"One."
"Two."
"Three—ah, four."
Each time Lust's voice fell, it meant another ninja had left this world.
"I thought this would be a dull, boring mission, but I didn't expect the ninjas' progress to be this fast."
After annihilating the entire ninja squad, Lust waved her hand and tore open a space–time rift, then appeared beside the corpses.
"This forehead protector… is it Konoha or Kumogakure? Well, doesn't matter."
Lust no longer cared about which village the forehead protector belonged to and began checking whether they had discovered anything in the ruins.
This was one of the ruins left behind by Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, located in a remote region of the Land of Rice Fields.
She originally thought the place wouldn't be found by ninjas anytime soon, but unexpectedly, the moment she arrived, she encountered a patrol unit guarding the area.
That squad she just wiped out was the very last remnant of the entire force.
"I'll stay here a bit longer."
After casually looking through the items carried on the bodies and finding nothing useful, Lust made her decision.
As the space–time rift opened again, everything returned to silence.
...
Inside Ryūchi Cave, the natural energy that had been rushing into Takeshi's body suddenly stopped.
This subtle change immediately caught the attention of the White Snake Sage.
Right after, the natural energy inside Takeshi began rapidly pouring outward — so fast that even Uchiha Hikari, who had never trained natural energy, could feel the flow of air.
"To think it actually succeeded."
A strange glint flashed through the White Snake Sage's eyes.
She could not tolerate the Ōtsutsuki destroying this planet, so she had sought someone capable of truly mastering natural energy.
But now that a human had really obtained this power, she felt a new threat.
The status of the Three Great Sacred Grounds… seemed on the verge of being overturned.
The White Snake Sage placed her pipe between her lips.
At this point, all she could do was take things one step at a time.
"Why did natural energy leave his body? Don't tell me… he failed?"
Ichikishimahime hid behind the White Snake Sage, her voice filled with schadenfreude.
Her words immediately drew a threatening look from Uchiha Hikari. Feeling the killing intent, Ichikishimahime shrank her body even further behind the White Snake Sage, refusing to look in Hikari's direction.
"No. Natural energy left his body because he no longer needs to store the energy he wants to use beforehand. Now, he can draw on all surrounding natural energy at any time, anywhere."
The White Snake Sage exhaled smoke, watching it disperse rapidly with the air's movement.
"And natural energy will continually improve his physique wherever he is, tempering his meridians, nourishing his body, and helping him reach the threshold of longevity."
Hearing this, Ichikishimahime revealed an envious expression.
"A mere human can obtain lifespans equal to ours, this is really…"
At that moment, Takeshi — who had been still for a long while — abruptly opened his eyes.
He then raised his arm and threw a punch forward.
A razor-sharp gale flashed past. An invisible attack shot from his fist, followed quickly by a muffled thud echoing back.
"It worked."
Takeshi looked delightedly at his palm.
That punch had contained no chakra, no internal energy — it was an attack formed by mobilizing the natural energy around his body.
Right now, his eyes were impossibly bright, his body incredibly light, and even without entering Sage Mode, he could clearly sense everything within a hundred meters — no, a thousand meters.
Including the presence directly ahead radiating killing intent — he sensed it perfectly.
Hm?
Why was there killing intent?
Only then did Takeshi raise his head.
Before him stood a girl — Uchiha Hikari, no doubt.
But for some reason, the left side of her face was red and swollen, as if someone had punched her.
"Uh… did someone hit you?"
Seeing Hikari slowly approaching, Takeshi asked uncertainly.
Hikari did not reply. Meanwhile, the three Snake Princesses behind the White Snake Sage all wore identically gleeful expressions.
They had witnessed the entire event clearly. The punch Takeshi threw upon awakening had landed perfectly on Uchiha Hikari's cheek. That muffled thud was the sound of the blow connecting.
"Hey, Hikari, say something. When you walk toward me like that, I'm getting kind of scared…"
As Takeshi spoke, he frantically pounded his own legs.
Because he had been sitting cross-legged too long, he momentarily forgot how standing was supposed to feel.
"Hey— that's Susanoo, right? That HAS to be Susanoo!"
Seeing Hikari getting closer and closer, Takeshi stopped punching his legs and instead scraped his hands against the ground, desperately trying to slide himself backward.
"No—don't come… don't come… don't—don't come near me aaaaaaaaah!"
...
"With your current state, you should be able to use Ryūchi Cave's Senjutsu with ease."
Looking at Takeshi — whose face was bruised and swollen — the White Snake Sage suppressed her amusement with great effort.
"I think so. I feel like I can do a lot of things right now."
Takeshi lowered his head and examined his palm carefully, studying every line.
For him now, Sage Mode no longer existed as a concept.
If he wished, he could draw natural energy at any moment and use Senjutsu freely.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call this an eternal Sage Mode.
And the enhancements it granted him went far beyond that — Takeshi's physical abilities had improved in every way.
Speed, strength, explosive power…
Compared to the people he remembered, his current speed might even match A at full speed.
"I need to get used to this power. Speaking of which, outside Ryūchi Cave… which country is closest?"
Not wanting to look at the White Snake Sage, who was struggling not to laugh, Takeshi asked one of the Snake Princesses which country lay nearest to here.
"I think it's called the Land of Rice Fields — a country without a ninja village."
Seeing the White Snake Sage remain silent, Ichikishimahime answered.
"Then let's go. Staying here is boring."
Takeshi stood up, only to realize his hair had grown long again — almost touching the floor, just like when he trained in Shikkotsu Forest.
Touching his hair, Takeshi turned to the still-angry Uchiha Hikari.
"So, granny—how long was I training?"
"No idea." Hikari didn't want to acknowledge him at all.
The swelling on her face had already been healed by Takeshi, but the pain still lingered beneath the skin.
That punch had been too fast — even with Sharingan, she couldn't dodge it.
"It's probably been a few months. I heard Konoha's Chūnin Exams already ended."
The White Snake Sage finally pushed the laughter down and answered Takeshi's question.
"By the way, don't you want to sign a summoning contract with Ryūchi Cave? There are plenty of beings here not weaker than the toads."
As she spoke, Takeshi sliced off the excess hair with a kunai, cutting it back to a length he preferred.
"Huh? A summoning contract?"
Takeshi shook his head lightly and looked at the White Snake Sage.
"Of course. Since you've learned Ryūchi Cave's ultimate arts, you can naturally summon Ryūchi Cave creatures to help you in battle."
The White Snake Sage wanted to give Takeshi some goodwill — at the very least, it would ensure that after he defeated the Ōtsutsuki, he would continue respecting the Three Great Sacred Grounds.
Through their time together, she had come to understand Takeshi's personality. He was a contradiction — someone who valued profit above all but still possessed traces of sentiment.
Those who treated him well, he would risk his life to protect.
Those who wronged him, he would remember forever and repay without hesitation.
And he had his own internal standards. Someone like him must never be antagonized — once he gained power, any attempt at reconciliation would come far too late.
It was best to invest early.
The White Snake Sage had one goal: plant Ryūchi Cave in Takeshi's heart — even just a little.
"Orochimaru from your Konoha signed a contract with Manda and gained the title of Sannin, didn't he?"
Afraid Takeshi would reject her, the White Snake Sage gave an example.
"Ah, you mean Manda."
Her words immediately reminded Takeshi.
"Yes, yes—Manda…"
"The one who tries to eat people the moment he shows up, right?"
Takeshi cut her off.
The White Snake Sage immediately fell silent. The three Snake Princesses behind her didn't even dare breathe.
"What? No one's talking now?"
The sudden silence made Takeshi's voice echo loudly in the chamber.
"Well…"
The White Snake Sage wanted to argue but didn't know how.
She couldn't exactly say, "Eating people is just Ryūchi Cave's nature," right?
Besides, humans in the ninja world enacted human-on-human cruelty all the time — just not literally eating each other.
"Anyway, I really dislike that Manda guy. As for a summoning contract… well, YOU seem pretty good, White Snake Sage."
Takeshi had heard rumors about Ryūchi Cave; his impression of these snakes wasn't terrible, but far from good.
"But forget it. You're too old. If I summon you while fighting Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, wouldn't you get turned into snake soup?"
The White Snake Sage nearly spat a mouthful of blood onto the three Snake Princesses' faces.
Snake soup?
Treated this lightly?
How little regard did this brat have for the great White Snake Sage…?