Naruto clasped his black-gloved hands together and rested his chin on them. "So, to learn Freeform Sage Art, I first need to master all three great forms of Senjutsu, right?"
Orochimaru nodded. "Precisely~ Naruto-kun, you have already mastered Mount Myōboku's Senjutsu, which gives you a solid foundation for learning Freeform Sage Art. Mastering the other two should not be difficult~ Now, which shall we visit first, Ryūchi Cave or Shikkotsu Forest? I think Ryūchi Cave would be better."
Naruto shifted in his seat and asked, "Why's that? Because you know the White Snake Sage?"
Orochimaru slid a hand through his hair with a languid flourish. "Whether I know her is irrelevant. Ryūchi Cave has always treated all practitioners equally~ Whether you are a paragon of righteousness or an utterly wicked villain~ As long as you pass the trials~ The White Snake Sage will grant you sage power~"
"As for whether you survive receiving that sage power, and how well you master it if you do survive, that depends entirely on your own fortune~ Even after you master it, the White Snake Sage will not interfere with how you use it, so long as you do not make an enemy of Ryūchi Cave~ How fair and just, how free and unfettered~"
"The Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku and the Slug Sage of Shikkotsu Forest are much stricter in their requirements for practitioners. The Slug Sage in particular will never grant sage power to anyone she dislikes~"
"You do have a point."
Naruto thought it over carefully.
If Sasuke wanted to learn Senjutsu too, wouldn't he go to Ryūchi Cave first?
If the two of us ran into each other, wouldn't that create a lot of unnecessary trouble for both of us?
*From that perspective, Ryūchi Cave... shouldn't be my first