Tsunade was witnessing something never before seen in her world, and as a result, she was confused. It didn't seem like he was simply meditating. It was as if he was merging with his surroundings, with the natural energy enveloping him.

She could smell the forest in a room in the middle of the village.

For some reason, watching Yujin meditate reminded her of Jiraya. 'Does it have something to do with the Sage Mode?'

In a way, it made sense. Sage Mode involves blending chakra with natural energy. The fact that Yujin seemed to become one with the natural energy around him resembled Sage Mode, although different at the same time.

Apart from the lack of physical changes in Yujin, she could sense a more fundamental difference, but couldn't pinpoint what it was.

For a few minutes, she just stood there watching Yujin, trying to understand the state he was in. When she saw that he didn't seem close to leaving his meditative state, she decided to meditate beside him to see if she could grasp something.

She sat in a meditative position for hours but couldn't feel anything beyond what she had felt before, and it frustrated her greatly.

Hours later, when Yujin finally emerged from his meditative state, she also came out of her meditation and observed him closely.

Nothing changed in him physically, but although the natural energy seemed to be slowly dispersing, and she no longer felt the dense aura of calmness and tranquility, she sensed that Yujin was different. He seemed more peaceful, calmer, and there was a mysterious aura around him.

"Have you finished what you needed to do?"

Tsunade heard Yujin's voice, and again noticed the change in him.

"Yes... What happened here? You were in a strange meditative state and didn't wake up for hours."

Yujin smiled calmly and got up from the bed.

"I was surprised too. I was just trying to enter a deeper state of Harmony, but the natural energy of this place is much denser than where I came from. It also seems to have a qualitative difference, making the process more difficult and consequently more time-consuming. I apologize."

Getting up from the floor, Tsunade observed Yujin for a while and asked, "What is 'Harmony'?"

Yujin scratched his chin, thinking about how to explain. Harmony is something very instinctive to be explained in words, so it took him a few minutes.

"Well... Where I come from, martial arts are divided into three types: Internal, External, and Harmony."

Suddenly, Yujin raised his hand and punched his own chest with great force. A booming sound echoed in the room as if something heavy had fallen from a considerable height.

"External Martial Arts focus on the skin, flesh, tendons, bones, and blood. You use Qi to strengthen them through strengthening methods. Some people, like me, have bodies so powerful that even sharp swords can't scratch our skin."

Suddenly, Yujin's body glowed a bit, and he punched so quickly that Tsunade could barely keep up.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"This is Internal Martial Arts. Instead of producing Qi to permanently strengthen the physical body through often torturous methods, this type allows us to temporarily strengthen our bodies as long as we have Qi. People with high achievement in Qi control, like me, can achieve feats as impressive as those of External Martial Arts, without all the tourtous training and pain."

"There are some differences between them. External Martial Arts experts are usually heavier and slower but have greater stamina and durability. Internal Martial Arts experts have lower stamina as they depend on Qi, which is challenging to increase in quantity, but they are faster. They also don't suffer as much during training."

"Both have advantages and disadvantages."

Tsunade listened attentively to Yujin's explanation. Initially, she tried to use Chakra as a basis to understand "Qi," but midway through, she felt that the two energies are entirely different. Although they were energies that existed within the body, they had very different properties.

"Harmony is rare. I only know my master besides myself. Harmony individuals usually have great persistence and genius above normal. Without these two attributes, it's impossible to achieve Harmony."

"To be more objective, Harmony is a mental state where it's possible to use both Internal and External Martial Arts. Normally, for the vast majority of martial artists, this is impossible for various reasons. But those with the talent to enter Harmony can. I am a Grandmaster in Harmony Martial Arts. I have only the advantages of both types of martial arts, with no disadvantages."

Tsunade frowned upon hearing this. His explanation is too vague. "Mental state" doesn't tell her much. She also didn't understand correctly what Internal and External Martial Arts are. In a way, Internal Martial Arts reminds her of how ninjas use Chakra to strengthen their bodies and perform superhuman feats like jumping over ten meters high and delivering punches capable of breaking the ground.

But she doesn't quite understand External Martial Arts, and Harmony is even more elusive to her with the apparently few who can achieve the "mental state."

She had so many questions that she didn't know where to start, but Yujin seemed not to care. It was as if his explanation was sufficient, and he continued.

"But Harmony is much more than that. In recent years, I've remained in training, improving my forms, increasing my Qi, and releasing my Meridians, and a vague concept my master mentioned once occurred to me. I managed to enter a special meditative state, where I could feel the surroundings and the natural energy of the world."

"My master told me once that among the ancient experts of our school, there were some who could enter Harmony with natural energy. I thought it was impossible, but after years of training, I achieved it."

"Now, I can stay in Harmony with natural energy all the time, and that's what you saw. When I arrived in this place, I was in a very superficial Harmony state, and if it weren't for our situation, I would have tried to meditate to deepen that state. With the time I had after you left, I decided to meditate, and that's what happened. I just didn't expect it would take so long, and I haven't finished yet."

Yujin began to move his body slowly, trying to feel the differences. Harmony has always been his focus, and the difference before and after pleased him; he felt an improvement in his understanding.

Tsunade, on the other hand, remained silent, trying to understand the information, but in the end, couldn't come to any conclusion. It doesn't make sense.

----------------------------------------

The conversation ended, and both fell silent. Yujin saw Tsunade's interest in his martial arts and wanted to cheer her up a bit to make her forget what happened, but it didn't last long. After realizing that she couldn't understand anything, she simply gave up and returned to thinking about what she would do from now on.

They sat on the floor in silence, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, she pulled out a scroll, and with a strange hand sign, a gourd of alcohol appeared along with cups.

She handed a cup to Yujin, who accepted. Without a word, they began to drink in silence.

Drinking is one of Tsunade's few pleasures.

She decided to drink with him after feeling that he's as lost as she is. She lost her world with Dan's death, and Yujin, in a way, also lost his, both didn't know what to do next.

They didn't talk or look each other in the eyes. Each with their own thoughts while drinking.

Tsunade was deciding what to do. She was inclined to leave the village. This place held too many memories of people she loved, and it was too painful.

Yujin was also deciding what to do. He had no money and didn't know the place. Although, for some reason, he could verbally communicate with people, he couldn't read anything. More importantly, he was intrigued by the ninjas' magic.

The night was long, and alcohol was all they needed.