Konoha: Offer your heart to the Hokage!

Gamamaru voiced his doubts: "Can your two sons' reincarnations really cooperate?"

As far as he knew, for thousands of years, the reincarnations of the two had been constantly fighting to the death.

“I will enter their mental world and personally explain everything to them. They are competitors, but also brothers. I believe they can reconcile and unite against external enemies.”

"I hope things don't get to that point," Gamamaru said helplessly.

Hagoromo Otsutsuki nodded at it, and then his figure vanished like smoke.

The entire dream space collapsed as a result.

Gamamaru has transformed back into the Toad Sage.

The giant toad sage, waking from his dream, slowly opened his eyes, yawned, and sighed wearily, "It felt like I had a really long dream..."

A thousand years ago, it was Gamamaru who sought help from the Hagoromo brothers, and together they sealed away Kaguya Otsutsuki.

A thousand years later, the situation reversed, and the feather robe that had become the immortal's was entrusted to monitor Kaguya's sealed state.

As immortals, they do not need to personally travel around to gather intelligence like ordinary ninjas.

Gamamaru is responsible for using his prophetic abilities to investigate the source of the anomaly and the whereabouts of the mastermind behind it; Hagoromo Otsutsuki guards the last line of defense and is responsible for transmitting the power of Yin and Yang at the most critical moment.

...

The turmoil at Mount Myoboku has temporarily come to an end.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru was deeply confused, as the events of the previous night overturned his previous understanding.

The little white snake that had been by his side all along suddenly spoke.

This morning, he unusually took a day off from the research institute just to find out Xiaobai's current situation.

Back home, Orochimaru asked again to confirm.

"Little White, why can you suddenly talk?"

"Orochimaru, I've explained it so many times..."

The white snake was somewhat helpless.

Orochimaru, who is usually intelligent and composed, was now like a stubborn child, repeatedly confirming things over and over again.

"I was in a semi-dormant state, no different from an ordinary white snake, until I woke up yesterday."

Before Orochimaru could ask another question, the White Snake learned to preemptively answer:

“I come from Ryuchi Cave and am a descendant of the White Snake Sage. Long ago, I wanted to see the outside world, so I secretly left Ryuchi Cave. But the concentration of natural energy in the outside world was different, and my consciousness fell into a long slumber.”

"Later, I was discovered in the wild by your ancestors, and the lineage was passed down from generation to generation until now."

"..."

Orochimaru nodded thoughtfully.

He had heard Tsunade mention Ryuchi Cave before; it seemed to be a sacred place dedicated to cultivating immortal arts. He had never imagined that the white snake his mother had left him was such a special being.

We can no longer call the White Snake "Little White." Judging from its expression, it must have lived for countless years; we should now call it "Big White."

The white snake continued, "I was supposed to wake up in a few more years, but your body underwent some special changes that woke me up ahead of time."

"Special? You mean..."

Orochimaru's heart stirred slightly, and with a flick of his wrist, the Heavenly Compassion Thread emerged from it.

He can now control the extension and retraction of the threads, which is a significant breakthrough. Although they cannot yet be used in combat, these threads are already quite helpful when he is researching and experimenting alone.

It operates stably, like a robotic arm, and does not experience issues such as hand tremors.

"Take it back immediately!"

The white snake recoiled in fear, solemnly warning, "Although I was in a deep sleep before, I sensed it a long time ago. That man also harbors resentment within him; he is extremely dangerous."

Orochimaru knew very well that the man the white snake spoke of was his biological father.

But... is there a resentment or unease about the earth?

"This bloodline should be called Tianci Yu."

“Tianci Yu?” This time it was the White Snake’s turn to be puzzled. “Perhaps I’m mistaken. I only remember that when I was still in Dragon Cave, I heard my elders mention that a human once used the Earth Grudge Yu to cause a huge disaster. The form and nature of the ability are very similar to the one you are using.”

It was just a title, and Orochimaru didn't dwell on it.

After a moment of silence, he brought it up: "So now, Big White, are you planning to go back to Dragon Cave?"

“You should still call me Little White. Judging from human age, I’m not an adult yet,” the White Snake corrected. “I do plan to go back. I’ve been away from home for too many years, and I can sense that my family is looking for me.”

Orochimaru's expression darkened.

The White Snake was practically family to him. If she were to leave, his only remaining familial bond would be with his biological father, Shen'er.

Orochimaru's attitude towards Shiro is complicated; he doesn't want to have much contact with him for the time being. If Shiro leaves, it will be a significant blow to him.

"However, I can take you to Ryuchi Cave." Seeing Orochimaru's disappointment, the White Snake quickly said, "You've probably heard of Sage Mode, right? I can take you back to Ryuchi Cave to train."

The three holy sites have different rules for selecting spiritualists and practitioners.

In Ryuchi Cave, only those who visit with sincere intentions have the opportunity to meet the White Snake Sage. All those who come to train are selected and tested by the three snake princesses under the White Snake Sage: Tashin-hime, Ichikishima-hime, and Takitsu-hime.

Those who successfully pass the trial will be infused with natural energy by the White Snake Sage through his sharp fangs and taught the Sage Mode of Ryuchi Cave.

Those who fail the trial, or ultimately cannot control the Sage Mode or whose physical bodies cannot withstand the transformation into snakes, will be devoured by other giant snakes.

Of the three sacred sites, Ryuchi Cave has the most cruel rules.

After explaining the rules of her sacred land, the White Snake added somewhat smugly:

"But you're different, Orochimaru. When we get back, I'll explain our relationship to the White Snake Sage. Even if you fail the trial or don't achieve Sage Mode, nothing will happen to you."

I'll keep you alive!

The confidence of the second generation of snakes from Ryūchi Cave.

The idea of ​​retreating to the secluded Ryuchi Cave to train, escaping the entanglements of his birth family, becoming a sage, and then returning to Konoha to settle the score with his father—this idea was incredibly appealing to Orochimaru.

But after a moment's thought, he chose to refuse.

"I cannot leave Konoha now."

Why?

"That man's experiment still needs me, I can't leave. Besides, I don't have any intention of becoming a rogue ninja for the time being."

Although Orochimaru dislikes the villagers of Konoha, he has already formed many bonds with them. Aside from Jin and his wife, he also has two aunts, Tsunade, and companions he met at the Monster Association.

On a deeper level, his mother's grave is in Konoha, and based on that alone, he wouldn't choose to defect.

"Then let's make a psychic pact."

"Once I return to Ryuchi Cave, you can use the Reverse Spirit Summoning Technique to travel back and forth."

That's possible.

Orochimaru nodded.

Chapter 206 The daimyo melts into the water, and the rope tree assumes personal rule.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru's private actions could not be kept secret from Shon.

Having the highest authority over the entire domain barrier, he received the barrier class's report on the spirit communication technique immediately.

Then, he took out the crystal ball and activated the telescope technique to spy from a distance. He immediately saw the two people's movements. They were using the Reverse Summoning Technique to travel back and forth between Konoha and the Holy Land at regular intervals.

Shen Er was deep in thought and did not rashly intervene.

The two came into contact with the Holy Land earlier than the original timeline in his memory.

According to the original timeline, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru were twenty-four or twenty-five years old when they faced Hanzo in Amegakure and were crowned the Legendary Sannin of Konoha. At that time, Jiraiya had not yet activated Sage Mode.

The three legendary ninjas could only summon the summoning beasts of the three sacred lands.

Based on this, their contact with the holy site must have occurred later than the present day.

The unusual events at Shikkotsu Forest and Ryuchi Cave can be put on hold for now. What truly concerns Jinji is Mount Myōboku, which Jiraiya has come into contact with.

The Slug Sage's prophecy only concerns the Senju clan.

The old toad of Mount Myōboku, however, can influence the entire ninja world's trajectory.

Kaguya Otsutsuki was sealed away because of it, and Naruto embarked on the path of saving the world because of its prophecy...

In Shen'er's eyes, this old toad was almost the embodiment of fate.

Nothing happens unless it makes a prophecy. Things only happen because it makes a prophecy. In addition, it also possesses the "Sage Telescope Technique," which even Kaguya cannot detect.

Anyone, including him, could be spied on and recorded by a telescope without their knowledge.

Even so, he could only try to avoid contact with Jiraiya as much as possible, to avoid getting involved in unseen and intangible karma, and to avoid being locked onto by the old toad's third eye.

This kind of "sky eye" is impossible to defend against.

Mount Myōboku's own fighting strength is not enough to make Shen Er wary. What's truly troublesome is that the Toad Sage and the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, are on good terms and there's a possibility they might leak information out.

It would be bad if the scene of stealing the tailed beast were recorded.

Only now did Shen Er understand the source of the lingering unease in his heart after sealing Black Zetsu.

The source of everything is the toad sage of Mount Myōboku.

Faced with this hidden danger whose stance was unknown and who could interfere with his plans, Shen'er had already made up his mind.

We will seize the opportunity to eliminate them.

Only a dead toad can keep a secret.

Even so, he set his sights on the Toad Sage and planned to kill him.

Defeating the Toad Sage isn't particularly difficult; the real challenge lies in pinpointing the exact location of Mount Myōboku.

All actions targeting Jiraiya himself, or using him as a springboard, could be exposed to the Toad Sage's All-Seeing Eye and risk being detected.

Therefore, any attack on Mount Myoboku must be a blitzkrieg; any delay could lead to failure.

Otherwise, it would be easier to use the Impure World Reincarnation to control Tobirama, plant the Flying Thunder God Seal on Jiraiya, and sense the location of Mount Myōboku.

Even if he were to teleport there immediately with the help of Nakime's power, he wouldn't be able to quickly return to Konoha if Uchiha Yana couldn't accompany him.