12. The Wedding

After a while, Kurama and Shiroken were led inside the cave system. In the end, they arrived at a very large opening. It was as if they had hollowed down the mountain.

Now in front of them was a huge throne, on which a giant white snake sat. It was larger than Kurama but Kurama had confidence that he was stronger than it.

"What's with that pervert snake?" Kurama complained.

The white snake was the White Snake Sage, the leader of the snakes of Ryuchi Cave. She was an expert in Senjutsu.

"Forgive him, he's too old and has a tendency to speak nonsense." She said, shrugging on the responsibility.

Kurama wasn't happy, "Nonsense? He was pimping your kind to me."

The Snake Sage looked at that old snake with narrowed eyes, "Go to your cave and don't come out."

"Now, why did you disturb me?" She asked him.

Kurama scoffed, "Huh, one of you attacked my people. His body is lying there now."

"Tsk! must be Rota, too impatient and dumb. Well, what does it have to do with me?" She said, once again shrugging her responsibility.

"AAAAAA..." Kurama started preparing a Bijuu Dama.

"Wait, wait... Don't do that. We can talk. What do you want?" She finally got serious. That Bijuu Dama would surely destroy her cave otherwise.

Kurama scoffed, "Huh, I want little Shiro here to safely live and grow."

The big white snake looked at the little boy on Kurama's back.

Shiroken also stared at her and then started laughing, "Hehe, so cute. You're wearing a hat."

"You think I'm cute? Hahaha... Never heard a worse joke than that. People fear me, child." She said in disbelief.

"Don't belittle him, he's 78 years old," Kurama warned her.

"Is he a dwarf?" She inquired.

"What's a dwarf?" Shiroken asked curiously.

"People who are stuck with a small height." The white snake replied.

Scaredly, Shiroken asked Kurama, "Am I a dwarf?"

"No, you are just young. As long as you stay here you will grow up, trust me." Kurama assured him, as he didn't want to hear him cry. Or the whole cave would collapse.

The white snake then got up from her seat and slowly came closer to see Shiroken. "Hmm, strange. I don't feel any chakra in him. It's as if... His whole body is made of Natural Chakra/Energy."

[A/N: Consider Bother Natural Energy and Natural Chakra the same. Though in the latter part it is only called Natural Energy.]

"That's why I'm here. He needs Natural Chakra to grow better, so we're going to stay here for a while. You got any problems?" Kurama ordered in a threatening voice.

"No, you killed Rota, so his cave is empty now. You can stay there."

~Not like it'll get in your thick skull if I refuse~ she thought to herself.

"Boy, do you want to learn Senjutsu?" She asked Shiroken.

"What's that?" Shiroken inquired.

"It's the art of using Senjutsu as your chakra, it makes you much stronger than a normal chakra user." She explained.

But it confused Shiroken, "Umm, why? I always use Natural Energy. I don't have chakra."

"Hahaha... You dumb snake, Shiroken is not ordinary. Forget it, he's out of your comprehension. Let's go, Shiro." Kurama mocked her and left with him.

When he was gone, The Snake Sage wondered about Shiroken, "Hmm, then isn't he just like the Tailed beasts?"

...

After this, Shiroken's evolution started. Ryuchi Cave was filled with Natural Energy and he also felt much better here.

But they didn't just live there all the time. They would often return home and then come back to the cave.

Slowly, 8 years passed.

In that time, Shiroken went through the most physical development.

Now, he looks like a 12-year-old. This was significant growth for him, as he at least didn't have to look up all the time while talking to people now.

He also grew a little mature. With all the tailed beasts as his mentors, he learnt countless things. Shiroken was now a walking bundle of qualities of all the tailed beasts.

But today, he was dressed in special clothing. He was supposed to preside over a wedding. He was the lord of the village after all.

Wearing his beautiful kimono haori, Shiroken went out to see the bride.

"Are you sure you want to marry him? I thought you hated each other. You fight all the time." Shiroken asked.

"Hehe, but we like each other. And I always win the fights, so it's him you should be asking this." Monari answered with a chuckle.

She was dressed in a beautiful traditional kimono. Her black hair was complimenting her beauty. [See the image.]

"Well, I wish you all a happy life then." He prayed for her.

She gave him a hug, "Thank you, now go and check if Jin is ready or not. If he isn't, then pull his ears for me."

"Okie," Shiroken happily hopped to another house.

"JIN... Where are you?" He loudly shouted as soon as he entered.

But Jin was nowhere to be seen. "Did he run away?"

"JIN?"

He then looked inside the cupboard and found him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hiding... I'm a little scared, Shiro. I love her but... Man, she's crazy sometimes." Jin complained.

Shiroken rubbed his head in confusion, "But you're the strongest person in the village."

"Physically. She can still beat me up with her Sharingan. O! Kamisama, what have I gotten myself into..." Jin prayed.

"If you back down now she will really kill you," Shiroken warned.

Jin nodded, "Yeah, I must take responsibility. Well, I do like her. Let's go, Shiro."

Jin was ready and had worn a nice kimono. He had grown very tall now and had a heavy muscular build. He was 25 years old and Monari was 30. Both of them were also appointed as Shiroken's secret guards.

From there, they headed to the wedding location. Which was just a small ground near the lake. It had beautiful cherry blossom trees and looked beautiful.

Unsurprisingly, as a part of the village, all the tailed beasts had also arrived.

"How do I look?" Jin asked him.

Shiroken confusedly looked at his face, "Like you always do."

*Sigh*

Jin's shoulder fell, "Come on, Shiro. Learn some flattery, otherwise how will you attract girls then?"

"He's handsome, so girls will automatically throw themselves at him. Right, Shiro?" Monari also arrived. The whole village was gathered there for this joyous moment.

"I don't want girls. I just want to grow big and play with Saiken and the rest." Shiroken said.

His dream was too simple it seems. Or maybe he was just too pure.

"Lord Shiroken, please come here and officiate this marriage." Old Rakumatsu called him.

"Yes, let's do that. Grandpa Raku, how old are you by the way?" Shiroken asked him.

"Umm, I think I hit 102 this year. Hehe, don't worry, I feel as fit as a horse. I can go on more." Rakumatsu flexed his muscles.

It was really strange. Everyone in the village had gotten so strong now physically. They don't fall sick anymore and neither are they growing old that fast.

Soon, Shiroken stood on a small stage. In front of him stood Jin and Monari, both holding each other's hands.

"Umm, you know the vows, right? Say them then." Shiroken told them.

Jin and Monari looked into each other's eyes and said, "I... to have and to hold from this day forward... till death do us part, according to God's holy law, in the presence of the nine Saints I make this vow."

"Hehe, do you two accept each other as husband and wife?" Shiroken asked cheerfully. He seemed more excited than the bride and groom.

"Yes," Monari answered first.

"Yes Yes..." Jin quickly followed suit as he felt his hand tighten in Monari's grip.

Shiroken nodded, "Then I declare you husband and wife. NOW KISS!"

Both of them moved closer slightly and kissed softly. But then suddenly Monari put her hand behind Jin's head and squeezed him closer.

"Come on, not here, Monari. We're going to have the rest of our lives for that," Jin whispered at his impulsive, newly appointed, wife.

Realising, she let him go and smiled embarrassingly.

"WOHOOOOO! It's party time. Start the music!" Chomei flew in the air and started dancing around and throwing some cherry blossom leaves at the people.

Some villagers good at music started playing and singing. The whole mood turned delightful.

Shiroken also danced around all the tailed beasts, sometimes even climbing them and dancing on their heads. The best dancer turned out to be none other than Son Goku. He was just too energetic, though he fell many times because the branches he was swinging on broke down often. Meanwhile, Saiken was distributing the cake he had made with his own little hands. The cake was gigantic.

The celebrations went on for the whole day and the whole night. The people constantly prayed to the tailed beasts too, thanking them for giving them this great new life. And for the first time, the tailed beasts felt so much loved by the people who used to curse them not long ago.

But, this happiness had been jinxed by someone's bad eyes by now. For how long will their lives be this peaceful? Because the humans kept on expanding and were now reaching too close to their small village.

The seeds of war had sprouted and now threatened to spread faster than one could have imagined.

[You can see White Snake Sage, Monari, Jin and the developed Dama Village on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]

GIB STONES!

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You can read 30 advance chapters at -patreon.com/misterimmortal.

Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*

Thank you for your support!