Shikkotsu Forest

"Why wait for another day? Let's do it today. I want to see whether Neji can recreate my grandfather's Sage Art. Jiraiya always struts around in front of me. If Neji succeeds in cultivating it, just watch how I ridicule 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 Shikkotsu Forest."

After Katsuyu finished speaking, her enormous body vanished with a bang.

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

Before Neji could finish speaking, a vortex-like suction force suddenly swept through his entire body. In an instant, it felt as though he had been squeezed into a water pipe. Neji felt the space around him constantly shifting, 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 small Katsuyu. All around him stretched a swamp that gave off a pungent, sour stench. A faint green glow rippled across the swamp's surface, an eerie light reflected by the acid beneath the sunlight.

Bubbles constantly rose from the swamp, making gurgling sounds, as though some monster slumbered within, ready to awaken at any moment.

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

All around was a silent, gloomy forest. The trees were tall and ancient, their trunks covered in moss and vines, making the place feel dark and terrifying.

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

Neji swept his gaze across the forest. All he could hear was the rustling of leaves in the wind, as though countless eyes were secretly watching him, yet he could see nothing.

What shocked Neji the most, however, was the enormous Slug Sage in the heart of the forest.

The Slug Sage's body was unimaginably huge, nearly occupying half of everything within Neji's field of vision.

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

The Slug Sage slightly raised her head. Her two enormous eyes were like brilliant gemstones, gleaming with wisdom as they silently watched Neji.

"Little Neji, welcome to Shikkotsu Forest," the Slug Sage said in a gentle, deep voice. It seemed to come from the very air itself, carrying an ethereal quality.

Neji was briefly stunned before respectfully lowering 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," Katsuyu said without wasting any words.

"Um, Slug Sage, I have a question. This is only our first meeting, so why are you willing to teach me Sage Art? From the way Lady Tsunade acted, Sage Art must be something extremely precious."

Neji voiced the doubt in his heart. Katsuyu had cultivated for at least a thousand years, so she could not possibly be some simple-minded old do-gooder.

"Hehehe, little Neji, Sage Art is not suited for just anyone. Being able to encounter one suitable person is already a blessing from heaven. Besides, since you have earned Tsunade's approval, that proves you are someone worthy of trust.

"Even taking a step back, what would it matter if you learned it? Over my long years, there have been several who learned Sage Art, but in the end, they all returned to dust."

Katsuyu spoke with a faint smile.

"Besides, I saw a trace of the direction of fate upon you."

Neji's heart tightened at those words. Anything involving fate was never a good thing. Fate in this world was mysterious and unfathomable.

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

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

Seeing Neji's puzzled expression, the Slug Sage continued explaining, "As you can see, this space is filled with deathly stillness, without any vitality. My body is so enormous that rather than saying I live here, it would be more accurate to say that I am imprisoned here."

Katsuyu's tone began to turn bleak.

"And such days have already lasted for over a thousand years. Although this environment is indeed well suited for slugs, once one gains intelligence, one can also feel boredom."

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

Neji could tell that the Summoning Realm was a space independent of the Ninja World. But remembering how, later on, people would cross through space as easily as drinking water, he figured the Ninja World's spatial barriers could not be that strong. With the Slug Sage's thousand years of power, there was no reason she should be unable to break through them.

"Everything has a price. If I wished to leave, with a body as large as mine, I would inevitably cause irreversible harm 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 into thought and stopped pressing further. His strength was insufficient; even if he understood, there would be nothing he could do about it, and it would only add to his troubles.

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

After their conversation ended, the Katsuyu beneath Neji's feet suddenly began to move. She glided over 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 massive size. She 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 his own insignificance. The little arrogance that had grown in his heart since arriving in the Ninja World, born from his foreknowledge, suddenly vanished without a trace.

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

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

Taking risks was necessary, but he could not underestimate his opponents mentally. Although he had handled the aftermath of his actions without any issues, for Konoha's upper ranks, suspicion never required evidence.

Neji did not know whether he had already been placed on some watchlist, but he silently warned himself never to underestimate any life again. Otherwise, sooner or later, he would suffer a disastrous setback.

"For now, I can only follow Lady Tsunade down this path to the end. Once she takes power, all the unreasonable parts of my situation can naturally be explained away!"

Neji silently planned his future path, then looked up at the mountain-like Slug Sage and asked, "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 one's own chakra at 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!"

An image of Naruto Uzumaki sitting cross-legged atop a mountain peak flashed through Neji's mind. He immediately looked full of confidence, like he had happened to encounter an exam question he had already reviewed.

"This calmness is not that calmness. You will understand soon enough."

The Slug Sage said with a faintly amused smile.