Sage Mode and Immortality

This situation continued for some time until a special case broke the village's peace.

"Special case?"

"Yes, these kinds of mental health issues usually occur in adults, but a serial killer recently appeared in the village."

The villagers quickly discovered that the serial killer was a boy from the village named Jugo. Every time he killed someone, his body underwent an incredible transformation, and when he transformed, most adults working together couldn't control him.

"Given the prevalence of mental illness in this village, this child named Jugo is clearly a severe case, or perhaps he's undergoing some unknown mutation." Following Orochimaru's explanation, Shuichi calmly made his deduction.

"That's right." Orochimaru's expression showed a hint of excitement. "This mutation has multiplied his life force many times over, which is also my main purpose for coming here."

As Shuichi and Orochimaru were talking, several young men from the village surrounded an old man with a cane and walked towards them.

"Sir," the village elder said politely, "We really don't know what to do with that boy, Jugo. Although we've locked him up, the villagers are all uneasy. Why don't you take him away quickly? Otherwise, many relatives of the deceased villagers want to execute him."

"That child is very useful to me, and I need him to stay here." Orochimaru directly warned the village chief and villagers. This was the privilege of the strong, who did not allow the weak to disobey his will. Otherwise, under normal circumstances, Jugo might have already been secretly killed by the villagers.

"I'll reinforce the place where he's being held. You don't need to worry about anything else." Ignoring them further, Orochimaru led Shuichi to a cave at the back of the village.

"Let's go inside and take a look, Shuichi-kun."

Candles were lit on the walls of the cave. The two entered the dim cave and stopped in front of a locked iron door after walking several dozen meters.

"Click!" Orochimaru took out a key and unlocked the heavy chains on the iron gate. "Try it out, Shuichi-kun."

The moment the door opened, a strange roar echoed from the depths of darkness.

"Someone's coming again! Kill, kill..." Upon hearing the voice, Shuichi recognized it as a boy even younger than himself; the clear voice carried a sense of madness.

"Thump thump thump..." A dark figure rushed straight towards him at an extremely fast speed.

As they got closer, they could see that the child had light orange hair, but half of his body, including his face, had turned dark gray, and his left hand had transformed into a sharp scythe, pointing at Shuichi.

"Bang!" Shuichi took an incredible step forward, intercepting the attack mid-air with one hand. "The power is quite impressive, many times stronger than an ordinary person."

"Ah, ah..." Jugo, who had transformed, Jugo to lose his mind. He struggled incessantly but could not break free. Then he used both his hands and feet to strike Shuichi.

Releasing his grip on the opponent's scythe, Shuichi nimbly and rhythmically dodged his chaotic attacks.

"Slash!" After Jugo unleashed a full-force slash, the person in front of him suddenly vanished. In the instant he was stunned, Shuichi had flipped over his head, appeared behind him, grabbed the hand that Jugo had transformed into and pulled it behind his back, while simultaneously bracing one foot against Jugo's waist.

After subduing Jugo, he unleashed his full chakra, which surged into Jugo's body through the point of contact.

"Kill, kill..." Jugo's voice grew softer and softer, and the dark markings on his body faded away. Soon, Shuichi felt the resistance in his hands disappear.

After letting go, the orange-haired child in front of him looked confused for a moment, then stood up and ran into the depths of the room, shouting.

"Ah, ah, I don't want to kill anymore, please leave quickly."

Orochimaru walked up to Shuichi and asked, "Did you find anything?"

"Yes, he must have been mutated due to some kind of energy invading his body. The villagers' illnesses are similar, just not as severe as his."

"You're as perceptive as ever." Orochimaru smiled excitedly, "The energy that invaded the Libra Clan is called Natural Energy, a mysterious energy that most people can't even perceive in their entire lives."

"I see!" Shuichi said calmly, "Judging from the name, it must be an energy that is ubiquitous in nature, similar to real wind, clouds, thunder, and lightning, only it is difficult for us to detect."

"Furthermore, this Natural Energy is definitely related to the chakra used by ninjas. The human body's energy comes from eating and breathing, and we use the body's energy to create chakra."

"Therefore, creatures possessing chakra should all be considered Natural Energy converters, only this internal conversion involves multiple processes and is therefore safer; it's likely a form of self-protection for our human bodies. Directly absorbing large amounts would certainly greatly enhance strength, but it also carries correspondingly huge risks, just like the Libra Clan."

"From this perspective, isn't Natural Energy just a different kind of chakra? Or rather, isn't chakra a different kind of Natural Energy?"

Orochimaru, who was standing to the side, was shocked by Shuichi's words and remained silent for a long time. Clearly, this view of interpreting Natural Energy from the perspective of the human body had a certain impact on him.

"You really surprise me, Shuichi-kun!" Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and licked around his mouth. Having spent a lot of time with him, Shuichi knew this was a habitual action Orochimaru took when he was excited.

"Jonin have been using Natural Energy to fight for a long time; we call this Sage Mode," Orochimaru explained to him.

Shuichi wasn't surprised by this. Jiraiya had probably been practicing Senjutsu for over 20 years, and he and Orochimaru had grown up together since childhood. It would be strange if he didn't know about Sage Mode.

Orochimaru then spoke about the specifics of Sage Mode, Shuichi guessed that this information was either told to him by Jiraiya or passed down from the First Hokage and taught by the Third Hokage.

Overall, it's not much different from what's described in the original work. During battle, you absorb Natural Energy into your body and maintain an absolute balance with Life Energy and Mental Energy. This greatly increases a ninja's combat power, and enhances their chakra reserves, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu. This is Sage Mode.

"Although Sage Mode is exceptionally powerful, very few ninjas in the Shinobi World can use it, not even the Third Hokage."

Because ninja battles are inherently extremely dangerous, a slight misstep can result in life or death. Using Sage Mode is like fighting on a tightrope; losing balance means certain death, significantly increasing the danger of the battle—it's like dancing on a knife's edge.

"Therefore, even those who are proficient in Sage Mode will not use this method of combat unless absolutely necessary." The reason is simple: if they can safely defeat the enemy, who would put themselves in danger just to increase their combat power?

This may also be why Orochimaru has never learned Sage Mode. Given his personality, how could he possibly actively seek out something that would put him in greater danger, especially since training in this mode would require a significant amount of time?

"So, teacher, what is your purpose in visiting this Libra Clan?"

"Of course, it's the amplifying effect of Natural Energy on Life Energy and Mental Energy." As he said this, Shuichi noticed a fanatical look in Orochimaru's eyes.

"The villagers of the Libra Clan and this child named Jugo are all suffering from physical ailments due to their inability to control the surge in their Mental Energy and Life Energy. But if this surge could be controlled, wouldn't that mean that humans could break free from the limitations of a short lifespan and become truly eternal beings?"

As expected, Orochimaru saw the hope of immortality in Jugo.

Shuichi aback; Orochimaru's theory actually made sense. Controlling Natural Energy to increase one's Mental Energy and Life Energy, then dividing it into multiple parts, replacing one part when it's used up.

In this way, one can avoid the risks of excessive energy expansion and divide one's life into multiple parts. The Shinobi World is still quite dangerous. If one is accidentally killed, one can activate another part. Isn't that equivalent to immortality? Immortality without fear of being killed?

"Holy crap..." This thought startled even Shuichi himself, because apart from being slightly weaker in combat power, this method was far more reliable than directly achieving Kekkei Mōra Limit in terms of both difficulty and other aspects. If Kekkei Mōra was sealed, wouldn't one suffer a fate worse than death for thousands of years?

Even if one becomes Six Paths level master through scientific research, there is still a possibility of being killed by other Six Paths level or stronger individuals. At the same time, one cannot escape the fate of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Chakra reincarnation is nothing compared to living another life.

Furthermore, in the original work, Orochimaru may have made his discovery around this time. From the start of his research to his success, it only took about 10 years. Even if he had the weakness of being slightly weaker in combat, he could simply be killed and then have another life.

Therefore, no matter how you look at it, this research path is the most cost-effective in the Shinobi World and the most suitable for the natives of the Shinobi World.

"EMMM..." Shuichi had originally considered changing Orochimaru's research direction after transmigrating and becoming his student, but now he saw how incredibly successful Orochimaru was. The Sharingan and Sage Mode were just toys he found after achieving immortality; he had plenty of time to acquire them slowly.

"I don't need to change his fate at all; he has already lived up to his Ninja Way."

After figuring it out, Shuichi exclaimed from the bottom of his heart, "Teacher, you are truly a genius unparalleled in the Shinobi World!"

After saying that, he looked at Jugo inside with great interest, like a greedy person looking at shining gold, "So what should we do? Let's get started!"

Clearly, Shuichi was now excited, his entire being conveying the message: "Boss, if this succeeds, take me with you!"