"Say it again," Shishou requested, causing Anko's face to flush red as she shook her head repeatedly.
She had blurted it out in a moment of excitement, and now, realizing how outrageous it was, she couldn't bring herself to repeat it.
Seeing Anko's embarrassed reaction, Shishou chuckled.
Anko, usually so cunning and mischievous, was unexpectedly shy in this situation.
"Alright then, pay attention," Shishou said.
As he spoke, a layer of black Chakra Bugs appeared on his right hand and began to enter Anko's body.
These were bugs that had absorbed the essence of the White Snake Sage. Shishou wanted to see if their feedback could grant Anko the Sage's power.
If successful, he would use the same method on himself to further enhance his strength.
"Feedback!"
Following Shishou's command, the Chakra Bugs within Anko started to release the energy they had absorbed from the White Snake Sage.
The warmth of the feedback made Anko's face flush even more.
Simultaneously, she felt her chakra levels increasing rapidly, filling her with excitement and causing her cheeks to turn an even deeper shade of red.
Soon, Anko's eyes transformed into snake-like pupils, her body began to swell, red scales appeared on her skin, and her legs fused into a snake's tail.
This was her curse mark transformation.
Seeing Anko's body unconsciously activate the curse mark, Shishou's Mangekyou Sharingan activated, carefully observing the changes in her chakra to prevent any mishaps.
As the Sage's bloodline feedback continued, the red scales on Anko's body grew larger and harder.
Feeling increasingly drowsy from the warmth spreading through her body, Anko eventually succumbed to sleep, coiling up at Shishou's feet.
"Is she hibernating or just tired?" Shishou wondered, raising an eyebrow at Anko's condition.
Her chakra levels were stable, so there was no immediate concern.
Regardless of whether Anko was hibernating, Shishou continued the feedback process until her chakra levels stopped increasing.
Once the feedback was complete, he retracted the Chakra Bugs from her body.
"Fa Hai, you don't understand love," Shishou muttered, looking at Anko curled up like a snake spirit, before lifting her onto the bed.
He then sat in a chair beside the bed, quietly waiting for her to wake up.
An hour later,
Shishou, who had been passing the time with a ninjutsu scroll, noticed Pakura cautiously approaching Anko's room, listening at the door.
Sensing Pakura's actions, Shishou chuckled softly and called out, "Pakura, come in."
The wooden door opened, revealing Pakura with a slightly flushed face, embarrassed at being caught eavesdropping.
"I've made dinner... um... what's happened to Anko?" Pakura asked, glancing around the room before noticing Anko's condition and speaking in surprise.
"Anko's fine. I was just helping her perfect her curse mark transformation," Shishou explained casually, then smiled at Pakura, "Why are you cooking dinner? Where are Mikoto and the others?"
Usually, dinner was prepared by the culinary expert Mikoto Uchiha, or at least by Rimei or Natsu if Mikoto wasn't available. Pakura's cooking skills were decent, but not their first choice.
Pakura approached Anko and examined her closely, "Mikoto and the others didn't know you were coming, so they went to the company headquarters to check the accounts. It's just me and Anko at home today."
Every month-end, Mikoto and the others would go to the company headquarters for accounting.
Hearing this, Shishou realized it was already the end of May.
"Bring dinner here. I want to keep an eye on Anko in case anything happens," Shishou suggested.
Pakura, slightly pleased at the prospect of having dinner alone with Shishou, quickly agreed and left to get the food.
Watching Pakura's cheerful departure, Shishou smiled softly.
The harder something is to obtain, the more one desires it.
So Shishou planned to keep Pakura waiting a little longer, ensuring her complete loyalty before fully bringing her into his life.
Pakura had just left when Anko's eyes suddenly opened. She looked around with curious eyes but found her vision obstructed as if something was covering her eyes.
Shishou immediately noticed Anko waking up and looked at her.
As she moved, Anko felt like there was a layer of skin covering her body.
Reaching up, she grabbed her head and gently pulled.
Shishou watched as Anko emerged from what seemed like a layer of skin, her bare, delicate form appearing from her own head.
"Ahh~~"
Seeing Shishou staring at her, Anko yelped and quickly dove under the covers, leaving only a white, slender tail visible outside.
"She really did shed her skin like a snake," Shishou noted, raising an eyebrow at the skin Anko had left behind.
"Could you step out for a moment?" Anko's embarrassed face peeked out from under the covers, asking Shishou.
Although she had a snake tail now, the rest of her was still quite exposed.
Shishou shrugged and headed towards the door, "Pakura's brought dinner. Get dressed and come out when you're ready."
From the brief glimpse he got, Shishou confirmed his experiment's success.
The White Snake Sage's bloodline wouldn't make him grow anything strange!
As Shishou stepped out, he saw Pakura carefully carrying a square table with food towards them.
Without hesitation, he rushed to help her, and together they placed the table in Anko's small courtyard pavilion to eat.
Serving Shishou, Pakura glanced towards Anko's room, "Has Anko woken up?"
She had been looking forward to a rare opportunity to have dinner alone with Shishou, and Anko waking up now seemed poorly timed.
Pakura couldn't help but consider knocking Anko out again.
Shishou took a bite of food and laughed, "She's probably getting used to her new body. Let's eat first."
Pakura was secretly delighted to hear this.
As long as Anko didn't interrupt her time with Shishou, she was happy.
Sitting beside Shishou with her bowl of rice, Pakura curiously asked, "Getting used to a new body? What do you mean, Shishou?"
"Anko just shed her skin like a snake. It was like she became a snake spirit."
"Really? She actually shed her skin?"
"Of course. I'll show you her shed skin when she comes out."
"I always thought Anko was snake-like, but I didn't expect she could actually shed her skin..."
"Surprising, isn't it? I didn't expect it either."
"Indeed, very surprising..."
"..."
**********
This fanfiction is complete on my Pa treon. If you want to read it, you can find it at patreo n.com Betek.