Double-transformation: I, Sakura Haruno! Will crush the pirates!

"You can tell this? Is it... related to the magic of Shikkotsu Forest?"

Although Sakura used a question, her tone was very confident.

"Oh my, what a perceptive child!"

The slug's voice softened a bit, seemingly pleased with Sakura's quick wit.

Well, clever, strong, resilient, and able to take me to another world for fun, this contractor is the best one I've found. I'm sure it will accompany me through the long years to come!

Holding Sakura's hand, they continued forward until they stopped in front of a huge lake.

The surrounding area was still a desolate wasteland of bones, and the increasingly thick fog had made the surrounding scenery appear and disappear.

The slug put Sakura down and nudged her back with its head.

"Go ahead, that lake in front is where the Shigu Forest cultivates immortal techniques, but I suggest you don't put your whole body into the lake water at once."

Having received the slug's explanation, and having already been somewhat wary of this cunning fellow, they realized that...

Sakura didn't choose to use too much lake water at once; she simply reached out and gently touched it with the back of her hand.

Hey, hey, hey!

When the skin came into contact with the lake water, an intense burning sensation came from the back of my hand.

The intense natural energy corroded Sakura's skin; even steel couldn't withstand this level of corrosion.

No, it's less about corrosion and more about corrosion.

Or is it more of a restoration from the level of life itself?

"What exactly is going on?"

Filled with questions, Sakura turned her gaze to the Slug Sage behind her.

At the same time, he conjured a chakra scalpel in his right hand, slicing away the mutated flesh and blood, and then used the Palm Healing Technique to heal it.

"This is the magic of the Shikko Forest—the Art of Celestial Evolution!"

The slug swam to Sakura's side, enveloped her, and used its energy to help her regenerate faster.

Natural energy contains all things in the universe, and when combined with individual will, it gives rise to a wide variety of abilities.

The sage-like talent of the Fire Temple, Orochimaru's cursed seal, Jugo's flesh-and-blood mutation...

The immortal techniques of the three holy lands each have their own characteristics, but the core difference lies in the fact that the creators had different initial intentions in achieving the desired effects.

The toads of Mount Myōboku seek prophecy and yearn to control the future; therefore, their magic primarily manifests as a significant increase in the practitioner's perception abilities, while also granting them the ability to manipulate energy.

The pythons of Ryuchi Cave yearn to transform into dragons, seeking change and control over celestial phenomena. Therefore, their magic primarily manifests as the user's transformation into a dragon or snake, while also possessing the ability to manipulate inorganic matter.

The last slug fairy had a simple and straightforward wish: she just wanted to live.

Therefore, its magic has the ability to manipulate organic matter. This pool of acidic liquid, where natural energy gathers, is the most basic application of its magic – reduction at the cellular level, allowing it to revert to its youthful state!

"Isn't this the same as immortality?" Sakura exclaimed in surprise, having glimpsed the hidden value beneath this technique. "The Three Holy Lands, you're actually the one that's hidden the deepest?"

"Well, that's a pretty basic application. Actually, it can also be used for live animal modification, gene editing, and things like that~"

The slug, feeling shy after being praised, twisted its body and excitedly raised its antennae, as if it wanted to keep praising it.

"But how am I supposed to cultivate this technique?" Sakura glanced at the acid in front of her. Not to mention the strong acid corrosion she would have to withstand if she soaked in it, if she were to be accidentally reverted to a fertilized egg by the residual technique inside, that would be a huge disaster.

"Oh, that's easy. Just keep dividing and expelling the regenerated body cells!" The slug said casually, as if discussing where to eat today.

"How could a person do such a thing?" Sakura covered her forehead in pain.

"Huh? Is that not possible? I think Tsunade could do it~"

The slug extended its tentacles and tapped Sakura's forehead. "It's that technique that can store chakra here and then release it all at once to expel the damaged parts of the body."

"Wait, you mean... the Yin Seal Technique of a Hundred Healings?"

Chapter 279 Hey, I have an idea!

Sakura originally thought that Tsunade's two complementary techniques, developed after perfecting the Yin Seal, were merely to increase the survival rate of medical ninjas on the battlefield.

However, upon reflection, it became clear that such thinking was too arrogant and underestimated the two S-rank medical ninjutsu created by Tsunade—the Hundred Healings Technique and Creation Rebirth.

Working backward from the result, if the only purpose is to deal with ninjutsu and sword damage on the battlefield, the Palm Healing Technique, Yin Healing and Destruction Technique, and Healing and Regeneration Technique are perfectly sufficient.

Therefore, these two S-rank medical ninjutsu were developed by Tsunade herself from the very beginning in order to try and challenge the Shikkotsu Forest Sage Mode.

But this cunning old monster who always speaks with a gentle voice is really treacherous!

On the surface, its cultivation of immortal arts may seem to have no threshold or test, but in reality, among the immortal arts of the three holy lands, the one with the highest threshold and the most difficult test is Shigulin!

Sakura pulled her gaze away from the sealed scroll and glanced discreetly at the giant slug she was leaning against.

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan~"

The slug shook its head, its still gentle voice now tinged with a hint of excitement.

It seemed happy that a visitor had arrived in this perpetually desolate space.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about how to speed up the cultivation of the Yin Seal."

Sakura smoothly changed the subject, shaking the scroll in her hand at the slug.

The training of the Yin Seal requires accumulating chakra on the forehead to form a diamond-shaped mark.

The advanced Hundred Healings Technique also requires a long period of stable and continuous accumulation of chakra, and extremely careful control to form chakra pathways that run through all parts of the body—the Hundred Healings Seal.

The biggest challenge now is that both of these skills require a long and gradual process of training, and Sakura is currently in dire need of time to train.

"How about we consider going to that other world to practice this technique?"

The slug adjusted its body, creating a depression that fit Sakura's spine more comfortably.

"this...."

Sakura glanced at the system and saw a large "-100" in the achievement points column, which gave her a headache.

[Please note that every achievement point consumed by this system is traceable. Please do not slander this system!]

Before she could even speak, the system already knew what its host wanted to say and preemptively shut her up.

When Sakura was fused with the Otsutsuki Karma before, the system burned all of her achievement points to remove all the negative effects of the Otsutsuki on her.

This caused Xiaoying, who had just embarked on a comfortable life, to fall back into poverty instantly. She was the kind of person who fell back into poverty after getting married, buying a house, having a child, and seeing that her salary was only 1,100 yuan.

Not to mention that the Otsutsuki bloodline released by the system was followed by a string of zeros.

She can't even use the basic teleportation function now.

As for earning achievement points...

I've figured out the rules for gaining achievement points on the high seas; you can get them by influencing the fates of enough people.

However, the achievement rules in the ninja world seem to be a bit different. Some time ago, she tried to cause such a big disturbance in the capital of the Land of Fire, but she still failed to trigger the achievement point reward.

Thus, Sakura and the system fell into a bizarre vicious cycle.

System, I want to go to the sea.

You need to pay off your debts first.

I need to get to the sea first so I can earn some money to pay off my debts!

But you can't go to the sea until the debt is paid off.

So, what method should I use to repay the debt now?

Go to the Sea.

...

Seeing Sakura's expression, the slug knew she was probably having some trouble, so it quietly moved on from the topic.

"It's alright, I believe in Sakura's talent. She can learn Tsunade's techniques even without speed-up!"

It shook its cute, big head.

The slug used Sage Chakra to make a small fist on its body, giving Sakura a thumbs-up.

"Sigh, if only I could split like you."

Sakura covered her face with the scroll in distress and turned away to bury her head in the slug's body.

"Splitting things out? It's not necessarily a bad thing~"

The slug's gentle voice rang out, sparking a flash of inspiration in Sakura's mind.

The reason why the Yin Seal and the Hundred Healings Technique require a long time to master.

The purpose is to cause some kind of 'wear and tear' on the practitioner's body and organs.

After accumulating enough of this 'loss', one can gradually and steadily open up the chakra pathways.

This allows the chakra within the Yin Seal to be transmitted to all parts of the body at any time, maximizing the restorative effects of the Creation Regeneration Technique.

If there were a technique that could cause countless Sakuras to suffer massive 'losses' and then gather them into one body.

Wouldn't that help her skip this accumulation process?

Sakura, realizing what was happening, looked up and a brilliant idea popped into her head.

When I looked at the slug again, I met its smiling eyes.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" *2

They exchanged a knowing smile, and the slug took the initiative to pull Sakura up.

After crossing the acid-filled depression, they arrived once again at the lake where she had previously experienced magic.

"This is where I created my magic. Maybe the success rate will be higher if you come here." The slug winked at Sakura.

—Hey, I didn't expect someone from a sacred place like you to believe in this?

Sakura shook her head with amusement, but did not refuse the slug's kindness. She raised her hands in front of it and formed the Ren character seal.

After the Chakra Linking Technique was used, a large amount of smoke billowed out, and the entire shore of the lake was filled with countless Sakuras.

"Alright, let's begin our training!"

Sakura herself clenched her fists at her clones and sat down cross-legged first.

The other clones followed her movements, their chakra rising from their lower abdomen and converging on the seal formed between their eyebrows, following the path of the Yin Seal.

Amidst the spray of acidic mist, countless azure gusts of wind arose out of nowhere, their chakra flames surging and covering every inch of air.

As the training progressed, the clone, whose chakra had already been divided and whose body was gradually reaching its limit, began to shatter.

The gradual depletion and exhaustion returned to Sakura through the connection of chakra, causing cold sweat to pour from her forehead and propelling her to climb the peak of her Yin Seal training.

Pain, confusion, numbness... in the end, only an utterly indifferent calm remains.

When stripped of her powerful body, arrogant aura, and abilities, and bowing her head to face the most basic manipulation of chakra, Sakura felt a long-lost sense of the fear and excitement of her former, weak self on the path of seeking power, filled with trepidation and anxiety.

Thus, I calmed my increasingly inflated emotions.

Sakura Haruno, a practitioner of celestial arts, took her first step in this sacred land.

The slug, standing guard nearby, watched as Sakura's aura sometimes surged and sometimes weakened.

A gentle light shone in her eyes, and her fine teeth moved as she spoke in a soft voice: "Indeed, I had excellent judgment in making a contract with this child~"

While Sakura and Slug were immersed in their training, the rest of the ninja world were also working hard in their own ways.

Inside Mount Myōboku, a blond boy is being taught by a small frog wielding an iron rod, letting it smear an oily substance from a pond onto his arm.

Inside Ryuchi Cave, a black-haired boy with scarlet eyes raised his arm, which had transformed into a dragon claw, towards the large white snake in front of him, so that it would open its mouth and bite it.

Inside Konoha Village, Tsunade, who was working on documents at her desk in the Hokage Building, shivered with a chill.

She raised her head suspiciously and looked around:

"Hmm? Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"

Chapter 280 Natural Energy and Chakra

"Haha, I did it!"

Beside the lake in the Wet Bone Forest, a girl was holding a slug as tall as herself and spinning around.