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The fire crackled with a hungry roar, licking every inch of the pit with relentless fury. The suffocating stench of scorched scales and burning venom filled the air. Smoke coiled upward like twisted ghosts fleeing a battlefield. The entire pit was now a furnace of death.
The female snake stood at the edge of the pit, her elegant emerald body trembling slightly. Her usually calm eyes were wide with shock, her forked tongue flickering nervously. She had seen many trials before, had watched countless fools fall into the abyss, screaming as the venom melted their flesh. But this... this was different.
Down below, amidst the carnage, Naruto stood like a demon in human skin.
He moved like lightning, a blazing inferno dancing in his palm. His feet tapped against the blackened rocks as he weaved between the scattered survivors, flames trailing in his wake.
"HAHAHAHA!" Naruto's voice echoed through the pit, wild and gleeful. "You call this a trial? This is just pest control!"
A terrified snake tried to slither away through a crevice, its scales already charred. But Naruto raised his hand, and with a flick of his wristāBOOM!āa searing explosion engulfed the poor creature. The shockwave rattled the stone walls, sending dust and tiny pebbles raining from above.
The female snake flinched, stepping back in fear as the fire licked dangerously close to the edge. She had underestimated this boy.
No... this monster in human skin.
The thousand venomous serpents of RyÅ«chi Cave were supposed to be an unbeatable challengeāa brutal trial to test resilience, poison tolerance, and survival instincts.
And yet, he was turning them to ashes like leaves in autumn.
Down below, Naruto twirled in mid-air, launching a massive spiral of flame that consumed a whole nest of hiding snakes in a blinding flash. The crackling, the screaming hisses, the boiling venomāall of it blended into a terrible symphony of destruction.
A few surviving serpents squealed and fled, slamming into walls, crawling over one another in desperation.
"Cowards," Naruto sneered. "You lot had the chance to test me. Now you just run?"
ZSSSS!
He pointed his finger lazily at a large red serpent trying to escape. A thin beam of concentrated heat shot out and pierced the snake right through the skull, leaving behind a smoking hole. The snake dropped instantly, its body twitching once before going still.
The pit grew quiet.
There were only embers left, swirling softly in the wind created by Naruto's own heat. Nearly all the snakes had turned to ash. A few remainedābarely alive, paralyzed with fear, too terrified to move.
Then the voice of the female snake broke through the silence.
"S-Stop... please!" She called out, her voice trembling, respectful yet alarmed. "You've done more than enough. The trial... is over. Don't kill them all."
Naruto paused and looked up. His grin vanished, replaced by an expression of cold indifference. His golden hair flickered from the glow of the dying fire as he locked eyes with the snake.
Without a word, he raised his hand again.
SNAP!
The flames disappeared. Not a single spark remained.
Silence took over the cave as if the air itself feared to breathe.
With a swift motion, Naruto leapt into the air, soaring out of the pit like a shadow with wings. He landed on the edge with a soft thud, dust rising around his boots. He patted his shirt casually, frowning.
"Huh," He muttered. "Sneaky little guy."
He reached into his shirt and pulled out a small, trembling snake that had somehow slithered inside during the chaos. Without a second thought, Naruto tossed it over his shoulder back into the pit.
Thump.
The snake landed near the few remaining survivors and didn't move.
Naruto stretched his arms and cracked his neck, his voice playful again. "Alright then. First trial done. Let's move on to the second."
The female snake didn't respond at first. She was still trying to comprehend what had just happened. It had been centuries since anyone passed the first trialā¦ and no one had ever done it like this.
He didn't endure poison. He didn't dodge. He didn't defend. He obliterated everything.
She opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again. Her instincts told her not to provoke this one. This was not someone to argue with.
With a quiet sigh, she turned. "Follow me."
Naruto smirked. "Good girl."
They walked in silence.
Deeper into Ryūchi Cave, the atmosphere shifted. The air grew heavier. The walls were slick with strange, glowing moss, and the floor seemed to pulse faintly, like the cave itself had a heartbeat.
Naruto's steps echoed behind the snake as they entered a new chamber.
The ceiling arched like the ribs of a titan. The stone pillars were coiled with dormant serpents, each larger than a house. The ground was wide and circular, surrounded by jagged rocks that resembled thrones.
From every corner of the arena, golden eyes glowed in the shadows.
"They're here," A snake said.
As she slithered to the side, Naruto stood at the center of the circle. One by one, the elite fighters of Ryūchi Cave emerged.
Massive snakes of all shapes and sizesāeach with unique features and battle-hardened scarsāsurrounded the battlefield. Their presence was suffocating. Their fangs glistened. Their tails thudded heavily against the stone. Some had horns like dragons.
Some had jagged armor growing out of their backs. Some breathed poison that burned the stone beneath them.
The largest of them, a dark blue behemoth with a scarred eye and scales like obsidian blades, hissed, "You are the one who burned our kin?"
Naruto shrugged. "They started it."
Another one, a twin-headed serpent with glowing red stripes, snarled, "You dare stand here after such an offense?"
Naruto rolled his neck, cracking it side to side. "I dare a lot of things."
The snakes growled, their hisses growing louder. The arena began to tremble under their combined weight.
In the distance, Orochimaru and the White Snake Sage watched through a magical screen of mist. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, amused.
"He certainly doesn't lack confidence."
The White Snake Sage chuckled, his voice old and eerie. "No. But confidence is not enough here. Let us see if he survives this."
Back in the arena, the twin-headed serpent lunged first.
Naruto's body vanished. He appeared above its head, slamming a foot into the skull of the left one.
BOOM!
The serpent crashed into the ground, creating a crater, while the right head hissed in pain and confusion.
Another snake launched forward, its tail like a whip of ironābut Naruto grabbed it mid-air, spun, and slammed the creature into two others trying to ambush him.
CRASH!
Stone shattered, and dust rose.
Naruto stood in the center of chaos, grinning with wild eyes.
"Come on," He shouted, voice echoing across the battlefield. "If this is the best you've got, I'm gonna be disappointed!"
The snakes roared and charged in unison.
But to them, it was like trying to catch a flame in a storm.
Naruto was everywhere, landing blows with precision. His fists burned, and his kicks thundered.
The arena trembled as the snakes kept screaming.
And above them, a storm of dust and rubble began to rise.
Orochimaru stared in silence. "He's... not human."
The White Snake Sage smiled.
"No," He said. "He's something else entirely."
---- ā¦ ā¦ ā¦ ----
Spoilers for the next three chapters!
Chapter 152: The Final Trial
Chapter 153:The Sage of Six Paths
Chapter 154: A Man's Promise
--- ā¦ ā¦ ā¦ ---
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