Ren Uchiha was in an awkward predicament.
He possessed a collection of Forbidden Jutsu, each a gluttonous consumer of chakra. He wanted to use his immortality and high-speed regeneration to crush his enemies, but the chakra he had managed to convert was only enough for a hasty retreat—nowhere near enough to sustain a battle against a Kage-level powerhouse.
Relying on regeneration meant sacrificing raw offensive power, yet the strength provided by the Cursed Seal of Heaven wasn't enough to break the current deadlock.
Thus, at this moment, as the glowing green cat's eye stone sat before him, Ren did not hesitate for a single second.
He lashed out with his left hand and snatched it!
The instant his fingers closed around the stone, the world before Ren's eyes erupted into brilliance! The fundamental structure of reality shifted. Within that deep, oppressive snake den, countless fluorescent green specks of light began to drift in the air, linking together. Radiant green lines shot out, interlacing and blanketing the sky, illuminating the entirety of Ryuchi Cave.
The dark, damp, and gloomy cavern, usually a place of sunless mud and filth, was transformed in a heartbeat into a celestial paradise.
"This... this is..."
Ren's serpentine pupils constricted. He could feel the violent, untamed power contained within those myriad specks of light. It was pure, natural—the raw majesty of the world itself!
"You can see it?"
"You can actually see it?!"
Beside Tagitsuhime, a petite, doll-like girl abruptly manifested. She had long, deep blue hair and eyes as blue as the clear sky, wearing a golden crown identical to the one worn by the Snake Princess.
She rushed forward with frantic urgency. Her cute, playful face was instantly torn apart by a hideous, serpentine visage. Her golden pupils locked onto Ren as she asked excitedly:
"What does it look like?"
"What does the true Ryuchi Cave look like?! Tell me!"
She paced restlessly, her steps small and nervous. Suddenly, she stopped. Her nose twitched, and a cold, predatory light shot from her eyes.
"Hiss! So fragrant! So fragrant! I want to eat you!"
"If I eat you, I can have those eyes! I can have those abilities! I can have this opportunity to become a dragon!"
"Hahahahaha!"
"Hiss-ha! Hiss-ha!"
Ren stared at her, stunned.
In the next instant, the little "beauty" raised her hand, her blue nails tearing through her own hybrid face. A massive, gaping maw suddenly filled Ren's entire field of vision!
The stench of rot, the bone-chilling cold, and the sudden, visceral premonition of death made Ren's spine tingle. This was a crisis far more terrifying than facing Ebizo's S-Rank Wind Style.
"Ichikishima! What are you doing?!"
A sharp cry rang out as a goddess-like woman with brown hair soared through the air. In the next moment, she transformed into a colossal brown serpent, slamming down and coiling around the blue giant snake that had been Ichikishima.
Just as Ren's body went rigid, inches away from being swallowed, the two gargantuan serpents became locked in a titanic struggle. The entirety of Ryuchi Cave trembled under the impact of the two Sage Snakes. Countless lesser snakes raised their heads in terror before fleeing in every direction.
"Tagitsuhime! Tagiri! Don't you understand?!"
"He saw it!"
"He actually saw it!"
The blue serpent that was Ichikishima wailed with joy, tears streaming as she opened her mouth to tear a massive chunk of flesh from Tagiri's body, swallowing it down along with her tears.
She roared in a voice trembling with excitement: "The power destroyed by the Rabbit Goddess, reborn after a thousand years! The final treasure of this terminal world! The key to becoming a Dragon!"
"Uuuugh, ahhh! He really saw it!"
"Millennia! I've waited millennia for this chance!"
"I'm going to eat him! I must eat him!"
As her tragic, ecstatic wail faded, all three Sage Snakes turned to look at Ren. Their gazes shifted instantly—becoming greedy, cold, and utterly indifferent. Even Tagitsuhime, who still maintained her human form, looked upon Ren with eyes that had turned hostile.
Ren swallowed hard, his scalp tingling. It seems Ryuchi Cave isn't exactly a charity, is it?
In the next heartbeat, the two giant snakes stopped their infighting. They snapped their heads toward Ren, jaws unhinged, and lunged simultaneously!
"He's mine!"
"No, you bitch, he's mine!"
Tagitsuhime's eyes turned cold. She bypassed the two massive serpents, floating through the air with impossible speed. Her small, cherry-red mouth began to stretch—wider and wider—until it blotted out Ren's entire world.
"Haha! Hiss!"
"Two fools... this boy belongs to me!"
Facing the inescapable, yawning abyss of the serpent's maw, Ren's skin crawled. Wasn't this supposed to be where I get my power-up? Why did these grandmas suddenly flip the script and try to eat me?
How had his "trash-tier" talent suddenly turned into the "Meat of a Holy Monk" that every monster craved?
The sheer absurdity of the world gave Ren no time for further complaints. He bit his lip, his gaze turning savage. He squeezed the green cat's eye stone in his fist with everything he had!
CRACK!
The green stone shattered in his palm!
The celestial paradise, the myriad green specks, the radiant lines cutting through the sky—all of it seemed to find a sudden outlet. Like a tidal wave, the energy converged entirely upon Ren.
He only managed to catch a few edges of the lights and threads.
BOOM!
The vision collapsed and crumbled!
Border of the Land of Wind, Endless Desert.
The howling winds of the high-pressure storm whipped Ren's long black hair, fluttering the tattered hem of his Uchiha high-collared robe.
Ren snapped his eyes open, revealing his blood-red, serpentine Sharingan!
His cold gaze instantly pierced through the sand and dust kicked up by the explosion of the Thousand-Faced Wind Blades. He locked onto Ebizo, who was drifting down and landing firmly on the ground.
Ren took a deep breath. He raised his left hand, which still gripped the incandescent blade. He opened his pinky finger, and tiny, pulverized shards of the green cat's eye stone trickled out.
Above his palm, a cluster of emerald light—invisible to the naked eye and composed of dense, vibrating specks—quietly hovered.
"So, this is the power of a Sage?" Ren whispered.
He slammed his palm down, pressing the cluster of light directly into the Cursed Seal on his neck.
In an instant, a terrifying, surging power flooded his body through the seal! The stalled Body Incarnation roared back to life! Flesh reorganized, bones restructured, and muscle fibers extended. A complete right arm erupted from the stump of his shoulder!
Having completed the regeneration, the power continued to spread. The "Cursed Flower" on his neck bloomed in exquisite, lethal detail. Black markings raced across Ren's body, covering half of him in a heartbeat.
His lost strength returned—surging, gathering, and mutating through his limbs! This was the power of the Cursed Seal. This was the Senjutsu of Ryuchi Cave!
At the bottom of the massive sand crater, the wall of snakes finally collapsed. The remaining invisible wind blades shrieked downward.
Ren stepped forward, gripping his white-hot blade with both hands. His serpentine eyes were fixed on Ebizo.
He crouched and lunged!
Within his 360-degree infrared vision, Ren didn't need to look to know where the wind blades would fall. He twisted his body, swung his blade, and charged through the storm!
Sword light poured out, carving lunar arcs into the dark. The Uchiha's swordsmanship—the Ephemeral Slash—bloomed repeatedly like ghost flowers on the battlefield!
Ren threw his head back, revealing a face contorted by black markings, and let out a defiant roar:
"It's time to settle this!"
"EBIZO!!!"