Chapter 292: [Sage Mode - Mount Myōboku]!
Go to Mount Myōboku?
Nara Keisuke was slightly stunned, not expecting Sage Fukasaku to extend such an invitation.
Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest—the three great Sage lands were famous, and countless people in the shinobi world had heard their names.
But in stark contrast to their thunderous reputations was the pitifully small number of "entrants."
Aside from contractors like Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, it was extremely difficult for others to even get near the three Sage lands, let alone enter them.
Nara Keisuke, wanting to develop his own unique Sage Mode, had indeed considered seeking them out.
However, first, it was currently wartime.
Second, the locations of the three Sage lands were truly difficult to find.
Setting aside Shikkotsu Forest, about which there was virtually no intelligence, the specific location of Ryūchi Cave was also undisclosed.
As for Mount Myōboku, the one with the most information…
Nara Keisuke only knew that one had to travel for a month to get there.
Furthermore, traveling to Mount Myōboku wasn't as simple as just journeying for a month to reach the Sage land.
The true Mount Myōboku was not just an ordinary mountain peak.
It was hidden within a mountain range known as "Maze Mountain."
Even if one reached the foot of Maze Mountain, it was impossible to enter the real Mount Myōboku without knowing the secret passage.
The easiest and most convenient way to travel to the three Sage lands was to sign a summoning contract and then use the Summoning Technique or the Reverse Summoning Technique…
Nara Keisuke was pondering the general intelligence about Mount Myōboku when Sage Fukasaku continued.
"Child, you have already mastered... well, crude methods of controlling natural energy, which proves you definitely have the aptitude to learn Sage Mode."
Sage Fukasaku stroked his goatee, gradually clearing his thoughts.
"Mount Myōboku's Senjutsu inheritance is almost never taught to outsiders, but for certain exceptionally talented humans, we can make an exception."
Unlike the "solitary" Shikkotsu Forest and the "lofty" Ryūchi Cave, Mount Myōboku was indeed the "friendliest" of the three Sage lands toward human practitioners.
The Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku would even proactively give prophecies to humans, guiding them on their path.
If Nara Keisuke were just an ordinary genius shinobi, even if he could ascend to the heavens, enter the earth, and call the wind and rain, Sage Fukasaku wouldn't have given him a second glance.
But Nara Keisuke had already "crudely" mastered the means of controlling natural energy.
Sage Fukasaku held considerable interest in such a "Sage-in-training."
As for Jiraiya, who was standing right there…
There was never a rule stating that Mount Myōboku could only have one contractor per generation.
It just so happened that Nara Keisuke wanted to learn Sage Mode, and Mount Myōboku had the Senjutsu inheritance.
In Sage Fukasaku's view, if they could bring Nara Keisuke to Mount Myōboku, have him undergo their training, and make him a member of Mount Myōboku's faction… Mount Myōboku's fame would surely spread even wider.
"Apologies, Honorable Sage."
Nara Keisuke took a deep breath and spoke with great solemnity.
"This is a very important matter. I need some time to think it over carefully."
Although he said this, Nara Keisuke had already made a decision in his heart.
There's no way I'm going to Mount Myōboku!
The reason was simple.
Nara Keisuke wanted to learn Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode, but he did not want to meet the Great Toad Sage.
As the saying goes, the older a toad, the more monstrous it becomes.
Nara Keisuke had always kept his distance from transcendent beings like the Great Toad Sage, who possessed the power of prophecy.
If Nara Keisuke's power level was already strong enough to ignore the Great Toad Sage's existence, a trip to Mount Myōboku wouldn't be a problem.
But at this stage, Nara Keisuke's power level was still worlds apart from the "Sages" of the three lands!
It was true that Nara Keisuke's comprehensive evaluation had reached the peak of Kage-level.
If he used his full arsenal, an ordinary super-Kage-level expert would be no match for him.
But the Sages of the three lands—the Great Toad Sage, the White Snake Sage, and the Katsuyu Sage.
The power level of these three was definitely not limited to just A-Rank or S-Rank.
Nara Keisuke strongly suspected that the comprehensive evaluation of these three "Sage Beasts" had already reached SS-Rank, or was even touching the threshold of the Six Paths-level!
Especially since these three were not only ancient and massive, but they all knew Senjutsu!
To go and show off in front of an old toad monster that possessed the power of prophecy while his own strength was insufficient…
Nara Keisuke was truly apprehensive.
If he had to choose one of the three Sage lands to contact, Nara Keisuke would only choose Shikkotsu Forest.
This wasn't just because of his connection with Tsunade.
The more important reason was that the Katsuyu Sage wasn't like the other two Sages.
The Great Toad Sage was involved in "prophecies" and specialized in tricking fools like Jiraiya into working for him, searching the world over for the so-called "Child of Prophecy."
This kind of "fated" fatalism was really not Nara Keisuke's cup of tea.
As for the White Snake Sage, she didn't bother with prophecies.
She just ate people.
In contrast, the Katsuyu Sage was purely a super-sized "healer baby."
Soft-spoken, a gentle body, and she could heal.
Shikkotsu Forest's Katsuyu Sage was far more appealing than the Sages of the other two lands!
"Very well, this is indeed a major decision."
Sage Fukasaku was unaware that Nara Keisuke had already rejected the idea of studying at Mount Myōboku.
"If you decide you want to go to Mount Myōboku later, you can contact me through Jiraiya-kun."
"Thank you, Honorable Sage, for your consideration."
Nara Keisuke put on a perfect show, offering his sincere thanks.
"Haha!"
Jiraiya laughed heartily.
"If Lord Nara also becomes a contractor for Mount Myōboku, wouldn't that make you my half-'junior brother'?"
In that case, learning the Camouflage Hiding Technique would become even easier, right?
"Jiraiya!"
Sage Fukasaku rapped the big-haired man on the head.
"Even if this young man really goes to Mount Myōboku, he still needs to ask for the Old Man's permission to train in Sage Mode."
The "Old Man" Sage Fukasaku referred to was, of course, the Great Toad Sage.
"I was just saying!"
Jiraiya rubbed his head, replying with a playful grin.
"Who can say what the future holds?"
"Stop running your mouth, Jiraiya-kun."
Sage Shima also reached out and rapped Jiraiya's head.
"If there's nothing else, I'm canceling the Amalgamation Technique and returning to Mount Myōboku. I still have to prepare dinner!"
Mount Myōboku's dinner…
Jiraiya's expression changed slightly.
"Two Sages, please wait just a moment. I do have one more thing to do."
Jiraiya took a deep breath, his expression turning grave. He raised his left hand and struck a special pose.
"Gazing at the sky, the great Jiraiya—"
Smack! Smack!
Sages Fukasaku and Shima, in perfect sync, raised their hands and punched Jiraiya in the face, directly cutting off his introduction.
The next moment, both Sages simultaneously canceled the "Sage Art: Amalgamation Technique," returning their bodies, which had been fused with Jiraiya, to normal.
After bidding farewell to Nara Keisuke, the two small Sage Toads canceled their Summoning Technique and dissipated in a puff of smoke from Jiraiya's shoulders.
And with the Sages' disappearance, Jiraiya's facial markings, eyeshadow, and nose all returned to normal, as he exited "Sage Mode."
"Hah… hah…"
A fine layer of sweat appeared on Jiraiya's forehead. The "great hero," who had seemed so energetic, plunged into a state of weakness in the short time after exiting Sage Mode.
Listening to Jiraiya's panting, which sounded like a broken bellows, Nara Keisuke raised an eyebrow.
'I overlooked this point: the 'downtime' after canceling Sage Mode…'
Sage Mode, in essence, is the absorption of external natural energy, fusing it with one's own chakra to create Sage Chakra, and then using that Sage Chakra to augment all of one's abilities—Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu.
Absorbing natural energy is already an extremely dangerous affair.
Guiding the natural energy to fuse with chakra is an extremely draining and troublesome task.
This is also why Jiraiya rarely used Sage Mode.
In a real battle, who would give him such a long prep time to mold chakra, absorb natural energy, and synthesize Sage Chakra?
And once in Sage Mode, it basically meant stopping the absorption of natural energy.
This is because the most basic requirement for absorbing natural energy is to be "still."
Unless someone could fight the enemy while remaining "still," it was basically impossible to draw in more natural energy from the outside after entering Sage Mode.
In other words, in the time after entering Sage Mode, the Sage Chakra existing in the body would only decrease, not increase!
And because the human body can only store a limited amount of conventional chakra at any given time, the amount of Sage Chakra that can be synthesized is also limited.
Even in the thousand-year history of Mount Myōboku, the longest Sage Mode could be maintained was—
Only five minutes!
Once the Sage Chakra was exhausted, the user would exit Sage Mode.
At that point, the body would have no Sage Chakra, and the original chakra would be completely depleted from having been used to synthesize the Sage Chakra.
(While maintaining Sage Mode, the chakra and natural energy in the body must be in a precise ratio, so one cannot simply mold chakra at will.)
In the short period after exiting Sage Mode, a shinobi would face the embarrassing situation of having zero chakra in their body.
This was what Nara Keisuke referred to as the "downtime."
If a ninja had no chakra, weren't they just a "salted fish"?
To overcome this "short duration" weakness, Mount Myōboku specifically developed the "Sage Art: Amalgamation Technique."
It separated the "static" task of absorbing natural energy from the "dynamic" task of fighting, maximizing the use of Sage Mode.
To put it bluntly: "Sage Art: Amalgamation Technique" was a "Trinity" of Jiraiya, Sage Fukasaku, and Sage Shima.
Sages Fukasaku and Shima would take turns absorbing natural energy and synthesizing Sage Chakra, while Jiraiya only needed to focus on fighting.
Of course, even using the "Sage Art: Amalgamation Technique" only extended Jiraiya's Sage Mode time.
After exiting Sage Mode, he would still encounter the awkward situation of having his chakra depleted.
Although Nara Keisuke had not yet mastered Sage Mode, Jiraiya's current weak posture served as a wake-up call for him.
Nara Keisuke was unlikely to learn Mount Myōboku's "Sage Art: Amalgamation Technique," and he was extremely averse to the idea of fusing with toads.
But the concept of "delegating the workload of Sage Mode" was not a difficult problem for Nara Keisuke.
Nara Keisuke's real body was, after all, always lying still in the shadow!
"AFK training" was Nara Keisuke's specialty.
"Jiraiya-sama."
Nara Keisuke deliberately pretended not to see the weakness of Jiraiya's current state and asked politely.
"You don't look so good right now. Do you need help?"
"I'm fine, I'll be fine in a moment."
Jiraiya wiped the sweat from his forehead, his breathing gradually stabilizing.
The two Sages had returned to Mount Myōboku too quickly. Jiraiya hadn't even had time to cover, and he had exposed a major weakness of "Sage Mode" right in front of Nara Keisuke.
This should not have happened!
But Jiraiya couldn't turn back time now. He could only accept the reality that Nara Keisuke had grasped this weakness of Sage Mode.
'I was supposed to be gathering intel on him, but instead, I exposed all the features and weaknesses of my ultimate technique! What is this?!'
Jiraiya sighed internally.
"Let's head back to the camp."
Nara Keisuke created a Shadow Creature, bringing the rapidly recovering Jiraiya back to the camp.
"Lord Nara."
Back at the camp, Jiraiya handed the Telescope Technique scroll to Nara Keisuke.
"Don't forget the next spar!"
"Next time, for sure."
Nara Keisuke smiled as he accepted the Telescope Technique. Riding the high of his new spoils of war, he opened the Secret Ninja Scroll he had obtained from completing the [Sage Jiraiya] mission.
[Opening…]
[Content of this S-Rank Secret Ninja Scroll: Technique]
[S-Rank Technique: Sage Mode - Mount Myōboku]
[Technique Description: Surpass the limits of Ninjutsu! Arrive at the domain of the Sage!]
[Technique Effect: Absorb natural energy from the atmosphere and the earth, fusing it with one's own chakra to create Sage Chakra, causing one's Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu to receive a leap-like enhancement.
Note: Sage Mode - Mount Myōboku is the Sage Mode researched by the toads of Mount Myōboku. Humans practicing Sage Mode - Mount Myōboku will undergo a certain degree of physical 'toadification,' the degree of which depends on the individual's constitution.]
[Technique Evaluation: Toad Immortal Cultivation Chronicle]
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