Chapter 86: The Trial of Ryūchi Cave
Orochimaru and Shiromo's group arrived at Amegakure, while Yakushi Kabuto returned to the Otogakure Village in the Land of Rice Fields.
Following Orochimaru's instructions, Kabuto sealed a batch of research materials and the necessary experimental equipment into scrolls and brought them over to Amegakure.
As for the Otogakure Village, Orochimaru had no intention of abandoning it.
Just like the situation in the Land of Waves, turning it into a branch base would still allow it to contribute its share of strength.
Outside Amegakure, inside a clean and spacious steel building, Orochimaru bit his finger and used the Summoning Technique.
A snake from Ryūchi Cave was summoned. From the snake's mouth, Yakushi Kabuto crawled out, clutching a large pile of scrolls.
That's right, summoning techniques are actually a form of space–time ninjutsu as well. They can achieve effects similar to the Flying Thunder God Technique, but they require a contract to be signed and the summoning realm to act as a transfer station, making the whole process far more troublesome.
After arranging all the items, Orochimaru turned around and looked at Shiromo, who had been sitting there waiting for nearly half a day.
"Shiromo-kun has answered many of my questions with great sincerity. Now it's my turn to help you resolve yours."
As he spoke, Orochimaru glanced at Yakushi Kabuto, who was cleaning the instruments nearby.
"If I remember correctly, you mentioned that in the future, it was Kabuto who helped you find a way to cultivate your power, right?"
"Orochimaru-sama, I… me?"
Hearing Orochimaru suddenly mention him, and even talk about some kind of "future" where he helped the other party, Kabuto was momentarily stunned, with a faint sense of lingering fear.
"That's right. In the future, both you and Yakushi Kabuto become major contributors to the Fourth Great Ninja War. Kabuto, after being caught in Izanami, was forced to rediscover his true self, otherwise, he would have been trapped in the illusion forever…"
"As for you, Orochimaru, you saw Kabuto, who had inherited your will, perfect the Impure World Reincarnation, master Sage Mode, and confront the Five Great Nations."
"He reached heights you yourself believed you might not even be able to reach. And so, after being resurrected, you gave up the idea of controlling everything by yourself."
"In the end, both of you returned to being Konoha ninjas."
"It was precisely because of this that I felt safe seeking out Yakushi Kabuto before I had obtained power."
"But because of that, Kabuto seems to have worried that I might become a second Pain of the Amegakure, so he held some things back."
After Shiromo finished speaking, the beaker Kabuto was holding froze in midair.
It really had to be said, Danzō truly deserved the title of "pot-shadow."
Three major upheavals in Konoha: the Night of the Nine-Tails, the Konoha Crush, and Pain's invasion. Danzō never helped even once.
On the contrary, during the Konoha Crush, Orochimaru had cooperated with Danzō and then defected.
Nagato and Konan of Pain's invasion, and Yakushi Kabuto, the core villainous force of the Fourth Great Ninja War, were all people Danzō had personally meddled with and pushed onto a dark path.
The masked man looked incredibly imposing when he declared war at the Five Kage Summit.
But from an observer's perspective, if Yakushi Kabuto hadn't provided the army of Impure World Reincarnation, the masked man would have been left with nothing but a bunch of cannon-fodder White Zetsu and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and that would have been the end of it.
"Kabuto, calm down. Help Shiromo-kun resolve his problem first, then take your time thinking about your own matters."
Seeing that Kabuto seemed a little dazed, Orochimaru spoke up to remind him.
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama."
Kabuto snapped back to his senses and walked over with the instruments.
After scraping Shiromo's tongue and taking a small sample, Orochimaru began observing and researching with Kabuto's assistance.
"According to what you've told me, Shiromo-kun, you're unable to extract chakra from your cells, yet you can absorb natural energy. So first, we need to analyze your cells. This will take some time."
"If possible, I'd also like to hear more about the 'Ōtsutsuki clan' you mentioned earlier."
Orochimaru was practically starving for knowledge about these matters.
He also understood clearly that Shiromo's trust in them was based on their future selves. Because of that, Orochimaru had been doing his utmost to remain calm and avoid showing any of his more… abnormal expressions.
Even knowing the future, changing one's mindset was not something that could be done overnight.
"…Divine techniques originate from the Ōtsutsuki God, who devoured countless chakra fruits. It's said that this Ōtsutsuki God eventually transcended dimensions, becoming the ultimate role model and goal of the Ōtsutsuki clan." (Divine techniques = Shinjutsu)
After recounting the connection between the ninja world and the Ōtsutsuki that he had previously explained to the Akatsuki, Shiromo added a bit more about the origin of the divine techniques he had mentioned before.
"Transcended dimensions? What does that mean?"
Orochimaru found it difficult to grasp.
"Simply put, he may have ascended in dimensionality and become a higher-dimensional being. For example…"
Shiromo casually took out a photograph.
"You can imagine how a two-dimensional being might try to understand us three-dimensional beings."
"Two dimensional understanding three dimensional… higher-dimensional beings?"
Orochimaru continued his research while pondering this new concept.
"For instance, a four-dimensional being might see one more layer of 'time' than we three-dimensional beings.'"
"They wouldn't see us as isolated individuals, but as long, sausage-like entities with a beginning and an end. Slice the head, and the cross-section is a child; slice the tail, and you see an old person."
"As for five dimensions, what they might see wouldn't be a sausage at all, but a tree, countless branching possibilities of a single person, all visible at once."
At that point, Shiromo stopped speaking.
What he had described were theories from his original world, deliberately using cautious words like "might." His goal was simply to open up Orochimaru's way of thinking.
"So higher dimensions don't stop at just one level?"
"Then that means, if a being of the highest possible dimension exists, anything that seems inconceivable to lower-dimensional beings would actually be perfectly reasonable to it. Is that correct?"
"You could say that."
"Then I understand."
Orochimaru set down the instrument in his hands and smiled.
What Orochimaru had realized was that there was no need for him to understand everything immediately.
What he needed now was to use the reality already at hand to solve the problem.
"Shiromo-kun, would you be willing to accompany me to Ryūchi Cave? Perhaps there, you'll be able to find your answer."
"No problem. When do we leave?"
"There's no time to waste. Right now."
After sealing the instruments into scrolls, Orochimaru bit his finger and summoned a giant snake. The snake swallowed the two people in the room in a single gulp, and then, with a loud 'bang', vanished.
Yakushi Kabuto remained behind.
He no longer thought about research. Instead, he slowly walked over to the wall, slumped down onto the floor, and began contemplating the meaning of life.
---
Ryūchi Cave.
Compared to the bright sunshine of Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave was dark, damp, and shrouded in mist.
"Orochimaru, is this a new trial-taker you've brought? Let him come forward."
A female voice echoed from within the dense fog.
"This is a necessary condition for inheriting the Sage Art of Ryūchi Cave. For you, Shiromo-kun, it shouldn't be particularly difficult."
Orochimaru stepped aside and gave Shiromo a brief explanation.
Shiromo felt no fear at all toward the unknown.
After all, although the original story never described how Yakushi Kabuto obtained Ryūchi Cave's Sage Art, later on, when Boruto went to look for Mitsuki, he did go through the Ryūchi Cave trial.
All that could be said was that while failing the trial meant death, it really was a bit childish.
Shiromo walked into the dense fog.
After walking for a while, a brilliant light appeared ahead. The fog dispersed, revealing a palace.
The palace doors stood wide open. At the entrance stood a woman dressed in court robes. Upon seeing Shiromo, she smiled and raised one hand.
"So this must be the trial-taker. Please enjoy some food first to restore your strength. The trial will begin shortly."
That's right, this was the first stage of the Ryūchi Cave trial, overseen by Tagorihime.
To see whether you were Akimichi's good child.
Shiromo looked at the tables laden with food inside. Leaving aside the fact that he knew these were transformed poisons, even if they weren't, he had absolutely no appetite.
It seemed that, in order to tempt the trial-taker into eating, all the dishes were presented as "high-end cuisine."
But as everyone knows, what counts as high-end cuisine varies from culture to culture.
For example, Shiromo had never once imagined that a so-called high-end meal would include a huge basin piled high with a mountain of rice.
(End of this chapter)