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In fact, although Kurama disliked the Great Sage Toad, it also recognized its power.
If it had been the Great Sage Toad of Mount Myōboku who personally offered to sign a contract with Naruto, Kurama certainly wouldn't have objected.
However, Naruto's refusal of the Sage's contract invitation was not because of Kurama.
Nevertheless, upon hearing Kurama's words, Naruto also realized that it seemed to have misunderstood something. He didn't intend to explain but instead responded with a smile,
"Having Kurama is enough for me!"
After speaking, he looked at the Sage again and said,
"I already have very important partners, so I won't sign contracts with any other summoned beasts."
"Naruto, you—"
Kurama, hearing Naruto's words, was incredibly moved and then secretly decided in its heart that it must help Naruto gather all the other Tailed Beasts into his possession!
Not just their Chakra, but their bodies too!
"Hehe!~"
Naruto felt Kurama's emotional fluctuations and knew that he had delivered the emotional value perfectly this time.
Tsunade, standing nearby, heard Naruto's words and her expression became complicated, as if she wanted to speak but held back. Finally, she sighed slightly, said nothing, and just looked at the Sage with some nervousness.
Generally speaking, the Sage Art of the Three Great Sage Regions can only be learned by Ninja who have signed a contract with them.
Although the Sage had agreed to teach Naruto Sage Art, Naruto was not a contractor of Shikkotsu Forest, and he had directly refused the Sage's contract invitation in person. Tsunade was truly afraid that the Sage would refuse to teach Naruto Sage Art because of this.
"Is that so? What a pity."
The Sage, being refused, showed no emotional fluctuation and continued,
"Little Tsunade brought you here hoping I would personally teach you Sage Art. Are you ready?"
Tsunade, hearing the Sage's words, immediately breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she had overthought it.
The Sage was a being that had lived for over a thousand years; how could it be so petty as to make things difficult for Naruto over such a small matter?
"Yes!"
Naruto, hearing the Sage's words, also smiled and nodded, saying,
"I'm ready!"
"Alright then—I'll begin."
Upon hearing Naruto's reply, a tentacle on the Sage's head extended, instantly wrapping around Naruto's entire body, and then directly absorbing him into its massive body.
By the time Naruto reacted, his body had already been absorbed by the Sage, and he felt as if he had fallen into an ocean of 'vitality.'
Even though there was no air, his body could 'breathe' freely—a truly miraculous feeling.
However, Naruto couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of shock when he recalled the moment he was grabbed by the Sage's tentacle.
Because the Sage's movements were too fast—so fast that Naruto couldn't even react. Moreover, after Naruto ate the Lightning-Lightning Fruit, his body would passively elementalize if attacked.
But in front of the Sage's tentacle, his body didn't elementalize—or rather, his physical form was directly grabbed!
This sent a chill down Naruto's spine and instantly made him realize that even if their world didn't have a power like Haki, the elementalization ability wasn't invincible; one's physical form could still be grabbed.
Is it the power of Sage Art?
Naruto's body felt the surrounding 'vitality' ocean, sensing an unusual Chakra within it, and immediately understood that it should be the so-called Sage Art Chakra.
At the same time, Naruto also realized that the Sage's ability to grab his physical form was probably due to the power of this Sage Art Chakra.
'Is it because Sage Art Chakra is formed by combining Natural Power with physical and spiritual strength that it can grab my Logia-type body?' Naruto secretly mused.
"Little Naruto!~"
At this moment, the Sage's voice resonated in Naruto's ears.
"The Sage Art training method of Shikkotsu Forest is to directly transmit Sage Art Chakra to the practitioner to help them experience Natural Energy; however, your physique is special, and that training method won't be very effective for you.
Within my body, there is a large amount of Sage Art Chakra and Natural Energy stored. By absorbing you into my body, I can allow you to adapt more quickly to contact with Natural Power. Once you adapt, I will inject my Sage Art Chakra into your body, and you will be able to directly sense and begin absorbing Natural Energy.
Whether you can successfully tame that Natural Energy in the end will depend on your own ability."
"I understand!"
Naruto immediately nodded in understanding after hearing the Sage's words, then, following the Sage's instructions, began to sense the surrounding 'vitality' ocean.
Naruto knew that the immense vitality within the Sage's body should be what it referred to as Natural Energy.
Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, and Tsunade had all emphasized the dangers of Natural Energy to Naruto more than once.
But he didn't know if it was because he was inside the Sage's body, but the Natural Energy he sensed seemed very gentle,
And it felt like it wouldn't be difficult to control.
Outside;
Tsunade, seeing the Sage directly absorb Naruto into its body, immediately asked worriedly,
"Senior, Naruto hasn't been exposed to Sage Art Chakra yet. Is it too risky to directly let him enter your body to experience Sage Art Chakra and Natural Energy now?"
Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Art system is the safest among the Three Great Sage Regions' Sage Art systems.
Unlike Mount Myōboku's frog oil and Ryūchi Cave's direct injection of Sage Art Chakra into the body, in the initial stages of Sage Art training, the Sage's clones use their own Sage Art Chakra to help practitioners slowly experience and adapt to Natural Energy.
This process is very long, often taking years, but it is very safe.
Tsunade herself couldn't stand the tediousness back then, which is why she failed to learn Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Art.
Moreover, directly contacting Sage Art Chakra without going through the experience period would be a very 'exhilarating' experience.
Tsunade had once tried to directly experience Sage Art Chakra because she didn't want to endure the tedious experience period. That 'exhilarating' experience still made her tremble whenever she thought about it.
However, after going through several adaptations to Sage Art Chakra, she managed to develop her own Sage Art by combining those experiences with her own characteristics.
Namely, Tsunade's unique Strength of a Hundred Seal technique.
Getting back to the main topic;
The reason Tsunade asked the Sage to personally teach Naruto Sage Art was that she hoped he could quickly get through the initial tedious experience and learn Sage Art faster. However, she didn't expect the Sage to be even more radical than she thought, directly letting Naruto skip the experience period and immediately begin contacting Sage Art Chakra.
This made Tsunade begin to suspect if the Sage was 'retaliating' against Naruto for refusing its contract invitation, wanting him to suffer a bit.
"Risky? Of course not."
The Sage, hearing Tsunade's words, its tentacle on its head wiggled slightly, and its gentle voice carried a hint of amusement as it said,
"That child's physique is unique. This direct method will allow him to learn Sage Art better and faster.
It's just that the process will likely be quite 'uncomfortable,' but I believe that child can certainly endure that test."