It’s nightfall now, meaning that both Naruto’s fight with Gaara and the attack on the Leaf Village must be over. Jin thinks determinedly as he hops through the trees. With each hop getting him closer to his goal, Jin smiles with anticipation. Based on what the Boruto anime said, I’ll get there as long as it’s my destination. Hmm…?

Jin stops in his tracks, noticing a bonfire with a host of people gathered around, ten of them to be exact. They’re eating, drinking and laughing together. As Jin is about to leave without them ever realizing he was there, the young rogue ninja sees two more people tied up to a tree just outside the fire’s light.

They could be bandits, slavers, or something worse, I’m killing them and taking all of their shit. A smiling Jin thinks as he looks down on them from his tree branch, Jin then takes a deep breath and exhales several small blasts of wind chakra that scatters in multiple directions, all aimed at the bandits. Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets…!

All the bullets hit their mark and eight of them fall to the ground with the remaining two stumbling around, drunk and confused.

Whew… that attack took up more chakra than I thought it would, it’s a good thing I focused on headshots. I have to give it to Danzo, he may be a colossal dick, but he does have the power and skill. Jin thinks as he breathes heavily. Catching his breath, Jin turns his attention to the remaining bandits and pulls out a kunai. Wow, these guys are really drunk, I can afford to actually be reckless with these guys…

Jin then stealthily jumps down from the tree and charges at the last two drunk bandits with a kunai in-hand.

“...Hey, who are y--GUH??!!” One of the bandits says in a drunk stupor as Jin cuts him down.

“...Yo, Daisuke, somethin’ wrong…?” The last bandit asks as he sees his friend collapse to the ground. “...Daisuke…?”

WOW, I know that the average bandit is no match for genin, but this has been ridiculously easy. A flabbergasted Jin thinks as he stabs the last bandit in the heart from behind. The bandit falls to the ground, dead leaving Jin to loot their dead corpses and put their looted items into spare bags. As Jin sorts through their supplies, he remembers that the two kidnapped victims were there and turns to face them. He looks at them and then back at the supplies. FUCK ME…!

“Relax, I'm not going to hurt you…” Jin says as he slowly walks up to them, kunai in-hand. As he gets closer, Jin’s eyes adjust to the darkness and the young rogue ninja is taken aback when he realizes who’s tied up. HOLY SHIT…! I know these two, they’re from the Dragon Blade Chronicles game. The Tatsushiro siblings, Kuroma and Akari.

Hmm… we’re still in Part I era, so I guess Kuroma hasn’t been sent over the edge by the prejudice against him and his sister due to their horns. Jin wonders as he cuts them both free. Jin then reluctantly hands some of his looted bags to them. “Here, I’m giving you two thirds of their stuff… You’ll need them.”

“Th… thanks, but why help us? Don’t our horns frighten you…?” Kuroma says cautiously as he accepts the bags.

“Firstly, I helped you because you needed it and secondly I actually find your horns cool.” Jin curtly responds, smiling casually. “In fact I’m kind of jealous, I wish I had horns.”

“Anyway, I hope we meet again, later…” Jin says in a friendly manner as he turns around and continues his journey.

“Hey--wait!” Akari calls out, but to no avail since Jin has just disappeared. “We... never got your name…”

“I’m sure we’ll meet ag--WHO’S THERE??!!!” Shouts an on guard Kuroma as he draws one of the deceased bandit’s swords.

After a brief moment, someone appears out of the darkness. The figure is cloaked with a hood covering his face.

“Just calm down and relax.” The cloaked man says as he holds out one hand, gesturing to Kuroma to stop. “I just want to talk.”

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The next day, Jin is still running towards Ryuchi Cave. As Jin continues running, a fog appears and gradually gets thicker.

Ooh… Let’s see, thick fog, a canyon with a rocky terrain from what I can barely make out, that means I’m close!! Thinks an excited Jin as he continues running through the fog. With each step Jin takes, his excitement dies down and is slowly replaced by fear and determination as he remembers what happens in the Boruto anime. Fuck, I almost forgot about the creepy snake women and their tests. As long as I do what Boruto did, I’ll be fine… Ah!

Jin stops as he finally reaches his destination, he sees a richly decorated gate to Ryūchi Cave. The gate opens and a beautiful hostess walks out to greet Jin. She wears a long, loose-fitting white robe that has green trimmings around the sleeves and neck area, with the neck area also having a green tomoe. She wears a golden tiara that has green ribbons hanging from either end.

“We’ve been expecting you to arrive, I welcome you to Ryūchi Cave.” The hostess says as she gestures for Jin to enter. Upon entering Jin sees that inside the cave, it looks like a rich, fancy palace. “Welcome, you may call me Tagorihime. You must be exhausted, so please take advantage of this place to relax and get some rest.”

“Right, thanks.” Jin responds curtly. “I’m here to learn sage mode, so can you take me to see the White Snake Sage.”

“Why of course, I understand completely. I’ll go and make the arrangements so please wait here for just a moment.” Tagorihime says in a soft and sweet tone. She then turns and points to a nearby table full of food. “In the meantime, please partake of the feast we’ve prepared.”

As Tagorihime walks away, Jin proceeds to go and sit down on a bench, fold his arms and wait, not even giving the food a chance. Don’t give in to temptation, JIn… This food is actually rotten, poisonous garbage disguised with genjutsu…!

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Moments later, the hostess, Tagorihime returns with more delicious-looking food and places it in front of Jin.

“Master White Snake Sage will arrive shortly.” the hostess says as she sits down beside Jin. “In the meantime, don’t be shy, help yourself. We insist.”

“Uh, no, I’m not touching any of this.” Jin replies with a disgusted expression and arms still folded. “This place, the food, and you all look too good to be true.”

“Oh my, you are a perceptive boy. You really should have taken a bite of the damn food!” Tagorihime says in a monstrous tone. Her face begins to change and takes on snake characteristics and the illusion lifts to reveal that they're in a foggy cave with rotten food. “Just when I thought I could get to eat the fresh chakra of a child for a change…!”

“You lost, he did not succumb to your temptations.” A disembodied voice says mockingly.

“I'm aware. Our job is to weed out all who wander into Ryuchi Cave.” Tagorihime responds, she turns towards Jin and begins to disappear into the fog. “And as for you, don’t be foolish enough to assume that you’ll make it all the way to meet with Master White Snake Sage…”

WOW, this place is actually pretty fucking creepy in real life. Jin laments as he stares into the fog, walking deeper into it. As Jin walks, he sees a girl wearing similar clothing travel through the fog and quickly follows after her. Okay, time for the next trial.

Jin follows the girl into a room-like area with bits of stone on the ground. A door closes behind him, the girl disappears and he notices the door has grooves where the stone bits in the room fit.

Yep, this is like that one toy babies play with, only more complex. Jin thinks as he puts a stone shaped like a half-circle into its matching groove. “If I hurry I can do this in five minutes.”

“Can you though?” The girl says, appearing a few yards away.

“YEEEAHHH!!!” Jin screams in shock as she then suddenly appears behind him.

“My name’s Ichikishimahime.” The girl says as she then appears on a cliff to Jin’s right. “Come play with me.”

“If you fill in all the spaces in that boulder, I’ll let you out of here.” Ichikishimahime informs now behind Jin again, this time, hovering in the air. “ All the stones you need are right here in this room. If you can do it, you win the challenge~!”

“Simple enough.” Jin answers as he begins to fit more pieces of stone into the grooves. I’ll be done in five minutes.

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DAMMIT! It took me over 6 minutes!! Jin thinks in frustration as he puts the last stone in. Upon completing the trial, the walls and door vanish. Oh yeah, this pretty much everything here is a genjutsu, other than the snakes that is…

“I guess you're going to be difficult to eat.” Ichikishimahime says as she disappears into the mist.

Okay, get ready...! Jin thinks as he braces himself. The final snake woman appears out of nowhere and bites Jin on the neck. “ARGH!”

“I am Tagitsuhime, you must really be something if you got past the trials that the other two set for you.” The snake woman says as Jin drops to his knees from the pain. Tagitsuhime then transforms from a beautiful woman into a snake monster. “ I shall test your heart. Of course if you can’t endure it, I can just eat you.”

“Why did you run away from the village when the Sand and Sound Villages attacked?” Says a familiar voice in a condescending tone. Jin looks up to see Ino looking down on him. “Is it because you’re afraid?”

“Or is it because you’re weak?” Says Ayanami who appears on Jin’s left.

“It’s probably both.” Naruto says who appears from behind Jin.

“WEAKING! COWARD! SELFISH! WEAKLING!!” They all begin to chant repeatedly. “You shouldn’t have ever become a ninja!”

“Heh heh heh… is that all you have to say...?” Jin mutters through the agony. The rogue ninja struggles using all his willpower, but manages to fight through the pain and get back on his feet. “I am weak and I am a coward… That’s why I came here, to become strong and courageous… I WON’T GIVE UP NOW! NOT WHEN I’M SO CLOSE!!”

“Huh? Guess that’s all we can do.” Ino says as she and the other illusions disappear into the fog.

The fog dissipates, revealing a gate and shrine with tombs with writing on them scattered all over the area.

“This must be the White Snake Sages Temple.” Jin thinks out loud.

“You are correct.” Tagitsuhime says as she appears in front of Jin. “I lost, you feel normal now, don’t you?”

“Oh, yes.” Jin answers as he checks his bite and sees that it has completely healed.

“It’s a shame that I couldn’t break and eat your heart…” The snake woman laments over her loss. “Well go ahead, Master White Snake Sage is waiting for you inside. You’ve earned the right.”

“Right then.” Jin responds as he goes to enter the temple. As Jin opens the doors, he sees a long flight of stairs and proceeds to run up them.”

“So you’re the one who seeks to acquire the power of a sage.” Says an elderly womans

“Yes, I’m Jin Yamanaka and I--sorry, but can you please assume your true form? I can’t take you seriously like this...” Jin queries.

The White Snake Sage undoes the genjutsu, revealing herself to be an extremely large, albino Japanese rat snake many times the size of a human, who sits upon a sacred seat with her massive body wrapped in thick coils. Along these coils are yellow circular bands. She wears a turban with two pointed edges and a red orb on top along with an orange headdress.

“You’re an odd one aren’t you boy? I look forward to seeing if you survive.” The Sage says curiously. She then lunges her head at Jin and bites down on him, injecting him with nature energy using her fangs.

“EEEYYYAAAHHH!!!” Jin screams as he learns the true meaning of pain and suffering.