Darkness.
Boundless darkness stretched before his eyes.
Hayashi rubbed the back of his head, sat up from the ground, and looked around.
He saw nothing.
There was no light here, no sound of wind, only slick, cold stone beneath his feet and a lingering dampness in the air that smelled of earth mixed with something bloody and sweet.
Where had I fallen?
What was this place?
Was I even still in the country?
With those questions in mind, Hayashi began to recall what had happened.
Hadn't I started by signing Jiraiya's Summoning Scroll?
Shouldn't I have summoned a toad?
How had I ended up in this godforsaken place in the blink of an eye?
Wait, who had summoned me here?
Was I a summon now, too?
...No, even if someone had treated me as a summon, there should have been a summoner beside me, rather than dumping me in a cave so dark I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.
Hayashi slowly straightened up and was about to walk deeper into the pitch-black cave ahead-
But then an unfamiliar female voice sounded directly in front of him.
"Destined visitor to Ryūchi Cave, please halt."
At those words, Uzumaki Hayashi stopped.
He stared into the darkness ahead.
A green-haired woman slowly emerged from it.
Her expression was solemn, and she wore a loose white robe with a single green tomoe embroidered in its center.
She walked slowly, yet her footsteps made no sound, as though she were floating out of the darkness.
"If you have come to tame a giant snake, please turn around and proceed behind you."
After saying this, the woman took another step forward.
"If you have come to seek the White Snake Sage, please take one step forward."
Hayashi watched the woman, carefully considering