Since she had already been exposed, Tagorihime simply stopped pretending.
She stared greedily at Ryou: "Uchiha Ryou, your body has inherited the most excellent bloodlines of both the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan."
"I have a feeling that as long as I devour you, I will be able to ascend into a dragon and surpass the Ancestor!"
"Uchiha Ryou, come and fulfill me!"
Manda cursed loudly: "Tagorihime, you bitch, how dare you betray the Ancestor?"
Tagorihime sneered at Manda: "Manda, I don't believe that you aren't craving Uchiha Ryou's flesh!"
"Besides, it is up to me to decide whether a challenger successfully passes my trial! I am the one in charge."
"Uchiha Ryou, I take back what I said before; you laid your hands on the snake-woman beauties I created, so you do not possess the ability to restrain your own desires."
"Therefore, you have not passed the first trial."
"How bold!"
Ryou was furious, and a powerful aura erupted from his body, shaking the surrounding cave with its sheer magnitude.
Tagorihime, as well as Orochimaru and Tobirama who were hiding in the shadows, all had their expressions change drastically.
This was the first time Ryou had unleashed all of his chakra.
The chakra even materialized into a storm, blowing Tagorihime back step by step, her face full of shock.
She had not expected Ryou to possess such a massive and powerful amount of chakra.
This level already surpassed the power of a Sage.
If he were to become a Sage, wouldn't he just ascend to the heavens?
Tobirama's eyes were serious: "This kid's chakra is already no weaker than my older brother's; if he becomes a Sage, he will be a second older brother."
"No, he also has the Sharingan; he will be a second Madara!"
The greed in Orochimaru's eyes turned into tangible light, and he couldn't wait to obtain this powerful physical body.
Ryou used Wood Release, and over a dozen vines appeared behind Tagorihime, moving rapidly like snakes to attack her.
But Tagorihime had strong sensory abilities; she sensed the sneak attack from behind and instantly activated her invisibility, floating into the air to dodge the vines' attack.
Ryou instantly lost track of Tagorihime's position.
The Sharingan could not see Tagorihime's chakra flow, and the White Zetsu cells could not sense her chakra either.
This kind of invisibility was not ordinary optical camouflage, but a Senjutsu invisibility that completely eliminated her own chakra fluctuations, making it impossible for opponents to detect her through Ninjutsu sensing, Byakugan, Sharingan, or other conventional methods.
This feeling was like Madara's Limbo shadows; no non-Six Paths method could observe Madara's Limbo shadows.
"Sages are truly not to be underestimated!"
Ryou exclaimed in admiration.
Tagorihime secretly sneered; otherwise, how could she be a Sage?
How could a mere mortal compare to her nearly thousand years of cultivation?
Tagorihime launched a surprise attack towards Ryou, extending her fangs, preparing to bite Ryou's neck to paralyze him and then devour him.
But—
Susanoo!
Ryou's Sharingan rotated, and his massive dōjutsu power turned from virtual to real, forming a half-body chakra giant wearing a Tengu mask.
Tagorihime crashed into Ryou's Susanoo, hitting it so hard that she saw stars.
"Damn it, Susanoo!"
Tagorihime felt a headache and immediately flew high up; she had seen enough of the Uchiha Clan's third power.
This was an absolute defense.
Tagorihime had to break through this turtle shell before she could use her fangs to bite Ryou's neck.
And breaking this turtle shell would consume a massive amount of Senjutsu chakra.
Ryou performed hand seals again: "Wood Release: Susanoo!"
Ryou used Wood Release to make the Susanoo grow legs. It wasn't over yet; Candy jumped onto Ryou's head, and Shukaku and Chomei appeared on Ryou's shoulders simultaneously.
Shukaku used Magnet Release, and Candy summoned the iron sand scroll.
Iron sand poured out from the scroll, forming a steel armor over the Susanoo.
Chomei transformed Ryou's chakra, sprouting three pairs of brownish-yellow wings on the back of the Susanoo.
Wood Release · Magnet Release · Flying Susanoo!
The Susanoo flew directly into the air.
Susanoo cannot fly until it reaches its complete form, but Ryou cleverly used Chomei's chakra, borrowing it to generate the wings of Chomei on the Susanoo.
In this way, even just the third form of Susanoo could achieve flight.
Now it was truly a flying turtle.
Wood Release and Susanoo didn't quite match; one was an energy-based upper body, the other a physical wooden lower body.
It looked a bit mismatched.
Magnet Release and Chomei's wings matched the Susanoo very well!
This technique of the Susanoo had high derivability and strong compatibility with Tailed Beasts.
In the original work, Madara placed the Susanoo over the Nine-Tails, forming the Majestic Attire: Susanoo.
The Tailed Beast's chakra combined with the powerful long-range attack of the Biju Bomb, and the defensive capabilities of the Susanoo—the combination of the two almost defeated Hashirama, that stat monster.
There was also Sasuke, who condensed the chakra of the Nine Tailed Beasts into the Susanoo, forming the Indra Susanoo; the Nine-Tails commented that its power was already approaching that of the Sage of Six Paths.
When Manda saw that Tagorihime was about to fight Ryou, he took advantage of the moment Ryou's attention was on Tagorihime to burrow into the ground and run away.
Candy warned: "Ryou, Manda ran away!"
Ryou snorted coldly: "Run? How can he run? He has my spores in his body; unless he goes to ask the White Snake Sage to remove them, he will be eaten by me for the rest of his life!"
"After I deal with Tagorihime, I will properly deal with Manda."
Candy mourned for Manda; he wanted to run after getting on Ryou's boat?
Dream on!
"Damn it!"
Tagorihime had originally wanted to launch an attack from underground, because snakes are associated with the earth, and many of Tagorihime's Sage Arts were associated with the earth.
But she wasn't afraid; there was still the cave ceiling above her.
As long as Ryou was still in Ryūchi Cave, the battle would be to Tagorihime's advantage.
She had the advantage of the terrain, and an endless supply of natural energy.
Tagorihime didn't believe she couldn't handle a mortal.
How could someone practicing Ninjutsu defeat someone who was cultivating?
Tagorihime secretly performed the technique: "Senjutsu: Inorganic Reincarnation!"
Inorganic Reincarnation was one of the Sage Arts used by Kabuto in the original work when he entered Sage Mode.
This was a type of Reincarnation Ninjutsu that could imbue inanimate, inorganic matter with life and control it.
Inorganic Reincarnation was not simply using Senjutsu chakra to control matter, but absolute control, making the surrounding inorganic matter move as rapidly as her own hands and feet.
In the original work, Kabuto used this technique to control the stalactites in the cave to pierce through the body of the Edo Tensei Itachi.