If someone had been watching Chinatsu develop her "World Peace Technique" back then, their reaction probably wouldn't have been any different from that of the three Snake Princesses now.
They would have been completely baffled by everything she was doing.
If Chinatsu hadn't already realized that the process couldn't be reversed once it began, the three Snake Princesses would probably have stopped her long ago.
But now...
They could only leave everything to fate.
Cold sweat trickled down the backs of the three Snake Princesses as they watched nervously.
They had absolutely no idea what Chinatsu was doing.
Meanwhile, Chinatsu herself felt no sense of danger whatsoever.
She was completely immersed in developing her new Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode, and everything was proceeding smoothly.
In fact, she felt refreshed.
As Chinatsu gradually approached the final stage of her new Sage Mode, a strange layer of chakra slowly emerged around her body.
It didn't resemble the Sage Modes she had previously mastered.
Instead, it looked somewhat similar to Toneri's Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
It was more like a thin, flowing layer of energy surrounding her body than the transformation of a Tailed Beast Mode.
The moment the Ryūchi Cave Sage Chakra completely emerged from Chinatsu's body, the three Snake Princesses were stunned.
They had barely recovered from their shock when they were already preparing to shout their usual line.
*"How is this possible?!"
But before they could say it...
The Ryūchi Cave Sage Chakra surrounding Chinatsu suddenly stopped.
Then—
Puff!
It disappeared.
The three Snake Princesses blinked.
"...Failed?"
Naruto and Sasuke immediately raised their fingers to their lips.
"Shhh!"
The three Snake Princesses were confused.
What was going on?
Why were these two telling them to be quiet?
Then they saw Chinatsu sitting motionless.
The three Snake Princesses suddenly understood.
She wasn't finished.
She had already begun attempting to fuse the three Sage Techniques.
Naruto and Sasuke's hearts immediately tightened.
They had already experienced this once at Mount Myōboku.
They knew exactly what was happening.
Sister... please don't let anything happen to you.
The two stared at Chinatsu without blinking.
---
Inside Chinatsu's mental world, however, things were completely different.
The usually relaxed and confident Chinatsu now wore a serious expression.
She had expected the fusion of three Sage Techniques to be difficult.
That much was obvious.
After all, successfully combining two different Sage Techniques had already required an enormous amount of concentration.
But actually attempting to combine three...
That was on an entirely different level.
All the experience she had gained from combining the first two Sage Techniques suddenly seemed almost useless.
The three different forms of Sage Chakra were resisting one another.
They refused to merge.
They were like three rivers flowing in completely different directions, each refusing to yield.
Am I going to fail?
The thought appeared briefly in Chinatsu's mind.
But she immediately rejected it.
No.
This is only the beginning.
It's far too early to talk about failure.
Chinatsu gritted her teeth.
She continued pushing the three Sage Techniques together.
The pressure continued increasing.
The three forms of Sage Chakra began to fluctuate violently.
Chinatsu's expression changed.
She could already feel that she was approaching the point where the entire fusion would collapse.
If she continued forcing it...
The consequences would be disastrous.
So, at the final moment, Chinatsu made a decision.
"Stop!"
She forcibly interrupted the fusion.
The enormous amount of Sage Chakra that had accumulated within her body immediately became unstable.
Chinatsu quickly absorbed it back into herself before violently expelling it.
The process placed an enormous burden on her body.
Calling it self-harm wouldn't be an exaggeration.
If Chinatsu weren't currently Kaguya's Jinchūriki, that single attempt would have been enough to push her body to the brink of collapse.
In the real world—
Chinatsu suddenly opened her eyes.
Pfft!
A mouthful of blood sprayed from her mouth, splattering onto the floor.
"Sister!"
Sasuke's expression changed dramatically.
He rushed to Chinatsu's side.
From childhood until now, apart from the night of the Uchiha massacre, he had rarely seen his sister seriously injured.
And now...
She had just spat out blood right in front of him.
"Are you alright?!"
Sasuke's voice trembled slightly.
Chinatsu wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and waved her hand.
"I'm fine."
"You're bleeding!"
"It's not that serious."
Chinatsu smiled.
Compared to the times she had been stabbed in the kidneys, this was nothing.
At least, this time she hadn't been stabbed.
It was just a little blood.
Chinatsu took a deep breath and circulated her chakra.
With Kaguya's power constantly nourishing her body, her injuries began healing rapidly.
Sasuke stared at her.
He wanted to say something.
He wanted to tell her to stop.
But he couldn't.
Because he knew his sister.
Once Chinatsu decided to do something, nobody could easily change her mind.
"I didn't fail," Chinatsu said calmly.
"I simply stumbled on the road to success."
She extended her hand toward Sasuke.
"Help me up."
Sasuke's fists tightened.
"...You want to try again?"
"Of course."
"Sister..."
Sasuke lowered his head.
His heart was filled with frustration.
He wanted to protect her.
He had always wanted to become stronger.
Yet, no matter how much he trained...
Whenever his sister encountered danger, he still found himself standing behind her.
Why?
Was he really getting stronger?
Or was he simply getting better at watching his sister protect him?
Sasuke's emotions surged.
At that moment—
Something inside his body responded.
A strange chakra suddenly erupted from within him.
His Karma reacted.
The Otsutsuki power belonging to Isshiki began to fluctuate violently, and the conversion rate increased by several percentage points.
Sasuke didn't notice it immediately.
His mind was completely occupied by his sister.
The Sharingan had always been closely connected to intense emotional fluctuations.
Even now, after gaining the power of the Otsutsuki Karma, this fundamental principle hadn't changed.
Strong emotions still acted as a catalyst.
Sasuke slowly raised his head.
His eyes became sharper.
Sister...
Forgive my stubbornness.
But I will become strong enough to stand beside you.
---
Chinatsu took a deep breath.
Then she made her decision.
She would try again.
The power of nature once again began gathering around her.
Natural energy flowed into her body.
The Sage Chakra of Shikkotsu Forest formed.
The Sage Chakra of Mount Myōboku followed.
Finally, the Sage Chakra of Ryūchi Cave appeared.
Three completely different Sage Techniques.
Three different pathways.
Three different forms of power.
And one body.
Chinatsu began the fusion again.
But this time, the experience from her first attempt didn't make the process much easier.
Instead—
It taught her exactly how difficult it really was.
Forced termination.
Spitting blood.
Recovering.
Trying again.
Then repeating the entire process.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Chinatsu was practically torturing her own body.
Even Kaguya couldn't stand watching anymore.
Inside Chinatsu's mental world, Kaguya crossed her arms and turned her head away.
"Even if you're immortal, you can't keep torturing your body like this..."
She frowned.
"This is ridiculous."
The pain of being stabbed in the kidneys was nothing compared to what Chinatsu was doing to herself now.
At least being stabbed only happened once at a time.
Chinatsu was deliberately pushing herself toward the edge of collapse over and over again.
A normal person would probably have gone insane.
Unfortunately...
Chinatsu wasn't exactly normal.
The more times she forcibly interrupted the fusion, the more opportunities she created to try again.
And every failure gave her another piece of information.
Every collapse revealed another flaw.
Every injury brought her one step closer to success.
It reminded Chinatsu of something from before her reincarnation.
Back when she had still been an ordinary girl, her school had once organized a trip to an amusement park.
There had been countless rides.
Most of them were fun.
Some were exciting.
But there was one particular ride that Chinatsu couldn't even remember the name of anymore.
All she remembered was that it was terrifying.
It was even more chaotic than one of those giant swinging hammer rides.
The first time, one of her classmates dragged her onto it.
She had screamed.
She had been dizzy.
She had regretted agreeing to go.
But after getting off...
For some strange reason, she wanted to try it again.
The second time, she went alone.
The third time, she went alone again.
Then a fourth.
Then a fifth.
Because the ride was so terrifying, the queue was surprisingly short.
So Chinatsu simply kept riding it.
Again.
And again.
Until that strange fear had somehow transformed into excitement.
Thinking about it now, Chinatsu realized something.
She really had been a madwoman even before reincarnation.
A stubborn madwoman.
And that stubbornness was once again helping her now.
After countless failed attempts, Chinatsu finally discovered a tiny opening.
A flaw in the fusion.
A moment when the three Sage Chakras briefly stopped resisting one another.
She seized it.
This is it!
Chinatsu immediately adjusted the flow.
The three powers began moving again.
This time, she didn't immediately collapse.
One minute passed.
Then five.
Then ten.
She continued sitting cross-legged.
Her breathing remained steady.
Her body remained motionless.
Half an hour passed.
Outside, Sasuke couldn't take it anymore.
"Sister..."
He clenched his fists.
"Did you finally succeed?"
Naruto was equally nervous.
"I don't know..."
He stared at Chinatsu.
"I haven't been able to sense her presence for almost ten minutes."
His expression became serious.
"Just like when she combined the first two Sage Modes."
The two brothers exchanged a glance.
Neither of them spoke again.
They simply waited.
---
In the real world, everything was calm.
Chinatsu sat peacefully on the ground.
Her breathing was steady.
Her heartbeat was stable.
There was no visible struggle.
No blood.
No violent chakra fluctuations.
Nothing.
But inside her mental world...
It was completely different.
The three Sage Chakras were colliding violently.
Natural energy surged like an endless storm.
The three different pathways continuously rejected one another.
Chinatsu stood at the center of it all, desperately controlling every strand of energy.
She couldn't afford a single mistake.
Not even one.
The peaceful scene outside was merely an illusion.
Inside...
Chinatsu was fighting a battle far more dangerous than any physical confrontation.
And this time...
She wasn't fighting an enemy.
She was fighting three different forms of nature itself.
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