Senjutsu placed extremely high demands on practitioners. To fuse with—or rather, contain—the dangerous Nature Energy, a practitioner had to possess a vast amount of Chakra. That threshold alone was enough to stop the overwhelming majority of practitioners.
However, Yuhara, who lacked sufficient Chakra, did not face this particular threshold. Thanks to the influence of Jugo's Factor, he did not need to worry too much about the harm Nature Energy caused to his body... In essence, he was absorbing Nature Energy every moment of every day.
At the same time, Yuhara had yet to display the excessively exaggerated loss of control that Jugo suffered. According to his own theory, he was, after all, a "replica." When it came to absorbing Nature Energy, he should be far less efficient than the original Jugo, and that had instead allowed him to avoid those negative effects of losing control.
To practice orthodox Senjutsu—or, more accurately, to seek the "transformation effect" and enter Sage Mode—one had to mix the absorbed Nature Energy with one's own mental and physical energy in an exact 1:1:1 ratio. The resulting mixture was what was known as Senjutsu Chakra. In Sage Mode, techniques activated with Senjutsu Chakra were the truly powerful Senjutsu techniques. However, this was not something that could be accomplished easily.
Equal mixing sounded simple enough, but mental energy, physical energy, and Nature Energy all sounded incredibly mystical. So how could they be measured precisely?
He should find a Yordle to practice Senjutsu with.
Sage Mode could not be mastered easily. However, Yuhara now had enough self-awareness not to crave this strongest path. Sage Mode? Learning Sage Mode in seven days? That definitely would not happen to him.
The only method Yuhara could immediately use or practice was to fight by directly using Nature Energy, just like Jugo.
Leaving aside everything else, if he could apply the "Blood Loss Technique" as an active skill in actual combat, Yuhara's battle power would be greatly enhanced. Sensing and absorbing Nature Energy were not difficult for him. The problem he faced now was how to concentrate and use Nature Energy.
This problem could not originally have been solved in a short time, but fortunately, Yuhara now had the design schematics for the Cursed Seal.
Aside from utilizing Nature Energy, the greater significance of the complete Heavenly Cursed Seal or Earthly Cursed Seal was that it served as Orochimaru's second method of reincarnation and resurrection besides Living Corpse Reincarnation. However, the version 1.0 design schematics in Yuhara's possession were the basic version, without any of Orochimaru's Chakra mixed in. They only designed how the Cursed Seal's host should contain and use Nature Energy, which was precisely what Yuhara needed.
After the last battle, it was not only Yuhara who had realized that his strength was insufficient. As a sensor ninja, Tigo had also understood that she could not continue as she had before. At the very least, she needed to possess a certain ability to protect herself.
Thus, she was training here as well. Her training method was the same as Yuhara's last time: climbing up the ravine within a limited time... No matter what, the basics were crucial.
Several days later.
Yuhara sat cross-legged beside the stream. A notebook rested on his knees, and he held a pen in his right hand as he wrote and drew on a page. Meanwhile, his left hand habitually played with two tiny clusters of Chakra.
Orochimaru had given Yuhara some excellent ideas and methods. He intended to further modify the Cursed Seal design schematics on that foundation to suit his own needs... The flattering way to put it was "building on the shoulders of giants." The less flattering way was "incomplete piracy."
After spending several days on it, Yuhara finally completed the last modifications.
In theory, there was nothing wrong with the modified design schematics. Well, at least there did not seem to be anything wrong with them.
After completing the theoretical design, the next step was experimentation. Yuhara was not Orochimaru; he could only experiment on himself. Moreover, to guard against accidents, he needed someone else's help.
The only person who could help him now was Tigo. Thinking of this, Yuhara involuntarily raised his head, and then...
He happened to see something fall freely for a brief moment before plunging straight into the stream ahead.
Winter had not yet passed, and light snow was falling from the sky.
Yuhara froze for an instant, then rescuing the person and starting a fire happened in one smooth motion.
The outdoor temperature was extremely low, and cold winds occasionally swept through the bottom of the valley. After being hauled out, Tigo hugged her shoulders and sat down tightly beside the bonfire.
It was easy to see that she was extremely slender. At a glance, she clearly was not the sort of person with much combat power.
"Wanting to increase your strength is a good thing, but you don't need to push yourself too hard. In the end, ninjas have to be divided into combat and non-combat types..." Yuhara said as he looked at Tigo.
Everyone had things they were good at and things they were bad at. Perhaps this was merely Yuhara's prejudice, but in any case, he did not think Tigo was the sort of ninja who could participate in intense frontal combat.
"It's still good to increase my strength a little." As Tigo spoke, she took a scroll from a backpack beside her and handed it to Yuhara.
"These are the Fire Release techniques Jian Dong left behind. You might be able to use them."
Yuhara accepted it and took a look. The scroll recorded Fire Release techniques such as Dragon Fire Technique and Flame Bullet. That was perfectly normal. Jian Dong was only a Chunin, so of course she would not have any high-level techniques.
"Fire Release is indeed very practical. But objectively speaking, Fire Release techniques should have their power linked to the amount of Chakra they consume. More importantly, I have no way to master a new elemental technique in a short time..."
The technique was good, but unfortunately, Yuhara had no use for it.
Tigo nodded, then took the scroll back.
"So quiet... If only it could stay this quiet forever..."
She tilted her head back, her gaze seemingly fixed deep within the distant clouds.
This atmosphere...
Yuhara seriously wondered whether Tigo was really only fourteen years old. He looked her over carefully again. Well, all he could say was that, mentally speaking, most people in this world matured early.
Yes, mentally speaking.
"Yeah. When will the war finally end?"
He then murmured this softly.
The two of them quietly watched the snowy scene for a while.
However, Yuhara did not become overly sentimental. Next, he pricked the tip of his right index finger and began drawing complicated techniques in blood on the back and palm of his left hand.
After finishing the drawings and repeatedly checking that there were no mistakes, he raised his head and said to Tigo:
"Tigo, I'm about to conduct a small experiment. I need you to help me with something."
Since it was only a small favor, Tigo naturally had no reason to refuse. She nodded and asked, "All right. What should I do?"
Yuhara reached his right hand behind his back. As he loosely clenched his palm, an iron sword hilt appeared first, followed by a silver blade as thin as a cicada's wing, which he drew out.
He handed the sword to Tigo.
Tigo accepted it, though her expression showed that she did not understand.
Yuhara continued, "If something goes wrong with the experiment, Tigo, help me cut off my left hand... Be ruthless. This can only be entrusted to you. I'm afraid I'll go soft."
Tigo: "..."
A... a small favor?
Before you continue