The deafening echo of the fissure's collapse slowly dissipated, leaving a thick, oppressive silence. Reality set in: there was no turning back the way they had come. The entrance to Hollow Earth had closed behind them with geological irrevocability. Jiraiya looked at the leader Kong, who responded with a low, resonant growl, a mixture of resignation and determination. The rest of the descent party, composed of strong and experienced adult Kongs, huddled together, their golden eyes fixed on the darkness before them.
"Well, it seems our itinerary just got a little more... linear," Jiraiya muttered to himself, his voice sounding small in the vast cavern. Instinctive perversion whispered a joke about "exploring new cavities," but the seriousness of the moment and the unknown vastness looming over them smothered it before it could even fully form. His Sannin mind, however, was already calculating: escape route blocked, resources limited, ahead: unknown danger.
They delved deeper into the subterranean realm. The great cavern with Father Mountain's footprint and the shining rock structure was left behind, a reminder of the purpose that had brought them to this place. The path led them through a tunnel that descended gently, the floor no longer hard rock, but a moist and strangely fertile mixture of earth and decomposed organic matter.
The light came from bioluminescence. Fungi of all sizes and colors, glowing lichens covering the walls, and even crystalline veins embedded in the rock that emitted an internal glow. The effect was surreal, an ethereal landscape that seemed plucked from a fever dream. Colors ranged from emerald green and deep blue to vibrant purples and blood reds. However, beauty was deceptive.
The biodiversity of Hollow Earth was astonishing and terrifying. Jiraiya, with his ninja senses and enhanced connection to the island's energy, sensed life everywhere. Small, multi-legged creatures with hard shells slithered across the ground. Winged insects the size of his fists with glowing stingers buzzed in the air. But most disturbing were the larger forms lurking in the shadows.
In one section of the tunnel, the ground shook. Creatures with segmented bodies and giant pincers, similar to colossal centipedes, emerged from the earth. They were "Drillers," as the Koshun had called them, beasts that moved through rock like water. The descent party had to fight. The Kongs used their strength to crush the creatures as they emerged, while Jiraiya used his speed and Primordial Rasengan to strike at their exposed weak points, pulverizing their exoskeletons with blasts of concentrated energy. It was a brutal reminder that in Hollow Earth, danger could come from any direction.
The primordial energy here was overwhelming. It floated in the air, pulsed in the walls, ran beneath the floor like subterranean currents. Jiraiya felt his native body, the same one that connected him to Father Mountain, thrumming with that energy. It was stimulating, making his muscles feel light and powerful, but it was also chaotic, noisy on the energetic plane, making subtle concentration for precise techniques more difficult.
He attempted to channel the surrounding energy directly, as he did in Sage Mode. Here, it wasn't like absorbing natural energy from the surface; it was like being immersed in it. He could simply "open up" and let it flow through him, increasing his strength and endurance to impressive levels. But if he wasn't careful, the energy threatened to overwhelm him, a raw force that could be as harmful as it was beneficial. It was like drinking directly from the source of limitless power without a straw.
They encountered strange plant formations. Trees that seemed made of crystal, with leaves that glowed with their own light. Flowers that opened at their heat, revealing thorny interiors or releasing poisonous spores. Jiraiya had to use his knowledge of surface plants (adapted and expanded by the tribes) and his ability to sense energy to discern which were safe and which were deadly. He used short bursts of energy to test the reactivity of certain plants or to burn away dangerous vegetation blocking their path.
One section of the tunnel opened into a vast chasm, spanned by natural rock bridges and giant roots. Deep below, a lava lake glowed, its heat radiating upward and turning the air orange-red. Winged creatures with luminescent membranes moved in the hot air above the lava, their silhouettes twisting through the glow. The energy here was almost unbearable, raw and volcanic.
Leader Kong let out a low roar, signaling the way across one of the natural bridges. It was a precarious crossing, the rock slick with moisture and heat. Jiraiya moved with extreme caution, his senses on high alert, sensing the instability of the structure and the presence of the winged creatures in the chasm.
As they crossed, one of the flying creatures, drawn to their energy, launched itself toward them. It resembled a giant moth, with bioluminescent wings and a sharp proboscis. Jiraiya reacted instinctively, channeling energy into his legs and leaping upward to intercept it. In midair, he concentrated energy into his hand and struck the creature with a Primal Rasengan, disintegrating it before it could reach the group. The Kongs let out grunts of approval.
Jiraiya's perversion, though suppressed by the danger, made a brief, internal appearance as he observed the strange anatomy of the flying creatures. "Luminescent wing patterns... interesting reproductive adaptations perhaps..." He thought, shaking his head to clear it. Concentrate on not dying!
They continued their descent, each step taking them deeper into the subterranean realm. They encountered underground rivers with blind, bioluminescent fish, vast caverns filled with crystalline formations that seemed to have grown from pure energy, and echoes of distant roars that suggested the presence of greater, deeper Titans.
Hollow Earth wasn't just a place; it was an entity, an interconnected ecosystem fueled by primordial energy. And Jiraiya, with the Mountain Father pact, felt that connection in his very essence. He was a traveler, an outsider, but also, in some ways, a part of it.
The descent party reached an immense central cavern, so large it could contain entire mountains. At the center of the cavern was a massive structure, a pulsing heart of pure energy, a geyser of primordial power rising into a crystal sky that reflected the landscape below. It was the source. The source of the island's energy, perhaps even of the "Darkness."
And all around the power source, shapes could be seen. Massive, sleeping forms that appeared to be... Titans. Not just Skullcrawlers, but other colossal creatures, hibernating in the proximity of the power. The air in the cavern hummed with overwhelming intensity, the energy resonating in the bones of Jiraiya and the Kongs.
They had reached the heart of the Hollow Earth. The descent had been perilous, but the true challenge, confronting the threats that lurked in this primordial abyss, was just beginning.
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