Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 374 Daily Life in Ryuchi Cave, Uchiha Sasuke Activates Sage Mode!

Longdi Cave.

Inside the cave that Orochimaru had created.

This place has been almost completely transformed into his research base. The huge and spacious cave is filled with various experimental instruments and stores many samples that look grotesque and terrifying.

For example, there were the horns of an eight-tailed demon soaking in a petri dish, the Hashirama cell test subject whose entire body was deformed into a monster after the experiment failed, and the corpses of ninjas who died after being cursed. The bizarre and varied objects made the atmosphere of the cave even darker and more dangerous.

At this moment, Orochimaru was wearing glasses and a white lab coat, looking every bit the researcher. He was leaning over the lab table, manipulating a sophisticated-looking instrument and adjusting some parameters.

On that instrument were a pair of Sharingan eyes with three tomoe, immersed in an unknown liquid.

Not only on the instruments, but also in the cabinet next to it, there was an entire cabinet full of completely identical three-tomoe Sharingan eyes. At a cursory glance, it seemed there were about fifty or sixty pairs.

Not far from Orochimaru, two Yugitos were sweeping up trash from the cave floor.

While sweeping up the trash on the ground, the two Yukitos continued to complain.

"Why would I do this? Isn't that strange? Did you go to all this way to the Land of Lightning to bring me back just because you were short of a cleaner?" The two Yugitos grumbled angrily.

It's clear that she's currently sealed off; her arms are covered in dense black sealing runes, preventing her from unleashing any chakra.

Not only that, but when she opened her mouth to speak, sealing spells would occasionally flash across the tip of her tongue, and judging from how she was obediently sweeping the floor, it was clear that she had become accustomed to this state.

After all, two and a half months had passed since she was forcibly abducted to Ryuchi Cave.

From the very beginning, the two girls fiercely resisted, tried every means to escape, then went into passive resistance, and even attempted suicide by starvation, all of which failed. Now, she has taken on the role of a cleaner, and although she grumbles and curses, she seems to have resigned herself to her fate.

While adjusting the parameters to clone the Sharingan, Orochimaru said without looking up, "As a ninja, you were defeated and captured. We didn't treat you cruelly, conduct human experiments on you, force you to be interrogated to extract information from your brain, or subject you to torture and revenge. That's already a very lenient treatment. All we're asking you to do is sweep the floor for me. And you're making such a fuss? Do you think we've been too merciful to you?"

At this point, Orochimaru suddenly looked up at the two Yugitos, his eyes flashing with a dangerous light, his long, thin tongue involuntarily sliding across his lips, both wicked and terrifying.

The two Yugito seemed to have gotten used to Orochimaru's appearance, and said with a smirk, "At first you could scare me like that, but now I understand very well that before the Spirit Lord you mentioned comes out of seclusion, no one can control my fate, not even you, Orochimaru."

"But once the Spirit Lord emerges from seclusion, my opinion will be of great value, so you'd better not provoke me." Orochimaru withdrew his dangerous gaze and continued fiddling with the instruments.

"Otherwise, why do you think I'd be so obedient as to sweep the floor here?" the two Yukito said defiantly.

But its body was very honest, sweeping away the dust, scraps of paper, and other debris from every nook and cranny.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the cave, and soon after, Nami and Sasuke Uchiha walked in.

Nami greeted the two Yugitos warmly and friendly, then walked to a hospital bed and looked at the sleeping boy on it.

Glancing at the stable signal on the monitoring equipment, Nami breathed a slight sigh of relief and said, "It seems he's been doing quite well these past few days."

As she spoke, a phoenix-like blue flame bloomed in her hand, which she pressed against the boy's chest, slowly injecting this life energy into his body.

The boy lying on this hospital bed is none other than Kaguya Kimimaro, a bloodline disease patient.

Since arriving at Ryuchi Cave, he had been in a coma and deep sleep. When he was brought there, Bane had already begun his seclusion, so Orochimaru couldn't disturb the Spirit Lord. Fortunately, Nami's blue flames were able to effectively maintain Kimimaro's vital signs and even improve his condition. Thus, Kimimaro was able to keep his life hanging by a thread in Ryuchi Cave.

Nami was routinely channeling life energy into Kimimaro, while Sasuke Uchiha frowned, glancing at Orochimaru who was fiddling with the Sharingan, and said coldly, "Orochimaru, could you please stop dealing with these Sharingan in front of me?"

I'm a Uchiha, for goodness' sake! Can't you at least show me some respect?

Orochimaru, without even looking up, said, "I hope you'll show me a little respect next time you speak to me. While I don't expect you to call me 'Lord Orochimaru,' considering how many ninjutsu I've taught you, calling me 'teacher' wouldn't be too much to ask, would it?"

"Your so-called teaching is just throwing some ninjutsu scrolls at me and telling me to study them on my own, and then having Lady Nami or Waver train me in actual combat every day?" Sasuke Uchiha said somewhat unhappily.

Orochimaru has changed!

They were so enthusiastic towards me back in the Death Forest, and seemed to have high hopes for me.

When I arrived, he completely changed his attitude, becoming indifferent to me. If I asked him a question, I had to see if he had time after finishing his experiment. His so-called teaching was just throwing some scrolls at him and letting this genius figure it out on his own. After that, he could just find Nami and Waver to practice and master it.

Aside from all that, Orochimaru never told him how to become an excellent ninja or how to increase his strength as quickly as possible.

Even Sasuke felt that those ninjutsu scrolls were not as useful as the Haki and taijutsu that Waver had explained to him!

"After all, I'm still too busy. The research on the Sharingan was personally arranged for me by the Spirit Lord. I'm conducting it through cloning, and it hasn't harmed your Uchiha clan, has it? Moreover, this kind of research is also beneficial to you. Once we break through the current barriers, we might be able to provide some guidance for you to awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan." Orochimaru said calmly, without even glancing at Sasuke.

At first, Sasuke Uchiha was very disgusted to see Orochimaru cloning and researching the Sharingan so brazenly, and he wanted to stop him several times.

But now, well, perhaps Orochimaru's words make some sense. After all, he's just a clone and hasn't harmed the Uchiha clan, and the Uchiha clan has nothing left to harm. Or perhaps this research might help him awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan, or perhaps it's because it concerns the Spirit Lord's orders.

In short, although Sasuke Uchiha still occasionally quips Orochimaru, he's actually gotten used to him messing around with the Sharingan here.

Without arguing with Orochimaru any further, Sasuke Uchiha walked to the wall in the corner of the cave, where there was a futon that was his personal futon. He walked over and sat down on the futon.

Soon after, the Heavenly Curse Seal that Orochimaru had left him in the Forest of Death activated. Dense, numerous curse marks began to spread all over his body. It seemed that this power was somewhat violent, and Sasuke Uchiha was not able to control it. As a result, his body began to mutate, transforming into a state that was neither human nor ghost.

However, this change did not attract the attention of the others in the cave. Even the two wooden figures were too lazy to take a second look. Clearly, they were used to it.

Despite the physical distortion, Sasuke Uchiha showed no emotional fluctuations. His expression remained calm as he allowed his body to contort. He sat cross-legged on a futon, gently clasping his hands together at his dantian (lower abdomen), interlacing his fingers and turning his palms upward, entering a meditative state.

As he meditated, his previously rampaging body gradually stabilized, the distorted body tissues began to slowly recover, and the power of the cursed seal on his body continued to dissipate.

Not far away, Nami, who was changing Kimimaro's IV drip, seemed to sense something and turned to look at Uchiha Sasuke. She raised an eyebrow and said, "His natural energy has stabilized. Maybe he can take that step today. He truly is a genius."

Although Nami is not a Logia-type Devil Fruit user and cannot passively absorb violent natural energy 24/7 without much effort like Bane, Fubuki, and Zoro, she is a phoenix and, having stayed in Ryuchi Cave, received personal guidance from Bane, allowing her to smoothly absorb natural energy and occasionally have essence "infused" into her body.

Therefore, Nami had mastered natural energy a long time ago and could activate the perfect Sage Mode, using Sage Chakra to activate the Eight Gates.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

That's why she could tell at a glance that Uchiha Sasuke seemed to be on the verge of entering Sage Mode.

Nami's words also attracted the attention of the others. Yugito and Orochimaru stopped what they were doing and looked at Sasuke Uchiha.

"The legendary Sage Mode?" The two Yugitos looked at this scene with some anticipation.

"Do you want to learn too?" Nami put her arms around the shoulders of the two Yugitos and asked with a smile.

"Of course," the two Yukito replied without hesitation.

"If you're willing to join us, I'll teach you Sage Mode," Nami coaxed.

Unfortunately, the two Yugito immediately shook their heads and said, "Although I really want to learn, I will never betray Kumogakure or the Fourth Raikage because of it."

Just then, the distorted cursed seal power on Uchiha Sasuke's body rapidly dissipated, and he completely returned to his handsome young appearance. Then, Orochimaru said with a hint of anticipation in his eyes, "Here he comes."

As expected, just as Orochimaru said, faint purple eyeshadow-like patterns began to appear around Sasuke's eyes, which was one of the manifestations of Sage Mode.

As this pattern appeared, Sasuke Uchiha's movements changed. His hands, which were originally clasped together, loosened and then rose from his abdomen, quickly coming together in front of his chest, assuming a clapping motion.

This posture seemed to allow the flow of Sage Chakra within the body to be more stable, and the purple patterns around the eyes became clearer.

After a few breaths, his condition seemed to be nearing perfection. Uchiha Sasuke suddenly opened his eyes and shouted, "Sage Mode - Activate!"

The next second, a surge of Sage Chakra erupted from his body, and chaotic air currents swept through. However, Orochimaru slightly raised his hand, and the air currents that were about to sweep through the cave dissipated smoothly, so that the two Yugitos' work was not in vain.

At the same time, Sasuke Uchiha excitedly stood up, feeling the immense power of Sage Chakra flowing through his body, and his perception of the outside world also became clearer.

At this moment, he felt that his physical abilities had been enhanced in every way by natural power. He could now beat at least ten ordinary versions of himself.

"Well done, Sasuke. Today is the twenty-sixth day. To master Sage Mode within a month, you truly are a genius," Nami praised admiringly.

Compared to Naruto Uzumaki, who mastered Sage Mode in just half a month, Sasuke Uchiha was a little slower, but since he didn't have a Sage Body and didn't use Shadow Clones, it's understandable.

Of course, he also relied on external forces, such as the stable and safe natural energy seed that Bane left him at the beginning and Orochimaru's cursed seal power.

"I'm glad I didn't disappoint you, Lady Nami." After calming down, Sasuke Uchiha said to Nami with great humility.

Clearly, he has considerable respect for Nami and the Waver he speaks of, which is the complete opposite of his attitude towards Orochimaru.

Orochimaru watched this scene with his eyes darting around, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up, as if Sasuke Uchiha's body was even more alluring. But after a moment, he sighed again. Forget it, he had already given up on the Reanimation Jutsu route long ago, so why think about it so much?

With these thoughts in mind, Orochimaru turned to look at a cloning chamber in the corner. Inside was an experimental subject who looked exactly like him. That was the next container Orochimaru had prepared for himself, a one-to-one clone of his original body.

Today, Orochimaru has finally come to understand that the original is always the best.

He planned to cultivate the clone well, and then ask the Spirit Lord for help to transfer his soul into his own vessel.

As for Uchiha Sasuke, that Uchiha brat who has no respect for his teachers and is inherently evil, let's spare his life.

(End of this chapter)