Attempt

"What are your intentions? Attacking the Child of Prophecy of Konoha?" The massive head of Sage Katsuyu remained motionless, yet its voice resonated from every direction, making it impossible to tell where its body truly lay or just how vast it had become.

However, the content of its words caught the attention of Nagato: "You also know of the Child of Prophecy? What is your relationship with the toads of Mount Myoboku?"

Konan stood to the side, staring at the giant head of Sage Katsuyu, seemingly calculating how many paper bombs it would take to blow up something of that size.

This gaze made Sage Katsuyu somewhat uneasy. The four massive tentacles on its head twitched, and it remained silent, offering no answer to Nagato's question.

Clearly, as fellow sacred lands of Senjutsu, there were certain connections between the Three Great Sage Regions, but these matters had nothing to do with an "outsider" like Nagato.

"Not answering? Fine, it's not like I came here for that anyway. Let's get straight to the point, Sage Katsuyu. I am here to learn Senjutsu."

"Senjutsu...?" Sage Katsuyu, who had remained silent regarding Nagato's previous question, responded directly this time, its voice filled with astonishment. "How did you know that Senjutsu could be learned here?"

"That doesn't seem like a question you should be concerned about, does it?"

To Nagato, Sage Katsuyu was merely a tool—a creature that could allow him to learn Senjutsu. Why bother asking so many questions?

Sage Katsuyu fell silent once more; it was evident that this creature and this man were both quite dissatisfied with each other's attitudes.

Just as Nagato was about to lose his patience and urge it on, Sage Katsuyu spoke again: "Very well. Since you wish to die, I certainly won't stop you. Before that, however, I require you to allow me to treat Tsunade in exchange."

Tsunade, held in the grip of the Asura Path, had been unconscious for a long time. Having reverted to the form of an old woman, her withered body was not only covered in blood but also pinned together by Black Receivers. She looked like a half-slaughtered old sow, appearing as miserable as one could possibly be.

Nagato glanced at Tsunade's current state without a shred of sympathy, then looked back at Sage Katsuyu and said, "As long as you agree to let me learn Senjutsu, I can allow you to use a split to treat Tsunade. However, you are not to help her recover her chakra, nor are you to touch the Black Receivers on her body."

The true form of Sage Katsuyu was likely very powerful, but its splits were a different matter. The same went for Tsunade; her Strength of a Hundred and Strength of a Hundred Technique were incredibly troublesome, but they required a long time to accumulate chakra.

Without the massive chakra stored in her Yin Seal, Tsunade was nothing; Nagato could finish her off with a flick of his wrist.

To Nagato, Tsunade was irrelevant now; the key was learning Senjutsu from Sage Katsuyu. The fact that it had agreed to his demands so readily caught him by surprise. He had originally intended to threaten it with 600 Billion Paper Bombs...

With this thought, Nagato commanded the Asura Path to drop Tsunade and Hinata onto the ground. Regardless of what they looked like before, seeing them now as an old woman and a blind girl was still somewhat of an eyesore.

If not for the fact that the information in Tsunade's brain was still of some use, and that Nagato still possessed a shred of conscience and didn't want to take Hinata's life for no reason, these two would have been discarded like trash long ago.

"Senjutsu? Is that the kind of technique Jiraiya used?" Konan asked, watching as the split of Sage Katsuyu crawled onto Tsunade to heal her.

She finally understood the purpose of Nagato's visit.

"Yes." Nagato nodded. He didn't hide it from Konan, nor did he avoid Sage Katsuyu, answering straightforwardly: "This place is called Shikkotsu Forest, one of the Three Great Sage Regions, just as famous as Mount Myoboku and Ryūchi Cave. Although one can learn Senjutsu here, it has different characteristics compared to the Senjutsu Jiraiya learned at Mount Myoboku."

"In my battles against Jiraiya and Naruto, I witnessed the power of Senjutsu. The toads of Mount Myoboku also caused me a great deal of trouble. This made me realize that the ninja world is not as simple as just us humans; there are powerful forces like the Three Great Sage Regions. I might have ignored it before, but now that the power of Mount Myoboku has not only surfaced but also stood in opposition to us, the power of the Three Great Sage Regions, including Mount Myoboku, must be dealt with in advance."

Just as Nagato finished his long-winded speech as if no one else were present, the split of Sage Katsuyu, currently healing Tsunade, twitched its tentacles and expressed its opinion in a cute, feminine voice: "How arrogant. If it weren't for Lady Tsunade, I would have killed you with acid long ago."

After separating from the main body, the voice and personality of the split seemed to have changed significantly.

"Multiple personalities?" Nagato blinked, not responding to the comment, though he was curious about the strength of this creature.

Theoretically, neither the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku nor the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave could be handled by him in his current state. Since the main body of Sage Katsuyu was a Sage on par with them, it was reasonable for it to believe it could kill Nagato.

However, a real battle was not simply a comparison of power and abilities. Nagato believed that while he might not have a way to deal with these massive entities with their bottomless reserves of Senjutsu Chakra, he wouldn't be easily killed by them either. If a battle truly broke out, the outcome would be uncertain; if he really couldn't win, he could always run.

It was just like when Naruto and Sasuke fought Kaguya Otsutsuki. Kaguya was incredibly strong, yet her ultimate moves couldn't hit anyone; she was like a simpleton with no combat experience. In the end, she was even outplayed by her own unfilial descendants, and Naruto's Sexy Technique completely ruined her dignity, leaving her with no trace of a final boss's presence.

Konan frowned to the side. Seeing that Nagato ignored the "provocation" from Sage Katsuyu, she didn't say anything either.

Although she believed Nagato was the strongest, since he wanted to learn Senjutsu, she wouldn't cause him any trouble.

She had seen the boost in various abilities Jiraiya gained after using Senjutsu. If Nagato's power could receive a similar boost, the effect would be far beyond what Jiraiya could achieve. Thinking of this, Konan felt a surge of excitement, and her hands, hidden in her sleeves, involuntarily clenched into fists.

"That's enough. Tsunade definitely won't die now." Nagato, who had been monitoring the chakra levels within Tsunade, spoke up.

He had no intention of letting Sage Katsuyu heal Tsunade until she was back on her feet. While he wasn't afraid, he hated trouble.

Sage Katsuyu seemed to realize that Nagato would not agree to continue treating Tsunade. The split crawled off her and covered Hinata, beginning to heal her instead.

A cold light flashed in Nagato's eyes. Although he was impatient, he didn't voice any opposition.

The Fourth Shinobi World War was not far off now. Obito Uchiha might already be ordering White Zetsu to search the world for him. His time was extremely precious, but since he wanted to learn Senjutsu in Shikkotsu Forest, he was effectively asking for a favor, so he didn't intend to push Sage Katsuyu too hard.

After a while, seeing that Hinata's complexion was no longer as deathly pale as before under the healing, Nagato frowned and spoke: "Is that enough? Can we start learning Senjutsu immediately?" He had already decided that if Sage Katsuyu said even half a word of refusal, he would have Konan reveal the 600 Billion Paper Bombs and let this giant bug know what a ruthless carpet bombing felt like.

"Since you are in such a hurry to die, I will grant your wish." The massive voice of Sage Katsuyu echoed slowly all around them.

Another split, the size of a normal human, separated from its body and crawled in front of Nagato: "Follow me. I will take you to the true Shikkotsu Forest."