Hiruzen persuaded me to die

Katsuyu, slightly over half a meter in length, had a blue back and a white underside.

Of course, for a creature like Katsuyu, the terms "back" and "belly" might not be entirely accurate.

Two pairs of tentacles protruded from her head.

As the top pair swayed gently, Hyuga Naraku felt an odd sensation—like he was being watched.

"Yes~"

Katsuyu's voice was gentle and feminine—soothing to the ear.

Suddenly, her blue-and-white body parted like something rising from the mud.

It was a summoning scroll.

"Just sign it with your own blood and handprint."

Katsuyu didn't seem to mind forming a new summoning contract.

For a long-lived being like her, forming bonds with various humans was rather interesting.

Especially since Hyuga Naraku wasn't just the Hokage of Konoha, but also Tsunade's recommendation.

While Tsunade had many flaws—like her temper, gambling addiction, and debt-dodging—Katsuyu still trusted her judgment.

Anyone Tsunade vouched for was at least not someone Katsuyu would worry about.

"Did the First Hokage also sign a contract with the Shikkotsu Forest?" Naraku asked as he inspected the scroll and spotted a familiar name—Senju Hashirama.

"I made a contract with him decades ago. He was a very interesting person," Katsuyu replied, a nostalgic tone in her voice.

Naraku nodded silently, then bit his finger to draw blood and signed.

However—

As soon as his finger touched the scroll, the bite wound healed instantly.

Naraku: "…"

Yang Release was too effective—sometimes annoyingly so.

The antennae on Katsuyu's head twitched happily, and she spoke in an excited tone:

"This regeneration… it's quite similar to your First Hokage. Back then, any injuries he suffered would heal before he even realized they happened."

Tsunade was secretly speechless.

She had only been able to achieve something similar by developing the Strength of a Hundred Seal.

"It's no wonder his Yang Release could restore Kakashi's eye in an instant," Jiraiya added, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Kakashi had told him.

Naraku had simply touched his left eye—and it regenerated just like that.

"Should I get medical equipment and extract a vial of blood?" Tsunade asked seriously.

She looked at Naraku like he was a living money tree.

What if the summoning contract failed? Her job with four times the salary might vanish!

"No need."

Naraku shook his head.

He had simply forgotten for a moment. He could easily suppress his regenerative abilities by controlling his chakra.

He bit his finger again, signed, and pressed his bloodied handprint.

An invisible connection instantly formed.

"Please wait."

Katsuyu closed the summoning scroll and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Moments later—

Naraku felt a subtle pull from space-time.

"A reverse summoning technique?"

He didn't resist and allowed the spatial pull to take effect.

The scene around him shifted rapidly.

In the blink of an eye, he stood in a vast and strange "forest."

The trees were white and barren—like endless bones rising from the earth.

A strange, acidic rain continuously drizzled down.

And in the midst of this forest, massive slugs of varying sizes squirmed about.

And then—

There it was.

The main body of Katsuyu Sage.

Naraku couldn't help but gasp and look up.

He had to tilt his head all the way back to see her.

"She's massive," he murmured in awe.

Conservatively, her head was at least a kilometer off the ground!

And that was just her height. Since Katsuyu was a soft-bodied creature, measuring her full length would easily double that.

Boom!

Tsunade also arrived in Shikkotsu Forest.

Jiraiya had suggested she accompany Naraku, just in case anything went wrong during the immortality training.

Tsunade agreed—figuring she might as well see it through.

She had attempted senjutsu training once before and failed, so she had a good understanding of the risks involved.

"No matter how many times I come here, I'm still blown away by her true form," Tsunade said with wonder in her voice.

All the Katsuyus in Shikkotsu Forest were actually clones of the main body.

Even the ones she summoned in battle were merely fragments.

With a full-powered summoning, she could summon a Katsuyu over fifty meters tall—already tailed beast–level size.

But compared to the original body, that was nothing.

Suddenly—

The ground trembled!

The massive slug moved her head slightly—just a small tilt.

Yet the motion alone triggered tremors across the forest.

"Apologies. I got a little excited."

The Katsuyu Sage's voice was filled with a gentle apology.

"Let's continue this in a more manageable form."

A smaller slug, about two meters long, rose from the earth and crawled over to Naraku and Tsunade.

"If Lord Naraku wishes to learn senjutsu, the first step is perceiving natural energy," Katsuyu said calmly, her antennae swaying.

"Have you encountered anything involving natural energy before?"

Naraku paused and thought for a moment.

There was one thing that might qualify—White Zetsu.

"I met a strange creature."

"It used a unique ninjutsu that allowed it to merge with nature."

"My Byakugan couldn't detect any chakra from it."

"Ah, blending into nature? That does sound like natural energy," Katsuyu replied.

She wasn't surprised.

Ryūchi Cave's senjutsu had techniques that could hide chakra signatures entirely.

The ninja world was ancient, full of mysterious arts.

Naraku looked around.

Shikkotsu Forest was vast, and with his Tenseigan, he could see almost everything.

Except for one thing—his vision couldn't reach beyond the edge.

"Is that natural energy forming a barrier around the forest?" he asked curiously.

Legends spoke of Mount Myōboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryūchi Cave as the three holy lands of the ninja world.

But very few had ever actually reached them.

It was almost like the three holy places didn't exist in the normal world.

And from what Naraku was seeing—it seemed that was literally the case.

Even the Flying Thunder God marker he had left in Konoha now felt far away.

As though separated by more than just distance—space itself.

"Correct," Katsuyu said with a cheerful tone.

"All around Shikkotsu Forest, there's a natural barrier formed by pure natural energy."

"Without the correct method, even if someone is right outside the forest, they still wouldn't be able to enter."

Naraku nodded thoughtfully.

In the original records, Mount Myōboku was described similarly.

When Naruto was sent there, Fukasaku had said it would take a month of walking to reach it.

Mount Myōboku—The Lost Mountain.

If you didn't know the path, you'd never find it.

Now Naraku understood.

The three holy lands weren't on another planet.

But they were cut off from the rest of the world by natural energy barriers.

They had become quasi-independent dimensions.

No matter how far one walked, without the right knowledge or aid, one could never breach the barrier.

"This barrier…" Naraku asked with narrowed eyes, "can it block the light of Infinite Tsukuyomi?"

Katsuyu paused—then her voice rose in excitement:

"Yes. It can block the light of Infinite Tsukuyomi!"

"You know about Kaguya and the Sage of Six Paths, Lord Naraku?"

Thousands of years had passed.

But the ancient slug's memories were awakening—memories buried in time.

For the first time in ages, someone had brought up those long-forgotten names.

Meanwhile, Tsunade was completely lost.

"What's Infinite Tsukuyomi? What light are you talking about?"

"And what does this have to do with the Sage of Six Paths?"

"Kaguya? Do you mean that Yoruichi Terumi clan from Kirigakure?!"

She felt like she'd been booted from the chat.

Why couldn't she understand a single thing Naraku and Katsuyu were saying?!