Inside Ryūchi Cave, several stone pillars, so wide that it would take five or six people to embrace them, supported the ceiling. Giant white snakes coiled around them, their white bodies wrapped multiple times around each pillar, leaving only the top and bottom ends exposed.
The front section of the snake's body coiled into a seat, its head resting on a specially made armrest, while its tail gently tapped against the stone pillar, indicating the White Snake Sage was in a good mood.
Based on Naruto's many years of watching animal documentaries and observing the natural world, this particular snake was female.
After replenishing his chakra, Sasuke returned to his original spot to continue cultivating Sage Mode.
As for Naruto, he was busy remodeling Ryūchi Cave.
It wasn't his own territory, so he couldn't make drastic changes, but lighting was essential, because Ryūchi Cave was just too dark.
For an anime series that boasted legendary eye techniques, its environments were inexplicably dark, showing no regard for eye health. No wonder they went blind.
Following his usual routine, he first hung up lights, then arranged mirrors to reflect the light, maximizing its utilization.
In less than twenty minutes, the snake cavern was brightly lit, the light reflecting off the snake scales with a slightly iridescent sheen. The quality was excellent; perhaps the White Snake Sage regularly polished them.
Fearing an oxygen shortage might extinguish the lights, Naruto also dug a ventilation shaft upwards.
After finishing, Naruto returned near Sasuke and took out a bucket of water to wash his hands.
Watching Sasuke sitting cross-legged, an idea suddenly popped into his head.
Should I teach him how to massage his temples and roll around his eye sockets?
To protect one's eyesight, one should, of course, do eye exercises.
This was a feasible idea, but he should teach his wife first.
Even the Byakugan could suffer from eye fatigue. Take his brother-in-law, for instance; during the Fourth Great Ninja War, he used his Byakugan so much that he eventually couldn't distinguish between Kiba and Akamaru.
Naruto hopped and skipped around Ryūchi Cave, digging pits and carving holes, his recklessness off the charts.
But the White Snake Sage didn't stop him. It found it quite amusing that its massive size and the occasional bursts of oppressive aura it released had no effect on Naruto whatsoever.
It was as if he did this all the time, rich with experience.
Under the light, Sasuke cultivated, Naruto observed, and the White Snake Sage watched Naruto. The atmosphere was pleasant.
Suddenly, the ground churned, forming a large hand that slammed onto Sasuke's back. After Sasuke was knocked over, the large hand squeezed him hard, like a tube of toothpaste.
This was the White Snake Sage's Sage Art: Inorganic Reanimation, which could imbue inorganic matter with life and control it freely.
Sasuke arched his neck and spat out a large blob of invisible Natural Energy, with a few strands of chakra clinging to it.
His excessive chakra consumption wasn't without reason.
Looking at the large hand, Naruto secretly felt relieved that he hadn't recklessly carved "Naruto Uzumaki Was Here" onto the wall just now, or he might already be crushed under that hand.
"Little brat, you made a mistake. Remember, Natural Energy isn't like chakra; you need to..." The White Snake Sage explained to Sasuke in great detail.
Much more detailed than before, because it noticed Naruto was also learning.
It could sense that Naruto hadn't yet learned Sage Mode. Since he was learning, he would certainly utilize it in his future training. In that case...
The successor of Mount Myōboku cultivating a Snake Sage Mode? The expressions on those toads' faces should be quite interesting.
The White Snake Sage's tail tapped the stone pillar even faster.
And so, Naruto trained at Mount Myōboku in the mornings, occasionally going to Ryūchi Cave in the afternoons to help out and leave a clone to listen in.
Other Sage Mode practitioners focused on cultivating one type of Sage Mode, but Naruto, he secretly enrolled in a class at Ryūchi Cave.
The next day, Naruto was listening in at Ryūchi Cave when a small snake suddenly appeared. Because there were more lights in the cave, there were too many heat sources, confusing the snake's senses. The small snake circled a few times before crawling to the White Snake Sage.
It performed a bowing gesture. After receiving permission, it spat out a scroll, unrolled it flat with its tail, then lay still.
Only then did the White Snake Sage put on its glasses from nearby and begin to read. When it read something amusing, the frequency of its tail tapping increased.
After finishing, before the White Snake Sage made any move, the small snake had already swallowed the scroll and slithered away.
"That Orochimaru fellow is truly regressing with age. They actually asked me to keep an eye on you," the White Snake Sage said with disdain.
"You just used 'they'?" Naruto's focus was clearly different from everyone else's.
The White Snake Sage sighed. "Indeed. I can't even distinguish what category they fall into. That flawed immortality jutsu brings more than just physical changes; their mind and soul will also be corrupted."
Regarding immortality jutsu, the White Snake Sage certainly had the right to judge, for it was truly immortal; otherwise, it wouldn't be able to compete with the Great Toad Sage in terms of longevity.
Its snake tail tapped the stone pillar: "If they can't find a way to fix it, I wouldn't be surprised by any strange actions they take in the future."
Naruto was taken aback. So, Orochimaru, that snake demon, will go insane later?
"Never mind, let's not talk about them." The White Snake Sage controlled the large hand to squeeze Sasuke. "Wrong again..."
The cavern was vast. The two young ninja remained silent. Only the White Snake Sage's voice, accompanied by the high-frequency tapping sound, several dozen times per second, echoed through the space.
The more earnestly Naruto listened, the happier it became.
A few days later.
Sitting on Mount Myōboku, Naruto distinctly felt his Sage Mode progress accelerate. Whereas it might have taken seven or eight years before, now it might take less than a year.
He couldn't help but marvel at how amazing his parents from his past life truly were. His Mother Xu said he'd be duped by bad friends, and he really was. His Father Xu said he had a destiny with white snakes, and he really did; as soon as he encountered a white snake, he gained Sage affinity.
After returning to Jiraiya's side and finishing lunch, he put on the shackles of the Mo Xie Treasure Brick and his headphones.
Seeing Naruto's actions, Shunfeng immediately darted into the trees, and Jiraiya leaped onto a branch, closely following Shunfeng.
Naruto's singing was already bad enough; adding headphones made it lethal.
Xiao Lingtong also darted onto a branch, harassing small animals within two hundred meters of Naruto. It wasn't afraid of the singing; it just wanted to play.
Only Ginger Fishcake lay soundly asleep on the blanket spread over the brick behind Naruto, his head buried under the blanket.
As usual, Shunfeng led the way.
The forest was overgrown with weeds and filled with giant trees, making it difficult for Naruto to drag the brick.
Weeds were easy. Giant trees were to be circumvented if possible. If they couldn't be circumvented...
A large red chakra hand gripped a tree trunk, pulled it forcefully, wrenching out its roots, shook off the soil, and Naruto flung the tree aside.
Boom...
The tremendous crash of the falling tree echoed. Ginger Fishcake remained undisturbed. Xiao Lingtong returned, squeaking complaints about Naruto scaring away its prey.
As the treasure brick passed by, the crater instantly became level.
If they were walking in a straight line, this would definitely be a perfect road-building process.
Too bad.
Bang, bang... A few sounds. A tree branch flying from afar drew an arrow on a tree trunk to Naruto's left.
After that... the Naruto-style road roller made a turn.
A few days later, Naruto received the ordered clothes. There were three items in total, all the exact same size, likely belonging to the same person.
He put on the clothes, spun around a few times in front of Jiraiya, and asked, "How do I look?"
The clothes fit perfectly. If the manager hadn't said they were acquired from a client they had worked with for decades, Naruto would have thought the manager had custom-made them to his height.
Jiraiya's expression was uglier than if he had drunk toad oil, pondering why he had followed those young ladies to those ponds in the first place.
Naruto ignored him, picked up Xiao Lingtong and draped him around his neck, faking a fur coat, and asked, "How about this time?"
Jiraiya chugged his sake, Indeed, following them was a mistake.
Wearing an Akatsuki uniform and a fur wrap, Naruto took two steps. "Don't just stay silent! At least give me a review!"
Crunch! Jiraiya bit down on a peanut, then slammed his sake cup down. "A review, you say?"
He overturned the table, Jiraiya exploded into action with a kick: "You ungrateful disciple, prepare to die!"
Such a disciple, might as well kill him.
Thud. Naruto blocked with both hands, sent flying backward by the kick.
Jiraiya set down the snatched snow weasel, got up, and chased after him: "Don't run!"
Meanwhile, in a dimly lit secret room in the Land of Rain, the Akatsuki organization was gathered for a meeting.
Why is the organization leader's face like a corpse? Why are their outer robes frequently stolen? Why is the ninety-year-old man acting suspiciously? Is it a collapse of morality or the temptation of money? Watch today's Akatsuki meeting.
Konan stared at Kakuzu and questioned him, "Was it you who stole them?"
She already had proof; asking was just for confirmation.
Stealing two of my robes in a week, even the spares. You must have a death wish, don't you?
"Yes," Kakuzu admitted readily. The money was already in his hands anyway.
Besides, she was usually the one most persistent about money. What's wrong with taking a few of her clothes to break even?
When he heard about this task, Kakuzu felt it was easier than picking up money.
One outfit could fetch the price of a Guardian Shinobi Twelve's head. What else could it be but free money?
Upon hearing the mission requirement for a height of 169 cm, Kakuzu took two seconds to review the heights of the organization members and realized there was one person in their organization who was 169 cm tall: Akatsuki's White Tiger Konan.
Thus, the robe Naruto was wearing was a genuine tiger-skin coat.
Truly, a case of "plotting for tiger skin"!
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