Garaga

(Thank you all for the gifts. If there's anything you'd like to see, tell me, and I'll do my best to make it happen.)

Deep within Ryūchi Cave

Obito Uchiha sat quietly atop a massive, imposing snake-shaped stone statue, as though he had become one with the ancient monument.

Obito Uchiha's upper body was now covered in dense black scales.

Not only that, a pair of vicious horns had grown from his once-smooth forehead, while black mist continuously seeped from his body.

Obito Uchiha had now attained Sage Mode!

Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode was completely within his grasp!

He had shed his human skin and ascended into a dragon!

"After four years of training, so much time must have passed outside. It's time for me to leave. The Hidden Cloud Village has recently declared war on Konoha, so this should be around the time the Yellow Flash faces the A-B Combination."

Obito Uchiha muttered to himself.

Four years had brought changes far beyond a simple increase in strength; his state of mind had changed as well.

The reason he had initially decided to learn Sage Mode had been simple: he merely wanted to add an entirely new fighting style to his arsenal.

After all, if he continued relying on his powerful yet fragile Mangekyō Sharingan, it would not be long before his eyes went blind from overuse.

After a long and arduous cultivation process, after four full years of unrelenting effort, Obito Uchiha had finally mastered two astonishingly powerful Sage Arts: Inorganic Reincarnation and the White Rage Technique.

Of course, Obito Uchiha had also comprehended and created an entirely new Sage Art!

Once unleashed, its power was in no way inferior to Inorganic Reincarnation or the White Rage Technique—perhaps it was even stronger!

This was the middle of the Third Shinobi World War. Many of the powerful, underworld-like Ninjutsu had yet to appear. Heading into the war now with a whole arsenal of such techniques would be an absolute dimensionality reduction strike!

"Time to leave the mountain and beat up some cavemen!"

"I can't wait to use Sage Art to give those cavemen a thorough beating..."

Boom!

Just as Obito Uchiha sank into thought, a sudden thunderous crash rang out!

Obito Uchiha frowned slightly and instantly activated his keen sage perception, sweeping it toward the source of the sound like radar.

At the entrance to the cave where he lived, a gigantic snake with a vivid crimson body was frantically ramming the opening.

"What is it doing here?"

Obito Uchiha had been here for a full three years, so he was naturally no stranger to this snake.

This snake was called Garaga!

Garaga possessed an extremely violent temperament, because he had once been betrayed by a summoner and lost one of his eyes as a result.

Since then, Garaga had been filled with hatred and hostility toward humans. His temper had only grown more irritable, to the point that almost no other snakes in Ryūchi Cave dared approach him.

Back then, the White Snake Sage had warned Obito Uchiha not to provoke troublesome Garaga.

Over the years, Obito Uchiha had always obeyed that advice, keeping a respectful distance from Garaga and never overstepping in the slightest.

Yet Garaga at the cave entrance now seemed to have gone mad. He repeatedly smashed the entrance with his iron-hard head while roaring without end.

"Human inside, get the hell out here!"

"Come out and die already!!"

As Garaga rammed the cave again and again, the entire cavern began to shake violently, as if it could collapse at any moment.

For a moment, sand and stones rained down as dust billowed through the air.

"What a nuisance!"

Obito Uchiha flashed forward and instantly appeared at the cave entrance!

With his arms folded, Obito Uchiha stared coldly at the red snake below.

"You need something?"

Obito Uchiha asked coldly.

Garaga snorted.

"You dare come out? You wicked humans aren't worthy of cultivating Ryūchi Cave's Sage Art! What makes you worthy to learn it?"

Garaga opened his enormous maw and lunged viciously at Obito Uchiha!

Obito Uchiha raised an eyebrow and effortlessly dodged aside.

"I have no grudge against you, so don't bring suffering upon yourself. I don't want any conflict with you either. The White Snake Sage personally permitted me to learn Sage Art. Whether I'm worthy or not isn't for you to decide. Leave now. I'm going."

Obito Uchiha spoke calmly to Garaga.

"Hm? Human!"

"You want to die? You dare say I'm bringing suffering upon myself!"

"I think you've lost your mind!"

Garaga shot toward Obito Uchiha once more like a crimson bolt of lightning, carrying a fierce presence and an ear-splitting roar.

Garaga opened his enormous maw, revealing sharp, deadly fangs!

Facing Garaga's ferocious charge, Obito Uchiha's gaze sharpened as he activated his Sharingan!

Garaga's movements immediately appeared many times slower in his eyes.

"Perfect opportunity!"

Obito Uchiha watched Garaga's open maw with eager anticipation.

As Obito stared into Garaga's enormous mouth, he thought that if he stuffed a Great Fireball into it right now, wouldn't this snake simply explode?

He could have done that, but Obito Uchiha did not.

The moment he saw Garaga, he had begun considering whether he could subdue the snake and make him his summoning beast.

After all, they were both crimson. Garaga would suit his Blood-Red Flash quite well.

Obito Uchiha lightly tapped the ground with his foot and swiftly twisted aside like a phantom.

Garaga's momentum was too great, and he missed completely, slamming his head hard into the solid stone wall.

With a deafening boom, the entire wall shook violently as shattered rocks flew everywhere and dust filled the air.

In an instant, the wall could bear no more and collapsed with a crash, sending dust soaring into the sky.

Obito Uchiha looked at the scene before him, raising his brow slightly in surprise. I didn't expect this snake's destructive power to be so strong. I can't underestimate him.

In terms of offensive power, Garaga was not inferior to Manda or the Blue Snake in the slightest.

"He could be my summoning beast..."

Obito Uchiha's Sharingan spun as he watched Garaga.

"Oi!"

"Garaga, how about becoming my summoning beast?"

Obito Uchiha asked calmly, looking at Garaga as though he were some lower life-form.

"Cunning human! I will never form a contract with humans again! The human who betrayed me last time already cost me one of my eyes!"

As he spoke, Garaga grew even more enraged and directly sprayed venom at Obito Uchiha!

"Kamui!"

Obito Uchiha used Intangibility and instantly evaded!

The venom shot through Obito Uchiha's body like arrows and splashed onto the trees behind him. The trees struck by it instantly petrified into stone.

"A powerful means of attack, a crimson appearance—it perfectly matches every fantasy I have of a villain's summoning beast!"

Obito Uchiha narrowed his eyes as he spotted Garaga's reverse scale. In the original story, as long as Garaga's reverse scale was removed, he would become much more docile.