The Dragon Vein, a legendary source of seemingly endless energy.Chapter 323: Space-Time Training, and Piled-Up Duties
However, as Natsuro absorbed it, he discovered that the legend wasn't entirely true, because any form of energy could eventually be depleted.
Although the Dragon Vein could regenerate, once the absorption rate surpassed the regeneration rate, its "infinite" energy wasn't truly infinite.
Moreover, he also noticed that a large portion of the Dragon Vein's energy had already been consumed, most likely from the previous reversal of time and space, which had cost a significant amount of energy.
Even so, the Dragon Vein still contained an immense amount of power. For Natsuro, after the Grael Ore Vein, this was finally another energy source he could absorb.
He absorbed the Dragon Vein's power, converting it into natural energy, and began to cleanse his body just like during his previous transformation, striving for a further breakthrough.
Though the efficiency was somewhat slow, Natsuro wasn't in a rush. In his main world, his Spirit Clone was still active, so nothing serious would happen.
Even though it was just a Spirit Clone, the strength it could wield was among the top in that world. Plus, with Sasuke and Naruto there, Konoha's stability was simply off the charts.
Unlike when he absorbed the Grael Ore Vein, where his physique was still weak and absorption efficiency was low, now his absorption was like a whale gulping water.
However, the pace of transformation had slowed considerably.
After all, his body had already reached an extraordinary level, and further improvement was naturally much harder.
Several days later, Natsuro slowly opened his eyes. He felt his body was nearing saturation.
However, even if it was saturated, it didn't mean a breakthrough, it merely meant he had reached a perfect state, as if the next step would elevate him to another dimension...
"The Six Paths level?" Natsuro pondered. Reaching that level clearly wasn't easy, but he now had the confidence that, after fully fusing the three Sage Modes, he would achieve it.
He looked at the Dragon Vein again. There was still a lot of energy left.
But if he kept absorbing it, he felt the Dragon Vein might lose its ability to regenerate.
Natsuro understood the principle of "draining the pond to catch fish." Even though this wasn't his own world, he didn't intend to completely drain it.
After all, who knew what disaster might happen if the Dragon Vein was exhausted? He didn't want to cause trouble for Menma.
Besides, any remaining energy he needed could be absorbed from the Dragon Vein back in his own world, which had surplus energy. Moreover, he thought that he might even shift his training ground to the Dragon Vein area in the future.
That way, the energy needed for Sage Mode training would be limitless, and perhaps sheer quantity could lead to a qualitative change.
Natsuro opened his eyes, resealed the portion of the Dragon Vein he had unlocked, and then sat down again, not to train, but to sense the faint imprint he had detected earlier.
After a long while, he sensed multiple imprints, but most were the Flying Thunder God marks from this world, mostly concentrated around Konoha.
That wasn't what he wanted. He wasn't anxious and kept searching patiently. Since he had sensed it before, he believed he could do so again.
Finally, he faintly sensed an imprint, and it became clearer and clearer.
Then, to Natsuro's surprise, the imprint seemed to change shape.
Under his astonished senses, the imprint turned into something very familiar.
"Umbreon?"
Natsuro murmured. It turned out that what he had sensed wasn't one of his Flying Thunder God imprints, but Umbreon!
He knew Umbreon could function as a Flying Thunder God mark, but he hadn't expected that, instead of sensing his Flying Thunder God array, he sensed it instead.
This indicated that Umbreon's connection was even stronger than a typical Flying Thunder God mark!
Still, Natsuro didn't overthink it. Since he had a target, he didn't hesitate. His chakra surged, and in the next moment, his figure disappeared from the Dragon Vein area as if he had never been there.
...
Shikkotsu Forest.
Natsuro's Spirit Clone was training there when suddenly, his true body appeared.
The moment the true body arrived, both Natsuro's real body and Spirit Clone froze.
In that instant, the memories between the main soul and the secondary soul began to merge. Natsuro's true body gained all the memories of the Spirit Clone's training, and the Spirit Clone simultaneously digested the memories of the main body's return.
Soon, both the real Natsuro and the Spirit Clone opened their eyes and exchanged smiles, their minds had synchronized once again.
Then, the Spirit Clone disappeared from the Shikkotsu Forest. Now that the main body had returned, it could handle training. The Spirit Clone needed to go back to Konoha to deal with accumulated work.
After all, as the Hokage, he couldn't be absent for too long. If it were only Shikaku complaining, it would be fine, but the real headache would be the advisors having objections.
Especially since, this time, Natsuro didn't exactly have a good excuse...
After the Spirit Clone left, he played with Umbreon that had just jumped onto his shoulder. He wasn't too concerned about Umbreon's origins.
Now he understood that the Spirit Clone could sense him across dimensions through Umbreon, and after synchronizing time, he could also sense it.
Indeed, if Natsuro were still in the past, he wouldn't have been able to detect Umbreon. Only after returning to the future through the Dragon Vein could he sense it.
This proved that without Umbreon's boost, his sensing abilities were not strong enough to detect another world.
Still, even though the Spirit Clone couldn't figure out what Umbreon really was, neither could Natsuro. He only knew Umbreon wasn't simple, and shouldn't have been created by his past self.
Yet somehow, it was created by him...
At this moment, he held Umbreon in his palm. The little creature tilted its head and looked at him with affectionate crimson eyes.
"What else are you capable of?" Natsuro asked softly.
Umbreon seemed to think about it for a moment. Then, its eyes lit up, and it suddenly leaped onto Natsuro's shoulder and teleported them to a location marked by the Flying Thunder God.
He paused, he hadn't activated Flying Thunder God himself, so it was Umbreon who did it?
But this wasn't too surprising. It had previously helped Kurama escape from the seal, so it made sense that it could teleport to any visible location or any Flying Thunder God mark.
"Amazing," Natsuro praised as he petted the Moon Sprite.
For him, it wasn't extremely useful, since he could already use Flying Thunder God himself.
However, what was useful was Umbreon's ability to teleport within visible range even without a Flying Thunder God mark, though this required a high degree of coordination between him and Umbreon.
Natsuro wouldn't dare let Umbreon use that ability lightly; if he didn't react properly, it could backfire.
Still, used occasionally, it might have miraculous effects. He thought, if he didn't need to throw a Flying Thunder God kunai, his opponent would have no way to predict when he would teleport.
After all, the biggest weakness of Flying Thunder God was the mark itself, it could be destroyed, and it telegraphed the teleport location.
Of course, most enemies couldn't react even if they knew. Otherwise, the Fourth Hokage wouldn't have dominated the battlefield with it.
But the Fourth Hokage had fought different opponents back then, and he would face much tougher ones now.
Still, looking at Umbreon, Natsuro thought since Umbreon could teleport within visible range, maybe he could eventually do that too, and teleport without needing a Flying Thunder God mark.
If he could, it would mark a complete evolution, one that was a qualitative leap.
However, now wasn't the time to study this. Nor was it time to train at the Dragon Vein.
First, he had to fully digest the gains from this journey.
During his time in another dimension, the Spirit Clone hadn't actually trained much, it had mainly been sensing space-time energy. But the Spirit Clone had hit a bottleneck, it could sense, but couldn't truly comprehend it without firsthand experience.
But Natsuro's main body had experienced it, twice even. So, the problems that stumped the Spirit Clone were instantly solved once he returned.
He needed to convert these insights into real strength immediately.
Natsuro now had a vague idea of the next step in his path, something he had long sought but never achieved...
Combining Wind Release with space, forging a path completely different from the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, which was an ultimate path of cutting.
In his current optimal condition, without any hesitation, he immediately plunged into training.
....
Konoha, Hokage's Office.
Shikaku and Shikamaru were at their wits' end, buried under mountains of paperwork.
Shikamaru wasn't as capable as Shikaku yet, and even though Shikaku had Natsuro's prior arrangements, he couldn't wield the Hokage's authority as freely as Natsuro could.
Thus, his absence had the two Nara men working non-stop from morning to night.
"Seriously, Natsuro just dumped all this mess on us..." Shikamaru groaned, slumping over the desk.
"Stop complaining. Being overwhelmed like this just shows your lack of ability," Shikaku said as he massaged his temples, looking equally stressed.
Some decisions still couldn't be made without Natsuro's input, and waiting for him was the most troublesome part.
When Natsuro was around, whatever he said went, as long as it benefited Konoha, even the advisors wouldn't argue much.
But Shikaku couldn't command the same authority.
Meetings had to be held, and they wasted huge amounts of time just to confirm final decisions, which greatly slowed down their efficiency.
When Shikamaru heard his father's words, he couldn't refute it. After all, when Natsuro was still around, he knew that while his father wasn't exactly relaxed, he wasn't so busy that he had to work overtime late into the night either...
So, was he really that incompetent? Shikamaru began to doubt himself.
At that moment, a faint smile appeared in Shikaku's eyes. Truthfully, he was very satisfied with his son's abilities. He had only said that to keep Shikamaru from becoming arrogant or complacent.
The real reason for their current slow handling of affairs was exactly what he had mentioned earlier, it wasn't Shikamaru's fault.
Shikaku believed that Shikamaru would become an excellent Hokage secretary in the future.
In fact, he sincerely hoped Shikamaru would meet a Hokage like Natsuro. Otherwise, seeing the ever-growing pile of documents on the desk, he figured Shikamaru and the future Hokage would have their hands full.
After all, Konoha was steadily developing for the better, and the better it developed, the more work there would be for the Hokage, it was an unavoidable reality.
Moreover, with Natsuro's capabilities, Konoha's growth wouldn't stagnate. Shikaku figured the Hokage's workload might even double in the future...
By then, the Hokage and the secretary would be drowning in work.
Shikaku chuckled to himself. By that time, he would probably be retired, and it would be Shikamaru's problem. He could just go fishing like the Third Hokage and stay away from politics.
At that moment, Natsuro suddenly appeared in the Hokage's office.
When Shikamaru saw him, his eyes lit up as if seeing a savior. He exclaimed, "Natsuro, you finally decided to come back!"
"Ahem!" Shikaku quickly got up from the Hokage's seat. Seeing Shikamaru's reaction, he coughed twice to remind him not to be so rude.
"What happened?" Natsuro looked a bit surprised at Shikamaru, who was acting very differently from how he remembered. Was he really the type to show that kind of expression?
"Nothing serious, Hokage-sama. Shikamaru's just been too busy," Shikaku replied.
"Oh? So Shikamaru became your secretary while I was away?" Natsuro asked.
"Yes."
"In that case, how about letting Shikamaru continue as my secretary afterward?" Natsuro said, raising an eyebrow.
"Spare me. I'd like to enjoy a few more easy years," Shikamaru replied, his usual dead-fish eyes returning as he weakly complained.
Natsuro laughed and sat down at his desk, not pushing the matter any further.
"Hokage-sama, here are the important and urgent documents I've sorted recently," Shikaku said, handing over a thick stack of papers.
Natsuro glanced at the thickness, frowned, then looked at the sky outside and sighed. It looked like he was pulling an all-nighter today.
He opened the documents. They not only contained specific details but also Shikaku's suggestions.
He quickly went through them, making approvals and specific arrangements.
Shikamaru, still in the office, was a bit stunned by how fast Natsuro worked. He asked, "Don't you need to discuss these with the advisors first?"
"Why would I need to discuss them?" Natsuro looked at Shikamaru in confusion.
Immediately, Shikamaru widened his eyes and shot a slightly accusatory look at Shikaku. So this was why everything had been moving so slowly!
Shikaku blushed slightly and coughed twice without offering any defense.
"But we still need to notify them," Natsuro said casually. "Shikamaru, since you're here, take these and inform the advisors. Make it quick, we've still got plenty to do." He handed him some documents.
"Okay." Shikamaru instinctively accepted them, then froze. Wait a second, shouldn't his role as secretary have automatically ended when Natsuro returned? Why had he agreed so naturally...?
Still, seeing Natsuro and Shikaku back to full working mode, Shikamaru didn't complain. A hint of admiration flashed in his eyes as he carried the documents out.
This time, it was not a discussion, it was just notification. Shikamaru had never felt so empowered in his life. He was going to enjoy seeing the look on those advisors' faces!
After a full day of hard work, the pile of documents on the Hokage's desk finally shrank to a manageable size, leaving only some minor paperwork that wasn't urgent.
Shikamaru finally understood why Shikaku had been able to leave work on time before. The real secret was efficiency.
While he had helped today, the previous workload hadn't been this massive. Most of today's documents were what he and his father had accumulated...
Natsuro also understood that Shikaku, as acting Hokage, couldn't wield as much authority as him. So he didn't blame them at all, in fact, this showed just how capable the Nara father and son were.
Stretching, Natsuro asked, "Where's the mission report for the Dragon Vein mission?"
"Here," Shikaku quickly handed over a document, adding, "It seems Centipede from Sunagakure disappeared inside the Dragon Vein, so the mission might be considered a failure."
"The centipede's dead," Natsuro said bluntly, skimming through the report. As expected, it mentioned Naruto's "experience problem," something even Kakashi had noticed.
Shikaku nodded. He didn't know how Natsuro knew, but he trusted him completely.
"Shikamaru, go to the Intelligence Division and have them inform Suna about it. After that, you can clock out for the day," Natsuro said.
"Got it!" Shikamaru's eyes lit up, and he dashed off. It was obvious he wouldn't be setting foot in the Hokage office again anytime soon.
"You saw the issue with Naruto, right?" Natsuro asked.
Shikaku nodded. It was a significant problem. While raw strength could solve many things, better preparation was always an advantage.
"Pick a few B-rank and A-rank missions for Naruto to complete," Natsuro said.
"Yes." This was actually Shikaku's plan too, but as acting Hokage, he hadn't been allowed to let the village's Jinchūriki leave on missions, the old advisors had opposed it.
"Also, restrict him from using the Nine-Tails' power unless he's in real danger, and assign Kakashi to supervise him," Natsuro continued. After thinking for a moment, he added, "And send Hinata Hyūga and Shizune along too."
Shikaku frowned slightly and said, "Kakashi and Hinata are fine, but Shizune... she's Tsunade-sama's personal assistant."
"It's fine. Tsunade-sensei will agree," Natsuro said with a smile.
"Alright." Since Natsuro was so confident, Shikaku didn't question it further. He thought for a moment, he had heard Shikamaru mention Naruto and Hinata's relationship before.
Thus, Shikaku understood why Hinata was included. As for Shizune...
He gradually realized what was going on and smiled, shaking his head. So that's how it is... Looks like Konoha's two old bachelors are finally finding love.
Speaking of old bachelors, the oldest ones were, of course, the Legendary Sannin. But even they seemed to have signs of romance recently...
Shikaku nodded thoughtfully, feeling relieved. Everything was moving in a good direction.
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