pared to Naruto's experien Mount Myōboku, Masashi's treatment in Ryūchi Cave was anything but ordinary.

  It was dht absurd in many aspects.

  However, his preparation for training in the Sage Mode of the Three Great Secret Realms robably the most thh of all Sage Mode novices.

  Otherwise, when the Hannya Bck Ops firmed the existence of Ryūchi Cave, they wouldn't have immediately ged pns and allowed him to enter Ryūchi Cave fe training.

  To put it bluntly, in the absence of Indra's chakra, Sage Mode was the best el for the Uchiha to develop their physical energy.

  Especially since Masashi had beelessly stimuting his body's potential for over a decade, his capacity to bear natural energy far exceeded that of most people.

  When he perceived the natural energy infused into him by the White Snake Sage using suffit chakra, their energies quickly merged.

  This far surpassed Ryūchi Cave's traditional 'exam' requirements.

  Traditionally, the trial required the practitioo merely ehe natural energy—or more precisely, to withstand the refined natural energy imbued with Ryūchi Cave's unique characteristics by the White Snake Sage—without being eroded and transf from human to snake.

  Successfully doing so qualified oo train in Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode.

  In the realm of the cave, as days passed, tremendous ges began to occur within his body.

  At some point, hundreds or thousands of snakes had gathered in the square, all fixated on Masashi, who was seated cross-legged uhe White Snake Sage.

  Whether he would be food or a rade would be decided upon his awakening.

  Without the sage's permission, not a single snake dared to act rashly, even though another person, paralyzed by genjutsu, stood frozen nearby like an appetizer.

  The White Snake Sage had shed her usual zy demeanor, sensing the ges taking pce within Masashi.

  These ges were beyond its expectations.

  Logically, without her guidance, a human who had never been exposed to natural energy should not have been able to reach this stage.

  Moreover, his appearance had remained pletely unged—even g the eye markings—indig that he had perfectly mastered the natural energy within him, being the most fwless practitioo ever enter Ryūchi Cave.

  Erosion was no longer a possibility.

  Once he awakened, he would have succeeded pletely. The White Snake Sage's only remaining task would be to teach him how to actively absorb natural energy and the teiques of Ryūchi Cave.

  Though the process seemed simple, the sage couldn't help but feel an odd emptiness.

  Past iors had been different—their ignorand clumsy struggles had brought her a great sense of aplishment.

  But that was all there was to it.

  The be of living for so long was that uhe heavens themselves colpse, nothing could signifitly shake your emotions.

  She leaned her head back against the armrest.

  At the same moment, Masashi opened his eyes.

  "You woke up quickly, desdant of Indra," said the White Snake Sage, exhaling a puff of smoke. "Since you're awake, get down."

  Masashi nodded and jumped down.

  "How do you feel now?" the White Snake Sage asked.

  "Quite good." Masashi assessed the ges in his body. "ing here was the right choice."

  "It seems you came prepared." Behind the sage, a dragon-head carving opes mouth, and a scroll dropped from it, unfurling before Masashi.

  "Since you've entered Ryūchi Cave, before formally studying the sage arts, you must first bee a tractor," said the White Snake Sage. "Write your name."

  Without hesitation, Masashi bit his finger and wrote his name on the scroll.

  The name above his was her than Orochimaru.

  "Now, choose. Among the snakes here, when you summon with suffit chakra, whie would you prefer to prioritize as your battle partner?"

  Turning around, Masashi was greeted by the sight of tless snakes bowing their heads, with Manda standing out promily.

  As Masashi's gaze swept over him, Manda felt both annoyed and resigned.

  I knew he'd e. He was the fshiest snake in the cave. Even Orochimaru had chosen him at first gnce.

  Flig his tongue arrogantly, he said, "Although I don't like being disturbed by too many people, if you sincerely beg, I might sider accepting you."

  Having delivered his smug speech, ahought crossed his mind.

  "That humahere—is he for me? In that case, I won't hold back."

  "What's your name?" Masashi suddenly asked, his eyes fixed on a different snake.

  Is he an idiot? Didn't he say my name earlier? Manda uzzled.

  "Kuro," came a voice from beside him.

  Manda's eyes widened. Damn it! He's after my mate!

  "Hello Kuro, I'm Masashi," he said with satisfa.

  Despite being female, this snake's strength far surpassed Manda's. And Manda was a sycophant. Orochimaru hadn't defected yet, but if he did, there might be a frontation. That wasn't out of the question.

  If you summon Manda, I'll summon his wife, he thought while smirking.

  The time for Obito tet the ails was likely immi. He o act, ensuring that when the ails attacked, the Uchiha wouldn't be relegated to proteg civilians in the rear.

  The Uchiha had to be on the frontlines. Let the Hokage's office try tate them; he wouldn't ply.

  "Uood, Masashi," Kuro replied calmly.

  "Kuro will stay. The rest, disperse," the White Snake Sage anded.

  The snakes obediently dispersed, including Manda, none daring to defy the sage's order.

  "Now then, I shall teach you the Sage Mode of Ryūchi Cave," the White Snake Sage said, swaying its head.

  "Please guide me," Masashi humbly requested.

  "Sage Modes have onalities but also differences. Ryūchi Cave represents the form of all things," the White Snake Sage began its lecture. "All things in the world exist in the shape of life. By harnessing the power of the earth, you merge natural energy into yourself. This is the essence of Ryūchi Cave's practice…"

  Masashi sat cross-legged, listening attentively, while Kuro coiled nearby.

  Uhe personal guidance of the White Snake Sage, Masashi began learning the Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode.

  The sage's teags were prehe cise.

  Sage Mode involved using the body's spiritual energy, physical energy, aernal natural energy to create chakra, which was then employed to execute teiques or jutsu categorized as Sage Art.

  The process felt like drawing water from three different wells simultaneously, each with its own current ah.

  Sage Mode has universal principles, and the Ryūchi Cave also possessed its own Sage Mode.

  In Sage Mode, the power of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and evesu increased signifitly. Although the physical transformations during Sage Mode varied across the three sacred nds, they shared onalities such as signifitly enhanced sensory perception.

  The first time entering Sage Mode was always disorienting.

  It was akin to how Superman in Dics might have felt upon first awakening his powers—everythi off.

  "So this is how Crk Kent must've felt…" Masashi muttered as he stood back up, already in Sage Mode.

  "Ku-ra-ku... Ken-to? Who's that?" The White Snake Sage frowned in tration, trying to recall the drawing a bnk.

  Uhe Great Toad Sage, the White Snake Sage prided itself on its memory, fident it wouldn't fet someo had seen through its crystal orb.

  "A saint," Masashi expined. "Kind ic."

  "Oh…" The White Snake Sage lost i immediately. "I don't know about saints, only the bes of being a sage."

  Dropping the topic, Masashi drew his short bde and examined his refle on its polished surface.

  His eyes had faint eyeliner-like marks at the ers, resembling Orochimaru's but much subtler. His skin had not turned ghostly pale.

  Opening his mouth and stig out his tongue, he checked—everything was normal.

  Good. No disfigurement, and no freakishly long toher.

  In the inal timeline, Kabuto robably the only person i decades to have successfully mastered Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode. But since he had transpnted Orochimaru's cells into himself, he had transformed into a quasi-biological experiment from the start.

  Iy, normal Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode didn't result in such extreme ges.

  If overt snake-like features appeared, the White Snake Sage would deem the person a failure and promptly devour them ie.

  Masashi had half-expected exaggerated eyeliner, ghostly pale skin, and a ridiculously long tongue. With that appearance, he wouldn't even need a Transformation Jutsu to pass as Orochimaru—he'd just o grow his hair long.

  That wouldn't have been ideal.

  "By the way, Great Sage," Masashi suddenly asked, recalling something, "Did Orochimaru also train in Sage Mode here?"

  He had never seen him use it.

  "Oh, Orochimaru..." The White Snake Sage shifted its coiled body to a more fortable position before responding. "Due to his unique body, he mao ie Sage Mode into himself but couldn't fully enter Sage Mode. I'd sider that a success, though."

  "I see." Masashi nodded in uanding.

  No wonder Orochimaru's physique was so extraordinary. Prolonged use of Sage Mode to enhance his body, bined with his own research, must have led to his ter immortality.

  e to think of it, his future Curse Marks were essentially imprihrough bites, paired with his exceptional shedding teique.

  Currently, though, the only Ryūchi Cave teique Orochimaru openly dispyed was his Snake e Jutsu.

  A more fitting name would be Sacrificial e Jutsu—when struck down, each e dissolved into shat could slither away aurn to him with information about the enemy's teiques and fighting style. Every 'sacrifice' of a eant more data gathered.

  True mastery came not from theory but practice—a lesson Orochimaru had mastered.

  "Was his Snake e Jutsu something you taught him?" he inquired.

  "Masashi, do you think this is Mount Myōboku?" The White Snake Sage sounded displeased.

  She held certaiments toward Mount Myōboku, which was far more rehan Ryūchi Cave. While Mount Myōboku's toads freely wahe world making tracts with ninja, Ryūchi Cave remained more selective and secluded.

  "Let me expin the differences between Ryūchi Cave, Mount Myōboku, and Shikkotsu Forest," the White Snake Sage offered. "Unlike Mount Myōboku with their... accessibility, we focus on quality."

  The three sages were familiar with one another's domains. While they wouldn't divulge secrets to outsiders, sharing them with a disciple of Ryūchi Cave table.

  Just as chakra could have nature transformations, Sage Mode also possesses natures. These could be categorized into three forms: Shape, Spirit, and Essence.

  Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode correspoo the shape of life.

  Externally, it enabled objects to behave like living beings, such as making rocks writhe and grow like anisms.

  Internally, it granted heightened physical vitality. on effects included traits uo snakes, but the teiques depend on the user's existing ninja arts.

  The advantage of Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode y in its ability to ie with the user's body, enhang physical energy over time to its fullest extent. However, its critical fw was a ck of resistao genjutsu. For an Uchiha like Masashi, this drawback was negligible.

  In trast, Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode was versatile, with aensive range of teiques. Its downside was that the energy ot be permaly ied, requiring preparation and temporary activation.

  And it offered exceptional resistao genjutsu.

  These strengths and weaknesses perfectly plement each other.

  The most mysterious domain, Shikkotsu Forest, embodied power and abundance, signifying sheer magnitude and infinity. sidering this, Hashirama's Sage Mode likely ihere, rather than from a fourth domain as Masashi had once specuted.

  As for Orochimaru's Snake e Jutsu, it was evidently his owion.

  What a pity... He genuinely coveted the Snake e Jutsu.

  Still, life's imperfeade it all the more authentic.

  "With your expnation, everything makes sense now." he tinued experimenting with Sage Mode. "But why does it feel so draining?"

  He found himself stantly gathering chakra to maintain the mode while burning through the natural energy the White Snake Sage had infused earlier.

  The process felt like trying to hold water in cupped hands—possible, but requiring stant attention.

  "That brings us to the final lesson," the White Snake Sage said, exhaling a puff of smoke. "Learning to draw natural energy directly from the earth. Once you do that, there's nothing more Ryūchi Cave teach you."

  The sage then paused. "Are you sure there have been no other ges? I don't believe it. Perhaps I should take a bite to find out."

  "I haven't used my Sharinga," Masashi admitted, activating his dōjutsu.

  The moment his pupils transformed, he stared at his refle in the bde, stunned.

  His Sharingan had ged color.

  What the... Why does it look so gaudy now?

  He had hoped his appearance would remain unscathed, but his Sage Mode had ultimately left its mark on his aesthetics.

  Fortunately, it wasn't the garish yellow of the snakes. Instead, it matched the hue of his crow summons.

  Should he call it Golden Sharingan?