Snowy extended its claws, ready to cut off Kabuto's hands.
Kabuto hurriedly said, "Lord Snowy, if you cut off my head, you won't get Edo Tensei."
Snowy sneered, "Don't you know that intelligence Shinobi can extract your past memories?"
Kabuto was somewhat desperate; he didn't want to die yet. "Lord Snowy, didn't your master tell you to protect us? If you kill me, your master will punish you."
"Hehe... the value of Edo Tensei is even greater than that of the Konoha Orphanage or Yakushi Nonō!"
Snowy sneered in response, then changed its tone: "However, for Yakushi Nonō's sake, it's not impossible to spare you."
Snowy pointed at the nearby desk: "Write down Edo Tensei for me, or I'll kill you!"
Kabuto obediently sat at the desk, pulled out a pen, and began writing the Ritual Formula for Edo Tensei.
Snowy watched intently, feeling quite excited. This infiltration into Root was the right move.
It had actually managed to find out the Ritual Formula for Edo Tensei.
If it continued to stay hidden in Root, maybe Snowy could even find the Flying Thunder God.
Snowy looked at Kabuto, a plan forming in its mind.
Kabuto was currently being groomed by Danzo as a high-level member of Root. If Danzo died, then Root would acknowledge Kabuto as its master.
As long as it controlled Kabuto, it would be equivalent to controlling Konoha's underworld.
And it—Snowy—would be the king of Konoha's underground world.
While writing, Kabuto bargained: "Lord Snowy, if I write the Ritual Formula for Edo Tensei for you, can you rescue the children from the orphanage?"
Snowy asked back, "Rescue the children from the orphanage? Why?!"
Kabuto then told Snowy about some of his discoveries in Root and Danzo's demands of him.
If Kabuto didn't learn Edo Tensei as soon as possible, the people in Root would use the children from the orphanage as sacrifices for Edo Tensei.
Listening to Kabuto, Snowy frowned. It preferred killing; this kind of rescue mission should be left to Fried Rice.
"Write it down first. I still have to report this kind of thing to my master."
Kabuto stopped his pen, chakra Scalpels forming on his hands: "Lord Snowy, Edo Tensei is my last straw. I can't just give it to you like this."
Snowy's gaze hardened: "Are you threatening me?"
Kabuto pointed the scalpel toward his own neck: "I'm just making a trade, Lord Snowy. I give you Edo Tensei, you save the children from the orphanage!"
Snowy was somewhat surprised: "I didn't expect a child like you to have such courage. No wonder my master told me to pay special attention to you. You truly are special!"
"Fine, I will rescue those children!"
Kabuto breathed a sigh of relief and then wrote down the Ritual Formula for Edo Tensei.
Soon, Snowy obtained the Ritual Formula for Edo Tensei. It accepted it excitedly and then inspected it.
After all, Snowy was not a Shinobi Cat specializing in Ninjutsu, so it couldn't really verify it.
It could only threaten Kabuto: "Kabuto, if there's even one mistake, my master will kill your mother."
Kabuto quickly said, "Rest assured, Lord Snowy. I guarantee there won't be a single mistake."
The Karasu Tengu who had been monitoring Kabuto before was a Special Jonin of Root and a combat specialist.
But in just one encounter, Snowy had taken him over through Possession.
Kabuto was smart. Since he was no match for this kind of Demon Cat, he wouldn't play any tricks in the trade.
And so, Snowy obtained the Ritual Formula for Edo Tensei, sealed it in a scroll, and sent it into the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Then, Candy summoned Snowy's scroll from the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Candy opened the scroll, and Ryou looked at the Ritual Formula for Edo Tensei together with her.
Both the human and the cat were pleasantly surprised. They hadn't expected that instead of getting the Ritual Formula from Orochimaru or Tobirama, Snowy would get it from Kabuto.
Candy told Ryou about Snowy's situation in Root. Snowy wanted to ask Ryou about the follow-up arrangements for Kabuto and Root.
Ryou stroked his chin: "I didn't expect Kabuto to have Orochimaru's cells implanted so soon!"
In the original work, it was more than a decade later that Kabuto merged with Orochimaru's cells to become the catastrophic Snake Kabuto.
But now the plot had advanced, and Kabuto had implanted Orochimaru's cells much earlier.
Ryou learned the full story from Snowy: it turned out Root wanted to obtain Edo Tensei to gain the upper hand in their cooperation with Orochimaru.
So they wanted someone to fuse with Orochimaru's cells, gain his talent for Ninjutsu, and learn Edo Tensei.
Ninjutsu isn't something you can learn just by getting it; it also depends on talent.
Orochimaru's cells were also not ordinary human cells, though they didn't have the intense erosive nature of Hashirama cells.
But the white snake cells were toxic and had an absolute suppressive effect on ordinary cells.
Ryou thought for a moment, then set aside the connection between Kabuto and Orochimaru to focus on Root. Root was currently very weak, nothing like the behemoth that had once been rooted in Konoha's underground world.
Snowy's easy infiltration into Root and its possession of the Karasu Tengu Shinobi guarding Kabuto was a prime example.
If Danzo and Ryoma died in the Land of Rain, then Kabuto would be the new master of Root.
Ryou wanted Snowy to take Root in Root, pulling off a "cuckoo occupying the magpie's nest" maneuver.
The Shinobi in Root could easily be possessed by his Shinobi Cats.
As long as he implanted his spores into the Shinobi Cats, they would have the abilities of White Zetsu, absorbing the chakra of the Root Shinobi to replace them.
In this way, Konoha's Root would become Ryou's Root.
Ryou conveyed his thoughts to Snowy, telling it to find a way to take Root in Root and then learn Edo Tensei.
Ryou and Candy were busy learning Senjutsu and had no time, so they let Snowy stay in Root, replacing its members while learning Edo Tensei.
Snowy was an Earth-attribute Shinobi Cat. The character for "Earth" in Edo Tensei proved it was compatible with Earth-attribute Shinobi.
Furthermore, Snowy now had Ryou's spores implanted, with the spores assisting it.
If it still couldn't learn it, he would have it absorb Kabuto's chakra to gain Orochimaru's talent for Ninjutsu.
As Ryou was thinking about the arrangements for Snowy and Root, Manda suddenly interrupted his musings.
"Grandpa Ryou, we've arrived at the trial grounds for the first stage!"
Manda had already carried him to the front of an underground palace.
Red eaves and golden tiles, carved pillars and coiled dragons.
Hanging lamps glowed, and a plaque bore the three characters "Ryūchi Cave." The entire palace shimmered with light, appearing eerie yet magnificent.
The palace was built of dark stone, its walls and pillars entwined with gilded snake patterns, shimmering with pearly light.
A sweet yet slightly fishy exotic fragrance wafted through the air. The reliefs of snake-people were supple and seductive, exuding an aura of indulgence and temptation everywhere.
In front of the palace were several snake-women.
Their skin was as white as jade, their eyes supple and seductive, and their thin, tight-fitting clothes accentuated their graceful figures.
The snake beauties smiled, their eyes shimmering with a lazy, bewitching beauty as they saw Ryou atop Manda, blowing him a kiss.
"Little Uchiha, come down and let big sister love you to death!"
Oh no!
Candy felt uneasy; she hadn't expected the first stage of Ryūchi Cave to strike directly at Ryou's weakness.
Candy looked at Ryou. Seeing the scantily clad snake-women, his eyes turned bloodshot. The snake beauties were essentially covered by only a few pieces of cloth.
Dressed so provocatively—how could he resist?!
"Little beauties, don't shout. Wait for big brother to come down and tame you little vixens!"