Chapter 142: Hanging by a ThreadNaruto had completely left the matter of Jiraiya to Orochimaru to handle; he didn't know if Orochimaru had taken his repeated instructions to heart.Regardless, Naruto had more important matters to attend to, so he had no choice but to trust Orochimaru, as he needed to visit the Great Toad Sage in advance to see what its attitude really was.Thus, he returned home. Since he did not yet know how to get to Mount Myōboku, he decided to go to Shikkotsu Forest first to ask Sage Katsuyu.He used the Reverse Summoning Jutsu to arrive at Shikkotsu Forest. Sage Katsuyu seemed to have anticipated his arrival; before Naruto could speak, it said, "Have you come this time because you want me to send you to see that Great Toad?"Although Naruto was somewhat surprised, he didn't say much and just nodded. Sage Katsuyudidn't waste any time, and a strange Chakraimmediately surged from its body.Following that, the space behind it gradually began to twist, as if it had been torn apart by its Chakra, and then, a vortex over a person's height appeared.Naruto was astonished to feel the power of space from it. He had originally thought he had mastered everything in Shikkotsu Forest, but he hadn't expected Sage Katsuyu to still have a trick up its sleeve.Just as he wanted to probe deeper, Sage Katsuyu's voice came, "Don't just stand there stunned. This space power is something I only learned in the last few decades.""So I am not very proficient in using it yet and can only barely open passages to some places. Mount Myōboku is not close to here, and I cannot hold it for long, so hurry up and go in!"Hearing this, Naruto quickly jumped in. In an instant, he discovered that Sage Katsuyu had indeed not lied to him; this space could be described as extremely unstable, as if it were at risk of collapsing at any moment.This was his first time traveling through such a space passage, and having no experience, he drifted along inside, not knowing what to do.Just when he was at a loss, Sage Katsuyu's voice came through, "Carefully feel the flow of Chakrainside, and then just follow that trajectory."With the hint, Naruto instantly entered Sage Modeand discovered that the Chakra in this passage was extremely chaotic, but if he felt carefully, he could detect a familiar flow.Having found the target, he began to struggle forward along this flow of Chakra. Before long, he saw a light ahead; that must be Mount Myōboku.Seeing that he was about to reach his destination, he felt energized and quickened his pace, but just as he was about to reach the exit, an accident occurred.The space behind the exit in the passage suddenly collapsed, and then a huge suction force emanated from there. Naruto's figure paused immediately, and then his movements became difficult.Immediately after, a roar came from that space, carrying a terrifying pressure, and the Chakrainside Naruto's body immediately became chaotic.Even his Sage Chakra could not solidify. The Nine-Tailed inside Naruto seemed to have encountered its natural predator; its body actually started to tremble uncontrollably, shivering there.Seeing Naruto being dragged backward bit by bit, and with Sage Katsuyu also unable to hold on, the passage was closing bit by bit. If this continued, Naruto would either be shredded in the broken space or sucked into that mysterious space.Neither of these was obviously a good option. Naruto held his breath and concentrated, beginning to gather Chakra. The Nine-Tailed also sensed the situation, repressed the fear in its heart, and began to release its own Chakra, sending it to Naruto.But even so, it only slowed down the speed at which he was being dragged in, and the collapsing space behind him was imminent.Just at this moment, a powerful Chakra appeared outside the opening. This Chakra was very solid and transformed into a pair of hands that grabbed Naruto, and finally, he stopped in place.After holding on like this for about a second, Naruto made an extremely bold decision. Since he had already reached this point, he might as well give it his all.He crossed his hands in a cross shape, preparing to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu, but this was no ordinary Shadow Clone; this was the time he had consumed the most Chakra on this Jutsu so far.His own Chakra, Sage Chakra, and the Nine-Tailed's Chakra were almost completely drained instantly. Kurama was even so weak that it fell directly into a coma.After the Shadow Clone appeared, it activated Rasengan with both hands simultaneously, and then, with the help of this propulsion, it pushed Naruto's original body out with its back, while the Shadow Clone itself was sucked into that mysterious space.In a daze, Naruto realized he must have arrived at Mount Myōboku. His hanging heart finally landed, and once his tense heart relaxed, he also passed out due to excessive Chakra usage.When he woke up, it was already the next morning. Naruto discovered that he was lying on a huge meditation cushion. He had almost overdrawn the Chakra in his body this time.Theoretically, he had practiced the Sage Jutsu of Shikkotsu Forest to the realm of perfection, so his Chakra recovery should have been very fast, but a whole day had passed, and he found that he had only recovered a little bit."Have you finally woken up?" As Naruto was struggling to get up, a voice suddenly appeared by his ear, which gave him a fright.Naruto turned around with difficulty and discovered that the person speaking to him was none other than the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, who was watching him with half-open eyes.Naruto stood up, bowed respectfully to it, and then said, "You must be the Great Toad Sage! Thank you for saving my life; otherwise, I might have really lost my life.""Hehe, what a polite child! Your body is still very weak, so sit down first! There are not that many rules here." The Great Toad Sage seemed to be quite friendly.Hearing this, Naruto didn't stand on ceremony and sat down immediately, because his current state was indeed not very good, and it was exactly the time he needed to rest.
