"You say we're going to find Isshiki's whereabouts… but how exactly are we going to find him?"
After leaving the giant satellite fortress floating above the Land of Rain, Naruto Uzumaki maintained Sage Mode and roughly calculated the range he could perceive. Then he compared it to the vast area of the entire shinobi world and could not help asking,
"We're not going to rely on our sensing abilities like this and sweep the whole shinobi world bit by bit, are we?"
"That is the fallback method. Although it is clumsy, time-consuming, and exhausting, its advantage is that there is no real difficulty. As long as we remain patient and careful, we will eventually find the target we want."
Rei Kaguya shook his head. He bit his finger and formed the hand seals for the Reverse Summoning Technique. Before transporting both himself and Naruto Uzumaki to Ryuchi Cave, he said lazily,
"But before that, there are other methods we can try… For example, the prophecy of the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, who sees through the future, and the White Snake Sage of Ryuchi Cave, who knows everything about the 'present.'"
White smoke rose.
In the blink of an eye, the figures of Rei Kaguya and Naruto Uzumaki vanished from the Land of Rain and instantly appeared within Ryuchi Cave, which overflowed with natural energy.
"This place… is Ryuchi Cave?"
Naruto Uzumaki looked around. He was first surprised by the natural energy inside Ryuchi Cave, which was far denser than Mount Myoboku's. Then, because of the summoning snakes curiously looking toward him after his sudden appearance, he almost instinctively trembled and assumed a somewhat jumpy guarded stance.
"Let's go. The White Snake Sage should already be waiting for us to visit."
Rei Kaguya lightly snapped his fingers.
The giant snakes of Ryuchi Cave nearby obediently withdrew their gazes, which had been sizing up prey, and returned to coil in their own territories.
After overcoming a frog's fear of snakes, Naruto Uzumaki curiously asked Rei, who was leading him forward,
"Speaking of which, have you been to Mount Myoboku and Shikkotsu Forest, Rei?"
"Why ask that?"
"Because I learned senjutsu at Mount Myoboku, you know? So without thinking, I started comparing Mount Myoboku's environment to Ryuchi Cave's… And when it comes to the density of natural energy, Ryuchi Cave is actually quite a bit higher than Mount Myoboku."
Naruto Uzumaki sensed the senjutsu chakra slowly increasing inside his body even though he had not taken the initiative to gather it. After taking a deep breath, he asked solemnly,
"Don't you think that's a bit abnormal?"
"There is nothing abnormal about it. Rather, if Ryuchi Cave's natural energy were not so abundant that it overflowed, Orochimaru would never have found the Jugo clansmen whose constitutions were altered by natural energy, nor would he have been able to develop the Curse Mark, a forbidden technique with such an absurd ceiling, through their physical uniqueness."
As they passed through a tunnel that seemed to have been forcibly opened by the enormous body of a giant snake over a hundred meters long, leading toward Ryuchi Cave's temple, Rei Kaguya breathed in the natural energy in the air that made him feel relaxed and pleasant while explaining to Naruto Uzumaki.
"But Mount Myoboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryuchi Cave have always been known as the Three Great Sage Regions…"
"Heh, being equally famous does not mean they must display exactly the same qualities in every aspect, mature Child of Prophecy…"
The one who answered Naruto Uzumaki's question was an aged female voice, hoarse and gloomy, yet carrying a trace of poorly concealed delight.
As that voice rang out, the tunnel before the two suddenly opened wide, revealing the Ryuchi Cave temple carved out at some unknown point in the distant past, and the White Snake Sage, whose incomparably massive body coiled within the temple as she quietly awaited their arrival.
"White Snake Sage…"
Naruto Uzumaki looked at the White Snake Sage, who held a pipe in her mouth and whose body was even more exaggerated than Manda, the snake Orochimaru had used, or even the second-generation Manda modified by Kabuto Yakushi. He could not help swallowing hard.
Rei Kaguya's attitude was much more casual and relaxed. He looked at the White Snake Sage's arrangement of not having Tagorihime and the others attend at her side and said leisurely,
"It seems you attach great importance to today's conversation, White Snake Sage."
"When has anything that made you personally come to me for help ever been unimportant, Rei?"
The White Snake Sage flicked her tongue. A rare look of nostalgia for the past appeared in her enormous eyes.
"Not to mention, the person you are looking for this time is Isshiki Otsutsuki, a fellow even more cunning and more dangerous than Kaguya Otsutsuki, who was defeated by those two brats from the Six Paths line…"
"Amazing."
Naruto Uzumaki could not help revealing a surprised expression.
"We haven't even said why we came, but you already know our purpose, White Snake Sage… No wonder Rei said you're a sage who knows everything about the present."
"Knows everything about the present? Not quite…"
The White Snake Sage exhaled a string of smoke rings from her nostrils, her tone unable to hide its age.
"I only know, to a limited degree like that old toad of Mount Myoboku, the information valuable to the 'present'… If I truly knew all information about the present, I would become something similar to that fellow in Shikkotsu Forest."
"Like the Great Toad Sage…"
Naruto Uzumaki, who had only recently learned about the origin of natural energy, narrowed his eyes.
"The Great Toad Sage's special ability is to prophesy the future in a limited way. Your ability is to know the present within limits. Then could it be that Lady Katsuyu of Shikkotsu Forest…"
"This is both a gift and a trouble, fox brat."
The White Snake Sage tapped out her pipe and interrupted Naruto Uzumaki's guess with an ancient tone.
As for Rei Kaguya, who already had some conjectures regarding this matter, he shook his head and said in an utterly calm tone,
"Since you already know why we came, you should be willing to lend us a hand, White Snake Sage?"
"Have I ever refused your request for help, Rei?"
The White Snake Sage turned her head and looked at Rei Kaguya, whose appearance somewhat resembled Hamura Otsutsuki in his youth. After taking a deep drag from her pipe, she slowly said,
"Last time, that old toad took the initiative to help that Six Paths brat and his brother, sending the greedy Kaguya Otsutsuki into a seal that lasted several thousand years. I hope that this time, the actions of you two will also allow that dangerous fellow Isshiki Otsutsuki to obtain a similar ending."
"Please bear witness."
Rei Kaguya nodded, signaling for Naruto Uzumaki beside him to show the White Snake Sage the chakra information of Isshiki Otsutsuki and the monk Jigen, whom he had parasitized.
As Naruto Uzumaki displayed the information he had obtained from the Ten-Tails to the White Snake Sage, he still could not help asking in a low voice,
"Um, White Snake Sage? Why did you say that if you truly knew all information about the present, you would become something similar to Lady Katsuyu of Shikkotsu Forest? Did something happen to her?"
"The more information you actively or passively receive, the thinner your self will become. In the end, you will either become cold and emotionless, no longer having anything to do with your original self, or you will have to be like Katsuyu, thinking of every possible way to divide away the excess information and using forgetting to protect your original self."
The White Snake Sage licked Naruto Uzumaki's face with her long, forked snake tongue and said meaningfully,
"The reason that old toad's memory has become so poor is not entirely because it has grown too old… And this matter is no longer something distant and unreachable for you and Rei. You must never, ever forget to make preparations in advance, Naruto Uzumaki."
"What are you… talking about?"
Naruto Uzumaki subconsciously replied like that.
"I said nothing. When the time comes, you will understand on your own."
The White Snake Sage looked at Naruto Uzumaki, whose personality was far less mature than Rei Kaguya's, with great interest.
Then she closed her eyes and began sensing the "present" information of the person named Jigen.