Seeing that the technique she had designed was finally working as intended, Uzumaki Shikou finally allowed herself to relax and drift off to sleep.
Having worked nonstop for days, she hadn't had a moment to truly relax or rest properly. Her chakra reserves were also heavily drained, so now, at last, she could truly take a break.
Haseo helped Shikou sit against a large tree, letting her relax here for a while, then he walked over toward Katsuyu.
A small slug first landed on Haseo's shoulder, then jumped onto the larger slug before sucking in a mouthful of chakra and returning to Haseo. By this time, it already looked slightly "rosy."
Then, the small slug began releasing the Nine-Tails' chakra into Haseo's body, allowing it to flow through his dual chakra pathways... Normally, an ordinary ninja would struggle to immediately adapt to Nine-Tails' violently intense chakra, but Haseo was different—he essentially experienced a "blessing from misfortune."
Someone constantly tormented by their own chakra wouldn't easily be disturbed by others' chakra anymore. Even if aggressive, invasive chakra did enter Haseo's body, he'd be indifferent to it—this kind of internal invasion had never ceased happening to him anyway.
The chakra-induced internal damage he had suffered over the years had grown extremely severe, reaching a point where even the Nine-Tails' chakra couldn't easily harm him—it had developed resistance.
Truly godlike adaptability. And Haseo's nonchalant attitude about it all actually came across as rather cheerful.
The Nine-Tails' chakra raged like wildfire, wildly uncontrollable; yet on its flip side was far greater strength than typical ninja chakra, along with indescribable destructive power. So once you got used to dealing with its wild side, the Nine-Tails' chakra could give you power beyond ordinary ninja levels.
Anyway, right now, Haseo felt quite good—even slightly light-headed, like he'd had one too many shots of chakra.
Hmm. Should he try launching a couple [Kurika - Grand Heavenly Phenomenon] just to test its power?
After some thought, Haseo decided against it. Uzumaki Shikou, the one who had really put in the effort, was already exhausted and had fallen asleep. So if he—the one merely enjoying the results—acted too excitedly, it might seem excessively heartless.
Moreover, the Nine-Tails' chakra wasn't something he should casually waste playing around with; it was a genuine "weapon."
Haseo stepped up beside the large slug, gently patting its particularly squishy skin as he spoke, "Katsuyu, conceal yourself."
With the Impure World Reincarnation corpse aboard, the slug's head antennae slowly rotated twice before it began gradually sinking underground, hiding away somewhere within Katsuyu's massive main body.
From now on, Haseo wouldn't have to rely on generating his own chakra anymore; he now had a perfect external energy source. Even if someday he encountered Hashirama Senju… well, okay, perhaps that goal was somewhat lofty.
In any case, as long as he didn't run into absolute freaks, he wouldn't encounter any serious chakra-depletion issues again. Although transferring Nine-Tails' chakra via the small slug faced relatively low efficiency and there was always concern about encountering Isolation Barriers, overall, those minor flaws couldn't possibly outweigh the tremendous advantages this method offered.
Further ahead, once Haseo sealed away his own chakra, he could temporarily free himself from the issue of self-erosion.
As for other situations where Konoha might require the Nine-Tails, there was no need to worry at all. Who even knows when the village would ever need another seven Jinchuriki?
In short, the goal of the "Nine-Tails Splitting Plan," along with Haseo's minor calculations afterward, had now been completely achieved.
Haseo carefully hoisted Shikou onto his back and left Shikkotsu Forest.
As dusk approached, the two reemerged inside the underground base hidden deep within Shikkotsu Forest.
They appeared in the very room where everyone had gathered before heading into the forest. The floor still bore traces of the summoning technique Haseo had drawn earlier.
He could deal with cleaning up the traces of the summoning technique later. For now, getting Shikou some rest made more sense... As Haseo thought this and opened the door to walk out, he turned his head slightly—and
Saw Tsunade.
"..."
Their eyes met, and things immediately became a bit awkward.
Tsunade's appearance wasn't suspicious, but Haseo's current look definitely raised questions.
Silence stretched longer.
"Cough," Haseo said, taking initiative. "Tsunade, you're here just in time. Help me check on her condition."
Haseo understood how things worked—he needed to get ahead of the conversation, cut off any early questions, and steer things before Tsunade could say anything herself—otherwise, things could spiral out of control.
"Huh? What happened to her?"
Tsunade blinked hard, finally registering what Haseo had said. Then, guided by her medical instincts, she stepped forward and began examining Uzumaki Shikou's condition—while Shikou still hung limply on Haseo's back.
"This is… a classic case of extreme chakra depletion. Her spirit is also severely exhausted; clearly, she took on burdens beyond her limit.
What did she do? Don't tell me she used some Kinjutsu too?"
Since this was right within Tsunade's expertise, upon confirming Shikou was genuinely injured, her mind shifted entirely toward healing her patient.
Given Haseo's reputation, Tsunade even wondered if the use of forbidden techniques had already become common practice throughout the entire "Kagenami."
"She didn't use any Kinjutsu. Don't jump to conclusions. Who in their right mind would recklessly use forbidden jutsu for no reason? There aren't even that many forbidden techniques in existence... She simply handled an extremely important mission alone these past few days—a mission that was so sensitive it had to be carried out solely by her within Kagenami."
This was how Haseo explained things. And upon hearing Tsunade imply serious consequences, he quickly followed up: "She'll be alright, won't she?"
"Just severe exhaustion. No major issues, though ideally she should rest for a while… Send her directly to Konoha Hospital," Tsunade replied. Now that it wasn't caused by forbidden jutsu, she could make a standard diagnosis.
As for the classified mission, she asked no further questions.
Tsunade was a ninja after all—she knew better than to ask questions about classified missions.
"Then, let's head to the hospital with Uzumaki Shikou right away. Lucky you're already here," Haseo said, subtly switching the subject to "we."
Tsunade nodded and followed behind Haseo.
"Tsunade, is your mission finished?"
Since Uzumaki Shikou was merely exhausted, Haseo wasn't too worried anymore and casually chatted with Tsunade.
The two hadn't seen each other in quite a long time—roughly fifty or sixty episodes. Previously, Tsunade had been out on a mission.
"My mission has already succeeded."
"I see. That's good... What brought you to Kagenami at this time?"
"Not really anything urgent..."
She just felt like dropping by — but Tsunade kept that part to herself.
At this moment, Tsunade realized she'd just gotten carried off for a moment, but since Uzumaki Shikou truly was heavily drained, having understood this point, she didn't feel embarrassed or inclined to question further.
After all, both Haseo and Uzumaki Shikou looked rather travel-worn now, but more importantly, it was Uzumaki Shikou who seemed utterly dog-tired—not Haseo, who actually appeared pretty energetic.
Though not quite sure why, Tsunade didn't find the difference between them the least bit suspicious.
But if it were the other way around... Hmm, then things might get complicated.
P.S.: This isn't easy… Any support—really, any at all—would mean the world!
So please consider subscribing, voting for monthly tickets and recommendation points—any kind of support counts!
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>