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Manji had died—but not before sinking his teeth into the Chakra Fruit.
Just one bite. But the energy packed into that single mouthful was staggering.
After his resurrection, Manji could feel the difference immediately. The Chakra Fruit's essence had saturated every fiber of his being—his chakra reserves had swelled to enormous proportions, and his physical body was several times more durable than before.
Current physical configuration: [Sage Body + Ōtsutsuki Constitution].
[Note: Manji's "Sage Body" wasn't the same as the innate Sage Body from canon. His was forged through years of grueling training on Mount Myōboku—a natural evolution achieved through sheer dedication and time.]
The defining feature of Manji's Sage Body was simple: Sage Mode wasn't something he activated. It was his default state. He didn't toggle it on and off—he simply existed in it, permanently.
Just like how the toads of Mount Myōboku used Sage Jutsu without ever needing to "ENTER" Sage Mode.
Every technique he threw was Sage-enhanced by default. His chakra was refined into Senjutsu chakra the moment it was generated. No hand signs required.
And now—with one bite of the Chakra Fruit—his body had leveled up again.
The only regret? He hadn't broken through to Six Paths tier.
One bite wasn't enough. If he'd eaten the whole thing, the breakthrough would've been guaranteed.
"Huh??"
A lightbulb appeared above the White Monkey King's head.
"Your body feels completely different now—does that mean you could try learning our Monkey King Clan's Sage Arts??"
The old ape's face lit up with sudden excitement.
Manji's eyes flashed. 'Actually… yeah, that might work.'
He'd always wanted to expand his Sage Art repertoire, but his body had never allowed it. Sage Mode was all about balance—piling on too many different Sage energies would destabilize the equilibrium and potentially backfire catastrophically.
But now—with his enhanced physique—maybe the rules had changed?
"Sigh… honestly, it's embarrassing. In my entire clan, I'm the only one who ever mastered our Sage Arts. If something happens to me, our techniques die with me…"
The White Monkey King shook his head with a bitter, frustrated expression.
Manji raised an eyebrow. So THAT'S why Monkey King Enma never used Sage Arts in the original series.
It had always bugged him—canonically, Enma was powerful enough for Orochimaru to call him "the strongest summoning beast." So why didn't he have any Sage techniques?
Turns out, the art had been lost after the White Monkey King's generation. Mystery solved.
"Well—if it means preserving your clan's legacy, I suppose I'll give it a shot."
Manji declared this with the noble gravity of a martyr volunteering for duty.
If I don't walk into hell, who will?
The White Monkey King immediately led Manji to an ancient stone tablet.
Manji studied the inscriptions—the foundations of the Monkey Clan's Sage Arts—nodding thoughtfully before turning to the White Monkey King. "Show me a demonstration first."
"Fair warning, brother—these arts are brutal. One wrong move during training and your body could literally explode."
The White Monkey King cautioned seriously.
Manji waved it off. "Not worried."
With his resurrection ability, anything involving a risk of death was essentially a non-issue.
One life to burn—might as well go all in.
Worst case? He'd die, respawn at the starting point, and try again.
The White Monkey King settled into a seated position and began channeling Sage Mode.
Roughly three hours later—his aura erupted with a seismic pulse!
Distinctive Sage markings bloomed across his face.
"Sage Mode—activated!"
The White Monkey King clenched his fist. "Manji... my Sage Mode primarily enhances the physical body. Once active, my strength, speed, and durability all receive a massive boost."
To demonstrate, the White Monkey King turned toward Manji's tombstone—wound back—and launched a devastating punch!
BOOM—CRACK!
A sonic shockwave split the air!
The punch unleashed a shockwave of compressed air reminiscent of the Daytime Tiger—a howling blast that tore across the cavern!
KABOOM!
Manji's tombstone didn't just break. It was 'atomized'.
Not a single fragment remained.
The entire area was flattened—leaving behind nothing but a massive, cratered impact zone.
"Now that's impressive—one punch and you blew my own grave sky-high!"
Manji couldn't help but whistle in admiration.
He'd figured it out. The Monkey Clan's Sage Mode was essentially an alternative version of the Eight Inner Gates—but without any of the devastating physical drawbacks.
"Alright—my turn. Let me learn."
Manji mimicked what he'd observed and dove straight into training.
Drawing on his years of experience mastering Mount Myōboku's Sage Arts, he mapped the familiar pathways and began layering in the Monkey Clan's techniques.
Before long—he felt the first threads of comprehension click into place.
Within thirty minutes—he was already moving with practiced fluidity.
"WHAT??"
The White Monkey King's jaw hit the floor.
"You—you—you…! Your learning speed is faster than the time it takes me to ENTER Sage Mode??"
He stared at Manji like he'd just witnessed a ghost.
He'd been mentally preparing a Cristiano Ronaldo encouraging speech—"Practice Makes Perfect"—only for Manji to learn the technique faster than the White Monkey King could activate his own.
The old ape wanted to cry.
Manji stood in quiet amazement himself. Even he hadn't expected this.
Was it because his body had already been conditioned by one form of Sage Art, making it naturally receptive to another?
Was he some kind of prodigy—a born Sage Art vessel?
.....
Time slipped by. For the next week, Manji lived inside the Monkey Cavern.
And during that time—he made a bold, unprecedented modification: he fused the Monkey Clan's Sage Arts with Mount Myōboku's Sage Arts into a single, unified system.
He'd gone in with an experimental mindset, expecting failure. Instead—it worked flawlessly.
The fusion dramatically amplified his overall power.
Manji drew a deep breath. No hand signs. No elaborate starting stance. He simply raised his fist—casual, almost lazy—and aimed it at a colossal ancient tree in the distance, its trunk so wide it would take a dozen people to wrap their arms around it.
"Sage Art: Multi-Layered—Frog Kumite!"
The instant the words left his lips, his fist was already flying.
No earth-shaking buildup. Just the high-frequency hum of hyper-compressed chakra—and a gleaming amber sphere of condensed energy that erupted from his knuckles!
It screamed through the air with a shriek of torn atmosphere—and struck the ancient tree dead center.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM————————!
There was no prolonged moment of resistance. The trunk simply ceased to exist at the point of impact—reduced to fine powder in an instant.
"Incredible—that's devastating power. But why is it still called 'Frog Kumite'?" The White Monkey King tilted his head, puzzled.
Manji just smiled.
From the epicenter of the blast—Mount Myōboku's Sage energy surged outward in an invisible shockwave, radiating in every direction across a hundred-meter radius.
BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM!
A chain of detonations ripped through the mountainside forest. What had started as the destruction of a single tree erupted into a full-scale cataclysm of energy.
Dozens of towering ancient trees—each one stretching toward the clouds—crumbled as if crushed by an invisible giant. Trunks snapped. Branches exploded into splinters. Wood that had stood for millennia shattered like tissue paper under the combined force of two fused Sage Arts.
In a matter of heartbeats, the once-lush mountain forest had been blasted into a barren, circular clearing. The ground was littered with shattered trunks and wood shrapnel, and residual waves of Sage energy hung in the air like mountain mist—refusing to dissipate.
"Good god—I understand now! You actually merged Mount Myōboku's and the Monkey Clan's Sage Arts into ONE??"
The White Monkey King stood rooted to the spot, mouth agape. The look of admiration he'd been wearing a moment ago had been completely overwritten by pure, staggering shock.
He stared at the devastated forest, then back at Manji's casually lowered fist, and swallowed hard. His voice trembled: "This… this power has already surpassed pure Monkey Clan Sage Arts!"
"It has."
Manji retracted his fist, feeling the chakra still surging through him—smooth, potent, without a single hitch—and allowed a confident smile to cross his face.
The fusion had exceeded even his own expectations. Mount Myōboku's Sage Arts provided precision and controlled area-of-effect expansion.
The Monkey Clan's Sage Arts contributed raw physical amplification, pushing explosive power to an entirely new tier. The two systems complemented each other perfectly—producing this single, devastating result.
Manji turned to the White Monkey King with an easy grin. "I kept Mount Myōboku's naming convention, but the core has been fully integrated with your clan's techniques. Think of it as an entirely new Sage Art."
As if on cue, a distant rumble echoed through the mountains—the last remnants of energy from his attack triggering one final tremor. A few surviving branches drifted down from above, making the flattened clearing look even more apocalyptic.
The White Monkey King stared at Manji's back—and the only thought left in his mind was a single, awestruck conclusion:
This kind of talent… it's absolutely terrifying.
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