Chapter 188: A Bit Disappointed
"A dignified Snake Sage, yet you actually sneak attacked me! Have you no shame?" After a brief exchange, Masahiko cursed loudly, then paused slightly. The Snake Sage not only had no shame, but it didn't even have its skin anymore...
He didn't know what method was used, but the Snake Sage had just been hiding underground and completely deceived his perception. If he hadn't sensed something was wrong, he wouldn't have died, but a one-day tour inside a snake's mouth would have been inevitable.
The Snake Sage's slit pupils stared tightly at Masahiko.
"Masahiko Uzumaki, after injuring Aoda and the Red Snake like that in Ryuchi Cave, don't you plan to give me an explanation?"
Masahiko was startled. He didn't expect the other party to know his name, and was secretly delighted.
"So my reputation has spread even here..."
"Aoda and the Red Snake?" Masahiko muttered. "The green snake is called Aoda, the red snake is called the Red Snake? Then here comes the question: why is the purple snake called Manda?"
The Snake Sage froze, a fierce light flashing in its eyes. Masahiko quickly waved his hand.
"Call them whatever you love to call them; as long as you're happy."
He didn't want to fight the Snake Sage. Although he didn't think he would lose, winning wouldn't be easy either. The full-power Super Weighted Boulder Fist Technique just now hadn't even broken the opponent's defense. Moreover, with all that shedding and such, its evasion ability was too strong. His main purpose for coming here was to see the Snake Sage with his own eyes and let Orochimaru train in Senjutsu here.
"Orochimaru..." Just as he thought of Orochimaru, he realized the guy had already climbed onto the "throne" and was studying the shed snake skin there.
The Snake Sage obviously noticed it too. Masahiko's expression turned bitter as he prepared for battle.
"Orochimaru, you screwed me..."
Unexpectedly, the Snake Sage showed no signs of anger. Instead, it watched with great interest as Orochimaru knocked and tapped on its shed skin.
Masahiko remained on guard for a while, then saw the Snake Sage pull out a cigarette from who knows where, hold it in its mouth, and signal to him repeatedly with its eyes.
Masahiko's face darkened. He felt this Snake Sage was a bit unreliable. Someone was there studying its skin, yet it still had the mood to smoke, and crucially, it wanted Masahiko, the "enemy," to light it.
Hesitating for a moment, Masahiko shouted.
"Orochimaru, stop stroking the snake skin over there. Come over and light a cigarette for the Snake Sage."
At the mention of "stroking the snake skin," a dangerous aura leaked from the Snake Sage's eyes again.
Masahiko, however, became less worried. He felt that this Snake Sage had no intention of fighting him from the start; the beginning was just a probe.
Sure enough, the Snake Sage stared at him for a while, then slowly slithered its body towards the throne.
Orochimaru also let go of the snake skin and used the Body Flicker Technique to arrive beside Masahiko.
"Did you figure anything out from your research?"
"The time was too short, but the hardness is extremely high; a kunai couldn't cut it." Orochimaru actually answered Masahiko's question seriously.
Masahiko's face darkened, then he heard Orochimaru continue, "Did you get its blood?"
Masahiko: "..."
He felt that from the beginning, Orochimaru seemed to be after the Snake Sage's blood and never really intended to learn any Sage Mode.
"Masahiko Uzumaki, the Slug was right. You really are an unreliable person."
The Snake Sage sat back on the throne and spoke slowly.
Masahiko was startled. He didn't expect the Slug Sage to have mentioned him to the Snake Sage. The relationship between these two sages was unexpectedly good... But why didn't the Slug Sage say anything good about him?
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" Masahiko didn't speak but used a Fire Release to directly light the cigarette in the Snake Sage's mouth. However, he didn't control the intensity well for a moment, and the entire cigarette burned away.
The Snake Sage puffed out a mouthful of black smoke. "Indeed, describing you like that wasn't wrong."
Masahiko scratched his head and said helplessly, "For a dignified Snake Sage, smoking such inferior cigarettes isn't good. Orochimaru, offer it some good cigarettes when you have the chance."
"No problem, Senior."
After that, the scene became awkward for a while, each occupied with their own thoughts.
Masahiko didn't know what the Snake Sage was thinking. Orochimaru probably couldn't figure out the atmosphere. As for Masahiko himself, he was completely baffled.
He had finally met the most mysterious of the Three Great Sages, the Snake Sage, but the feeling it gave Masahiko was very strange.
In Masahiko's first impression of snakes, they should be sinister, cunning, and ferocious. But after actually meeting the Snake Sage, he found it wasn't like that at all.
Masahiko had clearly injured the three highest-ranking snakes in Ryuchi Cave besides the Snake Sage, yet the Snake Sage only retaliated symbolically, then returned to peace.
Masahiko always asked when he had questions, so he spoke directly to the Snake Sage.
"Why didn't you attack me again?"
"Fighting you brings me no benefit."
The Snake Sage's words startled Masahiko, then he realized. Snakes are known as cold-blooded animals. Those three descendants of Manda, separated by who knows how many generations, weren't worth the Snake Sage fighting Masahiko to the death.
Having received the answer, Masahiko smiled and took two steps back. He didn't intend to continue "overshadowing the host." Orochimaru training in Senjutsu was the ultimate goal of this trip.
What followed was the negotiation between Orochimaru and the Snake Sage. Masahiko ignored it and started wandering around the Snake Sage's residence.
When he first came in, he noticed many exquisite carvings around. Now, looking closer, he unexpectedly saw some content.
"Are these... ruins from the Warring States Period?"
In Mount Myoboku and Shikkotsu Forest, he had never found such things.
"Looks more like human carvings. Maybe countless years ago, humans lived in Ryuchi Cave." Masahiko thought thoughtfully, glancing at the White Snake Sage behind him, but didn't ask this time.
After all, those were ancient people from who knows how long ago. If the White Snake Sage had snatched the territory, asking would be too awkward.
The White Snake Sage was unexpectedly easy to talk to and had already begun guiding Orochimaru in Sage Mode training. Masahiko didn't plan to wait here forever.
"Orochimaru, Sage Mode isn't that easy to master. Keep working hard; I can only help you this far." His tone made it sound as if Orochimaru owed it all to his help.
"Thank you for your trouble, Senior."
The White Snake Sage didn't stop Masahiko either. In fact, until he walked out of Ryuchi Cave, he wasn't harassed by any big or small snakes again.
"This trip to Ryuchi Cave... how should I put it? A bit disappointed." Masahiko saw the sunlight again and muttered to himself. The White Snake Sage was completely different from the image in his mind. Having not fought anyone for a long time, he was actually hoping to have a fight with the Snake Sage to stretch his muscles.
"Speaking of which, the Great Toad Sage can prophesy, the Slug Sage can heal. What can the Snake Sage do?"
Masahiko pondered. Originally, he thought the Snake Sage should be very skilled in combat, but this meeting felt like it was only slightly stronger than the Slug Sage, and he should be able to beat it.
"Skilled at survival? Or skilled at seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages?"
"Not fighting this time must be because it sensed it couldn't beat me..."
Masahiko thought somewhat narcissistically in his heart.
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