Li gave a chuckle. "You saw through it, huh? These stone statues are actually the result of improperly cultivating senjutsu. Chakra can only function when the proportions of its various energy components remain balanced. If that balance can be maintained precisely, the body naturally won't undergo any changes. But natural energy is extremely powerful. If an ordinary person absorbs even slightly more than one-third of their own energy's worth, they'll begin to transform. And when natural energy greatly surpasses mental energy and physical energy, they'll become part of nature itself. In other words, they turn into this. Humans have extremely strict requirements when cultivating, and while the Toad Clan's cultivation of senjutsu chakra isn't quite as demanding, that doesn't mean there are no risks at all. If something goes wrong, they'll still turn into stones like these."
Hinata nodded softly, her eyes full of shock. "But why would these people still insist on cultivating it?"
"Pursuit, perhaps?" Li sighed lightly. "After all, the toads here don't really have any material ambitions. All that remains is their obsession with power."
As Li spoke, a thunderous voice rang out. "Gamamaru, calling you here this time was already giving you enough face, yet you still dare to throw your age around!"
The voice sounded incomparably sinister, like weeping from the depths of the underworld. "Listen. If you don't tell me the whereabouts of Chi Mei and Moryo, I'll make you beg for death!"
Li snorted. It seemed Sage Fukasaku really had been right. Gamamaru had run into trouble. If the other party had truly been some insignificant nobody, Gamabunta and the others could have simply driven them away. Yet now the enemy had come right to their doorstep, and Mount Myoboku seemed to have no way of dealing with this uninvited guest.
Chi