86 Red Seaweed

The next morning, Natsume crawled out of her tent that she had hastily set up the night before. Although the tent was poorly constructed, she did take the time to neatly put away the armor at the side. She stretched her back and the aching muscles were temporarily relieved. The sun had not risen yet, but her biological clock had her awaken regardless. The other samurai were already finishing donning their armor and walking out to inspect the pier.

Thinking about the seaweed farm, Natsume became curious. She had been here for almost a whole day now but had yet to see the thing they were defending. Once her armor was on, she walked over to the edge of the pier. Yori was standing at the edge looking toward the horizon. Natsume had refined her posture the day before well enough to reduce the noise significantly as she walked.

"You've made a lot of progress. It seems your previous training was very thorough." Yori started speaking once she was within arm's reach of him. His words made Natsume tense up. "Don't worry, no one will pursue your past. However, I hope you can leave the past behind and devote yourself to the way of the samurai."

Natsume stared at the horizon in silence and thought about her life. The weight of responsibility she felt toward her clan and to the world was too heavy. Natsume shook her head, "I'm sorry, sensei."

"I understand." Yori wasn't upset at her rejection. Many people came to become stronger and then returned home. However, they weren't considered traitors when leaving was always their intention. Instead, the skills they showed outside would attract more people to the samurai way, so they could be considered envoys. "You haven't seen the seaweed yet, have you?"

"No, I started training as soon as we arrived." Her tone was clear. She was glad that they were willing to teach her despite her plan to leave. The light began to break through the dark sky and the switch between day and night started. The first rays of light pierced through the clouds in the distance and drove away the darkness. When the light spread along the surface of the water, the shadow over the sea shrunk rapidly.

"Wow." Natsume gasped as she saw the reddish-brown seaweed taking up a huge section of the water below. The water was especially clear this morning so she could see the teeming life below the surface. Small fish weaving through the seaweed they used as cover from predators. The seaweed was dozens of feet tall and floated just below the surface, anchored to the sea floor.

"This is what we're here to protect. This seaweed is a major source of food for the Land of Iron. Don't underestimate the value of this field, it is very tasty and nutritious. If not for the threat of the Giant Crabs, the village would already be harvesting and drying them."

Natsume didn't say anything and just watched the seaweed dance in the gentle current. The sound of water ebbing and flowing against the beach and the pier was soothing. Natsume closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The opportunity arrived just as she expected. Since she experienced it a few times already, Natsume could determine the conditions that would let her enter a special state of mind.

However, instead of immediately meditating like before, she let it move on its own. The usual aggressive and destructive Nature flowed easily into her body. After a few moments, it quietly dissipated on its own as if it were never there. Natsume opened her eyes and saw that only a few minutes had passed. Although she was peaceful on the surface, internally she was shocked and excited.

Natsume had always forcibly absorbed Nature energy through her hands and feet, before directing it inward and mixing it with her chakra. This was almost instinctual for her since she was very proficient in ninjutsu, so all she had to do was reverse the process. However, just then, the energy had actually equally entered through the other 361 Tenketsu on her body before accumulating in her chakra center.

'Hah… no wonder.'

After learning this, she tried to pull in Nature energy consciously but was unable to grasp the technique and almost absorbed Nature energy through her hands again. Just as she was about to enter a tug of war with the Nature energy, the seal on her abdomen activated and disrupted the energy on her palms. Natsume unconsciously touched her stomach which elicited a reaction from the quiet Yori.

"Thinking about it has made me hungry as well. Breakfast should be ready soon, let's head back." Natsume nodded distractedly and followed him. The sun was barely over the horizon by the time the duo returned to the camp. A large cast iron pot was boiling over a fire, releasing a delicious scent. Yori quickened his pace and exclaimed, "Ah, Miso soup, my favorite!"

After getting her fill of rice, soup, and fish, Natsume returned to her training. She decided to put the matters of Senjutsu aside once again and focus on her goal of mastering her chakra blade. The main reason for this was her suspicion that it would take a significant amount of time until she could create her own meditation technique to draw in Nature energy the correct way.

Conversely, she felt that mastering the chakra blade would take her very little time since it was a more conventional technique with available teachers. Counting the time, there was about twenty to thirty years until the great battle between Madara and Hashirama. Natsume wasn't sure how her interference would alter the future, but this should be a general timeline to follow.

'There should be enough time to break the Uchiha clan's tragic fate.' Natsume steeled herself and increased her running pace. The calm plates began to rattle once more, forcing Natsume to further refine her movements.

On the pier, Yori watched Natsume disappear over the hill and smiled.