Sitting in the Hokage's office, Tsunade had initially intended to comfort her student and encourage Naraku not to dwell on what she assumed was his failed training experience.
However, when she noticed the subtle hint of satisfaction gleaming in his eyes, a sudden realization struck her like lightning.
It couldn't be possible!
"You... did you actually..." Tsunade began, staring at Naraku in complete shock, her face displaying pure disbelief.
Shihouin Naraku chose not to elaborate with words. Instead, he simply nodded with a confident smile, confirming Tsunade's growing suspicion.
"This is absolutely incredible!" Tsunade exclaimed.
Even after receiving direct confirmation from Naraku himself, she remained thoroughly astonished by this revelation.
The Sage Mode of the Wet Bone Forest had consistently defeated countless talented ninja throughout history, including her own legendary grandfather!
The First Hokage, Senju Hashirama himself!
In fact, ever since Senju Hashirama's defeat at the hands of that impossible training, no ninja had dared to venture to the Wet Bone Forest to attempt mastering Sage Mode.
Even Tsunade had followed this pattern. After signing her summoning contract with the Slug Sage, she had only inquired about how her grandfather had approached the Sage Mode training—she herself had never entertained any serious thoughts of attempting to learn it.
The Slug Sage had even proactively offered to teach Tsunade the techniques, but she had remained completely uninterested in pursuing such training.
The very idea seemed absurd! If a once-in-a-generation prodigy like her grandfather had failed so dramatically, how could she possibly hope to succeed where he had not?
To be completely honest, Tsunade had always believed that Shihouin Naraku had virtually no chance of success either.
In her professional opinion, perhaps the Sage Mode of the Wet Bone Forest simply wasn't designed for humans to learn and master from the very beginning.
The primary reason Tsunade hadn't prevented Naraku from journeying to the Wet Bone Forest was that she felt even failure wouldn't be entirely wasteful. Having the opportunity to receive direct guidance from the ancient Slug Sage represented an invaluable learning experience that few could ever hope to obtain.
At minimum, the time wouldn't be completely wasted, so under those circumstances, there had been no real harm in allowing Naraku to attempt the Sage Mode training.
But who could have predicted this outcome...
"Are you... have you truly mastered it?" Tsunade asked, despite already knowing the answer.
Even though the truth was becoming undeniable, Tsunade still needed to hear Shihouin Naraku confirm it personally.
"I have indeed learned it," Naraku declared with quiet pride.
He stood calmly in place and raised one hand in a sword-finger position. Closing his eyes in concentration, subtle eye markings began appearing around his eyelids, while a complex symbol resembling three interconnected eyes manifested prominently in the center of his forehead.
"He really has mastered it!" Tsunade whispered in amazement.
She stared at the distinctive marking on Naraku's forehead, feeling somewhat dazed by the implications.
She had never taught Naraku the Strength of a Hundred Seal technique, yet the appearance of eye markings around his closed eyes provided undeniable proof that he had successfully achieved Sage Mode.
"Ahem..." Tsunade cleared her throat and addressed the hidden guards. "All of you withdraw immediately. I need to discuss confidential matters with the advisor."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" came the whispered response.
The ANBU operatives who had been secretly positioned around the office retreated silently and efficiently. According to Naraku's enhanced perception abilities, no other individuals remained within a substantial radius of the office.
Actually, Tsunade was being unnecessarily cautious. These ANBU ninja responsible for her protection wouldn't have been able to overhear their conversation regardless.
After all, with Shihouin Naraku present, no one could gather any sensitive information unless he specifically permitted it.
Tsunade waited until the ANBU had completely withdrawn before standing and walking around her desk. She examined Naraku carefully from multiple angles before commenting with curiosity, "Something feels distinctly different about you. Back when that show-off Jiraiya first demonstrated his Sage Mode in front of me, just to impress everyone..."
"The auras you two project are somewhat different, yet both give off an unsettling sensation."
"It's almost as if you're no longer entirely human!"
Several metaphorical dark lines appeared on Naraku's forehead. Her observation sounded suspiciously like an insult.
"Well, that's not quite the right way to express it..." Tsunade muttered, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
She recognized that her phrasing had been inappropriate, but she genuinely struggled to articulate the exact nature of what she was sensing.
"Actually, it's similar to the difference between the Wood Style techniques performed by Grandfather versus those used by Tenzo," she explained after a moment.
"Although both utilize Wood Style, the fundamental nature and power level are completely different!"
"You and Jiraiya are like that comparison. After entering Sage Mode, while you still appear human, it seems as though you've ascended to an entirely different level of existence."
Tsunade's analysis contained some inaccuracies, but her instincts were remarkably close to the truth.
While she couldn't know about Jiraiya's situation, Naraku had indeed become fundamentally different from ordinary humans since mastering the Wet Bone Forest's Sage Mode.
He had become something approaching a true immortal—evolved beyond normal human limitations at the very level of biological existence.
However, Tsunade didn't pursue this line of thought further and instead continued with obvious curiosity, "So tell me, from ancient times until now, you're the only person who has successfully learned the Wet Bone Forest's Sage Mode. Have you become significantly more powerful?"
"Indeed," Naraku replied thoughtfully.
He considered whether there was any need to conceal the truth about immortality from Tsunade.
Given Tsunade's personality and character, it would be impossible for her to reveal the secrets of the Wet Bone Forest to anyone else.
Furthermore, even if Tsunade couldn't extract the complete answer from him directly, she could always inquire with the Slug Sage herself.
The ancient sage would certainly provide her with truthful information.
Therefore, Naraku decided to speak openly. "The improvement in combat capabilities is indeed substantial, but the most significant benefit is..."
Naraku deliberately paused at this crucial moment, and his obvious attempt at building suspense caused Tsunade's eyebrows to rise sharply while her hands clenched into threatening fists.
"Ahem... immortality," he finally revealed.
"Excuse me? What did you just say?" Tsunade asked, completely taken aback.
Naraku's answer left her momentarily speechless. What did he mean by immortality?
The next second, Tsunade's beautiful eyes widened dramatically as she stood frozen in shock.
It took several long moments for her to process what she had just heard.
"You... you just said immortality?!" she demanded, her voice rising with disbelief.
"That's correct," Shihouin Naraku confirmed calmly.
He then continued, "The Slug Sage explained that successful completion of the training grants immortality. I can definitely sense that my life force has become extraordinarily powerful."
"However, whether this represents true, absolute immortality remains uncertain."
"After all, even the Slug Sage has only lived for approximately two thousand years so far."
"What I can say with confidence is that I should be able to live for thousands of years at minimum. As for longer periods than that, there's simply no way to determine the limits yet."
Naraku chose not to mention his system-confirmed five-thousand-year lifespan to Tsunade. During this conversation, he had suddenly remembered something important.
Considering the aggressive regenerative properties and powerful capabilities of Hashirama cells, it seemed almost impossible to understand how Senju Hashirama himself could have died at a relatively young age.
After all, if even microscopic cells possessed such extraordinary vitality, how much more powerful should Senju Hashirama himself have been?
Therefore, Naraku theorized that Senju Hashirama's natural lifespan should have been exceptionally long. Even if it hadn't matched the longevity of true immortals, he certainly shouldn't have died prematurely.
However, the intensive battles between Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara might have consumed tremendous amounts of chakra and life force, potentially causing Hashirama's unexpected early death.
Of course, this remained purely speculative.
Energy couldn't be created from nothing. Whether discussing Senju Hashirama or Shihouin Naraku, recovering from serious injuries required significant expenditure of chakra and vital energy.
If such consumption truly reached catastrophic levels, it wouldn't be impossible to completely drain a person's life force.
Additionally, Senju Hashirama had been deeply involved in the eternal conflict between the two sons of the Sage of Six Paths—Ashura and Indra.
Perhaps Ashura's chakra had concluded that Uchiha Madara was truly dead after their final battle, and with Indra's chakra preparing for reincarnation once again, Ashura's chakra had also chosen to depart and continue their eternal struggle.
These metaphysical matters were impossible to verify or understand completely.
So Naraku could only speculate about the true circumstances surrounding the First Hokage's death.
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