Companionship

Time passed second by second, and this continued for a long ten minutes.

During that time, Karin drank no fewer than five full bottles of Water of Life in succession.

Orochimaru, who had been silently observing all along, finally spoke slowly:

"Mm, that should be enough..."

The moment his words fell, Senyo, who had been watching closely, suddenly noticed that the life force continuously flowing into Tsunade's body had abruptly slowed.

If the previous flow rate had been 100, it was now probably only 10—a full ninety percent reduction.

Seeing this, the huge weight hanging over Senyo's heart finally lifted, and he let out a long breath.

Tsunade's body had clearly needed an enormous amount of life energy to sustain this difficult evolution process.

No wonder Orochimaru had waited until he returned before taking this step.

Time continued to pass, and another five minutes later, Orochimaru made another gesture, indicating that everything could stop.

Then he said softly to everyone, "All right, go back and get some proper rest. Leave things here to me."

Hearing this, Senyo quickly reached out and gently wrapped an arm around Karin, who looked extremely drowsy and was practically unable to stand, intending to take her home first.

Karin had drunk a great deal of Water of Life just now. Her eyelids were already fighting each other, as though she could fall asleep at any moment.

In a daze, she murmured, "Is it over, Master?"

Senyo answered gently:

"It's fine now. Go to sleep. I'll take you home."

"Mmm... mmm... Master, hold me..."

With that soft murmur, Karin slowly closed her eyes and drifted into a sweet sleep.

Looking at Karin curled up in his arms like a kitten, Senyo could not help feeling a surge of tenderness.

He extended his arms and gently lifted