"What is the interpretation?" Jiraiya took everything related to prophecies extremely seriously; prophecy was the meaning of his existence. This prophecy was more important than the Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and Tsunade combined.
Fukasaku shook his head: "I don't know. The Toad Sage is much older than me. I can go back and ask the Great Elder, but you know the Great Elder's condition; he's getting more and more confused."
With Sage Fukasaku returning to Mount Myōboku, there was nothing more Jiraiya could ask.
Was it really a "love child"? Nobody knew.
Ino had no evidence to say it was a clone. Orochimaru had witnessed Tsunade scolding Jiraiya twice and, after learning the full story, the Snake Auntie smiled without a word, choosing both times to stand by and watch. Aside from not having melon seeds, peanuts, and a small stool, he perfectly demonstrated what it meant to be an onlooker.
Fight! Keep fighting!
Seeing Tsunade hit Jiraiya always put Orochimaru in a good mood. One day, he even spoke softly to Anko Mitarashi, reminiscing about their old teacher-student relationship, causing the bewildered Anko to eat ten more bowls of red bean soup to calm her nerves.
Orochimaru loved to watch the drama unfold, and Tsunade and Jiraiya's relationship plummeted.
Originally, the Village was filled with the happy atmosphere of new couples like Asuma and Yuhi, Gekkō Hayate and Yūgao Uzuki, and Kakashi and Ari entering matrimony. There was even a hint of something between the old rivals Tsunade and Jiraiya. Now that the "love child" had appeared, that hint was snuffed out by Tsunade, who didn't want to be a "step-mom," and their relationship once again turned cold.
Disappointed in love, Tsunade once again resorted to drinking away her sorrows.
To cheer her up, Ino took thirty million Ryo from the tuition fees given to her by Xiao Guang, the student she called "Guang Billion."
She gave it to Tsunade over three days to squander.
The truth is, the best solution for a broken heart is to go home and rest, definitely not to a casino!
Tsunade lost everything. Watching her last chip being taken away, her mood was vexed. Under the double blow, she angrily slammed her hand on the table. As a result, a finger-thick vine inexplicably grew from the corner of the solid wood gambling table. This vine quickly withered, but it still shocked Tsunade.
This time, it wasn't Wood Release Chakra that Ino had transmitted to her using Spirit Transformation Technique. Although weak, it was ultimately her own. Her long-awaited Wood Release had finally taken root in her own bloodline.
"I always thought only those from the Uchiha Clan needed this kind of mental stimulation. Can I do this too?" she asked her two disciples.
Shizune and Ino both shook their heads, indicating they didn't know.
Shizune drew a sample of Tsunade's blood. After testing it, she found that Tsunade's Wood Release had indeed awakened, and her Chakra activity was now at least ten times higher than before.
Tsunade's bloodline originally contained this information, but it lacked Asura Chakra, which is why the Wood Release had been slow to awaken.
Ino, using Spirit Transformation Technique, repeatedly helped her harmonize the Wood Release Chakra according to the Wood Release method. Her body's Chakra pathways had already memorized this feeling, and with a slightly stronger mental stimulus, the information in her bloodline was activated.
Based on Ino's standard.
Ino had Lv3 Wood Release, Yamato had Lv1 Wood Release, and now Tsunade, after familiarizing herself with this ability, was roughly Lv2.
Wood Clone, Descent of the Tree World, and Wood Dragon Technique could all be used, but Wood Human Technique was not possible; Tsunade's Chakra was still insufficient.
Even if she drained all her Chakra, she couldn't summon even one arm of the Wood Human.
To use higher-level Wood Release, she would have to activate her Yin Seal.
Tsunade was slowly getting used to Wood Release, then trying to incorporate this Ninjutsu into her own techniques.
The effect was only mediocre. Her fighting style was already established. Super Strength Fist and Painful Sky Foot could handle most enemies. There was no enemy that couldn't be defeated with one punch; if one punch wasn't enough, then two.
Now, forcibly inserting Wood Release felt, to be honest, a bit awkward.
Jiraiya shamelessly came to train with her. Tsunade gave him a good beating, and the relationship between the two elders returned to normal, though the intimacy that was once just a thin veil away had disappeared.
Jiraiya didn't care. After so many years of back and forth, he was used to it. If affection was lost, he could always earn it back!
Tsunade was, after all, a heroine. She displayed Wood Release twice in front of everyone, receiving much praise, and her previous despondent mood about almost becoming a "step-mom" dissipated by more than half.
Ino didn't participate in the elders' affairs; she had also been researching Sage Mode these past few days.
The Sage Jutsu of Shikkotsu Forest belonged only to the Slug Sage. This Sage was a typical example of 'one person eats well, the whole family is not hungry.' Without the burden of clansmen, she naturally didn't need to spend effort researching the popularization of Sage Jutsu. Her Sage Mode couldn't be learned by animals, let alone humans.
Ino didn't understand Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode. As a person from Shikkotsu Forest, it was impossible for her to gain recognition from Ryūchi Cave, and the same applied to Mount Myōboku.
Ino could only take the most arduous path, which was to try to learn the Sage Mode of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama.
Senju Hashirama's Sage Jutsu lineage was not from Shikkotsu Forest; his Sage Mode was something he had comprehended himself.
The Second Hokage had some relatively positive accounts of this.
In short, one day while skipping stones, Hashirama felt that his Chakra was still not enough! Not only was it not abundant, but he actually felt it was scarce, and he fell into immense self-doubt.
Then, under the horrified gaze of his younger brother Tobirama, Hashirama communicated spiritually with various plants in nature. Afterwards, using his vast Chakra as a foundation, he harmonized Natural Energy and developed his own unique Sage Mode.
How exactly to practice? What to do first, what to do next? The Second Hokage didn't write it.
This wasn't because the First Hokage was stingy with his knowledge, but because he couldn't articulate it! Perhaps he thought it was very simple: "Look, I clap my hands like this, and Natural Energy rushes towards me, then I just harmonize it a bit, and it's done. Isn't it simple?"
Ino looked at the two pieces of paper in front of her. The sparse hundred-odd words of description were frustratingly concise, without any extraneous details. This was the First Hokage's entire record of his own Sage Mode.
The First Hokage's handwriting was bold and powerful, conveying his broad-mindedness, but these descriptions were simply too vague.
The Second Hokage, however, made many annotations between the lines, but they were all things like "My elder brother is an idiot" and "Future generations, absolutely do not practice according to this."
Ino summarized it: the First Hokage's approach was very simple. Don't talk to him about nature transformation, form transformation, or Chakra proportions; it's completely unnecessary! Open the Chakra pathways and just do it! Forcibly absorb Natural Energy, and it's done!
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