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

Faced with Kisame's honesty, Katsuyu responded just as sincerely:

"Lord Kisame, I said I would do everything I could to help you, how could I go back on my word? Besides, although I am the master of Shikkotsu Forest, I only discovered this place by chance a few thousand years ago and settled here. The natural energy here does not belong to me, so you are free to take it as you please."

At this moment, the Kun, in the form of Kisame, and the live slug gaze at each other across the void, their spiritual thoughts converging in mid-air.

"Live Slug, thank you. In that case, I won't be polite."

After saying this, Kisame opened his mouth wide and swallowed hundreds of tons of hot spring water in one gulp with the force of a whale swallowing everything.

In his view, absorbing natural energy by soaking is a bit too slow. It would be better to be simpler and more direct—since natural energy is contained in seawater, why not just drink all the seawater?

Glug, glug.

After swallowing hundreds of tons of seawater rich in natural energy, Kisame felt as if he had drunk strong liquor, as if his internal organs were on fire, and violent energy was rampaging through his body.

Absorbing so much natural energy at once would be too much even for a living slug immortal, but Kisame managed to withstand it thanks to his Kun-like physique.

He slowly closed his eyes, his massive body sank to the bottom of the lake, most of his functions went into a dormant state, leaving only the energy surging within his abdomen, producing a series of thunderous sounds.

Kisame's body is digesting these natural energies and making them a part of himself.

The live slug watched all of this.

Over the past three months, it has witnessed firsthand Kisame's gradual exploration, its hardships and difficulties, and its eventual successful evolution.

When Kisame transformed into Kun, the live slug was greatly shocked, because it could feel an ancient and primordial aura emanating from Kun's body, which made even this extraordinary creature, which had lived for thousands of years, tremble.

Although Kun is currently only 100 meters long, it is still a small creature compared to the 400-meter-long live slug. However, it knows that the former's potential far exceeds its own, and Kisame's path of violent evolution has only just begun.

However, Kisame claimed he could absorb all the natural energy in the hot spring, but Katsuyu didn't believe him.

It has lived here for so long, growing from a tiny slug into the enormous creature it is today, absorbing thousands of years of natural energy, yet the energy concentration in the hot spring has not become diluted.

As its size approaches its limit, the slug's absorption of natural energy has become extremely slow, almost to the point of stagnation.

In comparison, even if Kisame could devour natural energy without limit, how long would it take him to drain this hot spring lake dry?

One hundred years? One thousand years? Or ten thousand years?

The slug's question was quickly answered.

Because Kisame absorbs natural energy much faster than it imagined.

Each time the Kun awakens from its slumber, it opens its enormous mouth like a black hole, swallowing hundreds or even thousands of tons of seawater before falling back into slumber. After a day or two, having absorbed all its energy, the Kun will awaken again and devour even more seawater.

Repeatedly.

During this process, the Kun's body expanded at a visible speed, growing from 100 meters to 200 meters in less than a month, doubling in length.

At this point, the hot spring lake could no longer accommodate the enormous size of the Kun. So it simply dived deeper, reaching the depths of the ocean, a place that was wider and closer to the underwater volcano.

It is also a place where natural energy is more abundant.

"That's incredible."

The live slug was dumbfounded. At this rate, in a few years, Kisame would probably be able to drain the natural energy of the Shikkotsu Forest, and its body length would exceed a thousand meters.

What's even more terrifying is that Kisame at that time was not yet in his complete form and still had a lot of room to grow.

Time passed day by day.

There is no sun or moon on the island. Unbeknownst to him, Kisame had been in seclusion in Shikkotsu Forest for almost half a year.

For the past six months, the entire ninja world has been unusually calm, with no major incidents occurring.

However, this quiet is more like the calm before the storm. Konoha and Mount Myōboku, Nagato of Amegakure and the Akatsuki, as well as Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Kirigakure on this side of the sea... all these forces are secretly gathering strength, and they might just ignite the fuse at any time, reigniting the flames of war in the ninja world.

On this day, Tsunade returned to Shikkotsu Forest after a long absence.

"Lady Tsunade, it's been a long time. Are you missing Lord Kisame?"

A clone of the live slug appeared before Tsunade. It knew that Tsunade had been serving as the head of medical affairs for Kirigakure for the past six months, busy establishing a medical ninja system and training personnel.

"Miss him? What a joke. That guy hasn't made a sound for so long, and hasn't sent a message back, which has made some people very worried, so they asked me to come and ask what's going on."

Tsunade spoke casually while glancing around.

Kisame's seclusion this time was indeed a bit too long. As time went on, Yuki-onna, Pakura, and even Orochimaru and others at home began to worry.

However, she also needed to discuss the medical department with Kisame, since he was the Mizukage and the head of the village, and couldn't just ignore it completely.

"So, where is that bastard? Could he have failed in his cultivation of some forbidden technique and died suddenly?"

Tsunade, not seeing Kisame, couldn't help but make a malicious guess.

"..."

The slug shook its head helplessly, pointed with its antennae to the edge of the hot spring lake, and gestured to Tsunade, "Lord Kisame is over there."

Oh?

Upon hearing this, Tsunade strode to the lakeside in her high heels, only to be surprised to find that the water level had dropped several meters, showing signs of almost drying up.

Moreover, in her perception, the natural energy here was noticeably less concentrated than before.

"Live slug, what's going on?"

Tsunade turned around, frowning as she asked the slug a question.

Before the slug could answer, a rumbling sound suddenly came from beneath the water, drawing Tsunade's attention again. She turned her head to look and was immediately startled, taking two steps back in fright.

That's because a huge fish head emerged from the water, like a towering hill, casting a shadow.

What is this?

Just as Tsunade was filled with doubt and uncertainty, the fish head opened its enormous maw and spoke in human language towards her:

"Tsunade, what brings you here?"

"You, you are... Kisame Hoshigaki?!"

Tsunade's eyes widened, and she stammered, unable to believe her own guess.

"Lady Tsunade, what you see is only part of Kisame's body. Most of his enormous body is hidden beneath the water's surface, and his size is already close to my true form..."

The live slug stepped forward and explained it to Tsunade in detail.

"This madman..."

When Tsunade learned that Kisame had abandoned his human body and become the monster before her, she murmured to herself, unable to come to her senses for a long time.

Half an hour later.

To Tsunade's astonishment, Kun opened its mouth wide and spat out a wet man.

This is a shadow clone created by Kisame using Sage Chakra. It possesses 30% of the power of his original body and can be maintained for several months.

“Let’s go, I’ll go back to Wuyin with you. After all, I’ve been in seclusion for half a year, it’s time to take some time to go back and visit.”

Kisame put on a set of clothes and said to Tsunade.

Although he has abandoned his human form, it is still more convenient for him to be human when he is active in the ninja world.

In addition, Kisame had another very important purpose in sending his clones back to the ninja world this time.

194. Immortal Spell Seal

Shikulin Island, beneath the hot springs.

The Kun, nearly 400 meters long, floated silently in the dark depths of the sea like a fortress. Its eyes were closed, and its dragon tail swayed gently in the water, occasionally spewing out a series of huge bubbles from its vent.

On the seabed, the earth's crust cracked, and red magma flowed continuously, rising towards the surface, bringing with it a large amount of heat and water vapor, as well as... a rich source of natural energy.

The Kun, bathed in natural energy, developed and grew at an astonishing speed.

Unfortunately, the natural energy here is not inexhaustible. With the slowdown of underwater volcanic activity and the Kun's voracious absorption of natural energy, the energy concentration is becoming increasingly thin.

At this rate, the natural energy of Shikub Forest will be depleted within three to five years, or at most ten years.

Kisame realized this problem.

He had also calculated that if he wanted Kun to evolve into a six-level creature, even if he devoured all the natural energy of the Wet Bone Forest, it would probably still not be enough.

After all, while Shikkotsu Forest is one of the three sacred lands, it is ultimately just a small island. The Divine Tree planted by the Otsutsuki clan absorbed nearly the entire planet's natural energy. Kaguya, who ate the fruit of the Divine Tree, possessed the power to change the world; she herself was the source of all chakra in the ninja world.

Therefore, Kisame clearly realized that he could not sit idly by and run out of resources; he had to take active steps to find more energy in other parts of the ninja world.

His first thought was of Mount Myoboku and Ryuchi Cave, which were as famous as Shikkotsu Forest.

If the natural energy of these two places can be completely absorbed, the Kun, which is the incarnation of Kisame, will most likely be able to step into the threshold of the Six Paths level.

The problem is that both the White Snake Sage and Gamamaru are truly ruthless characters. The former is Kisame's enemy and personally trained Nagato as his successor to deal with Kisame; the latter is even more unfathomable, being on friendly terms with the Sage of Six Paths.

It's too early for Kisame to be thinking about taking over the two holy lands.

Fortunately, as a transmigrator familiar with the plot, Kisame diligently recalled the events during this time and compiled a considerable amount of valuable information.

In the Naruto world, besides the three sacred lands rich in natural energy, there are also some unknown places or mysterious objects that contain powerful energy.

Kisame currently has four targets in mind.

The Hero's Water of Takigakure, the Dragon Vein of the ancient Loulan Kingdom, the Meteorite of Hoshigakure, and the Grell Stone Mine.

His purpose in sending out his clone this time was to collect these four items and bring them back to the Wet Bone Forest for the Kun to devour. This would greatly increase his chances of reaching the Six Paths level.

Ten minutes later, in Kirigakure.

"Please don't tell anyone what you saw in Shikkotsu Forest. It involves my biggest secret. Please."

Kisame and Tsunade pushed open the courtyard gate and walked in side by side. Suddenly, Kisame turned around and said this to the latter.

Kun is his biggest trump card. Once it completes its evolution, it means that Kisame has opened up a new path that belongs only to him outside of the ninja system.

He must not let the enemy know about this before he achieves it, lest something unexpected happen.

What if I insist on telling you?

Tsunade responded nonchalantly, habitually contradicting Kisame.

Upon hearing this, Kisame stopped in his tracks.

"Then I'll have no choice but to kill you to silence you," he said with a smile, sounding like he was joking.

But as soon as he finished speaking, Kisame suddenly unleashed a terrifying killing intent, and before Tsunade could react, he reached out and grabbed her neck with lightning speed.