Shikkotsurin Sage Mode

Shikkotsurin Sage Mode.

Five years ago, Chen learned of the sacred land Shikkotsurin Forest through Tsunade.

He went alone and passed the trial set by Sage Katsuyu—a trial no one had overcome in a century—successfully inheriting Shikkotsurin's [Silent Sage Jutsu].

Silent Sage Jutsu, compared to Ryūchi Cave's 'Turbulent Sage Jutsu' and Mount Myōboku's 'Harmony Sage Jutsu', is the sage art that most enhances [Spiritual Energy].

It is also the most difficult of the three great sage arts to master.

It is said that to master Silent Sage Jutsu, one needs absolute inner stillness, reaching the 'Samatha' realm—second only to Samadhi in the ninja sect's Zen meditation practice—before it can be learned.

Moreover, entering Silent Sage Jutsu requires a full ten minutes of deep meditation. Because it places extreme emphasis on 'focus and single-mindedness', methods like Naruto using Shadow Clones to store Sage Chakra—as he does with Mount Myōboku's Harmony Sage Jutsu, which also requires meditation—are impossible with Silent Sage Jutsu.

Furthermore, Silent Sage Jutsu has no method for maintaining sustained output, like Jiraiya and the two great sages' fusion technique.

These two major shortcomings—activation and endurance—greatly reduce Silent Sage Jutsu's practicality in combat.

This was intentional on Sage Katsuyu's part, the founder of Shikkotsurin. She created this sage art not for killing or conflict, but to cultivate the practitioner's temperament.

Yet she never expected that 'Chen', the only one to master Silent Sage Jutsu in a century, would use a single technique—[Toyomiketsunomikoto]—to perfectly fill both of Silent Sage Jutsu's shortcomings!

Time-stop explanation over!

Naruto was still stunned, bound by the 'Susanoo's guardian spirit'!

Chen, having entered Sage Mode in an instant, swung his right palm through the air from a distance!

—Sage Katsuyu Palm!

"Boom!" A shockwave of natural energy transformed into a surging blast!

"Frog Kumite...!?"

Naruto flew backward from the shattered bones of Susanoo! Mid-flight, a blue-and-white viscous substance surged out from within Kurama's chakra cloak, seeping strong acid that scorched the outer layer into smoking fumes!

"Slugs? Why does it sting?"

Kurama shouted: "Naruto! Strip it off now, or the strong acid will melt you!"

Naruto's scalp went numb. Bearing the pain, he tore off Kurama's chakra cloak along with the clinging slugs!

"Boom!!" His back slammed heavily into a century-old tree, stopping him.

He stared at Chen, who had closed to within twenty meters with astonishing shunshin speed!

"Just now... what was that!?"

Kurama exclaimed: "Naruto, watch out for his sage art and dojutsu! You don't have my chakra protection right now!!"

Naruto got up, head ringing, and assumed a defensive stance.

Ten meters!

Chen's right eye focused again!

—Toyomiketsunomikoto!

"Crack!" Naruto watched helplessly as a massive silver blade materialized out of thin air, piercing straight through his abdomen and pinning him and the tree behind him together.

"Heh." Blood gushed from Naruto's mouth and nose as he let out a chilling laugh: "A Susanoo sword? He just fires it from his eye like that?"

That wasn't even the worst part. This wound was nothing like Shin Uchiha's half-baked efforts—this could actually kill someone!

At that moment, Chen glanced down at his watch, noting the time.

5:08:32!

He lifted his gaze.

—Toyomiketsunomikoto!

Misfortune never comes singly. Looking up through the treetops, Naruto saw over a dozen judgment swords descending!

Naruto gave a bitter laugh: "Heh, damn it..."

—Amenotejikara!

"Whoosh!" Just in the nick of time, a rock swapped places with Naruto, wedging into the hole in the tree!

Twelve dark silver swords slammed down, forming a 'sword formation' around the tree!

Fifteen meters away, in a forest clearing.

Sasuke shielded Naruto behind him, staring warily at Chen, who had stopped twenty meters away!

"Sasuke..."

"Don't talk yet, heal your wounds!"

Sasuke formed a hand seal with two fingers, holding it before his chest, his gaze dark and solemn: Both Naruto and I completely underestimated him. This man has an incredibly terrifying dojutsu. Just now, he only used his right eye the whole time and nearly killed Naruto...

"Shing!" Kurama's golden cloak reignited around Naruto. Only then did Naruto dare to form chakra hands from his shoulder, carefully and slowly pulling the silver blade embedded in his abdomen.

Pulling it out bit by bit, using Kurama's healing power to mend each section, preventing the wound from exposing and causing massive blood loss.

Thirty seconds later, the blade was fully removed, and the fatal wound healed along with it.

"Whew... saved." Naruto sighed in relief. Kurama's giant hand squeezed the blade, crushing it into dissipating chakra!

Sasuke's hanging heart finally settled. Gazing at Chen—whether out of fear of his Rinnegan, sheer disdain, or simply refusing to take advantage of a vulnerable moment—he delivered a soul-piercing question: "Uchiha Chen! What exactly is your goal?!"

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Chen's eyes rested calmly on the two of them as he said, "My goal—or rather, the objective I aim to achieve—isn't really any different from what the Hokage of past generations sought."

"What did you say?!"

"Don't rush, Naruto. I'm not finished yet." Chen spoke unhurriedly. "It's just that, because our perceptions differ, the things we see differ, and so the methods we use differ as well."

Naruto couldn't hold back any longer. "Nonsense! What you've done! How can you compare that to the Hokage of past generations?! Don't try to polish your own reputation!"

Chen chuckled. "See? There you go again, rushing. Sasuke here didn't rush. You should learn from him."

Sasuke said in a low voice, "Back then, Madara and Obito both said things similar to what you're saying now, and they did things similar to what you're doing—trying to overturn the shinobi world. You know what happened to them, don't you?"

So he fully trusts... Shikamaru Nara's judgment of me?

Hah. Fine.

"I know. So what?"

"So your end will be the same as theirs."

On Sasuke's single palm, the Chidori's lightning shrieked as Amaterasu's black flames condensed upon it.

This technique was called 'Take Mikazuchi'—a form change born from Kagutsuchi merging Amaterasu into Chidori. He had used it near the end of his final battle with Naruto, and it had cost him his left hand!

He shot Naruto a look of unspoken understanding!

"Wos~!" Naruto caught on instantly. "Woom!" In front of his left palm, Sage Art: Rasenshuriken took shape!

Sasuke flicked his wrist, using his black cloak as cover, and tossed two Explosive Tag Kunai into the ground not far away.

Then, he and Naruto charged toward each other face-to-face, and at the same time, the Rinnegan beneath his bangs snapped toward 'Chen'!

--Amenotejikara!

"Swoosh!"

Amenotejikara swapped the air, and Chen was forcibly pulled into the space between Naruto and Sasuke's palms—caught in the pincer of Take Mikazuchi and Sage Art: Rasenshuriken!

Chen: "So that's your play."

In that exchange of glances, Naruto and Sasuke had confirmed their battle plan!

"Sasuke, when my attack reaches him, there's a weird delay!"

"Yeah, I know. It's that strange dojutsu in his right eye. When the Blaze Release in Take Mikazuchi fuses with your Wind Release, it creates a sustained Scorch Release explosion field. Caught inside it, there's no way he can escape!"

Madara and Obito, watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but lean in with anticipation!

"Chen... what will you do?"

"This is how it'll be."

The Sage Art of Shikkotsu Forest. It allows me to select multiple targets and continuously activate dojutsu in an extremely short span of time.

In simpler terms, it eliminates the dojutsu's internal cooldown!

Chen's right eye trembled with a vermilion glow, sweeping left and right!

--Amaterasu-no-Mikoto!

"Shk!" "Shk!"

The instant Chen's right eye flashed with dojutsu light, the Sage Art: Rasenshuriken before Naruto's left palm and the Take Mikazuchi before Sasuke's right palm—within a negligible fraction of a second—successively disintegrated into specks of light!

"What!?" As their expressions froze in shock, Chen's hands shot out like lightning, forming a chokehold aimed at both their throats!

"!" Sasuke, already on guard, steadied himself first. The Magatama of his Rinnegan trembled, and Amenotejikara flashed twice in succession!

Note: Amenotejikara's internal cooldown is extremely short—negligible!

"Swoosh!" "Swoosh!"

The 'Explosive Tag Kunai' that had been thrown to the ground earlier were swapped into Chen's hands!

"!?" This wave of godly maneuvering clearly caught Chen off guard as well.

"Take this!" Sasuke formed a hand seal with two fingers!

"Boom-boom-boom!!" The blaze of the explosion instantly swallowed the ground where Chen stood!

"Sasuke, that was just now..." Naruto's face still held lingering shock.

Sasuke lowered his hand, clenching it tightly, his own face marked with awe. "A Personal Barrier that can delay attacks, conjuring Chakra projectiles out of thin air, and that ability to instantly dismantle our techniques just now—that's the third dojutsu he used with his right eye!"

"I'm almost certain now. That's no ordinary Mangekyo Sharingan! It's... the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!"

"What, Eternal Mangekyo? Doesn't that require transplanting a sibling's eyes to..."

"Yeah. He's probably transplanted his younger brother Uchiha Jin's eyes!"

"That explosion just now caught him completely off guard. He had no time for any defensive measures, so there's no way he came out unscathed. Best-case scenario, both his hands are probably ruined!"

Sasuke stated with absolute certainty.

Naruto stared at the smoke-choked blast zone and remarked, "The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, huh. Even if he lost his hands for hand seals, he's probably still no pushover. But still, the scales of victory are starting to tip our way. That's what battle attrition is all about."

"That curveball just now was really well played. I have to give you credit for it, Sasuke."

Chen walked out from the smoke.

"That's impossible." In Naruto and Sasuke's eyes, the confidence that had just begun to rise was instantly replaced by thick, overwhelming shock!