Shinya

(Thank you all for the gifts. If there is anything you want to see, feel free to tell me. I will do my best to accommodate you.)

Deep within Dragon Cave

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

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

Not only that, a pair of savage horns had sprouted from his once-smooth forehead, while black mist continuously emanated from his body.

Obito Uchiha had now attained Sage Mode!

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

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

"After cultivating for four years, the outside world has likely changed greatly. It is time for me to leave. Recently, the Hidden Cloud Village declared war on Konoha. The Yellow Flash's battle against the AB Combination should be happening around now."

Obito Uchiha muttered to himself.

Four years had brought far more than just an increase in strength. His state of mind had changed as well.

The reason he had originally resolved to learn Sage Mode was actually quite simple: he merely wanted to give himself an entirely new method of fighting.

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

After a long and arduous period of training, after four full years of relentless effort, Obito Uchiha had finally mastered two immensely powerful Sage Arts: Inorganic Reincarnation and the White Rage Technique.

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

Once unleashed, its power was no weaker than Inorganic Reincarnation or the White Rage Technique—perhaps even greater!

It was now the Third Shinobi World War. Many of the powerful, sinister ninjutsu had yet to appear. Heading into the war with an arsenal of sinister 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 Arts to give those cavemen a good beating..."

Boom!

Just as Obito Uchiha sank into thought, a thunderous boom suddenly rang out!

Obito Uchiha frowned slightly and immediately activated his sharp Sage perception, sweeping it toward the source of the noise like a radar.

At the entrance to the cave where he lived, an enormous giant snake with a brilliant crimson body was crazily ramming the opening.

"What is it doing here?"

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

This snake was called Shinya!

Shinya was extremely violent by nature, because it had once been betrayed by a summoner and had lost one of its eyes as a result.

From that day onward, Shinya had been filled with hatred and hostility toward humans. Its temperament had only grown more irritable and violent, to the point that almost no other snakes in Dragon Cave dared approach it.

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

Over the years, Obito Uchiha had always followed that advice, keeping a respectful distance from Shinya and never crossing the line even once.

Yet Shinya at the cave entrance seemed to have gone mad. It repeatedly smashed the entrance with its iron-hard head while continuously roaring,

"Get out here, you damned human!"

"Come out and die already!!"

With every violent impact from Shinya, the entire cave began shaking violently, as though it might collapse at any moment.

Rocks tumbled down, and dust filled the air.

"What a nuisance!"

Obito Uchiha flashed and instantly appeared at the cave entrance!

Obito Uchiha folded his arms and coldly looked down at the red snake below.

"Do you need something?"

Obito Uchiha asked coldly.

Shinya snorted.

"You dare come out? You vile humans are unworthy of cultivating Dragon Cave's Sage Arts! Do you think you deserve to learn them?"

Shinya opened its enormous maw and lunged fiercely at Obito Uchiha!

Obito Uchiha raised a brow and casually dodged aside.

"I bear you no grudge, so do not bring suffering upon yourself. I do not wish to fight you either. The White Snake Sage personally permitted me to learn Sage Arts. Whether I deserve it is not for you to decide. Leave at once. I am going."

Obito Uchiha spoke calmly to Shinya.

"Hm? Human!"

"Do you want to die? You dare say I am asking for trouble!"

"I think you have a death wish!"

Like a crimson bolt of lightning, Shinya charged at Obito Uchiha again with fierce momentum and an earth-shaking roar.

Shinya opened its enormous maw, exposing its sharp, lethal fangs!

Facing the incoming Shinya, Obito Uchiha's gaze sharpened as he activated his Sharingan!

Shinya's movements instantly became many times slower in his eyes.

"Perfect chance!"

Obito Uchiha stared eagerly at Shinya's open maw.

As Obito looked at Shinya's gaping mouth, he thought that if he shoved a Great Fireball into it right now, would this snake not simply explode?

Though he could have done so, Obito Uchiha did not.

The moment he saw Shinya, he had begun considering whether he could subdue this snake and make it his summoned beast.

After all, they were both crimson. It matched his Blood-Red Flash rather well.

Obito Uchiha lightly tapped the ground with his foot, his body shifting aside like a phantom.

Because of its immense momentum, Shinya missed completely and slammed its head hard into the solid stone wall.

With a thunderous boom, the entire stone wall shook violently. Rubble flew everywhere, and dust billowed through the air.

In an instant, the overloaded wall collapsed with a crash, kicking up a cloud of dust.

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

Its offensive power was no weaker than Manda's or Blue Snake's.

"It could become my summoned beast..."

Obito Uchiha's Sharingan spun as he watched Shinya.

"Oi!"

"Shinya, how about becoming my summoned beast?"

Obito Uchiha asked calmly, looking at Shinya as though it were some inferior creature.

"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 it spoke, Shinya grew even more enraged and directly spat venom at Obito Uchiha!

"Kamui!"

Obito Uchiha turned intangible and instantly evaded!

The venom shot through Obito Uchiha's body like an arrow and struck the trees behind him. The trees hit by it instantly petrified into stone.

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

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