[164] You Want To… Talk?

Chapter 164: You Want To… Talk?

Note: I know I need to pump out more chapters for this, and the chapters are quite short, so enjoy two chapter at once for now 😔

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The roots of the Sunlight Tree Eve were a bit further below even the Fishman Island, at the bottom of the ocean, and the First Prince led Hashirama sneakily.

While the Royal Family agreed to let him sit at the root for as long as he needed, it was better to keep this incident a secret from the general Fishmen population. Especially the thugs and bandits who wouldn't respect the Royal Family's choice.

Under the vast, ethereal blanket of the ocean, within the deep blue, Hashirama found himself at the heart of an underwater realm so captivating, that it felt like entering another world entirely. At the base of the Sunlight Tree Eve, the depthless sea met its end; there was solid ground below. 

All around him, the roots of the Eve Tree, sprawling and immense, stretched out like the fingers of a sleeping giant. It cradled the ocean's life in its palm, these ancient tendrils, covered in corals and anemones, pulsating with a life of their own, as their surfaces glistened with the glow of the sun. It was a spectacle of nature's artistry, with water waves cascading his long hair, and the vibrant colors and gentle luminescence painting a scene so insane that he found himself speechless.

Around him and Prince Fukaboshi, the water teemed with life. Schools of fish shimmering in hues of iridescent blues, silvers, and greens, darted between the roots, weaving a moving mosaic of color and motion. They ignored it all and made their way toward the bottom. 

"Is this spot good?" Prince Fukaboshi asked once they reached the bottom. There was a platform-like part made of the root's natural shape, a few dozen meters above the very end, where Hashirama landed on his feet.

The mangrove trees in Sabaody that made bubbles were children of the Eve Tree; so this tree too could make bubbles by itself. On this part, there was like a chamber with a bubble coating around it, so there was air inside. While Hashirama didn't need to breathe, he appreciated a place from where he could talk.

He nodded at the Prince, "Yes, this should suffice. Thank you."

The Prince nodded back, "Alright, then. I shall return to check on you in a week. If you need more time we'll discuss it then."

Hashirama agreed to that, and the prince turned around to swim away.

Only then did Hashirama let himself bask in the beauty of this chamber. He stepped further inside while his head was roaming around. A solid roof of the mangrove tree loomed above him, a ceiling so vast and encompassing, that it felt like the sky itself. The chamber was hollow not only in width but also in length. It went high for kilometers.

All around the tall walls, it also offered a view of the underwater paradise from the many bubble windows it had. It was quite a sight. Accompanied by the silence that came with it, it was incredible. The silence of the deep was profound here, Hashirama had never experienced such silence in any other place. It was quiet, but the beautiful green chamber made sure it didn't appear eerie. It sounded rather heavenly, instead.

The silence did have quiet background music to it, of sorts, such as the distant songs of whales echoing through the water, the gentle rustling of seaweed, as well as the subtle, rhythmic pulse of the Eve Tree itself. It was like a heartbeat.

"Incredible…"

Hashirama took a moment to absorb the beauty around him, the peace of this place enveloping him like a warm embrace. And he was glad for it. This will help him focus on the meditation he was required to do.

After a couple of minutes of walking around and sightseeing, he knew he had to get to work. He sat down on the ground, legs crossed. He was familiar with meditation from his past life, his Master had taught that to him as a form of calming himself. Since he had little lead to follow, he was going by the test-and-run method.

Before that, however, he needed to copy the tree's properties.

He gently placed his hands on the green, luminous tree flesh for a floor, and closed his eyes.

Hashirama usually used his chakra to scan an entire tree to copy its properties. That's what he did back in the Boin Archipelago too. But this tree was too big for a full [Scan], moreover due to the lack of chakra he faced right now as a clone.

So, he limited the [Scan]'s range—and let out his chakra to do the rest.

His chakra hummed into action, rushing out of his palms and into the tree.

"....!"

Immediately, Hashirama's eyes shot open and he jumped back. A deep scowl grew on his face and he grumbled. 

"What the fuck?!" he just lost 10 percent of his chakra in a second!

That'd have lasted him a week.

Not only that, he had yet to manage to copy the tree's properties. Not fully, anyway. He grasped a portion of it, but it was nothing revolutionary.

"This is so annoying," how could he pull this off when he didn't even have enough chakra to copy the tree's powers?

Frustrated, Hashirama let out a sigh and slumped back to sit on the floor. He had no other choice. He should work with the bit of authority he grasped.

He closed his eyes, focusing his chakra to channel the Eve Tree's properties into his body. The chamber was filled with sunlight since the roots were glowing, so it should be alright to use this. Instead of changing his entire body's properties, however, he chose to focus it on one of his hands.

His right forearm changed properties from Adam Wood to Eve Wood, and the change was visible immediately.

His forearm lit up, growing bright like a torch. It pulled in the sunlight around them like a magnet, and Hashirama grinned in pleasant surprise. He was surprised that there was no requirement for long training for this, this was immediate! Now he just had to flow the energy into-

"Argh-!" A groan of surprise escaped his lips. His forearm grew brighter, and the heat it let out also increased. And it increased fast.

It was so fast that Hashirama couldn't think or do anything before the heat got so high that his forearm looked like a heated piece of wood, with cracks all over it, till it decomposed into ash and dust immediately after.

Hashirama fell to his knees, holding onto his arm in immense pain. As a woodclone, his pain receptors were almost nonexistent, but this still hurts. It hurt like hellfire.

Hashirama had no other choice but to cut off the burnt-off stump to relieve the pain; he did so by morphing his remaining hand into a sharp blade and chopping off his elbow. The pain vanished and Hashirama closed the wound with a thought. He did not want to waste chakra to regenerate his arm.

He grunted, huffing for breath, and stared at the ash on the floor.

"Glad I didn't use it on my entire body…" This was insane. He either failed because he didn't have enough grasp of the power, or this was how it was supposed to be, but the Tree Eve managed to spread the heat to its 10-kilometer-long body to avoid harm.

"Fuck." Hashirama cursed and leaned his back against the wall. He sat like that for half an hour, staring at the sea outside in silence. He was unsure about what to do anymore.

He closed his eyes with a sigh, and let the pulse of the tree soothe his mind. This made him regain peace slowly. 

And it was minutes into this as his brows furrowed.

The rhythmic heartbeat…

It felt as if it was talking. As if... it wanted to tell him something.

The Sunlight Tree Eve was talking to him.

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