A stream of water poured down from midair and seeped into the depths of Hyuga Ao's body. A golden light followed close behind, illuminating her skin, bones, blood vessels, and meridians.
Under the dual enhancement, Hyuga Ao felt her exhausted body, worn down by the Yin Seal's adaptation period, fill with energy once more.
Hyuga Ao examined her current condition.
"Hmm, my skin is fairer, smoother, and more hydrated. My body as a whole is also more flexible and resilient."
Hyuga Ao formed a water mirror.
"My appearance has been subtly adjusted. I feel prettier now. I also somehow learned many Water Release ninjutsu without being taught. Those must be Aqua's apology."
"Then what about the promised full-body enhancement?"
Hyuga Ao quickly performed a set of punches inside the tent, then closed her eyes and sensed herself.
"This enhancement is comprehensive enough. My physical abilities, Spiritual Power, Dojutsu Power, reflexes, mental capacity, computational ability, perception, chakra quality, and chakra reserves have all been strengthened."
"And comprehensive enhancement doesn't simply add or subtract. It multiplies and divides. My overall abilities have soared. I feel that after my body develops for a few more years, I should be able to touch the threshold of Hyuga's Kage Level."
Hyuga Ao excitedly paced around the tent several times. She felt that this enhancement was truly generous.
"Now for the last thing."
Hyuga Ao began releasing her perception.
Within her perception, a star slowly appeared. That star gave her a familiar feeling, like home.
This coordinate let Hyuga Ao know exactly where Blue Star was, but she still couldn't understand the information contained in it.
She could only sense that Blue Star was there.
"It seems I can only go back after reaching the form I envisioned."
The form Hyuga Ao envisioned was Kaguya's form.
Hyuga Ao had already planned out her future.
First, she would break through the Caged Bird, become a Kage Level member of the Hyuga, master ninjutsu, and use her connection with Minato to improve herself with Konoha's resources.
Then she would survive the calamity of the Nine-Tails' rampage. Afterward, she would go out and gather chakra from all kinds of Tailed Beasts to see whether she could turn herself into a bargain-bin Ten-Tails Jinchuriki and obtain Six Paths Chakra Mode.
If the Ten-Tails route proved impossible, she would search for the Tenseigan and obtain Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
By following those few paths to the pinnacle of the shinobi world, she could gain abilities related to space.
Once she obtained those abilities, Hyuga Ao would generally have the final say in the shinobi world. At that point, she could try to leave, either by getting the shinobi world's forces to help her or by leaving on her own.
Hyuga Ao was currently following the path of searching for the Tenseigan, because the Ten-Tails was too uncertain. However, by a twist of fate, she had obtained a little Four-Tails Chakra.
Thus, Hyuga Ao was following both paths at once. How far she would go down each one would depend on the situation later.
After organizing her current situation, Hyuga Ao walked out of the tent and discovered that all the passing Konoha shinobi looked excited.
She vaguely heard them discussing something. "Kumogakure has sent out troops. Iwagakure is urgently pulling back. They withdrew from the Land of Rain overnight."
"Oh." Hyuga Ao suddenly understood. So Kumogakure had sent out troops.
Hyuga Ao had been groggy these past few days. On one hand, she was suffering from the aftereffects of the Yin Seal. On the other, she was adapting to it.
During the initial stage after the Yin Seal was planted, sending chakra into it for the first time was equivalent to providing startup capital. After that, the Yin Seal would continuously absorb chakra to complete its primitive accumulation.
Only after this primitive accumulation would the Yin Seal become the Yin Seal everyone was familiar with.
The Yin Seal usually accumulated chakra through automatic absorption and deliberate input. The Yin Seal's active absorption had left Hyuga Ao extremely tired these past few days.
Hyuga Ao entered Tsunade's office without saying a word and immediately found a reclining chair to lie down in, like a wealthy old man.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't Lord Ao? How is Lord Ao feeling today?" Tsunade teased.
After Hyuga Ao received the Yin Seal, her relationship with Tsunade had suddenly become much closer, as though they were real sisters.
Lying down, Hyuga Ao rolled her eyes at Tsunade and ignored her, simply continuing to lie there.
Tsunade wasn't annoyed. She got up and walked over to Hyuga Ao to examine her condition.
"That's enough. You'll be fine after today." Tsunade rubbed Hyuga Ao's head. "Don't come in and lie down like some wealthy old man in the future."
"Wait a minute. Why has your skin gotten even better after only a few days?" Tsunade asked in surprise.
"Has it?" Hyuga Ao asked doubtfully. "I don't know. Maybe it's an effect of the Yin Seal."
"Hmm?" Looking at Hyuga Ao's expression, Tsunade felt that she was being brushed off. However, she couldn't think of anything else that could cause such an effect, so she could only attribute it to the Yin Seal.
"How strange. Why didn't I have this effect back then? Or did I just not notice it?" Tsunade muttered.
"You definitely just didn't notice. You actually had it. Don't think about it anymore, don't think about it. Sister Tsunade is already very beautiful now. Really!"
Hyuga Ao's praise successfully made Tsunade forget about the issue. Breathing a sigh of relief, Hyuga Ao was just about to leave.
Hyuga Ao got up and was about to leave, but paused at the door. Turning her head, she asked, "How are we going to arrange things from here on?"
Tsunade raised her chin, indicating that Hyuga Ao should look around.
Only then did Hyuga Ao notice that Tsunade's office was much emptier than before.
"Why is there so much empty space here?" Hyuga Ao asked.
Tsunade sat down and continued organizing the documents. "I'll be moving to the front lines."
"Elder Danzo and Sakumo have held off Hanzō for so long. Now it's our turn. Elder Danzo is seriously injured and needs to recuperate, while Sakumo will be transferred to the Land of Wind battlefield."
"With Iwagakure withdrawing, the Sand Ninja, who had remained silent, will inevitably join forces with the Rain Ninja and continue attacking. I'll move to the front lines to deal with Chiyo's poison. I'll make sure to detect it immediately and resolve it immediately, reducing the casualties caused by Chiyo's poison."
"Understood." Hyuga Ao nodded and turned to leave.
"Wait." Tsunade called out to Hyuga Ao.
"Do you want to join the Anbu?" Tsunade asked.
"The Anbu?" Hyuga Ao thought for a moment before answering, "After the war. I haven't considered joining the Anbu for now."
"If you don't want to join the Anbu, then follow me," Tsunade said.
"Okay."
Hyuga Ao truly didn't want to join the Anbu yet. She still needed to break one of the Caged Bird Chains and free herself from the threat to her life. The Anbu's pace was too fast and didn't suit her.
However, after the war ended, Hyuga Ao could use joining the Anbu to distance herself from Hiashi.
Hyuga Ao followed Tsunade and helped her as a medical assistant, taking the opportunity to gain experience.
Under Tsunade's full-fledged training, Hyuga Ao's Medical Ninjutsu improved rapidly. She could already use the Mystical Palm Technique skillfully, and she could also use the Chakra Scalpel, though she still couldn't control it precisely and needed to improve further.
This made Hyuga Ao wonder whether she was Orochimaru's disciple or Tsunade's disciple.
Or perhaps the Yin Seal had some kind of symbolic significance?
Hyuga Ao wasn't sure, but she enjoyed these days of rapidly enriching herself. She had also been visiting Orochimaru much less often recently.
During this period, Hyuga Ao gained a deeper understanding of the human body and filled in many gaps in her knowledge of human physiology.
But happy times were always short-lived. While Konoha was desperately recuperating, the Sand Ninja had already begun baring its fangs.
Before you continue