"You... you are the Flying Thunder God user?" Temari, as the eldest daughter of the Fourth Kazekage, naturally knew about the recently famous, powerful Flying Thunder God user in the ninja world.
"You're right," Shishou said, approaching the stunned Temari and placing a hand on her shoulder. He then transported them outside Sunagakure and back to Gaara's room, allowing Temari to experience the Flying Thunder God technique. "Now you should understand how easy it would be for me to take Gaara away. So, it's best if you behave. I'll be back in some time." With that, he disappeared.
"He really is the Flying Thunder God user," Temari muttered to herself, still in shock. "Should I tell Father or not?" After contemplating, she decided to comply, thinking of Gaara's well-being.
Meanwhile, at Tsunade's house in Konoha, Shizune was dozing off in the pavilion when Shishou arrived. "Didn't I tell you not to wait for me?" he said, gently picking her up.
"I had nothing else to do," Shizune replied, yawning contentedly in his arms.
"Well, we'll have something to do soon," Shishou whispered in her ear, making her blush.
Seeing Shizune's reaction, Shishou chuckled and carried her towards Tsunade's bedroom.
In the shadows, Tsunade was secretly watching them, seething with anger. She hadn't gone far in the past two weeks; she'd been training in the Shikkotsu Forest. She expected Shishou to look for her but found him happily staying with Shizune instead. She hadn't anticipated that he would seduce Shizune so quickly and in her own bedroom.
"Let that bastard enjoy a few more days!" Tsunade muttered, nearly bursting with rage. She wanted to give the pair a good beating, but seeing Shizune's happiness, she held back her anger, feeling a sense of guilt towards her. Mumbling a few more curses, Tsunade used the reverse summoning technique to return to the Shikkotsu Forest. She had left a few small slugs in the house, allowing her to return briefly, but she couldn't stay long.
The next day, Shizune woke up in Shishou's arms. Looking at the sleeping Shishou, she couldn't resist giving him a gentle kiss on the forehead, feeling a rush of joy and sweetness. She quietly got out of bed, dressed, and left the house to head to the Hyuga clan's territory. Hinata's mother was seriously ill, and they needed her medical expertise.
By mid-morning, Shishou finally woke up. He found a note from Shizune saying, "I'm out to treat someone and won't be back for lunch. Shizune (^▽^)."
Smiling at the note, Shishou got dressed and used the Flying Thunder God technique to appear at his private laboratory. There, he found Mikoto, Yugao, and the others diligently learning senjutsu from a snake sage from Ryuchi Cave.
Seeing them focused on their training, Shishou didn't disturb them and proceeded to his secret base. Taking out some bugs from the breeding space, he used his Mangekyou Sharingan to accelerate their evolution.
"Unfortunately, no special evolution this time," Shishou sighed as the bugs finished evolving and fell into a deep sleep. He placed them back in the breeding space and headed to the laboratory.
During this period, Shishou had already evolved his bugs nine times. This latest evolution would elevate them to an epic-level species. He then retrieved Madara Uchiha's cell samples and began the process of cell culture and transplantation experiments using White Zetsu as a medium.
Since Hashirama's cells could be transplanted, it made sense that Madara's cells, which had clashed and harmonized with Hashirama's, could also be transplanted. Moreover, the Madara cells Shishou possessed were from the Madara who had awakened the Rinnegan and reached the Six Paths level, making them as valuable as Hashirama's cells. And unlike Hashirama's cells, Madara's cells were less aggressive, potentially making the transplantation process simpler.
Despite this, Shishou faced numerous failures when trying to extract Madara's cellular essence. As a result, he shifted his focus to transplanting Madara's cells into White Zetsu.
After several failed attempts, Shishou finally succeeded in transplanting Madara's cells into a White Zetsu.
Crack! The White Zetsu began to divide rapidly, increasing to thirty-two units.
Absorb and feedback! Shishou's chakra levels increased by several dozen units. "A few more rounds of this, and I should reach my limit."
Constantly absorbing and receiving feedback from both Hashirama's and Madara's cells couldn't infinitely boost Shishou's chakra levels. Once he fully awakened Hashirama's power, further absorption only restored his chakra instead of increasing its overall capacity. The same applied to Madara's cells. Once he fully awakened Madara's power, further absorption wouldn't increase his chakra levels.
However, fully awakening Madara's power would essentially ensure Shishou's ascension to the Six Paths level. The remaining task would be to gather the chakra of the nine Tailed Beasts and awaken the Ten Tails' power.
Realizing it was already 4 PM, Shishou concluded his experiments and returned to Tsunade's house to prepare dinner. Shizune, who always complied with his requests at night, would appreciate his efforts, and he wanted to keep her devoted to him.
"It smells so good," Shizune said as she returned home, her eyes lighting up.
"Hurry and wash your hands for dinner," Shishou said.
"Okay," Shizune replied, washing her hands before sitting down to eat with him.
"How did the treatment go today?" Shishou asked while serving the food.
"Not well, I'm afraid. Hinata's mother is very ill. Little Hinata was crying a lot," Shizune explained.
Hinata's mother? Could it be that Hinata's mother is gravely ill? Shishou wondered, concerned. He hadn't been home much lately, spending most of his time with Shizune, leaving a clone to attend school.
Frowning, Shishou asked, "What's the cause of her illness?"