10 Chapter 10: Problem

Ryuchi Cave

Inside of one of the damp and dark rooms inside Ryuch Cave, a woman could be seen floating above the ground with a frown on her face. The woman wore a golden robe around her body and had a large amulet hanging around her neck.

'This large presence, it's extremely dark and malevolent. And I don't feel two different signatures coming from whatever is causing this, that means that it's not being sent from Kaguya and Isshiki. Even if there were two, I doubt their signatures would be so evil and vile.' Catherine thought to herself.

Catherine had lived alongside the snakes in Ryuchi Cave for around 10 years at this point. Originally, she had planned to only stay there for around a year before leaving to go to the other Sage Lands to stay in while the Infinite Tsukuyomi was cast, however a breakthrough in her studying had changed her plans.

After around two years of studying only Legilimency, Occlumency, and the Time Stone, she began to make considerable progress.

With her Legilimency, she could now read the surface thoughts of others without them noticing at all, with the only exceptions being those who were on guard or had extremely powerful minds. Though she could also read those who had powerful minds if she forced her way through their mental shields. She could easily detect the thoughts of everyone in Ryuchi Cave other than the White Snake and the Black Snake Sage. She also found out that the reason those two didn't have names was that they are the ones who lead the cave. They feel as if they should be honored above all else, which is why they have no names that the other snakes can call them by. Though Catherine did give the White Snake the nickname "Izzy", which she seemed to enjoy.

Her Occlumency had advanced to the level where her mental shields were so complex that even the strongest of mind-related techniques would be useless. It also increased both her control over psionic energies as well as her tactile telekinesis, which can now be used on objects as heavy as a boulder.

However, the thing that Catherine would have the most growth in would have to be in her use of the Time Stone. While she had only barely scratched the surface of its true uses, especially since it wasn't bound to a singular universe, she had unlocked one of the major abilities of the stone: the ability to stop time. She had awakened this power around 3 years after coming to the cave, with her stopping time of the entire cave for around 30 seconds. She also noticed that the duration of the stopped time would decrease if she tried to stop time on a larger scale. She attributed this to her still not having an in-depth understanding of the stone. Although, she did use this ability to continuously stop her own time, practically making her unaging as long as she had the stone.

Catherine stood and began moving her hands to cast a spell.

"The Light of the All-Seeing Eye of Agamotto!!"

The Eye of Agamotto shined as she gasped in shock at what she saw.

'If I'm not mistaken, that's Moryo. I thought he wouldn't come to the Shinobi World until a clan of shinobi summoned him where he could be sealed by Miruko in the Land of Demons. Could it be that searching for dimensions caused him to come here early? Or was it something else that caused it? Either way, I'll have to deal with him.' Catherine thought as she left her room and headed for the room of the Black Snake Sage.

She arrived and walked directly in, causing the Black Snake Sage to stare at her and ask "What do you want, Yao?"

"We have a problem." Catherine said while showing a projection of Moryo, causing the Black Snake Sage to sit in attention.

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