"Huh? Why isn't there a barrier?"
Hiroki and Kaguya strode boldly into Ryuchi Cave.
The air was damp and humid.
They proceeded without any obstruction. No invisible energy walls blocked their path, nor did any clumsy snakes come charging at them.
"Where have all the snakes gone?"
"Could they have anticipated our arrival?"
Just as both of them were feeling suspicious...
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The once-flat ground suddenly shifted beneath their feet.
Countless thick spikes erupted from the earth like growing thorns, shooting directly toward Hiroki and Kaguya.
Luckily, they hadn't let their guard down and dodged this sudden ambush effortlessly.
"There's still no one showing up nearby..." Kaguya hovered midair, glancing around.
"It seems these guys all use similar jutsu—either water manipulation or earth control..."
Hiroki floated beside her, nodding with understanding.
"These so-called sages probably don't want to leave their territory because here, they're nearly omnipotent, able to easily harness Natural Energy and alter the terrain."
Listening to his analysis, Kaguya raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Oh?"
Looking downward, she added, "Not just terrain transformation—it must also include some genjutsu..."
The previously motionless ground now seemed to transform instantly into rolling conveyor belts. Anyone caught on it would feel like sinking into a swamp or getting pulled into a meat grinder, facing deadly danger at any moment.
And that wasn't all—more and more chunks of earth or stones solidified into hard pillars and projectiles, launching wave after wave in perfect order at the two figures hovering above.
"Seriously... Is this really all they've got?"
Kaguya wore a look of mild disdain.
To ordinary people, these attacks would indeed appear as a relentless wall of death.
But for someone like her, capable of ignoring ninjutsu and mastering space-based abilities, it was nothing more than kindergarten-level nonsense.
True enough, some of these techniques carried Natural Energy and occasionally caused her slight caution—but if they couldn't even touch her, then they were essentially useless anyway.
Hiroki felt similarly, viewing this as merely automatic shape transformation, practically identical to Sunagakure's Magnet Release, except slightly broader in range.
"White Snake Sage, are those two intruders dead yet?"
Deep inside the temple, the Three Shikigami stood beside the White Snake Sage, asking with slight concern.
They couldn't see the distant battle, but they could hear the booming sounds and sense the flowing Natural Energy in the air.
The White Snake Sage shook his head slightly, letting out a soft sigh. "Those two aren't ordinary beings."
"Then what should we do now?" asked Taiko Hime.
After pondering briefly, the White Snake Sage instructed her, "You go to Mount Myoboku and inform the frogs about everything."
Then he turned his gaze toward Taiko Hime and the others. "As for you two, go and invite them over."
"Them?" Ichikishima Hime and Tachibana Hime looked startled.
"The two unexpected guests," the White Snake Sage said calmly.
The three divine maidens exchanged glances, then without further words, they split up and gradually vanished before the White Snake Sage.
Not far away, the cage containing Orochimaru had been casually tossed onto the ground. The White Snake Sage paid him no mind, while Orochimaru himself silently watched everything unfold.
"Everything's come to a stop…"
The tremors across the ground ceased entirely, instantly falling silent with no trace left behind, as if nothing had ever happened.
Hiroki and Kaguya floated midair, looking down at the scene below with quiet sighs.
At that very moment,
Two more figures suddenly appeared in the sky.
Ichikishima Hime and Tachibana Hime flew over while hidden, then revealed themselves openly afterward.
The four individuals in the air exchanged glances. Remembering the White Snake Sage's orders, Ichikishima Hime and Tachibana Hime intentionally lowered their positions slightly, placing themselves beneath Hiroki and Kaguya.
With humble expressions, Ichikishima Hime spoke first: "My master has been expecting you both for quite some time…"
"So then, what was that just now?" Kaguya asked playfully.
"That was the sacred land's automatic defense system. It activates whenever strangers appear," Ichikishima Hime explained calmly, then added, "Please, honored guests, follow us to my master's chambers."
"Orochimaru stole my treasure. I heard he was captured by you. Hand him over," Hiroki said, subtly glancing at Kaguya.
She blinked but said nothing.
"He is also with my master," Ichikishima Hime continued.
"Lead the way," Hiroki huffed coldly.
Then the two followed them into the temple within Ryuchi Cave.
The White Snake Sage still sat upon the central throne, maintaining her mysterious demeanor.
Hiroki glanced at Orochimaru caged nearby, then turned his gaze toward the White Snake Sage, who was disguised as an ordinary old woman.
"So you're calling yourself a immortal..."
As he spoke, a Chakra Sphere formed in his hand, which he hurled directly at the White Snake Sage's location.
Whoosh…
A hole pierced through the spot where she had once sat.
But she had already vanished using her floating and invisibility techniques.
Thud…
In the next instant, she landed firmly on the ground, revealing her form again, standing opposite Hiroki and Kaguya at a short distance.
Looking toward Kaguya, she spoke:
"It seems we aren't enemies…"
"Orochimaru betrayed the Snake Clan by forming a pact with Ryuchi Cave and drawing much of his power from them. For that, he must face our judgment."
Upon hearing this, Orochimaru twitched the corner of his mouth.
"We most certainly are enemies," Kaguya scoffed. "I am the ruler of this world. You strange creatures have occupied too many resources, so all of you deserve to die."
The White Snake Sage fell silent.
They had long known that Kaguya Otsutsuki was domineering and bloodthirsty, but they hadn't expected her killing intent to reach such extremes.
Regardless of how things stood, Kaguya Otsutsuki was an outsider—surely they were the native inhabitants here. How could she claim ownership over these lands so easily?
"I know what transpired between you and Gamamaru…"
"You *know*? Then you truly deserve death even more!" Kaguya interrupted sharply.
The White Snake Sage fell silent once again.
Everyone around here had lived for millennia, yet this one still acted so willfully and was impossible to reason with—just like an emotional human.
The Three Sacred Lands were never exactly on good terms with each other. The White Snake Sage herself was known for her peculiar and cold temperament, hardly friendly at all.
Yet in her eyes, despite any friction between the Sacred Lands, native residents would always stand closer to each other than against an invader.
After all, they understood each other thoroughly; any disputes could be easily resolved.
The White Snake Sage wasn't much of a social butterfly, nor did she have any particular fondness for Kaguya.
Still, asking her to stand up to Kaguya's pressure alone and fight head-on was absolutely out of the question.
It's not like the Snake Clan brought this enemy upon themselves. Why should she risk her life over it?
At most, she could buy some time for Mount Myoboku.
Thus, she continued, "Ryuchi Cave has always remained neutral... We do not concern ourselves with the future direction of the Ninja World."
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