Ninja World: I, Kisame Hoshigaki, am no longer human!

That bastard Kisame Hoshigaki definitely doesn't have that kind of willpower.

Thinking of this, Tsunade felt a little smug and looked at the next room.

To her surprise, Kisame had gotten up even earlier than her. He was standing there, gazing intently at the enormous body of the live slug in the distance, completely absorbed in his gaze.

This guy is acting very strangely.

Tsunade frowned upon seeing this. In fact, she had noticed it yesterday; Kisame had acted strangely after seeing the live slug's true form.

谷型

"Hey, what are you looking at?"

She walked up to Kisame and asked with a puzzled look.

Kisame didn't turn his head, but kept staring at the slug, and said, "Don't you think the Slug Sage is beautiful?"

"?!"

Upon hearing this, Tsunade's pupils dilated, her expression filled with shock and confusion.

nice?

She couldn't understand Kisame's description of the live slug.

Most people would instinctively feel fear and dread upon seeing such a colossal creature. Tsunade was very familiar with the slug, but at most she found it rather cute, not beautiful.

Kisame seemed to sense Tsunade's inner doubts, and finally turned to look at her, his gaze intense as he said:

"Big is beautiful! Look, the slug's body is over 400 meters long, and 100 meters wide and tall. Isn't such a magnificent and awe-inspiring creature beautiful enough? You might not believe it, but when I first saw the slug in its true form yesterday, I... well, you know."

At this point, Kisame, a burly man who is 1.95 meters tall and weighs 300 pounds, blushed, like a shy little boy experiencing his first love.

"What...what are you talking about?"

Tsunade's eyes widened, her face showing a look of utter disbelief; she was terrified by Kisame.

Kisame took a deep breath, remained silent for a moment, then approached Tsunade and nervously confided his worries to her:

"I lay in bed all night yesterday, thinking about it, and finally confirmed my feelings. I... like Slug Sage, and I want to be with her."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade was so shocked that she took several steps back, her jaw almost dropping to the ground, and she couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Meanwhile, Kisame was still there, muttering to himself with a fanatical expression:

"I must learn immortal arts, absorb natural energy like the Slug Sage, and learn from the principles of the Eight-Headed Serpent Technique to evolve myself into a being as great as her. Then, I will be qualified to pursue her..."

Snapped!

Tsunade slapped Kisame across the face, trying to bring him to his senses.

She quickly glanced at the live slug, making sure it wasn't paying attention, before standing on tiptoe, grabbing Kisame's collar, and whispering:

"Kisame Hoshigaki, have you lost your mind? Why would you have such a... crazy idea?"

"I'm serious, Tsunade."

Kisame frowned, his face serious. Judging from his expression, he was definitely not joking with Tsunade.

"But, you...Katsuyu...you two..." Tsunade stammered, because she really couldn't imagine what it would be like if Kisame and Katsuyu were together.

"Tell me, how strong is the live slug?" Kisame suddenly asked Tsunade.

"This... is certainly very powerful. Even tailed beasts would appear insignificant in front of the live slug's true form. In Shikkotsu Forest, the live slug is invincible."

Tsunade hesitated for a moment, but still answered.

As a ninja who had made a contract with the live slug, even when she used all her strength, she could only summon a small part of the live slug's true form each time, less than one-tenth.

If Tsunade could summon a complete live slug, she would have swept across the ninja world and unified the five great nations long ago.

"Then let me ask you again, what is the personality of the live slug?" Kisame asked again.

"Wise and gentle."

Tsunade thought for a moment and used two words to describe the slug's personality.

Indeed, the Slug Sage is known for its good temper; it is not only gentle but also very friendly. This is evident from the fact that it addresses Tsunade and Kisame as "Master."

It should be noted that the live slug was revered as an immortal, not only because its status was much higher than the two of them, but also because it was many generations older than them.

Both are immortals, but Gamamaru of Mount Myōboku looks down on all living beings from a high place, while the White Snake Immortal of Ryūchi Cave is extremely cruel and enjoys eating people.

Only the live slug was willing to lower itself and get along with human ninjas, as gentle as an angel.

"So, is there even a need to ask why?"

Kisame stared at Tsunade, carefully comparing her to Katsuyu. "Tsunade, have you noticed? Katsuyu is more than ten times stronger than you, and her personality is ten times better. You can't deny that, can you? Even a woman like you has so many men pursuing and liking her, so why can't Katsuyu have admirers?"

In Kisame's eyes, the slug was undoubtedly the most powerful creature in the ninja world, and she also had the personality of a virtuous wife and loving mother, with a gentle and pleasant voice. She was simply his one and only ideal girlfriend.

At the very least, he completely outclassed a woman like Tsunade.

"But, but the live slug isn't a person..."

Tsunade was stunned by Kisame's words and subconsciously retorted.

"Your vision is too narrow."

Kisame shook his head, expressing his disappointment with Tsunade's level of thinking, and retorted directly, "What does it matter whether the live slug is human or not? Can't there be true love between different species? In fact, it's precisely because the live slug isn't human that I like her even more. She is a more advanced, immortal, and beautiful creature than humans, and that's what I, Kisame Hoshigaki, dream of becoming."

These words were Kisame's heartfelt words.

He already had a woman in the ninja world, the Yuki-onna. But in this relationship, Kisame was more about being loved and relied upon, with some physical needs and impulses mixed in as well.

Previously, he had never subjectively and strongly liked any woman, not even the universally loved beauty Tsunade, who had never truly moved him.

Kisame originally thought that as he went further and further down the path of "non-human", he would gradually lose human emotions and desires, and in turn, lose love.

He had thought that he was destined to embark on a lonely path of evolution.

It wasn't until Kisame saw the live slug's true form, her enormous body, and the immense power and life force contained within it, that things changed.

At that moment, his heart pounded, deeply attracted by her unique beauty, and he fell for her.

This is love at first sight.

From that moment on, Kisame was convinced that Katsuyu would be the partner of his dreams, the perfect "woman" he had to have no matter what.

Thinking of this, he whispered to Tsunade, who was staring blankly at him:

"Please don't tell the Slug Fairy about these thoughts for now, so as not to cause her any unnecessary trouble. I am not strong enough yet, and I only want to watch her silently in the dark until one day I become a great being like her, and that will be the time for me to fully express my feelings."

Tsunade snapped out of her daze and stared silently at Kisame for a long while.

After a long pause, she responded with a serious expression and a warning tone:

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. And from now on, I'll keep an eye on you to make sure you don't do anything perverted to the live slug."

In her view, although the live slug is very old, it has stayed in the Wet Bone Forest for thousands of years and rarely goes out into the outside world, so its personality is very simple.

Although Tsunade couldn't understand Kisame's so-called "interspecies love," it wouldn't be good if she did something strange to the live slug and scared it into having psychological trauma.

"Lady Tsunade, Lady Kisame, you both got up very early."

At that moment, a three-meter-tall live slug clone, waving its tentacles, crawled over from not far away.

159. Immortal Arts

Shikotsu Forest, by the hot spring.

Tsunade glared at Kisame, warning him to stay away from the live slug and not to even think about messing with it.

Under the guidance of the slug's clone, the two are about to officially begin their training in immortal arts.

Last night, by reading the Sage Mode training experience left by Hashirama, the two of them understood the purpose of the hot spring in front of them.

As the live slug said, the first step in cultivating immortal arts is to soak in hot springs.

The two people need to soak their bodies in the hot spring for several days or even longer.

During this process, the spring water, rich in natural energy, will be gradually absorbed by the two people through contact with their bodies, thereby enabling their cells to undergo "natural activation".

Once they reach a state of natural activation, the cells in their bodies can passively absorb natural energy, just like breathing and heartbeat, making it an instinct of their bodies.

At that time, the two of them will be able to enter Sage Mode anytime, anywhere, simply by putting their hands together and shouting, just like Hashirama Senju did back then.

In comparison, the Sage Mode of Mount Myōboku, which requires a lot of preparation time to activate each time, seems inferior.

However, every advantage has its disadvantages.

After the natural activation and transformation of their bodies, a side effect will also occur—accelerating the rate of cell division in their bodies.

In a person's lifetime, the number of times the cells in their body divide is limited, approximately fifty times, after which death occurs.

Natural activation, while not reducing the number of cell divisions, shortens the division cycle, thus indirectly reducing the cultivator's lifespan.

Take, for example, Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi. With his Sage Body, his lifespan should have been incredibly long; living to a hundred or two hundred years old wouldn't have been a problem.

However, even a celestial being couldn't withstand the side effects of natural activation and died before the age of fifty.

Not to mention ordinary people, even if they managed to learn the Shikub Forest Immortal Technique, they would be lucky to live for a few years.

But slugs are different from humans.

It is a mollusc with a special body structure that allows it to divide itself into countless small slugs, meaning that its cells have no upper limit to the number of divisions.

Therefore, the live slug was able to continuously absorb natural energy over a long period of time, allowing itself to multiply infinitely and eventually become the largest creature in the entire ninja world.

However, the slug also paid a price.

Although it didn't have to worry about the side effects of natural activation, and instead gained near-eternal life by absorbing natural energy, its unrestrained division caused its body to expand excessively, until it almost merged into this wet bone forest.

This is the tragedy of the live slug.

Back to the topic.

For Kisame and Tsunade, to overcome the side effects of natural activation, they need to move on to the second step, which is "balance".

They must learn to use their own consciousness to control the activated cells in their bodies, so that they can absorb natural energy every second while reducing the rate of cell division to an acceptable level.

Ultimately, a dynamic equilibrium is reached.