Unlike when he first mastered Sage Mode, Naruto didn't recklessly activate the Sage Fox Mode.
One reason was that Ryūchi Cave was too small—if he went all out, he might trigger a damn landslide and bury himself like an idiot. The other reason was that he still wanted to keep some cards hidden from the White Snake Sage. Even if both sides shared a common enemy in the Ten-Tails, basic caution was still necessary.
After chatting with Kurama for a while, Naruto stood up, looked at Tian Xin Shenji, and asked, "Tian Xin Shenji, does Ryūchi Cave have any matching Sage Arts or secret techniques?"
Tian Xin Shenji nodded. "Of course. However, I'm not qualified to teach ninjutsu. I would need to request permission from Lady White Snake. Besides, those techniques might not be very useful to Lord Naruto."
"Learning more secret techniques never hurts. They might come in handy someday."
Tian Xin Shenji didn't answer directly and instead said vaguely, "Lord Naruto said something similar before. But if you can fully master Sage Mode within a month, learning other secret techniques will be very easy for you."
"A month has already passed?" Naruto frowned slightly.
Tian Xin Shenji replied respectfully, "Time flows differently in Ryūchi Cave compared to the outside world, and there is no sun here as a reference. It's perfectly normal for Lord Naruto to feel confused."
After understanding the situation, Naruto didn't linger around the altar and instead walked toward the Ryūchi Cave Temple.
Inside the temple, the White Snake Sage was still sitting cross-legged, that oversized pipe hanging from her mouth as she lazily puffed out smoke like she had all the time in the world.
When she saw Naruto, she nodded in satisfaction. "As expected of the one favored by that old toad. You've mastered Sage Mode so quickly. Although it's not perfect yet, you should be able to reach a complete Sage Mode within half a year."
"Then I have to thank you, Great Sage, for providing both the method and the training ground."
Naruto first expressed his thanks, then smiled and said, "White Snake Sage, I heard that Ryūchi Cave has some special secret techniques. I wonder if you would allow me to learn them?"
The White Snake Sage stared at Naruto for a while before speaking. "You're quite greedy, Naruto. But those techniques are useless to me anyway. Still, you must agree to one condition."
"What's the condition? Don't tell me you want me to become a Ryūchi Cave Sage again?"
The White Snake Sage smiled playfully. "The moment you learned Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode, you already became one of our Sages. What I want is for you to sign a summoning contract with Rui Jinji and let her observe the ninja world."
Naruto looked slightly surprised. "Your body is practically integrated with the earth itself. Do you still need your subordinates to observe the ninja world for you? You should already know everything happening out there."
The White Snake Sage shook her head lightly.
"The world I perceive… is different from the world seen with my own eyes. And the world changes too quickly."
"Decades ago, battles between ninjas were still fought in small family conflicts. A fight might only result in a few dozen casualties. Now? Look at the ninja world."
"And what about you—and those with the Rinnegan? Aren't you also changing the world?"
Hearing this almost prophetic speech, Naruto couldn't help but wonder if this White Snake Sage also possessed some kind of foresight like the Great Toad Sage.
But after thinking about it, it made sense. The great sages of the three holy lands had lived for thousands of years. Even if they weren't on the level of the Ōtsutsuki who crossed the stars, they weren't far off either. If the Sacred Tree hadn't threatened their survival, perhaps the Great Toad Sage wouldn't have acted in the first place.
After agreeing to the White Snake Sage's condition, Naruto obtained Ryūchi Cave's Sage techniques—and gained Rui Jinji as a follower.
According to Rui Jinji, she became his summon because she "lost a bet."
Naruto almost rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, sure. Totally not arranged at all."
After returning to the altar, Naruto opened the Ryūchi Cave scroll.
There were numerous ninjutsu recorded inside, all directly utilizing natural energy and Senjutsu chakra. Most of them focused on enhancing ninjutsu, which matched Ryūchi Cave's reputation for specializing in such techniques.
Among them, one technique immediately caught Naruto's attention:
Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation.
This technique could grant life to surrounding inorganic matter and manipulate it to attack enemies. It was basically a super-enhanced version of Earth Style.
However, against Kage-level opponents, this technique alone wouldn't pose much of a threat.
What Naruto valued more was its flexibility.
"If I can freely reshape and control inorganic matter… isn't this basically an infrastructure cheat?"
"Stronger than Wood Release for construction… a real estate tycoon's dream technique."
...
While Naruto was busy training in Ryūchi Cave, Jiraiya was carrying out a mission at the border of the Land of Fire.
Disappointed with the Third Hokage, he chose to temporarily leave the village. But this time, he wasn't running away—he was looking for support under the guise of a mission.
Over the years as one of the Sannin, Jiraiya had gathered many loyal subordinates.
However, due to their free-spirited nature, none of them held important positions. They couldn't form a faction strong enough to oppose Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzō. Relying on them to change the village would only be a waste of time.
The ally he chose was Tsunade.
Tsunade, one of the Sannin, known as the Slug Princess, the granddaughter of the First Hokage, and the one who established Konoha's medical system.
With her support, he could truly stand against the Third Hokage and change the rotten state of the village.
Sighing lightly, Jiraiya casually knocked out an active spy squad at the border and looked toward the nearby town.
Tsunade never hid her whereabouts, so finding her wasn't difficult.
The real problem was…
"How the hell am I supposed to face her?"
He scratched his head.
"I'm Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin… and I'm going to ask Tsunade for help?"
"That's embarrassing as hell…"
Worse yet, it was about dealing with their own teacher.
Grabbing the collar of the spy team leader, Jiraiya used genjutsu to extract the necessary information, then buried the bodies in the soil, letting them rest in peace.
The intelligence itself was nothing new.
Iwagakure was trying to stir conflict between Konoha and nearby small ninja villages to weaken its defense network. He had seen this kind of trick countless times over the years.
After clearing his thoughts, Jiraiya headed toward the town where Tsunade was staying.
"Isn't it just embarrassing myself in front of Tsunade?"
He snorted.
"I've already lost face in front of her countless times trying to confess. What's one more failure?"
"But if she agrees…"
His expression hardened.
"…then we can force the old man to step down and fix this damn village."
"And even if it means being labeled as someone who betrayed his teacher…"
Jiraiya's eyes sharpened.
"As one of the Sannin, I'll eliminate anything that stands in Konoha's way—"
"Whether it's an enemy… or the Hokage himself."
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