Chapter 919

With the divine power granted by Princess Kaguya, what had originally been a creature of jade-green coloring gradually changed hue as time went on, and the name Xiaoyu seemed somewhat inappropriate.

However, Hagoromo and Hamatori did not dare casually rename it, so they simply went along with calling it Xiaoyu.

After the little snake woke up, the two of them noticed that whenever this little fellow was by their side it always looked lazy and listless, but the moment it saw Lady Kaguya it would suddenly come alive, darting over to her feet on its own without being called and anxiously circling around.

This is a snake that knows how to cling to powerful thighs!

Hagoromo and Hamatori exchanged a silent look, and for Xiaoyu's fawning behavior the two of them simply pretended not to see it; after all, Mother was also very indulgent with Xiaoyu, actually extending her hand to allow it to coil up.

As time went on, Xiaoyu grew bigger and bigger; a white snake this large was extremely rare, and it also loved staying by Mother's side the rest of the time. Gradually, the ordinary people of the divine kingdom all said Xiaoyu was the guardian divine beast by the Goddess's side, and even when Xiaoyu slipped out to play on its own, there would always be someone offering it tribute to eat.

Princess Kaguya's divine kingdom was established at the center of the continent, and this was almost the most resource-rich land on the continent. The reason was none other than that enormous divine tree that had grown alongside her.

As long as everyone was devout enough when offering sacrifices to Mother each time, then for the following year there would absolutely be favorable weather, and people could live and work in peace and contentment.

Originally, the days should have continued on peacefully like this, but everything was broken by an unusual phenomenon in the sky.

That woman.

Kazami Yuuka — after she fell through the hole in the sky, everything deviated from its original course.

The perspective returns to the present, to the two people and one snake facing off in Ryūchidō.

"Let me guess — in truth, you only borrowed this little girl in order to see the light of day again, didn't you."

Even though that aura and pressure were tearing at the White Snake Sage's reason, telling her that the one standing before her eyes was that lofty goddess of old, after glancing up at the moon hanging high in the sky, she still voiced her own deduction.

"So you've come to see me because you want me to lend my strength to your return, isn't that right?"

"And what is your answer?"

"Naturally — after all, everything I have was granted by you." The white snake answered in resignation. Back then she had no power to dissuade either side, and now Princess Kaguya was standing right before her.

No matter the outcome, she had no grounds to refuse.

For the White Snake Sage, cooperating with Young Yuanzi before had been the same as standing on the side of "helping Kaguya return to the world," and now that the person in question had come to her door, she spared no effort in mobilizing all her strength.

Orochimaru, as the sole medium who could summon all the snake clans of Ryūchidō at any time, and who herself possessed considerable strength and manpower, was naturally the best candidate to stay by Princess Kaguya's side.

And with Orochimaru's joining, Princess Kaguya had more confidence and assurance in carrying out her plan. Now she only needed to make a show of it, so that Orochimaru could reasonably appear by her side for some time to come.

"Although your daughter's body has already recovered, it still needs to be observed for a while. The suppressant I used, strictly speaking, was employed without the village's approval." Orochimaru's expression was solemn, and she handed Hyūga Hiashi a vial of medicine that she and Yakushi Kabuto had jointly developed, used specifically to suppress Kimimaro's kekkei genkai disease.

Hyūga Hiashi gazed at that clear medicinal liquid, lost in thought. It was undeniable that Orochimaru, as someone who specialized in research and would even conduct experiments the village had expressly forbidden, always gave people a feeling of distrust; even now, Hyūga Hiashi had not fully trusted her.

As a member of the Konoha high command, he still knew a thing or two about some of Orochimaru's affairs — she was someone who could be utterly indifferent to drastic upheavals in her own life.

But before Orochimaru came, every time his daughter fell ill, all the medical ninja Konoha could find, Tsunade-hime included, had no way at all to ease Lin Cheng's suffering. Only Orochimaru had managed it, using an unknown drug that had no record whatsoever in Konoha or in the Shinobi World.

"What side effects would continued use bring?" Hyūga Hiashi wavered inwardly.

On one hand was his wariness of Orochimaru as a person; on the other, his concern for Lin Cheng's body.

In the end he still leaned toward caring for his daughter's health, and the whole man deflated like a punctured ball as he conceded to Orochimaru.

"You can rest assured on that point — there are no side effects. Your daughter is not the first person to use it. Before this, the number of times I experimented was absolutely excessive."

Just how many lives does a single sentence like that represent?

Hyūga Hiashi would not concern himself with that; he only cared whether Lin Cheng would be all right. Receiving Orochimaru's assurance finally allowed him to relax a little.

Compared with his own daughter's safety, whether those people he had never met lived or died no longer mattered.

When everyone enjoys a life-saving elixir, they always overlook the lab rats that paid with their lives for it — human nature is like that.

So Hyūga Hiashi's agreement was only to be expected. The corner of Orochimaru's mouth curved into a charming arc, and she was inwardly certain that for some time to come she could continue to stay by Lin Cheng's — no, rather, Princess Kaguya's — side.