-Demons are little known, even to me. Few have managed to reach our world, some were sealed away, others banished. I had the misfortune of encountering one once and almost lost my life then.- The White Snake said, its eyes thoughtful.
-What do you know about them?- Jugo asked.
-They don't use chakra, but their energy is just as malevolent as yours, which is why I mistook you for one when I first sensed it. But now I don't feel anything. I don't know where this power came from, but I would be very careful using it.- Hakuja explained, looking directly at Jugo, his seriousness evident.
Jugo frowned, it was very likely that the demon pointed out by the snake sage was not connected to the world of LOTM, but was a demon belonging to the world of Naruto itself.
-Alright, now tell me about this Hagoromo Yamaru guy.- Jugo asked, changing his train of thought.
Hakuja paused in silence for a few seconds, thoughtful, before speaking. - Yamaru was a contractor for Ryuchi Cave, he lived a few decades ago, when ninjas were still divided into clans fighting for territory.
Jugo didn't interrupt, he just listened in silence.
-The Hagoromo clan was an ancient and powerful ninja clan, but unlike other clans, it was a more pacifist clan, following the teachings of the Sage of Six Paths. They avoided fighting and killing, which is perhaps why its strength declined over the centuries.- Hakuja continued.
-For some reason I don't know, the Hagoromo clan came into conflict with the Senju clan. They were ancient relatives, so ancient that they seemed to forget their kinship and soon a war between them began. But this wasn't uncommon during that period, you humans have always liked killing each other for all sorts of reasons.- Her voice carried a hint of mockery.
-The Hagoromo clan wasn't weak, but it was no match for the Senju clan, which was constantly at war. Yamaru, the son of the clan leader, seeking a way to save his family, came to me in search of power.- Hakuja pulled a large cigarette from somewhere, put it to his mouth and the cigarette seemed to light itself.
The White Snake sage took a long drag before releasing a cloud of smoke and continuing. - He passed my test and received my venom. Unlike frogs and slugs, going through the snake senjutsu process is a one-way trip, you can only transform into a sage or die. Few have managed to escape this fates and Yamura was one of them.
-The man didn't really learn the my senjutsu, but when I thought I'd get an extra snack, the poison hit him in a... different way.- Hakuja looked at Jugo with evident interest. -Something inside him merged with my poison, his chakra wasn't balanced with natural energy, but his body... his body learned to absorb that energy on its own. His strength increased exponentially because of it. He could have considered himself half-sage, with a body nourished by natural energy. His strength obviously increased, but...
The snake took another swig before continuing. - It wasn't without consequences, this unnatural process transformed Yamura into two poles, his mind divided between calm and madness. On one hand, in his calm state, he became more connected to nature, in his mad state, his chakra became extremely malevolent, his strength increased, but he became a lunatic. This was the origin of Yamura's "curse".
Jugo frowned, so his curse wasn't something that already existed, but a failed product of snake senjutsu?
Hakuja didn't stop, but continued speaking. - Yamura managed to return to his clan, but from what I've heard, he went mad and caused a massacre within it. He was banished in disgrace, having profaned what he swore to protect. He didn't refuse the sentence, only those closest to him went with him.
-Yamura swore he would never go mad again, he got married, had children and his children had children. I met some of them and they inherited part of Yamura's power, weaker but more controllable, yet still with explosive tempers. They isolated themselves and lived in hiding for a long time. - Hakuja adjusted himself slightly in his "bed", the cigarette now almost finished.
-You seem to have inherited much of that power, but the madness must not have been mild, right?- The snake "smiled" at Jugo. -But in any case, I heard that their clan was destroyed by the Senju, but Yamura kept his promise, he didn't take revenge, but lived with his family in hiding all these years. I haven't seen any of you in a long time.
Jugo seemed thoughtful as he connected the dots, the Hagoromo clan was finished, the group that followed Yamura was also killed by Orochimaru, only Jugo remained.
He sighed lightly, even with the memories of this body, Jugo had been expelled too early and had never heard of the Hagoromo clan before. Everyone in his clan only had first names, not last names.
Now he knew, he wasn't just Jugo, he was Hagoromo Jugo.
But while he was thinking about this, believing that the luck of this clan, which supposedly also carried the lineage of the Sage of the Six Paths, was very bad, he focused on another point.
-Does that mean I can't learn your Senjutsu?- Jugo asked, frowning.
Hakuja used his tail to grab the cigarette at the end and extinguish it beside him, before saying. -I have no idea. Yamura couldn't do it. You carry his 'curse.' Maybe you won't be able to. Maybe this will complete your transformation, or maybe you'll die if injected with my venom. So, do you want to try?
Jugo frowned, then pulled a pendulum from his pocket, the pendulum with the ruby at the tip, stained with the aura of the Tenebrous World. Jugo could now draw enough power from the Tenebrous World to use the pendulum outside.
He closed his eyes and began to visualize his question, when he opened them, the pendulum was spinning gently clockwise, it was slow, but it was there.
Hakuja looked at it with evident curiosity, even though she wanted to ask, she held back, but Jugo, on the other hand, was relieved.
His question was whether he would survive the poison, the answer was yes. Then he didn't stop and asked if he would succeed, the pendulum didn't move, it remained inert.
It was the first time this had happened, but Jugo could only sigh, well, at least he's not going to die.
He rose from Manda's head and approached Hakuja Sennin, his body was very small compared to the White Snake.
-Let's begin, what should I do?- Jugo asked.