For over a decade, countless days and nights, the little Slug never stopped missing her homeland.
She thought of the sweet and delicious acidic mist of her homeland, the stone pillars she could rub against, the soft, sticky mud at the bottom of the lake, and the brilliant, free starry sky above.
Instead of the cramped glass bottle she was in, the bugs crawling all over her body, and being taken out by Miki for experiments from time to time.
She was soaked in uncomfortable salt water, strong acid, and venom, roasted over a fire, roasted on a stone, sprinkled with chili powder, and frozen in a freezer.
She was also cut with a knife, smashed with a hammer, and poked with needles.
Injected with all sorts of strange liquids.
These inhumane and unbearable experiences were endless.
Every time late at night, recalling them would make her cry uncontrollably.
Not very harmful, but extremely humiliating.
It was too much to bear.
What the Slug found most unbearable was that she was even forced to have children!
She resisted to the death, but then they drugged her.
Forcing her to vaguely give birth to offspring.
After playing with her, they didn't take responsibility, like throwing away a piece of trash, not coming to see her for several years, so she could only relieve her loneliness by talking to herself.
It was too cruel!!!
The more she thought about it, the more wronged she felt.
"Wah..." The Slug Sage empathized, whimpering and crying out in sorrow.
The little Slug was herself.
The experiences of these years filled her with grief, but...
Should she kill this person?
She couldn't win!
The Slug Sage remembered that the guy in front of her could easily kill one-thirtieth of her Splinter (split body) when he was six years old.
Slugs of that size were not much different from herself in terms of ability.
Except for the amount of Sage Chakra.
And her talents were all focused on medical arts and defense; her only offensive method was acid, and not very good teeth.
Eating was difficult; she had to chew and chew, and anything slightly hard couldn't be broken, so she could only rely on acid to dissolve prey and suck out the juices.
In other words, she should think about how to protect herself.
"I am Lady Tsunade's Summoning Beast! Don't you dare do anything reckless!!!"
The Slug Sage threatened timidly, feeling wronged.
"I won't do anything to you."
Rather, Miki said, "I'm no longer interested in you."
Miki's Slug, given time, could also grow this large, but there was no need.
The Slug's body looked big, but in reality, it was just a weakling. After thoroughly studying the little Slug, Miki knew.
Despite its huge size, this guy was essentially a coward in terms of evolutionary strategy.
The kind that desperately piled on armor and stayed alive if it couldn't win.
Like shellfish.
Like her mollusk relatives, she usually relied on her teeth, with the perseverance of dripping water wearing away stone, to grind shells like calcareous algae.
Many animals' sharp fangs, claws, and giant mandibles had all been defeated here, and only mollusks, relying on their perseverance, managed to gnaw out a piece of mineral.
Once they had a mine, they could start evolving, getting all the latest internal organs and tentacles.
And then came Gastropoda, Bivalvia, Cephalopoda, and Scaphopoda.
The Slug Sage was a Gastropod. After dissection and observation, Miki compared her to common Slugs.
There were no obvious differences in body organs.
It also didn't rule out the possibility that important organs were hidden by the Slug; in any case, Miki didn't find them.
But after infecting the Slug, Miki discovered that this creature could reorganize its internal organs and systems at any time.
It was an extremely powerful Yang Release technique inscribed in its genes.
Overall, although its diet was complex, it was just a vegetarian, not a non-vegetarian.
It only bullied immobile plants.
Mainly, the meat that usually ran away, it couldn't eat.
Its non-aggressive nature was something passed down from its ancestors and etched into its genes.
Even the Slug Sage was no exception; its so-called nature, just like its ancestors avoiding predators, naturally feared Miki.
The Slug Sage watched Miki warily, not believing Miki's sweet talk.
I won't believe your nonsense!
Miki looked at this big adorable creature and said, "I'll leave after I learn Sage Art."
"Then go. You can't possibly learn my Sage Art," the Slug Sage said.
"Didn't Hashirama learn it?" Miki said.
"Hashirama? Which Hashirama?" the Slug asked, puzzled.
"He's my great-grandpa, Senju Hashirama," Tsunade said. "The First Hokage."
"Impossible. He never formed a contract with me, so how could he have learned my Sage Art?" the Slug said.
"Oh, right," Tsunade said, realizing. "No wonder Grandpa's name isn't on the scroll."
Miki narrowed her eyes slightly, unexpected information.
Tsunade asked, "But when I was little, didn't you say that as long as there was enough Chakra, I could learn it?"
"Eh, did I say that?" the Slug's gentle voice sounded guilty. "Well, your current Chakra volume isn't enough either."
"How is that possible? I'm the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki now, with more Chakra than I can use."
"That..." the Slug said, "That was just me comforting you. My Sage Art, no matter how much Chakra you have, if you can't learn it, you just can't. Many geniuses in history have died trying, and so far, no one has learned it."
"It's so difficult to learn, it must be very powerful," Tsunade said curiously.
"That's natural, Lady Tsunade," the Slug said. "I've already shown it to you many times."
"What is it?" Tsunade asked, confused. "You've shown it? I don't remember."
"Slug Great Division, the most advanced Yang Release Sage Art," the Slug Sage said softly.
"Isn't that just like Shadow Clone?" Tsunade said.
"No, it's completely different," Miki said. "Slug Sage, you can transform into a human, right?"
After dissecting the Slug, Miki had this question.
If it could reorganize its body organs, then it could arbitrarily transform into other species.
As long as it knew how to transform and understood the body structure of that species.
But the Slug she had, honestly, didn't know how to transform.
After all, it was an offspring, without inheriting the mother's experience and memories, only instinct, and had to learn from scratch.
Unlike a mere transformation illusion, this was a complete reorganization of the body and organs from head to toe.
The Slug was startled and asked angrily, trembling, "What do you want to do!?"
She really could.
Miki stared at the Slug.
All along, Miki had wanted to upgrade the production model of her insect swarm.
The efficiency of egg-laying was sufficient.
However, it was too troublesome.
For each type of insect, a specific type of egg had to be produced.
Miki's ideal situation was to produce uniform larvae, and then these larvae would metamorphose into the corresponding insect species.
This step could bypass the defect of the queen's eggs being too small.
Produce larvae, let the larvae develop and accumulate nutrients to a suitable size, then pupate and metamorphose into the corresponding species.
Based on this, taking the Summer Red Soldier as an example, the complete metamorphosis from larva to adult could be achieved in one step, simplifying the several larval molting stages in between.
Greatly increasing efficiency.
This ability could also be used to convert one type of soldier into another.
Further improving resource utilization.
Not only that, this was the most direct and simple technique for increasing size.
The ultimate version of Yang Release's Multiplication Technique and Reduction Technique.
Many application techniques could be developed from it.
Miki did not answer.
She gave the Slug Sage a look that told her to understand.
The Slug Sage was terrified by Miki's gaze.
That look again!
A look full of interest!
"Ah ah ah ah ah!" the Slug screamed, breaking down.
"Lady Tsunade! Save me!!!"
Tsunade ran forward, lightly tapping Miki on the head with a punch, and shouted, "You need to know when to stop!!!"
Although it was light, Miki stumbled.
Tsunade turned and hugged a part of the Slug Sage's skin, comforting her, "Good girl! Don't be scared! I'm protecting you, Miki wouldn't dare to mess around."
Miki rubbed her head. Tsunade had no idea how strong she was.
Facing Tsunade's back, Miki gestured a small fist at the Slug Sage.
The Slug Sage trembled.
"Transform for me!" Miki commanded.
"You transform yourself!" Tsunade rushed up angrily, shouting, "Don't bully my Slug!!!"
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