Talent of the Sage Clan

After several weeks of training, Genma's final sword form had become increasingly refined. With Str's nod of approval, he no longer needed to arrive at the tavern so early to train.

After finishing his Limitless Fist and Eight Forms of Swordplay practice early that morning, he returned to the tavern.

He found Rock Lee in the backyard and sensed that something was slightly different from before.

The wooden rack and large baskets of vegetables beside it were gone, which probably meant those training exercises were no longer suitable.

What puzzled Genma was that there was no other strange equipment. Instead, a small table stood before Str, with a tea set on it and cushions beside it. The unusually composed Str seemed to be preparing for a discussion with him.

"Genma, come sit."

With a rare gentle smile, Str beckoned to Genma.

Still looking rather dumbfounded, Genma did not understand what was happening, but he did not hesitate. He quickly sat down opposite Str.

Str began handling the tea set and brewing tea, his movements looking quite stylish.

The tea immediately brought the atmosphere to a remarkably tranquil state. It suddenly felt as though it would be perfect for some master to appear and deliver a sermon.

Yet Genma's intuition had not been wrong. After they each took a sip of tea, Str slowly said, "I never expected that brash little boy from back then to become so steady now. Time really flies~"

Str's face glowed red with delight. It was clear that he could no longer conceal the joy in his heart.

Genma had no idea what could make Str so happy, but before he could say anything, Str spoke again. "Originally, I did not think highly of you. To be honest, I did not think much of this inheritance of mine either. But you dared to learn, so I dared to teach. Over these past three years, I have thoroughly witnessed your diligence and talent. You should be the best possible inheritor."

The sudden flood of praise left Shiranui Genma at a loss. All he could do was reply awkwardly, "Um... Master, is there something important you wanted to talk about today?"

"Ah, it is nothing much. I just wanted to tell you that you have already begun to possess the Talent of the Sage Clan. From now on, you only need to keep honing your fist techniques, swordsmanship, and medical skills."

"Really? But aren't you from the Drunken Immortal Sect, Master? Aren't you going to teach me how to drink? And that Drunken Fist of yours—don't I need to learn it?"

Str shook his head with a smile. "From the first time we met, I knew you were not suited to Drunken Fist. Limitless Fist suits you much better. So, even though you have begun to possess the Talent of the Sage Clan, you must not slack off~"

"Why am I not suited to it?"

Shiranui Genma scratched his head, utterly confused.

"Haha, that comes down to compatibility. Put simply, your personality is not suited to drinking."

"Uh, drinking requires a certain personality too... How strange~"

Str nodded and said solemnly, "This goes back to my master's master. When he first saw me, he spoke a few words to me before taking me as his disciple. I did not understand it back then, and I asked the same question you just did. But now, I agree more and more with what Master said."

"Oh? Then what kind of personality does it require? Master, you seem very forthright. Does that mean one has to be forthright?"

"Actually, I thought you could qualify as well, but only halfway. The Drunken Immortal lineage requires forthrightness, yes, but even more importantly, it requires a Clear Mind—someone with relatively few distracting thoughts."

At Str's words, Genma recalled their first meeting. Back then, he... had seemed especially hot-blooded...

At the time, he had already trained with Might Duy for two and a half years, listening to Might Duy's encouragement every day and imposing all kinds of restraints on himself...

Under those circumstances, he truly could not accomplish anything unless he gave it his all.

From time to time, words like "youth" would slip from his mouth. So when he had met Str that day, he had still been full of ambition and burning passion...

Seeing that Genma was still immersed in his memories, Str slowly continued.

"However, although the Limitless Fist you practice requires comprehension, it also requires a Clear Mind."

After all, Genma had lived for more than thirty years. With a little thought, he understood somewhat and asked,

"So Master wants to tell me what path I should take from now on, and how to achieve a Clear Mind?"

Str nodded with great satisfaction.

"That is right. I am chatting with you instead of training today because I want to tell you about some ancient matters and your future training."

Hearing that Str was about to discuss secrets of the Shinobi World again, Genma sat up straight, looking just like a well-behaved elementary school student.

"It is said that in the earliest days, there were many great martial artists, yet none possessed terrifying power like today's Chakra. But conflict, bloodshed, and war never ceased."

"Under such circumstances, one man fought countless battles and gained insight through combat. The strange thing was that no matter how many people came to challenge him, no matter how many were defeated, not a single person ever died.

"Perhaps because he had fought too many battles, or perhaps because he had experienced too much, that man finally attained great enlightenment one day and mastered a power that ordinary people did not possess. It was called Sage Art."

"That man was the ancestor of Sage Art, known as the Limitless Dao Sage. He excelled in Limitless Fist. Because his power was extraordinary, almost no one could rival him. Under his influence, the entire world gradually moved toward peace."

"Thus, he believed that such power could bring peace. But he could not live forever, so he began taking disciples. Though he accepted few disciples, all of them used Limitless Fist to develop their own fist techniques."

"My Drunken Immortal lineage is considered one of the oldest branches. Our patriarch was one of the earliest sages. Now that I teach you Limitless Fist instead of Drunken Fist, you should understand some of the reasons, yes?"

Str looked at Genma with a faint smile, as though certain that he would understand.

Genma was quite familiar with this habit of saying only half of what one meant, so he replied,

"Master teaches me Limitless Fist rather than Drunken Fist because you believe Limitless Fist is what suits me best."

"Mm. Our patriarch's will was for later disciples to follow the principle of teaching according to one's aptitude, and from today's perspective, it remains incomparably correct. When I first met you, your bearing and manner of speaking revealed that you were a very clever child.

"Our patriarch's Limitless Fist requires clever people to comprehend it, while the Drunken Fist of the Drunken Immortal Sect requires straightforward people to wield it. You are more suited to gaining insight into Limitless Fist."

"Then... does this swordsmanship suit me too? Even though it is just common basic swordsmanship..."

Seeing Genma grow embarrassed and speak more softly, Str did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"It is nothing special, just ordinary swordsmanship. But fists are used on oneself, while swords control external objects. Both are excellent means of tempering yourself. Do you remember what I told you about cultivating the Talent of the Sage Clan?"

"I remember. Everyone can possess the Talent of the Sage Clan, but not everyone can attain it. One needs to listen more, observe more, learn more, and summarize more. One must use the body to sense the patterns within all things that cannot be grasped, turning the ability to handle familiar things into bodily instinct. It is precisely this instinct that can raise my chances of successfully cultivating Sage Art."

"Mm, it seems you have remembered it all along. Since you already understand, I will not say much more. All your mornings will be yours from now on. Once you become a Genin, you may continue coming here for further study."

Str looked quite satisfied, but Genma felt that something was not quite right, and he was somewhat reluctant as well. He hurriedly asked,

"Master, is it really alright to just let me improve on my own?"

"It is. The purpose of taking disciples is to teach them how to learn on their own. That is a master's greatest achievement, is it not?"

Str's broad palm rested on Genma's head, calming much of the unease in his heart.

"I understand, Master. I will definitely keep working hard and strive to master Sage Art as soon as possible!"

Genma truly yearned for Sage Art, a power that stood at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World.

Although the training process was incredibly difficult and the success rate was very low—indeed, Str himself had failed to master it—Genma could not help looking forward to it.

Among the Shinobi World's elite, Jiraiya, one of the Three Sannin, had been able to fight the Six Paths of Pain born from the Rinnegan without falling behind by relying on Sage Art. Even more impressive, Naruto Uzumaki, the original protagonist who had mastered Sage Art, had defeated all six Pains by himself after obtaining intelligence on the Rinnegan.

Of course, the Six Paths of Pain had exhausted themselves carrying rice too diligently, leaving them much weaker by the time they fought Naruto. Still, it had to be said that even without cheats, this ability could allow an ordinary person to rise to the top in a single leap.

Moreover, the inheritance Genma had received was clearly extraordinary. The Sage Arts in the original work were all Animal Sage Arts, while his was a genuine Human Sage Art.

Although Human Sage Art had never appeared in the original work, there was still a possibility.

The Sage Art learned by the Sage of Six Paths had actually been taught by the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku.

But that raised another question. The toads before the Toad Sage had no Chakra, so could it be that it obtained Chakra and immediately mastered Sage Art on its own? Then taught it to the Sage of Six Paths?

This kind of sudden cheat-like development was actually quite common. For example, after Asura received the Six Paths cheat, he suddenly gained Wood Style, then abruptly mastered True Wood Senju... and later even acquired Nine-Tails Mode...

But that was under the premise that Asura and the Sage of Six Paths were related by blood.

Could it be that the toad and the Sage of Six Paths were brothers, and Kaguya threw it beside a pond to fend for itself because it was too ugly?

Then the toad endured humiliation and trained itself to master Sage Art, before inciting its two more handsome brothers to kill each other with their own mother?

Ahem, ahem. It is still too early for such dark theories.

However, according to Str, great enlightenment sounded much like comprehending the Heavenly Dao. Perhaps only by comprehending the Heavenly Dao could one merge with heaven and earth.

This had also been mentioned in the Sage Art training process on Mount Myōboku in the original work.

To cultivate Sage Art, one first had to merge with nature. But that was merely the process of initially sensing Nature Energy, only the beginning. There might be many more unknown steps afterward.

After bidding farewell to Master Str, he rushed toward another important place of study.

Before long, he arrived at a shop near the hospital. Many dried plants and animals were displayed outside its entrance.

This was a pharmacy, and a famous pharmacy of the Nara Clan in Konohagakure.

As for why this place had become one of Genma's places of study, it was entirely thanks to Str's full support.

After all, Str was the inheritor of the ancient Drunken Immortal Sect. Just revealing a few inherited prescriptions had delighted the Nara Clan beyond measure.

And Genma had become an apprentice at the pharmacy, where he had already studied for three years.