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  After dinner, Shin finally mao pcate Kushina, only to shoot a frustrated gre at Tsunade, who'd been enjoying the show from the sidelines.

  "Shin-nii, do you prefer gentle girls?" Konan tugged on Shin's sleeve, asking curiously.

  "ly," he replied with a wry grin, ruffling her hair. "I like pretty girls. Though if someone's a bad-tempered 'old dy,' not evey save her in my eyes."

  He shot a teasing look at Tsunade, who froze in pce.

  "Shin, if you've got the guts, don't run! I'm gonna pummel you!"

  "Hey, hold on, I didn't say it was you," Shin protested, hurriedly blog Tsunade's punch. "Unless you're admitting to being a ky grandma?"

  Tsunade glowered, torween pung him and thus firming his joke, or letting it slide. Sensing her predit, Shin quickly backtracked:

  "Okay, okay, I was just messing around. Look at you—radiant, youthful, absolutely stunning!"

  After a string of sweet-talking, Tsunade finally cooled off, though she remained visibly annoyed.

  ....

  The following m, Shin inteo resume training. Kushina wao map out further pns for her "Greatest Shinobi Vilge,"

  This time, Konan didn't apany Kushina—she found an excuse to stay behind and practi her own.

  At that point, Tsuopped Shin in his tracks.

  "Shin," Tsunade called out. "Teach me Sage Mode."

  "Me?" He blinked. "Couldn't you learn it from the Slug Sage of Shikkotsu Forest?"

  After all, each of the Three Great Sage Regions (Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest) had their owhods for teag Senjutsu. Some eveed that Hashirama Senju learned from Shikkotsu Forest. Others suspected he'd developed his oroach, much like Shin.

  "I don't want the slugs teag me—I want you," Tsuorted, crossing her arms. "Got a problem with that?"

  "Nope, no problem," Shin said with mock surrender. "I wouldn't dare."

  He didn't mind at all. Still, he felt pelled to warn her:

  "But remember, learning Sage Mode isn't easy. Kushina took a long while to master it, so you'll have to be patient."

  He recalled that in , Tsunade never dispyed Sage Mode, but Shin figured she should be capable enough—especially given her own formidable stitution.

  "I'd expect it to be hard," Tsunade said.

  At that moment, Mikoto stepped forward.

  "Shin, I'd like to learn too," she said.

  She had attempted it years before, but with lower chakra reserves, it had proven too difficult. Now, as an Uchiha with a more developed chakra pool, she was ready tain.

  Shin nodded easily.

  "Sure, teag one or two doesn't make a difference."

  If the two women had known he was mentally paring them to "sheep," they might have clobbered him on the spot. Mikoto, beile, might have let it slide. Tsunade, oher hand, would've tested her morength on him.

  ....

  He led them to a specially-built training field in their settlement. Konan joihem, though only to train on her own. Kushina was off, preoccupied with her "vilge" pns.

  "Alright, listen up." Shin began.

  "Sage Mode is formed by blending Three Energies: Natural Energy (from the enviro)② Physical Energy (your body's stamina)③ Spiritual Energy (your mental focus)"

  "Together, these three create Senjutsu chakra, which massively enhances your Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, asu."

  Mikoto already knew some of this, but she listened again carefully.

  "The tricky part is maintaining a bance—each of the three energies has to be about ohird of the mix. If natural energy dominates beyond that ratio, you get swallowed up by nature. If it's less than a third, Sage Mode fails to activate."

  "If someone's overwhelmed by Natural Energy, what happens?" Tsunade asked, her tone subdued.

  Shin's expression turned serious.

  "You literally bee part of the enviro. Turned into stone, ied with nature—take your pick. The point is, you vanish as a human."

  Tsunade grimaced at the thought. Shi on:

  "Anyway, first step is sensing natural energy. Abs it."

  He added a stern warning:

  "Don't attempt any fusion while I'm not around. You do not want to risk being devoured by nature."

  "Got it," Tsunade said, nodding. "I'm not itg to bee a tree or something."

  With that, Shin motioned for them to begin. Tsunade and Mikoto each sat, eyes closed, trying to feel the faint presence of nature around them.

  "Uh… Shin?" Tsunade called, raising a brow. "Is that really all? You're just telling us to se?"

  "Yes," Shin replied. "Calming your mind is key. Don't hold on to distrag thoughts."

  He paused, remembering something:

  "But I help. Let me gather nature energy here to speed things up."

  Stepping back, Shin activated Sage Mode, pulling in an intense tration of natural energy from miles around.

  Tsunade and Mikoto instantly felt the world around them saturate with elemental power.

  "This draws in the surrounding nature chakra. Right now, the ambient Natural Energy is hundreds of times denser. If you 't se now, you never will."

  They each shut their eyes, clearing their minds, fog on the currents swirling in the air. Shin stood guard, making sure they remained safe and stable while they took their first step.

  He also mentally aowledged that for Tsu might be simpler due to her unique Senju body, whereas Mikoto cked a dire-based perk like that. Still, they both had formidable chakra pools.

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