Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Kirito struggled with stomach acid, thinking to himself.

Outside, the White Snake Sage had released her restraints on the rock giant. She was curling up her enormous body and focusing most of her energy on her internal organs, using her vast Sage Chakra to continuously maintain the alternate dimension within her stomach to suppress the enemy inside.

After the battle, she realized that Kirito was a formidable enemy who also possessed troublesome space-time ninjutsu. If even the slightest flaw appeared in the alternate dimension within her body, it was very likely that this terrifying enemy would discover it.

By then, the feast that was already in her stomach would be gone.

Therefore, she must do everything in her power to maintain the stability of the stomach's alternate dimension, giving Kirito no chance to escape.

"I can feel it. It's a delicious Sage Chakra. I never thought that a human could cultivate Sage Mode to such a high level at such a young age. Humans are indeed not to be underestimated. Although they are a short-lived species, their growth rate far surpasses that of us long-lived species."

The White Snake Sage couldn't help but sigh with delight as he sensed the otherworldly realm within his stomach rapidly digesting and absorbing Kirito's Sage Chakra.

She hadn't eaten such delicious food in a long time, though the portion was a little small.

"Wait a minute, isn't this kid a Jinchūriki? Why does he have less chakra than I expected?"

The White Snake Immortal realized that the quantity was a bit small, and she immediately noticed something was wrong.

The next moment, she felt a deadly sense of threat.

But before she could react, a purple flash pierced one of her eyes.

Then, purple light bullets rained down from the sky like a storm, striking the White Snake Immortal hard.

These purple light projectiles were extremely penetrating; they easily pierced through the snake scales on the White Serpent Immortal's body, leaving behind bloody and mangled wounds on her massive form.

"what!!!"

The White Snake Immortal was suddenly attacked so fiercely that he let out a painful scream.

In particular, the near-devastating blow to one eye caused her excruciating pain and chills her to the bone.

The enemy was far more formidable and cunning than she had imagined. The enemy she had just swallowed was probably just bait thrown out by the other side to obtain her combat information.

She immediately tried to use Yang Release Sage Mode chakra to quickly heal her wounds, then burrowed into the ground to avoid the light projectiles constantly falling from the sky.

To her great surprise, the ground, which was usually as soft as water under her earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of earth ...

At the same time, the rock giant in front of her, which had stopped moving, quickly stood up again. Above its head stood a black-haired man in a black and gold suit, holding a black spear in his hand. He stared coldly at her with his golden eyes.

"It's a puppet!"

The White Snake Immortal glanced at the black-haired man and instantly recognized his identity, leaving him utterly shocked.

Because the opponent actually possessed a considerable amount of Sage Chakra, and had clearly entered Sage Mode. A puppet capable of activating Sage Mode was something that far exceeded the White Snake Sage's imagination.

But she didn't have much time to think about what was going on; she quickly dodged the attack from the rock giant's massive, rocky fist.

But as soon as the black-haired man clapped his hands, she found that her body was suddenly burdened with an immense weight, and her speed was drastically reduced.

Earth Release: Super Light Heavy Rock Technique!

In an instant, she was struck on the head by the rock giant's rocky fist, then coughed up blood and saw stars.

At this moment, she could no longer maintain the spatial stability of the otherworld within her stomach, and she had to expend more energy and Sage Chakra to fight the enemy she was currently facing.

The next second, her body was once again covered in dense lightning, and her body was temporarily strengthened again with the help of Lightning Release Sage Technique chakra, successfully withstanding the gravity ninjutsu cast by the puppet on the top of the rock giant's head.

A white afterimage flashed, and the White Serpent Immortal once again tightly bound the Rock Giant. Her enormous serpent head opened its blood-red maw and bit at the Rock Giant's head, intending to swallow it along with the black-haired man.

But at that moment, a massive purple chakra slash, seemingly cleaving the sky in two, descended from the heavens and instantly struck the White Snake Sage's neck. It was incredibly sharp, cutting deep into the White Snake Sage's neck and nearly severing her head.

Sensing a deadly danger, the White Serpent Immortal quickly released the Rock Giant and retreated in panic.

During the process, she saw a purple-haired woman descend from the sky. Her eyes shone with dazzling purple lightning, and her right hand was covered by a huge purple chakra arm, through which she held a chakra katana covered in purple lightning.

The White Snake Sage immediately recognized that the purple-haired woman was also a puppet, and that she had also entered Sage Mode. The huge purple chakra arm and chakra katana on her body were formed by her using Lightning Release Sage Technique chakra.

"Damn it, Kirito Tohsaka, come out here!"

Upon seeing this, the White Snake Immortal roared in anger.

She had come to realize that the enemy had been hiding in the shadows, controlling puppets to fight her. The enemy she had just swallowed was probably also a puppet controlled by the enemy, only that puppet was more realistic than the two puppets in front of her.

Meanwhile, underground, five or six kilometers east of the battlefield, Kirito's true form stared at the distant battle with his Byakugan, then, listening to the White Snake Sage's roar, sneered, "Can't take it anymore so quickly?"

Kirito certainly wouldn't rashly venture into a place like Ryuchi Cave, a den of dragons and tigers.

So he sent in a lifelike puppet to see the White Snake Immortal.

As expected, the White Snake Immortal was also deceived by the flesh puppet he controlled remotely with his black rod, and revealed many of his trump cards in the battle with the flesh puppet, allowing him to calmly set up the battlefield in the dark.

While the White Serpent Sage was fully focused on digesting the flesh and blood puppet in his stomach, he quietly released the second-generation Thunder God Puppet and Rock God Puppet, and then used them to launch a sneak attack on the White Serpent Sage.

The sneak attack succeeded, severely injuring the White Snake Immortal.

The White Snake Sage roared angrily, spewing out a large number of wind blades formed from Wind Release Sage Technique chakra, which shot towards the Thunder God Puppet in the sky.

However, the Thunder God Puppet instantly transformed into a purple lightning bolt, easily dodging the attack and suddenly appearing behind the White Snake Sage. The huge chakra katana in its hand once again unleashed a terrifying purple chakra slash that caused space to distort slightly.

Lightning Release: Lightning Transformation Technique!

Immortal Technique: Lightning Release: Annihilation!

Sensing danger, the White Snake Immortal tried to hide, but found that a large number of tree roots appeared beneath her, tightly binding her body.

A black-clad man wearing a pale mask quietly joined the battle; he was a White Zetsu clone who had come to provide support using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

As soon as the White Zetsu clone unleashed the Wood Release: Silent Killing Binding Technique, the White Snake Sage immediately lost the ability to dodge and was once again struck head-on by the Thunder God Puppet's Sage Chakra attack. A large amount of snake scales and snake blood spilled out from the wounds that went deep into the bone.

The White Snake Immortal was severely injured once again, and his life force rapidly declined, clearly indicating that his life was under serious threat.

However, the White Snake Sage is ultimately one of the most powerful creatures at the top of the ninja world's food chain, possessing immense vitality and numerous life-saving abilities.

A burst of white light shone from her entire body, and a large amount of Sage Chakra within her body instantly evaporated. A large, unharmed white phosphorus serpent emerged from the White Snake Sage's body.

"This is Orochimaru's Substitution Technique, no, it should be that Orochimaru learned that disgusting Substitution Technique from this guy."

Kirito was surprised to see the White Snake Sage fully revived in a familiar way.

After expending a large amount of Sage Chakra to fully recover, the White Snake Sage decisively and quickly retreated, distancing himself from the White Zetsu clone and the Rock God Puppet that was leading the Rock Giants to arrive rapidly. He then attempted to use Inorganic Reincarnation to manipulate a large amount of soil, forming countless sharp earth spikes to attack both of them.

However, after she had only stepped back a short distance, she found herself sinking into a patch of soft sand.

"How did a desert landscape appear here?"

The White Snake Sage was puzzled to find herself stuck in the sand, and at the same time, a chill ran through her as she suddenly remembered that the tailed beast inside Kirito was called Shukaku.

She quickly tried to free her body from the sand and attempted to use inorganic rebirth to corrupt the sand below, making it work for her. However, she found that inorganic rebirth failed; the sand beneath her could not be corrupted by inorganic rebirth at all.

Because they are products temporarily created entirely from some special kind of chakra.

The next moment, a huge yellow tanuki emerged from the sand; it was none other than Shukaku.

As soon as it appeared, it slammed the White Snake Sage's head into the sand with its giant hand, then opened its mouth and continuously spewed out powerful air cannonballs to relentlessly attack the White Snake Sage.

Wind Release: Sky Bullet Training!

The White Snake Sage was no pushover either; he wasn't going to let Kirito's Shukaku keep beating him. In an instant, a sharp, huge snake tail shot out from the sand behind Shukaku and pierced through Shukaku's body.

Unfortunately, Shukaku's body was merely a pile of sand temporarily formed from chakra, and it had no weaknesses whatsoever. It completely ignored the White Snake Sage's sneak attack and continued to hurl air cannons at him.

Left with no other choice, the White Snake Sage once again used his Great Resurrection Technique, and a large, unharmed white-scaled snake emerged from the White Snake Sage's tail, which was exposed outside the sand.

But just as the White Snake Sage, who had just been fully revived, broke free from the sand bindings of Shukaku, huge tree roots grew out of the sand and wrapped around her entire body.

Then, a massive purple chakra slash descended from the sky, this time severing half of the White Snake Sage's body.

"It seems that this ability to instantly heal all injuries is not without its flaws. The price is a significant decrease in physical strength. Of course, one cannot simply discard one's body so easily."

Kirito's true form, who was still hiding underground and watching the battle with his Byakugan, revealed a sinister smile upon seeing this.

In his view, the White Snake Sage had run out of tricks. If she didn't use other effective means to deal with his control over these puppets and clones, she would eventually be defeated, no matter how much Sage Chakra she had.

However, he didn't really intend to offend the White Snake Immortal to death. He still planned to find out the location of the space-time passage to the moon from the White Snake Immortal. He couldn't put the cart before the horse.

So, when the White Snake Sage used his unique Great Resurrection Technique to fully recover, he didn't rush to launch another fierce attack. Instead, he controlled the Sand Shukaku and said to the White Snake Sage, "Shall we end this probing battle here?"

"Kid, stop pretending. You've got the upper hand. If you've got the guts, kill me."

The White Snake Sage didn't appreciate Kirito's kindness at all, and even felt that Kirito's sudden stop in the pursuit was an insult to her, which made her even angrier.

"Please calm down, White Snake Immortal. We are not true enemies. I just want an answer from you. There is no need to fight to the death."

Moreover, if it really comes down to a fight to the death, we could probably fight for a whole day and still not be able to decide the outcome, and the environment here would probably be destroyed by us.”

Seeing this, Kirito quickly continued to persuade him.

"Hmph, so you don't blame me for having ill intentions towards you from the start? I just ate one of your important helpers, don't you hold a grudge against me?"

The White Snake Sage said coldly, not believing that Kirito genuinely didn't want to continue fighting.

She didn't care at all what the environment here would become.

As long as she is there, Ryūchi-dō will never disappear.

"It's alright. How can I gain an advantage against someone as powerful as you without paying a price?"

Kirito said nonchalantly.

The White Snake Sage's expression softened slightly upon hearing Kirito's words. Then, seeing the Thunder God Puppet, the Rock God Puppet, and the White Zetsu clones surrounding her with Shukaku and preparing to unleash a sealing technique, he gritted his teeth and said, "You're ruthless, kid."

Chapter 311: Finally Finding a Way to the Moon

"I'm so sorry for offending you, White Snake Immortal, please."

Kirito smiled and said, seeing that the White Snake Sage had finally given in.

However, he did not completely disengage from battle; he merely dispelled the temporary Shukaku he had created using Shukaku's chakra. After all, the White Snake Sage's personality was truly unappealing; he might pretend to agree on the surface, only to turn ruthless the next moment.

The reason he was able to suppress the White Snake Immortal was largely because the latter didn't understand his abilities, and the latter's arrogance allowed him to exploit a weakness, which enabled him to suppress the latter.

That's how battles between the strong work; if one side makes even a small mistake, they could very well face defeat.

"Hmph, kid, you just wait, we'll find a chance to fight again."

The White Snake Immortal said coldly.

As soon as she finished speaking, her enormous body suddenly transformed into a large number of small white snakes, each of which was crackling with blue electricity. Using Lightning Release Sage Technique chakra to strengthen their bodies, they fled in all directions at an extremely fast speed.

In just a few seconds, a large number of small white snakes disappeared, at least in the eyes of ordinary people.

In Kirito's eyes, the small white snakes had already burrowed into the ground and then quickly gathered together, forming even larger white snakes.

"I didn't expect that this White Snake Sage would actually possess the ability to split her body into clones, similar to the Slug Sage. However, her ability is obviously not as powerful as the Slug Sage's. Only about a hundred of her clones truly possess a soul aura, unlike the Slug Sage, whose clones each have a unique soul."