48 Senjutsu Training

"Sahiro-san, take over while I am gone. I need to do some training." Natsume tracked her father down and passed the leadership baton over. She didn't think it would matter in the end, and felt that Tajima was just using this as a chance to prop Natsume up on a pedestal. The intention to groom her was not missed by Natsume. However, she was destined for greater things.

After traveling through the forest for a while, she found a cave with a natural spring. After killing the inhabitant, a giant bear, she took a seat by the water and began to focus on her surroundings. After sensing the nature around her, she was satisfied. She bit her thumb and activated the summoning jutsu for Tagitsuhime. The pattern appeared on the ground, and a puff of smoke quickly appeared and faded.

However, instead of appearing as a snake, or even at the point of summoning, she appeared as a shrine maiden in the spring water, bathing. She tilted her head backward and looked at Natsume. Her eyes showed a devious look and she licked her lips with a very long tongue. The scene gave Natsume a slight shiver. She stepped out of the water and walked over to the bear.

"It's acceptable." Her human mouth hinged open like a snake, and she swallowed the bear whole. It was disgusting to watch but became more frightening when the bear disappeared into her small body. She patted her mouth with her sleeve and walked back to Natsume's side. Natsume sat still without moving a muscle and just watched. Tagitsuhime stuck her tongue out and licked the side of Natsume's face.

"Yes! This is the feeling. You are closer to my favorite flavor. Just a little bit more…" She teased but Natsume's expression was the same tired look. The lack of reaction caused her to get bored, so she just sighed and waved her hand. "Okay, what do you need this One's help for?"

"Assist me in mastering Senjutsu." Natsume didn't beat around the bush and directly asked. Tagitsuhime contemplated for a while before having a snake-like smile on her face.

"Of course, I can help, but if you fail, you'll turn into a snake forever. Are you willing?" Her mischievous grin made Natsume grimace slightly. However, she wasn't worried because she didn't need the venom of the Ryuchi Cave white sage to perceive Nature energy. She just needed someone to protect her while she took the energy into her body. At least until she mastered it herself.

"Just watch my chakra levels and pull me out if I go out of balance." The trauma she experienced on the farm had matured her very quickly. She realized that if she did not prioritize getting stronger, she would just put more loved ones at risk. She had a fountain of knowledge at her disposal and all she did was plan and wait for the best opportunity. Rather than waiting, she had finally decided to fully pursue strength.

Tagitsuhime crossed her arms and gave Natsume a scowl, but she ignored it and went into a meditative state. It did not take her long to feel the Nature around her compared to the first time. The energy was very obvious and in no time, she made contact.

This was the first time she took Nature energy into her body on purpose with full control. Once the gates were open, the energy flowed in without stopping. She had to exert a lot of control just to prevent herself from instantly becoming petrified.

"Foolish human child… that won't work. Are you trying to kill yourself?" Tagitsuhime mumbled but she was shocked at the progress Natsume made with Nature energy. She had intervened once the first time Natsume accidentally grasped the state of mind needed to sense Nature energy. However, since then she was on her own. She watched for a bit longer before no longer being able to hold back.

Her head transformed with more snake like features, and she bit Natsume on the neck. The venom coursed through her veins and calmed down the ravaging Nature energy. However, seeing the rate of consumption of chakra, Tagitsuhime realized it wouldn't be enough. She acted quickly and reverse summoned the two of them to the Ryuchi Cave. Instead of interrupting her state, it only increased the rate of her Nature absorption since the Ryuchi Cave was rich with Nature energy.

Natsume went from slowly losing to the Nature energy, to just barely being overtaken by it, then to a sudden increase in invasion. She sensed that the concentration of the surrounding energy had changed and could barely hold herself back from absorbing too much. Her chakra was depleting quickly and she couldn't stop the rampaging Nature energy. Her only hope was that Tagitsuhime would make a move at the last moment.

Fortunately, nothing was wasted during her meditation. She began to understand Nature energy more and more while it overwhelmed her. After an unknown amount of time passed, the balance of Nature energy and chakra was now leaning toward Nature energy. Thus, the petrification started. Natsume tried to stay calm and continued moulding chakra in hopes to push back the Nature energy. She was already past the point of no return, only an external force or mastery would save her.

'Use your greatest strength.' She suddenly heard a voice in her head. It was an ethereal voice that seemed to reach the depths of her mind, piercing through her selfless meditative state. Natsume didn't take long to understand and activated her Mangekyou Sharingan. Yin chakra flowed in excess and pushed out the Nature energy. The dojutsu power was driving out the Nature energy instead of forming a balance.

Natsume did not know if the sharingan was incompatible with Nature energy, but if Bijuu chakra could become compatible, then she refused to believe she couldn't find a way for her dojutsu to do the same. After a long tug of war, the Nature energy around her was cut off and extracted just as her dojutsu and chakra ran dry. Natsume woke after a while to find herself in a pool of water.

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