White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave Offers Gifts and Begs for Mercy: Orochimaru, Show Some Restraint

Before the ambition to plant potatoes in the sky had fully settled in his chest, the entrance to Iwagakure's underground laboratory was blocked again.

This time, it wasn't some Kage leading the charge, nor was it a remnant force from the Akatsuki Organization.

It was a bizarre snow-white snake, long and thin as a noodle, standing ramrod straight before the blast door with a glittering brocade box clenched in its mouth.

The snake reeked of cold, slimy dampness, and several patches of blackened moss clung to its scales. It looked as though it had just crawled out of some dark cellar.

Orochimaru tossed the test tube full of nutrient solution onto the table. It rang out with a crisp clang, splashing two drops of green liquid.

He narrowed his snake-like eyes and looked at the uninvited white snake outside with open disgust.

"Well, if it isn't the messenger of that great immortal from Ryūchi Cave?"

A sinister sneer hung on Orochimaru's pale face.

He ran his long tongue around his lips. The trace of reagent powder on its tip lent a crazed glint to his eyes.

"What's this? Those worms finally remembered to pay protection money to the laboratory here?"

The white snake flicked out its tongue, then pushed the brocade box toward Orochimaru's feet in an almost human gesture.

Before its hissing could stop, a hoarse, decaying phantom voice rang through the laboratory.

It was the White Snake Sage.

That old monster who had lurked in Ryūchi Cave for thousands of years had, for the first time ever, sent her voice directly into this underground chamber through a transmission technique.

"Orochimaru, accept... this gift."

Her voice sounded like centuries-old deadwood grinding against itself, thick with dampness and the stench of rotten earth.

Orochimaru froze for a moment.

That old