Chapter 311: Master and Disciple Reunite, White Snake Devours Immortal!
The scorching sun hung high in the sky.
In the high-altitude region, the intense sunlight had caused the surrounding ground to crack slightly.
On the desolate wilderness, beneath the shadows cast by towering mountains,
Uchiha Ci walked alone.
His body had begun to cry out in protest. After several days of continuous battles, he hadn't even had two proper meals. His stomach rumbled noisily.
The prolonged use of his Sage Mode had overdrawn his bodily functions, and in this hot, dry environment, Uchiha Ci felt his mind growing sluggish, his vision dim.
His whole body was drained. Dizzy, his vision blurred, nausea set in, and exhaustion weighed heavily on him—somewhat akin to the symptoms of low blood pressure.
Finally—
He arrived at a dilapidated, abandoned park.
Stopping before an old, dust-covered bench, its wooden planks half-broken,
Uchiha Ci sat down heavily, elbows resting on his knees, his head lowered.
On the lifeless ground beneath him, a group of ants struggled to carry the corpse of an insect, tirelessly moving forward even in this harsh environment.
Another group of ants, seemingly having caught the scent of food, swarmed over aggressively.
Two clusters of ants were about to clash over the carcass when—
A ninja sandal came down, crushing both the ants guarding the corpse and those trying to seize it, along with the insect itself, into dust beneath its sole.
"Sa~"
A raspy voice echoed in Uchiha Ci's ears.
"My dear disciple, you seem lost."
Hearing that hoarse voice, Uchiha Ci blinked in recognition, his blurred vision beginning to refocus.
"Orochimaru?"
At that moment—
A pale hand extended in front of Uchiha Ci, and like a magic trick, a bright red apple emerged from the palm.
"This is an apple grown in the 2,000-meter-high mountainous regions of the Land of Lightning. It's very sweet."
The young man standing before Uchiha Ci had long black hair, deep purple eyeshadow stretching to his nose, and blue-green magatama earrings dangling from his ears. His golden snake-like pupils narrowed slightly as he gazed at the boy before him.
Orochimaru rasped, "I like them very much."
Uchiha Ci paused for a moment, recalling that Orochimaru did indeed have a fondness for apples. Besides apples, he also enjoyed eggs—just like a snake.
Taking the apple, Uchiha Ci tore off a large bite,
Sweet juice burst across his teeth, flowing down his throat.
With something finally in his stomach, he was reminded of the simple fact—
He was alive.
And being alive felt… wonderful.
At that moment, Orochimaru curiously asked,
"Does it taste good?"
"Not bad," Uchiha Ci mumbled through a mouthful of fruit.
"Heh."
Orochimaru let out a soft chuckle, then reached into his robe and tossed another apple onto Uchiha Ci's lap.
"Then eat to your heart's content!"
"Everything needed has been gathered, every condition has been perfectly met."
"Now—let me see—"
"Once this delicious power is unleashed, how far will your winds blow?"
Uchiha Ci lifted his gaze, rolling his eyes at his increasingly cryptic teacher. Taking another bite of his apple, he asked in plain language,
"The White Snake Sage—has it been caught?"
He had come here because he saw Orochimaru's messenger snake in Weng City—a unique method of communication between master and disciple.
Previously, in the Hell Valley battle,
The White Snake Sage had stolen his heart and Zero-Tails, while Orochimaru had secretly planted a failsafe inside Zero-Tails in advance.
The White Snake Sage, Zero-Tails, and Orochimaru had fought over control of the Zero-Tails' body, eventually vanishing from Hell Valley, their whereabouts unknown.
However—
Uchiha Ci had already informed Orochimaru about the Sage Art: Transcendent Shadow.
Given the preparation and anticipation, even the ancient progenitor of Ryūchi Cave—the White Snake Sage—was likely to meet an unexpected downfall at Orochimaru's hands.
And Uchiha Ci—
Had been waiting for this moment!
His abilities devoured chakra at an extreme rate. In his current state, his reserves were insufficient to sustain all his techniques.
Even basic combat maneuvers—such as casting jutsu while cloaked in Susanoo—were no longer an option due to his chakra limitations. His strength had been reduced to less than thirty percent of his full potential.
The key to solving this issue—no, the key to transforming this weakness into an ultimate strength—
Lay in the White Snake Sage!
The White Snake Sage coveted the Dragon Vein, the immense reserves of dark natural energy within Ryūchi Cave, and the Moon Sage Arts, which were said to rival Senju Hashirama's Sage Mode.
Even if he couldn't obtain all three, simply capturing the White Snake Sage himself—
And stuffing the old thing into his body as a tailed beast battery—
Would be an astronomical gain!
However—
Orochimaru shook his head.
"No," he said.
"The White Snake Sage's power exceeds our expectations. These thousand-year-old fossils—if they remain hidden in the Three Great Sacred Lands—are untouchable by anyone in the current shinobi world."
"But I must say, as bait, Ci—you performed admirably."
A sly smirk curled Orochimaru's lips as he rasped,
"It has taken the bait!"
Uchiha Ci raised an eyebrow. "Explain."
"In the battle for control of the Zero-Tails' body between the three of us,"
"We each gained something."
Orochimaru chuckled darkly as he revealed the final outcome.
"The Zero-Tails absorbed the White Snake Sage's senjutsu chakra."
"I obtained the White Snake Sage's forbidden knowledge."
"And the White Snake Sage… seized control of the Zero-Tails' body!"
"But that's not all."
"Through the White Snake Sage's methods, the heart that was previously incapable of fusing with Hashirama's cells—has now been elevated!"
"It used Tsunade's necklace as a medium, bringing it to life with Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation."
"Then, using Sage Art: Transcendent Shadow, it seized control over the Hashirama chakra stored in the necklace."
"Through this peculiar method—"
"It successfully fused your heart with Hashirama's cells, an impossible feat!"
Uchiha Ci was stunned.
After subduing the Nine-Tails, during his recovery in Konoha,
Orochimaru had attempted to implant Hashirama's cells into his body.
However, the rejection reaction had been severe—beyond the capabilities of even Tsunade's medical ninjutsu.
Even with Uchiha Ci's immortality, tailed beast body, and regenerative abilities—
His own cellular strength was on par with Hashirama's, yet the rejection persisted. Two equal forces could not fuse; they would simply exhaust each other and perish.
Currently, the only person known to have successfully fused with Hashirama's cells was Uchiha Madara, through White Zetsu's Impersonation Jutsu.
But now—
The White Snake Sage had managed to replicate that effect through trickery, completing the fusion!
Sage Art: Transcendent Shadow—
Its true nature was to impersonate a host in order to usurp their power, an anomaly among sage techniques.
It was a jutsu the White Snake Sage had spent a thousand years refining—
A technique meant to ascend beyond mortality—to become a True Dragon!
But—
Uchiha Ci frowned as he picked up on another detail.
"The White Snake Sage has full control over Zero-Tails now?"
"It expelled you from Zero-Tails' body? Did your clone perish inside, allowing you to learn this?"
Orochimaru nodded calmly.
"Exactly."
"But knowledge is power."
"I now understand what the White Snake Sage intends to do."
"I now know the ritual and jutsu it plans to use to ascend beyond the Dragon Gate—to become a true immortal."
"The White Snake Sage only needs to perform the ritual on the night of the Ghost Festival, the fifteenth of July, when the Gates of the Underworld open, the Celestial Hound devours the moon, and the entire Shinobi World experiences its coldest night. The ceremony must take place at the Dragon Vein in Rōran, within the Land of Wind, to seize the dragon's body."
"If successful, it may become the legendary—Immortal Sage Dragon!"
"And we—"
"Only need to act at the moment the White Snake Sage swallows the Dragon Vein."
"At that instant, we will have Reibi cast Sage Art: Distant Phantom Transmission to swallow the White Snake Sage."
"Then finally—"
"You will swallow Reibi, taking everything from the White Snake Sage!!"
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Ci couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth and immediately interrupted Orochimaru's rather unconventional plan, saying:
"Have Reibi use Sage Arts? Wait—sensei, with Reibi's intelligence?"
That dumb snake can't even recognize written words, and you want it to perform Sage Arts?
Not to mention, Reibi is currently inside the White Snake Sage's body. There will only be a very brief window to act while seizing control of the White Snake Sage's body.
In such a short moment—
You expect me to teach that dumb snake Sage Techniques?
Come on, I'm not Naruto. I can't just punch him, touch his chakra, and instantly unlock some hidden technique.
How am I supposed to teach it?
"Heh heh heh~" Orochimaru let out a raspy chuckle, his golden snake-like pupils narrowing as he glanced at Uchiha Ci, before coldly stating:
"That's your concern."
"I'm only responsible for providing you with a plan that has a chance of success."
"After all, the pursuit of truth always comes with risks."
Seeing Orochimaru's attitude, Uchiha Ci was momentarily dumbfounded.
This only meant one thing—Orochimaru himself hadn't figured out how to solve this problem yet.
And even if he ignored that issue, how was he supposed to swallow Reibi?
His current proficiency in sealing techniques had made some progress, but he was still far from being able to perform the Eight Trigrams Seal or Four Symbols Seal required to contain a tailed beast.
Was he supposed to call in Minato, have him slap an Eight Trigrams Seal on Reibi, and then stuff it into his body?
For a moment, Uchiha Ci felt stuck.
Orochimaru, however, merely cast a glance at Uchiha Ci's scrunched-up, conflicted expression before continuing:
"Swallowing the White Snake Sage is only the first step."
"To truly attain the body of a Sage, after seizing the Dragon Vein, you must journey to Ryūchi Cave and, right under the noses of the three great Sage Snakes, absorb all the natural energy within!"
"Then, by merging the yang energy of the Dragon Vein with the yin energy of Ryūchi Cave, you will achieve the unity of yin and yang, reaching the state of perfection!"
"Only then will you have a chance to become a true dragon surpassing all, a being greater than even—'Usagi no…'"
For some reason, Orochimaru suddenly lifted his head, gazing into the sky at the moon that had yet to rise, and cryptically remarked:
"Ci—"
"It seems this world we see is even more dangerous than we imagined~"
Seeing the strange expression on Orochimaru's face, Uchiha Ci's heart skipped a beat.
Just now, he was certain—Orochimaru had mentioned the name "Usagi no."
And the deity associated with that title could only be—
The Rabbit Goddess.
To put it more bluntly—the very source of chaos in the Shinobi World, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya!
Coupled with the fact that Orochimaru had claimed to have acquired "forbidden knowledge" from the White Snake Sage…
At this moment, Orochimaru—
Perhaps he already knew many of the Shinobi World's deepest secrets!
And the only thing limiting a scientific madman like him was the scope of his knowledge!
Uchiha Ci could hardly imagine what Orochimaru might do once he learned the entire truth of the Shinobi World—the reality that beyond myths, sages, and shinobi, there existed a clan that ruled above all—
The Ōtsutsuki Clan!
Shaking his head vigorously, Uchiha Ci pushed aside those thoughts, which still seemed distant, and turned to Orochimaru with a frown, asking:
"Unity of yin and yang?"
"What does that mean? How do I achieve it?"
Hearing this question, Orochimaru let out a raspy laugh.
"Heh heh…"
"Ci—"
"That is the place I've prepared for your ascension."
Orochimaru's golden snake-like eyes gleamed deeply as he solemnly pronounced each word:
"Turtle Island!"
At that moment—
Uchiha Ci's pupils shrank sharply!
From Hell Valley to now, all the scattered information he had gathered suddenly connected, forming a complete logical chain!
So that's it!
So that's it!
No wonder Orochimaru had ignored his distress signal on that night in Hell Valley.
No wonder he later heard from Sasori that Orochimaru had attacked Kumogakure that night, launching the "Kumogakure Collapse Plan."
No wonder a day ago, Young A had abruptly retreated from his own doorstep to rush to another location.
It all made sense now—
Everything had been orchestrated by Orochimaru.
From the very beginning, Orochimaru's true target had been Turtle Island!
And Turtle Island—
Was an ancient, massive turtle whose shell was so large it resembled an island. It had a unique and diverse ecosystem on its back, with various natural environments.
It was the sacred land where Jinchūriki trained to achieve perfect synchronization with their Tailed Beasts!
But if one ignored its significance to Jinchūriki and traced its history back to ancient times—
The Falls of Truth, the Control Training Grounds, and the mysterious spiritual domain it housed…
Before the age of shinobi, who had these facilities been built for?
What kind of beings were they designed to serve?
Uchiha Ci's heart trembled as an answer surfaced in his mind—
"Without a doubt—"
"Turtle Island was meant to serve those who existed beyond history itself—the supernatural forces of this world—"
"The Sages!"
Uchiha Ci took a deep breath, raising his hand to observe the specks of natural energy gathering in his palm—particles invisible to ordinary eyes.
Then—
Suppressing the turmoil in his heart, he lifted his gaze to Orochimaru and asked:
"Orochimaru-sensei, have you already obtained Turtle Island?"
Orochimaru nodded and rasped:
"Yes."
"It's a bit earlier than planned, but making preparations in advance will save us trouble later."
Now that he had acquired Turtle Island and examined it, Orochimaru considered it mostly useless—at least until the yin and yang energies of the Sages could be merged.
Although it was a place for Tailed Beasts to perfect their Jinchūriki mode, Uchiha Ci had already lost his Tailed Beast, making it unnecessary for the time being.
Hearing Orochimaru's answer, Uchiha Ci's heart stirred, and he asked:
"Can I go to Turtle Island?"