Chapter 691: A Senjutsu Genius Rarely Seen in Eight Hundred Years
"Go to Mount Myōboku? Mugetsu, are you planning to learn Sage Mode?" Minato asked.
Minato knew that Mugetsu wanted to learn Sage Mode. Mugetsu had previously sought out Jiraiya to learn more about it.
"Yes. I'll trouble you, Minato," Mugetsu replied with a nod.
He definitely had to learn Sage Mode.
Aside from obtaining rewards from the system, this was one of the few remaining methods available to further strengthen himself.
Mugetsu did not merely want to learn Sage Mode. He wanted to understand the Sage Modes of all three Great Holy Lands.
Ideally, he would absorb the strengths of each and develop an entirely new Sage Mode of his own.
After all, the Sage Modes of the three Great Holy Lands had originated from ninja beasts. They might not necessarily be the most suitable forms for humans.
Even if his development ultimately failed, it would not be a major problem. Learning any Sage Mode would still be a worthwhile gain.
"It's no trouble, but Mugetsu, since you wanted to learn Senjutsu, why didn't you sign a contract with Mount Myōboku earlier?" Minato asked, somewhat puzzled.
Ordinary people who wanted to sign a contract with Mount Myōboku first had to locate it, then undergo training and trials before becoming eligible.
However, people like Minato, who had already gained Mount Myōboku's recognition, were different. They could directly allow another person to sign Mount Myōboku's blood contract.
Given Fukasaku and Shima's attitude toward Mugetsu, Minato believed Mugetsu could probably have signed the contract long ago and been taken directly to Mount Myōboku to begin learning Sage Mode.
"There were various reasons, but it's fine now," Mugetsu replied after a moment of thought.
The Great Toad Sage was far too mysterious.
More importantly, he possessed the unique ability of prophecy, something almost unheard of throughout the entire Ninja World.
Because of this, Mugetsu had never wanted to come into contact with the Great Toad Sage before gaining sufficient strength to protect himself.
Now, however, he already possessed that ability.
So it no longer mattered.
What if the Great Toad Sage could see the future?
His Celebi could travel through time.
"I see. Then you should sign Mount Myōboku's summoning contract first. It'll make traveling there and back much more convenient," Minato said.
He did not ask for further details and instead prepared to retrieve the contract scroll.
Apart from summoning contracted creatures, the Summoning Technique had other useful applications.
For example, through Reverse Summoning, if the necessary conditions were met, a ninja could be transported directly to the location of their contracted summon.
Mount Myōboku was extremely far from Konoha and hidden somewhere within the Ninja World.
If Mugetsu traveled there on foot, simply making the round trip between Konoha and Mount Myōboku would waste a huge amount of time.
That made Reverse Summoning extremely important.
When Mugetsu wanted to visit Mount Myōboku, he could use Reverse Summoning to travel there.
When he wanted to return, he only needed to notify Minato. Minato could then summon a Mount Myōboku toad, which could use the Summoning Technique to bring Mugetsu directly back.
Minato quickly retrieved the summoning scroll and unrolled it before Mugetsu.
Mugetsu thanked him, then lightly cut the tip of his right index finger with his left hand, drawing blood.
He quickly wrote his name onto the contract scroll and formed a hand seal.
"Summoning Technique!"
Mugetsu immediately gathered a large amount of chakra and performed his first summoning connected to Mount Myōboku.
Boom!
White smoke erupted.
When it dispersed, a small green elderly toad with thick, long white eyebrows appeared before them, lying on the floor.
"Oh, it's Little Minato and Little Mugetsu."
Fukasaku performed a quick kip up and stood.
"Little Minato, why did you suddenly summon me?"
He had been sunbathing peacefully on Mount Myōboku when he was suddenly summoned away.
"It wasn't me who summoned you. It was Mugetsu," Minato explained.
"Little Mugetsu signed a contract with us!"
Fukasaku immediately revealed a pleasantly surprised smile.
"As expected of Little Mugetsu. You summoned me on your very first attempt. You should visit Mount Myōboku often from now on. My wife has always wanted to learn Cooking from you."
Fukasaku had always hoped Mugetsu would visit Mount Myōboku.
If Mugetsu could create such delicious food from human ingredients that toads normally disliked, what kind of dishes could he make using ingredients that toads actually enjoyed?
The thought alone made Fukasaku excited.
"Teaching Cooking is no problem. I also want to visit Mount Myōboku to learn Senjutsu, so we can exchange knowledge when the time comes," Mugetsu replied with a warm smile.
Although Cooking was merely a life skill, its practical value sometimes surpassed that of ordinary perfect level abilities.
It was simply too useful for building good relationships.
"You want to learn Senjutsu? That's fine. I happen to be quite free lately. When are you planning to begin, Little Mugetsu?" Fukasaku asked directly.
"I can go immediately."
Ever since coming to the Ninja World, Mugetsu had become very proactive.
"Then let me know once you're ready to leave. I'll make the necessary preparations on Mount Myōboku," Fukasaku said cheerfully.
Then he turned toward Minato.
"Little Minato, do you want to come along? You can start learning Senjutsu now too."
"I'll pass for now. We can talk about it after Mugetsu finishes," Minato replied, shaking his head.
Mugetsu learning Senjutsu would inevitably consume some of his time and attention.
That was precisely when Minato, as Hokage Assistant, needed to fulfill his role.
If he also left to study Senjutsu, who would help develop Konoha?
"I see. Then goodbye for now."
Fukasaku nodded, released the Summoning Technique, and returned to Mount Myōboku.
Learning Senjutsu was neither simple nor easy.
Mount Myōboku would not force anyone to learn it. At most, they would recommend it to contractors they particularly favored.
After finishing his remaining affairs, Mugetsu packed a few things, summoned Fukasaku again, and traveled with him to Mount Myōboku.
The sensation of traveling through space via the Summoning Technique felt almost identical to the Flying Thunder God Technique.
As a result, Mugetsu reacted immediately upon arriving and began surveying his surroundings.
The first thing that entered his vision was a vast expanse of enormous, unfamiliar plants.
Mugetsu did not recognize them.
He had never seen anything similar in his previous life or anywhere in the Land of Fire.
He guessed that they might be unique plants native to Mount Myōboku.
Although Mugetsu was not particularly knowledgeable about botany, he felt that if such enormous and distinctive plants existed elsewhere, he would probably have at least some impression of them.
Besides the giant plants, countless brightly colored mushrooms covered the ground throughout Mount Myōboku.
They looked beautiful.
Whether they were edible for humans was another matter entirely.
"Let's go see my wife first. She's been looking forward to meeting you, Little Mugetsu."
With that, Fukasaku led Mugetsu toward his home.
"Oh, Little Mugetsu came to visit! Welcome, welcome!"
Shima had already prepared ingredients and greeted Mugetsu with a delighted expression when she saw him.
"It's almost time to eat. Later, Little Mugetsu, you can tell me whether my Cooking has improved."
"It's better to train after eating your fill, Little Mugetsu. Let's wait until my wife finishes preparing lunch," Fukasaku agreed with a nod.
Although he was somewhat eager to taste Mugetsu's Cooking again, Mugetsu was a guest.
They could not possibly make a guest cook his own meal immediately after arriving.
That was not how they treated visitors.
"I'll cook instead. I've never used these ingredients before, so I'm interested in trying them," Mugetsu said with a slight smile, taking the initiative.
Mugetsu was wary of the Great Toad Sage's mysterious abilities, but that did not mean he would ignore Fukasaku and Shima's sincere goodwill toward him.
Besides, it was beneficial for Mugetsu as well.
Eating bug based dishes prepared with his own Cooking skill was far preferable to eating Shima's version.
"How can we let you do that? Little Mugetsu, you only just arrived at Mount Myōboku," Shima protested, feeling that it was inappropriate.
However, after Mugetsu insisted repeatedly, Shima reluctantly agreed.
"Something this delicious actually exists in the Ninja World!"
After taking just a small bite of Mugetsu's insect dish, Fukasaku was completely shocked.
In more than eight hundred years of life, he had never eaten insects this delicious.
"Even the Great Toad Sage probably hasn't tasted anything like this."
Fukasaku briefly thought of the Great Toad Sage.
However, he quickly noticed that Shima had already entered a frenzy, rapidly devouring the food.
Fukasaku immediately threw thoughts of the Great Toad Sage out of his mind and began eating just as voraciously.
In any case, Mugetsu was not only visiting once.
Besides, the Great Toad Sage might not even be awake right now.
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, it was finally time to begin serious training.
Fukasaku led Mugetsu to an area filled with enormous stone toad statues.
Before beginning, he carefully explained the principles of Sage Mode and the dangers involved.
Although Mugetsu already knew a great deal from the Naruto story in his previous life, reality contained far more detail than the manga and anime.
So Mugetsu listened very carefully.
The essence of chakra was the balanced combination of two forms of energy: spiritual energy and physical energy.
Senjutsu chakra added a third component to that process.
Natural energy.
To successfully create Senjutsu chakra, spiritual energy, physical energy, and natural energy had to be maintained in a precise one to one to one ratio.
Therefore, the first step in learning Sage Mode was sensing natural energy.
If a person could not even perceive natural energy, then absorbing it into the body and controlling it was naturally impossible.
This was also one of the reasons Senjutsu training was generally performed within a Holy Land.
Mugetsu did not know the exact conditions in Ryūchi Cave or Shikkotsu Forest, but Mount Myōboku possessed special toad oil that could help practitioners gather natural energy.
With the assistance of this oil, a practitioner could effectively skip the difficult first step of trying to sense natural energy from nothing.
The oil automatically attracted natural energy into the user's body.
Once the practitioner felt natural energy directly within themselves, they could learn to control it.
From there, they could reverse the process and gradually master how to perceive and absorb it naturally, significantly accelerating the development of Sage Mode.
"Do you want to use the oil? It will make things much faster, but the risk is also greater," Fukasaku asked.
Ordinarily, Fukasaku would not recommend toad oil to everyone learning Senjutsu.
Training with the oil required him to remain constantly vigilant.
If the practitioner absorbed too much natural energy, Fukasaku had to immediately use a special staff to knock the excess natural energy out of their body.
Otherwise, the consequences could be extremely dangerous.
Fukasaku received nothing in return when other ninja learned Senjutsu.
Naturally, he had no reason to volunteer for such a troublesome task every time.
Mugetsu was different.
Fukasaku had just eaten Mugetsu's Cooking and very much wanted to eat it again in the future.
Naturally, he could not treat Mugetsu like an ordinary practitioner.
"Not yet. I want to try sensing natural energy by myself first," Mugetsu replied.
Using the toad oil would essentially place his safety in Fukasaku's hands.
Mugetsu disliked that feeling.
Besides, he was not in a desperate situation like Naruto had been when preparing to fight Pain.
There was no need for him to rush.
More importantly, Mugetsu did not simply want to master Sage Mode.
His ultimate goal was to create a new Sage Mode.
Fully understanding and mastering Mount Myōboku's system from the ground up was therefore the proper approach.
"The first and most important principle is stillness," Fukasaku explained.
"This doesn't only mean keeping your body still. You must enter a state where you become one with nature, merging yourself into it.
"Feel the earth beneath you. Feel the sky above you. Feel the natural energy flowing throughout the world…"
Fukasaku continued explaining the key principles behind sensing natural energy.
After nearly two hours of detailed instruction, he finally allowed Mugetsu to try sensing, absorbing, and controlling natural energy on his own.
"Although this is only the first step, it is also the most important one. It normally takes a long time, so don't rush, Little Mugetsu," Fukasaku reassured him in advance.
The next moment, Fukasaku froze.
Within his perception, natural energy was already slowly gathering around Mugetsu before being absorbed into his body.
Fukasaku's eyes widened as he stared at Mugetsu in disbelief.
He sensed and absorbed natural energy on his very first attempt?
What kind of Senjutsu genius was this?
Someone seen only once in eight hundred years?
Mugetsu himself was also somewhat surprised.
He had not expected himself to possess such unexpected talent for Sage Mode.
Ten seconds later, Mugetsu suddenly frowned.
He voluntarily stopped using Mount Myōboku's guiding method, ceased absorbing natural energy, and dispersed the natural energy already gathered inside his body.
For some unknown reason, the natural energy within him had begun repelling itself.
Not only did it interfere with his attempt to synthesize Senjutsu chakra, but it had also begun disrupting his own chakra.
However, the moment Mugetsu stopped, surprise appeared on his face.
Small amounts of natural energy were still continuously entering his body.
But he was no longer using Mount Myōboku's secret technique to absorb it.
Mugetsu immediately entered the Transparent World state and quickly identified the cause.
It was his Breathing Technique.
His continuously operating Thunder Breathing was absorbing natural energy into his body through a method completely different from Mount Myōboku's secret technique.
"Could Breathing Techniques have always possessed this effect, but I simply couldn't sense natural energy before and never knew the method for drawing it into my body?"
Mugetsu's thoughts raced.
If Breathing Techniques themselves had the ability to absorb natural energy, then developing a new Sage Mode might be much easier than he had imagined.
To test the idea, Mugetsu stopped his Breathing Technique, exited the Transparent World state, and used only Mount Myōboku's secret method to absorb natural energy.
The difference was immediate.
Not only did the passive absorption of natural energy stop, but his ability to perceive natural energy also declined dramatically.
Before, Mugetsu had sensed natural energy with something resembling 2K clarity.
The moment he left Transparent World, it dropped instantly to something closer to 480p.
Although the clarity decreased drastically, he could still perceive, absorb, and control natural energy.
This time, Mugetsu encountered no difficulties.
He smoothly absorbed the natural energy and successfully condensed Senjutsu chakra.
"You're truly amazing, Little Mugetsu!" Fukasaku could not help exclaiming.
Successfully condensing Senjutsu chakra on the very first day.
Fukasaku had taught Senjutsu to many people throughout his long life, but this was the first time he had ever encountered such a situation.
And Mugetsu had accomplished it without even using toad oil.
At this rate, Mugetsu might genuinely master Sage Mode within only three days.
"Little Mugetsu, did you encounter some kind of problem earlier?" Fukasaku asked.
"You suddenly stopped midway through your first attempt before starting again."
Natural energy was an external form of energy, fundamentally different from the spiritual and physical energies produced within the human body.
The greater the reward, the greater the risk.
Any abnormality encountered during Sage Mode training had to be treated with absolute caution.
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