Cultivation Begins

"Honey, is this the kid you said wasn't afraid of being consumed by Nature Energy?" Yamanaka Tohru, who was curiously taking in the sights of Mount Myōboku, was startled by the sudden voice.

"That's right. Dear, didn't I tell you? Tohru-chan has a special state called Ice Release. When he enters this state, he becomes an ice person made of the wind and water attributes in Nature Energy," Sage Fukasaku explained to Sage Shima in the distance.

"You told me, but I haven't seen it. Kid, show me your special state," Sage Shima said, carrying a vegetable basket with a few hopping insects inside, as she approached Yamanaka Tohru.

Yamanaka Tohru nodded and entered Ice Release! Sage Shima, like Sage Fukasaku when he first met Yamanaka Tohru, closed her eyes and used her Sage Mode sensory abilities to examine Yamanaka Tohru.

"It's really like that! In Sage Mode's perception, this kid is just a block of ice. Unbelievable!" Sage Shima marveled.

"Alright, dear! It's Tohru-chan's first time here, shouldn't you prepare him a hearty breakfast?" Sage Fukasaku said.

"Don't bother Sage Shima, I prepared some dry food when I came," Yamanaka Tohru said, remembering the insect feast from the original story, and quickly declined.

"Oh, don't be so polite! Don't let my wife's fierce appearance fool you, her cooking skills are amazing."

Sage Fukasaku acted as if he was telling him to make himself at home, so Yamanaka Tohru could only agree with a wry smile.

Yamanaka Tohru followed the two toads back to their home. When Yamanaka Tohru summoned Sage Fukasaku, they were in the forest looking for food.

"Tohru-chan, don't be polite, sit anywhere. She'll have breakfast ready soon," Sage Fukasaku said, pouring Yamanaka Tohru a cup of tea. The tea on Mount Myōboku was still normal.

Before long, Sage Shima brought out plates and plates of insect delicacies, filling the table.

"Come, come, Tohru-chan, don't be shy, eat!" The two enthusiastic toads looked at Yamanaka Tohru with anticipation.

Yamanaka Tohru closed his eyes, scooped up the insect ramen, and swallowed it.

"Tohru-chan, how does it taste?" Sage Fukasaku asked.

"Delicious!" Yamanaka Tohru forced himself to suppress the urge to vomit, and gave Sage Shima's insect ramen a thumbs up.

Sage Shima smiled upon hearing Yamanaka Tohru's praise.

After breakfast, Sage Fukasaku took Yamanaka Tohru to the pond.

"Tohru-chan, the first thing you need to do to learn Sage Mode is to sense and gather Nature Energy. Let Nature Energy enter and exit your body at will, in other words, become one with nature."

"But Sage Fukasaku, I can't feel the existence of Nature Energy!"

Yamanaka Tohru interrupted Sage Fukasaku. According to Sage Fukasaku, he needed to sense Nature Energy to become one with nature, but he couldn't sense Nature Energy.

"Tohru-chan, don't worry! Let me finish. You haven't learned Sage Mode, so even if you can use Nature Energy, you may not understand what Nature Energy is."

"Sage Fukasaku, do you mean that I just need to understand what Nature Energy is?"

"You need to understand what Nature Energy is to clearly distinguish between body energy and mental energy," Sage Fukasaku explained.

Yamanaka Tohru still didn't understand Sage Fukasaku's words. He remembered that Naruto's first step in training Sage Mode in the original story was to remain still and sense the existence of Nature Energy, but Sage Fukasaku was asking him to understand what Nature Energy was first.

"Tohru-chan, come here!" Sage Fukasaku jumped to the edge of a pond. Having read the original story, Yamanaka Tohru naturally knew that the pond contained toad oil.

As in the original story, Sage Fukasaku applied toad oil to Yamanaka Tohru's arm, but strangely, Yamanaka Tohru didn't feel any Nature Energy.

When Naruto was coated with toad oil, he could clearly feel the inflow of Nature Energy, and his arm would turn into a toad's, but Yamanaka Tohru didn't feel the inflow of Nature Energy, but his arm turned into a toad's just like Naruto.

"Sage Fukasaku, why is this happening?" Yamanaka Tohru was puzzled. It seemed that Nature Energy was clearly flowing into his body, but he was completely unaware of it.

"This is the first step of your training, to understand the difference between Nature Energy and your body energy and mental energy." After saying that, Sage Fukasaku used a stick to knock the Nature Energy out of Yamanaka Tohru's arm.

"Tohru-chan, you don't have to worry about being consumed by Nature Energy, so you can use toad oil at will. Once you enter Ice Release, it means your training has failed, then just try again, until you can distinguish these three energies."

At this time, Yamanaka Tohru understood what the first step of his training was.

From the moment Yamanaka Tohru started extracting Chakra, he absorbed a large amount of Nature Energy due to Ice Release. Most of this Nature Energy became the basic energy for him to use Ice Release.

The remaining Nature Energy combined with his body in his normal state, so that his first extraction of Chakra was a combination of Nature Energy, body energy, and mental energy, but it didn't reach a 1:1:1 ratio, so it wasn't Sage Chakra.

This is why Yamanaka Tohru had Chunin-level Chakra from the first time he extracted Chakra, which is what Sage Fukasaku called the Nature Energy baptism.

Moreover, because Nature Energy existed from the beginning of Chakra extraction, Yamanaka Tohru couldn't distinguish between body energy, mental energy, and Nature Energy at all.

After determining his training direction, Yamanaka Tohru applied toad oil to his arm, and then opened his Sharingan to observe the flow of Chakra in his body.

Before long, most of Yamanaka Tohru's body was transformed into a toad's appearance by the frantically surging Nature Energy. Yamanaka Tohru remained unmoved, quietly enduring the flow of Chakra in his body.

"Hmm?" Just as Yamanaka Tohru was about to completely turn into a toad, the flow of Chakra in his body suddenly stopped, and his cells began to transform towards the molecular structure of ice.

As soon as Ice Release started, Yamanaka Tohru found that a large amount of energy accumulated in his body began to flow towards the cells after Ice Release.

Yamanaka Tohru knew that body energy and mental energy would not be absorbed by the cells after Ice Release, only Nature Energy would be absorbed. For the first time, Yamanaka Tohru directly felt this energy.

After Yamanaka Tohru released Ice Release, he continued to apply toad oil.

Once, twice...

Yamanaka Tohru didn't know how many times he repeated it, but hard work pays off. After one of the attempts, Yamanaka Tohru finally felt Nature Energy.

Unlike body energy and mental energy, Nature Energy had a different kind of activity, like it had life.

Yamanaka Tohru struck while the iron was hot, and after several more Ice Release transformations, he finally successfully identified Nature Energy in his body.

After being able to distinguish what Nature Energy was, Yamanaka Tohru closed his eyes and felt the Chakra in his body.

Only then did Yamanaka Tohru realize that although his Chakra didn't contain Nature Energy, there was a surge of Nature Energy in his body. Once he used Ice Release, this surge of Nature Energy would be released instantly, completing the transformation of cells.

Moreover, this surge of Nature Energy had a strange attraction to external Nature Energy. Intuition told Yamanaka Tohru that this surge of Nature Energy was the culprit that prevented him from entering Sage Mode.

Three chapters are completed today, and the update time will be changed later. One update before 10:00 am, one update at noon, and one update before 7:00 pm.