"Barely anything. He ran off as soon as he could feel nature chakra," the serpent grumbles.

"Would you take another student?"

"Students must prove themselves, but I am without one now, yes."

"I would learn from you, then."

"Hm. There are tasks you must complete first. And I will demand time of you. No rushing and running amok like these humans like to."

"Time is not a commodity I am in short supply of."

"Then the way will be open to you."

"What are the tasks that must be done?"

They list a few for the first level - mostly meant to gauge a student's dedication and patience, apparently.

"I will return when I have completed my outstanding obligations to the mortals, then."

"Reasonable. Obligations should not be rushed into."

"Come, let us return," she says to Karin. "I believe we have finished here for now."

"Yeah. This was a lucky find, though."

She bows to the serpent, thanks them profusely, indicates she won't be returning except as a guest, and leads the way back.

"You have no desire to learn from the Sage?"

"I don't think the offer was for me, and nature chakra - it's smarter not to try, for most people. Prone to turning people into stone without filtering, finicky to use right, and I have a large enough capacity not to need the boost."

"Fair enough. Let us hope that the war has been won in our absence." Ellisaria shifts back to human form before exiting the portal.

The war doesn't seem to have been won, and Kabuto's even still alive. Sasuke glances over at them, asks, "Anything interesting?"

"A dragon who taught Kabuto to sense nature chakra."

" - Large, white, blind?"

"Yes."

"Ryuuchido, then. Orochimaru'd been looking for that cave. I'd prefer if an access being here got suppressed from any reports. The white snake sage is the leader of the serpent summons, and not someone to let people just annoy."

"That is fine by me."

He nods. "I think I'm done with Kabuto, as well. Any other business here?"

"Just one thing." She takes a mana gem from a pocket and pulls the power from it. As she does so, it loses its color and shine, fading to gray, and then falls to dust. She opens a portal to the center of her lair on the floor and draws forth a globe of lava. Making a fist, she forms the lava into a spike and drives it into the floor, then closes the portal.

"So that I may find this place again more easily," she explains.

"Sensible. Would those portals be usable to return? There's been problems along the front with Mountain's Graveyard." He fills her in - apparently Madara was the only Edo Tensei not to be dismissed, and is still trapped in the illusion, but one of the Akatsuki's members seems to have figured out how to make undetectable clones disguised as their forces to infiltrate units, and the masked man who leads the Akatsuki has been focusing his assault around the Mountain's Graveyard, and seems to have sealed the tailed beasts into himself.