The End

Seeing this, Naruto withdrew his perception. He decided that once this training was over, he would definitely go make friends with that Great Toad.

Afterward, he, Jiraiya, and Hinata quietly waited in the distance.

As time passed, more and more spiritual energy gathered, gradually spreading around Naruto and the others.

The dense spiritual energy even showed signs of making the techniques within their bodies circulate on their own.

The three quickly stepped back and suppressed the techniques stirring within them. The techniques they practiced had different roots and origins from those being practiced at Mount Myoboku. If they trained now, they might affect the toads.

Once they had retreated, the three drew in a sharp breath. The spiritual energy had already condensed into spiritual water around the toads who were training, continually washing over their bodies.

They swallowed hard, then sat cross-legged where they were, watching the toads bathed in spiritual water with envy.

As time passed, all the toads underwent great changes, with the Great Toad Sage showing the most striking transformation.

His once-sagging skin gradually tightened, and the flesh on his body began to twitch. As the spiritual water washed over him, he slowly grew younger.

Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima underwent the same transformation. As for the other toads, they all grew noticeably larger.

The three who were keeping watch never left their side. They ate a little dried food where they were and kept watching.

This training continued for a whole day. That night, the three took turns keeping watch. In the middle of the night, when it was Naruto's turn, he noticed something.

A small stream of the gathered spiritual energy was seeping underground in the distance. It wasn't actually that small; Naruto only called it that in comparison to the energy gathering around the toads.

He released his perception and followed the stream. A few meters underground, he sensed an obstruction.

Something indescribable blocked his spiritual perception.

Naruto memorized the location, planning to ask Sage Fukasaku about it after their training ended.

By daybreak, the toads gradually slowed their absorption of spiritual energy. Seeing this, Naruto knew they had reached the final stage of their training.

He woke Jiraiya and Hinata, and the three waited together.

The spiritual energy slowly stopped gathering. Waves of energy radiated from the toads, with the three sages' emanations being the strongest.

A moment later, the toads stopped absorbing the spiritual energy. An astonishing wave of energy surged from their bodies, and then they all opened their eyes.

After examining the changes in their bodies, most of them let out excited frog calls.

Naruto and the others walked over and approached the three sages.

The Great Toad Sage no longer looked old and feeble. He appeared much younger and full of energy, no longer wearing his usual drowsy expression.

Looking at the three of them, the Great Toad Sage said, "Thank you for your efforts."

Jiraiya quickly replied, "It was no trouble. It was the least we could do."

The Great Toad Sage didn't respond. He simply studied Naruto for a long while before saying, "You're quite impressive, child."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Thank you for the praise, Great Toad Sage."

Naruto then asked, "How did the three sages do with the technique?"

The Great Toad Sage glanced at Sage Fukasaku, who understood and hopped over to Naruto. "Most of our people broke through to the second level. Only a few, who are too young to have trained before, are still at the first level. Others, like Gamabunta and the rest, broke through to the third level. As for me and my old lady, we've already reached the fourth."

Naruto nodded. "As expected of Mount Myoboku. What about you, Great Toad Sage?"

The Great Toad Sage thought for a moment. "I reached the fifth level."

Naruto froze. Jiraiya, the fastest among them at mastering the technique, hadn't even reached the fourth level yet. But when Naruto thought of the Great Toad Sage's origins and age, he understood.

Before anyone else could speak, the Great Toad Sage continued, "This result is only possible with the first group training session. Training again won't have the same effect. Now that I've reached the fifth level, I can tell that breaking through again will be difficult. My progress will become incredibly slow."

Naruto replied, "Every breakthrough in the technique brings a great increase in strength, so the higher the level, the slower progress becomes."

The Great Toad Sage nodded, then continued, "That's right. I've now reached the fifth level. I don't know exactly how strong I am, but some of the life force I'd lost has also been replenished. If you need me in the future, you can summon me."

The three immediately bowed. "Thank you, Great Toad Sage."

Naruto suddenly seemed to remember something. He hurried over to the Great Toad Sage and said, "Great Toad Sage, I have another technique here. It can replenish life force. I'll teach it to you and the other two sages now."

The Great Toad Sage didn't refuse. Seeing this, Naruto taught them the Myriad Spirit Longevity Art.

After receiving the technique, the Great Toad Sage gave Naruto a grateful look, then said to Sage Fukasaku, "Little Fukasaku, take care of things from here. I'll be heading back. Oh, and you can tell little Naruto about Chiqi."

Sage Fukasaku nodded. The Great Toad Sage hopped away. He'd only had other toads carry him because he had no choice; he preferred the feeling of bouncing along.

After the Great Toad Sage left, Sage Fukasaku nodded to the three, then hopped forward and used Frog Song on the toads below.

The toads who had been chatting fell silent.

Sage Fukasaku said, "Everyone, go back and reflect on what you've learned. From now on, you can train freely. That's all."

The toads below hopped away. Naruto glanced toward the direction Rock-Dwelling Toad had gone and committed it to memory.

Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima saw that all their people had left, then led the three back to their home.

After they went inside and sat down, Naruto told Sage Fukasaku what he had sensed. Sage Fukasaku sighed. "Even if you hadn't asked, I was planning to tell you. That place is Mount Myoboku's prison. There's only one toad locked inside."

Jiraiya and Naruto were both astonished. Jiraiya had been contracted with Mount Myoboku for so long, but he had never heard that it had a prison.

Sage Fukasaku looked at the three of them and pondered for a moment before saying, "That toad is named Chiqi. He was a companion of mine and my old lady's..."

Sage Fukasaku then slowly told them about Chiqi.

About eight hundred and fifty years ago, Chiqi was born at Mount Myoboku in the same year as Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima. From a young age, Chiqi displayed a monstrous talent for training. Back then, the Great Toad Sage hailed him as someone who could surpass him one day.

Chiqi had been exceptionally quick at learning all kinds of ninjutsu since childhood. While others needed several weeks to master Water Release: Iron Cannonball, he managed it in just one day.

Back then, he had been confident and kindhearted. But everything changed after they began learning Sage Mode.

Chiqi found that he couldn't absorb Natural Energy. That meant he couldn't master Sage Mode.

Chiqi couldn't accept it. Though everyone had praised him since childhood, he couldn't learn Mount Myoboku's strongest technique. So he began trying all sorts of methods.

By the time he appeared before the toads again, he had changed completely. His red skin had turned purple, and strange markings coiled across it.

He could indeed absorb Natural Energy now, but for some reason, his mind had become twisted.

He had become extremely unstable and could go berserk at any moment. With no other choice, the Great Toad Sage intervened. He captured Chiqi, built a prison underground, and locked him inside after setting up several special barriers.

The Great Toad Sage then erased all traces of Chiqi's existence at Mount Myoboku. Now, only the three sages knew that Chiqi existed.

After listening, Naruto asked Sage Fukasaku, "Have you seen Chiqi since then?"

Sage Fukasaku shook his head. "The Great Toad Sage forbade Chiqi from having any contact with other toads. I haven't seen him again in all these years."

Naruto sighed. "I'd really like to meet that genius from more than eight hundred years ago."

Sage Fukasaku replied seriously, "Perhaps that's why the Great Toad Sage wanted me to tell you about him. He'll probably arrange for you to meet Chiqi someday."

Naruto said, "Let's leave that for now. Sage Fukasaku, I want to ask about that huge toad..."

Sage Fukasaku thought for a moment, then realized who Naruto meant. "He's Rock-Dwelling Toad, the largest toad still living at Mount Myoboku. He's very powerful, but exactly how powerful is hard to say. After all, he's never fought."

Naruto quickly nodded. "Right, that's him. Can I go make friends with him?"

"Of course. He's so enormous that he doesn't have many friends at Mount Myoboku," Sage Fukasaku said.

Naruto nodded and pulled Hinata toward the door. Jiraiya called after him, "Naruto, if you're going to make a friend, you should go back and bring a gift first."

Naruto thought about it and decided a gift was indeed a good idea. He told Sage Fukasaku, then returned to the Altar.

After looking around for a while, he gave up. There was nothing among their supplies that would make a good gift.

So they went to Muyuan Town instead. After wandering around for quite a while, they bought several carts' worth of things. Naruto and Hinata picked out all kinds of snacks and drinks.

When it came time to pay, Jiraiya looked at Naruto, who was full of confidence, and asked, "Are you sure all this is for Rock-Dwelling Toad? Not for you and Hinata?"

Naruto nodded and replied earnestly, "Of course. Isn't making friends about sharing the things you like?"

Jiraiya didn't argue. He just shook his head and said, "If you say so."

Naruto had bought a lot of snacks, nearly three cartloads. Jiraiya, meanwhile, bought a lot of liquor and a few snacks to go with it.

After they finished shopping, they took everything to an empty alley, then returned to Mount Myoboku together.