On the second floor of an izakaya in Tanzaku Street, the air still carried the scent of medicinal herbs and disinfectant.
Tsunade sat across the low table, her long golden hair glimmering faintly in the afternoon light. She stared at Hyuga Xiao, her eyes—eyes that had witnessed countless battles between life and death—unusually sharp at that moment.
"Shikkotsu Forest's Senjutsu is different from what you think."
She raised her cup but did not drink, merely tracing the rim with her fingers.
"The Shinobi World's three great sacred lands—Shikkotsu Forest, Mount Myoboku, and Ryūchi Cave. Legend says their Senjutsu absorbs the planet's natural energy and merges it with one's own chakra to form Senjutsu Chakra." Tsunade's tone was even, as though stating an established fact. "But do you know what natural energy actually is?"
Xiao sat quietly, the nascent form of the Tenseigan flickering faintly deep within his pupils.
"It isn't air, land, or flowing water." Tsunade set down her cup, its base striking the tabletop with a crisp sound. "It is the 'Planetary Veins.' Just as the human body has meridians, so does a planet. These veins carry the primordial energy that has existed since the planet's birth. We call it natural energy."
She paused, observing Xiao's reaction.
Xiao's expression did not change. He merely tilted his head slightly, signaling for her to continue.
"The problem is—" Tsunade lowered her voice. "According to Shikkotsu Forest's oldest records, these 'Planetary Veins' may not have been innate to the planet at all."
The clamor of the marketplace drifted in through the window: vendors calling out to sell dango, children running about, wagon wheels rumbling over stone-paved roads. Yet those sounds seemed separated by an invisible barrier, leaving only Tsunade's calm, weighty narration within the room.
"The Slug Sage once said that, long