Chapter 588: Covert Operations
Katsuyu the Slug Sage suddenly felt like it had become a straight man in a comedy duo. Fortunately, it had a good impression of Haruno Sakura and didn't mind this.
Unlike the Great Toad Sage and the White Snake Sage, who were accompanied by a large group of disciples and descendants, Katsuyu the Slug Sage was a solitary "insect" in the Shikkotsu Forest. Isolated from the human world most of the time, it also felt quite lonely and bored sometimes. [Note]
Since Hashirama Senju, Haruno Sakura was the only one who could live in the Shikkotsu Forest for a long period. Having waited many years for someone to talk to, it was truly a rare opportunity. As for what they talked about, that was instead not the main point.
"You said there are other choices, referring to—?" Katsuyu the Slug Sage asked.
"Of course, it refers to what I just said. Aside from the orthodox Ninshu training route, there are five other paths to break through to the 'Six Paths' level."
Haruno Sakura raised her right hand.
"The first path, the taijutsu route." She bent her thumb. "Can one reach the power level of the Six Paths relying purely on the physical body? It's possible! By relying on the Eight Inner Gates and opening all eight gates, a genin can explosively unleash Kage-level power for a short time. Therefore, an elite jonin who purely trains in taijutsu very likely could also explosively unleash power approaching that of the Sage of the Six Paths!"
She thought of this path using a certain man with a bowl-cut hairstyle who had worn it for years as a reference. Although that guy had an honest and simple personality, and was somewhat absent-minded, once he fought desperately, no one knew how strong he could become after opening the Eight Gates!
"But you wouldn't choose this path, right?"
"My talent in taijutsu is just average." Haruno Sakura readily nodded in admission.
It wasn't just an issue of lacking talent.
Burning one's life to gain power was ultimately an unsustainable, unorthodox path.
On the other hand, the human body has limits after all. The upper limit of pure taijutsu combat power is not high. Chakra is also not some gentle energy adept at nourishing the body, capable of limitlessly strengthening the physical form.
Even using Nintaijutsu and training one's muscles to the extreme, the most one could achieve would be the level of the Third Raikage. It was very strong, but not the strongest—and moreover, wouldn't it be an eyesore to see a delicate, beautiful young girl train herself into a body bulging with knotted muscles...
"The second is to transform into a creature like you, the Great Toad Sage, or the White Snake Sage." She bent her index finger.
Simply put, to stop being human.
It wasn't completely unfeasible—Orochimaru had the secret technique of reincarnation at his disposal. As long as one found a suitable target creature to possess, and after taking over its body, dug a hole to hide and train for hundreds or thousands of years, slowly absorbing natural energy to grow, there was indeed a chance to touch the level of the Six Paths.
However, while this path was easy to talk about, the reality was full of flaws. There was only a theoretical possibility. Katsuyu the Slug Sage knew clearly in its heart how many countless hardships it had endured to grow to its current state, so it smiled without speaking.
"The third is to switch fields and study science," Haruno Sakura bent her middle finger. "Abandon the chakra system, gather the power of the entire human society to research science. After a few hundred or thousand years, the level of civilization will greatly increase. Perhaps in the future, ordinary people will be able to play with nuclear bombs like toys."
This was the route taken by the world of her previous life.
Katsuyu the Slug Sage shook its head and smiled: "They all sound quite unreliable."
In fact, these routes also had examples of success, or at least were in the process of being proven. The representative of taijutsu was Guy, who almost kicked out a series finale after opening the Eight Gates; on the side of heterogeneous creatures, there were also the examples of the Slug, Toad, and White Snake Sages as role models; and the scientific route was currently being practiced by the world of Sakura's previous life.
Limited by its knowledge, Katsuyu the Slug Sage was not aware of this, but it knew Haruno Sakura clearly did not choose these few paths.
"Then what is your choice?"
"Me..."
The path Haruno Sakura chose was the fourth and fifth routes outside of these three, which could perhaps be called the improved ninjutsu and improved chakra routes.
"If traditional ninjutsu is creating a strong wind to attack the enemy, then my approach is to create a strong wind to blow a boulder off the top of a mountain, letting the boulder crush the enemy to death. It is not the power of ninjutsu directly acting upon the enemy, but rather using ninjutsu to change, propel, or even create a certain phenomenon, letting that phenomenon attack the enemy."
Her Water Cutter jutsu was the best example.
A suitable "boulder," such as a high-pressure water cutter, such as inaudible infrasonic waves, or even purified nuclear material, could often unleash power beyond the chakra system.
Such jutsu were not only powerful but also often difficult to defend against because they were too bizarre.
"This is my core ninjutsu system." The girl concluded.
Katsuyu the Slug Sage barely understood.
It had heard Haruno Sakura describe the power of that jutsu.
—That terrifying explosion could destroy anything in the ninja world. Just facing it for an instant, a massive radiant energy had eroded into her body.
Although it didn't know how Haruno Sakura did it, Katsuyu the Slug Sage felt that even if the Sage of the Six Paths were alive, he probably couldn't perform a secret technique of such power. From this perspective, the route Haruno Sakura took indeed surpassed the Sage of the Six Paths.
But Haruno Sakura was not content with relying on this completely uncontrollable power, so she opened up a newer path—
The advanced version of Sage Mode.
Haruno Sakura had browsed through the secret archives of Konoha.
In the Second Hokage's notes, she saw such a viewpoint: The power of the Sage of the Six Paths was divided into three parts: Ninshu, Sage Mode, and the Sage's Eyes. Conversely, this meant that if someone could walk the path of Ninshu to its utmost limit, train Sage Mode to perfection, and obtain the Sage's Eyes, then their power would be almost equal to the Sage of the Six Paths.
Haruno Sakura believed she could walk the path of Ninshu, but it was too long, and it couldn't surpass the Six Paths, so she chose to find a new path—
To utilize two energies far more powerful and far more tyrannical than natural energy.
Atomic fission energy and fusion energy.
Among them, fission energy was too tyrannical and too corrosive, but fusion energy didn't have these flaws; moreover, it was stronger and more active.
Haruno Sakura hoped to integrate these more powerful energies into the chakra system, just like natural energy, to invent something even higher than Sage Mode—
Yang God Mode!
And now, taking the massive radiant energy within her body as an opportunity, and leveraging the chance of having Sakura Uchiha covering her work, the training plan that had always remained a concept was finally about to begin.
"Ho ho." Katsuyu the Slug Sage raised its antennae and smiled, "What an ambitious plan! So your next training plan is to tame that energy lying dormant in your body, right? Theoretically, as long as you successfully fuse it, you will obtain a chakra far more powerful than Senjutsu chakra."
"That's right." Haruno Sakura nodded.
The theory was such, but no one truly knew how to achieve this effect. All the answers had to be explored by Haruno Sakura herself.
While she smoothed her restlessly fluttering hair behind her ear—the newly grown beautiful hair was exceptionally soft and docile—she said distressingly: "But exactly how to do it is still a difficult problem. No one has ever attempted such a thing; I must forge a completely new path. Fortunately, I can use Sage Mode and the Mysterious Peacock Method as references: the former tells me how to fuse external massive energy, while the Mysterious Peacock Method demonstrates how to absorb radiant energy."
"So by successfully combining the two, you can complete this training?" Katsuyu the Slug Sage guessed optimistically.
The girl smiled bitterly: "If only it were that smooth."
In her heart, she was thinking that Sage Mode, which had a complete training method, was already so difficult. Let alone handling the even more tyrannical and powerful radiant energy?
"In short, I will have to bother you for another period of time next." She bowed slightly.
"Before truly entering secluded training," she shook her head and added, "I have to return to Konoha first to handle some matters and replenish my supplies along the way."
"Go on."
Katsuyu the Slug Sage waved its antennae and reverse-summoned the girl back to Konoha.
...
At the same time, in the ocean on the west side of the Land of Water.
The storm had long passed, and the sea was calm and tranquil.
A single reef stood out alone on the sea surface. The reef was extremely low and extremely small, only revealing itself above the water at low tide, so small it could only accommodate a few dozen people standing.
Within a hundred-mile radius, it was the only foothold.
Crash—
The seawater beat against the reef without resting, and the waves danced happily.
Amidst the crashing sound of the water, a man's voice suddenly rang out—
"Is this the place, Zetsu?"