At this moment, hearing the method Fukasaku Sage described—one completely antithetical to how Naruto had been taught to master Sage Mode in the original story—Hyuga Yu's eyes shifted slightly. He tilted his head up slightly, gazing at the towering forest of toad stone statues that pierced into the clouds.
Every single toad had its eyes closed, appearing perfectly composed. The corners of their mouths curled upward, revealing relaxed smiles.
Judging solely by the expressions of these stone frogs, it was impossible to tell that they were all failures who had tried to practice Sage Jutsu. Nor was there any trace of the struggle and terror before their deaths when the natural energy had corroded them and spiraled out of control. On the contrary, they all gave Hyuga Yu a sense of ease, as if saying, "Ribbit, I have already attained the Dao and become an immortal."
It was as if paying the terrifying price of being corroded by natural energy, losing one's sense of self, turning into a frog, and solidifying into stone was instead a commendable, joyous matter to them.
But was that truly the case?
Hyuga Yu pondered for a moment. Sensing the jarring contradiction inherent in this, he couldn't help but look at Fukasaku Sage in front of him, furrowing his brows as he asked, "Could it be... that these stone frogs actively gave up their sense of self and chose to become this way?"
"Exactly." Fukasaku Sage sighed, his expression turning grave as he spoke, "Among them, there is no shortage of powerful shinobi who surpassed ordinary imagination, even powerhouses of the Shinobi Sect from a thousand years ago. In fact, some individuals possessed amounts of chakra so vast they could rival the Tailed Beasts."
"With their talent, controlling natural energy, synthesizing Senjutsu chakra, and mastering the power of a Sage would not have been difficult. However... they ultimately chose to accept natural energy and abandon chakra."
"To the point that every single one of them ended up looking like this."
Fukasaku paused, looking at Hyuga Yu with a stern expression as he said grimly, "Without a single exception!"
Hearing this, Hyuga Yu was surprised, his eyes instantly narrowing. "Then... what exactly is the deal with the Toad Oil?"
Fukasaku shook his head, turning his gaze toward the stone frog spitting out the Toad Oil, then looked past it toward the massive waterfall further behind—as if behind that giant waterfall, there lay something even more massive and terrifying...
"In the beginning, there was no such thing as Toad Oil. Toad Oil is a bizarre substance born and produced from within the body of a 'Sage' who had transformed into a stone frog."
"Because it is essentially a massive amount of natural energy compressed into a liquid form, whenever it comes into contact with a person's body, it allows them to clearly perceive the concrete form of natural energy."
Following the direction Fukasaku pointed, Hyuga Yu looked toward that waterfall, then cast his gaze past it to the mountain behind. He suddenly realized that the silhouette of the mountain closely resembled a giant, sitting toad. His heart shuddered slightly. He instantly activated his Tenseigan Embryo form. The veins around his eyes bulged as his vision instantly expanded 70 kilometers away, sweeping past vegetation and piercing through mountain rocks. Then, Hyuga Yu saw...
A living mountain!
The primary structure supporting the high mountain at the source of the Toad Oil waterfall was actually a giant stone frog as colossal as a mountain range. From this perspective, that giant stone frog... was just like the snake corpse Orochimaru had stolen back from the Ryūchi Cave. It was undergoing a type of "breathing." The entire atmosphere of Mount Myōboku was affected by it, presenting a distorted form that split into dozens of currents, forming a massive vortex that flowed into its body from different directions in a highly rhythmic pattern of inhalation and exhalation. Ultimately, from the belly of the stone frog—the roof of a giant cavern covered in dense stalactites—large sheets of Toad Oil dripped down like rainfall, flowing down the mountain body to this location and turning into the massive waterfall.
Furthermore, during this process, Hyuga Yu discovered to his surprise—
In the sky above the entirety of Mount Myōboku, there was not only the distorted airway affected by that stone frog, but also another even more massive, far more widespread wave of distortion that continuously inhaled and exhaled some invisible substance in the air, appearing further to the north of Mount Myōboku.
Hyuga Yu couldn't help but turn his head to look toward the north of Mount Myōboku with his naked eyes. However, he only saw a lush, green mountain forest; there was no mountain-sized giant stone frog like the one over here. Yet, a chill rose in Hyuga Yu's heart, as if... over there, existed a powerful opponent capable of threatening him!
With Hyuga Yu's current status, this premonition was by no means groundless. If the giant stone frog over here—a living corpse that had fused with nature—did not give Hyuga Yu any pressure, then the powerhouse existing on the other side of Mount Myōboku truly possessed the ability to pose a certain threat to him.
Of course, this perception was mutual. Just like how only Stand users could see Stand users, once Hyuga Yu activated his Tenseigan Embryo form to observe the other party's presence, the other party should similarly be able to sense the threat coming from Hyuga Yu.
Hyuga Yu couldn't help but ask, "Over there is...?"
Seeing this, Fukasaku Sage felt an even deeper sense of dread toward Hyuga Yu's strength. He had never exposed the existence of the Great Toad Sage before, yet at this moment, Hyuga Yu had proactively sensed the Great Toad Sage on the other side. In other words, did Hyuga Yu really possess terrifying power on the same level as the Great Toad Sage?
However, the Great Toad Sage had trained for thousands of years to achieve his current strength, while this Tennin [1] appeared to be only 14 years old, right?
This... this was simply too absurd!
The gaze Fukasaku Sage directed at Hyuga Yu became even more cautious, and his speaking manner grew increasingly gentle. "Over there is the dojo of the ancestor of Mount Myōboku, the Great Toad Sage. Young Hyuga~ The Great Toad Sage spends most of his time in a deep slumber. Without a summons, let us not disturb the elderly master."
Hyuga Yu nodded, but he silently made a mental note of this matter.
Fukasaku Sage immediately spoke up to pull the topic back, saying seriously, "Let's return to the main point."
"After the birth of the Toad Oil, Mount Myōboku gradually mastered this 'cultivation method' that allows people to master Sage Mode."
"But the premise of all this is—it is based on the power of the stone frog ancestor who founded the Toad Sage Jutsu."
"In other words, the Toad Sage Jutsu we practice now is the Sage Jutsu of this ancestor... The natural energy we can perceive is merely the portion of natural energy that the ancestor could perceive."
"Just like how frogs can only see moving things, and snakes have sharper vision in dark environments, different Sage Jutsus have differences in the scope of natural energy they can see and absorb. Consequently, the final Sage Jutsu utilized will possess distinct differences because of this."
Hearing this novel theory, Hyuga Yu pondered it briefly and quickly understood the meaning behind Fukasaku's words.
Judging solely by the performance of the Sage Jutsus from the two great holy lands that appeared in the original story, there were indeed significant differences. Mount Myōboku's Sage Jutsu leaned more toward buffing the practitioner and enhancing ninjutsu—including Sage Art: Amphibian Jutsu, Goemon, Fighting Tongue Slash, and Toad Confrontation Chant, which were all enhancements based on abilities they already possessed.
On the other hand, the Sage Jutsu of Ryūchi Cave leaned more toward manipulating nature and influencing the environment—such as Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation, and the Sage Art: White Rage Jutsu which relied on the advantages of a serpent's body to target enemies while sparing oneself.
At the same time, Hyuga Yu also roughly understood what Fukasaku Sage wanted to express. "What you mean to say is, if one uses the 'Toad Oil,' the final Sage Jutsu cultivated will be confined solely to the scope of Toad Sage Jutsu, making it impossible to take another step forward?"
Saying this, Hyuga Yu turned his head to look at the pile of 'Sages' who had turned into stone frogs behind him, his brows furrowing slightly as a vague realization dawned upon him. "And these stone frogs..."
Fukasaku Sage sighed, raising the black stick in his hand as he explained, "There are many types of natural energy, and the 'Fighting Tongue Sage Board' can only drive away the natural energy absorbed through the Toad Sage Jutsu."
"However... Sage Jutsu possesses infinite possibilities."
"These people were all top powerhouses who led their respective eras. How could they possibly be satisfied with just 'Toad Sage Jutsu'?"
"And when they intentionally or unintentionally came into contact with natural energy outside of the Toad Sage Jutsu, absorbing it into their bodies but proving unable to control it, even I am completely powerless to help."
Fukasaku Sage shook his head, sighing with a bit of melancholy. "When it comes to Sage Jutsu, the most dangerous part is this very first step—the process of perceiving natural energy."
"But compared to the process of perceiving natural energy, what is even more dangerous..."
"Is the greed in the human heart!"
"Practicing the Toad Sage Jutsu means being forever trapped within the framework of the Toad Sage Jutsu. If one wishes to master natural energy outside of the Toad Sage Jutsu, the theories and abilities mastered from practicing the Toad Sage Jutsu will all be rendered useless, and everything must start anew from the beginning."
"No matter how much of a genius a person is, just how far can their genius take them?"
"You can succeed once, twice, three times, or even dozens or hundreds of times. But if you fail even just once, you will completely plummet into the abyss, never to climb out again."
"Just like this Mount Myōboku stone frog ancestor you see who passed away in meditation. He spent his entire life trying to leap out of the bounds of the Toad Sage Jutsu, attempting to create the most perfect Sage Jutsu, but in the end... didn't he still turn into this appearance?"
Fukasaku stared at Hyuga Yu's gem-like eyes that emitted a greenish-white glow, saying solemnly, "And this is precisely the most perilous aspect of Sage Jutsu!"
"Young Hyuga, you are strong—strong beyond the absolute limits of this old man's imagination... When it comes to the Toad Sage Jutsu, whether it is an imperfect Sage Mode like young Jiraiya's or a near-perfect Sage Mode like young Minato's... I believe the help it can provide you is very limited."
"Sooner or later, you will leap out of the shackles of the Toad Sage Jutsu to walk toward a broader world, coming into contact with more and more powerful natural energies to cultivate an even mightier Sage power!"
"Rather than waiting until then—where having practiced the Toad Sage Jutsu means you have to negate it every time you encounter a new type of natural energy to break free from the initial framework—it is better to cultivate a true Sage Mode unique to you right from the very start!"
Fukasaku spoke with a completely solemn expression, "That is why I said, do not use the 'Toad Oil'!"
"Although using the Toad Oil can help you quickly perceive natural energy in the beginning, this initially perceived natural energy might not necessarily be the one most suited for you."
Hearing up to this point, Hyuga Yu understood Fukasaku's meaning, and he roughly grasped the operational mechanism of Sage Jutsu—the initial foundation was the most critical part.
If the natural energy one perceived wasn't the most suitable for oneself, yet they forced out a Sage Mode using it as a base, then the additional natural energies perceived later on as their perception abilities grew would be difficult to integrate into their existing system.
To put it simply, this was just like playing a role-playing game. The class you initially selected was a Warrior, and after laying the foundation, you advanced to the first tier. However, during the second tier advancement, you wanted to play the Mage's advanced class, the "Grand Magus." But since you didn't have the foundational skills of a Mage, you couldn't advance and had no choice but to go back and relearn everything. By the time the third tier advancement arrived, you wanted to play an "Elemental Bomber," which required even higher foundational Mage abilities. Since your core foundation was still from the Warrior tree, you would have to relearn everything once again.
Every subsequent upgrade, awakening... every future enhancement required a stronger foundation. Consequently, you would have to constantly revise your initial skill tree each time, and the already scarce skill points (SP) would become increasingly strained as this process dragged on.
And if you happened to misallocate a skill point even once—adding a point meant for an elemental orb into a Warrior's heavy slash instead—well, you'd be completely done for. You would fail to perform the next stage of class advancement or awakening just because you were short a single SP.
The entire class progression system would collapse.
At the same time, Hyuga Yu also understood why Fukasaku Sage's explanation to Naruto Uzumaki would be so entirely different from his explanation to himself right now.
It was very simple: the circumstances they faced were different. At that time, Naruto Uzumaki was facing mortal threats from the Akatsuki organization and the Six Paths of Pain, and Jiraiya had just died. Whether it was for the Hidden Leaf or Mount Myōboku, and whether it was for self-preservation or revenge, standing from everyone's perspective at the time, Naruto Uzumaki needed to master a more powerful strength in the shortest time possible.
It didn't matter if that power had flaws, nor did it matter if that power was suitable for Naruto Uzumaki. Perhaps Jiraiya had considered things more comprehensively, and it was precisely because he had vaguely groped around and realized this point that he had not been in a hurry to pass down Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode to Naruto.
Moreover, the result was quite obvious. Naruto's so-called "perfect" Sage Mode looked like an absolute joke when compared to the Sage Mode utilized by Hashirama Senju when he later appeared.
It had a usage limit of only five minutes, required shadow clones to remain at Mount Myōboku to absorb natural energy, took far too long to accumulate natural energy, and the tier of power it displayed failed to reach Hashirama Senju's extraordinary standard.
Compared to Hashirama Senju's terrifying Sage Mode—where he could get whatever he wanted with a simple clap of his hands and summon a gargantuan wooden Buddha out of thin air with a loud roar—this kind of Sage Mode from Mount Myōboku was truly a bit lacking...
In fact, due to the Nine-Tails' lack of cooperation, the most core technique of Mount Myōboku's Sage Jutsu, the Sage Art: Amphibian Jutsu, directly became an ornament. It appeared even a bit useless compared to Kabuto Yakushi's semi-finished Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode.
At least Kabuto Yakushi's version lasted quite a long time.
It was precisely because Hyuga Yu had taken into account the various flaws of Mount Myōboku's Sage Jutsu that he had sought out Orochimaru in advance to obtain the Cursed Seal of Heaven technology from him, attempting to make up for the defects of Mount Myōboku's Sage Jutsu.
However, looking at it now...
It seemed he could obtain an even more flawless method of practicing Sage Mode from Mount Myōboku?
Thinking up to this point, "I understand, Fukasaku Sage." Hyuga Yu immediately looked toward Fukasaku and nodded, indicating that he comprehended his words.
Fukasaku instantly let out a sigh of relief. By speaking so much, his primary objective was to give Hyuga Yu a warning in advance and establish a disclaimer.
Naturally, he didn't believe that Hyuga Yu could independently cultivate a Sage Jutsu stronger than Mount Myōboku's Sage Jutsu.
However, the fact that Mount Myōboku's Sage Jutsu was rather useless to Hyuga Yu was also a reality. If Hyuga Yu finished his training and felt the product didn't match the description, it wouldn't be too severe. At the very least, with the Great Toad Sage around, even someone as strong as Hyuga Yu would have to show Mount Myōboku some respect.
The most crucial thing was that he feared Hyuga Yu might feel it wasn't potent enough midway through his training and recklessly expose himself to other natural energies, leading to an out-of-control state that even he wouldn't be able to salvage. If that happened, Mount Myōboku might end up with a stone statue even more massive and terrifying than the mountain-sized giant stone frog. That would be a catastrophic blow to Mount Myōboku's ecosystem...
As a holy land, the rich natural energy here was already barely reaching its limit just by sustaining the two top powerhouses, the Stone Frog Sage and the Great Toad Sage.
If another Tennin stone statue stronger than the Stone Frog Sage appeared, Fukasaku Sage couldn't begin to imagine that scenario...
"Of course, how you choose is entirely up to you. This old man is merely offering advice."
At this moment, Fukasaku Sage looked toward Hyuga Yu, already prepared to use the Toad Oil to assist Hyuga Yu in his training. He spoke with a bit of solemnity, "If you insist on practicing the Toad Sage Jutsu, this old man will naturally not withhold his help!"
Hyuga Yu nodded and spoke directly, "In that case, we won't be using the Toad Oil. Fukasaku Sage, I will trouble you for your guidance—without using the Toad Oil, how should I go about perceiving the natural energy that suits me?"
Fukasaku had just been about to tell Hyuga Yu to stretch out a finger to touch the Toad Oil, so he instinctively answered, "The next stage after the Toad Oil is..."
However, he very quickly realized something was wrong. He abruptly snapped his head up, looking at Hyuga Yu in bewilderment. "What did you say?"
"I won't be using the Toad Oil."
"Then how could it be possible to complete Sage Mode within a short period of time?"
"Why is it impossible?" Hyuga Yu arched an eyebrow, his gaze narrowing slightly as he looked at Fukasaku, his tone growing a fraction heavier. "I already understand the principles you explained. As far as I am concerned, there are no technical issues. Could it be... Fukasaku Sage, that you do not wish to teach me?"
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Fukasaku's forehead. He hurriedly said, "No, it's not that. What this old man means is, how am I supposed to... no, you... shouldn't you reconsider?"
Hyuga Yu shook his head, then pulled out a scroll from his leg wraps and unfurled it. In the center of the scroll, the character for "Vessel" was prominently displayed.
He looked at Fukasaku Sage, his expression calm as he spoke softly, "Let's begin."
"This cultivation... of what you called the 'True Sage Mode'!"
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