Naruto and Sasuke were taken away by Fukasaku. Naruto would stay at Myoboku Mountain to train in Senjutsu, while Sasuke would train at the Ryuchi Cave, connected through Myoboku Mountain.
Though the Ryuchi Cave wasn’t as friendly as Myoboku Mountain, they still respected Rikudou Sennin. And if Sasuke performed well, they didn’t mind signing a summoning contract with him since he was still officially Rikudou Sennin’s disciple.
This Ryuchi Cave doesn’t just take off, huh?
Kurama was taken away by Rikudou Sennin, but no one knew where exactly. It was said that Kurama was going for training, but he had been grumbling all the way, probably unhappy about where he was being taken.
In any case, everything went smoothly... except for Sasuke.
The Ryuchi Cave was different from Myoboku Mountain. It was in a massive cave filled with all kinds of natural energy. Just stepping inside, you could feel the pressure.
The chilly cave air was filled with an ominous, cold feeling, as though some evil monster was watching from the shadows. The worst part was, you couldn’t tell if it was just an illusion or something real. The sense of confusion would drive most people mad.
If it weren’t for the fact that Sasuke had already experienced this twisted feeling from Orochimaru, his expression might not be so bad now.
Following the lead of the toad, they entered the Ryuchi Cave, passing through numerous obstacles. Finally, the path opened up before them, and as Sasuke adjusted to the light, he saw only a massive, snow-white snake.
It wasn’t about size, but it was definitely long. Sasuke instinctively followed the snake’s body with his eyes, but all he saw was the endless white form moving behind him. The sight made his sanity drop. Even though he didn’t have much to begin with, it still sent a chill down his spine.
The White Snake Sage... but not the one from later generations—the previous one.
The toad leading the way instinctively took two steps back, nervously saying, "I’m just the guide, remember, don’t kill the messenger."
Ryuchi Cave and Mount Myoboku had always been enemies, especially thousands of years ago, when things were really intense. But they did have some strange agreements between them.
For example, they wouldn’t kill children, and every once in a while, they would call a truce, have a drink with Lord Slug, and, finally, the agreement not to harm messengers. This could be considered a gentleman’s agreement, and so far, except for a few crazy snakes, they hadn’t really broken any of these rules.
The White Snake Sage was lounging in a giant chair, a face bigger than a human’s, and a mocking smile appeared on it.
"Don’t worry, Ryuchi Cave is still quite honorable," the White Snake Sage said.
The little toad gulped nervously. "Well, since I’ve brought them here, I’ll be going now."
"Go ahead, and give my regards to that old toad of yours," the White Snake Sage said, waving its tail in a grand manner.
The little toad froze for a second, then mumbled something under its breath before turning to leave.
Sasuke couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth when he heard what the little toad said.
Looking at the toad’s retreating figure, the White Snake Sage said, amused, "Let me guess, did that toad just say to tell the old toad of Mount Myoboku that I said hi?"
High EQ: You two are really in sync.
Low EQ: You’re right.
Sasuke chose to answer with a neutral, evil-leaning tone: "You’re not far off."
The old toad was a bit more straightforward, after all, toads were more blunt, unlike snakes, who were more subtle.
"Heh," the White Snake Sage sneered, "We’ve been cursing each other for years, and no one’s actually died, but it’ll be soon enough. Both that old guy and I are nearing the end of our lives."
Sasuke frowned. "Isn’t the lifespan of the giant snake from Ryuchi Cave much longer than that of the toads from Mount Myoboku?"
That’s what Jiraiya had said.
"It doesn’t matter," the White Snake Sage said, lounging back in the giant chair. "I already know what I need to. Now, I have two choices for you."
Sasuke frowned but didn’t argue.
The White Snake Sage nodded in satisfaction and continued, "First, I can teach you Senjutsu. Whether or not you learn it is up to you. Once the time is up, you leave, and you’ll have no more ties to Ryuchi Cave, and we won’t pass our position or method of training on to anyone else."
"What’s the second choice?" Sasuke asked.
"The second one is simple," the White Snake Sage smiled. "You sign a contract with us. If you do that, you can ignore everything I just said. And Ryuchi Cave will provide you with a completely safe training method. We can’t guarantee you’ll learn it, but we can guarantee you won’t die."
The Senjutsu of Ryuchi Cave wasn’t as gentle as the other two sacred places. If you learned it, great. If you didn’t, you died.
Throughout history, how many ninjas have died in Ryuchi Cave? It’s countless.
Sasuke didn’t answer directly but lowered his head to think. The White Snake Sage wasn’t in a hurry and just watched him.
In Sasuke’s mind, Naruto would definitely sign a contract with Mount Myoboku. After all, Jiraiya and Minato were both heirs of the mountain, and Naruto had no reason not to sign. As for Sakura, she was learning from Tsunade, so it was very likely she would sign with the Shikkotsu Forest. But what about him?
Sasuke actually wanted to sign with Mount Myoboku, but...
He thought about Orochimaru...
He took a deep breath. "I’ll choose the first one."
The White Snake Sage immediately stopped, furrowing her brows. "I can’t think of a reason why you would refuse us."
"Sacrifices," Sasuke answered seriously. "I heard Naruto mention Ryuchi Cave. Every time Orochimaru summons the snakes, he offers them hundreds of live human sacrifices. Even though they’re just ordinary people, I won’t use others’ lives to help me grow. I can’t do that."
This Sasuke wasn’t the same as the one in the original story.
"Hahahaha," the White Snake Sage suddenly laughed loudly.
Sasuke frowned. "What are you laughing at?"
The White Snake Sage didn’t answer right away but kept laughing until, after a while, she slowly spoke. "We won’t ask you for sacrifices. Although we’d like to, don’t worry, unless you allow us to devour, I can promise you that we won’t go against your will."
This surprised Sasuke. "You’re so easy to talk to at Ryuchi Cave?"
"Because it’s you." The White Snake Sage suddenly became serious. "Uchiha Sasuke, the prophecy in this world isn’t necessarily true, but the possibility is enough for us to gamble on you, even if we have to let go of the trivial matters. I believe that old toad has the same idea."
At this point, the White Snake Sage showed a meaningful expression. "You didn’t know, did you? Before you and that kid named Uzumaki Naruto arrived in this era, including Rikudou Sennin, Mount Myoboku, Ryuchi Cave, and Lord of the Slugs, all of us were ready to welcome you."
"History won’t change, but it can be influenced by human intervention. You and that Uzumaki Naruto kid are our gamble."
"Win, and the world will be at peace, and the three great sage lands will rise. Lose, and the world will be destroyed, but the three great sage lands won’t be harmed."
"To sacrifice a small hobby for that? We can accept it."
The three great sage lands existed even before Otsutsuki Kaguya arrived, and the powers inherited by the three lands were natural energy, not chakra. Even if Naruto and Sasuke fail in the future, and Kaguya absorbs all the chakra, causing the death of all ninjas, it has nothing to do with the three great sage lands.
It sounded cold, but that was the reality.
Sasuke fell silent again, thinking deeply. After a long pause, he looked up at the White Snake Sage. "I understand. I’ll sign the contract with you, but I hope the snake I contract with has at least a decent brain."
The White Snake Sage nodded in satisfaction, then thought for a moment. "The snakes with decent brains haven’t been born yet in Ryuchi Cave. I can only help you pick one that’s somewhat normal."
Wait, are you being this direct?