To allow Kushina to experience and adapt to the Nine-Tails in advance, as well as further develop her abilities as a ninja, Haseo began subjecting her to long-term psychological conditioning.
For Kushina, this was somewhat cruel.
As an elementary school student, Kushina had classes in the morning, training in the afternoon, and more lessons at night—her schedule was as packed as a Hokage's! It was ironic luck for these otherworldly kids to experience the tyranny of teachers and homework too.
Haseo seemed to be living what others might call a "peaceful" life in Konoha while keeping one eye on the war's progress.
Mist remained quiet. Tsunade had recovered from injuries caused by the Kinjutsu. The Sannin returned to the battlegrounds. Konoha once again reinforced its Western Front...
The balance of power in Rain Country hadn't been broken, and the main battlefield had never expanded beyond its borders. Yet undeniably, the scale of the war continued growing.
With the increasing number of deployed ninjas, casualties were rising daily. As a result, Konoha became more serious with each passing day, and the overall atmosphere gradually shifted toward what Haseo remembered from the era of the First Great Ninja War.
In the early days of the war, ideals, beliefs, and aspirations—those superficially romanticized elements—were gradually stripped away, revealing the cold, ironclad reality of blood-soaked carnage. After witnessing this truth, most ninja grew somber, eventually turning numb, with only a few maintaining clear awareness.
War became a grinding burden. Numbness allowed ninja to endure until they finally reached their breaking point.
A portion of Kagenami's ninja were also deployed to the front lines. Although the Uzumaki clan primarily handled tasks in the rear areas, they weren't always kept away from the frontline. Still, over time, tragic news occasionally came back.
Moreover, Mito Uzumaki's health condition was deteriorating. Consequently, the atmosphere within Kagenami grew increasingly oppressive—a change impossible to avoid. Facing this mood, even Haseo felt powerless.
Human emotions wouldn't disappear entirely, but war made them extraordinarily monotonous and repressed.
It wasn't only the Uzumaki clan suffering under these conditions. Against this backdrop, both the Hyuga and Uchiha clans continued sending their ninja to the battlefield.
However, Haseo couldn't help but wonder what Danzo Shimura, the field commander at the front line, had actually been doing since the outbreak of war. Was he babysitting or something?
Konoha's foundation hadn't crumbled, yet up until now, none of its offensives had achieved significant results. One could only say that the Konoha forces under Danzo Shimura's leadership had generally maintained mediocrity—played it far too safe all along.
This "steady" approach might represent a tactical decision or reflect the commander's style, but Haseo clearly disliked this style.
However, he couldn't say much about the matter. In fact, he couldn't even hold a significant grudge against Shimura Danzo. After all, the situation on the Western Front was far more complicated than that of the Eastern Front. A battlefield filled with multiple factions fighting each other was unimaginably more chaotic than a straightforward head-on confrontation. At times like this, being cautious wasn't just smart—it was the only way to go.
The supreme commander's job was certainly not to lead from the front. Compared to Danzo, strictly speaking, it was actually Haseo's approach that was wrong.
Strategically, Konoha had already achieved its pre-war objectives—preventing Sunagakure from swiftly defeating Amegakure and then moving on to annex surrounding territories. Therefore, Konoha had already ruled out the possibility of a total defeat in this war.
The purpose of the war had already been fulfilled, but withdrawing from it wasn't a simple task.
For example, Sunagakure was still fighting for an objective with a 99.99% chance of failure. Compared to them, Konoha naturally didn't need such strong offensive intentions.
It seemed as though Danzo was demonstrating a method to everyone—that war wasn't meant to be "fought," but rather "endured."
With the front line stabilized and Konoha at peace, his actions seemed acceptable.
Over time, apart from Tsunade, Haseo stopped keeping such a close eye on the distant war, and even found himself with free time for training.
...
Shikkotsu Forest.
"I think I've caught onto something. There was a moment when I felt like I'd succeeded—I felt my body enter a special state, and my chakra power increased by more than just a little."
Haseo instinctively clenched his fist, as if trying to grasp that feeling from just moments ago.
"Lord Haseo, this indicates that after all this training, you've finally begun to glimpse the doorway. As long as you continue practicing repeatedly, eventually you will be able to firmly grasp this fleeting sensation. Once that happens, you can attempt mass production of Sage Chakra. Success would mean entering Sage Mode." The Katsuyu slug perched on his shoulder explained.
Sage Chakra isn't just a transformation of regular chakra—it's fundamentally different from the very moment it's created. It requires equal parts spiritual energy, physical energy, and natural energy (one-third each) combined in perfect balance.
Now, Haseo could already try producing small amounts of Sage Chakra. After all, if the issue was merely one of proportions, it wouldn't pose a problem for Haseo, who had already mastered the Five Elements Techniques. The real challenge lay in avoiding the risks posed by natural energy and figuring out how to produce large quantities of Sage Chakra.
"So… finally some light at the end of the tunnel..."
At this moment, Haseo finally felt like all the hardship he had endured until now was worth it. He could finally taste the sweetness after all the bitterness—a wave of emotion nearly brought tears to his eyes. Yeah, with just a bit more effort, he really might start crying.
"Oh, one more thing—Katsuyu, among those who previously learned Sage Arts from Shikkotsu Forest, how would you rate my learning speed?"
"Lord Haseo… are you sure you really want to know the answer to that?"
"...Forget it. Not knowing might actually be better for me." After thinking for a while, Haseo decided to drop this foolish question.
Because he was afraid that once he heard the answer, his challenge wouldn't be about forcing himself to cry anymore—it would shift to figuring out how hard he had to work to stop the tears.
First of all, although there was hope, exactly when Haseo could achieve Sage Mode was still completely unknown. In other words, he hadn't even learned the Sage Art yet, so asking this question was somewhat premature. Secondly, the last orthodox user of this Sage Art had been the First Hokage.
Comparing himself to someone like that was undoubtedly asking for trouble.
"At least I still have Jiraiya; only Jiraiya can give me some sense of comfort at times like this," Haseo secretly thought.
Once he had someone else to use as a comparison point, his mood inexplicably improved significantly.
Neither Haseo nor Jiraiya possessed a key bloodline trait. Studying the Sage Art separately in different places, their journey could aptly be called *A Mortal's Path to Immortality*.
Though not as gifted as those with cheat-like abilities, at least he was progressing slightly faster than Jiraiya.
Sure, things aren't great for me, but they're worse for you—so yeah, I feel a little better. Although this kind of mentality represents self-deception, under certain circumstances it's actually quite helpful—it at least helps maintain a good mood.
Thankfully, Jiraiya had no idea about this comparison, otherwise he might start muttering curses under his breath—so this could still be seen as a "win-win" scenario.
Just as Haseo was immersed in the joy of progress within Shikkotsu Forest, the slug perched on his shoulder gently trembled its antennae and delivered intelligence transmitted from Konoha:
"Lord Haseo, we've received new developments… It seems Kumo has made some new moves."
"Kumo? At a time like this?"
Haseo felt puzzled. Previously, Kumo had always maintained a strong and warlike stance but remained outside the current great war. So why were they suddenly taking action now?
The battlefield situation hadn't changed significantly either, so what could possibly justify such an unexplained move?
Haseo stood there, momentarily lost in thought, as if recalling something distant.
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