What exactly were natural energy and Sage Mode in essence? With that question in mind, Orochimaru began an in-depth investigation.
Based on what he had heard from the White Snake Sage and Jiraiya, as well as the ancient Senju Clan texts he had borrowed from Tsunade, Orochimaru learned that the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, could also use Sage Mode.
However, his Sage Mode differed from Jiraiya's and from the kind described by the White Snake Sage.
Jiraiya's Sage Mode caused "toad-like" traits to appear on his body. Though he explained that this was because his training was incomplete, Orochimaru understood that even the supposedly perfect Mount Myōboku Sage Mode still gave its user "toad-like" eyes.
The First Hokage was different. Aside from colored markings on his face, Sage Mode caused no changes to his physical features. He became neither "toad-like," "snake-like," nor "slug-like."
This seemed to indicate that the First Hokage's Sage Mode had not been passed down from the Three Great Sage Regions!
When he reached that conclusion, Orochimaru's body began trembling with excitement.
Because the First Hokage's example proved that Sage Mode could not only be learned from summoned beasts; perhaps it could also be developed independently.
And developing forbidden techniques was precisely the field Orochimaru knew best!
Thus, he began his own experiments.
First, natural energy was highly inert. Apart from certain special areas, ordinary people generally found it difficult to sense directly.
Even Mount Myōboku needed items such as toad oil to help practitioners sense natural energy, and Orochimaru happened to possess something similar—Jugo's cells.
With his constitution's innate affinity for natural energy, if Jugo had been in a fantasy world, he would probably have been called something like a naturally born Dao Body or an innate Dao Embryo. Here, however, he was merely the source