" Wake up, Natsume. "
Katsuyu Sage spoke up. " This is your first time performing sensor tasks. Don't rush it, or you might run into problems. "
Natsume, who had been in a meditative state, immediately opened his eyes.
He did feel a bit under the weather.
If he continued sensing, he might end up petrified or experience other strange phenomena. Then, he'd turn into a stone waiting for his wife.
" At this stage, you need external objects to assist your sensing. "
Katsuyu Sage's gentle voice rang out again. " Once you can do it without external assistance and master the tricks, you can move on to the next stage. "
" How long will it take approximately? "
Natsume remembered that even with Naruto Uzumaki's talent, it took him a week to no longer need frog oil for assistance.
But Naruto only spent a little over half a month in total practicing Sage Mode, which was extremely fast.
In contrast, Jiraiya was incredibly slow.
" If you're lucky, it'll only take a few days. If not, it's hard to say. The longest I've seen a contractee take was a year. "
Katsuyu Sage said, reminiscing.
What a wide range.
Natsume got up, put on his clothes, and planned to go home and take a shower.
He was all sticky and it was annoying.
" That's enough training for today. Come back tomorrow. "
Katsuyu Sage paused for a moment and then added, " If you'd like to stay in Shikkotsu Forest for a while, I'd be more than happy to have you. "
She even sounded a bit excited at the end. It's all because of loneliness.
Unfortunately, Tsunade and Natsume had things to attend to in Konoha Village and couldn't stay.
They performed the Reverse Summoning Jutsu.
The two of them returned home.
Natsume immediately rushed to the bathroom to take a shower.
Tsunade lay on the sofa, turned on the TV, but was lost in thought.
The kids have truly grown up.
What does the future have in store?
Tsunade was getting a bit frustrated thinking about it.
But anyway, she'd wait until Natsume successfully mastered Sage Mode and then keep her distance.
After all, she had promised to see it through.
In the afternoon, Natsume took some time to visit the Gunma Casino on Booklet Street.
Because of Shisui Uchiha, he had specifically built a small underground laboratory for Kabuto Yakushi.
" How's the situation? "
Natsume opened the door, and a strong smell of medicine wafted out.
" Shisui Uchiha is out of danger. "
Kabuto didn't even look up as he replied. " But it'll take some time for him to wake up. "
" That's good. "
Natsume nodded and then reminded him, " You have to keep an eye on him. Make sure he doesn't try to kill himself. "
" Don't worry. He won't have the chance to commit suicide. "
Kabuto said calmly.
You're really something.
Natsume could already see the makings of a future supervillain in Kabuto.
" Then you keep working. I won't bother you. "
He knew nothing about this stuff. Staying here would only make him seem like a brat.
Then, he went to visit Ena Uzumaki for a while and then went home.
Half a month later, Natsume officially entered the next and most difficult stage of Sage Mode training.
It involves drawing Natural Energy into his body and achieving a perfect 1:1:1 ratio balance with his physical energy and spiritual energy, ultimately condensing Sage Chakra.
It's a stage that consumes a lot of time.
But Natsume wasn't worried at all. Instead, he was quite happy.
The reason was simple.
Heh heh.
He could prolong his time as a pillow user.
He couldn't miss the opportunity Tsunade had given him.
Anyway, the ninja world was relatively peaceful during this period.
The biggest villains, the Akatsuki organization, were busy making money.
Konoha Village and the Uchiha clan were busy looking for the missing Shisui Uchiha and the mysterious Wood Release expert.
There were no major incidents in Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure.
However, Kiri was in deep trouble.
Because Obito Uchiha was avenging Rin Nohara.
Natsume planned to go there and earn some destiny value after he successfully trained Sage Mode.
It was another day when his Chakra was exhausted.
He felt his feet were soft. He forced himself to say hello to the Katsuyu Sage and left Shikkotsu Forest.
When Tsunade was free, she would come to watch him train. When she was busy and couldn't come, the Katsuyu Sage would take care of him.
Booklet Street.
Natsume fell into Ena Uzumaki's arms, closed his eyes, looking completely exhausted.
"Give me a massage."
"Just take a bite out of me."
Ena Uzumaki stretched out her fair arm and placed it in front of his mouth.
She knew he had been training Sage Mode recently and often ran out of Chakra.
"What silly things are you talking about?"
Natsume naturally wouldn't do such a thing as killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Ena Uzumaki was a bit helpless. After a moment, she gritted her teeth, and a blush appeared on her face.
Natsume still kept his eyes closed. After two seconds, he wondered why she hadn't moved. Just then, a grape was stuffed into his mouth.
The next second, the sweet grape juice burst between his teeth.
"It's the effect of the Yin Seal, although I haven't completed my training yet."
Ena Uzumaki whispered an explanation and then reached out to massage Natsume's forehead.
Natsume was stunned and didn't know what to say.
All his thoughts could be summed up in one sentence.
Yin Seal, the best ever!
Natsume relaxed his body, leaned against Ena Uzumaki's soft and delicate body, and skillfully slipped his right hand in to massage her.
Ena Uzumaki's eyes instantly welled up with tears, looking pitiful.
At the same time, she was a bit worried.
What if Karin accidentally walked in? That would be very troublesome.
After just ten minutes, Natsume's body was filled with Chakra again.
He couldn't help but sigh that the Uzumaki clan was truly blessed with unique talents.
He fell asleep during the massage and didn't know how much time had passed when he woke up.
It was very comfortable.
Plus, he was exhausted from training Sage Mode in the morning.
(The part about wiping fingers and the unclear description is hard to correct without proper context, so it remains as it might need further author clarification. Here we just keep it as in the original text for now.)
Natsume wiped his fingers. Due to his unconscious actions earlier, his fingers had experienced the hardship of walking in the rain and mud.
"I'll come again tomorrow."
"Okay."
Ena Uzumaki lowered her head and replied softly.
After he left, she seemed to lose all her strength and lay down on the sofa.
It's tiring to focus on one thing, but she has to focus on three at the same time.
When Natsume passed by the Ninja Academy, he stopped.
He looked up and saw some people sparring on the playground not far away.
Furthermore, they were acquaintances.
Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.
Natsume got interested and leaned forward.
"Who are you...?"
Hirayuki Taira, the teacher in charge of Class A, Grade One, noticed him and asked.
"I'm Natsume. I know Naruto and Sasuke, so I came over to have a look."
Natsume replied while watching the battle in front of him.
The two had just started competing in Taijutsu and using ninja tools.
The battle was quite evenly - matched, and it was hard to tell who had the upper hand for now.
"Oh, it's you."
Hirayuki Taira said with a smile, "I've heard of your name. You're really something."
Natsume's battle feats had been highly publicized by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Now, like the former Kakashi Hatake, he was a well - known genius in Konoha Village.
The situation in the arena changed.
Since Sasuke Uchiha couldn't gain an advantage for a long time, he immediately stepped back, gritted his teeth, and began to make Hand Seals.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
However, it wasn't the huge fireball from the original story, but a small fireball the size of a basketball.
Apparently, he hadn't mastered it yet.
Still, for his age, it was quite remarkable.
Unfortunately, he met Naruto Uzumaki.
Sasuke Uchiha had already had quite an edge, but Naruto Uzumaki was on a whole different level.
He started with a max - level Chakra amount.
Wind Release: Gale Palm!
Naruto Uzumaki clapped his hands, and the Chakra transformed into a violent gale that gushed out from his palms, blowing out the fireball and sending Sasuke Uchiha flying.
"Naruto Uzumaki wins."
Hirayuki Taira immediately announced, "In this assessment, Naruto Uzumaki still ranks first."
Naruto Uzumaki ignored him and quickly ran in front of Sasuke Uchiha, reaching out his hand with a very bright smile.
"Sasuke, are you okay? I was just lucky to win this time. Next time, it's hard to say. Let's work hard together!"
Sasuke Uchiha snorted, slapped his hand away, and was extremely pouty and unappeased.
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