The White Snake Sage was still the same, her huge white body coiled on the stone seat, smoking a pipe.
Hearing that Seisuke wanted to learn Sage Art, she exhaled a puff of blue smoke and said, "You should have learned it long ago. But let me tell you in advance, if you can't hold on, I'll eat you. I haven't eaten for many years."
If Seisuke couldn't endure, he would be a delicious snack served right up.
"I'm ready!"
Seisuke took a deep breath and said, "Let's start!"
"Alright."
The White Snake Sage transformed into the appearance of an old woman. Her neck suddenly stretched out, she opened her mouth revealing sharp fangs, and bit down on Seisuke's neck.
Without being able to elementalize his body, Seisuke felt the White Snake Sage's teeth pierce his skin. An indescribable energy flowed into his chakra meridians through her fangs.
Letting go of her bite, the White Snake Sage resumed her snake form. After all, her body was too large, and she could only bite Seisuke in human form.
"AAAAHHHHH!!!!!"
Seisuke covered the wound bitten by the White Snake Sage, screaming in pain.
It was as if thousands of ants were gnawing at his flesh and blood inside his body. He could feel an unprecedented energy rampaging through his body, devouring his own chakra and transforming it into its own form.
This was the natural energy injected by the White Snake Sage, which was transforming the chakra in Seisuke's body.
The inheritance mode of Ryūchi Cave was simple and brutal. It was not like in Mount Myoboku, where one could practice hard with the guidance of toad sages. In Ryūchi Cave, the White Snake Sage, who was in charge of teaching Sage Art, would bite you, inject natural energy into your body, and then it was up to the trial - taker's own luck. If they could hold on, they would survive; if not, they would die and become her food.
The chakra was fusing with the natural energy injected by the White Snake Sage, and this process was extremely painful. Moreover, his body began to change.
White snake scales started to emerge from Seisuke's skin, densely packed, making people feel nauseous.
And he felt his spine elongating, and the degenerated coccyx began to extend backward, while his limbs started to degenerate.
This process was extremely painful, and he couldn't elementalize. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he couldn't. Now his chakra was fusing with the natural energy and gradually turning into Sage chakra. During the fusion process, he couldn't control it.
The changes in his limbs and spine, the processes of degeneration and elongation, were extremely painful.
New bones were beginning to form, and his body was getting longer. This was the process of turning into a snake. Only after the snake - transformation was completed could he bear the natural energy and learn the Sage Art of Ryūchi Cave.
This process was excruciating. But if he couldn't hold on, there was only one outcome: death!
The White Snake Sage watched Seisuke and said, "Throughout history, only three people have successfully learned the Sage Art of Ryūchi Cave, and none of them mastered it perfectly. I wonder if you can be the fourth. Of course, being eaten by me is also a good choice. At least, you won't suffer."
Death, sometimes, isn't the most terrifying thing. What's terrifying is living a life worse than death!
Now, Seisuke was in a state of living a life worse than death. The Sage Art of Ryūchi Cave was just this simple and brutal. Seisuke was no longer in human form. Literally, he was like a crocodile thrashing about in the water.
He was covered in scales, his limbs were short and thick, and he had a tail dragging behind him.
His head was connected to his body, his eyes were gradually moving to the top of his head, and the teeth in his mouth were turning into sharp fangs. This process was completely transforming one species into another.
He had stopped screaming because the pain left him speechless. He knew he couldn't pass out. Once he passed out, when he woke up, he would be in the White Snake Sage's stomach.
"Absolutely... can't... die!!!"
Gritting his teeth, he could no longer feel his arms and legs. He was now a short and thick snake, but his body was still changing, and the painful process continued.
The White Snake Sage watched him, and the three beautiful snake - like beings, Ichiji Koyomi, Tamamo - no - Mae, and Utsusemi - no - Tsukiko, also came here to observe Seisuke.
Ichiji Koyomi smiled and said, "Oh, he looks much more pleasing to the eye in this state. Few people can hold on to this extent. Is he going to succeed?"
Tamamo - no - Mae said, "Who knows? If he succeeds, we'll have to teach him Sage Art. We'll be busy again, and we can't eat him. Hmm, he looks like he's in a lot of pain."
Utsusemi - no - Tsukiko said, "This is the price he should pay for wanting to learn the Sage Art of Ryūchi Cave. The Sage Art of Ryūchi Cave isn't easy to learn. How can one not pay a price?"
The three beautiful snake - like beings watched indifferently. After all, whether Seisuke died or not didn't matter to them. If he died, the White Snake Sage would eat him; if he didn't, he would succeed, and they would teach him the corresponding Sage Art.
After an unknown amount of time, Seisuke had completely turned into a white snake. He remained conscious throughout the process, and his perseverance was terrifying. Inside his body, the chakra had completed the fusion with the natural energy and transformed into Sage chakra.
So far, Seisuke had officially passed the test of Ryūchi Cave and obtained the qualification to learn Sage Art.
Weakly lying on the ground, he couldn't say a word. The White Snake Sage said, "Congratulations on becoming the fourth human to learn the Sage Art of Ryūchi Cave. Your perseverance is truly terrifying. You're the youngest among those people."
Humans always managed to surprise her.
Hearing this, Seisuke's eyes rolled back, and he completely passed out. He really couldn't hold on anymore.
Ichiji Koyomi flew over, picked Seisuke up in her arms, and brought him to the White Snake Sage. The White Snake Sage transformed back into the old woman and bit him again... probably the position of the neck earlier.
This time, there was no pain because Seisuke was unconscious and couldn't feel anything.
He transformed back from a snake into a human, and the White Snake Sage said, "Ichiji Koyomi, send him back. Bring him back when he wakes up."
When he was unconscious, he couldn't learn what came next.
"Ah? Do I have to make a trip? It's so troublesome!" Ichiji Koyomi pouted and left Ryūchi Cave, carrying the naked Seisuke.
The White Snake Sage took a puff of her pipe and said, "It seems I'll be busy for a while. I didn't expect Orochimaru to fail in his cultivation, but his disciple succeeded."
Utsusemi - no - Tsukiko asked, "White Snake Sage, what Sage Arts should we teach him?"
"Let him choose. This is a privilege I'm giving him."
Rarely, the White Snake Sage said this.
Both Utsusemi - no - Tsukiko and Tamamo - no - Mae were stunned. Giving a human a privilege was something the White Snake Sage had done for the first time.
"That kid's fate is like a ball of tangled threads. I can't see through it at all. Anyway, it's very troublesome. It's better to let him learn the Sage Arts quickly and send him away."
She had peeked into Seisuke's fate but saw nothing. She thought he was a troublemaker and it would be better to let him learn the Sage Arts as soon as possible.