"Mm!"
She slightly controlled the Chakra of her Wind Release, then drew the Chakra out of the bottle.
Then, Hanabi reached out, grabbed the lid, covered the jar, and tightened it.
"Try again."
"Mm-hmm!"
Naruko immediately started twisting the jar.
"Ugh—!!!"
But even Naruko, who possessed Super Strength, had no way of directly unscrewing the jar at this moment.
Crushing the jar would have been easier than opening its lid.
"Huh?" Naruko seemed to understand something.
"That's it." Hanabi said. "Naruko, you've grown accustomed to the balanced state where energy exists inside your body. Even when you aren't using Sage Mode, the energy itself is still there, maintaining equilibrium with the outside world. Put simply, the difference between the internal and external air pressure is equal."
"Oh... ohhh." Naruko only half understood.
"But when you saved Gaara, part of your energy was drained away, disrupting that balance. Simply put, the external 'pressure' is pressing Nature Energy onto your body, while the inside of your body can't push back against it. It's like this vacuum jar—the air inside is gone, so atmospheric pressure is crushing it shut."
This time, Naruko finally understood.
"Then what? What should I do to change back? Hanabi, you definitely have a way, right?"
Naruko looked at Hanabi with sparkling eyes.
"I do."
"And that is—"
"As long as you keep getting stronger. Once your strength can contend with that 'air pressure.'"
"How long will that take?" Naruko hurriedly asked.
Hanabi tilted her head. "Three years, five years, ten years?"
Naruko's face fell.
"What are you afraid of? For most of the past two years, you were like this anyway." Hanabi said.
"That's true, but that was to make hiding easier." Naruko said. "And girls get perks in every way. Even lodging gets discounts..."
[Fuck, so it