Wet Bone Forest

"Why wait for another day? Let's do it today. I also want to see whether Neji can recreate my grandfather's Sage Chakra. That Jiraiya always struts around in front of me. If Neji succeeds in mastering it, just watch how I mock him. Hahaha..."

Tsunade seemed to have thought of some possibility and burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"No problem, little Tsunade. Once I return, I'll use the Reverse Summoning Technique to summon little Neji to Wet Bone Forest."

After saying that, the Slug's enormous body vanished with a bang.

"Teacher, then I'll... Ah~"

Before Neji could finish speaking, a vortex-like suction force suddenly spread through his entire body. In an instant, it felt as though he had been squeezed into a drainage pipe. Neji felt space constantly shifting around him, and before he could make out anything, a soft sensation suddenly came from beneath his feet.

Once Neji steadied himself and looked around, he cried out in surprise.

He found himself standing atop a rather small Slug, surrounded by a swamp that gave off a sharp, sour stench. A faint green glow shimmered across the swamp's surface, an eerie light reflected from the acidic liquid beneath the sun.

Bubbles continuously rose from the swamp, making gurgling sounds, as though some monster slept beneath the surface and could awaken at any moment.

A faint toxic gas hung in the air, making Neji's nose and throat sting. He could not help frowning as he instinctively held his breath.

All around him lay a silent, shadowy forest. The trees were tall and ancient, their trunks covered in moss and vines, making the place seem grim and terrifying.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, forming shafts of light, yet it could not dispel the cold dampness of this place.

Neji swept his gaze across the forest. He could only hear the rustling of leaves in the wind, as though countless pairs of eyes were watching him from the darkness, yet he could see nothing.

But what shocked Neji most was the gigantic Slug Sage at the heart of the forest.

The Slug Sage's body was incomparably massive, occupying nearly half of everything within sight.

Its body was a translucent white, smooth and damp, as though water might drip from it at any moment.

The Slug Sage slightly raised its head. Its two enormous eyes were like brilliant gemstones, gleaming with wisdom as they quietly watched Neji.

"Little Neji, welcome to Wet Bone Forest," the Slug Sage said in a gentle, low voice. Its voice seemed to come from the air itself, carrying an ethereal quality.

Neji froze briefly, then respectfully lowered his head. "Hello, Slug Sage."

"As you can see, this place is not very suitable for humans to live in, so we need to speed things up," the Slug said without wasting any words.

"Um, Slug Sage, I have a question. We have only just met. Why are you willing to teach me Sage Chakra? From the way Teacher Tsunade acted, Sage Chakra must be something extremely precious."

Neji voiced the doubt in his heart. The Slug had cultivated for at least a thousand years; it could not possibly be some simple-minded old do-gooder.

"Hehehe, little Neji, not everyone is suited to cultivate Sage Chakra. For me to encounter even one suitable person is already a blessing from heaven. Besides, since you have earned Tsunade's approval, that shows you are someone worthy of trust.

Even if you learned it, what then? In my long years, there have been a few who mastered Sage Chakra, but in the end, they all returned to dust."

The Slug said this with a faint smile.

"Besides, I saw a trace of destiny's direction upon you."

Neji's heart tightened at those words. Anything involving destiny was hardly a good thing. The destiny of this world was mysterious and unfathomable.

Jiraiya and those toads spent all day searching the world for some Child of Destiny or another.

"Don't worry, little Neji. Unlike that old toad, what I can sense are things that influence my own destiny."

Seeing Neji's confused expression, the Slug Sage continued explaining, "As you can see, this space is filled with deathly stillness and lacks vitality. My body is also so enormous that rather than say I live here, it would be more accurate to say I am imprisoned here."

The Slug's tone began to turn desolate.

"And such days have lasted for more than a thousand years. Though the environment is indeed very suitable for slugs, once one gains intelligence, one can still feel boredom."

"Senior, even with your power, you cannot break free of this space's restraints?"

Neji could tell that the Summoning Realm was a space independent of the Ninja World. But recalling how people in the future would cross through space as easily as drinking water, the Ninja World's spatial barriers could not be that sturdy. With the Slug Sage's thousand years of power, there was no reason it should be unable to break through.

"Everything comes at a price. If I wanted to leave, with a body as large as mine, I would inevitably cause irreversible damage to the Ninja World. And even if I exhausted all my strength trying to leave, I would be stopped..."

The Slug Sage spoke vaguely.

Neji fell thoughtful and stopped pressing further. Without sufficient strength, even if he learned the truth, he would be powerless to do anything about it. It would only add to his troubles.

Neji did not thump his chest and make any promises, and the Slug Sage tacitly did not mention it either. If fate allowed it, then when that day came, everything would naturally fall into place.

After their conversation ended, the Slug beneath Neji's feet suddenly began to move. It slid across the swamp, pushed through the shrubs, and carried Neji toward the Slug Sage.

The closer he got, the more Neji was awed by the Slug Sage's immense size. It was like an ancient god left behind from primordial times, forgotten in this cramped mortal world.

Only when he stood in the clearing before the Slug Sage did Neji truly feel how small he was. The bit of arrogance that had grown in his heart since coming to the Ninja World, born from his foreknowledge, suddenly vanished without a trace.

"Foolishness and ignorance are not obstacles to survival. Arrogance is!"

Neji muttered inwardly. Only now did he realize how foolish his reckless behavior over this recent period had been.

Although taking risks was necessary, he could not underestimate his opponents psychologically. While he had handled the aftermath of what he had done without issue, for Konoha's upper ranks, suspicion never required evidence.

Neji did not know whether he had already been placed on some priority watchlist. He silently warned himself that he must never underestimate any lifeform again, or one day he would inevitably suffer a disastrous reversal.

"Now I can only follow Teacher Tsunade down this path to the bitter end. Once she takes her position, every unreasonable thing about me can naturally be explained away!"

Neji silently planned his future path, then raised his head to look at the mountain-like Slug Sage. "Senior, I am ready. What should I do?"

The Slug Sage's voice remained gentle and ethereal. "Sage Chakra requires sensing natural chakra, then mixing it with your own chakra in a one-to-one ratio. This requires extremely strong sensory abilities and chakra control. The first thing you must do is sense it. To sense natural energy, you must first calm yourself."

"Calm myself! Meditation, right? I know how to do that!"

Neji recalled Naruto Uzumaki sitting cross-legged in meditation atop a mountain peak, and immediately put on a confident expression, as though he had encountered the exact original question he had reviewed for an exam.

"This stillness is not that stillness. You'll understand soon enough."

The Slug Sage said this with an enigmatic smile.