Shikkotsu Forest

In the back mountains of the Balance Clan, Masahiko was leading Hashirama in search of something.

"Found it! The Natural Energy is most abundant here." Masahiko shouted, "Rasengan!"

Masahiko formed a Rasengan and fired it at the mountainside, revealing a deep, dark cave in the rock wall.

The two exchanged a glance and headed into the cave.

After advancing roughly fifty or sixty meters, their view suddenly opened up to reveal a vast underground palace.

Five enormous gates stood upright in the palace, their patterns exuding an aura of death.

This... could it be the Rashomon? Masahiko murmured inwardly. Sure enough, after the two searched around, they found a contract scroll in a corner of the palace.

"Second Grandfather, you should sign the contract." After thinking it over, Hashirama felt that his Wood Style was sufficient and that he had no need for this kind of defensive ninjutsu contract.

"Hashirama, look more closely... This isn't an ordinary defensive ninjutsu. Feel how sturdy those gates are. Even if we summon them, we could probably only summon phantom images of the gates. I doubt I could summon all five gates, either. It would be more practical for you to make the contract." Masahiko declined.

Hashirama examined them carefully and did not refuse again. He signed his name on the contract scroll.

A familiar line of Chinese characters flashed before Masahiko's eyes.

Witnessed and participated in a Naruto World side story—Five Layered Rashomon. Obtained 2 Witness Points.

Despite this gain, Masahiko was not satisfied, because this was not the destination he had come looking for.

"We've searched everywhere around the palace. There's nothing else, Second Grandfather, we..." Hashirama began.

"No, there's still one place we haven't searched." Masahiko cut him off. He fully released his Perception Ability and, sure enough, sensed something unusual near the central gate.

"Hashirama, use the Summoning Jutsu to move that gate in the middle."

Hashirama was puzzled for a moment, then mobilized more than half his Chakra before managing to shift the central gate some distance aside.

I didn't expect the physical Rashomon to be so difficult to summon. Even Hashirama at his peak would probably find it hard to use all five physical gates at once... Masahiko thought, but his attention was immediately drawn to the passage revealed beneath the shifted gate.

"There really is more to this place. Let's go down, Hashirama," Masahiko said.

Hashirama nodded and took the lead. The passage looked unremarkable, yet stretched for hundreds of meters. When the two emerged from it, it was as though they had entered another world.

"What dense Natural Energy..." Masahiko took a deep breath and muttered, "If I'm not mistaken, this must be... Shikkotsu Forest."

Shikkotsu Forest, Mount Myōboku, and Ryūchi Cave were collectively known as the Three Sacred Lands. Among Konoha's legendary Sannin, Jiraiya trained at Mount Myōboku under the Great Toad Sage; Orochimaru trained at Ryūchi Cave under the White Snake Sage, and Kabuto Yakushi had also trained there; Tsunade, meanwhile, trained at Shikkotsu Forest.

In Masahiko's previous life, Naruto had never explicitly stated that anyone trained at Shikkotsu Forest. But based on the available information, the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had very likely learned Sage Mode at Shikkotsu Forest. The Slug's healing abilities were extremely similar to the Sage Body of the Senju Clan, Tsunade's Summoning Beast came from Shikkotsu Forest, and the traits Hashirama displayed after entering Sage Mode were entirely different from those of Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave. Therefore, there was a high probability that Hashirama Senju had trained in Sage Mode at Shikkotsu Forest.

So Hashirama really learned Sage Mode at Shikkotsu Forest? I wonder if I'll get a chance to learn it too. Masahiko muttered inwardly, but then felt as though he had forgotten something.

The legendary Shikkotsu Forest was not a place filled with birdsong and blooming flowers. Instead, it was cold, damp, and muddy everywhere.

Well, this is where Slugs live, after all. Masahiko murmured inwardly. When he looked up, he discovered a gigantic Slug staring at them.

Masahiko looked embarrassed. Slugs can't read minds, can they...?

However, Masahiko was clearly overthinking it. The Slug Sage merely glanced at him casually and ignored him afterward, focusing instead on Hashirama. Then he spoke.

"Asura! Why have you come to my Shikkotsu Forest?"

Hashirama looked puzzled and glanced around, thinking that the Slug Sage was speaking to someone else.

"You're talking to me? My name is Hashirama Senju..." Hashirama found no third person, yet he could feel from the Slug Sage's gaze that it was indeed speaking to him.

"Wow, what a huge Slug! It can actually talk?" Only then did Hashirama react. Two dark lines appeared on Masahiko's face; he felt embarrassed on the Slug Sage's behalf.

"I see..." the Slug Sage murmured to himself. "That makes sense. Several hundred years have passed. Asura should have been gone long ago. But this personality, and this Chakra... a reincarnation?"

"Then, you two outsiders, what is your purpose in coming to my Shikkotsu Forest?" the Slug Sage asked.

"Where is this place?" Though Masahiko already knew, he still asked.

"This is Shikkotsu Forest, one of the legendary Three Sacred Lands. I am the Slug Sage of this place."

The Slug Sage explained slowly.

"A sage? Then can you teach us those legendary sage arts?" Upon hearing the other party call himself a sage, Hashirama immediately grew excited.

"Sage Mode?" The Slug Sage considered it. "Teaching you won't be a problem. You are the only visitors this place has had in hundreds of years. But he..." The Slug Sage examined Masahiko closely, then shook his head slightly.

Masahiko's heart sank halfway. "Why can't you teach me?"

"It isn't that I won't teach you. You can learn alongside Hashirama, but you don't have Yang Release Chakra. I'm afraid you won't be able to learn Sage Mode. Even if you do, it will be difficult for you to use it." The Slug Sage explained slowly.

"That's fine. I want to learn Sage Mode too," Masahiko replied. He thought of the future Jiraiya, the Toad Sage. If he could cultivate Sage Mode to that level, Masahiko would be content.

As for Yang Release Chakra, I'll find a way to get it sooner or later, Masahiko thought.

"Very well, then I'll teach Sage Mode to both of you," the Slug Sage said.

"The human body's Chakra is formed by combining one's spiritual energy and physical energy. Sage Mode, on the other hand, involves absorbing Natural Energy on that foundation and perfectly blending all three energies together. The first step is for you to sense the sage energy..."

As the Slug Sage explained, Masahiko gradually came to understand the specific process of cultivating Sage Mode.

At that moment, familiar Chinese characters flashed through his mind once more.

Witnessed and slightly altered a major Naruto World event: Hashirama Senju obtaining Sage Mode. Obtained 10 (*2) Witness Points.

Slightly altered? What did I alter?

After thinking for a long time, Masahiko finally realized that Hashirama had obtained Sage Mode a little too early...

Madara won't obtain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan for at least another ten years... Doesn't that mean Hashirama can just hang Madara up and beat him?

What should I do? Hashirama won't establish Konoha early just because he's strong enough, will he...?

Waiting online. This is urgent...