Chapter 174: You're Afraid She Won't Die Fast Enough, Aren't You
Paji.
Senju Hashirama suddenly used Body Flicker and appeared right in front of Terumī Mei, then immediately dropped to the ground and performed a full dogeza, repeatedly knocking his head on the floor.
"Mizukage-sama, for the safety of the ninja world, please make a small sacrifice of your village's interests. I beg you!"
"..."
Terumī Mei was completely dumbfounded.
Wasn't she just joking around with Shiromo?
You could even say it was flirting.
So why was the First Hokage suddenly kneeling and kowtowing to her?
Terumī Mei glanced at Nohara Rin and Uchiha Hikari, only to find that neither of them looked surprised at all.
Which meant they already knew this was going to happen.
So this was planned in advance by Shiromo again?
"Isn't this just bullying an honest person?"
Terumī Mei said helplessly to Shiromo.
The First Hokage had already kowtowed in public, what else was there left to say?
"Actually, there's something else for you."
Shiromo took out a blue stone from his body.
"This is… the same as the necklace that little girl is wearing?"
Terumī Mei took the stone. It felt unfamiliar, yet strangely familiar. Then she recalled the rather eye-catching necklace she had just seen on Uchiha Hikari.
"That's right. This is a stone formed by me condensing natural energy. It allows you to enter a version of 'Sage Mode' that belongs exclusively to me."
"Your stone is a bit special. I collected it after setting sail from the Land of Fire, on the sea surface of the Land of Water. It contains a large amount of attribute-biased natural energy."
"And even now, it's still slowly absorbing more. As long as it doesn't leave the territory of the Land of Water, it should continue absorbing for quite some time.
"During this period, I don't need to hold it. It will absorb energy on its own, and you can try using it anytime without problems."
Shiromo explained at length.
"Sage Mode? Do I really have talent in that area? …Uh, First Hokage, that's enough already. You've kowtowed plenty. You can get up now."
Terumī Mei was asking seriously, but Hashirama was still banging his head nearby, giving her a headache.
"Oh."
Upon hearing this, Senju Hashirama stood up like nothing had happened, dusted off his pants, and said regretfully: "Ah, you guys came too fast. If I'd known you were coming earlier, I would've used a Wood Clone to turn into Tobirama first."
The unspoken meaning was obvious, if he transformed into Tobirama in front of everyone now, they'd know it was fake, and the kowtowing would lose all meaning.
"Don't worry. After Fifth Hokage Tsunade's physical experiments, I adjusted the internal ratios. There are no problems now. If you don't believe me, you can try it right away."
Although Shiromo had just said that Terumī Mei's stone was still constantly absorbing the Land of Water's natural energy, that didn't really matter.
What affected the body, and what mattered most, was the stellar natural energy of the sun contained within the stone.
As long as the amount of stellar natural energy was properly controlled, there was no need to worry about problems.
And with the suppression provided by stellar natural energy, ordinary natural energy wouldn't erode the body like typical Sage Modes in the ninja world, slowly turning the user into some small animal.
"Alright then. How do I use it?"
Terumī Mei was eager to try. Recently, following Shiromo's advice, she had been pushing reforms in the Land of Water. But in terms of strength, she found it very difficult to achieve any qualitative improvement.
Whether it was Water Release or her Bloodline Limit, it was the same.
This made Terumī Mei rather anxious.
After all, Shiromo had told her from the very beginning that a Kage was practically the village's highest combat power and had to maintain combat readiness. That was why authority needed to be delegated, ensuring physical health, mental health, and sufficient training time.
At the same time, Shiromo had also said that simply training harder was useless, you had to find the right direction to get twice the result with half the effort.
And right now, she clearly couldn't find that direction.
She also had no inspiration for developing her Bloodline Limit.
Shiromo's stone was like timely help in a snowstorm.
It gave her a brand-new direction she could work toward.
"Find something and keep it on you normally. When you want to use it, just resonate with the stone."
Shiromo made it sound simple, but in reality, just the 'resonance' alone involved multiple layers of screening.
First of all, every stone Shiromo made was customized.
Don't think the difference was only in the patterns.
Secondly, to resonate with the stone, one had to first resonate with Shiromo himself, at the very least, viewing him as a close friend, an idol, or something similar.
"Find something?"
Terumī Mei thought for a moment, then took out a lipstick from her waist. She blew on it lightly and placed the blue stone on top.
The stone became embedded in the lipstick.
"Ameyuri, are you interested in sparring with me?"
Holding the lipstick, Terumī Mei smiled and issued a challenge to Ringo Ameyuri, who had just returned to the group with the Lightning Blade.
"I'd love to, Mizukage-sama!"
Ringo Ameyuri looked delighted.
She loved excitement and challenging strong opponents. Being able to fight the Mizukage was naturally an excellent opportunity for her.
Moreover, judging from the earlier conversation between the Mizukage and that person beside her, it seemed the Mizukage was about to use some new power.
And she herself had just obtained the Lightning Blade.
An unknown showdown, more exciting, more anticipation.
"Uh, are you afraid she won't die fast enough and want her to die on the spot?"
Shiromo looked at how enthusiastic the two of them were. He really didn't want to interrupt, but he had no choice but to speak up.
If he didn't remind them, another member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen would end up tragically dying from being obliterated across tiers.
Why did Shiromo condense natural energy stones in the first place?
It was to give the ninja world the power to resist the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Not only because natural energy could harm the Ōtsutsuki, but also because it included improvements to "base attributes."
Take Sarada from Boruto, for example. Her Mangekyō ability, Ōhirume, had a great mechanism, but because her own strength was insufficient, she was the kind who could be killed at any time.
She didn't die only because she was a heroine and the plot wouldn't allow it, and because the villains didn't want to kill her.
The reason Tsunade's combat power didn't show after using the stone was because they were staying at a hot spring inn at the time, there was simply nowhere for her to fight.
At present, the only clear demonstration of combat power was Uchiha Hikari, who had just been playing with the Three-Tails like a yo-yo.
Terumī Mei already had Kage-level strength, and now she was boosting it further with the stone.
Was she planning to recreate Biwa Jūzō's death all over again?
"...Then I'll hold back a bit. You also keep an eye on things. If I accidentally injure Ameyuri, help treat her."
After Shiromo's reminder, Terumī Mei realized that the power she was about to gain might exceed expectations, and she calmed down.
"Alright."
"Then let's begin…"
Terumī Mei lifted the lipstick and applied it lightly. The blue gemstone on it began to glow.
Then…
An α symbol flashed briefly on the back of Terumī Mei's hand, then transformed into a golden halo. A round of profound, mysterious patterns began spreading up her arm.
However, something seemed to go wrong. The golden patterns disappeared, replaced by vivid red patterns as brilliant as Terumī Mei's hair.
"Is it because it hasn't absorbed enough ocean natural energy yet?"
Shiromo immediately saw the issue.
But in her current state, Terumī Mei's strength should already have undergone a qualitative leap.
(End of this chapter)