After a brief exchange, Orochimaru had Kabuto take Zabuza and Haku to their room, then turned to the real business with Gusion.
"Gusion-kun, I've already contacted Ryuchi Cave. If you want, you can go there today to learn senjutsu."
Orochimaru licked the corner of his mouth and produced a huge scroll, spreading it across the floor—the summoning contract of Ryuchi Cave.
"What's this?"
Gusion feigned curiosity.
"A summoning contract scroll for Ryuchi Cave. As long as Gusion-kun writes your name in blood upon it, the contract will be established. After that, I'll have them use Reverse Summoning to pull us over."
Orochimaru explained, stepping back to invite Gusion to sign.
Gusion crouched down to inspect it and found that this scroll was much like the important master contract Jiraiya once showed Naruto in the original. It had to be the principal contract scroll—something probably reserved for those Ryuchi Cave regarded highly.
Orochimaru himself couldn't master senjutsu, yet he was clearly valued by Ryuchi Cave—there were likely details outsiders didn't know.
Gusion wrote his true name in blood on the scroll. A strange force forged a bond with him, and the Space chimed.
[Pioneer No. 008 has formed a summoning contract with the Sacred Land: Ryuchi Cave. You may summon Ryuchi Cave's summoned beasts via chakra and may be reverse-summoned.]
Once the contract was done, Orochimaru wasted no time. He first performed a summoning to call forth a small snake. "Please go back and inform Tagorihime to reverse-summon us over."
Orochimaru spoke with notable politeness—an indirect sign that the spirit beasts of Ryuchi Cave were not easy to serve.
Before long, Gusion felt the pull of a summoning. He didn't resist; together with Orochimaru he turned to smoke and vanished.
Unlike the feeling when the End Space deployed him to traverse worlds, the summoning transit was virtually instantaneous. With no sense of passage, Gusion arrived and landed.
What met his eyes was a shadowy yet vast underground cavern. He and Orochimaru stood in an open central area like a plaza. At the top of the steps ahead stood a stone shrine.
Inside the hall was an idol of a white serpent—the White Snake Sage of Ryuchi Cave.
Like the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, the White Snake Sage was likewise an ancient monster over a thousand years old, a being who attained the Way on this planet even before Princess Kaguya became the progenitor of chakra.
Gusion glanced with a detection-type skill and saw only a row of question marks. That didn't necessarily mean every one of the White Snake Sage's stats were off the charts—only that its mental attribute utterly overwhelmed his.
Standing directly before Gusion and Orochimaru was a girl as lovely as a flower—long green hair, pallid skin, white robes—Tagorihime, one of the three sisters famed for their over-the-top expressions.
"Welcome to Ryuchi Cave, you two."
When Tagorihime spoke she revealed sharp teeth and a blue tongue. One could only say that once you stepped into Ryuchi Cave, Orochimaru's aesthetic no longer seemed out of place; instead, Gusion looked the odd one out.
"Gusion-kun, this is Ryuchi Cave. I still have research to do, so I'll take my leave."
Smiling, Orochimaru formed hand seals and released the reverse summoning. Having secured a large sum of research funds, he couldn't wait to go purchase new instruments.
Gusion still wanted to ask him a few things, but Orochimaru had already dispersed into smoke where he stood, leaving Gusion speechless. What a damn troll.
He still didn't know the training procedure within Ryuchi Cave. His only understanding came from the sequel he'd watched within the End Space: in it, Naruto's son Boruto passed Ryuchi Cave's trial but ultimately didn't learn its senjutsu, instead later following in his father's footsteps and learning Mount Myoboku's.
Gusion didn't think Mount Myoboku was strong and Ryuchi Cave was trash just because both series protagonists chose the former.
In fact, from performance alone, he felt Mount Myoboku's sage arts had the most drawbacks.
The conditions for Sage Mode at Mount Myoboku were harsh: even Jiraiya couldn't enter a perfect Sage Mode and had to rely on the Sage Toad couple to maintain it. Naruto also resorted to a trick—using clones to gather natural energy and feed it to the main body.
By contrast, the senjutsu of Shikkotsu Forest and Ryuchi Cave didn't involve so many fussy steps. With Shikkotsu Forest you had Hashirama as an example—peerlessly brave in battle with nearly no visible side effects; recovery and endurance were maxed out.
As for Ryuchi Cave, take Kabuto: ugly, sure, but he could maintain Sage Mode indefinitely. Judging by Tagorihime and the others' outward traits, Gusion felt Kabuto hadn't cultivated the perfect Ryuchi Cave senjutsu—that was why his appearance changed so drastically.
All in all, senjutsu is just natural energy—the training methods vary by lineage, but the end result shouldn't differ that much.
Gusion hadn't come here to learn a Sage Mode that turned him into a snake-man. He wanted to understand the principles behind absorbing natural energy in this world and see if he could upgrade his current system.
"Oh? A visitor. Tagorihime, bring him forward."
In the shrine above, the White Snake Sage stirred from slumber. Its gaze upon Gusion was strikingly human—though a serpent, its eyes were like those of a kindly old grandmother.
Gusion wouldn't be fooled by appearances. If, among the three great Sacred Lands, Mount Myoboku and Shikkotsu Forest were lawful good, Ryuchi Cave was chaotic neutral.
In the ninja world, anyone who could find Ryuchi Cave could come to learn senjutsu, but if one failed to satisfy the White Snake Sage and pass the trials it set, they would be eaten by the trio of expressive priestesses.
"Gusion-sama, this way please."
Tagorihime bowed. If she didn't reveal her true nature, she could pass for a normal ancient-style beauty.
Gusion followed her up the steps to stand before the White Snake Sage, waiting for it to speak.
He realized, unlike Boruto, he hadn't come through the usual process and was meeting the White Snake Sage directly—likely thanks to Orochimaru's face.
"Oh… Let me have a look…"
The White Snake Sage leaned out slightly, scrutinizing Gusion. As it looked, a trace of surprise appeared in its vertical pupils.
It fell silent a moment, as if calculating something; then the surprise in its eyes turned to fright. "I cannot divine it. Could he be the one from the prophecy… No, I can see nothing of his road ahead…"
It muttered to itself, clearly flustered, which in turn flustered Tagorihime at its side.
She had served the White Snake Sage for hundreds of years and had never seen it lose composure like this. Could Gusion be the child of prophecy?
But judging from the fear in the White Snake Sage's eyes, that didn't seem right either. She couldn't help asking, "White Snake Sage, what is it that you saw?"
The White Snake Sage fell silent, its expression complicated as it looked at Gusion.
Under the oppressive mood, even Gusion couldn't help speaking. "White Snake Sage, I'd like to learn Ryuchi Cave's senjutsu. What trial must I take?"
"You want to learn our senjutsu?"
The White Snake Sage seemed a bit surprised, which Tagorihime found strange—after all, almost everyone who came to Ryuchi Cave came to learn senjutsu.
"May I?"
Gusion asked.
The serpent's lips drew back, as if in a smile. "Of course—as long as you can pass my trial."
"What must I do?"
Gusion wasn't surprised; he was only puzzled by the White Snake Sage's complicated emotions at first sight.
"In the depths of Ryuchi Cave, beyond the great serpent herd, there's a rift that connects to a magma abyss. I want you to go down—to the very bottom—and tell me what's there."
Its tone was subtle. "Remember, you may not kill any snake of Ryuchi Cave along the way."
Gusion frowned. He knew of the great serpent grounds deep within Ryuchi Cave—colossal monstrous snakes dozens of meters long roamed there, ninja beasts that could wield chakra and, in the case of the strong, even senjutsu.
To pass through such an obviously unfriendly serpent territory and not kill any snakes—that was much harder than Boruto's trial.
What puzzled him more: as the master of Ryuchi Cave, who knew the past and could divine the future, the White Snake Sage was asking him to go check some abyssal rift and see what was there. That didn't add up.
"That is the trial. Do you accept?"
The White Snake Sage fixed its gaze on Gusion to confirm.
Just then, Gusion received a prompt from the Endspace—a new side quest.
[Side Quest, Ring One: The Trial of Ryuchi Cave]
Quest: Traverse the perilous Ryuchi Cave and reach the deepest place no one has ever reached. Explore the truth within the abyss.
Difficulty: Normal ~ Hard
Reward: Unlock Ring Two of the side quest; receive a mysterious reward.
Failure Penalty: All stats -1
[]
It had been a while since he'd seen a quest with penalties. The reward description was vague too—what was a "mysterious reward"?
Thinking it over, he figured it likely had to do with the truth in the abyss. Perhaps he'd inadvertently triggered a serious chain quest.
Maybe this journey to learn senjutsu would unfold very differently from his expectations.
With that thought, Gusion said, "I accept. Do you have a map? Which way should I go?"
The White Snake Sage turned its head and pointed out a direction. "Head due north. The end of that path is your destination."
Seeing there would be no map forthcoming, Gusion didn't waste words. He turned and set off north.
After he left, Tagorihime couldn't hold back her curiosity. "White Snake Sage, is there really a place like that beyond the serpent herd? What's inside?"
The White Snake Sage gave her a meaningful look. "I don't know either."
"What? Something even you don't know?"
Tagorihime was astonished. "But this is Ryuchi Cave."
To her, the White Snake Sage was the oldest living being in the world. It might not know everything under heaven, but surely it knew everything within Ryuchi Cave?
The White Snake Sage only looked at her with those ancient, wise eyes. "You're right. This is Ryuchi Cave."
Tagorihime didn't catch the riddle. After pondering, she thickened her skin and asked, "Is there any story about that place?"
The White Snake Sage was silent for a moment. "I founded Ryuchi Cave. But have you ever wondered why it's called Ryuchi—Dragon Ground—and not Snake Ground?"
Tagorihime thought, then answered, "Isn't it because of your beautiful aspiration, White Snake Sage—that we might one day evolve into dragons?"
As she understood it, in the serpent herd deep within Ryuchi Cave were snakes even more powerful and brutal than Manda, snakes that had already evolved some draconic traits.
"That is part of it. But the most important reason is…"
The White Snake Sage seemed filled with emotion. "…I have seen a dragon."
Tagorihime was thunderstruck. A dragon? Do dragons truly exist in this world?
Where? Could it be that a true dragon once appeared in Ryuchi Cave itself?
Was it because the White Snake Sage had seen a true dragon that it founded Ryuchi Cave and pursued evolution, hoping one day to transform into a dragon too?
If so, why is none to be seen now?
Could it be… Tagorihime looked north. In that never-before-reached death ground—does a true dragon exist?