I Have a Bunch of Relatives Who Want to Be Hokage Chapter 32

After that came controlling chakra in order to release ninjutsu.

For ordinary people, if they wanted to use chakra, both gathering and control were indispensable.

Chakra was not something foreign to this world, but the first to create this energy was the God Tree. It was through the God Tree that humanity came to know of chakra and began to study and use it.

While bearing chakra fruit, the God Tree also absorbed natural energy from the earth, water, and air.

The world's first chakra consisted of the God Tree's spiritual energy and life energy, combined with this world's natural energy.

This was the same principle behind the composition of senjutsu chakra.

The primordial chakra was first possessed by Kaguya Otsutsuki. After she gave birth to the brothers Hagoromo and Hamura, Hagoromo inherited more of the God Tree's power, while Hamura inherited more of the Otsutsuki Clan's original abilities.

Later, Hagoromo Otsutsuki's descendants further divided the portion of power that came from the God Tree. On that basis, Indra inherited more of Hagoromo's spiritual energy, while Ashura inherited more of Hagoromo's physical energy.

When the two brothers gathered chakra, their chakra was inherently different from that of others and possessed far more miraculous effects.

Indra's chakra produced ocular power alongside its abnormal spiritual energy, thereby "projecting" the devastating weapon known as the Sharingan.

Ashura, on the other hand, fully developed his body's potential through arduous training. Not only was his chakra level comparable to that of the Tailed Beasts, but he also possessed powerful recovery abilities and extraordinary stamina. More importantly, any ordinary ninjutsu could be turned from the mundane into the miraculous in his hands.

The two were evenly matched. It was simply that the existence of ocular power gave Indra an exceptionally high starting point, whereas Ashura was no different from ordinary people at first and had to undergo brutal training before he could bear fruit.

This potential that set them apart from ordinary people continued to be passed down through their bloodlines, with the direct descendants being the Uchiha and Senju Clans.

Neither of those clans had ever produced anyone like Uchiha Shingen, who could successfully develop both sides at once.

The environment of the past simply had not allowed it.

But the strength of the Hidden Leaf Village and the unity of the Uchiha Clan gave Uchiha Shingen the conditions to build up his strength and unleash it all at once.

And the result of developing both sides at once was that his sensory abilities had far exceeded the norm. Otherwise, he could never have mastered the Flying Raijin.

With a complete idiot standing beside him, Uchiha Shingen, seated cross-legged on the ground, began to sense the existence of natural energy.

There was no way to describe it. He simply sensed it. If he had to compare it to sensing chakra, the "flow" of natural energy had no pattern whatsoever—it just moved around randomly.

He even felt as though he could absorb some of it—of course, whether that was an illusion or not, he would never actually do so.

At Mount Myoboku, the consequence of absorbing natural energy and failing to control it was petrification.

Dragon Cave probably would not petrify people. The giant snakes presumably had no taste for rocks, but it was probably not much better.

Bold experimentation and reckless foolhardiness were two different things.

Gradually, Uchiha Shingen sensed that the natural energy seemed to be guided by something and began to "line up for calisthenics."

He "saw" it—the entrance.

As long as he released his chakra, he could enter.

Uchiha stopped sensing and rose to his feet, first brushing off his backside.

Damn it, his ass was covered in dirt.

After checking his equipment and stretching his limbs, he grabbed the Hannya Group jonin standing dumbly beside him.

He released his chakra.

The surrounding environment began to twist, as though heaven and earth had been turned upside down.

But that had no effect on Uchiha Shingen, who used the Flying Raijin often enough that he was long accustomed to it.

When the distortion reached its peak, the surroundings had completely changed.

The sunlight was gone, because above them was no longer the sky.

Water moistened stone, stone dissolved, and over time, a cave formed.

Dragon Cave truly lived up to its name. It was an underground space, an enormous karst cavern.

Unfortunately, it was not like those well-developed caves on Earth, fitted with all kinds of lights for people to admire to their heart's content.

The masters here were snakes, and they had no need to appreciate the beauty of a cavern.

Yet there was still light here.

It came from some luminescent substance within the rocks, most concentrated overhead, like a star-filled sky.

Wait, could this stuff be radioactive?

Before Uchiha Shingen could complain, a sound came from every direction in the darkness.

Three-tomoe Sharingan emerged in his eyes, and multicolored chakra entered Uchiha Shingen's vision.

At the same time, aided by the "starlight" overhead, the newcomers gradually revealed themselves.

They were all snakes.

Some were large, some small.

They crawled in different ways as well. Some slithered sideways, while others actually crawled backward—considering all the others around it, Uchiha Shingen figured that one had not crawled over by itself.

Still... this was probably a scene that anyone with trypophobia would never want to see.

Uchiha Shingen suppressed the urge to attack immediately and called out, "I have come to visit the White Snake Sage."

The snakes continued to approach.

It seemed these little snakes had no intelligence to speak of.

Since calling at the door had failed, Uchiha Shingen stopped being polite.

Besides, he found this place a little too dark.

Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!

The stream of fire Uchiha Shingen exhaled transformed into a fire dragon with a nimble body and powerful claws.

Dragons were creatures worthy of comparison to the heroes of the world.

The fire dragon continuously swelled through the air. It first circled above the snake swarm, illuminating the countless forms of the cavern, then plunged headfirst into the snakes below.

With a casual sway of its massive body, the snakes swallowed by it became fuel for the flames. Those nearby had all the moisture in their bodies roasted away and died on the spot.

In an instant, the snake swarm was like a tide that had rushed toward shore only to run out of strength, retreating in a clattering wave as they scrambled to flee the natural predator that could take their lives at will.

Uchiha Shingen had no intention of indulging these snakes.

If they could not even understand human speech, Dragon Cave probably would not care even if every last one of them died.

Having chakra did not mean much. Everyone in this world had chakra; the difference was whether they could use it.

The same principle surely applied to Dragon Cave. These snakes had all been raised on natural energy.

Uchiha Shingen did not know how many young Dragon Cave snakes gave birth to at a time, but it was definitely more than humans.

The Sharingan took in every detail of the cavern. Not a single snake could get close to Uchiha Shingen. Those that still tried to advance were burned to death from afar or sliced into strips by Wind Release at close range.

At last, all the immature little snakes vanished, replaced by a huge creature that was nearly standing upright, its body almost reaching the cave entrance.

Even from far away, Uchiha Shingen could feel the undisguised killing intent radiating from it.

Battle with Snakes

There was more than one enormous shadow.

Soon, such figures appeared at the other entrances to the cavern as well.

The giant snakes had finally appeared.

Killing intent filled the air.

"Oh? You finally came out?" Uchiha Shingen watched them and grinned.

The body of the Great Fire Dragon slowly dissipated into the air, leaving only scorching heat behind.

"So, which one of you is taking me to the White Snake Sage?" The scarlet eyes reflected the grotesque forms of the giant snakes. Rather than afraid, he was eager with excitement.

It stood in stark contrast to the bloodthirsty gazes of the giant snakes.

"This human is mine," one giant snake said in human speech.

"Oh, isn't this old Manda? Did Orochimaru not feed you enough?" Uchiha Shingen looked at the familiar snake. "Still, if I accidentally kill you, Orochimaru probably will not care."

As Orochimaru's signature summoned beast, Uchiha Shingen naturally recognized Manda at a glance.

After all, he was a Leaf Village ninja.

But clearly, Manda did not consider itself to be on the same side as a Leaf Village ninja.

It swung its massive body and lunged forward first, opening its jaws to bite.

Its speed was truly impressive, showing just how hungry it really was.

Then it bit down on a mouthful of rocks.

Amid the flying rubble, Uchiha Shingen landed atop its head with the Hannya Group jonin in hand.

"You damned brat, how dare you jump around everywhere!" Manda raised its head from the pile of rubble and shook it furiously, but Uchiha Shingen seemed rooted in place atop its head.

"You want to eat me? Nice idea, but you are not qualified." Uchiha Shingen spoke with a cheerful smile, further provoking Manda's rage.

Several other giant snakes had already surrounded them.

One of them was especially massive. It shoved aside the other snakes and let out a series of hisses. At that sound, the other giant snakes retreated, and then the enormous snake fixed Uchiha Shingen with its golden eyes.

Uchiha Shingen sensed Manda's body beneath his feet stiffen.

"Heh heh, brat, you are a Leaf Village ninja, right? Then I will not eat you." Manda chuckled. "Anyway, my wife has taken a liking to you!"

"You snakes are a matriarchal society, right? Wife?" Uchiha Shingen looked over, an amusing idea coming to him. "Old Manda, I never would have guessed that beneath those thick brows and big eyes, you were a simp snake. Madam, you do not mind if I bully your backup like this, do you?"

The enormous female snake had no interest in talking. Her eyes were filled with greed.

"I like that look." Uchiha Shingen nodded in satisfaction. This was the one.

Genjutsu: Sharingan!

If the Tailed Beasts were asked to rank the humans they disliked most, the Uchiha clan would definitely take first place.

The Uchiha clan's inherited ultimate technique was controlling whoever they stared at.

Hand signs? There was no need. The Sharingan was the strongest genjutsu.

Uchiha Shingen's ocular power naturally could not compare to Uchiha Madara's, but could the willpower of these summoned beasts from hidden realms truly compare to that of the Tailed Beasts?

Their gazes met, and Uchiha Shingen's ocular power crushed the female giant snake's will with overwhelming force. The greed in her pupils receded like the tide, and her eyes transformed into a pair of enormous golden Sharingan.

Uchiha Shingen gave a light leap and landed atop the female giant snake's head.

It was a bit inconvenient to keep carrying that Hannya Group jōnin around, but there was no helping it. This man had to die, but he could not die out here.

And he definitely could not just be fed to the giant snakes.

The female giant snake meekly lowered her head slightly, as though hoping Uchiha Shingen could stand more comfortably.

She was exceedingly obedient.

"Bastard! Bastard! What did you do?!" Seeing his goddess's body... no, her eyes take on Uchiha Shingen's appearance, Manda flew into a towering rage. "I'm going to eat you! Eat you!"

"Too noisy." Uchiha Shingen curled his lip.

A simp snake would still end up with nothing in the end. Apparently, Manda did not understand that yet.

But one day, it would understand. This was the growing pain every man had to go through. Manda might not have been human, but these giant snakes were not purely snakes either. It was all the same.

Through the Sharingan's ocular power, Uchiha Shingen conveyed a simple message to the female giant snake.

The female giant snake raised her head and gave Manda a fierce hiss.

Manda immediately felt as though its heart were shattering. It was devastated.

But before it could continue wallowing in heartbreak, it saw its goddess move her beautiful body as elegantly as ever. In particular, that stunning tail of hers slowly rose...

Amid a shriek of tearing air, the female giant snake's tail lashed viciously across Manda's head, sending it directly rolling over.

The entire lava cave shook as Manda's massive body tumbled away, drool streaming everywhere. Who knew whether there were tears and snot mixed in as well? If there were, that would be truly heartbreaking for a snake.

"Now that's more like it. If you don't take a few slaps, you'll never grow up, Old Manda."

Uchiha Shingen gave a thumbs-up toward the direction Manda had rolled away in, offering his approval from afar, before turning to the remaining giant snakes, who were at a loss.

He grinned, spread his five fingers, and swept his hand out.