Konoha: From the moment I was adopted by Tsunade

Chapter 74 Tsunade's Test

Natsume took a deep breath and immediately felt extremely comfortable all over his body.

In his view, natural energy is like the spiritual energy in fantasy novels, a power that exists in the world itself.

Chakra, on the other hand, is an external system.

However, the former has not been widely adopted due to its high barriers to entry.

Natsume speculated that Sage Mode was an experiment conducted by the three sacred lands, which successfully reduced the difficulty by mixing natural energy and chakra.

Otherwise, why don't indigenous systems utilize purely natural energy?

"let's go."

Tsunade, who knew the way well, led the way.

Natsume looked around curiously, like a country bumpkin visiting the Grand View Garden, finding everything quite novel.

"Lady Tsunade."

A slug, about half the height of a person, greeted us with a gentle voice that didn't suit its size.

Natsume had wanted to say for a long time that its voice was really beautiful.

I remember that the original voice actress was Mamiko Noto.

"This must be Lord Natsume?"

The slug turned its tentacles and asked.

"Just call me Natsume."

Natsume quickly bowed and said, "Greetings, Slug Sage."

The entire Wet Bone Forest appears to be filled with countless slugs, but they all share a single consciousness.

That is the slug immortal who has lived for over a thousand years.

The Great Toad Sage and the White Snake Sage are both exceptionally powerful, and the Slug Sage, who is on par with them, is definitely not weak either; they are beings standing at the pinnacle of the ninja world.

However, compared to the previous two immortals, the Slug Immortal's personality is quite mild.

"You don't need to worry about it. I address every contractor as 'Master'."

The slug raised its voice slightly as it said, "No humans have entered the Wet Bone Forest for a long time. I'm very happy to see you."

Natsume could understand.

If he lived alone in one place for thousands of years, he would definitely go insane.

And there's no internet access.

The Great Toad Immortal and the White Snake Immortal had a bunch of disciples and followers, but the Slug Immortal did not.

"Natsume wants to try training in Sage Mode."

Tsunade explained her purpose.

"Go and see my true form."

The slug pointed and turned to leave.

Tsunade and Natsume continued deeper into the area.

We saw quite a few slugs along the way, of varying sizes.

It's clearly one consciousness, yet it has so many split entities. It seems the Slug Sage is indeed quite bored.

You can only play with your left and right hands simultaneously.

After passing through the Pale Forest, Natsume saw the Slug Sage's true form.

Madam...it's too big.

It is so vast that it has no boundaries.

Natsume's entire field of vision was filled with white.

The slug sage slightly raised its massive head, looking at the two figures as small as grains of sand, and said in a gentle, soothing female voice, "Long time no see, Tsunade. And your new contractor, Natsume, you're quite interesting."

The "interesting" part refers to his use of slugs to perform reverse psychic magic for a date.

Throughout its long life, of all the contractors it had encountered, only Natsume would do this.

But it found it very interesting and made a significant contribution to passing the time.

Natsume was slightly taken aback.

He hadn't reacted yet.

Why do I say he's funny?

Could it be that the Slug Immortal has the ability to see through people's hearts?

That's not right either.

If that's the case, it can't be interesting; it's... well, you know.

"The first requirement for mastering Sage Mode is having a large amount of chakra, and you barely qualify now."

The Slug Sage looked him over and said, "The second condition, which is also quite difficult, is having the talent to sense and absorb natural energy. Many ninjas are kept out of the door because of this, and are unable to attain Sage Mode."

How can I know if I have talent?

Natsume asked at the opportune moment.

"Take off your clothes."

The Slug Immortal did not answer directly.

"...?"

Natsume paused, realizing that Naruto seemed to have trained in the same way.

Fine, it's not like I'm a human being anyway, so it doesn't matter if I suffer a little loss.

Wait, there's Tsunade here too.

Natsume subconsciously looked at her.

Tsunade's lips curled slightly.

You were so bold last night, why are you shy now?

Natsume gave him another wink.

Tsunade feigned confusion and asked, "What are you trying to say?"

You wicked woman, you really do want my body.

"I want to take off my clothes."

Natsume said directly.

"Sensing natural energy is a dangerous thing. With me watching over you, I can help you in time."

Tsunade came up with a plausible explanation.

"Tsunade, since that's the case, you can apply it to him."

Before Natsume could answer, the Slug Sage had already made his decision.

A huge wooden barrel appeared out of nowhere.

It was filled with a clear liquid.

Mount Myōboku uses toad oil to enhance perception.

This is clearly a product unique to Shigulin.

What is it?

Natsume felt it was best not to know.

Tsunade was immediately put in an awkward position and stood frozen in place.

She actually just wanted to tease Natsume; she never really intended to see him.

Now if we help him apply it, wouldn't that mean rubbing it all over his body?

Natsume took off his clothes and sat down cross-legged.

Now that things have come to this, any more affectation would be unbecoming of a man.

Tsunade's heart suddenly raced, and an indescribable sense of tension welled up inside her.

This was something she had never experienced before.

She swallowed hard, reached out, and gently rubbed his back.

It's very cold.

Natsume's body trembled slightly.

But Tsunade's hands were very soft and warm.

"Close your eyes, listen with your ears, and feel with your heart."

The slug fairy's voice rang out.

Natsume immediately did as instructed.

After applying the unknown liquid to his back, he felt natural energy slowly seeping in.

"You can wipe the front yourself."

Tsunade hesitated for a few seconds before speaking.

Natsume raised an eyebrow.

You were so bold just now, why are you backing down now?

"Don't move around."

The Slug Sage offered a helpful suggestion: "Once you enter sensory mode, you mustn't move around recklessly. Tsunade, you should help him."

"..."

A slight blush rose to Tsunade's face.

After a moment, he scooped up the liquid and slowly spread it on his body.

Natsume is unable to concentrate.

Even these veteran cadres can't withstand this kind of test!

"Maintain a state of emptiness."

The slug sage noticed his expression and said, "Become one with nature, and perceive the movement of natural energy through your stillness."

This is too difficult!

Natsume could only try his best to ignore Tsunade's wandering hands.

Fortunately, this ordeal ended quickly.

Half a minute later, Tsunade closed the distance, and her heart finally settled down.

But things are not peaceful.

Why is this happening?

She had bathed her younger brother before, but she didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Is it a matter of mindset?

Tsunade looked at Natsume, who was meditating, and fell into deep thought.

"good."

The Slug Sage said with satisfaction, "Finally, we've found another contractor who can train in Sage Mode."

The three holy lands of summoning beasts are ranked equally, but they are in competition with each other.

Especially because the contractors often turn against each other.

Unfortunately, in recent years, the contractors of Mount Myoboku have become even more successful.

Upon hearing this, Tsunade couldn't help but smile.

The enhancement of strength by Sage Mode goes without saying.

For example, Jiraiya.

It was because of Sage Mode that he jumped from an ordinary Jonin to a top-tier Jonin.

Natsume already has Wood Release, and with Sage Mode, the Senju clan's revival is in sight.

(End of this chapter)