Deep within Shikkotsu Forest.
Unlike the eerie horrors one might imagine from its outskirts, this place was a sanctuary so vibrant it bordered on a dream. Vines glowing with soft fluorescence wound around towering ancient trees. Natural energy saturated the air so densely that it formed tangible mist. Exotic flowers and herbs covered the ground, while faint, strange singing drifted through the air, soothing the soul. In the deepest reaches of this sacred land, a hot spring like an enormous emerald steamed with mist brimming with life. At its center, Ling's body floated motionlessly, encased in solid natural energy crystals resembling blue crystal. Like an ancient creature asleep in amber, his presence was faint but steady as his body underwent an agonizingly slow recovery. Part of the immense Katsuyu Sage's body was submerged in the spring, continuously channeling the purest life energy into Ling to sustain the flame of his life, which had nearly gone out.
Beside the spring, Tobirama Senju's spectral soul had become far more solid than it had been in the Land of Waves, though he remained translucent. With his hands clasped behind his back, he fixed his cold gaze on the sleeping Ling, his brows tightly furrowed. Even in a sacred place like Shikkotsu Forest, Ling's recovery was painfully slow. Natural energy and time could rebuild his flesh and chakra pathways, but the damage to the core of his soul, along with the "Dao wound" caused by forcibly bearing power beyond his limits, would not heal so easily.
Just then, the air beside the spring warped. Amid a faint glow of cherry-blossom-pink chakra, Tsunade appeared. She had used the Reverse Summoning Technique to travel directly to Shikkotsu Forest. Though she had prepared herself, the sight of Ling sleeping in the spring and Tobirama's spectral soul beside