Konoha Notes

Chapter 99 Practice
The ruins of Wochao Village no longer reveal the shape of the village.

Numerous large and irregularly shaped rocks are scattered near the coastline, some submerged in the seawater and covered with a thick layer of seaweed and shellfish.

There are still some fortifications and building foundations that can be vaguely identified, and occasionally you can see blurry, faded swirling patterns.

The three of them stopped in a relatively flat area.

Tsunade stood still, looking around, her gaze sweeping over the ruins.

"If you want to cultivate immortal arts, then do it here. Since the destruction of Vortex Village, no outsiders have come here."

"No one will disturb us."

Shuji did not respond immediately. Instead, he carefully surveyed all the corners and shadows around him. Only after confirming that there were no signs of life or potential danger did he slowly sit down cross-legged.

The psychic spell flashed across the ground and disappeared in an instant.

A tiny slug appeared in Xiu Si's palm, its soft, gentle voice as gentle as ever: "Xiu Si."

"Lord Live Slug, I am preparing to begin my cultivation of immortal arts."

The little slug's antennae twitched slightly, sensing the energy flow in its surroundings, before turning towards Tsunade.

"Send over a small one, a live slug." Tsunade's tone was direct and decisive. "I'll have to provide him with chakra support later."

"Understood. With Lady Tsunade's chakra support, the risk will be greatly reduced." The slug's voice was full of approval as its body quickly split into a smaller individual, which wriggled and climbed onto Tsunade's shoulder.

Shuji closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and completely calmed the shockwaves from his battle with Tsunade. He focused his mind on his body, and his senses, following the flow of chakra, slowly extended outward, beyond the boundaries of his physical body, touching the vast and primal energy permeating the air, seawater, and rocks—natural energy.

He had long been able to clearly perceive them, but this time, instead of using the wooden clone as a buffer, he directly attempted to introduce them with his main body.

At first, it was just a tiny bit of energy, seeping into the body like a trickle.

But the next moment-

A massive, chaotic torrent of energy seemed to have finally found an outlet, and it surged into his body!

Shuji focused all his energy on refining his chakra, attempting to contend with this violent natural energy.

But the cells in the Hashirama cell craved energy far more than expected, greedily absorbing all the energy that poured in, like parched land, and in an instant pushed him to the edge of irreversible alienation—the skin on his arms and neck quickly lost moisture, became dry and rough, and showed obvious and terrifying woody texture!
"Troublesome brat..." Tsunade clicked her tongue, but her actions showed no hesitation.

The Yin seal on her forehead instantly dissipated, and at the same time, she continuously channeled chakra into Shuji through the small slug on her shoulder.

The slugs on Xiuji's body swelled slightly, emitting a soft glow as they rapidly absorbed the rampant natural energy within him.

With strong external chakra support, the lignified characteristics were quickly suppressed and faded away.

Shizune held Tun-Tun tightly, anxiously watching over him. She watched as black eyeshadow would sometimes appear around Shuuji's eyes, and at other times his limbs would become woody in parts, with tiny twigs even sprouting from his fingertips in the worst cases. Her heart was in her throat.

The process is cyclical and extremely dangerous. But as time goes on, the frequency of the lignification flashes gradually decreases, and the duration becomes shorter and shorter. The balance of the three energies within Shuji's body is being painstakingly restored.

After an unknown amount of time, his condition finally stabilized. The unusual lines on his skin disappeared, and the magical eyeshadow around his eyes became clear and stable.

He slowly opened his eyes.

For the first time, natural energy is introduced, and with external assistance, it initially achieves stable coexistence within the body.

Successful.

Although this is only the first step, and the balance remains fragile, it is undoubtedly a crucial beginning. Tsunade cut off the chakra supply: "At least my efforts weren't in vain."

"Thank you very much, Lady Tsunade. And Lady Katsuyu."

The Hashirama cells' excessive greed for natural energy made the training process far more dangerous than expected. This was the first time since arriving in the ninja world that he had felt such profound exhaustion from refining chakra.

“After successfully absorbing natural energy for the first time, subsequent cultivation will gradually become smoother, Xiu Si,” the live slug added gently.

Shuji thanked him again with deep gratitude.

Tsunade had already turned and walked to the side—after releasing the Yin Seal to supply chakra, if she didn't replenish it in time, she would temporarily lose her youthful appearance and even show signs of aging far beyond that of ordinary people. She absolutely did not want anyone to see her like that.

Silently handed her the prepared food.

Just then, Tsunade suddenly felt chakra surging into her previously somewhat empty body.

"This is……"

"Tch, kid actually has this level of chakra."

Feeling the cheers of her body's cells, Tsunade smiled.

From this perspective, it doesn't seem like we're losing too much.

Shuji checked his Sage Mode status—there were no animalistic features, only black stripes, and his pupils had changed slightly, but only the outer edges were a bit yellowish.

This is Hashirama Senju's Sage Mode. It's unclear whether it's due to a training method or residual genetic information in Hashirama's cells.

Fortunately, as a perfect Hashirama cell fusion user, he didn't have Hashirama Senju's face on his body, but just looked like a Sage Mode user, which is already very good.

After the first day of training, the three rested on the island.

“Shuji.” Tsunade called him by name, which was unusual for her. “What do you know about Uzushio Village?”

“This is a country established by the Uzumaki clan. They were once allies of Konoha and distant relatives of the Senju clan,” Shuji replied. “The whirlpool mark on the Jonin uniforms is a symbol of the friendship between the two sides.”

“Yes, Grandmother also hailed from Uzumaki Village. The Uzumaki clan was indeed powerful.” Princess Senju looked at the remaining vortex marks, her tone becoming somber. “Do you know why they perished?”

Please advise me.

Tsunade said calmly, "Because it was untimely. Even with Konoha as an ally, we still couldn't survive the Shinobi World War."

"Konoha is constantly under siege, but it doesn't actually take too long to support the Land of Whirlpools, which is not far from the Land of Fire."

"Even if we can't spare any troops immediately, as long as Uzushio Village can hold out for two or three days, Konoha will always be able to send reinforcements."

"But the village was still destroyed, and this powerful nation vanished just like that."

Her gaze swept over the broken swirling patterns, her voice carrying an almost imperceptible sigh.

"With the skills they possessed, in the end, they couldn't even hold out for a few days."

"It was then that I truly understood why even my great-uncle Tobirama agreed to my grandfather's decision to disband the clan."

“A single ninja clan, without power at the level of my grandfather, would not be able to survive the brutal ninja village wars, Shuji.”

(End of this chapter)