Watching Ōkiiro devour a handful of soldier pills like a starving beast, Gekko Chizan grinned slyly, while Tagorihime could only shake her head helplessly.
[Ding! Detected that host has stolen another's love! You've snatched Inuzuka Gaku's beloved companion Ōkiiro, driving him into fury and heartbreak. Special reward: Taijutsu +1.]
[Ding! Detected that host used Ryūchi Cave's Sage Illusion Technique to bully a dog! How shameless! That's a battle-hardened warhound! How could you?! Special reward: Genjutsu +1.]
With the rewards settling in, Gekko Chizan accepted them cheerfully. Though the boost was small, even a tiny fly is still meat — every grain of sand builds a tower, after all.
"Ōkiiro, stop eating. I'd better send you back to your master."
"Otherwise, I'm afraid Inuzuka Gaku might fall ill from longing for you."
When he left earlier, he hadn't only thrown out a tagged kunai — he'd also left his formula seal on the stretcher.
All for this very moment.
Placing his hand on Ōkiiro, Chizan activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Ōkiiro, still chewing soldier pills furiously, vanished together with the food in his mouth.
At that exact same moment, Inuzuka Gaku, who had just regained consciousness and was missing his dog dearly, suddenly saw a yellow blur appear beside his stretcher.
He was overjoyed and immediately cried out:
"Ōkiiro! My Ōkiiro! You're back!"
The illusion on Ōkiiro had been dispelled, and he could now taste the bitterness of the soldier pills in his mouth. His whole canine face twisted in disgust.
Wasn't he eating juicy meat before? Why had it turned into these awful pills?! Soldier pills were disgusting! Pah! Pah!
...
After that little interlude, Gekko Chizan continued on his way.
This time, however, he had a new companion — Tagorihime. With the link formed through the Serpent Coil Technique, she had no intention of returning to Ryūchi Cave.
Transforming into a long, emerald-green serpent, she coiled herself comfortably around his body.
"Are you sure it's fine not to go back?"
"Hmph. What could happen? Tagitsuhime hasn't gone back to Ryūchi Cave in ages! I won't, either."
Chizan had originally planned to send her back, but who'd have thought that once she came out, she wouldn't want to return at all?
Now that he could absorb natural energy on his own, the restrictions of the Serpent Coil Technique had lifted. If he wished, he could even summon Ichikishimahime as well.
Back inside Ryūchi Cave, Ichikishimahime was stunned as Tagorihime vanished right before her eyes.
So much for sharing joy and hardship together — had she just been abandoned?
"Whatever. I can now also channel the Serpent Coil Technique myself. Leaving her alone there isn't fair anyway."
"Tagorihime, stand guard for me. I'm going to activate the Serpent Coil Technique."
The Serpent Coil Technique was the Sage Technique linking the three Snake Goddesses of Ryūchi Cave with Gekko Chizan. Directly initiating the connection with Tagorihime hadn't cost him much effort.
After all, he'd already mastered Sage Arts, and as the natural energy began circulating through him, his body was soon enveloped in a blue glow.
A long, blue serpent slithered across his form.
"Still, Chizan, you're the thoughtful one. Not like a certain pair of lazy snakes who only care about their own leisure and forget their sisters entirely."
"Hmph!"
A graceful voice echoed as Ichikishimahime appeared before Chizan and Tagorihime, looking thoroughly displeased.
Chizan laughed heartily, while Tagorihime rolled her eyes.
"Sage Body — Serpent Coil Technique..."
"Chizan, your progress is ridiculously fast..."
Ichikishimahime could feel the natural energy swirling all around and stared at Chizan in astonishment.
"Tagorihime already said that," Chizan chuckled. "Anyway, I'm heading to the battlefield. You two stay with me."
"Tagitsuhime is with my disciple. If needed, I'll summon her back."
"By then, the three of you will be my ultimate trump card — if someone blocks the path, kill them!"
At the mention of battle, both Snake Goddesses' eyes lit up. Life in Ryūchi Cave was far too idle — they were itching for some action.
As the blue and green lights faded, Chizan exited Sage Mode and resumed his journey.
He ran half a day more before, at last, reaching the border just as night was falling.
The forces from both the vanguard and the reinforcements had already converged on their base camp.
A strategy meeting was underway.
Tsunade was fiddling with one of the venomous bees captured earlier, her expression filled with thought.
But she was soon pulled from her reverie by a teasing voice.
"Yo, yo, yo — it's rare to see Tsunade-sama looking like that."
"What's this? Some poison bees giving our mighty Tsunade-sama trouble?"
Everyone in the room turned toward the door.
Gekko Chizan strolled in, grinning, holding a small bottle in one hand. Casually, he tossed it onto the table in front of Tsunade.
"Here, stop overthinking it."
"When it comes to solving problems, do you know what the simplest way is?"
Tsunade's eyes gleamed as she looked at the bottle, but she still shook her head in response to his question.
Even the others in the room perked up their ears, curious what he would say.
Chizan smirked cunningly.
"Simple — just get rid of whoever caused the problem."
"Sure, the poison bees are terrifying. So why not just take down the caster — the Kamizuru clan?"
Everyone rolled their eyes. A decapitation strike was great in theory...
But how could they get close? The air was thick with venomous bees. They'd be swarmed before even approaching — how could anyone carry out an assassination like that?
"Alright then," Tsunade said, narrowing her eyes. "Tell us what's inside that bottle. What gives you the confidence for this so-called decapitation mission?"
She knew Chizan well — he wasn't one to bluff. If he was showing something so openly, it had to be useful.
Chizan grinned.
"It's an insect repellent my teacher developed. It can't kill all the bees, but once you spray this stuff, they won't attack us either."
"The only downside is that the supply's limited. It all happened suddenly, so this is the best we've got for now."
"With this, we can send a small team to carry out the decapitation. The Kamizuru clan's power lies entirely in their bees — take those away, and, tsk, one clean strike and they're done."
Everyone's eyes turned toward the little bottle.
Even Tsunade exhaled in relief — this insect repellent could be Konoha's chance.
She hadn't expected Orochimaru, of all people, to come up with something like this.
Still... she couldn't shake off an uneasy feeling — a sense of being targeted.
Was a slug considered a kind of insect...?
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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