Sacred Land, Shikkotsu Forest, beneath the Great Spirit Waterfall.
"What!?" Naruto and Sasuke were left dumbfounded by the bombshell Sage Katsuyu had dropped.
"You actually... don't know Uchiha Chen?"
If it had been someone else, even the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave, Naruto would have had his doubts.
But this was Sage Katsuyu, the most selfless and desireless of the three great sages of the sacred lands. She had willingly formed summoning contracts with Tsunade and Sakura, serving the shinobi selflessly like a public servant for many years.
It was no exaggeration to say that the number of shinobi she had saved was no fewer than Naruto and Sasuke had saved.
If she said she did not know Uchiha Chen, then she truly did not know him!
"Strange, strange... This just got even weirder!" Naruto muttered cryptically.
The Slug Sage girl asked lightly, "Naruto~, what do you mean?"
Naruto said, "That Uchiha Chen has never met you, but he's mastered your Slug Senjutsu!"
"Huh?" The Slug Sage girl blinked several times and said in surprise, "N-no way?"
Knowing it was a misunderstanding, Sasuke's tone softened.
"Sage Katsuyu, is there any way for Shikkotsu Forest's Senjutsu to be acquired through means other than the sacred land's inheritance? Back then, Uchiha Madara obtained the First Hokage Senju Hashirama's Senjutsu by absorbing it."
"Hmm, about that..." The Slug Sage girl lightly pinched her chin with slender fingers and pondered seriously for a moment. "That was different. I have heard of the First Hokage's Senjutsu. His Senjutsu stemmed from his innate Ashura Sage Body and awakened on its own once his power became great enough."
"The Senjutsu Chakra he refined was deeply fused with his cellular energy."
"I remember that when Uchiha Madara was revived by the Rinne Rebirth, he possessed Lord Hashirama's