V.1-C.99│Drizzle Before the Fall III│

After being done with the first test, Obito now assumed the second would begin soon.

The first was easy, at least to him it was easy, and because he completed it so fast, he didn't give that lady a chance to do or say anything more to him.

After walking more into this cave, he was now obscured within a fog of some kind.

Or at least that is what he was lead to believe, for he would enter a dense fog of sorts, allowing him to get lost, as the fog was also obscuring his vision.

In particular, his Sharingan couldn't see past it, for the very fact that this fog was also densely packed with chakra as well. It was kind of an overload, though it was something he has grown used to.

'I thought I was being brought towards the White Snake Sage...?' He thought, before he would soon enough be confronted by a rather nice looking woman.

Or at least what seemed to be a woman. "Hello. Welcome." She has fair skin and dark hair that is tied into two buns on either side of her head. She wears a sleeveless white and blue robe, white sandals, and has a pearl bracelet on her right arm. She also dons a golden tiara and blue tomoe-shaped earrings. She also has red eyeshadow.

"Uh... hello?" Obito asked and replied.

"My name is Ichikishimahime." The woman revealed her name to be. "You are quite the interesting individual..." She had taken a step towards him, specifically in a way that was rather seductive. "Now look into my eyes with those nice looking eyes of yours..." Slowly, Obito felt himself be pulled into a genjutsu.

He had a choice, break this genjutsu, which he should be able to do with just his eyes, or he could go along with whatever is going on. He didn't feel he was under threat, though this wasn't exactly what one could call normal either.

Deciding that he would play along, Obito allowed the genjutsu to take a hold of him.

It seemed like he was placed within another cave. There were various colored gemstones of all types, shapes and sizes. Then there was a boulder, with distinct holes within this boulder, making Obito realize that was a part of the trials.

'I see now...' Obito would then proceed to place all of the gems that are meant to be placed in the correct places rather easily.

As he was doing so, the woman he saw was floating within the air, carefree, spinning around and started to ask him as he continued with this task. "I wonder... Do you want to play with me?" She asked him, though he just ignored her.

Sure, she was nice to look at, but that didn't mean he ever planned to really interact with the Snake summons ever again. "You are the first in a while to capture my interest wholeheartedly. Your eyes in particular. That Uchiha, I believe it is... right?" She asked, though he wouldn't answer.

"Orochimaru was the one to allow you to sign up with the Snake summons, was he not?" Her eyes formed crescent moons, the same with her lips upturned to show her rather playful nature.

"... Yes." Obito placed another one of the gemstones into another slot.

"Look! You speak!" She giggled within the air, floating above him. Ichikishimahime watched him finish her puzzle, and she pouted. "Your are quite the hard one to eat..."

Soon enough, the genjutsu would break and bring him back, face to face, with the girl known as Ichikishimahime. Smiling, Ichikishimahime was basically a breath away from him now. "You're a rather beautiful human, and your chakra..." She stopped as if contemplating something.

"Unfortunate that you have passed. So easily as well. Maybe my test is a bit too honest...?" She seemed to think to herself for a bit.

"Unfortunate that you are not a snake, as I would then claim you for myself." She sighed as some snake-like features appeared on her face, her hand touching his face in a nice way.

Catching the lady's hand, Obito responded. "Um, please. I am spoken for."

"Is that right...? Who's to say that I can't just keep you for myself." She giggled in a joking manner seeing Obito's serious face. "I was just joking. You wont get quite the jokester next."

Ichikishimahime had walked around him, before stopping at his side and leaned in towards his ear. "Maybe we could play some more some other time." She blew into his ear, and Obito couldn't lie in that he may have had a completely normal physical reaction.

Laughing, Ichikishimahime left him off with. "I hope you don't get eaten. Bye-bye now."

As she did leave however, it was exactly that, with his senses really hampered, his chakra senses constricted and his other senses also restricted, someone managed to come up from behind Obito.

"Hey!" Obito yelled out as he clutched his neck, having a faint memory pass through his head in remembrance of something similar happening to his once friend from his past life.

"Hello." Another woman, another snake-woman, or at least Obito presumes is another snake-woman appeared in front of him.

She has fair skin and dark hair that is tied into a single bun on top of her head, which then transitions into a ponytail reaching her back. She wears a long, loose-fitting white and red robe as well as a longer red dress beneath that. She wears a golden tiara and a necklace with three red tomoe.

"My name is Tagitsuhime. By now, I am sure that you have an idea about what is going on, yes?" The newly identified Tagitsuhime said, and Obito assumed this was the woman whom had bitten him.

"Why did you bite me...?" He questioned.

Placing a hand to cover her mouth, Tagitsuhime giggled. "Don't be silly. I care not for etiquette in this context." She smiled, before adding. "Now, be prepared for your test of heart."

Tagitsuhime started to disappear, and in her place, his world was once again transformed, changed into another place. Unlike with the last two tests, this genjutsu was different, not only in delivery, but also in what it seems to test.

Obito couldn't break out of this genjutsu so easily, at least not through the usage of his Sharingan, for the delivery of this test was based off of that bite that lady did.

Obito was brought before people, various people. Faces, faces that he still remembers clearly from his past life, and faces he now is accustomed to his this life.

Both, from the past, and the current timestream, he was faced with. "Why did you let us die?" The person asking was Sakura, someone he was infinitely close to in his previous life. Pink haired, green eyes, and beauty that at some point Obito liked.

"I-..." Obito didn't have a reply, for it was true that he was the last one to overcome the challenge. Surprisingly enough, out of everyone here, he didn't see Sasuke.

He remembered that Tagitsuhime said this was a test of the heart, so he assumes it has to do with weakness or vulnerability to do with his inner heart. "It is your fault that I no longer even exist!" Sakura exclaimed, pointing her finger towards him.

It was sad, that behind Sakura there happened to many, many faces, some that he doesn't even know at a personal level. The weight of an entire world, as thousands, upon thousands of people gathered to ask him.

Question him, and tell him how he did wrong in the face of the ultimate threat of Madara. Even know that he knows it was not Madara, but Zetsu, not Zetsu, but Kaguya, then not Kaguya, but some other extra-dimensional, parasitic aliens that he is too look out for.

To stop from destroying him and all that he loves.

After that, came the voices from some of the females he had found himself surrounded by, whether that was by intention or not. Words like, 'why do you want more than me,' or 'you do not actually love us, and just use us for our bodies,' and stuff similar to this.

He didn't say anything, and then there was some more than he wasn't expecting to see in the form of Minato Namikaze in particular.

"My son... How could you take your mother? How could you do that to your mother... to me?" This Minato seemed to be a combination of two, from his previous life, and from the life he is living now.

"Eh..." This was a bit awkward for Obito, for he himself wasn't really expecting like what happened to happen.

"You got nothing to say!? You fail to save the world, yet you come back thinking that you can do whatever you want? You incestuous bastard!" Minato lunged towards Obito unexpectedly, though Minato just phased into nothingness before Obito was brought before another illusion.

He was brought before the illusion of Kaguya Otsutsuki... "Kaguya?" Obito asked, even knowing this was an illusion and a test of heart, he wanted to confront such things himself.

He understands he wasn't a perfect person, and he is assuming that the people appearing before him are in fact allusions to his inner conflict. He has already achieved a peaceful and harmonious sate once, and this should be nothing to him.

"Obito... I'm sorry, but I must take over the world. Take it all over, and kill everyone. Take my chakra back, and then face off against my clan." Kaguya stated before she moved forward towards him.

"I will even kill all of those that you love and care for. What will you do? Will you stop? Will you... kill me? Seal me away just as my children did to me once a long time ago?" Kaguya asked him.

Obito shook his head. "Don't worry. I have already made a promise." Obito stepped towards her, which made her form dissipate into smoke, and leaving him to face nothing else, as everything else, all of the voices, the faces of people he knew, and didn't know, were gone.

No more, as he was not going to grow a headache from the noise pollution of all of those illusionary beings. "Congratulations." The snake-lady, or the third snake-lady that Obito had come across said respectfully. "You have passed the final trial."

"Really..." Obito looked around, noticing that the fog or smoke had cleared up.

"Yes, now please. Follow me." Tagitsuhime said, before she turned around and started to walk in another direction, but not before the other two appeared as well. "You have earned the right to see the White Snake Sage."

With his eyes on them, Obito was able to tell much more now that they are most assuredly not actual humans, and are indeed snakes just taking the form of a human.

Soon enough, Obito follows after these three seductive women and is brought before a large snake, larger than himself at least.

The White Snake Sage, the leader of the snakes of Ryuchi Cave.

The Sage is an extremely large, albino Japanese rat snake many times the size of a human, who sits upon a sacred seat with her massive body wrapped in thick coils. Along these coils are yellow circular bands.

She wears a turban with two pointed edges and a red orb on top along with an orange headdress.

She also wears a chain with a green orb around her neck, similar to the one worn by the Great Toad Sage. Because she has lived in the cave for so long, her body has grown together with the ground. The Sage also smokes, using a long cigarette holder when doing so.

"Welcome, Obito Uchiha..." The Snake Sage started.

"Greetings, Lady Sage." Obito replied respectfully.

"I do hope that my lovely assistants here weren't too rough on you." The Snake Sage replied as she looked towards her assistants, whom all seemed disappointed at not being able to devour Obito's chakra.

"Is this how all trials go?" Obito asked seeing as the snake was waiting for his response.

"Why? From what I saw, nothing too interesting happened..." The White Snake Sage said this not knowing what his last trial looked like, and neither did those assistants know either.

"No-no. It was fine." Obito replied.

"That's great... great..." The Snake Sage looked at him, regarding him fully. "The trials you just passed will allow you to utilize senjutsu. I do hope your body is strong enough."

"Great! That is why I have come here." Obito replied.

"You are very interesting... From your chakra, it feels strange. A mix of two, the cold and the heat. The Yin and the Yang. Truly, you are very special, aren't you..."

"Uh... thanks, I guess?" Wanting to move on from the strangeness of which not only the Shite Snake Sage was looking at him, but also her three assistants that have been standing at the side as well, he continued. "So, how are we going to do this? How does one get senjutsu?" He didn't have much knowledge about the Snake summons methods.

Though, he presumed that it might be similar to the Toad summons. "If you have the time, let us do it now." The Sage smiled, her teeth, fangs in particular apparent to him.

"Uh... Why are you doing that? And why are you coming closer?" Obito took one step backwards as the Sage was coming closer.

"Why, of course, it is to grant your wish." The Snake Sage opened her mouth. "With a bite, I shall inject senjutsu into you, and if you survive, then you will be able to sense and use it."

"Really...?"

"Yes." The Snake Sage lunged forwards, clamping her mouth down on his neck, for that was the best place as any. She is able to inject others with natural energy using her fangs, which she does to those who seek out her training.

Once done, the Snake Sage went backwards, seeing as Obito had fallen to his knees. "You three may take him now. He will need his rest... That is if he survives..." The Snake Sage said, throwing Obito towards her assistants.

Three beautiful assistant snake-ladies, with which could do with him as they would like until this process is over. "W-Wait... W-Why are you three looking a-at me like that...?" Obito asked as he saw the three approaching.

"Don't worry about that Lord Obito." The tone and way they addressed him changed.

"R-Really..." Obito placed his hand onto his neck, feeling a stinging pain, but also recognizing the natural energy flowing through his body. He positioned himself, sitting upright and in a better position. "I don't think I will be needing any assistance." He stated, before he started to gain control of senjutsu energy rather easily.

This made all three, young and beautiful snake ladies eyes open wide, as they all stepped back, whilst the Snake Sage was also surprised at this occurrence.

"What...?"