What Is Sage Mode?

Ryūchi Cave, Tagorihime carefully placed a plate of food she had bought from a human town in front of Uchiha Hikari.

After doing all this, she immediately hid back next to the White Snake Sage, peering out to observe Kazashiro's reaction from not far away.

What a humiliation! As one of the three great Hime, I am second only to the emperor in this Ryūchi Cave, if not the most powerful.

As a result, ever since these two arrived, he suddenly found himself reduced to a servant.

Although he was a servant before.

But who was she serving before? The legendary master of Ryūchi Cave, the famous White Snake Sage.

Now, she actually has to bow down to a human girl and endure her emotional abuse from time to time.

What a humiliation!

Tagorihime felt so wronged that all she wanted to do was bite her handkerchief.

On the contrary, Kazashiro, who initially bombarded Ryūchi Cave with Ninjutsu, was much easier to deal with. After all, once he obtained the cultivation method, he began to guide Natural Energy into his body and has not shown any signs of waking up yet.

However, looking at the other party's normal appearance as always, Tagorihime couldn't help but mutter to the White Snake Sage beside her, "This guy has been cultivating for almost a month, why is there still no sign of change?"

According to the cultivation method of Ryūchi Cave, there will be obvious signs of change after entering the Sage Mode.

Growing horns or scales are all normal phenomena.

But the one in front of me...

Although it absorbed a lot of Natural Energy, its appearance did not change at all.

"Heh, how superficial."

The White Snake Sage remained in the form of an old woman. She picked up her pipe, tapped it twice on her shoe, then slowly lit it, letting the smoke rise as she held it in her hand, and said:

"Tagorihime, tell me, what is Sage Mode?"

The Tagorihime, thought for a moment, covered her mouth with her sleeve, and whispered, "The combination of Natural Energy and Chakra."

"That explanation is correct. Then let me ask you, in the ancient times before Chakra existed, how did various creatures enter Sage Mode?"

The White Snake Sage's question not only stumped Tagorihime, but also caused the other two Hime to begin pondering it.

The only one who remained silent was Uchiha Hikari, who was focused on eating and drinking.

"The current Sage Mode requires the user to absorb Natural Energy beforehand and fuse it with their own Chakra in order to briefly enter this state."

Seeing that the three Hime remained silent, the White Snake Sage smacked his lips, sniffed the smoke floating in the air, and continued speaking.

"But in the era before the advent of Chakra, those powerful beings who controlled Natural Energy could be said to have merged with Natural Energy, able to freely mobilize the Natural Energy between heaven and earth to fight enemies with the power of nature."

The White Snake Sage's narrowed eyes widened slightly as she recalled what she had read in ancient books and began to imagine things.

"Just as the Ōtsutsuki used Chakra to evolve and gain near-infinite life, the lifespans of those who truly controlled Natural Energy at that time far exceeded those of ordinary people."

Ichikishimahime disagreed. "If Natural Energy is so strong, why couldn't they defeat the Ōtsutsuki? In the end, it's because Natural Energy is inferior to Chakra."

The White Snake Sage speech had been interrupted, wasn't angry. Instead, he glanced at Ichikishimahime and said, "Heh, that's both right and wrong. The Ōtsutsuki's strength lies not only in their Chakra, but also in their Divine Arts."

"Divine Arts?"

The three Hime were all taken aback.

Even Uchiha Hikari, who was focused on his roast duck battle, stopped what he was doing.

"The Ninjutsu that ninjas perform by forming hand seals and mobilizing the Chakra within their bodies is, in essence, just a reproduction of the phenomena produced by Divine Arts."

Omniscient and omnipotent, knowing the past and the future, the Ōtsutsuki is such a terrifying being.

"Horrible."

Hearing the description Tagitsuhime down her spine.

Although the other two Hime did not speak, their attitudes were clear from their expressions alone.

"Since the Ōtsutsuki are so terrifying, why bother fighting? Let's just surrender."

Just as the atmosphere fell silent, Uchiha Hikari spat out the bone fragments in his mouth, threw the duck leg he was holding aside, and looked coldly at the White Snake Sage.

"Hehehe, this old woman also wants to surrender, but unfortunately the evolution of the Ōtsutsuki will inevitably destroy this planet, so I have no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it."

Looking at Uchiha Hikari in front of him, the White Snake Sage maintained the same attitude, showing no anger despite the disrespect in the other's words.

"That sounds nice, but all you've done is find a hot-blooded idiot to fight for you, and then you reap the benefits."

Uchiha Hikari revealed the White Snake Sage's true purpose.

"I don't deny that, but isn't fighting the Ōtsutsuki also your human goal? My approach is to provide you with new power. As for how to ultimately defeat the Ōtsutsuki, that's your business."

The White Snake Sage stopped the Hime, who was somewhat annoyed by Uchiha Hikari's disrespectful words.

The three Hime transformed into half-snake, half-human forms, staring at Uchiha Hikari with chilling eyes.

Faced with such a hostile gaze, Uchiha Hikari activated his Mangekyō Sharingan, and the outline of Susanoo seen beside him.

Susanoo...

The White Snake Sage would naturally not allow such a massive creature to wreak havoc within his cave.

"Alright, I think you should all calm down and not disturb the Fifth Hokage's training."

Seeing that the White Snake Sage had brought up Kazashiro, Uchiha Hikari snorted and sat back down in his original seat, but the disdain in his eyes did not disappear; instead, it intensified.

The three Hime were itching to fight, but they couldn't do anything without the White Snake Sage's order, and they didn't seem to have a good way to deal with Susanoo either.

Unless the White Snake Sage intervenes.

"Where was I? Oh right, Natural Energy. If the Fifth Hokage could adapt to pure Natural Energy and use it for his own purposes without entering Sage Mode, then he would have touched the threshold of longevity."

The White Snake Sage were loaded with meaning.

"Longevity? How long can I live?"

The three Hime were very curious.

"A thousand years shouldn't be a problem, after all, I've lived that long."

The White Snake Sage laughed and said, "At the very least, she'll outlive that young guard."

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Hikari knew that the other party was trying to sow discord between him and others, so he snorted coldly and remained silent.

But a thousand years?

The roast duck in front of me suddenly didn't smell so good.

The Chunin Ninja Exams concluded smoothly.

There were no enemy attacks, no absurdities, and no inexplicable fighting or brawls.

The entire examination concluded in a peaceful atmosphere, and the nobles all returned to their respective territories unscathed.

The Shinobi World seems to have truly returned to a long-lost peace.

As agreed, Mei Terumi and Ringo Ameyuri took Hiruko away from Konoha. Konoha dispatched Kakashi's Team Seven as guards to Hiruko to the Land of Fire's ferry crossing.

"Mr. Kakashi, I've heard that you are proficient in the Five Elements and also know your father's White Fang Sword Technique?"

On the way, Mei Terumi asked Kakashi various questions, intentionally or unintentionally.

Kakashi answered all of Mei Terumi's questions, providing answers to those that did not involve classified information.

This friendly atmosphere continued until the group reached a mountain pass.

"Please wait a moment."

Karin suddenly raised her hand, indicating that there was something ahead.

"What's wrong, Karin?"

Kakashi assumed a vigilant stance, trusting in the Uzumaki Clan's sensory abilities and knowing that Karin must have discovered something.

"An unfamiliar Chakra is rapidly approaching this direction, at the twelve o'clock position, and the amount of Chakra is enormous..."

As Karin spoke, thunder rumbled from directly ahead.

"No way..."

Upon hearing the thunder, Kakashi's expression changed, and purple lightning began to crackle around his body. "Naruto, Sasuke, protect Karin! If things get dangerous, don't worry about us, evacuate immediately!"

He did not order the protection of Hiruko, after all, as a contemporary of Orochimaru and the director of the Konoha Research Bureau, Hiruko must have some trump cards that he did not know about.

"Yuri, you too. Protect those three guys. If things get bad, evacuate with them."

Mei Terumi also gave instructions to Ringo Ameyuri.

"I see."

Ringo Ameyuri licked her lips, her fighting spirit rising, and didn't take Mei Terumi's words too seriously.

"Watch your step!" Karin warned again.

Before the thunder even reached them, a sudden change occurred beneath their feet.

The previously flat ground was suddenly riddled with sharp spikes. Fortunately, Karin's timely warning, along with the fact that the ninjas present were all formidable, meant that this attack did not harm them.

But at that moment, the lightning bolt finally approached, delivering an elbow strike directly at Kakashi.

"Swift Thunder Charge!"

Kakashi didn't dodge, but met the attack head-on.

The flashing purple lightning collided head-on with the thunder in front of them, unleashing a powerful impact.

"Hatake Kakashi? It's been a few years, and his strength has increased quite a bit. He even stole my secret technique."

Ai, who was rushing towards Kakashi from afar, was surprised to see that Kakashi had managed to collide head-on with him.

"Fourth Generation, Raikage, you who betrayed the ninja, what brings you here today?"

Although he temporarily blocked A's attack, Kakashi did not relax.

His Lightning Release mode was heavily inspired by A's attack methods, but he figured everything out on his own, and in terms of both speed and power, he was inferior to A in front of him.

"Lava Release: Acidic Monster Technique"

A highly corrosive, viscous acid liquid was spat out from Mei Terumi's mouth. Upon hearing the sound, Kakashi hurriedly retreated, completely exposing A to the attack range of Lava Release.

Faced with the acid, Ai neither dodged nor avoided it, but instead increased the output of his Lightning Release Chakra.

The powerful Lightning Armor clashed head-on with the Lava Release. Amidst the sound of corrosion, A's figure burst out from the white mist created by the corrosion, heading straight towards Mei Terumi.

"Boiling Release: Clever Mist Technique"

Seeing that the Lava Release was ineffective, Mei Terumi hurriedly formed hand seals and used Boiling Release.

Having been injured by this mist-like attack before, Ai no longer tried to withstand it this time. Instead, he changed his target halfway through and began charging towards Hiruko.

"Don't even think about it!"

Kakashi noticed the change in the opponent's target and attacked again, but unexpectedly, the ground beneath his feet suddenly rose up, turning into a cage that bound him.

"Damn it, are there still people who can use Earth Release is a type of magic that allows one to escape through magic)?"

Seeing this, Naruto hurriedly told Karin to find the Earth Release user who hadn't shown up, while he himself rushed towards Hiruko's direction.

"Idiot, wouldn't you be delivering yourself to the enemy if you went there?"

Sasuke stomped his foot in anger at Naruto's reaction and wanted to rush over, but he had to protect Karin and could only watch Naruto's back.

"Don't worry, I'm not so fragile that I need Chunin to protect me."

Hiruko calmly, stretched out his sleeve, and shook out a large amount of black substance.

"What is this?" Ai asked, puzzled, but she didn't stop what she was doing.

"Sand Iron World Formation!"

As Hiruko seals, the black substance rapidly gathered, condensing into a huge square shape, which then transformed into spikes that extended out to block Ai's movements.

"Is this Iron Sand?"

After enduring several attacks with his Lightning Armor, Ai finally recognized the substance before him as Iron Sand, the material the Third Kazekage was most skilled at.

Those despicable Konoha Ninja, how did they learn Magnet Release?

Despite his doubts, Ai's seemingly intimidating move could not stop him at all. The hard Iron Sand broke under his impact and quickly reached Hiruko's front.

"Come with me, you damn kid!"

Ai stretched out his large hand, preparing to Hiruko before taking him away.

"Have you ignored me?" Ringo Ameyuri swung her sword at Ai.

"Get out of here."

A figure suddenly appeared between the two, sending Yu Yuli flying with a single punch.

Then Naruto, who came to help, was also kicked away by him.

It was said to be a kick, but I didn't feel anything on my foot, yet the other person did indeed disappear from my sight...

"Wind Release: Gale Palm"

Naruto suddenly burst out from another corner, unleashing a Gale Palm attack on the newly appeared enemy.

"Interesting."

Naruto's attack did not attract the attention of the person in front of him. He simply waved his arm, and a solid stone wall rose up from the ground.

The Gale Palm shattered the stone wall, and Ai's large hand finally reached in front of Hiruko's face.

"Scorch Release - Over-Vaporization Kill"

Two fireballs suddenly appeared; one separated Hiruko and Ai, while the other rushed straight at the newly arrived enemy.