The mention of Dan Katō in the previous battle report had stirred up memories she had long sealed away, forcing her to once again confront those sorrowful recollections.
Now, watching Menma floating in the air in spiritual form, conversing with her just as Dan Katō did when using the 'Spirit Transformation Technique' back then, she was far less calm than she appeared on the surface.
Seeing this, Naruto hurriedly said: "Menma, you can't talk to Granny Tsunade like that!"
"Hmph!"
Menma crossed his arms and snorted coldly.
He had made up his mind; as long as Tsunade made a move against him, he would expose the fact that Yakumo also had a Heart Demon and see how Tsunade would handle it!
At this time, Shizune gently shook Tsunade's arm: "Tsunade-sama, Menma can detach from Naruto's body on his own, indicating that his spiritual body strength is extremely high, almost equivalent to Naruto using the 'Spirit Transformation Technique'."
Because of her uncle Dan Katō, Shizune had a deep understanding of the 'Spirit Transformation Technique'.
However, the cultivation difficulty of the 'Spirit Transformation Technique' was extremely high. So far, only Dan Katō in the entire village had successfully cultivated it. Therefore, the existence of this special Heart Demon, Menma, was almost equivalent to Naruto maintaining a normalized 'Spirit Transformation Technique'.
The enhancement to Naruto's strength was difficult to quantify.
One must know that the 'Spirit Transformation Technique' was not only adept at killing enemies but also at reconnaissance and communication. Although the Akatsuki organization had already obtained half of the Nine-Tails, Naruto was most likely still one of their targets, so Menma's existence could greatly enhance Naruto's survivability.
Tsunade naturally understood Shizune's meaning.
Currently, defeating the Akatsuki organization was the priority; other matters could be temporarily compromised.
So she looked Menma up and down and asked Naruto: "What else can he do?"
Naruto answered honestly: "Menma can also use ninjutsu and summoning jutsu. In short, the 'Rasengan' he developed is even more powerful than mine!"
Menma snorted: "Mine is called 'Great Spiralling Ring', don't compare your 'Rasengan' with mine!"
Jiraiya said at the right time: "Since Minato allowed him to stay in Naruto's body, let's not interfere forcibly!"
"Let's leave it at that for now!" Tsunade responded, turning to Naruto: "It's a special period now, you can't move around freely for the time being. If you need a training ground for practice, I can have the Anbu arrange one for you!"
Naruto rolled up his sleeves: "That's great, I need it right now!"
Tsunade instructed Shizune beside her: "Arrange a secluded training ground for Naruto, and make sure the secrecy work is done well!"
"I understand!"
Shizune nodded and left with Naruto.
Tsunade seemed to think of something and asked Jiraiya: "Did you also bring back a Hidden Cloud ninja this time?"
"Mhm, speaking of this matter, it's a bit odd!" Jiraiya frowned and said: "He was a member of the Hidden Cloud reconnaissance squad. When we found him, he had fallen into a deep coma due to genjutsu and couldn't be awakened no matter what! Sasuke identified it as Sharingan genjutsu, so we suspect the attacker might be Uchiha Itachi or Hiruko."
Tsunade frowned after listening: "Unable to be awakened?"
For ordinary genjutsu, there was no such thing as being unable to wake up, so this Hidden Cloud ninja must have been hit by a very powerful genjutsu.
But how could a ninja belonging to the reconnaissance squad, with only Chunin-level strength, be worth Uchiha Itachi or Hiruko wasting Mangekyo Sharingan pupil power to use genjutsu on?
Realizing the oddity of the matter, Tsunade immediately said: "Where is he? Take me to see him!"
Jiraiya said: "Also in the hospital!"
In a short while, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Yakumo arrived at the Hidden Cloud ninja's ward.
The other party was still in a deep coma. Sasuke, somewhat unbelieving, was still trying to wake him up with his Mangekyo Sharingan.
Kakashi, on the other hand, sat aside, reading a copy of 'Make-Out Paradise'.
Seeing Tsunade, Jiraiya, and the others arrive, Kakashi hurriedly stood up to greet them: "Hokage-sama!"
Tsunade glanced at the Hidden Cloud ninja on the bed: "Where is the examination report?"
Kakashi handed the Hidden Cloud ninja's examination report to Tsunade.
Tsunade just glanced at it briefly and knew that this Hidden Cloud ninja's body was fine; he was completely attacked by genjutsu, and his spirit was sealed.
Coming to the bedside, Tsunade asked Sasuke: "When did your pupil power recover?"
Sasuke avoided Tsunade's gaze and perfunctorily said: "I'm not sure either."
Tsunade looked at Kakashi.
Kakashi shook his head slightly.
In the battle in the Land of Rice Fields, Sasuke activated 'Susanoo' twice, and seemed to do it with ease, which was obviously abnormal.
But the decisive battle with the Akatsuki organization was imminent, and Sasuke had repeatedly demonstrated with practical actions that he had no connection with the Akatsuki organization, so Kakashi didn't want to delve deeper at this time, lest it trigger Sasuke's rebellious psychology.
Seeing Kakashi like this, Tsunade also suppressed the urge to investigate further and asked Sasuke: "Did you find anything?"
Sasuke said with certainty: "He must have been hit by Mangekyo Sharingan genjutsu, and I feel the one who cast the genjutsu on him was not Hiruko, but Itachi!"
Tsunade asked: "Can you break it?"
Sasuke said: "Give me a little more time, I can definitely unlock it!"
As long as the matter involved Itachi, Sasuke would be competitive, which was also the most helpless part for Kakashi.
Tsunade instructed: "You take a rest first, let Yakumo try!"
Sasuke didn't want to step aside: "I..."
Before Sasuke could finish speaking, Kakashi interrupted him: "You've been trying for a long time, take a rest first!"
Sasuke had to step aside reluctantly.
Yakumo came to the bedside and placed her hand on the Hidden Cloud ninja's forehead.
As the eldest daughter of the Kurama Clan's main family and possessor of the 'Koryugan', Yakumo's genjutsu strength was at the top tier in the Hidden Leaf, which was why Tsunade asked her to try.
After trying for a while, Yakumo opened her eyes and said to everyone: "His inner world is sealed by the pupil power of the Mangekyo Sharingan. I can try to break through, but forcing a breakthrough might damage his spirit and injure his brain!"
Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at each other.
Based on the judgments of Sasuke and Yakumo, it could now be basically determined that Uchiha Itachi did this. Since the other party took great pains to seal this Hidden Cloud ninja's inner world, he must have done something inside, so unless absolutely necessary, it was best not to force a breakthrough of the seal.
After pondering for a while, Tsunade asked Yakumo: "Is there no other way?"
Yakumo shook her head: "That dojutsu seal is very exquisite, I really don't have confidence. But you can let Shinji try; he is also a Mangekyo Uchiha, maybe he has a way to break the seal!"