Exploring the Ancient Past

The Land of Fire, East Coast.

"Lord Taiichi, is there something you need from me?"

Before the white smoke had even dissipated, the Katsuyu's gentle voice had already begun to ring out.

"Oh, Lady Tsunade is here too! How rare to see the two of you together!"

Tsunade, being an impatient person, interrupted before Tai could Taiichi speak, asking, "Katsuyu, I want to ask about Senjutsu Mode?"

"Senjutsu!" The Katsuyu's two tentacles turned towards Tsunade, moving up and down as if scrutinizing her. "Little Tsunade hasn't been working hard lately; she still doesn't meet the requirements to learn Senjutsu!"

At this moment, despite being just a small Katsuyu, she seemed to transform into a matriarch, her words leaving Tsunade utterly ashamed, her face turning red.

Taiichi, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but burst out laughing.

He hurriedly covered his mouth, but it was too late; what awaited him was Tsunade's merciless iron fist.

The Katsuyu was a little confused by their interaction, but she didn't care. After looking at Tsunade, she looked at Taiichi and scrutinized him for a long time before saying something that made Tsunade want to crawl into a hole and disappear.

"Taiichi does meet the requirements for cultivating Senjutsu. Tsunade, you should learn from Taiichi! A master can't be surpassed by his disciple in every aspect!"

"Ah~ Haha!"

This time, Taiichi couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head.

Tsunade clenched her fists, her teeth grinding together, but this time she didn't punch Taiichi. Instead, she secretly reflected on whether she had really been decadent for too long, to the point that even the Katsuyu couldn't stand it anymore and had to urge herself on like this for the first time ever.

Seeing that Tsunade was actually reflecting on herself, Taiichi quickly stopped laughing, afraid of disturbing her current state.

After a long while, when Tsunade regained consciousness, she saw a human and a Katsuyu staring intently at her with their eyes and tentacles.

"Haha, why are you all staring at me like that? It's making me feel embarrassed."

Tsunade Teuchi, but Taiichi could tell that her mental state was noticeably different; she was much better than before, and could be described as more energetic.

However, Taiichi didn't expose him. He hadn't hit himself earlier because he was reflecting on his actions. If he were caught red-handed now, he would definitely get a beating.

He quickly changed the subject, "Katsuyu, I'd like to ask, what harm do the Senjutsu of the Three Great Sage Regions pose to cultivators?"

"Harm?" The Katsuyu's tentacles swayed back and forth a couple of times, as if in thought. "If we're talking about harm, the difficulty of learning it, and the possibility of being assimilated by Natural Energy if one isn't careful, does that count?"

Tsunade and Taiichi exchanged a glance, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.

So, Taiichi continued to ask, "What disadvantages does learning Senjutsu have on humans? I see so many Toad on Mount Myoboku that live very long lives, but not a single human who knows Senjutsu lives a long life."

"Oh, that!" the Katsuyu sighed. "Of course. I don't know if the Senjutsu of Mount Myoboku and Ryūchi Cave have any other harms to practitioners, but the inability to live long is a characteristic shared by all three."

"These are, after all, Senjutsu belonging to our respective races. It's already difficult enough to adapt them for humans to practice, let alone extend lifespan. It would be tantamount to creating a completely new method of Senjutsu cultivation. Hashirama had a good chance back then, but unfortunately he died too young and didn't complete this great feat."

The truth is surprisingly simple, but it makes sense when you think about it. Humans can drink coffee, but it's poison for cats and dogs. Many things that suit you may not suit me.

These unique Senjutsu cultivation methods belonging to the Three Great Sage Regions are already rare enough that they are not harmful to humans; to expect them to extend lifespan is simply a pipe dream.

"Does Taiichi want to cultivate Senjutsu? You are now qualified to do so."

The Katsuyu's gentle voice rang out again, rousing Taiichi from his reverie.

"Ah, no, it's because I accidentally entered Sage Mode, so I wanted to ask about the specifics of Senjutsu."

Now it was the Katsuyu's turn to be stunned. Taiichi could see that after hearing what Taiichi said, the Katsuyu's entire body had stopped moving. Its two erect tentacles were completely still, and to an uninformed person, it would have looked like time had stopped.

After a long while, Taiichi looked at Tsunade blankly, not understanding what was going on. Was there a signal interruption? But each Katsuyu clone had its own independent consciousness, so this shouldn't be happening.

Tsunade shook her head; she had never encountered this situation before either.

In the end, however, it was Tsunade in. She reached out and carefully touched the Katsuyu's soft body.

The Katsuyu jolted violently and finally came to its senses.

The Katsuyu's antennae suddenly extended incredibly long, and its entire body nearly stood upright. This was the Taiichi time Taiyi had ever seen anything like it; he had never realized that Katsuyu's antennae could extend so far.

The tentacles peered down from the top of Taiichi's head, inch by inch, making Taiichi feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"It's the aura of Senjutsu Chakra, an aura I've never seen before."

The Katsuyu retracted its long antennae and lay back down again.

As a giant Katsuyu has lived for over a thousand years, she has witnessed countless strange and unusual things, and after being shocked, she can quickly calm herself down.

"Little Taiichi is so lucky! He managed to complete that dangerous Sage Mode by sheer accident!"

Katsuyu was also of a tranquil nature and didn't care whether Taiichi was telling the truth or not. She only knew that there was now a new way to cultivate Senjutsu in the Ninja World.

Since these three families created the Senjutsu, a cultivation system that combines Natural Energy and Chakra, more than a thousand years have passed, and no other Senjutsu has been born.

She once thought that her ability to create Senjutsu was simply a matter of fate, and that now that the tides of time had passed, there was no longer any fertile ground for the birth of new Senjutsu.

But what I saw today has broken this curse, and perhaps even more practitioners of Senjutsu will appear in the future.

Thinking back to the diverse cultivation methods that once existed in this world: Onmyoji, Samurai, monks, Shrine Maiden, and even Deity above them, unfortunately, they all disappeared or perished after that upheaval, leaving behind only these three families and a few survivors.

Taiichi scratched his head, glancing awkwardly at Tsunade. The Katsuyu's magnanimity made him quite embarrassed; it felt like lying to a close relative, and anyone with a little sense of shame would feel uncomfortable.

But Tsunade wasn't paying attention to any of that at the moment; she was concerned about something else entirely. "Katsuyu, is Taiichi's Sage Mode dangerous? Will he face the risk of mutation in the future?"

"No, once Senjutsu is successfully synthesized, the body will automatically remember that pattern. That's the Sage Mode that's most suitable for you. When our three families created Senjutsu, it was mostly like this, with a certain element of chance involved."

Tsunade a sigh of relief. Although she had never trained in Sage Mode, she knew the dangers of practicing Senjutsu. She was genuinely afraid that Taiichi's self-created method of cultivating Senjutsu was unreliable and might accidentally kill her.

"Can Xiao Taiichi use Senjutsu? I'd like to confirm this again and see if it matches what we used to know."

The Katsuyu's antennae turned towards Taiichi again, its gentle words revealing a hint of curiosity. This Senjutsu, so different from those of the three families, was the strangest thing she had encountered in a thousand years.

Taiichi looked at the Katsuyu's slightly trembling antennae and nodded without hesitation.

This time, he did not sit cross-legged, but began to absorb Natural Energy while standing.

Tsunade couldn't sense it, but Yu could see that the Natural Energy in a large area around her was inexplicably drawn in and flowing into Taiichi's body.

Her two antennae trembled even more violently; her efficiency in absorbing Natural Energy was far greater than theirs had been back then.

Three minutes later, the Katsuyu's trembling antennae suddenly stopped. She had sensed the change in Taiichi's aura, the aura of Senjutsu Chakra.

The next moment, Taiichi opened his eyes, and his pupils were once again illuminated by golden light.

A smaller Katsuyu split off from the larger Katsuyu and quickly crawled up Taiichi's Taiichi leg, eventually sticking to Taiichi neck.

It's cool and refreshing, with a slightly slippery texture, but it's not unpleasant to the touch; perhaps this is a case of loving the house because of its contents.

The giant Katsuyu carefully sensed Taiichi's Senjutsu Chakra through the smaller Katsuyu.

A pair of antennae also looked Taiichi up and down again, and found that apart from a pair of golden eyes, there was nothing particularly different.

The antennae made a human-like tap, which Taiichi and Tsunade understood at a glance, a performance that was quite satisfactory.

After a long while, the small Katsuyu merged back into the large Katsuyu's body, and then the Katsuyu spoke again, "Moderate and peaceful, the Senjutsu Chakra is quite stable, without any signs of dissipation, just like we were back then. It is indeed a completely new way of cultivating Senjutsu."

"But I noticed that when First Hokage and Jiraiya use Sage Mode, they both have Sage Markings appearing, but Taiichi doesn't show any change at all."

"Sage Markings?" The Katsuyu tilted her head, like a bewildered child, searching her memory to find out what this so-called Sage Markings was.

"These are the patterns that appear on your face after entering Sage Mode. My First Hokage had them around his eyes and forehead, Jiraiya a lot of them, covering his entire face."

Tsunade quickly reminded him that if the Katsuyu were to recall the memories on its own, it would take an unknown amount of time. There was no way around it; it had lived for too long and had too many memories. Some of the less frequently used memories were buried deep in its mind, making them quite difficult to recall.

"Oh, you mean that!" The Katsuyu nodded its head twice, as if it had finally understood what Tsunade was talking about.

"You haven't seen the White Snake and Gamamaru, Tsunade, but you have seen my true form. Have you seen these patterns on my true form?"

Instead of answering Tsunade directly, the slug asked a question in return.

Tsunade was stunned upon hearing this, recalling the Katsuyu she had seen before. Its massive body, hundreds of meters long, was the largest and strongest creature she had ever seen. However, from where she had seen it, there was indeed no so-called Sage Markings.

"It seems you've also noticed that my true form doesn't have these patterns, nor do the White Snake and Gamamaru."

These so-called Sage Markings are likely unique patterns that develop from humans practicing our Senjutsu. The more patterns a person has, the less compatible they are with the Senjutsu.

Tsunade thought about it and realized that her First Hokage was someone who almost created a new model of Senjutsu cultivation on his own, so his compatibility was naturally very high, and he rarely Sage Markings.

Jiraiya different; when he uses Sage Mode, even his human form changes, and the degree of fit is unimaginable. His face is covered with a mask.

"Katsuyu, is it true that only the Three Great Sage Regions in the Ninja World have Sage Mode? Are there no other places that have other methods of cultivating Senjutsu Techniques?"

Taiichi was also very curious. His memories from his past life gave him some understanding of this world, but there were many details he didn't know. Now that there was a living fossil, how could he not take this opportunity to learn more?

"No!" the Katsuyu answered decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

"Chakra, a new form of energy, was born after that great upheaval, which is over a thousand years ago. Senjutsu, which was derived from it, is even more recent."

Moreover, the emergence of a group of Senjutsu isn't simply a matter of knowing Senjutsu; a suitable environment for cultivation is essential, and ordinary places cannot accommodate a large number of Senjutsu cultivators simultaneously.

"What do you mean by this major change? Did something unexpected happen in the past?"

Taiichi astutely grasped the key shift in the Katsuyu's words and deliberately steered the conversation in that direction.

"What a change!" The Katsuyu fell into a long silence, and no one knew what she was thinking.

Tsunade and Taiichi exchanged glances, clearly noticing the difference between this and the previous time; both could tell that the Katsuyu was reminiscing about the past.

"That was truly an era where gods and demons coexisted, chaotic yet brilliant. Unfortunately, a catastrophe changed the entire world."

The Katsuyu's voice sounded like it was eating in a dream. Tsunade and Taiichi listened intently, hoping to learn more about the secrets of ancient times.

Unfortunately, the Katsuyu seemed to have remembered something taboo, and it snapped back to reality.

"I can't say any more. The Three Great Sage Regions and the Sage of Six Paths have an agreement not to reveal ancient matters. That's all I can say."

Taiichi felt it was a pity; he never expected these old guys to have such an agreement. Were they worried that the truth would cause panic in the world?

Tsunade, however, didn't think so. On the contrary, she was very interested. "The Sage of Six Paths, so he really exists. I thought it was just a legend."

"That was definitely a real person. All the Bloodline Limit Family in the Ninja World today are connected to him in some way, more or less."

Tsunade looked like she'd just stumbled upon some juicy gossip; these were secrets she'd never known before.

Suddenly, something occurred to her, and she froze. "Then the Senju and Uchiha?"

The Katsuyu's antennae tapped up and down with an air of seriousness, Taiichi could read a hint of amusement in them.

"You're right, the Senju and Uchiha both descend from the Sage of Sage of Six Paths, and are the two most orthodox branches of that lineage."

Tsunade was completely distraught at this moment. The feud between the Senju and Uchiha had lasted for hundreds of years since the Warring States Period, and the conflicts continued even in the ninja village era.

It turns out these two families share the same ancestor—it's unbelievable!

Just as Tsunade was about to ask something, the Katsuyu interrupted Tsunade.

"Alright, I can't say much more about ancient times. If you still want to know, you can check the ancient books yourselves; there should still be some clues left."

Tsunade was immediately annoyed by the interruption, feeling as if she had swallowed a fly. But there was nothing she could do; she couldn't force someone to talk with Kunai if they weren't going to. Didn't they even know who they were?