"Flirty playboy!"
Kushina glanced at Mikoto in Shishou's arms and mumbled as she flew over to sit on Shishou's hand.
Once Kushina was settled, Shishou's Mangekyou Sharingan activated, reflecting her image.
In the next moment, under Mikoto's surprised gaze, Kushina's body rapidly grew taller.
Feeling the chakra rapidly depleting from his body, Shishou's brow furrowed slightly.
It seemed like Kushina might really drain him dry this time...
A few minutes later.
When Kushina's height reached one meter, she stopped growing.
By then, Shishou had used up more than half of his chakra.
Mikoto took Kushina from Shishou's hand, wrapped her in clothes, and asked with concern, "Shishou, are you okay?"
Kushina, also worried, said, "You don't look well. Are you alright?"
She could clearly feel that Shishou had consumed most of his chakra.
"Hu!"
Shishou let out a long breath and shook his head, "Wait here for me. I'll be back soon."
With that, Shishou disappeared.
This time, Kushina had consumed far more chakra than he had anticipated, so he needed to replenish himself before continuing Kushina's evolution.
However, the more chakra Kushina consumed, the greater her future potential.
This was actually a good thing for Shishou.
Seeing Shishou disappear, Kushina pursed her lips.
"He actually went to such lengths for me."
Although she was initially coerced by him, Shishou had indeed done a lot for her.
Mikoto teased, "You almost drained Shishou dry."
Kushina's face flushed, and she buried her face in Mikoto's chest, "Mikoto, you're just saying that to tease me."
Mikoto's face turned red as she glared at Kushina, "Kushina, how can you say such things..."
"She's bold and daring, she'll say anything. Arguing with her is just asking for trouble," said Hyuga Rimei as she walked into the courtyard.
She had just completed the daily training tasks assigned by Shishou.
"Hmph! She tried to take advantage of me," Kushina said smugly.
Seeing Kushina, who had grown significantly taller, Rimei was surprised and looked around joyfully.
"Is Shishou-sama here?"
Kushina casually lied, "He left when he saw you coming."
"What..."
Rimei froze, her face turning pale, thinking she had somehow offended Shishou-sama.
Seeing Rimei's pale face, Mikoto quickly explained, "Kushina is joking. Don't believe her."
Hearing this, Rimei sighed in relief.
As long as Shishou-sama didn't dislike her, everything was fine.
Then, she glared at Kushina, holding and squeezing her.
"You little troublemaker, just because I called you bold doesn't mean you can mess with me. Watch how I deal with you."
"You're just bullying a child," Kushina struggled.
Unable to resist, Rimei hugged Kushina and kissed her.
Kushina was just too cute now, looking like a pink doll!
...
Outside the Hidden Rain Village, in an underground cave.
Looking at the giant summoned beast corpses stored in the cave, Shishou smiled.
His chakra reserves were immense, but once depleted, recovery was slow.
He needed a large amount of energy, and devouring ordinary animals wouldn't suffice.
So he targeted Nagato's giant summoned beasts.
He had marked one of the beasts with the Flying Thunder God mark during his previous battle with Nagato.
With a wave of his hand, Shishou prepared to use the Phosphorescent Insect to devour the summoned beast corpses before him.
"That's quite unscrupulous of you."
A voice came from one of the summoned beasts as the Animal Path, wearing an Akatsuki robe and sporting a long ponytail, appeared before Shishou.
"You kept these corpses?"
Seeing the Animal Path appear, Shishou shamelessly greeted him, thinking Nagato had abandoned these corpses after repairing his main body.
Nagato, controlling the Animal Path, smiled at Shishou and said, "They were once my comrades and can be useful at times."
"For example, now."
Shishou watched the confident Animal Path, becoming slightly wary.
Nagato's confidence was unsettling because it meant his strength had significantly increased.
Facing someone who had previously overpowered him, Nagato's calm confidence indicated substantial progress.
Seeing Shishou's silence, Nagato continued through the Animal Path, "I propose extending our duel by another year, making it three years from now."
"What do you think?"
Shishou frowned and vanished, reappearing in the Hidden Rain Village.
"Your strength has indeed advanced!"
Leaping onto the tallest tower in the village, Shishou addressed Nagato, who was gazing down at the people below.
He could clearly sense that Nagato's chakra had increased several times.
"What did you do?"
"You don't seem to be in good shape," said the young Nagato, still gazing out the window with a smile, as if Shishou were an old friend.
Shishou grinned, "If I'm not in good shape, aren't you going to seize the opportunity?"
Nagato looked at Shishou and calmly said, "I don't believe you wouldn't have a backup plan."
"Besides, I plan to defeat you fair and square in three years, so I'm not in a hurry."
"Right now, things are quite favorable for me."
Nagato had noticed that his inability to defeat Shishou seemed to concern 'Uchiha Madara' more than himself. Madara had even offered forbidden techniques in exchange for Nagato's progress.
Additionally, after transplanting Hashirama's cells, Nagato's chakra reserves had increased significantly, and the burden of using the Rinnegan had lessened.
Nagato had compared the abilities of 'Uchiha Madara,' who could freely use the Mangekyou Sharingan abilities without much issue, to Uchiha Itachi, who was cautious about using the Mangekyou Sharingan due to the strain it caused. This led Nagato to suspect that Hashirama's cells might somehow alleviate the drawbacks of the Rinnegan and Sharingan, enhancing their usage and reducing the associated strain.
Thus, he had begun researching further transplants of Hashirama's cells with the help of Sasori.
Moreover, Nagato had developed new abilities with his Rinnegan that he hadn't fully mastered yet.
For these reasons, Nagato preferred to delay the duel with Shishou, not wanting to reveal too much of his abilities without a guarantee of victory.
Staring into Nagato's Rinnegan, Shishou understood his confidence and the reason for the delay.
Nagato's Rinnegan now displayed two tomoe.