A Piece of Meat Turns a Giant Snake into a Lapdog

In the darkness, the giant snake completely flew into a frenzy.

Having lost its target, it was like an out-of-control heavy tank, its massive body crashing wildly through the cave.

Its thick tail lashed madly against the rock walls, sending huge chunks of stone crashing down. The entire cavern seemed ready to collapse at any moment.

Qian Ye pressed himself tightly against the icy rock wall, barely daring to breathe.

Maintaining the cooling circulation over his body consumed an enormous amount of chakra.

His already depleted chakra pathways now stung as though pierced by needles. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead, only to have its heat carried away the moment it emerged by wind-nature chakra.

He couldn't hold on any longer.

At most, the cooling circulation would collapse in another ten seconds. Once his body temperature returned, he would shine brighter than a searchlight to that blind giant snake's thermal senses.

Qian Ye quickly pulled up the Cross-Border Mutual Aid Group interface in his mind.

[Qian Ye]: "Old Zhao! Emergency! Are you there?"

[Zhao Hai]: "What happened? Didn't you go see Orochimaru? What kind of trouble did you get into now?"

[Qian Ye]: "That old bastard Orochimaru threw me into a snake nest! A giant snake dozens of meters long is looking for me everywhere! Hurry up, do you have any Sea King meat? Get me a few pounds! Fresh, bloody stuff!"

Zhao Hai paused for two seconds, clearly stunned by Qian Ye's sudden predicament.

[Zhao Hai]: "Wait a sec. I just finished a late-night snack in the warship kitchen. There should still be a scrap piece left on the chopping board."

[Zhao Hai]: "Found it. A little over four pounds, just cut off, dripping with blood. Sending it now!"

A system notification sounded in Qian Ye's mind.

Transmission successful.

A heavy chunk of meat appeared out of thin air in Qian Ye's hand.

Its red-and-white marbling carried an incredibly pungent smell of blood. It even retained the warmth of having just been cut from a Sea King.

The giant snake's enormous head abruptly froze in midair.

Its crimson tongue flicked frantically.

It had smelled it.

It was an ultimate delicacy unlike anything it had ever smelled throughout all its years in Dragon's Lair! That dense, nearly tangible force of blood and vitality was an irresistible, deadly temptation to any summoned beast.

The giant snake suddenly turned its head, its two lantern-like vertical pupils locking tightly onto Qian Ye's location.

The cooling circulation happened to collapse at that moment.

Qian Ye's body heat was completely exposed.

"Vermin! I found you!"

The giant snake let out an ear-splitting hiss, opened its bloody maw, and lunged forward amid a foul gust of wind.

Qian Ye did not dodge.

Calmly, he drew a Kunai from his Ninja Tool Pouch and tightly wrapped an Explosive Tag around its handle.

Then, he viciously drove the Kunai into the Sea King meat.

"Eat this!"

Qian Ye swung his arm with all his might, using the last of his strength to hurl the Sea King meat, with the Explosive Tag embedded in it, straight into the giant snake's open mouth.

The giant snake did not take such a soft, feeble thrown attack seriously at all.

Its attention was entirely focused on the meat radiating terrifying blood and vitality.

Plop.

The Sea King meat landed precisely in the giant snake's mouth.

The giant snake did not even chew. With a roll of its throat, it swallowed the meat and the Kunai whole.

Qian Ye instantly brought his hands together and formed a single hand seal.

"Explode!"

Boom!

An extremely muffled explosion rang out from inside the giant snake's body.

The giant snake's enormous body suddenly stiffened in midair. Then, a huge bulge rose in its throat, and dark red firelight flashed beneath its scales for an instant.

"Hiss—!"

An agonized scream echoed through the entire cave.

The giant snake's huge head slammed heavily onto the ground, black smoke pouring wildly from its mouth. Several broken, ghastly white fangs mixed with charred flesh and blood were spat out in one mouthful.

No matter how hard its outer scales were, its internal organs were still fragile.

The Explosive Tag had detonated directly inside its throat. That was more than enough to make this oversized snake suffer.

The giant snake rolled wildly across the ground in pain, its thick tail smashing the surrounding rocks to pieces.

Qian Ye gasped for breath, his legs as limp as noodles. Still, he forced himself upright, drew the revolver at his waist, and walked step by step toward the giant snake.

The giant snake recovered somewhat, its enormous head pressed against the ground as it stared fixedly at Qian Ye.

Its vertical pupils were filled with violent killing intent.

It opened its blood-covered mouth, ready to bite this human who had tricked it clean in half.

But just as it was about to strike, it froze.

The shredded meat in its stomach suddenly turned into an incomparably violent current of heat that surged madly through its entire body along with its blood.

The sensation was too wondrous.

The snakes of Dragon's Lair had long relied on devouring prey to gain chakra, but the flesh and blood of ordinary beasts—even ninjas—from the Naruto World were like plain water compared to the nourishing tonic that was Sea King meat from the Pirate World.

In just a few seconds, the giant snake felt the wounds in its throat stop bleeding. Even its scales had become noticeably tougher.

Its killing intent instantly froze.

The murderous aura faded from its lantern-like red eyes, replaced by deeply human shock and undisguised greed.

Qian Ye raised his revolver, pressing its dark muzzle directly against the giant snake's snout.

"Feel good?" Qian Ye curled his lips, his voice echoing through the empty cave.

The giant snake swallowed, its tongue flickering, and did not dare move.

"That piece of meat just now was only the worst scrap." Qian Ye began doing what he did best: making grand promises. "Sign a Summoning Contract with me. From now on, you'll have all the premium flesh and blood you could ever want."

A low rumble came from the giant snake's throat, as though it were hesitating.

Qian Ye sneered and cocked the hammer of his revolver with his thumb, producing a crisp click.

"Not signing?"

"Fine."

Qian Ye made as if to put away his gun.

"Dragon's Lair is huge. It shouldn't be hard to find a snake willing to follow me. I have plenty of meat like that. Tell me, if another snake ate it, do you think it would pin you to the ground and beat you senseless?"

That sentence struck directly at the giant snake's weak spot.

Dragon's Lair was ruled by the strong. If other snakes got to eat such nourishing food every day, it would never have an easy life again.

Besides, the methods of this human brat before it were far too strange. Even it could not see through that technique for concealing his presence.

The giant snake hesitated no longer.

Its enormous head slowly lowered, resting docilely against the rubble by Qian Ye's feet. It even rubbed its chin ingratiatingly against Qian Ye's pant leg.

"Hiss, hiss..."

The giant snake made a submissive sound, opened its mouth on its own, and spat out a scroll.

Qian Ye's eyelid twitched.

Damn, its attitude changed faster than flipping a page.

At that moment.

Deep within Dragon's Lair.

White Snake Sage's Temple.

The image in the water mirror froze at the moment the giant snake lowered its head in surrender.

Deathly silence fell over the temple.

The pipe in Ichikishimahime's hand dropped to the floor with a clatter, scattering ash everywhere.

"It... it was tamed just like that?" Ichikishimahime's eyes widened, and even her voice changed pitch.

Tagitsuhime rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

"That was one of Shinga's fiercest subordinates! Usually, even when the three of us went to deliver a message, it would bare its fangs at us. And now it's lying at the feet of a human brat like a dog?"

Tagitsuhime turned to Orochimaru, her tone full of apprehension.

"Orochimaru, what exactly was that meat the brat threw out?"

Orochimaru did not answer.

His golden vertical pupils stared intently at Qian Ye in the water mirror. His long tongue emerged and licked his slightly dry lips.

"My disciple is carrying more and more secrets." Orochimaru chuckled softly, his laughter sounding especially eerie in the empty temple.

At the seat of honor.

The White Snake Sage, who had been smoking with her eyes closed, slowly opened them.

She exhaled a long stream of smoke. An extremely ugly smile appeared on her wrinkled old face.

"Orochimaru."

The White Snake Sage's voice was old and hoarse.

"Bring him in."

"It has been a long time since I have seen such an interesting human."

Inside the cave.

Qian Ye had just pressed his blood onto the scroll spat out by the giant snake when the air behind him suddenly twisted.

Orochimaru silently appeared behind him.

"Well done, Qian Ye."

Qian Ye turned around and looked at Orochimaru's pale old face, cursing inwardly.

That old bastard had finally decided to show himself after watching enough of the show.

"Teacher, the price of your test was a little steep." Qian Ye unceremoniously tucked the scroll into his Ninja Tool Pouch and dusted off his clothes. "If I hadn't been so lucky, you'd be collecting my corpse right now."

Orochimaru smiled dismissively.

"Dragon's Lair does not accept trash. You proved your worth. That is enough."

Orochimaru glanced at the giant snake lying obediently at Qian Ye's feet. A strange glint flashed in his eyes, but he did not ask where that meat had come from.

Smart people knew when to ask questions and when to keep quiet.

"Let's go." Orochimaru turned and walked deeper into the cave. "The White Snake Sage wants to see you."

Qian Ye froze for a moment.

The White Snake Sage? She was an old monster on the same level as the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku!

Qian Ye hurriedly followed Orochimaru.

"Teacher, why does the White Snake Sage want to see me? Don't tell me she's taken a fancy to me?"

Orochimaru did not turn around.

"You'll know when you get there. But let me warn you: the White Snake Sage has a strange temperament. Watch what you say."