Gains and Losses

The Sun Barrier had fully risen above the sea, and endless sunlight bathed the entire land.

The sky was already bright, but Taiichi was still sitting on the beach, the seawater reaching his knees, at high tide.

He was still trying to control his mental energy, striving not to waste a single bit of it, but this was more difficult than he had imagined. The further outward his mental energy was, the harder it was to control.

When the tide reached Taiichi's belly, he finally opened his eyes. At this moment, his gaze was no longer as bright as before, but instead revealed endless exhaustion.

"That was close! I almost died on this deserted beach today."

Taiichi hand on his chest, trying to calm himself down.

He thought that since he hadn't officially started cultivating the Sage Mode, there wouldn't be any danger. Little did he know that the danger was unpredictable, and he almost lost his spirit and destroyed the world.

Recalling what had just happened, Taiichi still felt lingering fear.

Taiichi summoned his control panel, and sure enough, there were very detailed records there.

[Experience nature, understand nature, and gain a basic grasp of Natural Energy.]

[Skill: Sage Mode Lv0 (0/100)]

[Manipulate Natural Energy, Sage Mode experience points +1]

Taiichi focused his mind on this, and immediately a message came through, making Taiichi understand that this was the moment when his mental power was communicating with Natural Energy and he began to try to control the movement of Natural Energy.

[Consciously perceive nature, Spiritual Assimilation.]

[Consciously perceive nature, Spiritual Assimilation.]

[Manipulate Natural Energy, Sage Mode experience points +1]

[Consciously perceive nature, Spiritual Assimilation.]

After receiving several notifications about Spiritual Assimilation, Taiichi noticed that the experience points gained in Sage Mode always increased faster at these times.

However, when Taiichi learned the specific meaning of this prompt through the panel, he was not happy at all.

Spiritual Assimilation occurs when your will is not strong enough. As you continue to experience and manipulate Natural Energy, your spirit will unconsciously spread, just like before, until it spreads to a certain distance. Then you will truly be assimilated by Natural Energy and become a living dead whose soul has dissipated.

As Taiichi scanned the entire panel, he finally discovered the disastrous consequences of this experience of manipulating Natural Energy.

[Spirit: 32(33)]

His spiritual attributes were actually reduced slightly; this was a loss caused by the spiritual power that had spread too far and Taiichi could no longer retrieve.

Fortunately, as more detailed information came in, Taiichi discovered that this was not a permanent loss; with proper rest, he could recover his energy quickly.

Taiichi finally breathed a sigh of relief, putting his heart, which had been in his throat, back down.

Cultivating Sage Mode is truly difficult. Even Taiichi, who was exploring on his own in the early stages, faced numerous dangers. He was only able to survive this time thanks to that sudden impulse; otherwise, he would have really died on this beach.

Looking up at the Sun Barrier in the sky, Taiichi's face froze. At this Sun Barrier, it must be almost 9 o'clock.

Taiichi immediately stood up, surrounded by Kakkou, and his dripping clothes were all dried by the fire.

With his eyes closed, Taiichi carefully sensed the location of the Shadow Clone below, and his figure disappeared from the spot.

They reappeared above the vast ocean.

The Shadow Clone Taiichi gave the original Taiichi a strange look. Without any exchange, Taiichi knew what it meant—"Did you take the wrong medicine today? Why are you so late!"

Only here in the sky, if Taiichi could awkwardly dig out a three-bedroom apartment with his feet.

This was the first time he had ever been looked at like that by his own Shadow Clone.

With two awkward laughs, Taiichi decisively dispelled his Shadow Clone. As his memories returned, Taiichi realized where he was.

The Mist Village Fleet has been sailing south for about 50 kilometers from the coast without any sign of changing course. At this speed, they should be able to enter the waters of the Land of Wind by noon today.

Taiichi created another Shadow Clone to monitor the situation, while his main body disappeared from the spot to report the results of his surveillance to Jiraiya.

Southern Camp, Central Army Tent.

Jiraiya stared at Taiichi with a strange expression Taiichi's eyes were lifeless, his eyes were dark-rimmed, and his spirit seemed to have been drained away.

These symptoms made him think of things that were inappropriate for children.

"Taiichi, you're still young. Even if you want to try, you don't need to push yourself so hard. You still need to abide by the Three Prohibitions for Ninjas at this age."

Jiraiya spoke earnestly, with the tone of someone who had been through it all, offering Taiichi heartfelt advice.

Taiichi was initially confused, wondering what Jiraiya talking about, but when he heard about the Three Prohibitions for Ninjas, his face immediately darkened.

Damn it, what is this guy thinking? The Three Prohibitions for Ninjas? Shouldn't he be minding his own business first?!

"I've made a mistake in my training, it's not what you think about the Three Prohibitions for Ninjas!"

Taiichi resentful explanation.

Jiraiya hearing that it was a training issue, Jiraiya's expression immediately turned serious. He was Taiichi's teacher, and if training could cause Taiichi's current condition, then the problem was far more serious than the Three Prohibitions for Ninjas.

"What exactly is the problem? Can you tell me? I'm your teacher, after all."

Taiichi could naturally feel Jiraiya's concern. While feeling warm inside, he also thought that Jiraiya have Sage Mode in the future, but he didn't know if Jiraiya had mastered it yet.

"Does the teacher know about Sage Mode?"

Jiraiya hearing this, Jiraiya raised his right eyebrow, revealing an extremely solemn expression. He scrutinized Taiichi from head to toe, as if there were a flower on Taiichi's body.

"You learned the Senjutsu of Shikkotsu Forest?"

"No, it's just that this morning I unintentionally entered a special state, observed Natural Energy, and then, without warning, almost lost my mind and died on the beach—"

Taiichi recounted the parts of his morning's events to Jiraiya, and Jiraiya's brows twitched incessantly as he listened.

Is this even fair? Just think how much suffering and beatings I endured to learn Sage Mode, Taiichi just passed the hardest hurdle so easily.

Just thinking about those colorful insects makes Jiraiya feel a churning in his stomach.

Seeing Jiraiya's constipated expression, Taiichi's thought.

While secretly amused, I also looked forward to his explanation.

"The cultivation of Senjutsu is inherently accompanied by significant risks. The cultivation conditions and risks in the Three Great Sage Regions that I know of are all different, not to mention other methods of Senjutsu cultivation that may exist in the Ninja World."

Jiraiya composed himself and recalled the limited knowledge he had about Senjutsu.

However, he himself is still struggling to use Sage Mode, let alone instruct Taiichi.

However, he couldn't lose face as a teacher, so he decided to go to Mount Myoboku today to ask the two hermits Fukasaku and Shima, and if that didn't work, he'd see if he could ask the Great Toad Sage for advice.

"Wait for me to get back and think about it carefully. I've never encountered a situation like yours before, so I need to consider it thoroughly."

Taiichi looked at Jiraiya suspiciously. If he knew, he knew. Did he think he could just think about it later and suddenly realize it?

However, Taiichi didn't think too much about it. His teacher was trying to find a solution, and it would be best if it worked. Even if it didn't, he could just be more careful when cultivating in the future.

The panel clearly indicated that my willpower was not strong enough, which caused my mental energy to spread uncontrollably once it was attracted by Natural Energy.

However, willpower is even more subjective than mental strength, and there isn't even a specific value given on the panel. Taiichi doesn't have any good training methods at the moment.

Logically speaking, given Taiichi's unwavering dedication to rigorous training every day, which has propelled him from a weakling to his current level of strength, his willpower must be exceptionally strong.

Unfortunately, he was too young and had not trained for long enough. Perhaps his willpower was much stronger than that of ordinary people, but he had not yet reached the point where he could easily resist natural assimilation.

However, practicing the Sage Mode is indeed a way to strengthen one's will, but it is a bit dangerous, and one must remain vigilant at all times during the training.

After finishing with the miscellaneous matters, we finally got down to business.

"The Mist Village is now almost at the waters of the Land of Wind, and shows no sign of changing course. It seems they don't intend to land in the Land of Rivers."

Taiichi recounted in detail what he had seen about the Mist Village to Jiraiya, and at the end, he didn't forget to offer his own opinion.

Jiraiya rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought, before finally uttering, "Do you think Mist Village will really join forces with Sunagakure?"

"Of course, we killed so many Mist Village— "

Before he could finish speaking, Taiichi's mouth froze, stumped by Jiraiya's question.

Indeed, all of this is just their speculation. Konoha killed so many people from Mist Village, but the feud between Mist Village and Sunagakure is no less intense.

Maybe Mist Village really isn't aiming to join forces with Sunagakure.

Seeing that Taiichi was stumped by his own guess, Jiraiya laughed heartily.

"Alright, don't overthink it. No matter what, we'll be fine as long as we're on guard. You can continue monitoring over there too."

As long as we aren't ambushed, we're not afraid of a head-on confrontation.

Jiraiya spoke with great bravado, completely disregarding the possibility of the Sand-Mist Allied Forces appearing.

Jiraiya worried, Taiichi was even less worried. So what if it Allied Forces? As long as it wasn't a trap set for him, the Allied Forces would just be a more resilient target for him.

After reporting to Jiraiya, Taiichi immediately returned to Tsunade's side and gave the same report again, also mentioning Taiichi 'Jiraiya conjecture.

Unlike the other side, where it was Jiraiya's opinion Jiraiya, Tsunade barely spoke up here. Her advisors made several deductions based on this conjecture.

The conclusion reached was exactly the same as Jiraiya's: do your best, and no matter what the outside world does, remain steadfast.

In reality, Konoha had no intention of launching a cross-sea operation, firstly because they lacked manpower, and secondly because they were truly not skilled in naval warfare.

After finishing the report, Taiichi left the group using the Flying Thunder God and reappeared in a hidden cave.

He had barely appeared when he plopped down on the ground, rubbing his temples with both hands, letting out a long sigh of relief, finally getting a chance to rest.

The events of the morning had taken a heavy toll on his mental energy; he had only managed to finish the report by gritting his teeth. Now, all he wanted was a good night's sleep.

At this time, only sleep can better and faster make up for his lost energy.

A small isolation and warning Barrier was set up, and soon the sound of soft snoring could be heard in the cave.

The Mist Village fleet officially entered the waters of the Land of Wind at noon.

On the flagship's deck, the Third Mizukage and a group of Mist Village Jonin stood at the bow, gazing into the distance, towards the land of the Land of Wind.

"Is Taichi Matsushita still monitoring from afar?"

The Third Mizukage's gaze remained unchanged, but his question caused a chill to run down the spines of the surrounding Jonin. The name Taichi Matsushita was now widely known throughout Mist Village—

Buddhism is a taboo subject; no one wants to mention it.

However, even if they didn't want to bring it up, someone had to answer the Mizukage's question, so a Jonin in charge of Scout Jonin forward and spoke up.

"Yes, Lord Mizukage, he has never left; he's just three kilometers away in the sky."

Mist Village also has capable individuals; Taiichi's whereabouts have always been under Mist Village's surveillance. However, they can only monitor him; they have no way to deal with Taiichi.

"Let him be. It's a good thing for Konoha to know we're going to attack Sunagakure. It'll prevent them from making any misjudgments and launching another attack on us while we're fighting Sunagakure."

"Shouldn't the Mizukage take the initiative to explain this to Konoha? Maybe we can even reach an agreement to cooperate and attack Sunagakure together." A minor leader blurted out without much thought.

Everyone looked at the leader who had spoken as if he were a fool. Was going to explain to Konoha at this moment an admission of defeat?

So who should bear the responsibility for this failure—you or the Mizukage?

This is something that can only be tacitly understood at the moment; everyone just needs to keep it to themselves, since Mist Village still has some pride.

"Lord Mizukage, we have now entered the waters of the Land of Land of Wind. Where should we launch our attack next?"

That's a good question that hits the nail on the head. The Mizukage turned around and looked at the group of eager Jonin. The look of ambition in their eyes was exactly what he wanted to see.

"Let's go to Linchuan City. It's the closest major city. We need to maximize our gains before Sunagakure discovers us."

The Mizukage surveyed the crowd, setting the tone for the battle. "In this war, acquiring spoils is the top priority. Bring back everything that can be brought back to Kirigakure."

"Yes!"

A cruel smile appeared on the faces of all the Mist Village; it was the final cry of a wolf pack before its hunt.

As evening fell, with the adjustment of the bow, the Mist Village Fleet, which had been sailing south, finally changed direction and slowly approached the coast.

This change immediately attracted the attention of Taiichi, the Shadow Clone in the distance. After carefully identifying the location, the Shadow Clone threw the Flying Thunder God Kunai into the sea, where it turned into white smoke with a "bang" and disappeared from the spot.

Inside a cave in the Land of Fire.

As his memories flooded back, Taiichi's eyes snapped open, and he awoke from his dream with a start.

He rubbed his head, which was no longer so sore, and glanced at his control panel.

[Spirit: 32(33)]

Sure enough, this isn't something that can be recovered from with just a good night's sleep; it seems I'll need to rest and recuperate properly in the future.

Shaking his head, Taiichi finally began to savor the information in his memory.

"They're about to land in the Land of Wind, but this location doesn't seem like they're looking to ally with the Sunagakure. Could it be, as Jiraiya suspected, that the Mist Village is planning to take on the Sunagakure?"

Taiichi revealed a strange smile, and his figure vanished from the spot.