Only the Three Secret Regions have complete inheritances of Sage Arts...
Those wild ninja who naturally emerged in nature and could "control" Natural Energy can be disregarded—they were freak accidents. And even then, it wasn't so much them controlling Natural Energy as it was them being controlled by it.
As for the Three Secret Regions that do carry on the Sage Art traditions, although all are considered Sage Arts, each region's techniques differ.
Perhaps over countless years, the Three Secret Regions did attempt to spread their Sage Arts, but the process itself was extremely perilous, with a shockingly low survival rate. If widely propagated, such arts might have led to the annihilation of the entire Ninja World.
There was once a group of ninja who started learning Sage Arts… and wound up dead. Kind of darkly funny, isn't it?
Therefore, probably only those with "destiny" can truly learn the Sage Arts.
In Haseo's memory, he clearly recalled how the toads of Mount Myoboku taught Sage Arts—their approach was fairly scientific and reasonable, and they cared greatly for disciples they saw potential in.
So naturally, Haseo thought that Katsuyu, being gentler by nature, would teach the Sage Arts of Shikkotsu Forest in a softer, gentler, and safer manner, gradually advancing through stages without risk.
Such dirty tricks—like luring trials—were probably only the kind of thing someone like White Snake Sage would do. After all, wasn't Elder Slug better than four-legged toads or legless white snakes?
Yet reality proved him wrong. It turned out that Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Arts were actually the most rugged one of all.
They had said this time it would only be a brief feeling of natural energy, but Haseo suspected that the standard for "brief" was set a bit too high. Perhaps the giant slugs of Shikkotsu Forest had gulped down massive amounts of Natural Energy, then transmitted all of it directly into Haseo.
That may have been "slight" to the slugs, but to Haseo, it nearly proved fatal.
"A gentle touch between us"—just how intense was that supposed to be? That wasn't what Haseo had imagined at all.
It was like some monstrous predator giving you a gentle lick—except its tongue had hooks that tore away both skin and flesh together. All that was left behind? Nothing but smooth, pale bone.
Was this really what they called heavenly grace and earthly mercy? As if wrapped in pure Natural Energy itself?
The only thing Haseo could confirm was this: despite his heightened senses, the entire ordeal lasted no longer than a fleeting moment of contact with that overwhelming surge of Natural Energy. Then immediately, the slug withdrew—itself—if not, the impact wouldn't merely have overwhelmed his senses; even his body would've been destroyed alongside it.
Haseo lay sprawled upon cool stone. The humid environment and warm breeze couldn't dispel the chill creeping through him. Now he was drenched completely—who could tell whether the sticky mess came from slug slime or his own cold sweat?
"So, how was it?"
After finally catching his breath, and once the spinning sky above returned to normal, Haseo asked the slug.
"The first contact went well. In short, it was successful."
"Successful?"
"Has this already counted as a success?" Haseo mused inwardly.
"You didn't die or lose your mind. That counts as a success."
Haseo: "..."
Come to think of it, maybe that really was the case.
He hadn't accurately anticipated the dangers of contacting natural energy beforehand. Thinking back on it, he could only laugh bitterly—so this was just how things turned out?
"Katsuyu, bring a stretcher, medics should carry me away."
It wasn't because his legs were weak or anything—Haseo simply felt too lazy to walk.
From now on, he would have to reevaluate the difficulty of mastering Sage Art. He might even need to emulate Jiraiya—conservatively speaking, perhaps fifty years of training before considering anything further.
...
A few days later, after partially recovering, Haseo returned from Shikkotsu Forest to Konoha. As soon as he got back to the underground base, he was told that Orochimaru had been waiting for him.
"Haseo, you look worse than usual. Friendly reminder... you'd better stay away from both the Hot Spring Town and Jiraiya," Orochimaru remarked upon seeing him, giving him a careful once-over.
Currently, Haseo looked even paler than Orochimaru himself, and appeared extremely listless, prompting even Orochimaru to show concern for his health.
Though his concern was completely misplaced.
Judging from this statement, although Orochimaru wasn't interested in certain matters, it didn't mean he failed to understand them.
Haseo waved his hand decisively, unwilling to explain anything further. What was there to say? He'd just taken a blast of natural energy from Mother Nature herself!
"What is this...?"
Then, Haseo shifted his gaze toward a small, square-shaped container in Orochimaru's arms. Since its exterior was covered with black cloth, its contents remained hidden.
"Yes, the task you entrusted me with has finally succeeded after many attempts. However, I only agreed to complete up to this point. What happens next is no longer my responsibility."
As he spoke, Orochimaru placed the small container onto Haseo's table and pulled off the black cloth covering it... Oh, turns out this wasn't a box at all—a forty-by-forty centimeter fish tank.
Inside seemed filled with dark, ink-black liquid. What was the point of covering this thing up anyway?
However, when Haseo leaned closer for a better look, he discovered it wasn't ink inside but countless tiny organisms, about the size of thumbs, continuously swimming around—A nightmare for anyone with trypnophobia (fear of clusters of small holes), basically a curse in disguise.
"Does this have anything to do with your mission?"
Inwardly, Haseo couldn't help suspecting whether this guy was joking—he must've scooped several clutches of tadpoles from some pond somewhere!
"These are Samehada clones. They may not look like them yet... but they really are. And if there aren't enough, I can always make more. They have incredible vitality. Therefore, whatever you intend to do next, it would be best to raise them separately because these creatures have already displayed cannibalistic tendencies even at such an early stage."
Orochimaru explained. He wasn't trying to deceive Haseo; juvenile Samehada just happened to resemble tadpoles. What could he do about that?
Haseo took a closer look and realized these creatures were indeed different from tadpoles. Their dark little bodies bore tiny triangular scales, which occasionally stood upright while they swam...
Now Haseo believed Orochimaru's explanation, because these features closely resembled those of Samehada.
With this whole vat of "tadpoles," you could make a feast—no need to increase the numbers for now. In short, Orochimaru did his job well.
"Well then," Haseo straightened up, sighed, and continued, "getting results that fast. But I suppose it makes sense—you are working on something far easier than mine."
Orochimaru: "..."
Is that supposed to be a compliment? That second part sounded completely out of line.
During this time, Orochimaru had been working early mornings and late nights, painstakingly cloning and hatching these little fish like incubating his own snake eggs. So why did Haseo make it sound so simple?
Should I just smash this fish tank and let you try handling it yourself?
Though Orochi kept a cold face, he was still more emotional than his later self used to be.
Actually, what Haseo said wasn't wrong. He was researching Sage Art from Shikkotsu Forest, while Orochimaru worked on cloning fish—though somewhat interdisciplinary, in some sense the former really was more challenging than the latter.
But you really shouldn't say stuff like that to a researcher's face—it can be pretty demoralizing.
Still... saying it probably didn't matter much either. In this world, you have tool-people, so of course there'd be tool-snakes too. And even more oddly, some people could be both tool-people and tool-snakes at the same time.
"Don't get excited, don't get excited. It was just a joke. Haven't you matured enough to recognize jokes yet?"
Haseo hurriedly stopped Orochimaru before he destroyed both himself and the "tadpoles".
Honestly, his jokes were just as unfunny as ever.
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