The Marshmallow

At that moment, in the outside world Nagato could not see with his eyes closed.

The Black Pool, which had been calm, seemed to come alive as broad swaths of white light began to ripple across its surface. Looking closely, one could see that they were hideous Wraiths, staring with resentful eyes at Nagato as he absorbed energy from the Black Water.

As soon as the Wraiths awakened, they surged into Nagato's body along with the energy in the Black Water.

Katsuyu watched the Wraiths appear and then burrow into Nagato's body, and handed down his death sentence.

"No need to look. He's as good as dead. We might as well give him a water burial." That was what Katsuyu thought at that moment.

Meanwhile, inside Nagato, the pathways carrying Senjutsu Chakra were stabilizing and extending, while the balance between Natural Energy and the acidic liquid was gradually taking shape. Just as things were improving, the moment the Wraiths entered his body, a meteor shower seemed to erupt. Meteors came pouring down in a dense rain, each trailing a white tail of light. Nagato examined them with the Rinnegan's power and saw a face filled with hatred on every one. Bearing curses that seemed bent on destroying everything, they crashed into his Senjutsu Chakra pathways and his body, which was slowly reaching equilibrium.

"How the hell are there so many of these things?" Nagato had barely blurted out the curse when the Wraiths' meteor shower began bombarding him from within.

"This is what the Wraiths' Chakra looks like after it disperses. Never mind, there's no point explaining. You'll be one of them soon enough." Katsuyu sounded dispirited, as if mourning for Shikkotsu Forest. Once Nagato died, 600 Billion Paper Bombs would be coming to level the place.

Hearing Katsuyu's words, Nagato felt hopeless. He had no way to stop so many "meteors" from bombarding him. White light flashed endlessly inside him, but instead of causing the world-ending destruction he'd expected, it tasted sweet—like marshmallow—and gave him the sense that it was delicious.

"These Wraiths are filled with intense negative emotions. They'll make you lose your mind in no time. You won't be able to maintain the balance of Senjutsu Chakra in your body, let alone hold a normal conversation with me." Katsuyu sighed, as if already seeing how Nagato's story would end. "There weren't this many Wraiths in the Black Water to begin with. But as their numbers grew, the Wraiths around Shikkotsu Forest were drawn here and dissolved into it. Hard luck, I suppose. Everything was going so smoothly, but you still couldn't escape death."

Nagato ignored Katsuyu. Watching the Wraith energy in the sky, which looked like white, fragrant marshmallows, he couldn't help licking his lips. To him, these little cuties had clearly come bearing gifts.

"Hm? Have you already lost your sense of self? I was going to ask you to stop your companions from bombing me with Explosive Tags. Never mind. Since you're the most suitable person for practicing Senjutsu I've seen in all these years, I won't make things difficult for your companions. I'll just move my sacred land somewhere else."

Katsuyu went on lamenting to herself, completely unaware that the meteor shower inside Nagato had stopped. The Wraiths were now scrambling to escape his body.

"This isn't the ride to kindergarten!" Their terrified expressions seemed to convey more or less the same thing to one another.

In the Black Water, the Wraiths outside Nagato's body abruptly stopped burrowing into him. After a brief pause, they scattered in every direction. As Nagato savored the sweetness of the "marshmallows" inside him, he recalled the sensation of devouring the original Nagato's soul when he'd first transmigrated into his body.

"Just what I wanted! I come from a land of courtesy, and all are welcome!" Nagato's spirits soared. A vast spiritual shadow fell over him, like night descending, and swept away every trace of Wraith energy marked with white specks of light.

Katsuyu, clinging to Nagato, saw the Wraiths in the Black Water flee his body at a speed even greater than the one at which they'd entered, wailing as they went. She couldn't help staring in bewilderment.

Why did it seem as if the Wraiths were scared out of their wits? What was with their panicked expressions? Why were they fleeing so wildly, as if they wished they had more legs? What were they so afraid of? Why did it look as if they'd seen their natural enemy?

"What on earth happened here?" Katsuyu asked, baffled.

The entire Black Pool had returned to stillness.

Katsuyu looked around and sensed her surroundings carefully, wondering whether some terrifying being had arrived.

"Why do you care about all that? Just tell me what I'm supposed to do next." Nagato opened his eyes. He no longer cared about the acidic mist outside.

"Ah—?!" Katsuyu let out a startled cry. "You're still alive?"

You're still alive, still alive, alive...

Katsuyu's astonished echo rang across the entire Black Pool.

As if Nagato's survival were utterly unbelievable.

"You housebound slug—have you been cooped up so long that your brain's gone bad? Just tell me what to do next!" Nagato was furious. He was risking his life to learn Senjutsu, and Katsuyu was acting like some clueless goof.

"Oh, right. Next, you..." Katsuyu's temper was good. She didn't get angry when Nagato insulted her, but she just couldn't get past her shock, as though she wouldn't be satisfied until she saw him dead. "You're really still alive!"

"I'm truly sorry I didn't die. If you want me dead so badly, I can have Konan use 600 Billion Paper Bombs right now and send us both on our way," Nagato replied viciously.

"Oh... No need. Really, no need! I'll tell you what to do next right now." The thought of 600 Billion Paper Bombs brought Katsuyu back to her senses. She continued as instructed: "Now you need to use Senjutsu Chakra to repair your body. Specifically, you'll use the medical technique unique to the slugs."

Nagato nodded and was about to do so, but then realized he didn't have enough Chakra.

To fully resist the Black Pool's corrosive acid, he had to keep controlling and channeling large amounts of Natural Energy into his body. That required a large reserve of Senjutsu Chakra as a foundation. But all the Chakra inside him had already been converted into Senjutsu Chakra, and the pathways had stopped extending. He could no longer control any more Natural Energy.

Katsuyu came to her senses and checked Nagato's condition before speaking. "No, the amount of Chakra in your body isn't enough. You need to absorb Chakra from the Black Pool in a targeted way. Since you have a Sage Body, you can do that."

The Chakra pathways in Nagato's body had been opened and reshaped, allowing him to contain more Chakra than before. An ordinary person in his condition couldn't absorb Chakra. It was like someone starving who couldn't start with a huge feast—the newly opened Chakra pathways were still fragile and couldn't operate at full capacity. But Nagato was different. His vitality was like that of a cockroach; he could take any amount of abuse without a problem.

"Preta Path!" With no other choice, Nagato followed Katsuyu's advice and used his ocular power to absorb Chakra from the Black Pool.

His blood-red hair suddenly lifted, and powerful waves of suction rolled off him, stirring the calm Black Pool into a vast whirlpool. Before long, he had sucked up the Chakra that had accumulated in the pool at tremendous speed.

"Watch out for the Natural Energy mixed in with the Chakra, and the acid," Katsuyu warned.

That was what made Shikkotsu Forest Senjutsu so difficult to practice. Natural Energy, acid, and Chakra steeped in resentment were all thoroughly mixed together. Every step required powerful control to sort them out and keep them balanced, without a single mistake. Yet the control couldn't be too complete, either; some room had to be left for the acid to alter the body.

A bright glint shone in Nagato's Rinnegan. The Senjutsu Chakra pathways inside him continued to grow, while the three forms of energy remained balanced and in harmony under the Rinnegan's control.

Before long, night had fallen. Moonlight filtered through the thick green mist and fell across Nagato's face.