Sage Transformation

For now, Yuzuru felt that his absorption of Natural Energy was probably fairly passive.

About twenty minutes later, Yuzuru felt that the Natural Energy inside him had nearly reached its limit. At the same time, his body underwent a noticeable change.

Centimeter-wide black bands appeared on Yuzuru's skin. He moved his arm and found that they somewhat resembled the stripes that appeared when the Yin Seal was activated. In fact, they were running along the main pathways in his body.

"Are these natural channels for Natural Energy? Is the Chakra inside me drawing it in?"

The stripes spread across Yuzuru's body, reaching all the way to his fingertips.

Yuzuru made Chakra flow through his body, while also drawing on the Natural Energy within him. Then he gave his arm a gentle swing—and it pierced straight through the tree trunk beside him with ease.

"That was a little too violent..."

Feeling the immense boost Natural Energy gave him, Yuzuru couldn't help but grimace.

"Colored contacts and makeup aside, I've now experienced the tattoo version. Even if it's a rather low-tier version of the tattoo... a tattoo's still a tattoo."

Of course, given Yuzuru's current mindset, he cared more about the defensive boost this form provided than its offensive power. Kill the enemy? What was that? All he cared about was staying alive.

In the original story, Jugo's combat ability after his "Sage Transformation" was impressive. His aggression, damage output, and durability all rose to the highest levels in the Shinobi World... well, the highest levels besides those of the truly overpowered.

Unfortunately, once Jugo fully underwent "Sage Transformation," his mind went wild along with his body, and he gradually lost his reason.

His body gained power, but he lost his brains. He fought almost entirely on instinct. So although some of Jugo's combat feats were astonishing, he never achieved a truly overwhelming victory.

For one thing, if you transplanted Jugo's physical stats onto a ninja who fought with his brain, like Kakashi Hatake, the results would surely be very different.

"Besides, a ninja who can do sit-ups is a good ninja."

Yuzuru remembered that Jugo seemed to possess some kind of special self-healing or healing ability. That was another point worth investigating.

"Besides boosting the body, mixing Natural Energy into ninjutsu can also increase its power. This mixture can't compare to Senjutsu, but it's easier to master... Natural Energy comes from outside the body, so it's practically inexhaustible."

"The good news is, I don't have to stay still to absorb Natural Energy like they do at Mount Myōboku."

Ryūchi Cave and Mount Myōboku were different. When using Natural Energy, Ryūchi Cave didn't care about controlling the risks at all... Either way, the White Snake Sage had really helped Yuzuru out.

"Snake Transformation, huh? So be it. Poor people have to rely on mutations."

Yuzuru was worried about whether anything would change the next time he entered a dungeon, but he didn't regret what had happened.

"My Chakra reserves have increased enormously, and by a stroke of luck, I've learned to use Natural Energy... It feels like I've finally been able to breathe freely since coming to this world."

After taking stock of what he'd gained, Yuzuru summed it up in a way that was both emotional and surprisingly accurate.

The feeling was very real. Before, as an ordinary ninja with no abilities, Yuzuru had always felt like he could fall into an abyss at any moment. But after this trip through the dungeon, he felt like he could finally catch his breath.

"Senjutsu Chakra... Let's try it."

Yuzuru even tried to create Senjutsu Chakra, but, naturally, he failed. He couldn't even get the slightest feel for it. The idea of combining spiritual energy, physical energy, and Natural Energy into one sounded simple enough, but how was he supposed to get the "proportions" right? Yuzuru had no clue.

These concepts were all too abstract.

If Senjutsu Chakra was this difficult, Sage Mode was even further out of reach... To enter Sage Mode, he would need to create a large amount of Senjutsu Chakra in a short time.

What Yuzuru had gained was already astonishing. He shouldn't expect to reach the heavens in a single leap.

"It's not Sage Mode, where you get more energetic the longer you fight. Having this much Natural Energy in my body makes me feel heavy. It's still much better than Jugo's rampage, but it's not a state I can maintain all the time... Anyway, I don't need to use 'Sage Transformation' unless I have to."

The "Sage Transformation" caused by containing large amounts of Natural Energy was more controllable in Yuzuru's case. He was different from Jugo, and even from those with a Curse Mark. Even so, he still had to use this power cautiously.

Could he treat Sage Transformation as his normal state? Even Jugo, who was born with a Sage Body, couldn't do that.

Afterward, Yuzuru released a considerable amount of the Natural Energy in his body, and the strange markings on him disappeared as well... He found that keeping half the amount of Natural Energy required for Sage Transformation inside him gave him mostly positive effects. Any more than that, though, and the results were uncertain.

In other words, it took him about ten minutes to go from his normal state into Sage Transformation. That was manageable, especially since he didn't have to stay still during the process.

There were still many things about Yuzuru's changes that were worth investigating, and some of them were even puzzling. But for now, he cared more about putting them to practical use than studying the underlying principles. He would remain content not to understand everything.

After sorting through his experiences at Ryūchi Cave, Yuzuru took out a scroll and began recording what he had found in Orochimaru's laboratory... Compared with what he had gained from Ryūchi Cave, what he'd found at Orochimaru's place wasn't as important after all.

The Body Modification Technique that Yuzuru had valued most was indeed there, but after looking it over, he realized things weren't so simple.

The word "modification" in Body Modification Technique meant that he would have to cut into his own body. The process also required a professional laboratory and a certain level of medical expertise... In short, it wasn't just a technique. It was more like science and some really nasty stuff.

Yuzuru didn't have the means to modify his own body.

The good news was, by now Yuzuru didn't need that technique as much... After mastering "Sage Transformation," his body had become considerably stronger. He was no longer so fragile that a glancing blow could kill him.

"Body Modification Technique? Seems like I don't need it for now. Orochimaru didn't help much, but Ryūchi Cave, behind Orochimaru, helped me a great deal... I guess all roads lead to the same place."

At this point, Yuzuru had begun to feel uneasy. His "Chakra Spiritual Body" had already been corrupted. If he modified his physical body too, he worried he might become a complete monster.