Naruto: Starting as Tsunade's Desk Mate

Page 21

"Brother Hatake Sakumo is indeed a master swordsman. A few days ago, we accidentally encountered a Jonin from Iwagakure, and it was only thanks to Brother Hatake that we were able to kill him. I heard from Sarutobi-sensei that Brother Hatake will be promoted to Chunin in a few days. He's really amazing."

Tsunade kept chattering away, and An Yan watched her with a smile, thinking that she was really beautiful.

Tsunade spoke for a long time without getting a reply from An Yan, so she stopped talking, nudged An Yan who seemed a little lost in thought, and said with a hint of dissatisfaction, "An Yan, are you even listening to me?"

An Yan came to his senses and smiled gently, "Of course, I remember every word Princess Tsunade said. Jiraiya ate the insects from Mount Myōboku, right? Brother Hatake is going to become a chunin, right?"

Tsunade suddenly brought her face close to An Yan's, looking at him suspiciously: "What were you thinking when you were looking at me just now?"

An Yan looked at the girl so close to him, his heart skipped a beat, and his face immediately turned red.

Tsunade took a few steps back, pointed at An Yan, and laughed, "You're definitely not thinking anything good."

Having lived two lives, An Yan took a deep breath to suppress the flutter in his heart and gave Tsunade a bright smile: "Tsunade is so beautiful, I was mesmerized for a moment. Tsunade's charm is truly great."

Tsunade blushed slightly. She coughed lightly, trying to remain calm, and pulled out a summoning contract scroll.

"Alright, we've been chatting for so long, but we haven't gotten down to business yet. Let's sign the psychic contract first?"

Tsunade squatted on the ground and unfurled the scroll. Lines of signatures were clearly visible. An Yan immediately recognized Tsunade's name, and further ahead was the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.

An Yan also squatted down, and following Tsunade's instructions, he first signed his name and then pressed his handprint. In the darkness, he felt a connection that seemed to exist but not to exist.

Is this all right?

An Yan turned to Tsunade and asked.

Tsunade shook her head and said, "Of course not, I'll introduce you to the Slug Sage."

Tsunade immediately began forming hand seals, pressing her hands to the ground to summon a small slug.

"Slug Sage, this is An Yan, my good friend. He will also use summoning magic to summon you in the future. You two should get along well."

An Yan nodded very politely to the Slug Immortal, "Hello, Slug Immortal, I am An Yan, it's a pleasure to meet you."

The Slug Sage's voice was gentle. She said softly, "It's nice to meet you, Xiao Anyan. I am a split of the Slug Sage, not the Slug Sage. Just call me Slug."

Chapter 40 Immortal Mode

"You jest. Even if you are part of the Slug Immortal, I should still call you Lord Slug," An Yan said with a smile.

The Slug Fairy is a gentle girl, and a common trait among girls is that they love to hear nice things.

The slug was clearly pleased to hear An Yan's words. This young man, An Yan, was much more pleasant to talk to than Tsunade, the descendant of her old friend.

Upon seeing the slug immortal, An Yan suddenly remembered something and immediately asked a question.

"Lord Slug, do you know about Dark Chakra?"

The slug said in a soft, sweet voice, "I've never heard of the concept of dark chakra. Xiao Anyan, tell me about its manifestations."

An Yan gathered his thoughts, looked around to make sure no one was nearby, and then began to speak.

"It's like this, Lord Slug. Our Second Hokage has been researching artificial tailed beasts. He believes that tailed beasts may be born from negative emotions such as resentment, despair, and pain in the ninja world. Therefore, he has been trying to collect the dark energy formed by these negative emotions, hoping to use it to create tailed beasts."

These dark energies, referred to as Dark Chakra by the Second Hokage, possess a corrosive effect on the mind. They can easily change the mind of a good person, turning them into a great villain. They can also corrupt the material things that bear their power, and this corrupted material also has a corrosive effect on the human spirit. No other properties have been discovered so far.

However, recently, a creature was born from the dark chakra formed from resentment and other negative emotions. This thing is immortal and indestructible, and no ninjutsu can destroy it. The Second Hokage could only helplessly seal it away. I think this thing is a menace. Do you have any way to eliminate it?

After listening to An Yan's long speech, the slug pondered for a moment before finally speaking. She was an immortal who had lived for countless years and had witnessed far too many things.

"You're probably referring to evil beings. In the era before chakra, these evil beings survived by exploiting the suffering of the human world and were collectively known as evil gods. Later, the Sage of Six Paths wiped out all the evil gods in the world, and these things ceased to exist. These things require profound Yin-Yang Release techniques to eliminate, or the spiritual power possessed by priestesses and Onmyoji thousands of years ago. However, it seems that these people no longer exist."

An Yan frowned upon hearing this: "It seems there's no way to destroy this thing; we can only seal it away for future generations to deal with."

Tsunade looked at An Yan with concern: "Are all the things you're researching this dangerous? Be careful there, or you might accidentally lose your life."

An Yan nodded solemnly to Tsunade: "Don't worry, Tsunade, I'm still thinking about protecting you in the future. I will definitely not die easily."

The slug waited until the two finished speaking before saying lightly, "There are ways to eliminate such evil creatures, it's just a bit troublesome."

Tsunade's eyes lit up, and she picked up the slug and shook it from side to side, saying, "What do you mean? Is there any other way?"

The slug fairy seemed a little dizzy from being shaken, and it took him a while to recover.

"The simplest way is to find a volcano crater, throw this thing in, since there are no people living around the volcano and no dark chakra gathering there. This thing will die and come back to life a few times before it really dies."

"What other options are there?" Tsunade interjected.

"The second method is that you can try cultivating immortal techniques. Natural energy can destroy many immortal and indestructible things. After all, there is nothing greater than nature."

What is magic?

An Yan asked with a curious look. He was pretending not to know, because if he didn't speak up, Tsunade might steer the conversation to something else.

The Slug Sage remained silent for a moment, seemingly considering what to say. An Yan and Tsunade simply watched her quietly, waiting for her answer.

"Sage Techniques are generally a perfect fusion of natural energy, physical energy, and spiritual energy in a one-to-one ratio to form Sage Chakra. One can master Sage Chakra and maintain a stable state, which is also known as Sage Mode."

"After entering Sage Mode, a ninja's physical attributes are enhanced in all aspects, the power of ninjutsu is greatly increased, the sensory ability is greatly improved, and the body's recovery ability is greatly improved. That's roughly it."

Tsunade suddenly raised her hand and said, "I remember Grandpa seemed to have practiced Sage Mode, is that right?"

The slug nodded. "Yes, Lord Hashirama's strength is extraordinary, and his Sage Mode techniques possess earth-shattering power."

Tsunade became interested. "Can An Yan and I train in Sage Mode?"

Slug looked at Tsunade and An Yan, slightly troubled: "Sage Mode training in Shikkotsu Forest requires a huge amount of chakra and life force. Your life force is a little lacking, so it will probably be difficult for you to train."

Tsunade looked disappointed: "Oh, I see. What a pity."

An Yan patted Tsunade on the shoulder to cheer her up, and then looked at Slug and said, "Lady Slug, would you mind telling us how to sense natural energy? I can try to study it myself."

The slug shook its head: "Humans who want to cultivate the Sage Mode of Shikkotsu Forest need to soak in the acidic pool to feel the energy of nature. Without strong vitality, it's impossible. The acidic water will directly corrode your bodies. Back then, Hashirama Senju was hit by the slime during his battle with me and mastered Sage Mode without a teacher. You can't learn that."

An Yan nodded, indicating that he understood. He thought of Orochimaru's research on natural energy—the cursed seal. Since Orochimaru could do it, there was no reason why Tobirama Senju couldn't. He must have something similar. An Yan planned to ask him about it later.

Tsunade looked disappointed. Sage Mode seemed to be a very powerful thing, but she couldn't cultivate it.

After exchanging a few more words with An Yan, the Slug Immortal disappeared and returned to the Wet Bone Forest.

An Yan then used his spirit communication technique to successfully summon the little slug.

"Okay, it seems there are no problems. Thank you for your help, Lord Slug."

The little slug shook its head: "No trouble at all, Xiao An Yan. See you next time if there's nothing else."

An Yan waved his hand: "Goodbye, Lord Slug!"

The little slug nodded happily, then disappeared with a bang, having already returned to the Wet Bone Forest.

An Yan turned to Tsunade and asked, "So, what should we do now?"

Tsunade, rubbing her hands together, pulled out two stoppers: "How about we make a bet?"

An Yan revealed an arrogant smile: "Then you've asked for trouble. Come on, let's find a restaurant and sit down and have some fun."

The two of them slid down from the Hokage Rock and headed straight for the barbecue restaurant. Since becoming a ninja, An Yan had never worried about whether the food was expensive or not. Ninjas earned so much that they couldn't possibly eat it all.

Chapter 41 Hiruko's Ideas

Konoha Technology R&D Department.

"Sage Techniques? I haven't studied natural energy. In fact, the forbidden techniques I've developed alone are enough to make a ninja the pinnacle of the ninja world."

With his arms crossed, Tobirama Senju looked down at An Yan and said arrogantly.

An Yan scratched his head and asked doubtfully, "Isn't Lord Tobirama interested in why the summoning beasts of the three holy lands can live for thousands of years?"

Tobirama fell silent. He hadn't been interested in these things when he was younger, but now that he was over 50, he was starting to feel his strength declining.

In particular, Tobirama developed several forbidden techniques himself. Forbidden techniques are forbidden because they are harmful to the human body. This was especially true during the development process, and Tobirama had already clearly felt that he was not up to the task.

"I hadn't thought of that before. Do summoned beasts live long because of natural energy? Hmm, that's worth studying. It could be a new research topic."

Tobirama Senju stroked his chin, seemingly lost in thought.

An Yan offered his own idea: "The Impure World Reincarnation technique should be able to be combined with the development of Sage Techniques, allowing us to control those resurrected to practice Sage Techniques and find a Sage Chakra pattern suitable for us humans to cultivate."

An Yan clearly remembered that Minato's impure body could directly activate Sage Mode.

Apart from Hashirama, other people who use Sage Mode always have some animalistic characteristics. If placed in a fantasy world, it would be more like a demonic possession or something similar.

"What do you think I developed the Impure World Reincarnation technique for? They are perfect test subjects for other techniques. Also, An Yan, you've already learned the Summoning Jutsu, haven't you? Produce results from the Flying Thunder God technique as soon as possible."

Tobirama Senju stared at An Yan, his tone seemingly slightly displeased. Why was that?

An Yan didn't quite understand. Did they think he was getting too close to Tsunade?

If you can't figure something out, don't dwell on it. An Yan simply nodded in response and returned to his own territory to continue his research.

Conducting experiments is a long-term project. Fortunately, An Yan has the ability to create multiple shadow clones, which allows him to occasionally sneak out for some fresh air.

On this day, Sakumo Hatake was promoted to Chunin. At that time, Konoha did not have anything like the Chunin Exams. Once someone reached a certain level of strength, they were assessed in various aspects and promoted.

After receiving the message from Tsunade, An'yan notified Orochimaru and Hiruko, and the three of them agreed on a time to go out and celebrate after get off work.

"Orochimaru, how's your research going?"

The three of them rarely had time to relax, so they took a walk and chatted leisurely.

In response to Hiruko's question, Orochimaru calmly replied, "It's alright, I've already met my parents."

This means that Orochimaru has already mastered the forbidden technique of Impure World Reincarnation.

"He's really amazing. Orochimaru truly deserves to be called a genius that comes along only once every few decades."

An Yan praised it.

In response, Orochimaru said, "Although I know An Yan didn't mean it that way, I still feel like you're mocking me."

"A genius that comes along only once every few decades," was the Third Hokage's praise of Orochimaru.

However, compared to An Yan, he seems to fall short. If Orochimaru is a genius that appears only once every few decades, then what is An Yan? Is he a once-in-a-century talent?

"So far, I've only just mastered that technique; it's a long way from yielding any results. On the other hand, An Yan is already working on his second project. I wonder if you've made any progress yet?"

Hearing Orochimaru's praise, An Yan looked rather worried. He had recently been researching the Flying Thunder God Technique, trying to simplify it so that ordinary ninjas could learn it, but the difficulty was quite high, and he had not yet achieved any results.

However, based on his experience with the fourth generation, An Yan developed a technique called Flying Thunder God Guided Thunder, which can redirect the enemy's attacks to other locations.

However, this technique could only be used by Yasuie and Tobirama, so it wasn't considered a significant achievement.

Seeing An Yan shake his head with a bitter expression, Orochimaru and Hiruko exchanged glances and both felt a sense of relief. Their friend's genius was too great, putting a lot of pressure on them.