From the slug's mouth, Takeshi learned that it had already been half a year since he entered the Shikkotsu Forest.
Half a year?
He had unknowingly spent half a year inside the body of a slug?
Seeing Takeshi's shocked expression, the slug wiggled its small feelers and said hesitantly,
"It should be about half a year, according to your human sense of time. But I haven't been to the ninja world in a long time, so the time might be more or less accurate."
"Anyway, little Takeshi, you should focus on your training for now!"
Inside the slug, Takeshi had already adapted to natural energy. What he needed to do now was to actively absorb that energy and make it his own, thus initiating Sage Mode.
Under the slug's urging, Takeshi had no choice but to calm down, push aside the shock brought on by the passage of time, and focus on sensing the natural energy.
However—
"Grr~"
The sound from his stomach broke the silence. Takeshi blushed and looked at the slug, a bit embarrassed.
"Um, Katsuyu-sama, is there anything to eat here?"
"You really are hopeless."
The slug shook its head, then turned to look at its massive main body.
"Plop, plop, plop."
Accompanied by a few sounds, several small slugs split off from the main body and bounced over to Takeshi.
The small main body that had been communicating with Takeshi somehow produced an apron and tied it around itself, looking at Takeshi with a serious expression.
Who knows how Takeshi could see a serious look on a slug's face, but he swore he definitely saw it.
"Now then, little Takeshi, what flavor of me would you like to eat?"
"Sweet merciful slugs—I'm not hungry anymore!!!"
...
Konoha Village.
Sakumo, now the Fourth Hokage, sat in his office with a furrowed brow.
Across from him sat Hiruzen Sarutobi, now retired and dressed in casual clothes, leisurely sipping tea.
"Kumogakure still refuses to negotiate with us..."
That intelligence report in his hand was enough to make Sakumo's expression turn grim.
"Seems like this Fourth Raikage is just like his father—a diehard warmonger," Hiruzen commented as he set down his teacup.
"Fortunately, they haven't sent out a large force to attack us. That's at least given us some time to recover and rebuild. But..." Sakumo responded with a trace of concern in his tone.
"But?" Hiruzen looked at him curiously.
"I just feel like it's not that simple." His instincts, honed from years on the front lines, were telling Sakumo that this Fourth Raikage wasn't as straightforward as the reports claimed.
Kumogakure must be brewing a new plot.
But he couldn't launch a response based on gut feeling alone.
He was no longer just a frontline commander—he was Hokage now. He had to be responsible for the entire village. He could no longer move troops purely based on instinct and experience.
"Don't worry. If it comes down to it, this old man's bones can still move."
Noticing Sakumo's hesitation, Hiruzen offered some reassurance.
He was no longer Hokage, which meant he had the freedom to move on the battlefield.
And it had been quite some time since his old bones had last seen combat.
"You're the Hokage now, Sakumo. Act on what you believe is right. Don't let my opinions hold you back."
Hiruzen's words gave Sakumo a bit of reassurance and began to shape a plan in his mind.
...
Between villages, there are no eternal enemies, no eternal allies—only eternal interests.
Even though his father had once led forces that nearly razed Sunagakure's stronghold, the Fourth Raikage, unable to conquer Konoha, now set his sights on them instead.
He wanted to launch a surprise attack on Konoha together with Sunagakure.
Of course, this was also because the Fourth Raikage had no other options left.
Iwagakure wouldn't move without clear benefits. After being firmly repelled by Konoha, Ōnoki realized there was no profit to be gained, and quickly agreed to peace talks.
As for Kirigakure, after their elite Seven Ninja Swordsmen were completely wiped out by Konoha, the village had curled up into its island territory. Every now and then they sent small squads into the Land of Fire just to harass Konoha.
So at this point, Sunagakure was Kumogakure's only viable ally.
Rasa, who had just taken over as the Fourth Kazekage, was quite intrigued by the olive branch extended by the Fourth Raikage.
Due to the Daimyō of the Land of Wind's deep mistrust of Sunagakure, the village's military budget was shockingly low. This had forced them to adopt an elite-unit strategy similar to Kirigakure.
But unlike Kirigakure's bloody "Mist of Blood" approach, Sunagakure had great regard for ninja with Kekkei Genkai.
Since the time of the Third Kazekage, Sunagakure had secretly started mining operations without the Daimyō's knowledge, somewhat easing their financial burden.
This was also why the Third Kazekage had been so eager to launch a revenge war against Konoha.
Though Kumogakure had toyed with them a bit, Sunagakure hadn't suffered serious losses to its core forces.
This gave Rasa the idea of using war to regain favor with the Daimyō's office.
Illegal mining would always be a problem, and if the Daimyō ever decided to investigate—
Then again, what's the worst that could happen? Maybe just a further budget cut.
"This is a great opportunity. It's time for the ninja world to remember the strength of Sunagakure," said Chiyo, eager for revenge against Konoha.
"But first we need to resolve our friction with Kirigakure," said a senior advisor, voicing the very concern weighing on Rasa's mind.
Their conflict with Kirigakure had tied up a lot of their already limited military strength, preventing them from concentrating fully on a strike against Konoha.
No one could quite explain why Kirigakure insisted on provoking them from so far away, but it was an undeniable reality.
The advisors began their discussion. Chiyo frowned, cursing Kirigakure's interference.
"Actually..."
As the mood reached the right point, Rasa cleared his throat and produced a scroll.
"I've already sent people to contact Kirigakure. They've agreed to stop the hostilities."
Chiyo and Ebizō raised their brows, staring in disbelief at the young Kazekage.
When had this happened—
As the true power holders in Sunagakure, they hadn't caught wind of any of this.
Ebizō quickly composed himself. He understood that the young Kazekage before him had truly grown his wings.
"In that case—"
Just as one advisor was about to speak, Rasa cut him off.
"Kirigakure has one condition—"
He looked around the room, carefully observing everyone's reaction.
"They want us to hand over Pakura."