Shitsuya sat cross legged on the ground in a lotus position, still as a rock without moving a single muscle.
A snake slithered through the grass near him and a bird landed on his head.
The small bird pruned it's feathers with it's beak and lightly flutter it's wings from time to time.
The snake in the bushes flicked it's forked tongue as it slithered closer to Shitsuya, it coilled around his body slowly as it climbed upwards getting closer to the unsuspecting bird.
Just as the snake was about to lunge at the bird and capture it, Shitsuya suddenly stood up.
The bird was startled and flew off while the snake loosened it's grip on his body and fell to the ground before slithering away.
Shitsuya looked down at his hands which were now a bleached white in colour along with the rest of his skin.
Two red markings appeared around his eyes and extended down the sides of his nose signifying his successful entry into sage mode.
Tagitsuhime who arrived at that moment holding a tray with two steaming cups of green tea placed the tray on the ground softly before clapping lightly.
"You have improved a lot in these last few months." Tagitsuhime remarked.
"It's all due to your teachings." Shitsuya bowed at the waist in a 90 degree angle and said.
"You exaggerate my efforts, all I did was give you some pointers here and there."
"Anyway now that you've gained initial mastery over sage mode I was thinking that you should learn some other techniques belonging to Ryuchi cave." Tagitsuhime revealed.
"Which techniques would those be?" Shitsuya wondered, he was very interested in learning Jutsu similar to those showcased by Orochimaru.
"How about we start with the body shedding technique, using it you can shed the outer layer of your body while growing a new one inside allowing you to heal from all sorts of injuries." Tagitsuhime suggested.
Shitsuya touched his heavily scarred face and said, "That would be lovely."
"Okay then, watch closely." Tagitsuhime said as she prepared to demonstrate the technique.
Shitsuya opened his Sharingan and watched closely.
Tagitsuhime first built up the chakra in her body, spreading it evenly under her skin and used it to stimulate her body cells with minute chakra control forcing the cell duplication of her outer body before using the chakra to separate the old skin from the new before climbing out of it like a dress.
The Jutsu required no hand signs only using minute chakra control to perform the duplication of each cell.
From this alone the body shedding Jutsu could be classified as a solid S rank in difficulty and that's without considering the very large amount of chakra needed to use it.
Copying Tagitsuhime, Shitsuya preformed the Jutsu perfectly and a moment later he climbed out of his mouth with his newly repaired body.
Feeling the air brush against his sensitive skin, Shitsuya shivered slightly and heard a gasp from Tagitsuhime.
Looking over her direction, he saw her mouth open in shock having forgotten to even cover it as she would do usually.
Shitsuya already knew the reason, the Jutsu healed all surface level damage perfectly, that included his face.
Looking at Shitsuya's spotless and fair face carrying his natural Uchiha boyish charm and sternness Tagitsuhime was naturally shocked.
She had already guessed from his facial structure that he wasn't an originally ugly person but the contrast between his destroyed and heavily damaged face and his current fair and spotless one still left her in awe.
Shitsuya in all honestly, objectively speaking wasn't very handsome and only above average looking slightly but the contrast between his old and current appearance made him look much better in comparison.
Noticing Shitsuya's gaze as she stood there like a prude with her mouth wide open, Tagitsuhime quickly corrected herself before speaking.
"You look a lot better than before. I am in awe."
Shitsuya smiled wolfishly and closed the distance between them until their noses almost touched.
Feeling Shitsuya's proximity, Tagitsuhime's heart thumped.
"Really?..." Shitsuya said as he casually reached out and twirled a lock of her brown hair between his fingers.
"Y-yes." Tagitsuhime took a step back and spoke.
Letting go of her hair, Shitsuya asked casually with a smile, "What is the next technique you'll be teaching me?"
Tagitsuhime didn't respond for a second as she found herself lost in his smile, the same smile that only looked strange and deformed before looked quite enigmatic now.
After a few moments Tagitsuhime snapped back to reality.
"How about Shadow snake hands?" She suggested.
"That sounds good." Shitsuya nodded.
Tagitsuhime taught Shitsuya slowly, by the time the sun set and night had arrived Shitsuya had learned most of the snake techniques he had seen Orochimaru preform in his past life.
Sitting on the top of a tall stone pillar created by Shitsuya, he and Tagitsuhime enjoyed a clear view of the brilliantly shimmering stars on the black canvas of the night.
"If we see shooting stars, what would you wish for." Tagitsuhime asked.
"Wishing upon shooting stars doesn't make them come true." Shitsuya said.
"Right, but what if they did, what would you wish for?" Tagitsuhime spoke.
Shitsuya was silent for a few moments before answering. "I'd wish for the ability to teleport to any place and time I desire just once."
"That's sounds great, you would be able to go anywhere at anytime and meet anyone, but why just once?" Tagitsuhime asked as she tilted her head slightly.
"Once is enough."
"I see..."
"Honestly, considering the type of person you are I thought you would wish for something sinister like world domination or immortality." Tagitsuhime confessed.
"Immortality is a wish born by the instinctual fear of death, it's a pathetic goal, one should know not to overstay their welcome."
"As for world domination, most things in this world are of no value to me." Shitsuya said as he looked indifferently at the horizon.
'Am I of value to you?' Tagitsuhime wanted to ask but decided against doing so and asked something different.
"Then if you were to use your wish for something sinister, what would it be?" Tagitsuhime asked.
After a moment of silent contemplation Shitsuya answered "I'd wish for everyone to be able hear one year into the future."
"That doesn't SOUND bad." Tagitsuhime made a pun.
"Oh I assure you it is, imagine this, every day you hear into the future, you hear birds, people, wind, but one day, you wake up and all the noise has stopped." Shitsuya said with a smile and a horrified expression momentarily appeared on Tagitsuhime's face.