It is found in Buddhist stories; according to "Shaseki-shu," a collection of Buddhist stories compiled in the Kamakura period, a priest without virtue was born again as a hammer-shaped snake living deep in the mountains, and the priest had had a glib tongue while he had not have the eyes of the wisdom nor the hands of the piety nor the legs of the commandment, so Nozuchi he became had only a mouth and did not have eyes nor hands nor legs.
また仏教説話中にも取り入れられており、鎌倉時代の仏教説話集『沙石集』には、徳のない僧侶は深山に住む槌型の蛇に生まれ変わり、生前に口だけが達者で智慧の眼も信の手も戒めの足もなかったため、野槌は口だけがあって目や手足のない姿だとある。