After completing Izanami's trial, Tsunade returned to Sage Katsuyu.
One look at Tsunade's eyes... and Katsuyu knew her state of mind had changed.
"Congratulations, Tsunade!"
Tsunade knelt on one knee. "It's all thanks to you!"
"Go to the sage pool and prepare for the empowerment ritual. Someone else has already gone ahead."
Tsunade was slightly surprised, but she already had a guess.
When she had opened her eyes, she had seen Jiraiya and Orochimaru, but the other person who had come here had been absent.
When she reached the sage pool, sure enough, the blue-haired woman sat cross-legged on a floating stone beneath its waterfall, dressed in a white yukata.
It was indeed... Konan.
She opened her eyes. "Lady Tsunade, you're here."
Sage Katsuyu approached in her human form.
"Konan has a naturally serene disposition, which suits our Shikkotsu Forest's Stillness Sage Art. So I gave her an opportunity, infusing her with some sage power through empowerment... It seems she's managed to control it quite successfully."
As everyone knew, senjutsu placed extremely high demands on physical energy. Of the three great sage arts, Shikkotsu Forest's senjutsu emphasized spiritual energy and imposed the lowest physical requirements. The fact that Itachi had learned the "Half-Sage Mode" while terminally ill was proof enough. But Konan had no special bloodline, after all. Reaching the Half-Sage State was her limit.
Still, if she made good use of this Half-Sage State, it would represent an enormous leap in her combat strength.
Konan spoke to Tsunade, who was watching her with a complicated expression. "I'm Master Jiraiya's student, so Lady Katsuyu hasn't taken me as her disciple. You don't need to worry about seniority at all..."
"No, that sort of thing doesn't matter in the slightest."
Tsunade gave her a heartfelt smile.
"I'm truly happy for you,