Chapter Eighty-Nine: A Bountiful Harvest in the Dragon Earth Cavern

It felt as if we were some sort of underground resistance. Next time I’ll bring something good; as long as we’re inside the Leaf Village, we can talk anytime.

As Kane spoke, he glanced around the dim Dragon Cave, still unused to places like this. Dark and damp, with the possibility of some giant serpent slithering out of a tunnel at any moment—and what was that slime on the ground anyway...

“If it were only about my own business, I could simply leave it to you through a summoning serpent. But the White Serpent Sage wanted to meet the new contract holder, so she asked me to bring you here,” Orochimaru said with a smile.

There was another reason as well: the Leaf Village was no longer safe. More precisely, in the eyes of his teacher, the Third Hokage, Kane had already become something close to a hypothetical enemy.

For that reason, he had changed the meeting place to Dragon Cave.

“Maybe it has something to do with the little pet I’ve been raising. Or maybe it’s because Dragon Cave has finally produced a new contract holder after all these years...” Kane could not help asking, “Orochimaru, are contract holders here really that rare? Your disciple, Nawaki, isn’t he...”

Orochimaru said, “He never made a contract with Dragon Cave. He only learned some serpent-style ninja arts. Nawaki’s style of fighting is not suited to large-scale summoning, so I never had him contract with Dragon Cave. As for Dragon Cave’s contract holders, in nearly a hundred years, there have only been you and me.”

Only two?

Kane thought about it. If he remembered correctly, the Third Kazekage seemed to have made a contract with a dragon serpent as well.

Orochimaru seemed to know what Kane was thinking. Before Kane could ask, he said, “Some people make contracts only with individual serpents from Dragon Cave, but only you and I have contracts with Dragon Cave itself, because at the time it was not suitable for you to make a contract with a single serpent.”

“The Dragon Cave summoning scroll has never circulated outside. Even I only formed the contract after coming here.”

Kane nodded. “I see...”

The two continued deeper into the cavern until Kane finally saw a faint light ahead.

After stepping out, they came into a broad open space like the bottom of a cliff. Kane sensed something and turned his head; not far away, he spotted a creature more than ten meters long.

He did not call it a serpent, because the creature he saw had two wings, scales like metal, a fierce-looking head, and four limbs growing from its belly.

“Orochimaru, is this your research result?” Kane asked in a low voice.

Not long after he finished speaking, the mist in the clearing slowly dispersed, revealing a massive statue on the far side, and beneath it a stone seat and a white serpent smoking a pipe.

Orochimaru nodded to Kane, then said to the white serpent, “White Serpent Sage, this is Kane, the other contract holder.”

“Welcome, new contract holder. Since you have never summoned serpents with wisdom, I had to trouble Orochimaru to bring you here,” the White Serpent Sage said.

Her voice was that of an old woman, yet piercingly sharp; though she spoke only briefly, it carried dozens of meters.

Seeing this, Orochimaru’s interest deepened even further. The White Serpent Sage, who had always paid little mind to anyone, was speaking so courteously this time. And where was the other experiment he had left here?

Kane nodded to the White Serpent Sage and went straight to the point. “White Serpent Sage, what do you need from me?”

“Because of that creature over there.”

The White Serpent Sage did not beat around the bush. She slightly lifted her huge serpentine tail and pointed toward the creature in the distance that seemed at once like a dragon and a serpent. “This was raised by Orochimaru. I heard that raising creatures like this requires your support if they are to be bred continuously?”

“More or less. In our world, this kind of creature is called a fire dragon, though I am not sure whether it is the same as the dragons you know.”

Kane could feel the White Serpent Sage’s longing for dragons, though he did not know what she intended to do with them.

“I would like to ask you both for a favor. Could you provide Dragon Cave with a batch of such dragons from time to time? Preferably ones with purer bloodlines than this one...”

Kane sensed something was off and asked, “White Serpent Sage, why do you want dragons?”

“To eat them!”

The White Serpent Sage answered bluntly. “These dragons are quite alluring to us, and very beneficial. Their flesh and blood are far better than those of humans or other creatures...”

Even though she had gone hundreds of years without eating, after seeing the two dragons Orochimaru had kept here, her appetite rose again beyond control, and she ate one of them.

After digesting it, the White Serpent Sage felt a marvelous ease throughout her body, just as she had when she first began cultivating natural energy a thousand years ago. This kind of creature could aid her evolution. That was why she had asked Orochimaru, and why she had summoned Kane, the true supplier.

Orochimaru’s expression, however, darkened slightly. “Eat? White Serpent Sage, last time you told me the other dragon had gone out to forage...”

“My apologies, Orochimaru. Dragon Cave will compensate you.”

For once, the White Serpent Sage lowered her head to Orochimaru, which surprised him a little. According to the information he had gathered, Dragon Cave might well be the most hostile of the three great summoning sanctuaries toward humans.

When Tsunade’s and Jiraiya’s summons were called forth, they would actively join the battle. Yet his Manda was always bargaining with him, demanding either human flesh or human flesh, while the White Serpent Sage had long looked down on everyone. Orochimaru had only spoken with her once, back when he had mistakenly strayed into Dragon Cave.

“From now on, your agreement with Manda is canceled. At any time, in any place, you may summon it freely to aid you in battle, without any offering.”

Orochimaru frowned slightly. “If that is all, it is nowhere near enough. Leaving aside the acquisition of dragons, simply raising these two dragons has already cost me a great deal of effort...”

His relationship with Dragon Cave was very straightforward. As for the non-sentient giant serpents, leaving them aside, summoning Manda always required him to prepare many corpses of enemies. So after every fierce war, he would still have to busy himself for quite some time, otherwise Manda would not answer his summons next time.

The White Serpent Sage continued, “I can teach you the Perfect Sage Mode and the sage arts of Dragon Cave.”

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. “White Serpent Sage, I am not wholly ignorant of Sage Mode. Do you really think we could master such a dangerous art?”

As for Kane, he said nothing for the moment. He waited on the side, waiting for Orochimaru to negotiate first before stepping in himself.

“That would be under normal circumstances, without our intervention. A regular ninja can hardly ever cultivate Sage Mode successfully. But Dragon Cave has a method that can help you succeed, even if your chakra reserves are somewhat lacking... This is something the other two sanctuaries cannot guarantee. Even Myoboku Mountain falls slightly short of Dragon Cave in this regard.”

Was that a little too boastful?

Kane found the White Serpent Sage’s words unbelievable, so he asked, “May I ask what method you are referring to, White Serpent Sage?”

The White Serpent Sage did not hide it. She said directly, “When you cultivate Sage Mode, simply let the snake maidens assist you. They can draw the excess natural energy out of your bodies, keeping the three forces in perfect balance at all times.”

Orochimaru frowned slightly. “If such a method exists, why have I never heard of any ninja in Dragon Cave successfully cultivating Sage Mode?”

“Before they saw the dragons you raised, they were all man-eaters and would offer no help at all to anyone cultivating Sage Mode.”

After hearing the White Serpent Sage’s words, Orochimaru and Kane exchanged a glance.

“All right. I have no objection. If there is enough supply, I can continuously provide you with fire dragons, exactly as you asked,” Orochimaru agreed with a smile. Next it was time for the other side to speak, though Dragon Cave had already obtained the thing of greatest value to them. He did not know what else Kane could possibly ask for.

As for the pure-blooded dragons the White Serpent Sage wanted, those could be managed by adjusting the genetic ratios during breeding and trying a few more times. But if they could truly attract the White Serpent Sage, then clearly he still had not fully uncovered the secrets hidden within the fire dragons’ bodies.

At the time, Orochimaru had merely intended to breed a summoning beast capable of flight. Looking at it now, it seemed he had overlooked something important.

Kane stepped forward half a pace and said with a smile to the White Serpent Sage, “White Serpent Sage, dragon flesh and blood are not easy to obtain. Even I can only bring back a small amount each time, and at great risk...”

The White Serpent Sage reacted at once. Kane and Orochimaru were planning to ask for something twice over.

“What else do you want? If it is a summoning partner...” she began.

“No, no. I do not need that. If possible, I would like a bit of your flesh and blood. A fist-sized portion from you, White Serpent Sage, and from the three snake princesses, once every so often, would be enough.”

Kane smiled warmly at the White Serpent Sage. In his view, the most valuable things were still the materials from these four serpents. Besides, he remembered that all of them could transform into human form, and the three snake princesses could even manifest serpentine traits partially.

With flesh and blood cells in hand, they could be studied or cultivated further.

Orochimaru also thought of the value of the White Serpent Sage’s flesh and blood. His golden vertical pupils narrowed, and he silently hoped she would agree quickly.

The White Serpent Sage pondered only briefly before agreeing. “Very well. But Dragon Cave requires six fire dragons each month.”

Orochimaru smiled when he heard this. “No problem. I will raise them here in Dragon Cave, just as before.”

...................

“This time we’ve made a huge profit, Kane-kun,” Orochimaru said with a smile as they left Dragon Cave. Unknowingly, he had placed himself and Kane in the same camp.

The gains were indeed astonishing: the method for cultivating Perfect Sage Mode, the sage arts, and the flesh and cells of the White Serpent Sage and the three snake princesses. Especially the latter—Orochimaru would not have dared to ask for them himself, yet because of the fire dragons Kane brought, he had obtained them.

Kane said with a smile, “That is nothing. Isn’t it only natural for the two of us to cooperate for mutual gain? But is raising fire dragons difficult?”

Orochimaru shook his head. “Not difficult at all, though I will need to study the things the White Serpent Sage mentioned...”

“That is magic power. Fire dragons are magical creatures from our world. I have heard that a thousand years ago their power was even greater, and through a thousand years of change they may have grown somewhat weaker.”

As he spoke, Kane also demonstrated the existence of magic power for Orochimaru, using a levitation charm to open his eyes to it.

“So there is such a force...” Orochimaru’s gaze toward Kane also carried a trace of heat, though he still knew too little about magic power. It would be better to proceed step by step.

“Oh, right, Kane-kun. The matter I asked you to help me with has been completed. This is the cursed seal technique you needed. It will continue to influence the target with the caster’s spiritual power, and can also bestow one’s own chakra upon them.”

Orochimaru produced a scroll and handed it to Kane. He felt that his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was growing more and more muddle-headed. If this continued, it would certainly not be a good thing for the Leaf Village.