"He actually won."
The Great Katsuyu Sage, who was maintaining the seal of Ryuchi Cave, sighed softly as she continued to hold the barrier intact.
The White Snake Sage's power surpassed hers by several degrees, and now she had fallen to Shishou. It was truly remarkable.
However, despite her sigh, the Great Katsuyu Sage was still quite angry about the White Snake Sage's intention to eat her.
Even though she was gentle and soft-spoken, it didn't mean she was without temper.
The White Snake Sage's declaration to consume her was something she would never forget!!!
Beside the Great Katsuyu Sage, Tsunade, Mei Terumi, and Yugito Nii, who had been tense moments ago, relaxed upon seeing Shishou unharmed.
The sudden attack from the White Snake Sage had frightened them.
After the Great Katsuyu Sage explained the lethality of the White Snake Sage's venom, they were well aware of its dangers.
Now, seeing Shishou safe and sound, they breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that Shishou truly deserved to be their man, someone who even the White Snake Sage's deadly fangs couldn't harm.
With the external threat gone, internal conflicts began to simmer.
So, Tsunade, Mei Terumi, and Yugito Nii exchanged glances, then each deactivated their Sage Modes and stood apart, not intending to converse.
They quietly waited for Shishou to return.
On the other side.
Seeing the dissipating form of the White Snake Sage in his hand, Shishou remained expressionless as he recalled his chakra bugs.
He then looked up at the piece of the White Snake Sage's body in the hands of the Hell Kannon.
Seeing that it had also been devoured, leaving only a pile of bones being gnawed by the chakra bugs, Shishou nodded.
He sat cross-legged atop the Kannon wood puppet, extending his Sage Mode's sensory abilities to their fullest, using his Wood Release buried underground to scan and sense within the barrier, ensuring the White Snake Sage was truly dead.
Half an hour later.
After thoroughly searching within the barrier and finding no trace of the White Snake Sage, Shishou opened his eyes and stood up.
He controlled the Kannon wood puppet to descend into the pit where the White Snake Sage's remains lay. Using his chakra bugs, he began devouring the body to acquire the White Snake Sage's Sage Chakra bloodline.
The defense boost from Ryuchi Cave's Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation, which could withstand the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion after infusing massive amounts of Sage Chakra, was an unexpected discovery for Shishou.
If the Great Katsuyu Sage countered Six Paths-level attacks by liquefying and splitting, the White Snake Sage used the defensive power of Inorganic Reincarnation to withstand them.
This realization showed Shishou the advantages of Ryuchi Cave's Sage Art.
It convinced him that mastering Ryuchi Cave's Sage Art was necessary to add to his arsenal against Six Paths Nagato.
Devouring and integrating the White Snake Sage's Sage Chakra bloodline was a crucial step to quickly mastering Ryuchi Cave's Sage Art.
Shishou jumped down from the Kannon wood puppet and reached the pit created by the White Snake Sage.
He placed his hand in the air.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Three puffs of white smoke dissipated, and Shin Hime, Island Hime, and Tsun Hime appeared beside Shishou.
"Master."
As soon as they appeared, the three Hime snakes bowed to Shishou with great respect.
They had seen the White Snake Sage's death from the Great Katsuyu Sage's side and were grateful to Shishou for summoning them out before the battle.
Had they stayed, they wouldn't have survived the massive scale of the battle between Shishou and the White Snake Sage.
This act of foresight made them genuinely want to serve Shishou.
Shishou glanced at the three kneeling snakes and instructed:
"Take me to the White Snake Sage's contract scroll and the Sage Art scrolls she left behind."
Finding the contract scroll and using the contract link with Orochimaru to track him down and control him with Kotoamatsukami was one of Shishou's goals.
Hearing this, the three Hime snakes exchanged nervous glances and looked at Shishou.
Seeing their hesitant expressions, Shishou asked:
"Is there a problem?"
Shin Hime bit her lip and said:
"Master, the contract scroll of Ryuchi Cave is different from those of the other two Sage Lands. The White Snake Sage created it using Inorganic Reincarnation, making it part of her body."
"When not in use, the contract scroll merges back into the White Snake Sage's flesh."
"In other words, no one but the White Snake Sage can access or extract the contract scroll."
The contract scroll was made using Inorganic Reincarnation...
Hearing this, Shishou frowned.
According to the feedback from the chakra bugs devouring the White Snake Sage's remains, there was no trace of any scroll within her body.
This meant he couldn't use the scroll to find Orochimaru.
Next, Island Hime nervously said:
"We can find the Sage Art scrolls related to Inorganic Reincarnation that Master wants, but we're not sure if they exist..."
She glanced at Shishou cautiously, afraid of his anger and punishment.
"Indeed, the White Snake Sage is impressive," Shishou praised, looking at the three Hime snakes. "Given the circumstances, show me what else is in Ryuchi Cave."
Although he couldn't get the scroll, the massive remains of the White Snake Sage were a significant gain.
He had no intention of taking out his frustration on the three Hime snakes.
"Yes, Master," the three Hime snakes replied in unison, relieved.
Then, Tsun Hime transformed into a giant snake and lay down at Shishou's feet.
With the other two Hime snakes, Shishou climbed onto Tsun Hime's back and headed into the depths of Ryuchi Cave.
Inside Ryuchi Cave, Shishou found numerous snake corpses lying around.
These snakes were all shriveled, reduced to just skins, making Shishou frown.
From this scene, Shishou deduced that the White Snake Sage must have extracted all the natural energy from these snakes while drawing in natural energy herself.
This ruined Shishou's plan to use the snakes in Ryuchi Cave for energy.
The three Hime snakes, seeing this scene, were even more grateful to Shishou for summoning them out earlier. Otherwise, their fate would have been no better than these snakes.
Reaching the temple within Ryuchi Cave, Shishou sat on the White Snake Sage's throne.
After instructing the three Hime snakes to inspect Ryuchi Cave, Shishou placed his hand in the air.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A small Katsuyu appeared in a puff of smoke in his hand.
The next moment, the Great Katsuyu Sage projected her consciousness onto the small Katsuyu, looking at Shishou and saying:
"I didn't expect you to actually defeat the White Snake Sage."
**********
This fanfiction is complete on my Pa treon. If you want to read it, you can find it at patreo n.com Betek.