Sage Art Chakra

Although Nawaki was very confident in his Sage Mode training, he still chose Shikkotsu Forest out of caution. As far as he knew, Hashirama had learned Sage Mode at Shikkotsu Forest. Since Katsuyu was the Senju Clan's inherited summon beast, there was no need for him to seek help from outsiders far away. Moreover, with the experience of Hashirama, someone who had cultivated Sage Mode to its highest realm, the risks of training would be greatly reduced. Although Hashirama was not good at teaching others—he had no disciples, and had taught Tsunade nothing but gambling—having someone to teach him was still better than having no one at all.

Nawaki divided Sage Mode training into three realms. The first was the imperfect mode. Since the absorbed natural energy could not achieve a perfect balance, physical mutations would occur. For instance, Jiraiya underwent toad-like changes when using Sage Mode and required the Toad Sage's assistance. The second was the relatively perfect mode, where the three types of energy within the body fused perfectly without causing physical mutations. However, one needed to remain motionless for a long time to synthesize Sage Art Chakra, and every use was time-limited. In Naruto's early days, he needed Shadow Clones to assist him. The third was perfect Sage Mode, which allowed one to instantly synthesize Sage Chakra and use it for an extended period. Its users were Hashirama and Naruto in his later Nine-Tails Mode.

In Nawaki's mind, there was actually a fourth realm: the Six Paths Mode that allowed one to use Truth-Seeking Orbs. However, that already fell within the domain of a Sage Body. It was not something that could be achieved through training alone; one had to possess the corresponding bloodline limit. Still, this was Nawaki's ultimate purpose in learning Sage Mode.

Furthermore, Sage