158. (Title at the End)

Next day,

Izuna and Mei walk towards the center of the island.

"You still have to time reconsider if you want to follow me or not. If you want to return, then I can teleport you to Kirigakure… once we reach the center of the island I won't be able to teleport you… the space in the center of the island is isolated from the rest of the world." Izuna warns Mei.

"No need… I will follow you… I can't leave you alone."

Mei hurriedly chases after him.

Whoosh… Whoosh…

Both of them flicker deeper into the forest.

Hisss…

Izuna hears the hissing of a snake.

"Stop!"

He places a hand in front of Mei and stops her from moving forward.

"What's the matter?"

Mei frowns and questions him.

"Look there."

Izuna points towards a giant white snake slithering through the forest.

"What… what are you pointing at?" Mei tilts her head in confusion.

"All I see is an old lady slowly crawling through this forest… wait… what is an old lady doing in this forest?" Mei raises her guard as she takes a kunai from her holster.

"Huh! Old Lady… all I see is a giant ass white snake slithering through the forest."

Izuna turns towards the giant white snake and watches it slithering through the forest.

"Wait… it is clearly an old lady," Mei argues with him.

"I am one hundred percent sure about it." She argues with Izuna.

Hmm…

Izuna frowns as he inspects Mei's chakra for signs of any genjutsu.

"Strange… There is no problem with her chakra, which means she isn't under any genjutsu."

Izuna places his hand on Mei's forehead and tries to insert some chakra.

"Hiss… it's futile… My genjutsu can't be broken this easily."

The snakes notice the racket caused by them. It turns its giant head towards Izuna and flickers its fork-like tongue in front of him.

Izuna surveys the appearance of the snake.

The snake is a giant albino Japanese rat snake. Many yellow circular coils with the yellow band are tied around its body. The snake has a turban with two pointed edges and a red orb on top, along with an orange headdress. There is a large chain with a green orb around her neck.

Hiss…

The snake hisses at him.

"Boy… what are you staring at? This place is not meant for strangers like you. You better depart from here."

The giant white snake warns him.

"What if I don't want to?" Izuna places his hands in front of his chest.

"I already warned you once… boy if you take one more step… you will face consequences for your actions. Hiss…" The giant snake hisses at him.

"One thing… I don't want in my life are regrets. As for consequences… I am never afraid of them."

Step… Step…

Izuna steadily walks deeper into the forest.

"Boy… my patience has a limit and you already cross it. Now pay for your recklessness. Hisss…"

The giant snake swings its tails towards Izuna.

"Eight Inner Gates: Sixth Gate: Gate of View open"

Izuna immediately opens the sixth gate and blocks the attack with his hand.

Skid…

The force of the tail swings pushes him back.

'Heavy… that tail-swing was so heavy…'

Izuna successfully blocks the attack and smirks at the giant snake.

"If this is the best you can do… then don't even bother stopping me in my tracks." He taunts the giant snake.

Humph…

"Some courageous words for a toddler."

The snake swings its tail again.

Swoosh…

'Swift Release: Sonic Steps'

Izuna dodges the attack.

BAM…

The tails collide with a nearby hill and shatter it into dust.

"Wooh… That's some dangerous blow there."

Izuna's eyes widen as he stares at the remains of the hill.

'This snake is dangerous… I have to get serious if I want to fight with him. I don't want to bully him with my Mangekyo or Ninjutsu abilities… I don't want to rely much on my Sharingan. I haven't polished my other abilities in a while.'

Whoosh…

Izuna dashes towards the giant snake and clenches his fist.

"Metal Release: Black Diamond Claw"

Izuna's hands harden and turn into a black shining claw.

Whoosh… Bang…

He punches the scales of the snake.

Ouch…

'That's fucking hard… what are those scales made of?'

Izuna grabs his right hand in pain as he stares at the scales of the snake.

'They are fucking harder than a black diamond which is supposed to be the hardest natural existing substance.'

Aah…

The giant snake grunts a little as it angrily stares at Izuna.

"You pesky insect… how dare you to attack me? You have made me mad now… I will chew you alive."

The giant snake closes its eyes. Its body glows with a cyan hue as it swings its tails towards Izuna.

'Shit… this is Nature energy. This snake can use Senjutsu.'

Izuna's expression turns ugly. He quickly absorbs an enormous amount of Nature energy from his surroundings.

A cyan color cloak with a giant tomoe on back and front appears around him.

"Power Release: Asura's Robe"

Another dark red cloak coats his body as red-lightning flickers through his eyes.

"Eight Inner Gates: Seventh Gate: Gate of Wonder Open"

He stretches out his hand and punches the tail.

"Hirudora"

Roar…

A giant white tiger made out of pure aura leaps out from his punch. The body of the tiger blazes with fire as red wings made of fire appear on his back.

Roar…

The tiger roars again and slams into the incoming tail.

Hmm…

The giant white snake senses danger as various alarms go off in its head.

'Looks like I have underestimated this kid.'

Whoosh…

The coils around its body untie themselves and ties near the end of the tail, turning the tail into a gigantic drill.

BOOM…

The tail and the white tiger collide with each other.

Boom…

A gigantic explosion occurs in the middle of the island as white light blinds their vision.

Rumble… Rumble…

The entire island trembles from the attack as the force of the attack throws Izuna backward.

'Fuck… I almost forgot about Mei.'

Whoosh…

He teleports mid-air and teleports beside Mei. He grabs her hand.

"Susanoo: Yata no Kagami"

He places down his gigantic dark shield of chakra to block the shock waves.

BOOM…

The force of the collision pushes back the gigantic snake as it rolls a few times before coming to stop.

A gigantic dome of air pressure and chakra covers the entire island as it blows away the leaf of multiple trees.

Silence… deathly silence haunts the entire island as the sound of the explosion buries down every other noise.

The dust and debris settle down to reveal an almost bottomless crater in the middle of the island.

"So… this is the strength of my most powerful taijutsu technique while I am not holding back."

Izuna stares at the giant crater and nods his head.

"…"

Mei silently stares at Izuna and questions him.

"Was it really necessary to beat a frail old lady to death using such a powerful technique?"

"…"

Izuna rubs his forehead in frustration as he reveals the truth to her.

"There is no old lady. It is a giant white snake that has disguised itself as an old lady. I am immune to most of the genjutsu… so it didn't affect me."

"Ok!"

Mei nods her head as she recounts her story.

"What I saw was an old lady crawling through the forest? I saw you having some dispute with the old lady. The old lady raised her stick to smack you and you punched her instead."

Sigh…

Mei sighs and shakes her head.

"I never thought you won't even hold back against an old lady."

"…"

"Wait… she is a giant ass snake… I told you the truth already." Izuna argues with her.

Haha…

Mei chuckles as she points towards Izuna.

"I just wanted to see your flustered expression. You always teased me during this period… it's time for some payback."

Ahem…

A creepy hiss interrupts them.

"If your lover's quarrel is over… then can we talk about the matter at hand?"

The giant snake slithers in front of them.

Huh!

Mei turns her head and notices the giant snake.

"So… this is the giant snake you were talking about. It's pretty unique."

Mei curiously inspects the giant white snake.

Ahem…

The giant snake clears its throat as it hisses at them.

"Congratulations! You have cleared the first stage of the trial. You can proceed to the second stage."

"Huh!"

Mei and Izuna stare at each other before staring at the Giant white snake.

"What's this all about? I don't want to partake in any trial of yours. It is too bothersome. Just get out of my way… I only wanted to visit some ruins."

Izuna waves his hands nonchalantly.

"No… it won't do. This is the rule of the Ryuchi cave and every visiter must follow this rule."

The giant snake hisses at them.

"Huh! Ryu… what? Wait, a sec… Ryu… Ryuchi cave?"

Izuna's eyes widen in surprise as he questions the giant snake for confirmation.

"Yes… Ryuchi cave."

The giant snake nods his head in affirmation.

158. Ryuchi Cave