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Midorima felt a throbbing headache coming on. He had never once anticipated a scenario like this.
After all, Naruto had managed to pull off the Nine-Tails Sage Mode in a surprisingly straightforward manner. The manga had not devoted a particularly extensive amount of coverage to his struggle with mastering it. So why, when it came to him and the Six-Tails, had everything become so maddeningly complicated?
Fortunately, since the problem had already been clearly identified, the only thing left to do now was to solve it.
"Help me with this," Midorima said, lifting his head to look directly at Saiken.
"No," Saiken replied, shaking its massive form.
Midorima's brow furrowed slightly. He was just beginning to wonder whether all the effort he had poured in up to this point had been in vain when Saiken spoke again. "This is my matter as well. So don't phrase it as 'helping' you."
"Alright," Midorima said, a genuine smile spreading across his face.
He found he quite liked that answer.
"Tell me what we need to do next," Saiken prompted.
Midorima folded his arms across his chest. He had to admit, this question was exceedingly difficult to answer, yet it was also utterly unavoidable.
"Let me think... Roughly speaking, this is probably how it needs to work..." Midorima massaged his forehead, rapidly attempting to sort out the tangled threads in his mind.
Right now, the one thing he feared above all else was that entering the "Saiken Sage Mode" would turn out to be a matter of pure metaphysics—like Schrödinger's Wi-Fi signal, where mere analysis alone could never untangle the chaos.
But even if it did prove to be metaphysical nonsense, he had no choice but to attempt to analyze it systematically. If that failed, he would have to fall back on the hints the White Snake Sage had previously provided.
Saiken remained motionless, its gaze fixed unwaveringly on Midorima. And Midorima, for his part, did not disappoint. He began to lay out his theoretical framework.
"When I enter Sage Mode normally, I typically request the assistance of a sage. While I am in motion and actively fighting, she helps me by continuously absorbing natural energy on my behalf. Now, admittedly, I understand this may pose a certain degree of difficulty for you."
There were, after all, still fundamental differences between a tailed beast and a genuine sage.
"I will absorb the natural energy. You will be responsible for fusing that natural energy with chakra according to the precise, required ratio. Meanwhile, once I have entered Tailed Beast Mode, I will use my own chakra to engage in a process of 'exchange' with the chakra you have already 'fused.' In this way, I should be able to achieve the Saiken Sage Mode."
Midorima himself could not directly absorb natural energy on his own. He was reliant upon Jugo's cells to facilitate that process.
Initially, the rate at which Jugo's cells absorbed natural energy might not be exceptionally fast. However, as time progressed, the absorption rate would gradually accelerate.
If this had been before, Midorima might have worried about the natural energy being absorbed too rapidly and ultimately exceeding the volume of his own chakra, thereby destabilizing the delicate balance and turning him to stone. But the chakra reserves of a tailed beast were absurdly, incomprehensibly vast. At the very least, he could be absolutely certain that petrification was not a risk.
"Of course, the optimal solution would be for you to absorb the natural energy yourself, and then, after you've fused it into Sage chakra, exchange that completed product with me."
However, Midorima did not genuinely believe this ideal method was feasible.
As for the reason why... aside from Naruto in the original story, he had never seen anyone else successfully enter a "Tailed Beast Sage Mode."
"I understand... Shall we give it a try, then?"
"Let's give it a shot," Midorima agreed.
For both Midorima and the Six-Tails, this was an entirely unprecedented, unexplored mode.
To achieve a state powerful enough to truly contend with Madara, a seamless, wordless understanding between the jinchuriki and the tailed beast was an absolute prerequisite. And for Midorima and the Six-Tails, forging that level of synchronization would inevitably require a lengthy and demanding process.
On one hand, the Akatsuki could make their catastrophic move at any given moment. On the other hand, for Midorima and the Six-Tails to reach the desired perfection, they would undoubtedly have to invest an immense amount of time.
The inherent "conflict" between these two pressing realities was intensely sharp. To resolve this conflict, Midorima and the Six-Tails would have no choice but to engage in trials of superhuman intensity.
For Saiken, the ordeal was relatively manageable. After all, these experiments could scarcely inflict true harm upon a tailed beast. But for Midorima, his cells and muscles, having been torn apart and meticulously reconstructed thousands upon thousands of times in succession, had achieved a level of physical resilience that was leagues beyond what he had possessed before. By the same token, his spiritual energy had also undergone a monumental, quantum leap in magnitude.
All of this granted Midorima the fundamental capital necessary to endure high-intensity trial and error.
Furthermore, what truly filled Midorima with a surge of exhilaration was the discovery that his core hypothesis was actually valid.
The only caveat was that the process now involved an additional "step" in which the natural energy he generated had to be transferred to the Six-Tails, meaning the overall efficiency had not yet been optimized to its maximum potential.
Time...
He could only pray that there was still enough time remaining to fully refine and perfect the entire process.
After offering this silent, desperate prayer deep within his heart, Midorima once again threw himself, alongside the Six-Tails, into their relentless, additional training.
...
"The Hidden Mist Village lies just ahead," Pain stated, standing atop a high ridge and gazing down upon the distant village shrouded in mist.
"That is correct," Itachi affirmed.
"What is the battle plan?" Pain inquired.
"Do we simply charge straight in?" Itachi's gaze flickered almost involuntarily towards the line of shinobi arrayed in front of him.
Sasori. Kisame. The Second Mizukage. The Fourth Mizukage. Yugito Nii. Roshi. Han. If these shinobi were to launch a direct, frontal assault, even the Hidden Mist Village would find it exceedingly difficult to organize an effective defense in a short span of time. It was entirely possible their lines would be pierced straight through.
The Impure World Reanimation... this technique was truly, utterly horrifying.
Itachi cast a brief, sidelong glance at Kabuto, who stood nearby. Although the young man appeared no different from usual on the surface, Itachi knew full well that Kabuto was currently under the influence of Obito's hypnotic genjutsu.
Lifting that hypnosis would, of course, not be difficult in itself.
But standing directly before both Pain and Obito, there was simply no opportunity for him to release Kabuto from the spell.
If it remained in place, Kabuto could at least continue to eke out a precarious survival for a time longer. The moment it was undone, Kabuto's death sentence would be signed.
Moreover, he still needed to unearth the secrets lurking behind the Akatsuki. He absolutely had to endure and bide his time.
Itachi silently steeled his resolve within his heart.
"Then we charge straight in," the Deva Path decreed.
"By the way, Zetsu just relayed an interesting piece of intelligence. It appears the Hidden Mist Village anticipated our arrival. They've already evacuated a significant portion of their population in advance," Obito mentioned.
"Our objective is to force Midorima out into the open. Whether we achieve that by slaughtering Mist shinobi or butchering villagers, the moment he reveals himself, we will have accomplished our goal. There is no meaningful distinction to be made," the Deva Path stated coldly, his gaze fixed on the shinobi stationed at the watchtower in the distance. "Tell me, what sort of emotion do you think they will experience when they realize that one of the attackers is their own 'Second Mizukage'?"
"Delightful surprise, I'd wager," Deidara laughed.
"Then let them commence the operation. We shall wait for the opportune moment and deliver the fatal, finishing blow." The Deva Path pointed towards the Hidden Mist Village.
The seven shinobi brought back through the Impure World Reanimation immediately lunged forward, charging straight for the village.
The sentry stationed atop the watchtower, who had been diligently monitoring the surrounding area for any signs of movement, spotted the figures hurtling towards the Hidden Mist Village at terrifying speed. Without a moment's hesitation, he shouted a warning to the shinobi below.
"Enemy attack! Be advised, enemy attack!"
The words had barely left his lips when a kunai pierced clean through his throat. He plummeted from the watchtower, lifeless.
Down below, a shinobi roused by the alarm moved to peer through a crack in the gate, attempting to gauge the distance of the approaching enemies. The moment his eye aligned with the gap, he found another eye staring right back at him from the other side. A chill shot down his spine. Before he could even cry out to alert the others, that figure punched straight through the thick, heavy timber gate and drove a fist through his heart.
"It's... Kisame..."
The name never made it past his throat. The shinobi collapsed to the ground, dead before he hit the earth.
At the very same instant, a thunderous crash echoed through the air. A section of the wooden perimeter wall was blasted inward, utterly demolished, by a shinobi clad in crimson armor. That shinobi stormed in first, with the others following relentlessly on his heels, slaughtering their way inside.
"Quick... notify Lady Mizukage immediately!" One shinobi turned to flee, only to have his throat pierced through by Sasori in the next instant.
In what felt like mere heartbeats, the Hidden Mist Village's outermost reconnaissance and defense line had completely fallen.