"Lord Yoichi, this is Lord Orochimaru. He wanted to visit you, so he found me..."
When Uzumaki Minami returned, another person followed her, wearing a kimono with a coarse hemp rope tied around the waist, along with golden slit-like pupils and pale skin...
Today, Uchiha Yoichi has finally met the legendary Sannin trio.
"Lord Orochimaru, please come in and let's talk."
After welcoming him in, Uchiha Yoichi asked Uzumaki Minami to make some tea, then the two sat in the living room.
After Uzumaki Minami brought the tea, Uchiha Yoichi finally asked,
"Lord Orochimaru, what brings you to me?"
"I heard from Jiraiya that someone signed a contract with the most temperamental great snake of Ryuchi Cave. Coincidentally, my summoned beast is also from Ryuchi Cave, so I wanted to visit."
Orochimaru's voice was somewhat hoarse and sinister, which might be why his popularity in the village wasn't as high as Tsunade's or Jiraiya's.
However, Orochimaru had a slightly better reputation among female ninjas compared to Jiraiya.
"When I asked Manda about Shinga, Manda revealed something to me. I'm not a true contractor of Ryuchi Cave, but just its contractor.
There must be a difference between the two. Mr. Yoichi, since you also signed a summoning contract with a great snake from Ryuchi Cave, do you know the difference?"
After hearing Orochimaru's question, Uchiha Yoichi thought for a moment and decided to do Orochimaru a favor, saying, "Perhaps it's because of sage arts."
At this point, Orochimaru hasn't encountered Jugo, nor found Ryuchi Cave, so he's naturally unaware of the existence of sage arts.
"Sage arts? What are they?"
Hearing about sage arts, Orochimaru immediately became interested; his dream is to learn all ninjutsu and grasp the truth of the world.
Now hearing about a jutsu he had never heard of before, and related to Ryuchi Cave, naturally piqued his interest.
"Physical energy and spiritual energy combined can refine chakra, and adding a type of natural energy can refine Sage Art Chakra. However, natural energy is extremely difficult to control. One must have enough chakra to train, otherwise, it leads to death!"
Being consumed by the White Snake Sage also results in death, so Uchiha Yoichi wasn't exaggerating.
As for the three initial trials, Uchiha Yoichi felt that with Orochimaru's skills, he should at least pass those. Before Immortal Rebirth, he was also a master in illusion techniques.
"When mastering Sage Art Chakra, it's termed as Sage Mode, and the jutsu used is called sage arts. In Sage Mode, the power of sage arts is multiple times that of regular ninjutsu, and each of the Three Great Holy Lands has its unique sage art."
The more Orochimaru heard, the more interested he became. His golden pupils couldn't hide his excitement as he said, "It sounds like a powerful secret weapon. Does Sage Art Chakra enhance all types of ninjutsu? What about Ryuchi Cave's unique sage art?"
"I haven't learned sage arts, and my visit to Ryuchi Cave was primarily to find Shinga, so I don't know much about it."
Uchiha Yoichi shook his head, stating he only knew about sage arts theoretically, so there might be significant discrepancies in his understanding. However, he knew that Ryuchi Cave's sage arts were incredibly powerful and rare in the Ninja World.
"I see, I apologize, Mr. Yoichi. I got a bit excited hearing about unfamiliar jutsu; please forgive me."
Suppressing his excitement, Orochimaru smiled and asked, "Mr. Yoichi, how can one get to Ryuchi Cave?"
"Lord Orochimaru, have your summoned beast use Reverse Summoning Jutsu..."
"It demands five hundred human sacrifices..."
Upon hearing this, Uzumaki Minami, standing nearby, felt a chill run down her spine. She never imagined that a summoned beast would eat humans, let alone demand five hundred...
Compared to Orochimaru's summoned beast, Gates seemed downright adorable, only asking for honey candies frequently.
"Lord Orochimaru, you're quite considerate of your summoned beast. When I subdued Shinga, we had a fierce battle..."
Uchiha Yoichi laughed lightly, then told him the location of Ryuchi Cave: "In the northernmost village of the Land of Iron, the ancestors of that tribe once entered Ryuchi Cave to train and achieved the perfect Sage Mode, passing down the ability to absorb natural energy to their descendants...
Find the village chief there, and have him guide you to the underground rock cave. After that, you'll have to locate Ryuchi Cave's barrier yourself."
"Thank you, Mr. Yoichi!"
Orochimaru smiled gratefully upon hearing this. Without Uchiha Yoichi's information on sage arts, he would have needed to find five hundred sacrifices for Manda.
But is he overly kind to Manda? Previously due to inability to defeat it, but now every summoning requires a hundred sacrifices...
After inquiring more about sage art trials from Uchiha Yoichi, Orochimaru prepared to take his leave.
"Mr. Yoichi, sorry for intruding today. I owe you a favor; if you ever need help, feel free to reach out."
"It was just a small favor, Lord Orochimaru."
After sending Orochimaru off, Uchiha Yoichi turned and gently tousled Uzumaki Minami's red hair, asking, "How's your recent training going? Has Tsunade been teaching you earnestly?"
"Yes, Lady Tsunade hasn't taken me to surgeries, but she teaches more meticulously than anyone else..."
Uzumaki Minami cheerfully recounted her progress over the past month, noting significant improvements in medical ninjutsu and recent studies in detoxification.
However, as she spoke, Uzumaki Minami suddenly furrowed her brows and reported to Uchiha Yoichi: "Lord Yoichi, I feel like Lady Tsunade has been inquiring about you. She, he previously asked if you had any interest in my... clothes or similar questions..."