Chapter 95

"If we keep on clinging to the old ways…"

"This time's upheaval… our Ryūchi Cave may not come out unscathed…"

"That man just now… he may well bring about an unprecedented change…"

Saying this,

the White Snake Sage paused,

and he laughed bitterly.

"Besides… do you think I was exaggerating just now?"

"This man… in the cultivation of senjutsu, he has truly already surpassed me…"

"I don't even know how far he has walked."

"If he were truly displeased, and he turned his hand against our Ryūchi Cave…"

"Apart from me, I'm afraid none of you would survive…"

"Even I… cannot guarantee that I could keep my own life out of his hands!!"

The three Great Snake Princesses, having heard all this,

felt an even greater chill of dread!!

To think that even the White Snake Sage himself feared Hashirama Senju so,

and that he even rated Hashirama Senju so highly!!

Just now, the lot of them had still been making things difficult for him at Ryūchi Cave's gate,

but looking at it now,

the fact that they were still alive

was truly a stroke of great fortune!!

Seeing the several of them drenched in cold sweat,

the White Snake Sage said in a low, grave voice.

"From now on, mark this well — to see Hashirama Senju is as though you have seen me!!"

"Just treat him as the leader of Ryūchi Cave."

"Otherwise, next time he takes it into his head to act against you… I'm afraid even I won't be able to protect you."

……

【Fourth Raikage: Right now I'm really curious — just how far has the First Hokage's strength reached?? Just looking at this you can't tell at all, even the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave has folded.】

【Madara Uchiha: These old fossils, every last one of them living so long, possessing nothing but power but lacking the heart of a strong!! They don't even dare to fight, they just choose to surrender straight away — truly too disappointing!!】

【Might Guy: What a pity!! I thought I'd get to see the First's brilliant battle! Who'd have thought the fight would end before it even began!!】

【Shimura Danzo: A step back opens up the vastness of sea and sky; a momentary burst of courage is meaningless!! The one who lives to the end is the true winner!!】

【Tsunade: All I can do now is hope that when Grandfather goes to Shikkotsu Forest, he handles it gently. The Slug Sage is still very mild-tempered — I hope they don't come into conflict…】

……

After Hashirama Senju had digested what the White Snake Sage had said,

he nodded in satisfaction.

He felt his guess had indeed been correct:

Ryūchi Cave's senjutsu and Mount Myōboku's senjutsu were evenly matched,

but Ryūchi Cave's senjutsu possessed another, more distinctive line of thought,

and this was of no small help

to his study of natural energy.

"A successor of Gamamaru?"

"Or a successor of the White Snake?"

The Slug Sage opened his enormous twin eyes from his slumber,

and a deep shade of bewilderment appeared on his face.

Within his perception,

a tremendously vast natural energy

was swiftly approaching Shikkotsu Forest.

And upon this natural energy,

he sensed both the aura of Mount Myōboku

and the aura of Ryūchi Cave.

This struck him as all the more inconceivable,

because in his understanding,

whenever these two auras existed together,

they were bound to be hostile to one another —

they could never coexist in such harmony.

Ryūchi Cave and Mount Myōboku's relations were like fire and water;

they could never have come together.

The aura of this natural energy felt deeply familiar to him,

yet at the same time carried a sense of strangeness.

As this natural energy drew closer and closer,

only then did the Slug Sage understand what was going on.

"There are actually humans who can cultivate senjutsu from both of the Sacred Grounds at the same time?!?!"

"How is this possible?!?!"

"Did Gamamaru and that old fellow from Ryūchi Cave agree to this??"

The last traces of drowsiness in the Slug Sage were violently scattered by this aura,

and he could not understand how this had been accomplished.

Successfully cultivating the senjutsu of these two Sacred Grounds at the same time

was already an utterly inconceivable matter in itself!!

Not to mention he could not imagine how the people of the two Sacred Grounds had agreed to it.

"It seems… this was a prepared visit."

"Having already mastered the senjutsu of Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave, he has still come to the Shikkotsu Forest."

"I'm afraid this is for the senjutsu here."

Having survived in the shinobi world for so long,

the Slug Sage's wisdom was naturally no less than that of the leaders of the other two Sacred Grounds.

Before even formally meeting Hashirama Senju,

he had already guessed at Hashirama Senju's purpose in coming.

He had likewise recognized Hashirama Senju's identity—

the reincarnation of Asura, son of the Sage of Six Paths.

Yet the doubts in his heart were no fewer than those of the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave,

and he too could not figure it out—

why the reincarnation of Asura in this generation was so strange,

bearing not only Asura's aura

but even a hint of Indra!!

Most critically, his strength was far too great!!

This aura had even reached the level of the original Asura!!

"Could it be that those two fellows have made peace and are preparing to join forces?"

"Are they preparing to train this generation's reincarnation of Asura together?"

"But that doesn't quite seem right either."

"This reincarnation of Asura—why do I feel that, in the cultivation of senjutsu, he has already surpassed those two fellows?"

"Those two fellows couldn't have achieved this level in the direction of senjutsu research at Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave either…"

At this moment, the Slug Sage was also somewhat restless,