From then on, Jie basically became the second-in-command of Ryuchi Cave. Even the Three Snake Princesses had to listen to him now—they were his personal summons, after all.
But honestly, the thing Jie loved most about Ryuchi Cave wasn't the Snake Princesses. It wasn't even Senjutsu.
It was the regular snakes.
Once his position was solid, Jie spent a lot of time just wandering around the cave. And what he found surprised him. Not every snake slithering through those dark, damp tunnels was a summoning beast.
Sure, they were way stronger than normal snakes out in the world. But plenty of them were just wild animals. Plain and simple.
He asked around. The answer made perfect sense.
Stronger creatures always have a harder time breeding. That was just nature. But snakes weren't mammals...they laid eggs. A single clutch could be anywhere from a few to a few dozen.
Over the years, the hatchlings born with a natural talent for sensing and absorbing natural energy grew up to become real summoning beasts. The ones without talent simply became food.
Technically, every snake in Ryuchi Cave was descended from the White Snake Sage or the Three Snake Princesses. But the ones that never awakened any real consciousness were no different from wild beasts.
So tossing a few ordinary snakes into a stew pot was nothing worth mentioning. Even the Princesses and the White Snake Sage snacked on their lesser kin from time to time.
And Jie had to admit...the taste was incredible.
These snakes carried the faint bloodline of summoning beasts and soaked up huge amounts of natural energy their whole lives. That made the meat rich and flavorful in a way no normal snake from the ninja world could ever match.
For Jie, a good meal was way more practical than learning some fancy Senjutsu or signing a new summoning contract.
While he was poking around and chatting with the cave's residents, Jie also uncovered something pretty interesting.
The Three Great Sage Regions—Mount Myoboku, Ryuchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest...were actually connected. They all existed in the same massive, uninhabited stretch of the ninja world.
Because of the strange, dense pockets of natural energy, Ryuchi Cave, Shikkotsu Forest, and Mount Myoboku had simply grown into their own little isolated worlds inside that hidden territory.
And since their borders touched, the giant snakes of Ryuchi Cave didn't just survive on natural energy and their own kind. They actively hunted the toads from Mount Myoboku.
That hunting was how both places kept their populations balanced.
Shikkotsu Forest was a different story. Only one thing lived there...Katsuyu, the Slug Sage. Any toad from Mount Myoboku or giant snake from Ryuchi Cave that wandered in there looking for a snack would have a death wish. Plain and simple.
Because of that simple food chain, Manda always acted like he was above Gamabunta whenever they met. To Manda, Gamabunta was just a walking meal. Nobody treated their food like an equal.
While Jie was enjoying his fragrant snake stew, he casually shared all these little secrets with Izumi. She just stared at him, completely stunned.
Izumi could tell right away that the three strange girls sitting across from them weren't normal humans.
But beautiful young women who were actually giant, terrifying serpents...she never would have guessed that in a million years.
"Lord Jie, that's so mean. You were going to eat all this delicious food without telling us."
Tagorihime's voice was full of complaint—even as she happily slurped down another bowl of broth.
"I just wanted to spend some private time with Izumi." Jie shook his head helplessly. He couldn't stop himself from complaining. "Who knew the White Snake Sage had such a big mouth and would snitch on me."
"Of course she told us. The White Snake Sage wanted some stew, too," Tagitsuhime added with a nod.
"Then you should learn how to cook it yourselves," Jie said, exasperated.
Ichikishimahime blinked in genuine confusion. "I have never seen a snake wash and cook its prey before eating it."
Hearing such an innocent statement, Jie found himself completely speechless. He wanted to argue, but the more he thought about it, the more her twisted logic actually made a strange sort of sense.
There was no point debating a snake. They weren't even the same species. He took a few more casual bites and set down his chopsticks.
With the Three Snake Princesses crashing their meal, Jie's planned romantic day trip to Ryuchi Cave was officially ruined. Once Izumi had eaten her fill, Jie asked the princesses to send his regards to the White Snake Sage, then safely took Izumi back to Konoha.
Although their private getaway had ended rather hastily, Izumi was beaming the whole way back, more than satisfied with the adventure.
When they arrived in the village, Jie noted that it was still early in the day, so he led Izumi straight toward the Hokage's office.
Three years ago, right after Izumi graduated from the Ninja Academy, Jie had immediately swooped in and made her his personal assistant.
Her daily routine consisted of delivering documents between the secretariat and Jie, acting as the primary liaison between Tsunade's administration and himself.
Because of this arrangement, Izumi was the only person in Konoha who ever truly knew Jie's whereabouts.
That was precisely why Tsunade had been thrown into a furious panic when Izumi vanished alongside Jie this time.
The moment Tsunade looked up and saw Jie and Izumi casually strolling into the Hokage's office, her temper instantly flared. She clenched her fist, blurred forward, and threw a devastating punch straight at Jie's face.
"You brat! Finally decided to show up!" she roared.
Hearing Tsunade's shout, Jie felt a fleeting twinge of guilt. But the remarkably thick skin he had cultivated over the years let him toss that guilt right out the window. He didn't even bother to dodge. He simply raised a hand and caught Tsunade's fist head-on.
Thud! A heavy, muffled shockwave echoed through the room, kicking up a massive gust of wind that sent paperwork flying across the office.
'This brat... he's gotten stronger again!' Tsunade's pupils shrank sharply as she watched Jie take her strike without a single scratch.
The moment the punch landed, Tsunade had felt a flash of regret. She had struck out in pure anger and subconsciously channeled her Enhanced Strength into the blow.
She had fully expected Jie to read the lethal power behind the strike and evade it.
She never imagined he would just stand there and absorb all that kinetic force with pure physical resilience.
With that level of taijutsu, even Might Guy...Konoha's premier close-combat specialist, would be hard-pressed to match him.
Feeling a slight, satisfying numbness tingling in his palm, Jie was extremely pleased with the results of his recent training.
For the past five years, he hadn't missed a single day of cultivating his Lightning Release body fortification techniques.
And by consistently harvesting fragments of Indra's reincarnated chakra from Naruto through the system, his Advanced Sage Body was now only a hair's breadth away from breaking through to a Perfect Sage Body.
Even without undergoing the grueling, muscle-tearing exercises of standard taijutsu masters, his physique was simply monstrous.
Ever since the Hokage Settlement System had rewarded him with the complete contents of the Scroll of Seals, he had gained access to Konoha's absolute pinnacle of forbidden jutsu... the Eight Inner Gates.
Judging by his current physical endurance, Jie estimated he could casually open up to the Sixth Gate...the Gate of View, without suffering any muscular tearing or backlash whatsoever.
As for the Seventh Gate, the Gate of Wonder, leaving it open might cause some mild internal damage. But against the passive healing of his Advanced Sage Body, it would be completely inconsequential.
The only threshold Jie wasn't entirely confident about was the Eighth Gate, the Gate of Death. He wasn't sure if his Advanced Sage Body's restorative powers could keep him alive after the heart burned out.
Thinking it over, he figured it was highly unlikely. After all, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, it took Naruto wielding Six Paths-level Yang power to pull Might Guy back from the brink of turning to ash.
Six Paths-level Yang power was leaps and bounds beyond even a Perfect Sage Body, let alone Jie's current Advanced state. Testing the Gate of Death was still a distant, suicidal gamble.
'The road is long, and the grind never stops...' Jie thought silently.
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