Sasuke smouldered with rage as he exited the underground audience hall of Ryūchi Cave, the White Snake Sage's words still echoing ceaselessly inside his head. Yet outwardly, he remained as stoic as ever, keeping a stiff upper lip and a stony expression as he began retracing his steps to the surface, only to find the White Snake Sage's three beautiful attendants waiting for him in the antechamber, their elaborate golden headdresses catching the torchlight.
"Aww, going back already?" said Tagorihime, licking her lips provocatively as Sasuke brushed past her. I was really looking forward to having another taste of that dark, broody chakra of yours… it's still giving me shivers~!"
"We don't get many visitors down here, so it really is such a shame that the White Snake Sage didn't accept you," said Ichikishimahime, batting her eyelids flirtatiously at him. "It's been such a long while since I've last had a handsome man such as yourself… Oh, I could just gobble you up~!"
Sasuke ignored the two beautiful women in shrine maiden robes. His Sharingan could only just barely pierce through their illusions, but it was enough to see through the veil of deception. He saw them for what they truly were: slithering snakes.
"Quit bothering the boy, sisters," said Tagitsuhime sternly. "He passed our trials fair and square."
But he had still failed the White Snake Sage's all-important final test.
"It's useless to even try, boy. You simply haven't the chakra to sustain Sage Mode— and you never will," the enormous white serpent had lazily told Sasuke. "Had it been anyone else, I'd have injected you with my Senjutsu chakra and swallowed you whole the moment you inevitably failed. But since thosethree seem to like you so much, I've made an exception. Now go, before I change my mind."
If it had been Naruto or even Sakura, they would have surely passed the final test, Sasuke ruefully thought to himself. For years, he had believed himself naturally superior to the rest, borne aloft by the glory of his Uchiha bloodline. But at this crucial step, his talent had failed him. The Uchiha chakra was certainly potent, but it had never been inordinately abundant.
"You know, it's quite misty outside, today," remarked Ichikishimahime. "A word of advice: you should summon Aoda once you've reached the surface, and let him guide you out of Snake Valley."
Sasuke grunted in acknowledgement, though he had no intention of doing as she said. He wasn't a fool like Naruto— he'd found his way to Ryūchi Cave on his own, so surely, he'd have no trouble making the reverse journey back to the Land of Fire.
"It doesn't seem like he'll follow your advice," Tagorihime commented as she watched Sasuke leave the antechamber and enter the tunnel leading to the surface. "Poor fool. Such a waste of good chakra. Shall I eat him now, before he gets himself lost in the veil forever?"
Tagitsuhime shook her head.
"Though he failed the White Snake Sage's trial, the lad is still a contractor," she replied. "The contractors may well fight amongst themselves until none remain, but it is not our place to interfere in the sage candidates' affairs. That is how Ryūchi Cave has always operated, as you know only too well."
"Tehe~" said Tagorihime cutely, sticking out her long, forked tongue.
…
Naturally, there were more than just the three great sage regions, but whether big or small, they all shared one trait: they were wellsprings of natural energy, hotspots where the breath of the planet was released into the atmosphere.
Mt Myōboku, Shikkotsu Forest and Ryūchi Cave were all located mere days away from the Hidden Leaf Village, placing them neatly within the Land of Fire's borders— and yet, despite the size of certain of their inhabitants (read: Lady Katsuyu), they were almost impossible to find except by Reverse-Summoning, or by stumbling onto their entrances through sheer, blind luck (read: destiny).
Due to the sheer quantity of nature energy welling forth from the planet in the sage regions, the lines between the actual, physical world and the spiritual plane became blurred, resulting in the sage regions' isolation, in pocket dimensions that overlapped with both dimensions.
As such, unless one knew the precise sequence of steps required to enter the sage regions, one would never find them. And if one tried to leave without retracing those steps in the exact reverse order, there was no telling where they might be spat back out… only that it would not be where they had entered from.
…
When Sasuke finally emerged from the underground, he found Snake Valley cloaked in a deep, concealing mist. No matter how he strained his eyes, he couldn't catch sight of the crimson torii gates he had followed to reach the entrance of Ryūchi Cave. He pulled out his compass, but the needle was spinning wildly in all directions.
Well, no matter, he thought to himself, pocketing his compass.
As there was only one way out of Snake Valley, there was no possible way he could get lost, so he started walking blindly in the direction opposite from the cave's entrance, into the mist… right past the final torii gate before Ryūchi Cave.
Sasuke continued walking.
And walking.
And walking.
And walking…
And… Was he walking in circles?
Even though he wasn't running at full speed, as he had on the way in, Sasuke felt as though he had already travelled ten times the length of Snake Valley. By all rights, he should have been out by now— he should have reached the abandoned village of mutants marked on Tsunade's map.
"Sakura…" murmured Sasuke, who was beginning to regret not following Ichikishimahime's advice. "Will I ever see you again…?"
Just as Sasuke was considering summoning Aoda and doing the most unmanly thing imaginable—asking for directions— the mist began to lift, and slowly, his surroundings swam into focus. His sharp eyes locked onto faint columns of smoke rising above the treeline in the distance, so he set off in that direction, until at last he broke through the undergrowth and emerged on a plateau.
Down below, nestled between two rather suggestively shaped hills, lay a small, hidden village. Sasuke's hawk-like eyes narrowed as they focused on the tiny figures milling about between the thatched houses. Curiously enough… not one of the female villagers he saw had a bustline under 90 cm.