Chapter 256:
Among the three holy places for learning senjutsu, there are three legendary creatures: the White Snake Sage, the Toad Sage, and the Slug Sage.
These beings are ancient creatures that have existed since the time of Kaguya, thousands of years ago, living through the long ages of history.
For example, in the Shikkotsu Forest, the Slug Sage is singular, all other slugs are simply fragments of its body.
In Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave, there are numerous subordinates, each powerful in their own right.
Famous examples include Gamabunta and Manda, two of the most well-known summoned creatures.
However, above them are even more powerful beings, such as the two Toad Sages of Mount Myōboku, Fukasaku and Shima. These two are said to have lived for over 800 years, second only to the Great Toad Sage in terms of age.
Based on this, Orochimaru reasonably speculated that the three humanoid women in Ryūchi Cave had also likely lived for seven to eight centuries.
In other words, they were ancient monsters.
Not that this mattered much to Orochimaru.