Chapter 478: Another Snake Slough
Ryo was thoroughly baffled. Although he had frequently referred to himself as Shusui Uzumaki in the past, practically no one had ever heard of that alias. How on earth did the Great Toad Sage know it? Could he even prophesy something like that?
In Ryo's mind, this old toad became deeply enigmatic and unfathomable once again...
"Great Old Man, he is Ryo Uzumaki. You've met him before," Fukasaku corrected from the side.
"Snore..."
"Great Old Man!"
Pop! The bubble resting on the Great Toad Sage's nose shattered, and his hazy, sleepy eyes finally focused. "Oh, so it's Ryo Uzumaki. And Jiraiya, and that..."
"Grandpa Toad, my name is Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto introduced himself.
"Naruto, you must address him as the Great Sage!" Jiraiya corrected him.
The Great Toad Sage lifted his spirits a fraction: "Naruto Uzumaki, the newest contractor. Are you Jiraiya's disciple?"
Ryo given a subtle pause, only now remembering that Naruto hadn't officially apprenticed under Jiraiya yet, meaning he hadn't harvested that particular Witness Point.
"Is he not? This little fellow doesn't really resemble the Child of Prophecy either, so if he isn't, so be it." Upon receiving a negative answer from Jiraiya, the Great Toad Sage spoke slowly.
Ryo knit his brows upon hearing this: "Great Sage, do you still dream of the Child of Prophecy? Even if there truly is a Child of Prophecy, shouldn't it be me? With me around, where is there any room for these little brats to save the world?"
"Great Ancestor, what is a Child of Prophecy? What world are we saving?" Naruto asked curiously.
Jiraiya puffed his chest out slightly: "The Great Sage possesses the power to foresee the future. He prophesied that my disciple would become the Child of Prophecy and save the world. So Naruto, you'd better show me a bit more respect in the future, and remember to call me the 'Toad Sage'!"
"Toad Sage!" Naruto agreed decisively. The Child of Prophecy—emmmm, that sounded phenomenally cool...
Ryo shot a sidelong glance at these two clowns, silently waiting for the Great Toad Sage's reply. Possessing his current tier of raw strength, he refused to believe his own future could still be shackled by a 'prophecy'.
"In my dreams, the Child of Prophecy has always existed," the Great Toad Sage spoke slowly. "The dreams regarding you haven't changed in the slightest either."
"Unchanged?" Ryo's brow furrowed slightly. "Is the version of me in your prophecy identical to my current appearance?"
"No, it's the appearance you had the last time you visited."
It's that guy! Realization smoothly dawned on Ryo. Ichiraku will lock horns with Tenji, and then the Child of Prophecy will be responsible for saving the world... What about me, am I just a bystander?
Ryo increasingly felt that this prophecy business was utterly unreliable: "Great Sage, what about my current form?"
"I have never dreamed of it. But you should look on the bright side; since I haven't dreamed of you, perhaps... you are already dead?" the Great Toad Sage replied slowly.
Ryo froze, glaring at the Great Toad Sage with a face full of displeasure. Are you cracking jokes with me?
"Snore..."
The Great Toad Sage drifted back to sleep. This time, no matter how hard Fukasaku tried to call him, he couldn't be woken up. If his snoring weren't violently thundering through the hall, they could comfortably have buried him...
"Apologies, Ryo Uzumaki. The Great Old Man is advanced in years, and his sleep grows deeper by the day."
Ryo waved his hand. Individuals advanced in years deserved absolute respect, and a toad advanced in years was no different.
"It's fine, let him sleep. Prophecies are thoroughly unreliable anyway... Naruto, let's move! Time to teach you Sage Mode!"
"Ohh!"
Fukasaku given a subtle pause. It hadn't actually consented to letting Naruto cultivate 'Ryo Senjutsu' right here. But casting a glance at the Great Toad Sage, who would likely sleep for several months again, then looking at the completely innocent Jiraiya, and finally sensing the torrential chakra vibrating within Ryo's vessel... Sigh, cultivate it then. Mount Myoboku didn't lack that tiny fraction of natural energy!
Teaching Naruto to cultivate Sage Mode was significantly more exhausting than teaching Kushina and Konan back in the day. Aside from the structural disparity in raw strength, there was also a structural disparity in IQ... Just explaining the concept of natural energy consumed the better part of an hour for Ryo, yet Naruto still only half-understood it.
Back then, Ryo had merely left a localized trace of Sage chakra on the backs of Kushina and Konan's hands, and they were capable of using a single month to independently parse out Sage Mode on their own. But when it came to Naruto, Ryo left Sage chakra across his limbs, his chest, and his back, yet the brat remained completely swimming in confusion...
"As expected, teaching Naruto Sage Mode right now is a fraction premature." Ryo shook his head helplessly. "Naruto, focus your mind to perceive it!"
In the distance, Fukasaku, Shima, and Jiraiya were observing the progress.
"Is this truly how the Senior transmits Sage Mode to others? Kushina's innate talent probably isn't a shred inferior to Minato's..." Jiraiya lamented softly.
Fukasaku and Shima exchanged a look, shaking their heads.
"Two Sages, could I trouble you to step forward and offer a bit of guidance to Naruto? If things continue down this track, he might fail his cultivation entirely."
The two toads exchanged another look, and Fukasaku let out a long sigh: "Ryo Uzumaki's Senjutsu is indeed a tier superior to our Mount Myoboku's, but exactly... how on earth does he cultivate it?"
"Dear, go offer Naruto some guidance. He is Minato's son after all."
"Sigh..."
Consequentially, under the step-by-step guidance of Mount Myoboku's Fukasaku and Shima Sages, Naruto officially began cultivating the 'Ryo Sage Mode'... Ryo's youthful little face flushed a deep crimson.
How am I supposed to stay in this place? There's literally zero room left for me to exist!
"Jiraiya, once Naruto's Sage Mode cultivation is more or less stabilized, send word to me. I'm going next door to the Katsuyu Sage to pass along a warm greeting, and then I'll head straight back to Konoha first!"
Jiraiya nodded: "Rest easy, Senior!"
Ryo glanced back at Naruto, who was systematically practicing his Senjutsu under Fukasaku's watchful eyes, letting out a soft sigh as his hand wove a seal to open a spatial rift...
Inside the Shikkotsu Forest, the Katsuyu Sage's attitude toward Ryo remained completely unchanged. They shared a summoning contract history spanning over sixty years, after all. Even though it was currently severed, countless descendants of Ryo's lineage remained actively contracted with it.
It even inquired if Ryo desired to re-establish their contract relationship, which Ryo turned down with a gentle smile. He truly possessed zero practical need for it now...
Bidding farewell to the Katsuyu Sage, Ryo hesitated for a brief moment before opening another spatial rift, heading further toward the northern reaches. Since he had already visited Mount Myoboku and the Shikkotsu Forest, he might as well make a swift stop at the Ryuchi Cave along the way. Meeting the White Snake Sage might even yield some active data regarding Orochimaru's coordinates.
To eliminate any unnecessary logistical trouble, Ryo meticulously measured the distance of his spatial jumps...
Inside the grand hall housing the Ryuchi Cave's Snake Sage, a miniature black vortex tore open out of thin air. Ryo observed the interior from within the rift for several moments. Confirming he had jumped to the exact correct location, he expanded the rift and stepped out.
"White Snake Sage, long time no s—eh?" Ryo's words given a violent pause. Appraising the figure resting atop the stone chair, which possessed completely snow-white scales, his brow furrowed. "It's a freaking snake slough again. Trying to launch a surprise ambush on me again? Come on out!"
A moment later, Ryo focused his mind and stepped forward. The White Snake Sage excelled at absolute concealment; if it chose to hide, Ryo possessed zero capability to track its location. Within his sensory parameters, only the shed skin in front of him carried a faint trace of the White Snake Sage's chakra signature.
Closing the distance to the front of the snake slough, Ryo's footsteps instantly froze on the spot, an expression of profound shock steadily cascading across his face.
The shed skin—which should rightfully have been a completely seamless, solid structure—was violently ruptured at the tail end, revealing a hollow crater with a diameter of roughly half a meter. Surrounding the edges of the crater was a layer of thick, viscous fluid.
"This is... giving birth? Who on earth is the father... no, who is the male snake?"
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