Inside the opposing Kumo camp, there wasn't a trace of celebratory atmosphere.
Yi was a tall, sturdy man—also the overall commander for this war against the Hot Water Country.
"The Third Hokage's three disciples, plus another elite jonin with considerable strength?" Putting down the intelligence report, he placed both hands flat on the table, considering whether or not to launch an attack.
The Third Raikage's command was clear: seize the Hot Water Country as soon as possible. That was why Kumo had mobilized early, sending over five thousand ninja in total.
Their goal was to finish this war quickly so they could fully occupy the land and increase pressure on the Land of Fire.
But the cunning Third Hokage had already dispatched four of the Hidden Leaf Village's youngest and strongest ninja at the very beginning. He even used buses to transport large groups together.
"Over one thousand reinforcements—looks like they plan on harassing our forces through guerrilla-style harassment."
Evan quickly deduced what would likely be the enemy commander's best option.
From his name alone, one could tell he held high rank within Kumo—definitely two positions above Ji.
Eyes sharp, Yi decided on a counter-strategy: "Let them enjoy their moment first. This war won't be as simple as they imagine!"
War was nothing but a meat grinder—it wouldn't handle you gently like mission practice would. One tactical mistake might turn the entire battlefield.
That same night, after saying goodnight to Kurama, Shen wandered aimlessly around the Uzumaki clan compound alone.
Already on the first day, poor Kurama had become somewhat jumpy and startled from dealing with him.
Kurama was already straining to focus—not just on the tear-jerking scenes playing out onscreen, but also on staying alert for someone trying to sneak up and switch the lock unnoticed.
"I've got to find a way to grow stronger."
Shen believed poor Kurama wouldn't escape his grasp eventually, so he began thinking about ways to strengthen himself quickly.
First was developing new ninjutsu, but judging by his current chakra reserves, he probably wouldn't even manage two large-scale area-clearing techniques before running dry.
Next came taijutsu, elemental chakra modes, and kenjutsu—he'd practically completed development in all these areas. To proceed further, he needed Hashirama cells to enhance his endurance and physical strength.
Lastly came genjutsu. Since spending more time interacting with Mito recently, he'd made surprisingly fast progress here. He could now instantly put multiple targets into hypnotic states. The next step would be unlocking the Mangekyō [a powerful form of Sharingan].
This bottleneck across ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu left Shen feeling rather discouraged.
Even at full power, he reckoned he could barely land more than a few strikes against the Third Hokage—and even that was pushing it.
Battle experience and age formed two insurmountable gaps.
"There's still sage arts!" A sudden thought struck Shen—the fourth cultivation system available. It was actually the original planetary cultivation method.
Mount Myoboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryuchi Cave were hailed as the Three Great Sacred Lands—but in his opinion, that title was slightly overhyped.
Could any place qualify as sacred just because it taught sage arts? In essence, weren't those places nothing more than declining sects anyway?
What exactly had those sages accomplished once the Otsutsuki invaders arrived?
Splitting a mother from her child, then spouting some nonsensical prophecy.
And claiming they must follow the prophecy, not wanting to interfere too much in this world?
Saving the Uchiha clan wouldn't be difficult, would it? Or is it that Indra's reincarnation must always be filled with hatred?
Shen felt these so-called sages weren't essentially different from the Otsutsuki invaders at all. Their attitudes toward humanity were exactly the same.
After mentally marking "Overthrow them eventually" as a future mission, he recalled the method for mastering Sage Art.
Natural energy, after being absorbed by the God Tree, gives birth to chakra.
And the God Tree absorbing natural energy represents the spiritual and physical energy within a human body.
"The God Tree has no awareness, so it itself is part of nature, but humans possess awareness," Shen recalled the scene when Naruto first cultivated Sage Art, his eyes suddenly lighting up.
Only the Three Great Sage Lands have natural energy? Today, he wanted to prove whether this claim was true or false.
After leaving the Uzumaki clan compound, he headed straight toward the direction of the Kage Rock.
"Great Leader, mind lending me a bit of fortune?" Shen said to the statue of the First Hokage, then sat cross-legged on the ground.
In the darkness, with tightly closed eyes, his facial expression turned increasingly odd.
Because after emptying his mind completely, he actually sensed himself surrounded entirely by natural energy.
"Could it be residual fragments left behind back then after the God Tree absorbed everything?"
The minute amounts of natural energy, smaller than dust particles, most likely had been ignored completely by the God Tree itself, which had devoured vast quantities of energy before.
Shen suddenly understood what a Sage Body really was!
It wasn't about being born possessing natural energy, but rather having an innate constitution capable of absorbing natural energy.
Otherwise, how could Hashirama and Madara fight each other using techniques like *Wood Release: Buddha's Benediction* nonstop? No amount of natural energy would ever suffice for their own consumption.
Understanding these points, Shen also discovered he seemed especially sensitive to detecting natural energy.
Just moments ago while clearing his mind, scanning like switching radio stations, he soon locked onto it.
"Antenna! That's how you pick up signals!" The ability to communicate with shadow clones suddenly reminded Shen that his capabilities—or functions—still contained many yet to be explored.
"Battery. If I could store natural energy in me like a battery, maybe I could become what they call a Sage Body?" He suddenly had a wild idea.
Hashirama's *Wood Release* abilities via his Sage Body were likely linked to the God Tree, but Sage Arts encompassed far more than just Wood Release.
Closing his eyes tightly, Shen began slowly absorbing tiny bits of natural energy from the air. This process took extremely long.
So long, in fact, that dawn nearly broke by the time he gathered enough natural energy—just a third of his chakra reserves.
To successfully use Sage Art, one needed exactly a third portion of natural energy mixed together with a third each of spiritual and physical energies.
Generally speaking, only those with enormous chakra reserves could successfully enter Sage Mode.
But when Shen stored the gathered natural energy inside the designated 'battery' section of his brain, he noticed something strange—the energy mysteriously disappeared.
"Did the battery consume this natural energy?"
He realized this trait was basically the ultimate tool for mastering [Sage Art].
No risk of getting swallowed by nature at all. Who knew something that could suck up any energy like a battery would be this strong?
So Shen pushed himself harder, greedily pulling in [Natural Energy] from the air around him.
Meanwhile, Kurama sat glued to the screen, watching the bald monk — and soon enough, rage flared across its whole body.
"[Fahai](from classic Chinese legends) doesn't get love!" Kurama roared, fully caught up in the story, raising a massive claw and shouting at the screen.
Human and demon falling in love — even Kurama, after living for thousands of years, had dreamed of that kind of romance.
What it didn't realize, though, was that hidden cameras were already capturing everything it did.
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