"It only takes fifteen days," Shishou remarked, raising an eyebrow at the system prompt. "As expected of a special insect species." Typically, the first advancement of an insect would take thirty days, but Kushina only required fifteen, which surprised Shishou.
Holding the sleeping Kushina in his hand, Shishou couldn't help but smile at the sight of her resembling a perfect figurine. However, he had no perverse thoughts and instead placed her into the insect nurturing space, granting her permission to freely enter and exit.
After that, Shishou stretched and left the laboratory. He checked on Hinata and Hanabi, who were still asleep, and then departed the laboratory to return to Konoha.
...
Three days later.
At Tsunade's home.
"Shishou, it's time to wake up," Shizune said as she entered Tsunade's room, gently shaking Shishou who was still sleeping.
"Yawn..." Shishou sat up in bed and stretched. He had been feeling mentally exhausted lately, not physically. So, for the past three days, he had been resting at Tsunade's place, enjoying a quiet time with Shizune.
"Didn't you say you were going to find Tsunade today?" Shizune asked, placing Shishou's clothes on the dresser. "Hurry up, I need to tidy up this room, or Tsunade will be furious when she gets back."
She turned around and bent down to organize the closet. If Tsunade found out that she and Shishou had been fooling around in her room, she'd be livid.
Lying on the floor to check under the bed and closet for anything left behind, Shizune's curves caught Shishou's eye. "Is she doing this on purpose?" he wondered.
Suddenly, Shizune froze, her face turning bright red. "Stop messing around," she said, trying to maintain her composure.
"I'm not messing around. I'm just planning to take another nap," Shishou replied.
An hour later, Shizune, looking at the now-cold breakfast, glared at Shishou, "It's all your fault; now breakfast is cold."
"I'll eat it all," Shishou said, hugging her.
"Hmph, you'd better," Shizune replied, giving him a peck on the cheek before happily reheating breakfast.
After eating, Shishou used the Flying Thunder God technique to take Shizune and leave Konoha, heading to the Land of Whirlpools. After Tsunade left Konoha, Shishou had investigated her whereabouts but found nothing. Considering Tsunade might be learning senjutsu, Shishou decided to search for her in the Shikkotsu Forest.
Although Shishou didn't know the exact location of the Shikkotsu Forest, he could deduce its general vicinity. The Hyuga clan's historical records not only documented their own events but also significant events of other clans.
In the Hyuga records, it was noted that no one in the Senju clan had the ability to summon Katsuyu before the establishment of Konoha. From this, Shishou speculated that the Shikkotsu Forest's summoning contract was likely brought by Tsunade's grandmother, Uzumaki Mito.
He had sent his clones to the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools, using the Flying Thunder God mark left on Tsunade to search for her. After days of effort, one of his clones had finally found the exact location of the Shikkotsu Forest.
At the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools.
Shishou, holding Shizune's hand, stood in the ruins, closing his eyes to sense Tsunade's Flying Thunder God mark. "Let's go, I found Tsunade."
Holding Shizune's hand, Shishou disappeared from the spot.
In the Shikkotsu Forest, one of the three great sage regions.
Tsunade sat in a small cabin, eating and drinking heavily. Although she appeared to be having a good time, her expression was far from happy. Instead of joyful eating and drinking, it seemed like she was venting her frustrations through food.
"Bam!" Tsunade slammed her fist on the table, seething with anger. "That bastard Shishou still hasn't come to find me!"
"Has he forgotten about me now that he has Shizune?"
"When I see him, I'm going to beat him up," she muttered, taking another swig of alcohol, her curses continuing.
After several months of rigorous training, she could now enter Sage Mode with Katsuyu's help in about a minute, though not as quickly as her grandfather, Hashirama. Unlike Jiraiya, who needed a long time to gather energy, Tsunade could do it relatively quickly.
Katsuyu's smaller slugs watched Tsunade curse and didn't know what to say. After completing her senjutsu training, Katsuyu had urged her to return and reconcile with Shishou. However, when Tsunade secretly returned using reverse summoning, she saw Shishou and Shizune being affectionate and was infuriated.
Determined not to return unless Shishou came to find her, Tsunade now oscillated between hoping Shishou would come soon and being angry that he hadn't yet. Every day, she either smashed things in frustration or ate and drank excessively, behaving like a spoiled child, much to the headache of Katsuyu and its clones.
Living in the Shikkotsu Forest with ample food and drink, Tsunade had no real concerns. However, Katsuyu had to take care of her, sending clones to hunt and buy alcohol, essentially acting as her caretaker. Despite the inconvenience, Katsuyu adored Tsunade like a daughter and thus tolerated her antics.
"Tsunade-sama, I have a question," a small Katsuyu asked, crawling to her side.
"Go ahead," Tsunade replied, slightly drunk.
"Did you tell Shizune and Shishou the location of the Shikkotsu Forest?" the little Katsuyu asked cautiously.
"Uh..." Tsunade froze, realizing she hadn't informed them.
Oh, this silly girl! Katsuyu, watching through its clone, understood the situation immediately, feeling speechless.
The next second, Shishou and Shizune appeared beside the dejected Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune exclaimed, rushing into her arms with joy.
Shishou smiled at the stunned Tsunade, "Tsunade, I've come to take you home."
**********
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