Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha Returns from Soul Society

"..."

Yoru looked at his serious profile and remained silent for a moment.

"Ok."

She stretched and resumed her languid posture. "Since it's your request, Sasuke, as your teacher, I naturally can't refuse."

She lightly leaped and landed beside Sasuke, pinching his cheeks with both hands.

"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?"

"This is the path I must take." Sasuke awkwardly broke free.

Yoruichi stared at him silently for a moment, then finally sighed helplessly and shrugged.

"Alright, I can't do anything with you. Good luck, but don't die somewhere unknown."

"Ah."

Sasuke responded softly, and with a few flashes, he disappeared into the thick white mist at the entrance of the cave.

Inside the cave, only a cat and a few snakes remained.

Yoruichi watched the direction Sasuke had left, her relaxed expression gradually fading. She looked up at the withered figure, a hint of inquiry flashing in her eyes.

"That brat, is he really completely incapable of learning immortal arts? With his talent, even if his soul isn't stable enough, there should be a way to fix it, right?"

"Hehehe..."

The White Snake Immortal let out a hoarse laugh, "Possibly? Of course, with his talent, he could even master this power more easily than you."

"Then why..." Yoruichi's eyes were filled with confusion.

"Danger, too dangerous."

The White Serpent Immortal slowly shook his head, tapping his serpent bone staff lightly on the ground. "If he forcibly merges with natural energy before he has achieved 'unity,' those two out-of-control forces will be enough to devour him along with this land."

This explanation was reasonable, but Yoruichi keenly caught a hint of unspoken meaning in it.

“That’s just one of the reasons, isn’t it?” she pressed.

"hehe......."

A meaningful smile appeared on the wrinkled face of the White Snake Immortal.

He slowly raised his head and looked in another distant direction.

"That old toad from Mount Myōboku always loves to spout prophecies and calls himself the world's guide. He's so noisy."

His eyes were dark, and his voice carried an undisguised disgust.

"The so-called 'Child of Prophecy' that it has identified will bring about change to the world, and that so-called 'Child of Prophecy' happens to have a very deep connection with that little devil."

"Moreover, because of their differing ideologies, the two will inevitably turn against each other sooner or later."

Yoruichi's heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively asked, "The Child of Prophecy? And he's so close to Sasuke?"

"But......"

She recalled everything about the boy, "I was never by his side, and I never saw anyone who could be called a companion."

Hehehe...

However, the White Snake Immortal did not explain further, but instead let out a laugh that was difficult to understand.

"I want to see how much truth will remain in those so-called prophecies when variables arise."

“I am very much looking forward to it.”

...........

The thick fog dissipated from beneath my feet, only to quietly gather back behind me.

Sasuke stood quietly at the valley's exit, but did not move immediately. The White Snake Sage's words still lingered deep in his mind.

Until you completely transform that hatred into something 'sheathed' rather than 'a fire in your heart'... I cannot impart the immortal arts to you.

Sasuke slowly raised his hand and grasped the "Indra" at his waist. The cold touch came from his palm, and the resonance from the depths of his soul was still strong.

The object in the sheath, not the fire within...

But to fully control this power, it must first be completely subdued.

In other words, to learn magic, one must first master the Bankai of Indra.

But this creates a vicious cycle.

To master Bankai in a short time, one needs a Transcendental Body, and to obtain a Transcendental Body, one must return to that world.

But who knows when I'll be able to go back again.

"..."

Sasuke's brows furrowed tightly, and a sense of anxiety began to grow in his heart.

Since that's the case, we can only deal with another matter first.

Tailed beasts.

First, gather them all together as much as possible, then imprison them completely within your body.

However, sealing techniques...

He doesn't understand.

This thought made Sasuke's eyes grow even deeper.

"This is really troublesome."

He muttered to himself, leaving a blurry afterimage as he sped off in the direction he had come from.

As for Yoruichi, who was left alone in Ryuchi-dong?

Sasuke wasn't worried at all; with her strength, she was more than capable of protecting herself in this snake pit.

Moreover, given her mischievous nature, she might be having a great time chatting with that old snake right now.

What I should be thinking about now is how to pry what I need out of the mouth of the other snake.

.......

The wind in the valley carried a damp scent, ruffling the black hair on the boy's forehead.

Sasuke emerged from the dense forest and stepped once again into the dark underground of Otogakure. The passage still reeked of that nauseating, rotten smell.

When he pushed open the stone door, the scene before him was completely different from when he left.

Inside the room, besides Tsunade, there were two more unfamiliar figures.

A young man who looked to be around twenty years old had light-colored long hair and a gentle face, but his eyes were currently empty and gray.

The other one was younger, looking no more than twelve or thirteen years old. He wore a headband and had short brown hair that made him look very energetic, but his eyes were equally unfocused and lifeless.

The most bizarre thing was their exposed skin, which was covered with fine cracks, as if countless shards of pottery had been forcibly pieced together. With each movement, dust would flake off from it.

"Hehe... Sasuke-kun, you're back so soon?" Orochimaru was leaning back on the familiar stone seat, a sickly smile on his face.

He looked Sasuke up and down with great interest, a hint of surprise flashing in his snake-like eyes, and his tone became exaggerated.

"Could it be that you have mastered the secrets of Sage Mode? You truly deserve to be called a genius of the Uchiha clan. Your talent is something we can only look up to in awe."

This sarcastic remark, brimming with a wicked sense of humor, ignited a nameless fire within Sasuke's already agitated heart.

He raised his right hand and casually waved it at that repulsive smiling face.

A fiery slash, as dark as a crescent moon, was silently unleashed.

Faced with this sudden attack, Orochimaru's smile only grew wider.

"Oh dear, what a rude welcome ceremony."

He quickly formed hand seals in front of him, and his arms, which should have been crippled, regained their mobility.

"The art of spirit communication, Rashomon!"

He gave a low shout and slammed his palm down on the ground.

"boom--!!!"

A massive red iron gate, carved with the face of a hideous demon, rose from the ground without warning and precisely blocked the black crescent moon.

The black flames struck the door, eroding it like maggots clinging to its bone, before slowly dissipating after melting a hideous gap in the enormous demonic face.

"Sorry, sorry."

Orochimaru looked at the scorched Rashomon gate and gave a fake apologetic smile. "It seems that my joke just now went a bit too far."

"Judging from your expression, have you run into some trouble? Where did your funny ninja cat go?"

“She stayed at Ryuchi Cave to practice Sage Mode,” Sasuke replied calmly.

"..."

Orochimaru's pale face stiffened for a moment upon hearing the answer, then slowly darkened.

The power that I had spent my entire life trying to master, actually...

Is a cat about to learn this trick?!

This resentment made the smile on his lips distort.

Sasuke glanced at his humiliated expression, his gaze finally settling on his arm.

"Your hand, is it healed?"

Sasuke's voice was calm, but under the gaze of his Sharingan, nothing could be hidden.

The souls in Orochimaru's arms are still incomplete.

"Oh, this one?"

Orochimaru flexed his wrist and chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Thanks to Tsunade, my hand has temporarily regained its mobility."

Sasuke didn't ask any further questions, and his gaze returned to the two figures that looked like dolls.

"Impure World Reincarnation?" he whispered.

"Ok?"