"Understood."
White Zetsu sank into the ground and vanished before the group.
The next moment, he emerged beneath the Hyuga Clan's territory.
However, before surfacing,
he overheard some nearby moaning and tangled breathing from the surface above.
White Zetsu hesitated, then relocated further away.
White Zetsu, being a clone spread across the globe—an "observer of humanity"—knew a great deal about humans, except for things like the sensation of defecation.
Right now, however, his feelings were rather complicated.
He thought, Black Zetsu had told him to report immediately upon discovering anything concerning Hiroki Hyuga and Kaguya-sama.
But should he mention something like *this*? That guy would probably break down.
Seemingly no matter how one looked at it, Hiroki Hyuga was more favored.
Meanwhile, far away in the Country of Rain,
as Black Zetsu held the Map of the Ninja World and discussed with Madara Uchiha exactly which countries to target first with Tsukuyomi, White Zetsu remained silent throughout.
At the Hyuga residence, within Kaguya's quarters,
Hiroki Hyuga and Kaguya lay sprawled on the bed together, chests exposed, gazing into each other's eyes.
"There was someone here just now..." Hiroki Hyuga spoke first.
"It was White Zetsu," Kaguya replied.
Immediately afterward, the pair who'd been entangled sat upright, adjusted their clothing, and resumed composed expressions.
The lingering intimacy in the room vanished completely.
Before long, as though sensing the situation, White Zetsu surfaced before them.
Seeing neither showed any abnormality, White Zetsu quickly recounted what he'd overheard from Shimon Hiruko.
"Ten-Tails Chakra?"
"Yes. According to Kabuto Yakushi, Ten-Tails chakra can even devour others' chakra..." White Zetsu added a few more details.
Hiroki Hyuga felt stirred inside—wasn't that nearly the same as the God Tree?
He asked Kaguya directly, "Kaguya, can extracted Ten-Tails chakra develop into something like the God Tree?"
"How could that be? Can your clones ever match your original self?" Kaguya countered.
As the two continued their conversation, White Zetsu slipped away unnoticed.
Hearing her response, Hiroki Hyuga felt slightly disappointed; his earlier idea quickly deflated.
Neither Kaguya nor Otsutsuki Mineo had pierced through to the innermost secrets of the Otsutsuki Clan. They didn't understand how the God Tree sapling had originally come into being.
Eventually, they still decided to visit Ryuchi Cave.
Gamamaru alone was even capable of instructing the Sage of Six Paths, so among the Three Great Sages, their strengths should be comparable. Who knew what kind of trouble Ryuchi Cave might stir up?
However, neither of them nor White Zetsu knew exactly where Ryuchi Cave lay.
Among those they knew, only the Slug Sage was aware of Ryuchi Cave's location.
Inside Shikkotsu Forest, after saying goodbye to Kaguya and Hiroki Hyuga, the Slug Sage fell into deep thought.
From the moment she became involved with Kaguya and the others, inevitably, she had started walking a path opposed to the other Sages.
That food chain between frogs, slugs, and snakes was probably going to collapse...
It made sense—snakes did have a particular preference for cool, damp, and quiet places.
Ryuchi Cave was especially like that.
The sky hung heavy with clouds, making everything seem dark and murky, like it could rain at any moment.
On this vast land stood a rusted iron cage. Orochimaru, covered in filth, was half-lying inside. His face showed no trace of color, pale and worn-out.
Before him stood three fair-skinned women.
The Three Divine Maidens of Ryuchi Cave were named Taiko Hime, Ichikishima Hime, and Tachibana Hime.
Each of them carried powerful Sage Chakra.
Unlike the toads of Mount Myoboku who insisted on maintaining their frog-like forms, these high-ranking beings of Ryuchi Cave could transform into human shapes and possessed the abilities of levitation and invisibility.
Unlike their larger kin who favored direct combat, they specialized in ambushes.
"Orochimaru, is that something you've brought forth?"
Hearing this, Orochimaru felt slightly puzzled. Following their gaze, he only saw a short, small sapling.
"What the—?"
"This is something the White Snake Sage extracted from one of our own. Even Manda perished because of it." Taiko Hime fixed Orochimaru with a chilling stare.
At those words, Orochimaru froze, then a sly grin crept across his face.
"Manda is dead? Because of this?"
He had already guessed most of what happened and inwardly murmured,
Even the chakra of the [Ten-Tails] retains its growth instinct... I wonder how far it can evolve?
Taiko Hime and the other two maidens continued to stare at him coldly.
It was true that Ryuchi Cave emphasized survival of the fittest, but too many deaths among their kin would affect the normal operations of the Snake Clan.
Orochimaru's antics had already caused chaos and panic.
This led the White Snake Sage herself to personally investigate and dispatch these three to bring Orochimaru here.
"How is it? Can't even the White Snake Sage handle this thing?"
Orochimaru didn't care about their feelings. Upon realizing that he had drawn the attention of Ryuchi Cave's upper echelons, he secretly felt pleased, and his expression became somewhat mocking.
"Isn't she at least equal to the Great Toad Sage? A thousand years ago, just a bit of guidance from Mount Myoboku was enough for the Sage of Six Paths to deal with the God Tree itself..."
"Hmph!" Taiko Hime snorted. They had no intention of engaging in detailed discussion with Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru, don't overstep your bounds. You answer what we ask—and nothing more!"
Orochimaru just shook his head, smirking slightly, and remained silent.
Just as Taiko Hime and the other two were preparing to teach Orochimaru another lesson, something sudden occurred.
The ground began shaking violently. Ripples spread from underground toward where they stood before suddenly stopping, without causing any casualties.
Taiko Hime and the others exchanged glances.
Earthquakes weren't common within Ryuchi Cave unless fellow snakes were fighting with excessive force.
The massive body of the White Snake Sage had become one with the earth, allowing her—at least in theory—to control every corner of Ryuchi Cave.
It made a lot of noise but caused no real damage. The vibrations precisely reached where Taiko Hime and the others were gathered, clearly orchestrated by the White Snake Sage herself.
"Let's go. The Sage might have something to discuss with us."
The three women exchanged silent nods, hoisted the cage holding Orochimaru, and soared further into the depths of Ryuchi Cave.
Haku—a colossal white serpent with phosphorescent scales, yellow pupils, a green cat's eye gemstone embedded in her chest, and a pipe clenched between her lips—coiled lazily around her throne.
Without lifting her gaze much upon their arrival, she spoke with calm detachment before any of them could say a word: "A visitor has arrived... unannounced."
Her voice bore the crisp, aged timbre of an elder—detached, and chillingly distant.
"Orochimaru… those people you dragged here have finally arrived."
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