Evil Scale, the Giant Serpent

Long Ye sprinted across the water, crossed Mirrorwater Lake, and arrived at the entrance to Snake Cypress Valley, where he came face-to-face with a colossal creature crawling out of the valley.

It was actually a giant snake.

The snake was pitch-black from head to tail. Unlike ordinary snakes, whose scales clung tightly to their bodies, all the scales on this one stood open. From a distance, it looked like a hedgehog.

Unfortunately, its scales were shattered over a large area, and in places, bloody flesh showed through. It had clearly escaped death by a hair and had only just fled Snake Cypress Valley.

A snake this huge must have come from Ryūchi Cave. If nothing goes wrong, it should be here for the Snake Cypress Seed too... he muttered inwardly.

He had no favorable impression of Ryūchi Cave.

As far as he knew, although Ryūchi Cave was reputed to be one of the three great heritage grounds, its treatment of ninjas who underwent its inheritance trials was extremely brutal.

Passing was one thing, but if they failed, they would all be swallowed without exception.

Even if snakes possessed intelligence no inferior to humans, their cold-blooded nature was not easily changed. To them, killing was almost an instinct they were born with.

Long Ye had no intention of greeting it. Pretending he had not seen it, he calmly continued toward Snake Cypress Valley.

A man and a snake passed each other.

Long Ye acted as though he had not seen the snake, but the snake's pair of eyes remained fixed on him. Once they drew closer and it got a clear look at his appearance, a strange brilliance flared in its eyes.

"Human friend from the Shinobi World, please wait..."

The giant snake hurriedly opened its mouth and called out.

Long