Chapter 67: Naraku Signs with Shikkotsu Forest, Tsunade's Training, and Danzō's New Lead
Since Naraku had just signed the contract with Shikkotsu Forest, Tsunade brought him along to report to the Slug Sage.
Naraku was also very curious about the Slug Sage. In the original story, among the three holy summoning lands, the Slug Sage was by far the most mysterious immortal—it never made an appearance.
The only known information was that the Slug Sage was extremely massive. During the Fourth Great Ninja War, even with Tsunade and Sakura (wrapped in Nine-Tails chakra cloak) both using the Strength of a Hundred Seal: Release, they could only summon one-tenth of the Slug Sage's body.
Tsunade and Naraku walked through Shikkotsu Forest. The ground here was abnormally damp, as if it would never dry out, giving off a gloomy, eerie feeling.
What they stepped on was not ordinary soil, but stones smoothed and eroded by endless rain, forcing every step to be taken carefully to avoid slipping.
Even stranger, these stones protruded from the ground in various shapes and sizes, resembling a vast stone forest.
Some looked like tall trees, others like twisted vines, all interwoven into a unique landscape. And all these stones were pure white, making the entire Shikkotsu Forest appear especially mysterious and bizarre.
Besides the ground and stones, dense fog permeated Shikkotsu Forest, shrouding everything. This fog greatly restricted visibility and even made breathing feel difficult.
Naraku watched as Tsunade followed her memory to arrive in front of a massive mountain. Tsunade respectfully said: "Slug Sage!"
What shocked Naraku happened next. A thick, gentle voice came from the huge white mountain in front of him: "It's little Tsunade! Is something the matter?"
Only then did Naraku realize that this giant white mountain was actually the Slug Sage's body. Because of Shikkotsu Forest's low visibility and the Slug Sage's enormous size, Naraku could only see a vast expanse of white flesh.
"Slug Sage, this is my disciple Uchiha Naraku. He has now signed a contract with Shikkotsu Forest, so I came to report it to you." As Tsunade's words fell—
The Slug Sage split off a small slug. Naraku looked at the somewhat slimy-looking slug and felt a bit grossed out. But the little slug crawled straight onto Naraku without any hesitation—giving him an instant wave of goosebumps.
Then Naraku discovered the slug only looked slimy—its body actually wasn't sticky at all, and it even felt a little cool.
It seemed the small slug had memorized Naraku's scent. The Slug Sage said: "Understood, little Tsunade. From now on, this person is a qualified contractor of Shikkotsu Forest."
After that, Tsunade prepared to leave with Naraku. Naraku was a bit dazed.
He had thought the Slug Sage might be shocked by his physique or something else, perhaps see him as a threat and prepare countermeasures—he had even readied some excuses and life-saving measures.
Or maybe the Slug Sage would see his extraordinary potential and personally teach him some Sage Mode techniques.
The most impossible scenario he imagined was the Slug Sage recognizing him as a destined leader, bowing down immediately because he was clearly the future ruler of the ninja world.
But the Slug Sage completely ignored him—even didn't speak a single word to him.
Naraku thought: if this were a hot-blooded protagonist, he'd probably throw out a line like: "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—don't bully the young and poor!"
But Naraku was sometimes quite pragmatic. Looking at the Slug Sage's terrifying size and the immense Sage chakra contained within, he decided not to test his life-saving trump cards against it.
...
At this moment, Danzō was once again waiting in his office for news from his subordinates. The pursuit of Mifune was simply because he suspected this foreign samurai might have stolen intelligence while staying in the Uchiha clan for a few days.
Especially any intelligence related to Uchiha Naraku. Plus, Naraku had said he was giving this man a wooden sword—Danzō wanted to see what was so special about a wooden sword personally gifted by the master forger Naraku.
In truth, ever since discovering Naraku's extraordinary talent, Danzō had always wanted to bring Naraku under his command to help him seize the Hokage position.
But Uchiha Naraku was always slippery and reclusive. After Root ninjas had invited him for a late-night meeting, he had stayed in the Uchiha Great Elder's house ever since.
He had also made connections with many strong people in the village, and Sarutobi Hiruzen was watching closely—making it impossible for Danzō to use force.
Suddenly a Root ninja appeared before Danzō: "This is the message 17 transmitted back before dying!"
Danzō read the report: Powerful samurai… speed too fast to use ninjutsu… ignores kunai defense… wooden sword that turns black and unstoppable… can fire powerful sword waves.
In Danzō's view, these abilities far beyond ordinary samurai must come from the seemingly simple wooden sword gifted by Naraku. Danzō felt no sadness for his dead subordinate—instead he smiled and said: "Uchiha Naraku! I've finally caught your handle!"
...
After leaving Shikkotsu Forest, Tsunade began new training for Naraku: "Naraku! Your swordsmanship and chakra are already very powerful right now. But you're still lacking some conventional ninjutsu. Before we leave, I'll give you some basic ninjutsu scrolls to round out your fighting style.
What are your basic chakra natures?"
Naraku didn't hide it and directly told Tsunade: "My basic chakra natures are Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, Earth."
Tsunade didn't ask whether Naraku had Yin or Yang chakra natures. The Uchiha clan is guaranteed to have innate Yin chakra.
And Yang chakra isn't a special ability exclusive to any particular bloodline or clan—it can be obtained through training and cultivation. (In Boruto, Sarada, despite being Uchiha, mastered it through training and practice.)
After hearing Naraku's answer, Tsunade was a bit surprised.
Naraku was actually full-attribute. The last ninja famous for full-attribute chakra was Sarutobi Hiruzen. His full-attribute chakra, combined with rich ninjutsu knowledge and terrifying taijutsu, created the future title of Konoha's "strongest" Hokage.
"Naraku, if you're willing to work harder on the path of a ninja—with your talent, you can absolutely reach Kage-level combat power in the future!" Tsunade gave him an extremely high evaluation.
Afterward Tsunade explained her own specialties to Naraku: "I mainly focus on conventional medical ninjutsu, the related Strength of a Hundred Seal, the Strength of a Hundred Technique, and the Senju clan's Strength of a Hundred Fists.
You must learn some medical ninjutsu. The Strength of a Hundred Seal can only be used by females right now—if you want to use it, you'll need to develop it yourself. Finally, you can try the Senju clan's Strength of a Hundred Fists. This ninjutsu requires extremely high chakra control and a massive amount of chakra."
(Note: At first I also thought Strength of a Hundred Fists was a branch of Tsunade's medical ninjutsu, but Baidu shows it's a secret technique of the Senju clan.)
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