As a renowned Great Snake of Ryūchi Cave, Manda naturally possessed knowledge of Sage Art. Its strength was terrifying, far surpassing ordinary summoned beasts.
Likewise, as the strongest Summoned Beast of the Summoning Island, the Ultimate Summoned Beast was no weakling either.
It had fused with the wings of the Seven-Tails and absorbed the chakra of the Nine-Tails, elevating its combat power to an astonishing level.
When these two titanic beings clashed, the result was nothing short of a natural disaster.
In only a short span of time, the surrounding dense forest was utterly annihilated across a vast area. Trees were uprooted, the earth was torn apart, and the landscape was left in ruins.
Watching this battle from the sidelines, Garaga's gaze grew increasingly cold.
Once, it too had been a ninja's summoned beast, until it was betrayed by its contractor.
From that moment on, Garaga developed deep hostility toward humans. In its eyes, humans were despicable creatures, utterly untrustworthy.
The brutal clash between Orochimaru and Manda unfolding before it only reinforced that belief.
At that moment, Rinne Path–Hiruko appeared before Garaga and looked up at it calmly.
"Garaga," he asked evenly, "how is the Sage Art of Ryūchi Cave cultivated?"
Garaga lowered its massive head, its single eye narrowing as a cold, almost human-like smile crept across its face.
"You want to learn Sage Art? Survive my fangs first!"
Before the last word had even faded, Garaga opened its enormous maw and lunged downward, biting fiercely toward Rinne Path–Hiruko.
It didn't even realize how its name had been called out, despite the fact that it had not spoken a single word since appearing.
Though blind in one eye and colossal in size, Garaga's movements were shockingly agile.
However, Rinne Path–Hiruko was never someone who could be struck so easily.
Using the Body Flicker Technique, he vanished from Garaga's bite and reappeared instantly atop its head.
A black rod had already formed in his hand. Without hesitation, he drove it straight into Garaga's body.
Compared to Garaga's massive frame, the black rod looked insignificant, like a human pricked by a tiny splinter.
It caused pain, but at first glance seemed harmless.
But the true purpose of the black rods was not direct damage; it was chakra disruption.
Once pierced by a black rod, one's chakra circulation would be thrown into chaos, making it impossible to use chakra properly and preventing the display of full strength.
Garaga immediately felt it. "Bastard! What did you do to me?!"
Roaring in fury, Garaga rolled its enormous body, attempting to crush Rinne Path–Hiruko beneath its sheer mass.
Its size became a terrifying advantage. Even without a properly functioning chakra, its raw physical power was overwhelming.
"If you still refuse to behave," Rinne Path–Hiruko said coldly, "don't blame me for showing no mercy."
As he spoke, he sprinted across Garaga's body, dodging its crushing movements with precision. At the same time, his hands never stopped moving.
One black rod after another was driven into Garaga's flesh.
Gradually, Garaga's massive body stiffened until it could no longer move at all.
"Vile human! I will definitely kill you!" Even completely immobilized, Garaga still roared its threats without backing down.
"If you tell me the method of cultivating Ryūchi Cave's Sage Art, I'll remove the black rods," Rinne Path–Hiruko replied calmly.
"Dream on!" Garaga snarled. "A mere human thinks he can make me submit?!"
Seeing its stubborn resistance, Rinne Path–Hiruko simply shook his head.
He then turned his gaze toward Manda. The battle there was still raging.
Against the flying Ultimate Summoned Beast, Manda was inherently at a disadvantage. Yet despite that, the unruly Great Snake stubbornly refused to yield.
Rinne Path–Orochimaru, however, had already lost patience.
He guided the Ultimate Summoned Beast to condense a Chakra Cannon, an ability born from the fusion of the Seven-Tails' wings and the Nine-Tails' chakra.
This technique was a variation of the Tailed Beast Ball.
Though its power was inferior to a true Tailed Beast Ball, it was still devastating. A single shot was enough to obliterate a small mountain.
Sensing the terrifying chakra gathering, Manda's expression changed drastically, and it prepared to evade.
But Rinne Path–Orochimaru moved first. He condensed an exceptionally long black rod and fired it at extreme speed.
Manda's enormous body left it no room to dodge. The black rod pierced straight through, pinning Manda firmly to the ground.
"Damn you, Orochimaru!" Manda roared in rage, desperately attempting to dispel the Summoning Jutsu.
But it couldn't. That realization sent a wave of panic through it.
At the same time, the Ultimate Summoned Beast's Chakra Cannon fully stabilized.
Before Manda could react again, it was fired directly at it.
Boom!
A deafening explosion erupted, followed by a violent shockwave that swept outward, carrying shattered wood, stone, and earth with it.
When the dust finally settled, all that remained was a spiderweb-like crater dozens of meters wide.
At the bottom of it lay Manda, its body mangled, drenched in blood.
Where was its former arrogance now? It looked utterly miserable.
"Vile… Orochimaru… I—I will kill you…" Even on the verge of collapse, Manda continued to curse.
In response, Rinne Path–Orochimaru only sneered.
He leapt down from the Ultimate Summoned Beast and stood before Manda, activating the Human Path to read its memories directly.
He did the same to Garaga.
Only after extracting the memories related to Sage Art cultivation from both Great Snakes did Rinne Path–Orochimaru turn away in satisfaction and walk into the base.
As for Garaga and Manda, they were not released.
Instead, they were handed over to Rinne Path–Hiruko for further processing.
Do not be mistaken by their pitiful state earlier. In reality, both were among the strongest existences within Ryūchi Cave.
Aside from the White Snake Sage and the three Snake Princesses capable of assuming human form, Garaga and Manda stood at the very top.
They appeared weak only because their opponent was Rinne Path–Orochimaru.
Thus, Rinne Path–Hiruko planned to use the Chimera Technique to fuse them together, creating an even more powerful Two-Headed Snake.
Once completed, it would become the second exclusive Summoned Beast of the Animal Path.
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Inside the base.
Rinne Path–Orochimaru entered the research laboratory and carefully recorded all the knowledge extracted from Manda's and Garaga's memories.
"Whether it's Shikkotsu Forest or Ryūchi Cave," he muttered, "their Sage Arts truly aren't suitable for ninja."
"Still… if I want to develop a Sage Art genuinely compatible with ninja, there are far too many unresolved difficulties."
After thoroughly analyzing the information, he let out a quiet sigh. "It seems the real breakthrough still lies with Jūgo."
Jūgo possessed a naturally mutated constitution that allowed him to absorb natural energy without training and enter a Sage Transformation State on his own.
Although this came with the severe side effect of berserking, transforming his gentle nature into a bloodthirsty one.
There was no doubt that the techniques he used in that state were genuine Sage Arts.
"However, at this point in time, Jūgo shouldn't have been born yet."
Previously, Aoshi had already searched for Jūgo, but found nothing. There was also no related clan with that ability recorded anywhere in the ninja world.
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