinking about it and asked how to cultivate.

"Energy exists between all things in the world. Refine it, and it becomes Natural Energy. But that isn't what you need to practice right now. Once you leave the Dragon Transformation Pool, sit on the ground and sense the energy in the world around you. The water in the pool will make you one with everything around you for an hour. If you can sense energy and draw it into your body during that hour, you'll have succeeded."

"Sense it and draw it in?"

Ara explained the mysteries of cultivating energy in earnest, and Mingye nodded, murmuring to himself. Energy was, in a way, Natural Energy, but the two concepts were also completely different. To make a comparison, Natural Energy was like a delicious plate of braised pork, while energy was the ingredients before they were cooked. (Forgive me—at this moment, that was the only comparison my brain could come up with!)

What Mingye couldn't figure out was that having energy gave him the ability to go further and refine Natural Energy, but not having it didn't mean he couldn't acquire Natural Energy. So why did she insist that he obtain energy first before she would teach him?

"Kid! I said you had three days, but there's something else you need to know: ordinary people can't sense energy at all. Natural Energy is easier to master than energy, though that's only by comparison. The Dragon Transformation Pool at Ryūchi Cave can only make one person become one with all things for an hour each day. In other words..."

Just as Mingye was puzzling over it, Ara swam out of the pool. After moving several dozen meters away, she suddenly turned around and shouted to him.

"I only have three hours to sense and absorb energy!"

Mingye heard Ara's words and cut her off before she could finish, then nodded.

"If you haven't succeeded after three days, we won't meet again. Oh, you can drink this spring water too. There's no one here to cook for you. Survival of the fittest. If you can't even endure three days of hunger, no one will care if you die!"

"I understand!"

"Granny, I've told him everything." When Ara returned to the place where the White Snake Sage lived, three giant serpents—two black and one white—were coiled around her, seemingly waiting for her arrival. As soon as she appeared, Manda spoke first, questioning the White Snake Sage.

"Why help him? He'd make a much better meal. Honestly, I've never eaten a shinobi from the Uchiha Clan. I wonder what one tastes like."