"Can you use Shadow Clone?" Lin Mo didn't answer directly, but asked a rhetorical question.
"No," Mikana shook her head.
Lin Mo wasn't surprised by this answer at all.
Shadow Clone is an exclusive Ninjutsu of the Uzumaki Clan; if Mikana could use it, she wouldn't be in her current situation.
"I'll teach you, you learn!" Lin Mo demonstrated the hand seals in sequence while using Sensing Technique to observe her reaction.
Mikana was quite intelligent and learned it after a few tries.
"Create two Shadow Clones, one to look like you during the day, and one to look like Karin," Lin Mo instructed.
Mikana immediately complied.
After everything was arranged, she looked at Lin Mo.
"Is there anything you need to bring?" Lin Mo asked calmly.
"No," Mikana quickly shook her head.
They had no lingering attachments in Kusagakure (Village Hidden in the Grass).
"Then let's go!"
Lin Mo placed his hands on Mikana and Karin's shoulders respectively.
The three of them vanished instantly, and the people around them didn't notice a thing.
In the blink of an eye, it was evening.
In Konoha Village, Lin Mo spent the entire night with Kushina, admiring the scenery.
Kushina was initially surprised and dazed, then her emotions fluctuated, eventually becoming compliant, even somewhat half-willing.
"That's enough for tonight; we'll talk more later."
Lin Mo released Kushina and returned to bed, planning to sleep.
Kushina looked at him silently, her eyes quite complex, and finally sighed.
With a thought, she withdrew from Lin Mo's mental world and returned to the real world.
The morning light slipped through the window crack, illuminating Lin Mo's face, making him appear even more handsome.
"I'll just consider this a dream."
Kushina watched Lin Mo for a moment, intending to leave.
But just then, Lin Mo suddenly opened his eyes, instinctively sat up, and mumbled, "Oh, Karin actually... Hmm?"
Their eyes met, and Lin Mo blinked in confusion.
Why was Kushina sitting on him?
No, she was floating!
Was his waking posture problematic?
"What's going on?"
Kushina looked at Lin Mo, who had lain back down and closed his eyes, and was also stunned.
She looked at him, was it really that unbelievable?
But then, Lin Mo sat up again, trying hard to open his eyes wide.
"What the hell!"
He gently pinched his arm.
Pain struck him, and he patted his head, asking Kushina, "Is this a Spiritualization Technique?"
Kushina looked surprised: "Lin Mo-kun, you react so quickly."
Lin Mo's mouth twitched, thinking, I'm not an idiot, and I'm a master of romance, how could I be slow to react?
Having been in the entertainment industry before, he had met all sorts of people: those with beautiful voices, great figures, natural charisma, and diverse personalities. Which kind hadn't he encountered?
And that "dream" last night was too real, especially Kushina's emotional changes, so vivid that even movie actors couldn't compare.
He always thought the experience was fantastic, especially the last few rounds of sparring; he really didn't get that feeling in reality.
Now that he thought about it, could this be communication between souls?
"You actually know the Spiritualization Technique?" Lin Mo looked surprised.
Does this Kishimoto guy even understand Hokage?
He probably only knew about the blast, which is why he killed him off, right?
"Why can't I learn the Spiritualization Technique?" Kushina put her hands on her hips, her tone a bit more haughty.
Lin Mo immediately sensed her change, so he changed the subject: "You're not angry?"
This woman had declared yesterday that she would never let him succeed.
Logically, after what he did to her in the spiritual world last night, she should be fighting him now, right?
Why did it feel completely different?
Did he take the right approach?
"Angry? I already got angry."
Kushina looked down at the ground; although she was a spirit body, her ears were burning red.
The scenery Lin Mo showed her that night was all new to her, beautiful beyond her imagination.
This journey opened her eyes; she learned for the first time that there could be so many different perspectives to enjoy scenery, and so many diverse little gadgets to use.
"Since you know about what happened between us last night..."
"Then how do you plan to resolve it?" Kushina looked up, staring directly at Lin Mo.
Originally, she had intended to treat last night's events as a dream, as to some extent, it truly was a dream based on reality. If she ever missed that feeling in the future, she would just find another opportunity to "dream" together.
But unexpectedly, Lin Mo suddenly woke up and knew everything.
Then she had to face reality and make a decision.
"How to resolve it?" Lin Mo raised his eyebrows.
Kushina's reaction was completely different from what he had expected.
Shouldn't she be fighting him?
Let's try again.
"Mrs. Kushina, I remember every word you said to me last night, clear as a bell, each one like thunder."
"Don't worry, even if you come to my dream to check up on me, I won't go back on my word."
"No, I think, you could actually try to go back on it once, how about it, Kanna?" Kushina held up her hand, making a gesture with her thumb, index, and middle fingers.
She looked particularly playful and cute like that.
"That won't do," Lin Mo said, suppressing a laugh and speaking earnestly: "I'm a person who values my reputation. If someone tells me not to even fantasize before I've even started to show anything, how can I possibly persist?"
"Shouldn't men all have a bit of a thick-skinned spirit?" Kushina rephrased.
"Wouldn't that make me a simp? I refuse~" Lin Mo replied earnestly: "Mrs., with just the two of us, a single man and woman, it's not appropriate for me to stay here. You should leave quickly."
"No," Kushina said anxiously, "We need to clear this up now."
"Mrs., you need to be mindful of appearances!"
"Mindful of what? When you were doing that to me in my dream last night, why didn't you say anything about being mindful of appearances?" Kushina was furious.
"Doing what?" Lin Mo feigned innocence.
"What do you mean?" Kushina stood up abruptly, fuming: "Are you trying to shirk responsibility?"
Responsibility?
Lin Mo found it somewhat amusing.
Now you want to be with me, but before, weren't you playing hard to get?
"Responsibility? What did I do?" Lin Mo spread his hands: "We're both innocent."
"You, you, you..." Kushina gasped, then suddenly laughed: "Lin Mo-kun, I can apologize for what happened last night."
"Then apologize quickly."
Kushina: "?"
Why aren't you playing by the rules? Shouldn't you agree to it now?
But why did she feel a strange sense of satisfaction?
"Haven't I apologized enough last night?" Kushina rolled her eyes lightly.
This expression, coupled with her words, made Lin Mo's legs instantly feel a bit weak.
Last night, he took her to experience the scenery of Kyushu. He was always in charge of driving, speeding up once they hit the highway.
As a native of the Ninja World, Kushina had never experienced anything from another world like this.
Whenever he pushed the car to its limit, she would get carsick and then fall asleep.
"Just apologizing verbally isn't enough, you know," Lin Mo said seriously, "Let's see your actions next."
He noticed that, for some reason he didn't understand, Kushina's attitude towards him seemed to have changed.
It might be related to the diary, or perhaps to the events in last night's dream.
Whatever the reason, the initiative was now in his hands.
He had to make Kushina experience the taste of "chasing her husband to the crematorium."
He wasn't someone to be trifled with!
"Just behave well, then," seeing Lin Mo's attitude soften, Kushina immediately felt invigorated again, "But don't go too far with me, or I'll bite you."
Lin Mo was speechless, thinking: What exactly do you mean by "bite"?
"So, were you resurrected using the Spiritualization Technique?" Lin Mo suddenly changed the subject.
He had been curious about Kushina's resurrection method all day.
"Mm," Kushina nodded.
Yūgao Uzuki had warned her yesterday not to let Lin Mo know that the diary had been seen yet, because they didn't know what the consequences would be if he found out.
If it caused them harm, that would be bad, so some things had to be kept secret for now.
Therefore, she could only say that her resurrection was due to the Spiritualization Technique.
"How did you use the Spiritualization Technique to set up two Four Red Yang Formations simultaneously?" Lin Mo asked curiously.
The Chakra Kushina had sealed within the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style shouldn't have been enough.
"I don't know either," Kushina, who couldn't lie, scratched her head, "I just felt like I had an endless supply of Chakra, maybe it's because of the Nine-Tailed."
After hearing this, Lin Mo was half-skeptical, nodded, and didn't press further.
"Well then..."
Lin Mo and Kushina chatted aimlessly as they walked.
In truth, he was internally processing the information he had just received.
This information came from his first Shadow Clone sent to Kusagakure (Village Hidden in the Grass), whose mission was to investigate Karin's situation and secretly protect her if nothing was wrong.
The Shadow Clone reported back that it used Flying Thunder God once upon leaving Kusagakure (Village Hidden in the Grass), traveled for six hours, and then used Flying Thunder God twice more at the border of the Land of Fire, finally bringing Karin and her mother, Kanna, into the Land of Fire.
Feeling that his remaining Chakra was low, he handed Kanna a map and some money, saying, "You two can continue on your own from here. You can come to Konoha to find me, or you can find a place to hide."
Kanna took the items, bowed deeply to Lin Mo again, and then said, "If you don't mind, sir, I'd like to bring Karin to Konoha to find you and serve as your maid. I only ask that you provide Karin with a place to grow."
"We'll talk more once you arrive in Konoha," Lin Mo smiled slightly, intending to dispel the Shadow Clone and transmit the message back to his main body.
Just then, Mikana suddenly asked, "Sir, are you leaving because you don't have enough Chakra?"
"That's right," Lin Mo nodded in response.
"If you don't mind, you can try biting Karin's skin to restore your Chakra," Mikana said with a slight hesitation.
Karin was also very cooperative, extending her slender, smooth, and flawless wrist to Lin Mo.
Her gaze never left Lin Mo's face, a morbid blush spreading across her cheeks.
"If I could replenish Chakra through you, would I hide it?" Lin Mo shook his head with a smile.
A Shadow Clone is like a replica human balloon filled with air, and the air inside is Chakra.
The process of consuming Chakra is like the gas gradually escaping after a balloon is punctured.
Even if one can absorb natural Chakra to enter Sage Mode, it doesn't change this fact.
Because the essence of Senjutsu is to convert existing Chakra into more powerful Senjutsu Chakra, not to truly replenish Chakra.
"Shadow Clones can't replenish Chakra on their own?" Mikana looked a bit surprised.
"They can, but the main body must provide the Chakra," Lin Mo explained.
If Shadow Clones could replenish their own Chakra, wouldn't that be something?
In that case, Shadow Clones would no longer be Shadow Clones, but true clone brothers.
Senju Tobirama would not have left such a loophole.
"I see," Mikana suddenly understood, then said with some hesitation, "Sir, can you protect us for a little longer?"
"What do you want to do?" Lin Mo asked curiously.
"I need Karin to help me recover more Chakra and heal more wounds," Mikana replied.
"Can Karin do that?"
"I originally thought it wasn't possible," Mikana smiled, "But this child is even stronger than I expected."
After speaking, she looked back at Karin, only to find the child still gazing foolishly at Lin Mo.
"Karin," Mikana called out loudly.
"What is it, Mom?" Karin turned her head blankly.
Mikana was momentarily speechless.
It seemed her daughter was completely captivated by this adult for life.
However, this adult was quite good, and his Chakra was very warm. He should be able to protect Karin well, so she didn't need to worry.
"Help Mom recover," Mikana said gently.
Karin immediately extended her hand.
Next, Lin Mo witnessed a scene that shocked him.
Half an hour later, Mikana's hair had completely returned to red, her complexion had become rosy, and the bite marks on her body had noticeably faded, almost invisible.
And Karin, who was helping her, didn't show any signs of pain throughout the process, except for an initial cry of "Money... Lord Lin," appearing very relaxed.
This was completely different from his previous understanding.
Karin Uzumaki also seemed to have become extraordinary.
"These Uzumaki Clan members are all quite unique."
Lin Mo finished processing this information, looked at Kushina who was chattering beside him, and fell into deep thought.
Ah, do you believe it? This woman is simply a chatterbox, talking non-stop.
After a long while, he finally spoke: "Kushina, if you don't hurry back into the seal to replenish your Chakra, I'm afraid your life will be in danger, and you'll go straight to meet the Buddha."
"Oh my God!?" Kushina then realized that her soul was almost transparent and invisible. She cried out, and hurriedly flew away.
Lin Mo looked at her flustered back, thinking that this fellow was quite amusing and lovable.
"Speaking of which, the first car I drove in the Ninja World was actually a ghost car."
"As expected of a world full of powerful forces, even driving is so ingenious. I've never seen anything like this in the world I used to live in."
"Who can experience this feeling?"
After a few exclamations, he pulled out his diary, pondered for a moment, and began to write.
[Shocking! Kushina has actually mastered the Spiritualization Technique!]
Upon seeing this message, the girls holding a diary copy immediately understood that this must have been Kushina's reward last night.
In the Land of Fire, there was a small town not far from Konoha Village.