Chapter 155: Journey to Ryuchi Cave
In the spring of Konoha 43, at the Southwestern Army's base.
"After more than a month, I've finally maxed out my Summoning Technique to Level 10," Kyosuke thought, a wave of excitement washing over him as he looked at the "max" displayed on the system menu.
After the upgrade was complete, Kyosuke felt his connection to "Ryuchi Cave" strengthen countless times in an instant.
With his current mastery of the Summoning Technique, he could probably summon a beast without even forming hand seals.
Of course, this was not his main goal. The reason Kyosuke had chosen to prioritize upgrading his "Summoning Technique" was to see if he could directly reverse summon himself and find the Ryuchi Cave, a place that no one had yet been to.
His purpose was simple: to train in Ryuchi Cave's "Sage Mode."
Kyosuke closed his eyes and carefully sensed it, then opened his eyes with a joyful expression.
"It worked!"
However, a look of confusion then crept onto his face.
"Besides Ryuchi Cave, there's another unknown existence. What is that place?" Kyosuke wondered.
That place gave him a feeling of deathly silence. And when his consciousness tried to approach it, a strange attraction suddenly came, as if it wanted to suck his soul in.
This scared Kyosuke so much that he directly cut off the connection with his consciousness and opened his eyes.
After much thought, he suddenly thought of a place that was subtly mentioned in the original story, the place where the Sage of Six Paths had summoned the souls of the past "Kage."
"The Pure Land."
A place in the Naruto world where the souls of the dead were laid to rest.
"Whew," Kyosuke let out a small breath in his heart, and then chose to ignore it.
After all, with his current strength, he couldn't yet reach this level. So, no matter how curious he was, it was useless. It was better to focus on his original goal.
After a simple tidy up, Kyosuke got up and walked toward Orochimaru's tent.
"A leave of absence?" Orochimaru asked with a puzzled expression.
"That's right," Kyosuke replied faintly, and then explained his plan.
"Sage Mode... with your current self, you indeed have the foundation for training," Orochimaru said, not asking Kyosuke how he was going to get to Ryuchi Cave, but rather muttering to himself in a strange tone.
After a moment of silence, Orochimaru suddenly turned to look at Kyosuke and said, "I can agree to your request, but you must remember, I'm only giving you three months. At that time, no matter what, you must return to the battlefield."
Kyosuke knew in his heart that three months was the longest time Orochimaru, or rather, the Southwestern Army, could buy him.
He nodded solemnly. After a simple discussion about the problems of training in Sage Mode, Kyosuke took his leave.
"Growing so fast..." Orochimaru thought, looking at Kyosuke's retreating back, his mind involuntarily turning to the scene of their first meeting.
A mere six-year-old brat had actually dared to use him to achieve his own goals. From that moment on, Orochimaru knew that this brat's future would be very outstanding, and also very... interesting.
"Kyosuke-kun, then I look forward to your next active performance."
After returning to his tent, Kyosuke eagerly called Saori and the others and explained what he was about to do.
"Sage Art? I don't know much about it. Will it be dangerous?" Thirteen's first concern was always Kyosuke's safety.
Silently shaking his head, Kyosuke indicated that there was no need to worry about him. On the contrary, he was more worried about the situation of the three of them on the battlefield.
To his surprise, as soon as he had expressed his concern, he was directly rebuffed by Saori.
"Don't worry. We'll be much safer without you," Saori said, the corner of her mouth curling into a dangerous arc.
"Uh," Kyosuke said, hearing her words. After a careful thought, it seemed that was indeed the case.
Infiltrating the armory, intercepting the assault unit, attacking Pakura's corps, joining the Second Army, and being targeted by the Sand ninja—it seemed that every dangerous incident before was related to Kyosuke's actions.
Thinking of this, Kyosuke's expression was a rare sight of embarrassment. He then took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping over the faces of the three of them, and said in a solemn tone, "From now on, I will protect you."
Gently pulling the Seven who was about to refute, Thirteen nodded to Kyosuke with a gentle expression.
"Tsk, the little brat has finally grown up. He knows how to protect his older sister," Saori said, looking at Kyosuke's "fiery" gaze, her expression a bit flustered. She then turned her head and teased him in a covering-up manner.
Kyosuke ignored her words. Instead, his hands formed a subtle hand seal. After leaving a "wait for my return," he instantly vanished from the tent.
Only then did Saori turn her head. She met Thirteen's strange gaze, the corner of her mouth twitching as she got up and left the tent.
"Do you think the master will succeed in learning Sage Art?" Thirteen asked, looking at the spot where Kyosuke had disappeared.
"Of course," Seven replied in a decisive tone.
A sense of weightlessness came over him. When Kyosuke opened his eyes again, he found that he had arrived in a very humid and huge cave.
Hiss!
Before he could carefully observe his surroundings, a swarm of poisonous snakes, their tongues flicking, surrounded him.
From the eyes of these poisonous snakes, Kyosuke could tell that they probably didn't welcome him, this outsider.
Just as Kyosuke was hesitating whether he needed to make a move to drive them away, a cold voice entered his ears. "Who are you? What is your business in Ryuchi Cave?"
As this voice sounded, the swarm of poisonous snakes, as if they had received a command, immediately retreated far away.
"I am a contractor of Ryuchi Cave. I have come here to seek the training method for Sage Art," Kyosuke said, his right hand secretly forming a hand seal as he spoke.
"I see," the cold voice said again, and then a series of footsteps suddenly came from in front of Kyosuke.
Along with the footsteps, a woman in a white dress with a beautiful face appeared.
Although she looked like a human, Kyosuke's powerful perception told him that there was not a trace of "humanity" in her.
It was clear that her true form was a snake, and a very powerful one at that.
Just then, a roar came from the distance again.
Kyosuke turned to look and found that the newcomer was the summoned beast he had signed a contract with, Aoda.
"Lord Kyosuke, what are you doing here?" Aoda carefully lowered his head and, while curiously asking about his purpose, he also signaled him to stand on his head.
Seeing its appearance, Kyosuke reached out and stroked its head with a smile. "I'm here today to seek an audience with the White Snake Sage."
Hearing this, Aoda's huge snake head swayed up and down, indicating that it understood. It then turned to look at the woman standing on the side and said in a pleading tone, "Lady Tagitsuhime, you see..."
"Oh, so it's little Ao's contractor. Then follow me," this woman named Tagitsuhime said, sizing up Kyosuke's appearance again, and then turned and walked into the depths of the cave.
Kyosuke patted Aoda's head again in thanks, and then followed.
Behind the two of them, Aoda tilted its head and thought for a moment, then also carefully followed behind.
"White Snake Sage... I hope everything goes smoothly."
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