White light flashed, and after space twisted around them, Shinichi and Tsunade landed heavily on a patch of soft, damp earth.
Thud!
Shinichi landed on his feet, but the ground was so slippery that he stumbled and nearly fell flat on his face.
"Ptooey, ptooey... What the hell is this place?!" Shinichi raised his head in disarray, a few scraps of green moss still clinging to the corner of his mouth.
Tsunade landed steadily and looked around, a hint of excitement in her eyes. "So this is Shikkotsu Forest... The air here is actually brimming with natural energy!"
Shinichi braced his hands on his knees and straightened up, finally getting a clear look at his surroundings—
Before him stretched a forest thick with moisture. Towering trees reached into the clouds, wreathed in white mist, while swamps spread in every direction and oddly shaped mushrooms and vines covered the ground.
On distant branches, he occasionally spotted enormous slugs crawling slowly along, looking both gentle and mysterious.
"Whew—"
Shinichi drew a deep breath. He could clearly feel that the natural energy here was dozens of times denser than anywhere in Konoha!
It was far stronger than the paltry natural energy he had trained to harness through the system's electric shocks.
"Welcome to Shikkotsu Forest."
A gentle voice came from ahead as an enormous slug slowly emerged from the thick mist.
She was over a hundred times larger than the small slug they had seen in Konoha. Her deep-blue skin shimmered faintly with fluctuations of natural energy, and she radiated an ancient, gentle presence.
At the sight of her, Tsunade immediately dropped respectfully to one knee. "Slug Sage, we're here."
Shinichi stood beside her with his arms folded, studying the enormous slug closely.
So this is the sage of Shikkotsu Forest...
The Slug