I, who just wanted to be lazy, was forced to become the Hokage.

Chapter 301 It's you I choose, you live slug!

"To become the successor of Shikkotsu Forest?"

Nara Rinka raised an eyebrow, surprised that Tsunade would make this invitation.

"Are you serious, Tsunade?"

Although Nara Rinka had long admired the three holy lands and was eager to accept Tsunade's invitation immediately.

However, the Wet Bone Forest is one of the three holy sites, and its spirit contract is priceless.

It should be noted that even the most common summoning beasts are considered rare and precious in the ninja world.

Despite having so many ninjas in Konoha who have mastered the Summoning Jutsu, they can even hang all sorts of dog heads on the wall to show off.

Look at the neighboring Sunagakure village. In such a large village, only the daughter of the Kazekage possesses a small summoning beast.

They possess intelligence comparable to that of humans, are skilled in using various ninja tools, and can even unleash ninjutsu on some of them...

In a sense, for ninjas, summoned beasts are more trustworthy "partners" than most of their fellow village ninjas.

Within Nara Rinka's own power system, his summoning contracts with the Five-Tailed Kokuo, the Three-Tailed Isobu, and the Two-Tailed Matatabi may not be his most important ability, but they are definitely his core "inheritance".

For Tsunade, the summoning contract in Shikkotsu Forest is also a kind of "core inherited ability".

Apart from family members, only those truly recognized direct disciples are qualified to master such "inheritance".

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

Faced with Nara's doubts, Tsunade merely glanced at him and feigned displeasure.

"Nara, I'm not a monster genius like you. You can learn all kinds of ninjutsu quickly with just a little exposure, and you can even research and deduce a bloodline limit like Wood Release so quickly."

"And I won't lie to you, there are definitely immortal techniques passed down in the Wet Bone Forest, but I don't know them at all."

At this point, Tsunade spoke with a rather self-righteous air.

"You can learn even if you don't know how."

Nara Rinka offered a word of advice.

"Immortal arts seem difficult, and in reality... they're not simple either, but once you find the right method, they're quite easy to perform."

But Nara Rinkazu's words not only failed to convince Tsunade, but also made her roll her eyes again.

"Nara, even learning just one A-rank technique, the [Welcome - Thousand Hand Kill], is already quite difficult for me. Learning Shikkotsu Forest's [Sage Mode] will definitely be even more difficult."

"I'm fairly satisfied with my current strength, and with so many Wood Release ninjutsu waiting for me to learn, I don't have the extra energy to learn other high-difficulty ninjutsu at the moment."

Tsunade faced her own shortcomings and current situation directly, and then persuaded Nara to take notice.

"Since you think Shikkotsu-ryu's Sage Mode is useful for Wood Release, why don't you sign a summoning contract with Shikkotsu-ryu yourself and go find the slug to learn it?"

"And if I remember correctly, you also possess many other bloodline limits, so the [Sage Mode] will definitely be even more useful to you."

"You can forget about Jiraiya's Sage Mode; that's a power from Mount Myōboku, and he has his own disciples. But I can still manage to get involved with the lineage from Shikkotsu Forest."

Every word Tsunade spoke came from the bottom of her heart.

Before Nara Rinka rushed into her world like a rutting stag, Tsunade felt that her life was bleak.

Despite being a descendant of the Senju clan, he lacks the strength to restore his family's glory.

As one of the three legendary ninjas, he was also suffering from hemophobia, a condition that could spell the end of his career.

The decline of the family, the despair of the village, the death of a lover, the farewell of relatives, the estrangement of comrades-in-arms...

A heavy pressure weighed down on Tsunade's thin shoulders, a weight as heavy as a mountain, making it hard for even the world's number one medical ninja to breathe.

If the Third Shinobi World War hadn't broken out, Tsunade would have taken Shizune with her and left the village to "relax" and travel around.

But the appearance of Nara Ranka completely disrupted her life...

Although Tsunade's life can't be described as "glorious" right now.

But at least the external pressure has been almost completely eliminated.

Especially after Nara Rinka successfully researched the synthesis method of [Wood Release].

Even if Tsunade were to die on the spot right now and go to the Pure Land, she could still meet Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju with a clear conscience and loudly announce to her two grandfathers that she had found a good grandson-in-law!

The Wood Release technique, which is inherited through bloodline and genes, is quite unstable. This has been proven in the Senju clan. Since Hashirama Senju, no Wood Release ninja has appeared in the Senju clan.

Even direct descendants like Tsunade and Nawaki did not inherit the power of Wood Release.

However, Nara Rinka has now developed the [Wood Release Chakra Creation Method].

Even if you are not a Senju clan ninja, as long as you have the talent to transform the nature of Water Release and Earth Release, you have a chance to learn the bloodline limit power of Wood Release.

Let the glory of Wood Release shine again in Konoha.

Why should a true Senju of the Forest be born into the Senju clan?

For Tsunade right now, her current life goal is to learn and master the power of Wood Release as soon as possible, and then go and destroy Orochimaru and Danzo Shimura's heads.

As for the rest of my life.

Why not leave everything to Nara Rinka?

"Tsunade-nee..."

Nara Rinka called out softly, drawing Tsunade's attention.

"Um?"

"Wait a mininute."

The Shadow Manipulation Technique was forcibly ended by Nara Rinka. His consciousness was pulled out of Tsunade's body and returned to his own body. The first thing he did was to stride forward.

Tsunade felt the scene before her suddenly blur, and she felt her body again.

But the next moment, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist.

"Ugh—"

Tsunade gasped, but before she could say anything more, a familiar scent filled her nostrils, and then her soft, rosy lips were roughly pressed against hers.

The room was completely silent, save for the faint sounds of lips and teeth colliding, interspersed with the barely perceptible pattering of water droplets.

It's like in springtime, a stag is bending down to nibble on a freshly grown strawberry, the flesh plump and the juice splashing everywhere.

Some words can only reach the depths of one's heart when spoken directly to another.

The time is unknown.

With a face as beautiful as a peach blossom and her breathing rapid, Tsunade pushed the shameless man away from her embrace with both hands, and managed to utter a few words with difficulty from her moist, glossy red lips.

"You—you're disgusting!"

Nara Rinka licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with a predatory light as he looked at Tsunade, making no attempt to conceal his true thoughts.

"Tsunade-neechan, I want to kiss you again."

"No, you mustn't!"

The usually assertive Tsunade actually took a step back at this moment, raised her arms and crossed them in front of her chest, assuming a gesture of refusal.

"Absolutely not today!"

Anyone else from Konoha who was present would have been astonished by the delicate and fragile demeanor Tsunade was displaying at that moment.

Nara's Osmanthus Garden is different.

He became even more excited.

"Tsunade-neechan!"

Nara Rinka took a step forward, closing the distance between him and Tsunade once again.

If it weren't for those damned arms blocking his way, he could almost physically merge with Tsunade.

"What about tonight?"

"What on earth is going on in your head, Nara Ranka!"

With her face flushed, Tsunade mustered her strength again and barely managed to push the excited stag away.

"Yellow waste?!"

"Can you stop being so ridiculous? We were just talking about the magic of the Wet Bone Forest! How did you suddenly start talking to me like that? And even hitting me—pui!"

"How can my mere immortal techniques compare to yours?"

Nara walked straight along the laurel-lined road, speaking with conviction.

"Besides, you were the one who bit first this time!"

"If you hadn't spoken so sincerely and movingly, I definitely...maybe I could have restrained myself."

Upon hearing this, Tsunade felt both joy and wariness.

As Konoha's top beauty, Tsunade is well aware of her own attractiveness to the opposite sex.

Tsunade was delighted by the affection and attachment shown by Nara Rinka.

But she was genuinely worried that the other person would pounce on her...

If Nara Rinka really intended to do something, given the difference in their strength, Tsunade wouldn't even be able to refuse him.

But no matter what...

Tsunade absolutely would not allow herself to be given away in this underground research facility!

How utterly depraved they were!

"No means no. Not today, not tonight... not either!"

Tsunade firmly rejected Nara's invitation to a bed-sharing contest.

"Nara, wake up! You're the frontline commander!"

"I accept that you sneaked back from the front lines, after all, that's a fact, but I absolutely cannot accept that you were hiding in the rear and messing around while the war was raging."

"Let's get down to business! Are you going to sign a psychic contract with Shikkotsu Forest, or more precisely, with the Living Slug?"

Seeing Tsunade's unwavering resolve, Nara Rinka could only sigh inwardly.

How can anyone refuse a piece of fatty mutton that's been delivered right to their mouth?

But since Tsunade had already said all that, Nara Rinka had no way to force her to go against her wishes.

He likes to take initiative, but he doesn't like to force others.

"Sigh, of course I want to make a contract with the immortals of Shikkotsu Forest."

Nara Rinkaku said listlessly, her eyebrows drooping.

"But signing a contract requires the mutual agreement of both parties, right?"

"Okay, okay, stop throwing a tantrum like a child."

Tsunade originally planned to hug Nara Rinka to comfort him and ease his disappointment.

But as soon as she raised her hands, she quickly forced herself to change her posture and instead patted the other person's shoulder.

We mustn't let things go wrong!

"I have a scroll of the psychic contract from Shikkotsu Forest. I'll bring it over later."

Tsunade cleared her mind of distractions and gave a brief introduction to the situation in Shikkotsu Forest, before giving a detailed explanation.

"All you need to do is sign your name on the psychic contract, summon the live slug, and then leave the rest to me."

"Slugs have a gentle and docile nature. Based on my understanding of them, they generally do not refuse other people's requests."

"With me stepping in, the live slug shouldn't refuse."

Faced with such a Tsunade, what could Nara Ranke possibly say?

Big Fat Sheep's soft rice is so delicious!

Tsunade quickly left the underground research facility and soon returned with a huge scroll.

"Are the names on this scroll those of the past contractors of the Shikkotsu Forest?"

Nara Rinka looked at the huge scroll spread out in front of him, with blood-red characters and five-finger marks evenly distributed in each compartment.

The newest name on the scroll is "Rope Tree".

And before Nawaki was Tsunade.

But looking further ahead, he saw neither the name Nara Rinka in his heart nor any other familiar name.

"The Great Pillar's name isn't on the Shikkotsu Forest's summoning contract scroll, so he's not a contractor of Shikkotsu Forest. So... where did the Great Pillar acquire his Sage Mode?"

"Yes, this scroll was given to me personally by the Living Slug. It records the names of every contractor in the Wet Bone Forest over the past thousands of years."

Tsunade's gaze swept over the name "Rope Tree," her eyes darkening slightly, but she quickly concealed it.

"Nara, write your name on it with your own blood, then imprint all five of your fingerprints with blood. You don't need me to teach you the rest... I'll excuse myself for now."

Tsunade, who couldn't stand the sight of blood, took the initiative to leave.

Nara Rinka followed her instructions and left his blood mark on the contract scroll in Shikkotsu Forest.

After the bloodstains had completely seeped into the scroll, Nara Ranke silently refined his chakra. Before Tsunade could appear, he directly activated the [Summoning Jutsu] formation, and a Chunin-level chakra was poured into the summoning array.

Bang!

A cloud of smoke exploded above the spirit communication array.

As the smoke gradually dissipated.

A palm-sized, blue-white slug appeared on the floor of the underground research institute.

Along with it came an exceptionally gentle voice.

"So, are you my summoner?"

Second update.

I've become an immortal again...

(End of this chapter)