As their lips parted, a thin layer of saliva could be seen separating their lips.
It tasted like mochi. Oh well, no biggie.
He gave her a nice smile.
"Sleep well," he said.
"You too," she replied, as if on instinct. He then walked away.
He did what he came here to do, which was accompany her. The kiss was just an added extra.
Anyway, he liked it. Don't judge him.
When he got home, he relaxed a bit.
Then wrote a letter to the Hokage, something to say he would be out of the village for a few days. He would be in the sage area, learning the basics of Sage Mode.
Mikoto would also receive one. Oh well.
He stretched his body a bit.
Okay, time to start this shit.
With a puff of chakra and a sharp snap of air—
A portion of Lady Katsuyu emerged.
The little slug appeared inside his room, its size was only about 4 inches wide and 6 inches long.
She blinked slowly—if you could call what she was doing blinking. She jumped onto the boy's shoulder, feeling out for his chakra.
Hm. Everything was in perfect harmony, which meant...
"You're ready, then?"
Seijuro gave a humble nod.
"I have listened to your advice and meditated. I have full control over my chakra."
The slug nodded along. It seemed so. The boy's chakra control seemed to be on par with Tsunade.
Now, let us see if he could master what his master couldn't.
"Well then... brace yourself."
POV Change – Shikkotsu Forest – Slug Sage Domain
The world flipped inside out—chakra twisted, and the scenery shifted.
A Reverse Summoning, dragging him deep into Shikkotsu Forest—the ancient and near-mythical homeland of the Slug Clan.
Moss-covered trees. Rivers of glimmering ichor. Strange glowing mushrooms. The air hummed with ambient chakra—gentle, yet immense.
Slug trails left faint, silver luminescence across the rocks and bark.
He also felt something else.
The second he arrived in this place, he could feel it—something he had been aware of since the first time he met the slug, but now, he could feel it.
It was very abundant in the area.
Was this... Sage Chakra?
Hm. He could feel it.
The sage chakra seemed drawn to him. He felt as if he'd wielded something similar to this before.
Wasn't Sage Chakra basically Nature Chakra?
Wouldn't that make it Reishi...?
His brow furrowed. Why was he thinking of Reishi?
And why was he thinking the ninja world was made of Kishi?
None of those concepts made sense to him—yet at the same time, they made a shit-ton of sense to him.
His brow furrowed a bit. He wondered why he was thinking of such shit.
This place felt nice. Almost felt like the Soul Society...
Hm. He needed to get his memory checked—why was he thinking of such things?
And there, at the heart of it—
The Main Body of Lady Katsuyu.
She was colossal. Easily the size of a mountain.
Her true form pulsed gently with life and patience—yet an undercurrent of power trembled with every syllable that echoed from her mouth.
She was the Slug Sage—bigger than actual Bijū. Damn, she was massive.
She leaned slightly closer, antennae twitching. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel⟡fire.net
"You smell... like danger."
Seijuro blinked. Then tilted his head with a polite smile.
"I'll take that as a compliment. I am a shinobi, after all."
Katsuyu's chuckle echoed from somewhere.
The Slug Sage made a rumbling sound that might have been amusement... or existential worry.
"Very well. You are here to walk the path of a Sage. Listen carefully, child of the Kurama..."
She slowly extended a feeler, and chakra condensed like morning mist.
"Nature Energy," she began, "is the pure, balanced force of the world. It is not chakra—but can be added to your chakra to create Senjutsu, or 'Sage Chakra.'"
She pulsed a small bit of energy out—it shimmered in the air like lightning in syrup.
"To enter Sage Mode, you must absorb Nature Energy in perfect balance with your own chakra. Too little, and nothing happens. Too much... and you turn to stone. Or worse—dissolution into primal matter."
A stone statue of a ninja stood nearby—frozen mid-pose.
"To survive Sage Mode," she continued, "you must train your body, your senses, and your soul to detect and blend Nature Energy naturally. With time... you will not need stillness or rituals. You will simply become a creature of balance."
Seijuro nodded, absorbing every word.
He was already adapting his chakra flow, trying to map how to circulate external energy without destabilizing it.
"And while you remain in this sacred place," the Slug Sage added with a slight twitch of her feelers, "you shall eat only what we eat."
A slug slithered by, dragging a gelatinous mass of... something.
Moss? Mold? Glow-in-the-dark swamp meat?
Seijuro stared at it.
Then looked up with a deadpan face.
"It's high in fiber."
Didn't mean he wanted to eat it.
He reached down, scooped up a sluggy, mossy ball, and chomped.
...He immediately regretted that decision.