"I'm not a kid choosing between options. I want both."
Aozora's response momentarily stunned Tsunade, before she teasingly remarked, "You've got quite the ambition for someone your age."
Shizune hadn't expected Aozora to be so bold, and stared at him in surprise, completely forgetting to pour the tea.
Tsunade didn't mind. She poured her own tea, hesitated briefly, then said, "Technically speaking, according to our bet, I only promised to teach you one Sage Art."
Before Aozora could begin his persuasion, Tsunade continued, "But teaching you two Sage Arts wouldn't be too bad either!"
Aozora immediately bowed deeply. "Truly, thank you ever-youthful Tsunade-sama!"
"Hmph," Tsunade scoffed. "Don't get too excited yet."
Smiling awkwardly, Aozora asked, "Is there anything I can help with?"
Tsunade locked eyes with Aozora as she spoke, "I need you to locate Danzo first. Additionally, I need your help to kill him and clean up the clan's disgrace on my great-uncle's behalf."
Since the Heiya Gambling House incident, Danzo had completely vanished without a trace—Konoha's intelligence network couldn't find any clues about his whereabouts.
Without hesitation, Aozora nodded, "You don't need to say it. Danzo and I share an unresolvable hatred!"
After all, Aozora was the reason Danzo defected from the village—he must desperately want to tear Aozora apart piece by piece.
For his own survival, Aozora wanted to crush Danzo so completely it would be like grinding his bones to dust.
Rather than altering her terms after hearing about Aozora's hatred toward Danzo, Tsunade simply stood up and left the room.
Shortly afterward, she returned holding an ancient scroll along with two porcelain bottles.
Tsunade handed Aozora the scroll first. "This is the cultivation scroll for the second Sage Art," she explained.
With deep reverence, Aozora accepted the scroll, expressed his gratitude, then quickly unfurled it with eager hands.
The old yellowing parchment displayed countless images of Guanyin and Buddhas, accompanied by minimal ancient text that appeared far older than the written language used since the founding of the ninja villages.
Fortunately, tiny annotations written in modern handwriting beneath the ancient text saved Aozora from total confusion.
Tsunade explained as she stood beside him, "This scroll is extremely old. Without my great-uncle's immense scholarship and annotations, even my grandfather wouldn't have been able to decipher it."
Aozora marveled, "Tobirama Senju's combined genius and scholarship truly are unparalleled!"
Though Tobirama Senju had implemented controversial policies targeting the Uchiha clan, Aozora chose not to dwell on criticizing a long-dead figure.
Cross-referencing Tobirama's annotations with the scroll's Buddha imagery, Aozora quickly finished browsing the entire scroll.
The content wasn't extensive—primarily divided into Meditation Method and [Sage Art Manifestation].
The meditation method described here was slightly different from Aozora's Tian Xin Meditation Method. Of the two, the Tian Xin clearly surpassed it. However, this method included an additional visualization component—while attaining inner clarity, one visualized the Buddha Manifestation within their Spiritual Sea.
Once one visualized the Buddha Manifestation within their Spiritual Sea while attaining inner clarity, sufficient spiritual power could heighten awareness of Natural Energy throughout heaven and earth, allowing control of it through spiritual strength.
[Sage Art Manifestation] embodied both the technique and its manifested form of this Sage Art. After successful cultivation, practitioners could use Natural Energy to manifest the Buddha Manifestation they had previously visualized.
Aozora immediately thought of various Buddha Manifestations from Buddhist mythology, then recalled the Uchiha clan's divine technique, Susano'o Wheel, finally connecting it to a powerful ability from ancient myths — [Law of Heaven Imitating Earth].
Regardless of whether this Sage Art was connected to [Law of Heaven Imitating Earth], in Aozora's opinion, Susano'o Wheel might truly represent an application of sage techniques.
With normal Uchiha chakra alone, even at the cost of draining one's lifespan, it would be impossible to sustain such a massive divine form.
If that were true, then there remained only one possibility — Susano'o actually resulted from the Uchiha using their Mangekyou to tap into natural energy and manifest a divine form.
If that were the case, could he really use Susano'o Wheel without awakening the Mangekyou?
And if this wasn't originally a skill awakened through Mangekyou activation, should he still limit himself to maintaining the image of a tengu (a mythical goblin-like creature in Japanese folklore)?
Thoughts raced one after another through Aozora's mind.
After quite some time, Aozora finally snapped back to reality.
Tsunade took a slow sip of her tea before glancing at him. "Figure anything out?"
Aozora shook his head with a sad smile. "Wish I had! Just some random thoughts really."
Tsunade wasn't surprised. "This kind of Sage Art is indeed extremely difficult to master. Besides grandfather, no one else has successfully learned it. You can make a copy to take back and practice later."
"Aha!" Aozora exclaimed in surprise. "So this is actually the method for cultivating a Sage Art!"
Allowing him to copy it meant Aozora could freely share it with others.
Shaking her head, Tsunade explained, "While this certainly contains the cultivation method for a Sage Art, who in this blood-soaked Ninja World could possibly maintain such pure tranquility? Perhaps only someone as single-minded as my grandfather could truly master it!"
Nodding in agreement, Aozora realized mastering this art first required Kage-level qualifications, plus an utterly serene mindset — conditions so rare that perhaps only one in ten thousand candidates might satisfy both.
Maybe only a genius like Hashirama Senju, possessing a heart as pure as a newborn's, could truly learn it!
As she spoke, Tsunade opened one of the porcelain bottles, releasing a pungent odor.
"This is slug-derived liquid created by Sage Katsuyu. Applying it to your skin helps attract natural energy."
Before Aozora could respond, Tsunade dipped her finger into the substance and began applying it onto his wrist.
Feeling a tingling sensation on his skin, Aozora blushed slightly.
But soon enough, such trivial concerns vanished from his mind.
The slimy, slippery goo turned out to be surprisingly corrosive — a burning sensation flared up on his wrist almost instantly.
Fortunately, having endured Yū fire refinement, Aozora rapidly adapted to this unusual sensation.
Seconds later, an invisible energy surged from the treated portion of his wrist directly into his body.
In reality, Aozora didn't consciously perceive this energy entering, but the visible changes on his wrist unmistakably indicated natural energy had now entered his system.
His handback slowly darkened to an ink-green shade, like moss spreading across stone, and when infused with chakra, the transformed tissue began creeping outward across his skin like some invasive growth.
Instead of focusing on sensing the changes right away, Aozora channeled chakra to his right arm to resist the invading energy while also sending chakra into his eyes for observation.
Tsunade watched Aozora with great interest while faint green chakra appeared on her right hand.
The tomoe within Aozora's Sharingan spun rapidly, and light radiated from the pale pupil of his right Byakugan. While searching for traces of natural energy, he manipulated his chakra to balance the inflowing natural energy.
A precise 1:1:1 ratio? If translated into chakra versus natural energy, that would be 2:1 then?
Recalling Tsunade's earlier explanation, Aozora kept channeling chakra to balance the natural energy pouring in.
He naturally manipulated his chakra effortlessly, but faced with this unfamiliar natural energy that kept shifting unpredictably, Aozora temporarily struggled to maintain control.
Watching sweat constantly drip from Aozora's forehead and noticing his dark green right arm gradually becoming smooth and elastic, taking on a slug-like appearance, Tsunade finally stepped in.
[Extraction of Minor Afflictions Jutsu!]
Slowly gliding her right hand across Aozora's arm, Tsunade collected droplets of dark green slug-derived liquid in her palm.
With the slug liquid removed, Aozora felt the special energy inside his right arm seemingly lose its target, slowly dispersing outward as his arm began to turn rigid.
Quickly channeling chakra to integrate it, Aozora still couldn't fully absorb it—only managing to mostly restore his right arm to its original state.
After his first attempt at sage arts training, Aozora frowned, lost in thought.
"It's totally normal to fail the first time. Even my great-grandfather struggled quite a few times before he got it, and I myself still haven't fully mastered it," Tsunade comforted him.
Shaking his head, Aozora said, "I'm not discouraged. I just feel something's off about this slug liquid—it gives me a sensation... somewhat similar to Lord Hashirama's cells."
Hearing this, Tsunade became visibly more serious. "You noticed it too?"
Aozora asked, "What do you mean by 'too'?"
Taking a sip of tea, Tsunade replied, "I've long suspected that slug liquid, toad oil, and snake venom might all be processed cells originating from the three sages of the Three Great Holy Lands—cells specially refined through secret techniques.
Therefore, practicing martial arts from these holy lands causes gradual morphological changes toward those three species.
Of course, exceptional talents might carve their own paths, like my great-grandfather."
Aozora couldn't help rolling his eyes. Hashirama Senju had the protection of Asura chakra—the cells of those three sages were probably powerless against him!
No wonder even outstanding figures like Jiraiya and Kabuto unavoidably transformed toward toads and snakes respectively.
So the Three Great Holy Lands weren't exactly benign either!
Thus questioned Tsunade, "Aozora, do you still want to learn this now?"
Without much hesitation, Aozora confidently replied, "Of course!"
Hashirama had Asura chakra backing him, Naruto had Nine-Tails, and he himself had the Heavenly Book (a divine scripture) at his disposal.
Everyone had their strengths—there was nothing to fear!
"What confidence you have!"
Smiling, Tsunade once again coated Aozora with slug liquid.
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