Initially, Satori was very disdainful, not believing a human could surpass it in speed, but when Ryou explained the mechanism of the Flying Thunder God Technique, Satori fell silent.
It possessed top-tier flight mechanisms, but no matter how it flew, it was still linear motion, whereas spatial teleportation was curved motion.
For instance, Satori was just at Hozuki Castle beyond the great sea, and in the next second, it was teleported to the Land of Rain through Ryou's Summoning Jutsu.
Spatial teleportation ignores distance.
Seeing Satori silenced, Ryou showed concern: "Satori, don't be too sad. Minato's speed relies on Flying Thunder God coordinates. Without a coordinate, he cannot arrive."
"Just like right now, Minato doesn't have the spatial coordinates for Ryūchi Cave, so you are still the fastest to get there!"
Satori felt a bit better; it hadn't been abandoned by this era after all.
Immediately, to display its reputation as the fastest in ancient times, its flight speed increased by several more levels.
The dark clouds in the sky were directly sliced open by it.
Feeling bored, Ryou squeezed the little Katsuyu in his arms. It felt quite good; the way Katsuyu looked reminded Ryou of a "toy."
That was his girlfriend from his past life!
Ryou missed his girlfriend and couldn't help but grab the mini Katsuyu.
I'm feeling very heated right now!
"Σヽ(ﾟДﾟ;)ﾉ."
The mini Katsuyu grew frantic: "Evil Uchiha, what are you trying to do?"
"Katsuyu, I'm sorry!"
Previously, Ryou's desires had been stirred up by Nonō, but because of the series of accidents that followed, that fire hadn't been extinguished yet.
The little Katsuyu reminded Ryou of his girlfriend from his past life, and with this squeeze, Ryou couldn't hold back.
Candy and Satori both watched Ryou in extreme shock, not expecting Ryou to even lay hands on this thing.
Especially Satori; although it didn't see it directly, it perceived Ryou's actions through its sixth sense.
It was extremely shocked, even terrified.
A human, at the very least, shouldn't do that!
Satori was terrified, fearing that one day Ryou would do the same to it. Its fear of Ryou reached its peak.
It no longer dared to have any stray thoughts.
This person is truly the evil of this world!
...
Shikkotsu Forest.
This was a world shrouded in thick white mist all year round. There were no hard rocks in the forest; all the mountains, ravines, and plateaus were formed by the accumulation and hardening of the Slug Sage's body and secretions.
Giant translucent fungi and moss grew in Shikkotsu Forest, with caps like houses and stalks like jade, emitting a faint cold light in the mist.
A faint medicinal fragrance permeated the woods.
This was the scent of the Slug Sage's body fluids mixed with Senjutsu natural energy. It could slowly heal wounds, and staying in it for a long time could prolong life.
Quiet, dark, moist, and cool, soft everywhere—this was the sacred land where the ancestor of Shikkotsu Forest, the Slug Sage, resided.
In a damp area dense with mushrooms.
With a 'bang,' a cloud of summoning smoke exploded, and then three people emerged from the smoke.
One wore wine-red hard armor covering the chest, shoulders, and waist, an outfit that combined the weight of a samurai with the agility of a Shinobi.
Long black hair flew wildly, and his face was bright and heroic.
However, his skin was a bit strange, with cracks like broken porcelain that had been forcibly glued back together.
This person was the First Hokage reincarnated by Orochimaru—Hashirama.
After being summoned by Katsuyu, Hashirama looked at the damp environment of Shikkotsu Forest.
There were shallow puddles everywhere, damp rock walls, and moss covered in water droplets...
Staying in this place for too long wouldn't just grant longevity; it would give you rheumatism!
Hashirama sighed with emotion: "How many years has it been? I've come to Shikkotsu Forest once again."
The last time Hashirama came to Shikkotsu Forest was when he was training in Sage Arts.
Since then, Hashirama hadn't visited for a long time and rarely summoned Katsuyu.
Hashirama's fighting style didn't match Katsuyu; he could heal himself and didn't need Katsuyu's medical treatment.
"Big brother, stop sighing. You need to find the Ancestor as soon as possible to learn the Truth-Seeking Orb!"
The serious man next to him, wearing deep blue armor with silver-white spiky short hair and red markings on both cheeks, interrupted Hashirama.
This person was Tobirama, the Second Hokage of Konoha and a master of Forbidden Jutsu.
As for the remaining person, it was Orochimaru.
After the White Snake Sage pointed the way, Orochimaru used Edo Tensei on Hashirama and Tobirama, informing them of the current situation in the Shinobi World and the only way to defeat Madara.
That was for Hashirama to possess the Six Paths Power.
Subsequently, Hashirama summoned Katsuyu, and after explaining the situation, had the Slug Sage use Reverse Summoning to bring them to Shikkotsu Forest.
After entering Shikkotsu Forest, Orochimaru carefully observed this Sage Region that was as famous as Ryūchi Cave.
But there was white mist everywhere; Orochimaru couldn't see the situation of Shikkotsu Forest clearly, and he extremely disliked such an environment.
Snakes preferred dark, dry, warm, and quiet places.
Mostly rugged rocks, deep mountain undergrounds with crisscrossing caves, dim light, and sweltering air.
Staying in such a moisture-filled place gave Orochimaru goosebumps all over his snake skin.
Something even more uncomfortable arrived!
The mist of Shikkotsu Forest was suddenly slowly torn open by a stagnant, massive force, and a head appeared—no—
It was a flowing white jade mountain wall. That was the Slug Sage's head. Orochimaru looked up in shock.
It was like a white mountain, and this was only the tip of the iceberg of the Shikkotsu Forest Ancestor. The torso hidden behind the white mist was unimaginably staggering.
This was the Slug Sage, the Shikkotsu Forest Ancestor, who shared fame with the White Snake Sage and the Great Toad Sage.
Standing before it, Orochimaru was as tiny as dust; even looking up required effort just to see the outline of its lower jaw.
This wasn't a Summoned Beast; it was a living, breathing white mountain.
Just how big was the Slug Sage?
In the original work, Tsunade and Sakura's combined Strength of a Hundred Seal release only summoned one-tenth of the Slug Sage. That tenth alone was the size of a mountain and a hundred meters long.
Its main body must be at least over a thousand meters; it is Shikkotsu Forest itself, the main entity of the entire Shikkotsu Forest.
Only Hashirama's massive amount of chakra could summon the Slug Sage's main body.
As soon as the Slug Sage appeared, Orochimaru felt extremely uncomfortable, his snake skin itching incessantly.
Because in the settings of the Three Great Sage Regions' Summoned Beasts, snakes eat toads, toads eat slugs, and slugs eat snakes.
No matter how unreliable it seemed that a slug could eat a snake, that was the setting; the Slug Sage was the natural enemy of the White Snake Sage.
It was naturally meant to counter snake species.
The Slug Sage had a gentle, well-behaved, timid, and clingy personality, even though its main body could scare someone to death.
But as soon as it came out, it treated Hashirama and Tobirama as masters.
"Lord Hashirama, Lord Tobirama, my clone has already told me about your desire to learn Yin-Yang Release and master the Truth-Seeking Orb!"
"I'm sorry, Ancestor, to trouble you again! Madara has already surpassed me by too much!"
Hashirama and the Slug Sage each addressed the other respectfully; it called him Lord, and he called it Ancestor.
However, this was limited to the Slug Sage's main body.
The main body was the Sage, while the clones were Katsuyu.
Hashirama and Tobirama had already been informed by Orochimaru about all the intelligence regarding Madara. Madara, with the Rinnegan, had already far surpassed Hashirama.
Even with this immortal body to face Madara, he would be no match for him.
The Slug Sage nodded, then noticed Orochimaru, who was extremely afraid of it, and said apologetically, "Orochimaru, I'm sorry, did I scare you?"