The First Stage Complete

"Hang in there, get through this!" the Katsuyu silently prayed. The massive amount of Natural Energy within the girl's body was nearing the point of spiraling out of control, and the Katsuyu transformation of her physical form began to appear.

"Am I going to fail?" It secretly gathered its strength, preparing to face defeat and spit out the cherry blossoms from its body in time.

The restless Natural Energy surged and churned within the Katsuyu's senses, repeatedly threatening to breach Sakura Haruno's control. The dam forged from her mental strength teetered under its onslaught. However, just when the Katsuyu thought it would fail again, like the previous dozens of times, its long-term training finally bore fruit—

She held on.

The Katsuyu bent down with difficulty, looking at the girl inside its belly, its forehead veins bulging. It gritted its teeth and persevered. This time, it finally succeeded in grasping the Natural Energy between its palms.

Natural Energy, spiritual energy, and physical energy perfectly and harmoniously converged to form a new and more powerful Chakra.

Senjutsu Chakra.

"It worked!"

The Katsuyu breathed a sigh of relief and carefully released Sakura Haruno out of its body.

This time, Sakura Haruno was finally not vomited up in a disheveled manner.

She nimbly leaped out of the Katsuyu's mouth and landed steadily on the ground; her entire body was filled with a strange Chakra, stronger and more vibrant than the Chakra Sakura was used to, making the girl feel full of power.

"Is this Senjutsu Chakra?"

Sakura Haruno stretched out her hand, her Natural Energy under perfect control. Even her hand, which was most prone to Katsuyu transformation, showed no signs of softening, and her five slender fingers remained clearly defined.

Open your palm.

Move your fingers.

Clench your fist. Swing your fist.

Sakura Haruno moved her right hand delicately, experiencing the unique sensations brought about by Senjutsu Chakra.

"That's right, this is Senjutsu Chakra." The Katsuyu stepped forward and laughed.

It carefully examined the girl in front of it.

The result of the high-difficulty training was a highly accomplished Sage Mode. Sakura Haruno's first attempt at condensing Senjutsu Chakra was quite perfect. There were almost no traces of Natural Energy erosion on her body, and the fluctuations of Senjutsu Chakra were also controlled quite steadily. The enormous energy was perfectly bound within her slender body, and the occasional leak of a trace of energy gave the girl an even more profound and imposing aura.

"Congratulations on completing the first stage of your training! By the way, your Sage Mode is quite advanced; even the Sage Marks are showing on your face. It reminds me of Lord Hashirama back in the day," the Katsuyu said with a hint of envy.

"Does he have immortal markings on his face?"

Sakura Haruno was slightly taken aback, then conjured an ice mirror.

Looking at herself in the mirror, her facial features hadn't changed much, except for a light purple eyeshadow around her eyes, adding a touch of mysterious charm to her delicate face. There was also a barely visible line, the pattern somewhat resembling the crest of the Haruno clan, imprinted on her forehead.

"The Sage Marks are unique to the Slug Senjutsu training method, and they only appear when Sage Mode is mastered perfectly," the Katsuyu explained, noticing Sakura's confusion. "Lord Hashirama also had Sage Marks, and his were even more complete and clearer."

"Of course, with your Chakra manipulation skills, Lady Sakura Haruno, you'll eventually reach Lord Hashirama's level of Sage Mode, and might even surpass him," the Katsuyu chuckled. "Wow, to be this amazing on your first Sage Mode performance is quite unexpected; you surprised me too!"

As long as it doesn't turn into a faceless Katsuyu, Sakura Haruno breathed a sigh of relief.

As for the fairy markings, she didn't care much. They were just an indicator of the completion level of Sage Mode, and didn't seem to have any special effects—except for saving her the trouble of applying eyeshadow and makeup.

However, our Master Sakura never wears makeup.

"Surpass the First Hokage?" Sakura Haruno shook her head and smiled, muttering to herself without a hint of modesty, "No way."

"What I need to surpass is Sage Mode!"

Sakura Haruno isn't too concerned about Senjutsu because she won't stay at the Sage Mode level forever. She's already conceived of higher-level Star God Mode and even Sakura Haruno Yang God Mode, and she won't stop moving forward no matter how difficult it is.

However, although she didn't care, it was still Secret Technique that she had worked hard to master, Sakura Haruno was filled with a sense of accomplishment at this moment.

The girl moved her body, sensing the new power, and her heart suddenly leaped with joy.

She suddenly threw a punch.

It wasn't Monstrous Strength Technique, but rather all the techniques contained in the "ordinary punch" that Hinata had explained to her at the hot spring.

Power originates from the root. The extensor digitorum brevis and extensor hallucis brevis muscles exert force, the toes grip the ground, the heels are firmly planted, and the force originates from the sole of the foot. The force transmitted from the ground passes through the slender ankle and is transmitted up through the taut and delicate calf tendons. At the same time, the entire long thigh exerts force, and the layered force is extracted to the waist, then sent out through the shoulders and arms, converging into a powerful force on the fist, which crashes down on the tough trunk of the ancient tree.

Bang!

A deafening roar followed.

The Katsuyu felt the ancient tree trunk, which was over ten meters in diameter, tremble violently several times from the punch. When it looked closely, it saw that the tough bark on the ancient tree trunk, which only Sage Katsuyu could bite through, had actually cracked open layer by layer under this blow, revealing a huge crack!

At the center of the stripes, there is a cleverly crafted fist imprint that is deeply embedded in the heart of the tree.

Sakura Haruno's entire arm pierced through the tree bark and blasted into the trunk.

"This is the power of Sage Mode." The Katsuyu shook its antennae with satisfaction and said, "How about it, pretty impressive, isn't it, Lady Sakura Haruno?"

The girl shook her arm and shook her head.

"It's alright, but it's not as effective as the Monstrous Strength Technique."

Katsuyu: "..."

It was rendered speechless by Sakura's dismissive tone.

Old Half then murmured, "Using the Monstrous Strength Technique in Sage Mode will be many times more effective than usual..."

However, Sakura Haruno had long since disappeared, enthusiastically experimenting with the feeling of using Water Release in Sage Mode, and hadn't noticed anything at all.

"Sage Art: Wind Blade Torrent!"

"Sage Art: Great Waterfall Technique!" "Sage Art: Exploding Water Shockwave!" "Sage Art - Water Dragon's Respect!" "Sage Art: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!" "Senjutsu: Illusory Sound of Silence!"

"Sage Art: Mutually Multiplying Ice Clone Explosion Technique!"

The first few playful Ninjutsu were fine, and even the Wind Blade Torrent wasn't used on a real target; but when it came to the ultimate move, the Mutually Multiplying Ice Clone Explosion, Sakura Haruno got a sudden urge to see the enhanced power of this move, so she tried using the Ninjutsu on a giant tree.

Then--

Boom boom boom!

A deafening roar that shook the earth instantly resounded throughout the entire sky!

Even from hundreds of meters away, Sakura Haruno's ears rang from the sound of her own Ninjutsu; the surging air currents that erupted transformed into gusts of wind, howling sharply and shrill, carrying with them rapidly flying shards of ice that hurtled towards her!

The calm lake surface was stirred up by the Ninjutsu, creating towering waves that crashed against the trunks of the giant trees in the lake, shattering into countless sprays. The tranquil Shikkotsu Forest seemed to boil over in an instant!

The exaggerated power even surprised Sakura Haruno, the user of the technique.

Ninjutsu performed using Senjutsu Chakra is significantly more powerful than ordinary Ninjutsu.

"If the self-destruction of a normal Ice Clone is comparable to that of a 155mm howitzer, then the explosion of Ice Clone in Senjutsu Mode is like a naval cannon bombardment of 00 or higher," she remarked while maintaining her insane, unrestrained bombardment. "Moreover, it primarily consumes Natural Energy, significantly reducing the burden on herself..."

The giant tree, Gao Kecan, began to sway precariously amidst the continuous and violent explosions, its bark ripped off and its flesh torn open.

"Alright, stop fooling around, Sakura."

The Sage Katsuyu could not stand by and watch. With a gentle wave of its antennae, it stirred up a large amount of lake water. The giant waves, hundreds of meters high, transformed into a water wall that covered the ground. With overwhelming force, it rushed towards the Ice Clone in the midst of the chain explosion, ruthlessly extinguishing the dazzling fireworks.

"That's my food ration for the month after next, don't waste it."

"..." Sakura Haruno's face stiffened, and she quickly smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry, Sage Katsuyu."

"It's alright, it looks like it's still edible... Anyway, you've already completed the first stage of Senjutsu Mode training so quickly, and you've also mastered Sage Mode to a basic level. As expected of Tsunade's disciple, your Chakra manipulation ability is truly outstanding, and your Sage Mode performance is excellent."

"Actually, Tsunade also has the talent to learn Senjutsu; after all, she's Hashirama's granddaughter... It's just that that kid likes to make excuses. Before, she didn't want to learn Shikkotsu Forest was too acidic to live in, or she thought Sage Mode was too ugly. Now that she's Hokage, she doesn't have time to learn... In short, a whole host of excuses. So, our Katsuyu Clan's Senjutsu now depends on you to carry it forward, Sakura."

"Go for it, Sakura!"

The Sage Katsuyu rambled on for a long time.

"Yes, Sage Katsuyu!"

The Katsuyu nestled listlessly to one side, watching Sakura Haruno experiment with various Ninjutsu, playing with it like a big boy who had received a new toy. It patiently waited for her to lose interest before leisurely clapping its hands and jumping back onto the platform.

"I suddenly had an idea. With the help of a massive amount of Senjutsu Chakra, I can complete a giant Ninjutsu..." the girl said to the Katsuyu as soon as she landed, clearly still very interested in Senjutsu.

Although she always claimed to be indifferent to Senjutsu, she was still excited for a long time after actually cultivating the Sage Mode.

Sage Mode...

That's so much fun.

"We'll do that later..." the Katsuyu said helplessly. "We have limited time, let's finish cultivating the Senjutsu first. The next stage of training will involve sensing and absorbing Natural Energy without relying on my body, thus autonomously completing the training for Sage Mode..."

"Sounds pretty relaxed."

"Heh heh..." The Katsuyu chuckled meaningfully, "At this point, the danger itself isn't too great, it's just the difficulty..."

You'll see once you try.

"Difficult?" The girl tilted her head slightly, looking incredulous.

"It's definitely harder than you think," the Katsuyu said decisively.

[Second update.]

[The previous chapter should have been chapter 440, but it was written as chapter 49, and I can't correct it.]