Chapter 384 - 69

Chapter 69: The Heart Demon TrialNext, Sage Katsuyu split a small slug from its body, which slowly crawled behind the two. This scared Sasuke stiff; he thought he had to continue eating slugs.Fortunately, what he feared did not happen. The small slug hopped over them and landed on a rock. It seemed to trigger some mechanism, and the entire cave instantly began to tremble.Before long, a pool twenty meters square appeared before them, though it contained no water; instead, it was filled with a thick, milky-white liquid.At this moment, Sage Katsuyu spoke: "This is the Sage Pool of my Shikkotsu Forest. The Sage Chakra contained within is extremely dense, almost to the point of materializing.""Both of you, get in! The slug you swallowed earlier will help you absorb it. However, remember to keep your mind free of distracting thoughts. The Sage Arts of my Shikkotsu Forest are intended to be balanced. If you cannot maintain a gentle state of mind, even with the help of the slug, you will be unable to cultivate the Sage Arts to a perfect state."Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance. Without hesitation, Sasuke leaped, intending to jump down, but when he was mid-air, Naruto stretched out his arm and grabbed him. Sasuke struggled in the air and demanded: "Naruto, what are you doing? I warn you, don't go too far."Naruto ignored him and turned to ask: "Sage Katsuyu, if we take off our clothes before going in, will we be able to absorb it better?"Sage Katsuyu replied slowly: "Oh my, it is fortunate you reminded me, otherwise I would have forgotten. You had best enter naked; that will reduce some of the resistance."Upon hearing Sage Katsuyu's words, Narutoglanced at Sasuke. He said nothing, gently placed him on the ground, then quickly stripped off his own clothes, folded them neatly to one side, and jumped straight into the pool.Sasuke looked somewhat embarrassed. He looked around, eventually went behind a large rock, and only after having something to block the view did he begin to awkwardly take off his clothes.Thus, both of them entered the Sage Pool. As soon as they got in, they felt as if they had entered a swamp; their entire body movements became sluggish and laborious.At the same time, they could clearly perceive that a special kind of Chakra was constantly being absorbed into their bodies. Gradually, Naruto and Sasuke closed their eyes and entered a peculiar state.Seeing them like this, Sage Katsuyu nodded slightly and waited quietly right there.Three days later, the two remained in this state without any other reaction. Although they had not had a drop of water in all these days, their complexions were becoming increasingly rosy, and their overall condition looked very full. At the same time, it was clear that the thickness of the liquid in the pool had visibly decreased.Seeing this, Sage Katsuyu could not help but mutter to itself: "As expected of the reincarnations of Indra and Ashura! The speed of absorption is surprisingly fast. It seems I will need to properly replenish my pool after they are finished."In fact, Sage Katsuyu had discovered this the moment it first saw them, which was also the reason it allowed Naruto and Sasuke to cultivate in the Sage Pool.One must know that to cultivate the Sage Arts of Shikkotsu Forest, one's mindset is of the utmost importance. For those with distracting thoughts, even getting started is very difficult. However, if one cultivates in this Sage Pool, at the very least, one can reach a state of great accomplishment.This Sage Pool has a history of over a thousand years, and the Sage Chakra within has almost materialized. Over so many years, Naruto and Sasuke are the only two people who have cultivated here; even Tsunade has not had such treatment.The reason Sage Katsuyu did this was because it once owed Ashura a favor, and now was the perfect time to repay it.Half a month later, the two were filled from head to toe with Sage Chakra. At this moment, they reached the most critical stage, which concerned whether they could cultivate the Shikkotsu ForestSage Arts to perfection. Now, they would face their inner demons head-on....Sasuke seemed to hear a slight disturbance; noisy sounds of fighting and screaming rang out around him. However, although he could perceive that things were happening around him, he felt as if he were in a nightmare, unable to break free from this state.It was not until he seemed to hear the sound of Naruto getting injured that he began to panic. He let out a roar and finally regained his freedom.The moment he opened his eyes, he saw that the entire pool had been stained red with blood, and Naruto was floating on the surface, vomiting blood and unconscious."Naruto! What happened to you?" Sasukeworriedly rushed forward to check Naruto's condition, only to find that his injuries were extremely severe and he was in mortal danger at any moment.Naruto struggled to open his eyes and weakly said: "Sa... Sasuke, leave quickly. Itachi has come. He has come for you, leave quickly!""His strength is so great; even Sage Katsuyu is already barely holding on. You must leave quickly, you must survive. Only by surviving is there hope for revenge."Upon hearing Itachi's name, Sasuke's pupils rapidly contracted, and waves of killing intent instantly surged from his body. Ignoring Naruto's persuasion, he asked word by word: "Where is he? I want to kill him!"Naruto was about to persuade him further, but before he could speak, the stone wall in front collapsed with a "boom." When the smoke cleared, Sasuke saw clearly that the person who had arrived was his brother, whom he thought about day and night, Uchiha Itachi! And behind him, Sage Katsuyu was lying there, covered in injuries. Could it be that even a Sage that had lived for over a thousand years was no match for him?Sasuke gritted his teeth and said: "Itachi! You still dare to come here? I am going to kill you!"After speaking, Sasuke took out a Kunai and threw it forward, but Itachi easily dodged it. However, Sasuke took advantage of this gap and quickly charged forward to attack.He was surprised to find that his speed was much faster than before, and his body seemed to contain immense power. "Is this the power of Sage Arts? It seems I have hope for revenge." This greatly boosted Sasuke's self-confidence.Itachi clearly had not expected that in such a short time, Sasuke would have made such significant progress. Caught off guard, he was unable to dodge in time and was sent flying backward after Sasuke punched him in the stomach.Itachi crashed into a large rock, causing it to crack. Clearly, this attack caused him no small amount of damage, and a trace of blood flowed from the corner of Itachi's mouth.Seeing this, Sasuke revealed a wicked smile. He arrogantly said: "Itachi, your return this time is a mistake. Didn't expect this, did you! I now have the ability to kill you. Hahaha, I can finally avenge my deceased clansmen!"