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

The faint sunlight pierced through the acid mist, illuminating a diamond-shaped mark on her forehead.

"Yes, Sakura is really amazing!"

The slug rubbed the girl's head with its tentacles, feeling proud of her success.

Sakura was able to master the Yin Seal in just a few weeks, thanks in part to the high-energy dishes she prepared.

"So, I'll prepare a delicious meal to celebrate for you!" Slug suggested cheerfully.

It's rare to find someone willing to taste my cooking, so Slug has been having a blast with cooking lately.

People live to find some enjoyment, and this is especially true for slugs, which have lived for countless years.

"Hmm..." Sakura's expression changed upon hearing this, and she quickly put the slug down. "Well, let's hurry up and start our Sage Mode training!"

To be honest, it's not that Sakura is picky or doesn't like food made with slugs.

The key is that slug fairy, it is a scavenger!

Before Sakura came to Shikkotsu Forest, the slugs ate algae, moss, and decaying leaves that grew in the forest every day.

After Sakura arrived, in order to ensure that Sakura, a human, also had food to eat.

The slug directly imitated the ancient Buddha's story of cutting off his own flesh to feed an eagle, and did the same thing!

For the past few weeks, I've been sending her various kinds of salt-baked snails every day, in different ways.

In other words, the slug can directly use magic to create all kinds of substances needed for human survival, which is why Sakura, who ate snails for several weeks, did not starve to death in Shikkotsu Forest due to malnutrition.

But that taste...

"Alright, tell me about Sage Mode instead. I want to be more prepared before I start trying it!" To avoid tasting the Slug Sage's slug dishes again, Sakura quickly changed the subject.

“Celestial arts…” The slug lowered its head and swept a clearing on the ground. “The first step is definitely perception. You have to sense the natural energy flowing in all things in the world.”

As it spoke, it drew a stick figure on the ground, emitting linear sensory tendrils that touched the small spheres of natural energy in the air.

"Yes, I can sense it," Sakura nodded in response.

Using her Wood Release ability, Sakura can indeed directly sense the presence of natural energy.

It is highly likely that Hashirama Senju sensed natural energy through a similar method back then, and later, after studying the talents of the Sage race at the Fire Temple, he developed his own unique Sage Mode.

Sakura and Hashirama Senju's abilities may be related to the fact that both of their Wood Release techniques were directly inherited from the Divine Tree.

If we consider natural energy as crude oil stored on a planet, then the divine tree is the extraction and processing equipment.

By refining and utilizing the wild and untamed natural energy, the chakra used by the vast majority of ninjas later came into being!

"Once you perceive them, you should use them. Using natural energy is an instinct that every life form should have, but most organisms simply abandon this ability later in life."

The slug fairy continued drawing on the ground, and the little stick figures it created soaked in the lake that was full of natural energy, drinking the lake water heartily.

"So the way you're talking about using it is to eat it?!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise.

Although eating is the simplest way for every living organism to obtain energy.

However, this kind of Sage Mode... is too wild, isn't it?

“Yes, after eating it, this instinct will be awakened, and you will be able to freely control natural energy in the future,” the slug said matter-of-factly.

They don't even need to train the ratio of natural energy and chakra like the toads of Mount Myōboku and the snakes of Ryūchi Cave. They can simply eat it and store it in their stomachs, letting their bodies digest it and their cells adapt.

No wonder it's called the Art of Evolution. The whole technique is basically survival of the fittest. Only those who survive are worthy of becoming immortals, while those who can't digest it all die.

"So, as long as one of your family's contractors succeeds in cultivation, you can boast to others that our family's success rate in cultivating immortal arts is 100%, right?" Sakura couldn't help but complain.

The slug burst into laughter, straightened up, and climbed onto Sakura's back. "Then you'd better work hard and try to make the Wet Bone Forest Sage Technique achieve a breakthrough from zero to one!"

"Sigh, what about application?" Sakura sighed softly. "Is there any application technique you need to teach me?"

"What's the trick to that? As long as you stuff natural energy into the spell, you can freely control the organic matter in yourself and others, right?" The slug twisted its body and stared at Sakura with a puzzled look.

"Wait, our family's Sage Mode doesn't need to be mixed with chakra?!" Sakura's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but exclaim.

"Of course there's no need to mix them. I don't even have chakra, so how could I mix them?"

The slug disperses and reassembles its body repeatedly, and throughout the entire process, each slug truly possesses no chakra whatsoever.

"Wait a minute, how did we sign a summoning contract if you don't have chakra?" Sakura frowned.

She sensed something was wrong; she felt she might be very close to the essence of a slug, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong.

"Why not just use the Heavenly Evolution Technique to simulate it?" the slug replied casually.

But this answer struck Sakura like a thunderbolt, connecting all the vague clues.

Chakra was an imported substance brought by the Otsutsuki clan, and the Sage of Six Paths founded the Ninshu sect, sharing chakra with everyone.

Essentially, he implanted the special gene sequence known as the Chakra Seed into the bodies of his disciples. Then, these disciples spread throughout the ninja world, allowing the Chakra Seed gene to permeate the entire ninja world.

Judging from the records that the Sage of Six Paths had practiced Sage Mode before his final battle with Kaguya, the three sacred lands mastered natural energy much earlier than the spread of chakra.

So here's the question: since these great sages don't have chakra, how do they mix with natural energy to maintain their Sage Mode stably for a long time?

The answer is clear: they can utilize natural energy to create their own unique chakra!

If you consider the Chakra Seed as a mining tool given to you by the Otsutsuki Corporation, then the company will extract the remaining value from the mined ore.

These powerful immortals in the sacred lands are like people who mine with their own tools, keeping everything they dig up for themselves. They can even disobey the mining company's orders and steal its employees right in front of it, intercepting the ore they dig.

"I presume that you and the other immortals from the three great holy lands possess the ability to reverse engineer—to restore chakra back to natural energy, right?" Sakura narrowed her eyes, and although it was a question, she used an affirmative tone.

On a smaller scale, this is a spontaneous rejection reaction that life generates when it encounters an invasion of foreign energy, or an adaptive evolution of chakra; it is a miracle of life!

On a grander scale, they are more like weapons that the planets evolved through natural evolution to destroy the divine tree in order to resist being exploited by it and avoid a lifeless end!

Slug Sage, who was being stared at intently by Sakura, could no longer hold back and let out a gentle yet hearty laugh.

"Hehehe, I have to say it again, Sakura-chan, it's so great to be able to make a contract with you!!!"

Chapter 281 An unexpected visitor!

After the slug's detailed explanation, Sakura had a general understanding of the Sage Mode in Shikkotsu Forest.

So, having learned the theory, let's begin to put it into practice.

The second time, Sakura was taken by the Slug Sage to the lake filled with magical slime. Before going into the water, she changed into a swimsuit.

Her full breasts were covered in matte fabric, and the one-piece backless swimsuit that stretched downwards outlined the girl's waist and hips. Sunlight shining through the thick fog shone on her long, fair legs, showing off her beautiful figure to the fullest.

Sakura lifted her foot and stepped onto the ground, her delicate toes gently gripping the muddy lake shore.

"Well, you don't have to wear it, anyway, it will all dissolve in the mucus after soaking."

A slug standing nearby, watching the girl showing off her figure, kindly offered a reminder.

"Slug Sage, have you evolved to the point of abandoning even the basic human instinct to appreciate beauty?"

Sakura suddenly felt sorry for this great immortal, who had sacrificed himself to such an extent for power.

From this perspective, in the pursuit of power, my purity is still inferior to that of the great immortal.

Don't look at me like that!

Slug Sage was stung by Sakura's pitying gaze and shouted angrily, "In Slug's eyes, she's a great beauty with jade-like bones and ice-like skin!"

After saying that, as if afraid that Sakura wouldn't believe her, she straightened up and twisted her body.

However, she was the only slug in the entire Shikkotsu Forest, so she could make up whatever she wanted, since Sakura, being a human, couldn't tell the difference anyway.

"Alright, I'm not going to mess with you anymore. I need to try out the cultivation of immortal techniques first!"

Sakura waved her hand, dismissing the Slug Sage.

She raised her hands in front of her chest, forming the "End" seal, and the Yin Seal was unlocked by her chakra.

Black, line-like patterns began to spread from the diamond-shaped area on her forehead, and soon covered her entire body.

"Alright, let's go!!!"

Taking a deep breath, Sakura took a few running starts towards the lake in front of her.

He stepped into the mud and sand, used the recoil to leap high into the air, and plunged into the water as if diving.

"Wait, Sakura!"

The slugs on the shore made a sharp popping sound, and at that moment she really regretted that she was only focused on joking and hadn't quickly explained the precautions clearly.

Even when swimming normally, you should splash some water on your body first to let your muscles get used to the temperature.

Not to mention that this is a pool of slime filled with magical energy, almost equivalent to a permanent magical spell released here by the Slug Immortal. If you were to soak straight down like this, you would probably be turned back into a fertilized egg in an instant.

Oh no, I finally met such a compatible child, is it going to be gone like this?

"No, we have to save them right now!"

The slug, its thoughts racing, shook its body. An invisible wave enveloped it, causing its worm-like form to rapidly change structure.

Immediately afterwards, above the lake shrouded in acidic mist, a figure leaped up and plunged into the water.

"Well...."

Sakura, who was no longer able to see her surroundings beneath the lake, felt herself sinking deeper and deeper.

His entire body was filled with intense pain, and the erosion and destruction by the immortal magic slime and the creation and regeneration by the Hundred Healings Seal barely achieved a dynamic balance.

However, this tug-of-war seems endless. Once one's chakra is exhausted, one will be immediately reduced at the molecular level by the surrounding slime and completely dissolved.

This is far too hasty.

The muscles exposed by the melting skin twitched bitterly. Sakura tried to forcefully cut through the mucus and swim upwards.

The moment she tried to raise her arm, it crumbled and dissolved in the slime pool, causing her to sink even faster.

"Sakura-chan!!!"

In the hazy light, Sakura's Observation Haki seemed to sense a humanoid figure rapidly approaching her.

Then the surrounding slime began to pulsate with life, lifting Sakura and pushing her towards a brighter, shallower area.

Pfft!

A column of water suddenly burst forth from the misty lake surface.

Two figures were propelled from the lake by the stream of slime and flung onto the shore.

The slug landed faster than Sakura, taking a deep breath.

Sakura, whose body swelled to form a soft cushion, finally caught the dissolving half of her tissues and organs.

"Hiss, cough cough cough!"

Lying on the slug, Sakura coughed up a few mouthfuls of mucus and began to pant heavily.

The parts of his body that had dissolved were also rapidly repaired under the Creation and Regeneration Technique, and his body gradually returned to its original state.

Even after the repairs were completed, Sakura's body shrank to some extent, roughly reverting to her original small state of around ten years old.

"Hey! Did you just turn into a human?"

Sensing that her body had almost fully recovered, Sakura, recalling the blue-haired older sister in the water, excitedly stood up.

Her head bumped right into a slug that was peering over to check on her.

"Sakura, you idiot! Is this the time to be focusing on this?!"

The slug, relieved, began to shrink, accidentally knocking Sakura to the ground.

Then, the slug, wriggling up to her, stretched out its tiny tentacles, put its hands on its hips, and launched into a tirade of scolding, "I thought you were a rational child, but I didn't expect you to be as reckless as Tsunade..."

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again next time."

The sense of arrogance that came from learning the Hundred Healings Technique vanished completely, and Sakura scratched her head apologetically.

No wonder Tsunade, a descendant of the Senju clan, has been unable to master the Sage Mode of Shikkotsu Forest for so many years.

This terrifying tug-of-war must continue until the entire body is replaced by cells that have evolved resistance, and the amount of chakra required is simply astronomical.

It seems that I still have a long way to go in my training of Sage Mode, and I need to make some improvements to the Yin Seal, and store up as much chakra as possible for unforeseen circumstances.

While Sakura was still enduring the slug sage's nagging, on the other side of the Shikkotsu Forest...

A white-haired figure with a missing arm stepped onto this land, his red outer robe and brown ninja uniform underneath both severely damaged.

"Cough cough cough, we've finally arrived. It was worth all that detour."