Chapter 259.5: Speedrunning Ryūchi Cave

They felt no pain, and with such immense defense, Shinho barely reacted.

"You... what kind of monster are you?!"

The Great White Snake Sage realized something.

This body—was a corpse?

Confusion, incomprehension, and shock surged in her heart.

Shinho Aburame did not answer.

The powers of sky, earth, water, and fire converged around him.

His eight muscular arms bulged as unimaginable strength surged through them.

The Great White Snake Sage's pupils trembled.

The scales covering her body cracked, spreading down to her skin.

Blood seeped out in streams.

In the blink of an eye, her pristine white form turned crimson.

A wail of agony echoed through the cave.

The pain only made the Great White Snake Sage more frenzied.

But no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't break free.

The intense light from the Sage Art: White Rage Technique faded.

Sasuke collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

Without Susanoo, he was powerless against the White Rage Technique.

Fortunately, Nagato's chakra absorption had greatly weakened the attack.

Now that the Great White Snake Sage couldn't maintain the jutsu, she was utterly exposed.

"Truly terrifying."

Nagato raised his head and saw the pitiable state of the Great White Snake Sage, muttering to himself.

He had personally experienced her strength, it was undoubtedly on par with the strongest beings in the ninja world.

Yet she was utterly powerless before Shinho's Six-Armed Heavenly Zombie King.

Nagato was reminded of the battles he fought while controlling the Six Paths.

Though the process was different, the result was the same.

"..."

Sasuke remained silent.

He had thought that with Susanoo, he would shine in this battle.

Yet under the effect of the White Rage Technique, he couldn't even summon it.

What troubled him even more was that the gap between him and Shinho had not narrowed, even with his Mangekyō Sharingan.

Is there a level beyond the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?

A sense of helplessness rose in Sasuke's heart.

From what he knew, the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was the pinnacle of the Uchiha clan's power.

Shinho released his grip.

The Great White Snake Sage's massive body crashed to the ground, blood splattering everywhere.

She lay there, barely alive.

"Let me introduce myself."

Shinho looked at her and spoke, "I am Shinho Aburame, the Sixth Hokage."

Hokage?

The Great White Snake Sage's eyes filled with confusion.

The current Ryūchi Cave contractor was Orochimaru, a ninja from Konoha.

Logically, they should be allies.

"You have two choices now."

Shinho continued, "Either I kill you and take over Ryūchi Cave, or you submit willingly and swear your loyalty."

"..."

The Great White Snake Sage was silent, her expression dark.

Ryūchi Cave had existed for thousands of years and had never faced such humiliation.

Especially at the hands of a mere human.

To Ryūchi Cave, humans were just food.

Occasionally, those who passed the trials could become summoners.

"My patience is limited."

Shinho slowly raised his hand.

"I... I am willing to submit!"

The Great White Snake Sage felt the overwhelming presence of death looming over her. Her massive body trembled as she hastily agreed.

She had lived too long, her will had long since eroded. She had no desire for mutual destruction.

Besides, could she even achieve mutual destruction?

She feared she wouldn't be able to inflict any meaningful damage, even in a desperate attempt.

"Good."

Shinho placed his hand on her head.

Under her anxious gaze, he activated the Serpent Mastery Gu.

The Great White Snake Sage froze for a moment, then began to struggle visibly.

She finally understood what had happened to the Three Snake Princesses.

In the next moment, an intense sense of danger engulfed her.

Her body stiffened.

Faced with the overwhelming fear of death, she lost all ability to resist.

A puff of smoke appeared.

The Great White Snake Sage reverted to her human form.

Her face still bore traces of terror.

However, it didn't take long for all emotion to drain from her expression.

Seeing this, Shinho deactivated the Six-Armed Heavenly Zombie King.

He glanced at the Great White Snake Sage before turning to Nagato and Sasuke.

"How are you both holding up?"

Shinho asked.

"I'm fine," Nagato replied.

If Shinho hadn't intervened, he believed he still had a chance to defeat the Great White Snake Sage, though it wouldn't have been as direct and overwhelming.

Sasuke silently shook his head.

He had just found new confidence, only for it to be shattered completely.

His mood was understandably grim.

"Then I'll leave this task to you."

Shinho casually tossed a scroll.

Sasuke instinctively caught it.

"Besides the Great White Snake Sage and the Three Snake Princesses, there are still several powerful serpents in Ryūchi Cave," Shinho explained, "Go beat them into submission."

Summoned beasts like Manda and Garaga were notoriously hot-tempered, especially Manda.

Orochimaru had to prepare a live sacrifice whenever he summoned Manda.

But in Shinho's view, if they didn't behave, a thorough beating would suffice.

"If any serpent catches your eye, make it your summon beast," Shinho added.

"I understand."

Sasuke, who had previously looked down on Ryūchi Cave, had a change of perspective after the battle with the Great White Snake Sage.

Perhaps these snakes could indeed be useful in battle.

Nagato and Sasuke followed the map and headed deeper into the cave.

"Before long, I will select a group of ninja to enter Ryūchi Cave. At that time, you will guide them in training in Sage Mode," Shinho said as he glanced at the Great White Snake Sage.

"Understood," the Great White Snake Sage replied respectfully.

"If they can't learn it, don't force them," Shinho continued, "Simply pair each of them with a suitable snake according to their abilities."

In the original story, very few ninja managed to learn Sage Mode in any of the three summoning beast sanctuaries.

Most ordinary ninjas were unlikely to master it.

Shinho merely wanted to test his luck.

Since they were already here, they might as well make use of the opportunity.

At that moment, two lines of text appeared before his eyes:

..

[Achievement unlocked: "Heavenly Dragon Subjugation" – Reward: Thousand Jun Strength Gu.]

[Thousand Jun Strength Gu: Rank 6 Strength Gu, consumes strength-path essence, increases the user's physical strength by 30,000 pounds.]

..

Heavenly Dragon Subjugation?

I'm not some monk. At best, I'm like Xu Xian.

Still, the reward was a pleasant surprise.

On second thought, it made sense.

Subjugating Ryūchi Cave was no simple feat, especially in the shinobi world.

In the thousand years of Ryūchi Cave's existence, Shinho was the first to achieve it.

As for the Gu, it was quite fitting for his current circumstances.

If it had been an attack-type Gu, he might not have been able to utilize it.

But a consumable that directly increased his strength? Perfect.

Shinho clenched his fists.

Another 30,000 pounds of force.

With this, there was likely no ninja in the shinobi world who could withstand his punch.

His power had increased significantly.

In the distance, a powerful surge of ocular energy rippled through the air.

Shinho glanced in that direction but paid it no further attention.

His thoughts were focused on how to allocate the members of the summoning squad.

There was some overlap between the summoning squad and the curse seal unit.

A capable ninja could receive a curse seal and also become a Ryūchi Cave summoner.

Shinho rubbed his chin.

In terms of difficulty, the latter was definitely easier, all it took was the inscription of a seal.

After a brief moment of contemplation, he devised a plan.

First, we'll proceed with implanting the curse seal. If it fails, we'll assign them a Ryūchi Cave snake contract.

Shinho turned his gaze toward the Three Snake Princesses.

Raising his arm, he instructed, "You will reside within my Serpent Diagram Gu from now on."

The Three Snake Princesses immediately transformed into serpentine tattoos of green, brown, and blue, appearing on his arm.

As for the Great White Snake Sage, she would remain in Ryūchi Cave to guard it and train Konoha's ninjas.

Shinho stood still, waiting.

Half an hour later, Nagato and Sasuke returned.

"The task is complete. Let's return to the village," Shinho said after glancing at them.

With their strength, subduing Manda, Gargara, and the others posed no problem at all.

The return trip to Konoha was the same as their arrival at Ryūchi Cave.

Shinho first returned to the Hokage's office, then summoned Katsuyu and used Reverse Summoning.

Nagato and Sasuke emerged amidst a puff of smoke.

"Good work today. You're dismissed. Make sure to get some rest," Shinho said with a wave of his hand.

Sasuke said nothing, merely turning and leaving.

Nagato, however, remained.

"Is there something you need?" Shinho asked, curious.

"Konan is now the Hokage's assistant," Nagato hesitated before asking, "What should I do?"

He's eager to get to work, Shinho thought with amusement.

Truthfully, he hadn't assigned Nagato a specific role yet.

Now that Nagato was asking, he had to come up with something.

"I've got it!"

Shinho's eyes lit up. "You'll be in charge of the Special Operations Division."

The Special Operations Division was divided into squads for Sealing, Barriers, Medical, Curse Seals, Aburame Clan Specialists, and Summoning.

Due to the number of people involved and the high level of skill required, Shinho had originally planned to oversee it himself.

But Nagato was more than qualified.

The only concern was Nagato's loyalty to the village.

However, this wasn't a major issue.

In the shinobi world, strength reigned supreme.

As long as Nagato couldn't defeat him, rebelling against him was impossible.

Moreover, integrating Nagato into the Special Operations Division would help him better understand Konoha and eventually assimilate.

Nagato nodded silently.

He didn't actually know what the Special Operations Division entailed.

But anything was better than sitting idly at home.

He hadn't forgotten why he joined Konoha. It was to see the so-called "path of peace" that Shinho had spoken of.

"Take this to the Special Operations Division Headquarters."

Shinho casually tossed Nagato a Hokage's token. "Once you're there, someone will explain the details to you."

Nagato caught the token and turned to leave the office.

Shinho stretched lazily.

Fighting the Great White Snake Sage and running back and forth had been somewhat exhausting.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Konan entered.

Shinho paused for a moment.

She was still dressed in her uniform suit, but her usual black stockings had been swapped for a shade of light blue-violet that complemented her hair color perfectly.

Shinho examined her carefully.

What can I say? Purple has a certain charm.

"Lord Hokage."

Konan stepped forward and said, "Might Guy's Team 3 has returned. Since you weren't here, they left their mission report."

"That was fast."

Shinho took the report from her.

As expected, the contents detailed how they had arrived at the Village of Artisans and discovered that the Four Heavenly Directions had indeed intended to revive their ancestor, Seimei.

Without holding back, they defeated the four and confiscated their ninja tools.

The death of the Four Heavenly Directions threw the Village of Artisans into chaos, significantly slowing their production of ninja tools and buying some time.

However, Shinho knew this was only a temporary solution.

After all, every major ninja village had its own ninja tool shops.

"Have the Anbu continue monitoring Akatsuki's movements," Shinho said as he set down the report.