Buddha Realm

"Didn't leave any loose ends, did you?"

Taking the Sage Talent secret technique scroll that his fiancée had brought over, Shimura Kentei asked.

They had no choice but to be careful. After all, the Temple of Fire was an official organization of the Land of Fire, supported by the Feudal Lord of the Land of Fire's estate.

If this matter were exposed, it would be extremely troublesome. The Shimura Clan might even become a target for everyone.

"Relax. Father personally disguised himself as a Sunagakure ninja and acted under the pretense of gathering intelligence. He drugged that monk unconscious, searched his mind with genjutsu, and left behind no trace whatsoever."

Rolling her eyes at him, Shimura Keiko knew very well how her father operated. He would never leave even the slightest flaw. Then her expression shifted as she solemnly warned him.

"Be more careful in the future. You absolutely cannot use this secret technique in front of others, or we'll be in serious trouble.

"Also, the Temple of Fire's Sage Talent requires a Buddhist artifact to absorb Nature Energy for cultivation. We don't have one.

"Furthermore, although we habitually call monks' energy chakra, and its properties are rather similar, it isn't actually chakra. It is a power called dharma, and there are certain differences."

"I wasn't planning to cultivate it directly. I just wanted to use it as a reference. By the way, have you found the Uchiha Clan and the Tsuchigumo Clan?"

Shimura Kentei replied indifferently before asking about another matter.

There were quite a few forms of sage power in Naruto. Aside from the Three Great Sage Lands, there was also the Temple of Fire's Sage Talent and the cursed seal developed by Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's cursed seal had originated from Uchiha Jugo. Uchiha Jugo could absorb Nature Energy on his own and turn his body sage-like. Though it came with severe side effects and caused him to lose his sanity, it was indeed a kind of Sage Mode.

The sage inheritances of the Three Great Sage Lands were difficult to obtain, but the Temple of Fire and Uchiha Clan were not a problem.

As for the Tsuchigumo Clan's secret technique, it did not seem to produce Sage Chakra through fusion. It was probably a crude use of Nature Energy, making it the least valuable.

"We found them, but we couldn't invite them over. We even clashed with the Uchiha Clan and only obtained one arm.

"The Tsuchigumo Clan members were extremely slippery. Before our people could make contact, they had already fled as a group. We don't know where they're hiding."

As though she had anticipated Shimura Kentei's question, Shimura Keiko answered while taking out another Sealed Item Scroll and unsealing it, revealing an arm frozen in ice.

Calling it an arm was not entirely accurate. It would be more fitting to call it a clawed arm. A thick layer of keratin covered it like armor, clearly giving it considerable defensive power.

"That's enough!"

At the sight of that clawed arm, Shimura Kentei rubbed his hands excitedly.

He did not care whether they could invite the Uchiha Clan over. It would be best if they came, since he could help them develop a way to control that sage transformation in the future. If they refused, that was fine too. They were the ones losing out.

What he wanted was the Uchiha Clan's sage-transformation physique. This section of clawed arm was enough.

After running his hand over the clawed arm and copying its data, Shimura Kentei put it back into the refrigerator for continued storage.

Next, he needed to conduct all kinds of experiments in the Black Cauldron Space. Only after developing a perfect sage technique cultivation method could he begin cultivating it in reality.

There was no rushing this. He had to take it slowly. After all, he only had one life, so caution came before everything else!

"Don't take risks like this again!"

After resealing the refrigerator containing the clawed arm, Shimura Keiko gave him a serious warning and turned to leave. She intended to send the arm back to the clan's research institute for further study.

Although she had not participated in the attempt to invite the Uchiha Clan, she had read the intelligence reports written by the clansmen after they returned and was deeply astonished by the Uchiha Clan's power.

Their transformed form was unbelievable, practically immortal. Even severed limbs could regenerate rapidly. This special physique possessed immense research value. If they could uncover its secrets and apply them to the Shimura Clan, the clan's strength could at least double.

After his fiancée left, Shimura Kentei read through and memorized the scroll containing the Sage Talent cultivation method. He took a quick bath, lay down on his bed, and entered the Black Cauldron Space with his consciousness to begin studying the Sage Talent and that clawed arm.

Glancing at the Flower Tree Fruit and the clawed arm he had copied earlier into the Black Cauldron Space, Shimura Kentei walked to the side and began studying the Temple of Fire's Sage Talent secret technique.

The Temple of Fire's Sage Talent was a secret technique for absorbing and fusing Nature Energy, but its absorption and fusion ratio was vastly inferior to the sage arts of the Three Great Sage Lands.

He did not know the ratios for Shikkotsu Forest and Ryūchi Cave, but the Temple of Fire's Sage Talent had an absorption ratio of ten percent. In other words, it used nine parts of one's own dharma to fuse one part Nature Energy, achieving a nine-to-one ratio and ultimately forming stable sage energy.

Because the proportion of Nature Energy was so low, this sage energy was far less powerful than the Sage Chakra used in the Sage Modes of the Three Great Sage Lands.

"Buddha Realm? What the hell is that?"

Shimura Kentei raised an eyebrow, having gotten stuck on something rather mystifying.

To cultivate the Temple of Fire's Sage Talent, one first had to comprehend something called the Buddha Realm from Buddhist scriptures. Only the Buddha Realm could control sage energy; otherwise, one would inevitably suffer backlash.

"So all this mystical nonsense is just a state of inner calm!"

After carefully analyzing it, Shimura Kentei could not help recalling Uzumaki Naruto's Sage Mode training in Naruto. There had been a stage centered on calming the mind. He had even sat atop a stone spike to maintain his balance and achieve a state of stillness.

The Temple of Fire's Buddha Realm was essentially a state of inner calm as well, albeit a slightly more advanced one. After cultivating the Buddha Realm, all emotions would be suppressed.

"No wonder Chiriku had to stand still when using the Thousand-Hand Kill in the original story. It was to match that state of stillness, much like the requirements for Mount Myōboku's sage arts."

Having analyzed the secret technique Kannon Thousand-Hand Kill, Shimura Kentei came to a realization. This technique required its user to remain motionless. Not only did the mind have to be calm, but the body could not move either. Only then could Nature Energy gather quickly and ultimately fuse into sage energy.

After Kannon Thousand-Hand Kill came Myoo Thousand-Hand Kill. It involved releasing the emotions suppressed by the Buddha Realm in the form of rage, guiding the sage energy to erupt as well and striking the enemy with overwhelming power.

"Why is it still just borrowing power? Is there no way to refine it and make it one's own?"

After comprehending the Temple of Fire's Sage Talent inheritance, Shimura Kentei was deeply disappointed.

What he truly wanted was the cultivation method of the Three Great Sage Lands themselves, one that could elevate life's essence and extend one's lifespan, allowing one to live for thousands of years like the Sage of the Toads, rather than a simple Sage Mode.

The Sage Modes shown in the original story merely borrowed Nature Energy temporarily. There was no way to thoroughly refine it into one's own power.

While that allowed one to use Sage Chakra to unleash powerful sage ninjutsu, it could not improve the cultivator's life essence.

As a well-rounded modern youth from China, he believed that a cultivator's strength should be directly proportional to lifespan. The stronger one became, the longer one should live.

For example, in those cultivation novels, merely entering the path could add one or two hundred years to one's lifespan. Compared to that, the ninjas of the Naruto world were a complete scam.

Even a peerless powerhouse like Uchiha Madara had no greater lifespan than an ordinary person. He had not even lived to a hundred. It was downright ridiculous!

He had originally thought the Temple of Fire's Sage Talent would be different, but it turned out to be inferior even to the sage arts passed down outside the Three Great Sage Lands.

Fortunately, the Temple of Fire's Sage Talent secret technique seemed usable with chakra as well, though the results would be somewhat worse. Sarutobi Asuma had used it in the original story, but his Thousand-Armed Kannon was far smaller than Chiriku's and could not be maintained for long. Still, it could serve as a stepping stone toward contacting Nature Energy.

"Fuse!"

Steadying his emotions, Shimura Kentei fixed his gaze on the copied clawed arm and used the Black Cauldron Space's fusion ability to merge its data traits into his body.

"Bang!"

Less than ten seconds after it fused into his body, his entire form suddenly exploded into pieces. It was a miserable sight.

"It looks like the owner of this arm was at least a Quasi-Kage Level powerhouse!"

After restoring his copy, Shimura Kentei pondered the matter.

The clawed arm contained an enormous amount of chakra, a full thousand times greater than his own. This showed just how powerful its owner had been.

Moreover, the chakra in the clawed arm was extremely violent. It instantly scattered his own chakra, then rampaged through his body, destroying every meridian and chakra point before finally exploding.

That should have been the Sage Chakra unique to the Uchiha Clan after sage transformation!

"Fuse!"

After analyzing the previous process, Shimura Kentei once again used the fusion ability, copied another set of data from the clawed arm, and merged it into his body.

"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"

Not daring to delay, he used the Adamantine Sealing Chains gifted by Uzumaki Mito to bind himself before the Sage Chakra in the clawed arm could go berserk.

The Adamantine Sealing Chains truly deserved to be the Uzumaki Clan's signature secret technique. They could suppress even the Nine-Tails, and the Sage Chakra within his body was immediately restrained.

Using the Adamantine Sealing Chains to suppress the clawed arm's Sage Chakra, Shimura Kentei began studying that power and attempted to use the Sage Talent method to fuse it with his own chakra.

The facts proved that the Sage Talent secret technique could indeed be cultivated with chakra. After failing thousands of times, he finally succeeded in fusing the clawed arm's Sage Chakra with his own chakra. Then a violent, bloodthirsty impulse flooded into his mind, causing his entire body to lose control.

Because it had fused with his own chakra, the Adamantine Sealing Chains lost their suppressive effect, sending him into a berserk state. The Sage Chakra in his body also became increasingly violent.

"Bang!"

A thunderous explosion rang out, and his entire body was once again blown into a cloud of blood mist. It was a miserable sight.

"Fine, it looks like I'll have to cultivate that so-called Buddha Realm first."

After restoring his body once more, Shimura Kentei understood that this would not work. Even after fusing the clawed arm's Sage Chakra, he could not control it. The result was just like before: his body had been shattered by the increasingly violent Sage Chakra.

Moreover, the earlier fusion had been imperfect. It could not even be called fusion. It should be called devouring, because his own chakra had been devoured by the clawed arm's Sage Chakra.

"That mystical Buddha Realm is hard to deal with, but I can try an absolutely rational state!"

Rubbing his chin, Shimura Kentei recalled an idea he had considered before.

After discovering the difference in strength between Sister Keiko's original body and her copy, he had considered developing a secret technique that would grant that same absolutely rational state.

At the time, it had only been for the sake of better utilizing his own strength. Now, it seemed that it might replace that mystical Buddha Realm.

In any case, he could not figure out that Buddha Realm. It was far too mystical. It supposedly had to be comprehended from Buddhist scriptures and required extraordinarily high comprehension. How was he supposed to manage that? Go to the Temple of Fire and become a monk?

He knew himself well. Although he was a peerless genius in his fiancée's eyes, he knew that most of it came from the Black Cauldron Space and the traits of his copy. His own comprehension was quite ordinary, much less enough to understand that mystical Buddha Realm.

To achieve the copy's absolutely rational state, he had considered several relatively reliable methods.

"Hypnotic genjutsu! No, the realm of mental consciousness is even more complex than the human body, with too many uncontrollable factors. Besides, the Black Cauldron Space's traits might not be able to restore problems involving mental consciousness. It would be ridiculous if I ended up with schizophrenia or even split personalities!"

The first thing he thought of was the ninja world's unique genjutsu. Properly handled, it could indeed create an absolutely rational state, but he quickly rejected the idea.

The copies in the Black Cauldron Space could only restore bodily conditions. They offered no help with mental and spiritual conditions, so it was not worth the risk.

It was better to be cautious in life!

"Drugs!"

As he considered the second method, Shimura Kentei frowned. He was not very satisfied with it either.

Certain drugs could indeed suppress human emotions. For example, there was the drug Prozium from a movie he had watched in his previous life, Equilibrium. That film was best known for gun kata, the origin of most gun kata-themed works online.

However, it also featured a drug called Prozium that could suppress human emotions by inhibiting dopamine and other hormones in the body. Every one of those clerics in the film was a ruthless emotionless powerhouse.

"With current medical technology, developing a similar drug would probably take at least ten years."

Rejecting that route as well, Shimura Kentei had little faith in Konoha's current medical technology, and he did not have that much time to wait.

"Looks like I can only return to my old trade!"

After rejecting two approaches in a row, Shimura Kentei sighed helplessly.

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