Sage Mode

Five days later.

In the shabby room, furnished with nothing but a bed and a table, Lin Chuan lay sprawled across the bed, drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

For the past few days, he had practiced Gentle Fist without stopping. At last, he had more or less mastered this fist style passed down through the Hyuga Clan for generations. Though he was nowhere near the level of Hyuga Neji during the Chunin Ninja Exams in Naruto, and still couldn't perform Tenketsu strikes, he could at least execute the technique as a whole.

"There really are no shortcuts when it comes to cultivation! I ate the Fruit of the God Tree, so I should count as the Progenitor of Chakra in this world, but cultivating still isn't much easier!" Lin Chuan wiped the sweat from his face and murmured.

Though this life was hard and exhausting, it filled Lin Chuan with hope. It was far better than the listless days of his previous life, when he never knew what to do with himself.

After several days of training and learning about this world, Lin Chuan had gained a rough understanding of the cultivation world he now found himself in.

People here focused on cultivation—in other words, the legendary path to immortality. They absorbed spiritual energy from the outside world into their bodies, then combined it with their own spiritual energy to perform techniques. It was essentially the same as refining physical and spiritual energy in Naruto.

But after comparing the two, Lin Chuan realized that the overall power level of this world was much higher than that of the Naruto world. The boost to techniques provided by Senjutsu Chakra, which was created by adding Natural Energy to ordinary ninjutsu, made that clear.

Once ordinary ninjutsu was fueled by Senjutsu Chakra, its power could increase several times, even dozens of times. That was common knowledge in Naruto.

This cultivation world had clearly developed the use of Natural Energy to its utmost limits. There was no danger of being consumed and petrified by it, and cultivators could store the Natural Energy they absorbed in the dantian in their abdomen, instead of having to absorb it each time they wanted to use it. As a result, cultivators here were extremely powerful.

"From what I've observed these past few days, the Qi Refining Stage is probably about on par with the level of students at the Ninja Academy in Naruto, though they're considerably stronger than Ninja Academy students. That must be because they use Natural Energy." As his body rested, Lin Chuan's mind continued to race.

"I should be able to cultivate using their methods—absorbing Natural Energy into my body. If it works, then I can use Sage Mode at this stage, a Sage Mode completely different from the one in Naruto!"

Lin Chuan couldn't help craving the power of Sage Mode. But in the original story, learning Sage Mode required a huge amount of chakra, and with his body as it was now, Lin Chuan couldn't refine much chakra—he hadn't even reached Genin level.

"Even though my purple chakra is much purer than ordinary chakra, I can't possibly learn Sage Mode in the short term by following the method from Naruto." Lin Chuan pressed his fingers to his temples and massaged them. "Once I've finished training in Gentle Fist, I can start trying out this world's cultivation method!"

Cultivation had many different stages. The first was the most basic, the Qi Refining Stage, which had ten levels. Breaking through it led to the Foundation Establishment Stage, divided into early, middle, late, and great perfection. Above that came the Golden Core Stage.

After carefully studying the matter, Lin Chuan figured that the highest level in this world—the level of an immortal—was probably comparable to Kaguya Otsutsuki in Naruto. The cultivation world's stages below that were far more finely divided than those in Naruto. After all, way too many people in the later part of Naruto had become absurdly overpowered. Take Naruto, the so-called prince, for example: from beginning to end, there was no enemy he couldn't beat by making a Rasengan. And if there was one, he just made an even bigger Rasengan!

Of course, that was just a joke. But given Lin Chuan's current level, thinking about the later stages was pointless. The important thing was to stay alive.

Just then, Lin Chuan's door swung open. The girl in his group, Bu Lianshi, walked in. She was carrying a box of food. After shyly glancing at Lin Chuan, who was lying on the bed, she set the food on the table and turned to leave.

"Thank you!" Lin Chuan said with a faint smile. Ever since Bu Lianshi learned that he was pushing himself to the limit with his daily training, she had taken it upon herself to bring him his meals. Each time she came in, she said nothing, simply put down the food, and left.

"You're welcome!" Bu Lianshi replied timidly in a tiny voice, then hurried out.

Watching Bu Lianshi's back, Lin Chuan couldn't help thinking that she was a lot like Hinata from Naruto. He grinned, got up to eat, then went back to practicing Gentle Fist.

Perhaps because he had eaten the Fruit of the God Tree, Lin Chuan recovered his strength much faster than ordinary people, and constant training was rapidly strengthening his body.

Once, while resting, Lin Chuan had used his Byakugan to examine the undigested Fruit of the God Tree inside him. He discovered that it floated in his dantian, releasing a wisp of purple, mist-like substance every so often. As soon as it appeared, it merged with his body and steadily strengthened him. The harder he trained, the more of this purple mist it released.

"It must be that as my body grows stronger, I can digest more of the Fruit of the God Tree." Lin Chuan had thought. After figuring that out, he trained even harder. He refused to stop until he had completely worn himself out.

His stamina recovered quickly, and he could digest the Fruit of the God Tree faster too. With benefits on both sides, why wouldn't he take advantage of it?

That night, Lin Chuan lay on his bed and slowly formed Hand Seals. At a low shout, the veins around his eyes bulged, and purple chakra surged into them.

"Byakugan!"

In an instant, everything within a kilometer came into sharp focus. Unlike the black-and-white world of Naruto, this world appeared in color. And the Byakugan could see not only chakra flowing, but also the flow of Natural Energy—in other words, spiritual energy.

"X-ray vision, insight, and telescopic vision—the Byakugan's three main abilities. I've more or less mastered them now." Lin Chuan spoke softly as he watched the other orphans around him, most of whom had already fallen asleep.

He turned his gaze aside. Bu Lianshi and Qin Lang were both still awake, sitting cross-legged as they cultivated.

Through Lin Chuan's Byakugan, he could see the Natural Energy drifting through the air slowly gathering inside them. It traveled along their meridians and eventually reached their abdomens, where a mass of Natural Energy was slowly rotating.

"What a fascinating way to cultivate!" Lin Chuan said. He had used his Byakugan to watch others cultivate more than once, but every time he saw it, he couldn't help marveling at the wisdom of those who came before. They had actually managed to create such a method.

The Byakugan could also see the chakra inside them, but it wasn't circulating. Instead, it lay scattered throughout their bodies, beyond their control.

Just as he was about to study their cultivation more closely, Lin Chuan's gaze suddenly sharpened. About a kilometer away, he saw the two children who had beaten him a few days ago, walking this way with a boy of around ten. In the boy's abdomen, a vortex of spiritual energy slowly turned. Judging by what Lin Chuan could see, the boy was probably at the third level of the Qi Refining Stage.

Lin Chuan abruptly rose, fists clenched, his expression icy. "I didn't go looking for trouble with you, but you've come to me instead! Fine. I've been itching for a chance to test out my Gentle Fist. Since you've delivered yourselves right to my door, let's see how much damage it can do!"