Sage Mode You're Learning So Fast, Are You Trying to Die?!

"Perverted Sage, is this ninjutsu hard to master?"

Naruto practiced on a strict schedule every day.

Because he had the Nine-Tails-brand training room, he took the opportunity to practice all the ninjutsu he had previously acquired.

He had even successfully mastered the Scorching Release.

The miraculous thing about it was its ability to instantly scorch anything into a husk.

"It's not just a ninjutsu; it's a power that requires extreme resilience, willpower, and chakra control to learn."

Jiraiya spoke of natural energy, how to convert it into sage chakra, and how to approach, learn, and master Sage Mode.

For Naruto at this stage.

Aside from Sage Mode, there wasn't much left that Jiraiya could teach him.

He was, after all, a Chunin who could develop the Rasengan into various forms, master the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, and skillfully use the Flying Thunder God Technique.

If he wanted to learn an even more extraordinary power.

It had to be Sage Mode!

Jiraiya also wanted to see the day Naruto stood at the pinnacle of the Ninja World.

He looked at the hard-working Naruto and thought to himself.

If Tsunade truly agreed to become Hokage, then by the time she became an old woman as aged as the Third Hokage.

Naruto would definitely have achieved great things just like Minato Namikaze and become the Sixth Hokage!

"Are you thinking about that Big Sister you met outside the hot springs again? Perverted Sage!"

Naruto sat cross-legged on the treetop, balancing on nothing but a single wooden plank.

He remained unmoved even as the gale-force winds buffeted him.

"Idiot! Don't get distracted at such a critical moment! Do you think Sage Mode is something that can be mastered so easily?"

"How dare you think that of the Toad Great Sage of Mount Myoboku! Am I, Jiraiya, that kind of person?"

Jiraiya slammed a fist onto Naruto's head.

Since he was distracted, they might as well take a break.

After training all morning, it was time for lunch.

"Is Sage Mode really that hard? I've never failed to master any technique I've tried."

Naruto rubbed his head.

He formed hand seals and blasted a stream of water directly out of the river.

Several fat fish landed on the bank.

Whoosh!

With a Fire Release to grill the fish and a sprinkle of barbecue seasoning brought from home, it was absolutely delicious.

"Is that how you waste your chakra? What kind of ninja uses Water Release to catch fish!"

Jiraiya took a bite of the grilled fish, though he reached out to rub Naruto's head.

"Chakra is actually such an inconvenient thing; the more you use it, the more you should have!"

Naruto had discovered that chakra was a thing that needed to be pushed.

The more you used it, the faster it recovered; as long as it didn't kill you, you used it until you dropped!

"By the way, Naruto."

"Did the Third Hokage teach you many ninjutsu in the past?"

The aroma of the grilled fish was intoxicating.

Naruto looked at the river and tossed a pebble into it.

"No."

"At the Ninja Academy, the only thing I was good at was the Clone Technique, one of the Three Basic Jutsu, but compared to everyone else, it was trash—just a tiny clone that could only serve as a model toy."

"Not many people cared about a Demon Fox."

"The people who would swing on the swings with me, buy me a bowl of ramen, rush over when rogue ninjas attacked, bring me medicine, compete against me, or teach me many ninjutsu like you, the Perverted Sage—there are probably barely enough to count on my two hands!"

Naruto spread out his ten fingers.

To many people, any of the things Naruto mentioned would be perfectly normal.

But Jiraiya knew.

In Naruto's world, every single one of them was truly rare!

What on earth had this child been through!

Jiraiya had spent so many years on a long journey across the world searching for the Child of Prophecy, saving countless people before finally coming to reach out his hand to Naruto.

"What a fool you are."

"There are far too few people who can walk out and become strong enough like you! Pursuing a ninja way under the light is the hardest path of all, because we are inherently lurking in the darkness."

Jiraiya felt that it was truly no small feat for Naruto to have emerged from such a bleak childhood.

Anyone else would have turned to darkness long ago.

Especially in the Ninja World, where such examples were everywhere.

"Who said anything about walking out?"

Naruto swallowed his grilled fish and offered another to Kurama in the Sealing Space.

"I have no interest in eating food made by humans! I am a manifestation of chakra!"

Kurama couldn't be bothered to pay any mind to this fool, Naruto.

"Is that so? That's a shame, Kurama."

Naruto took it back and continued eating.

Jiraiya and Kurama were both left speechless.

Hm?

Something wasn't right!

Jiraiya and Kurama were both stunned at the same time.

The nature of Naruto's chakra was changing!

"Naruto, what did you mean by that just now?"

Jiraiya asked curiously, reaching out to probe the changes in Naruto's chakra.

"I said there's no need to walk out of anything. Darkness or no darkness, I will simply trample it underfoot and turn it into my own power!"

"Becoming the strongest, surpassing everything, and reaching the pinnacle to see if there is any joy left in this world—that is my ninja way!"

As Naruto spoke, the dark aura on his body surged violently.

At the same time, his first successful conversion of Sage chakra took place.

Although the amount of Sage chakra converted and accumulated from natural energy was not yet significant, the marks of Sage Mode had already appeared at the corners of Naruto's eyes!

Orange eyeshadow!

It was also known as the Sage Face.

"What kind of reckless talent is this!"

Jiraiya had never seen a monster who could learn Sage Mode in a single morning.

Even if Naruto had only converted enough Sage chakra to last for one minute or to form a single Rasengan, it was still Sage Mode!

Moreover, Naruto showed no signs of toad-like transformation other than the Sage Face; it was a perfect Sage Mode!

A genius among geniuses!

Damn you, Konoha!

Jiraiya was speechless in his heart.

If they had nurtured Naruto properly, he would likely be even more ferocious than Itachi; he would have been an Anbu squad leader by the age of eleven!

Little did he know that Naruto's super talent came with him from his transmigration.

"You're going to kill yourself learning this fast!"

"I originally thought I would have to teach you how to calm your heart and focus enough before taking you to Mount Myoboku for further training, where the natural energy is even more concentrated."

"I never expected you to just sit in a tree for a while, smear on some toad oil, and master it!"

"You've wasted at least ten years of a genius's time. What is Konoha even doing these days?"

Jiraiya was truly at a loss for words regarding Konoha.

With so many people wanting to protect the peace of the village, how could there be so many idiots capable of burying the strong and the talented?

But then again, it made sense.

Jiraiya recalled how Konoha White Fang had been killed by rumors and gossip back in the day, with no one in the village stepping forward to stand up for him.

It was as if someone had been deliberately fanning the flames.

The Uchiha were wiped out in a single night.

Was Itachi a flash of light?

To kill everyone in a second—the Uchiha lived on the edge of the village, not on the moon!

Not a single reinforcement, and they all died?

It was as if they were being left to fend for themselves.

Konoha was too dark.

So much for the Root drawing nutrients for the great tree.

In Jiraiya's eyes, Konoha was a tree on the verge of withering.

The roots were constantly draining all the water sources, terrified that the tree of Konoha wouldn't die of thirst.

Naruto noticed Jiraiya lost in a daze of melancholy.

"Is it that hard?"

"I learned it as soon as I tried, though the natural energy here does feel a bit thin."

Naruto felt it too.

For a normal person, it would be absolutely necessary to be at Mount Myoboku to learn it.

Otherwise, even with the Toad Sage's help and the application of toad oil, it would be difficult to condense the natural energy even if one could sense it.

Only with the abundant natural energy of Mount Myoboku could one achieve twice the result with half the effort.

However.

Naruto hadn't expected his own talent to be so monstrous.

He was able to master Sage Mode even faster in such harsh conditions.

I'll have to take him to Mount Myoboku when there's a chance; there will be surprises waiting for him that he can't even imagine.

Jiraiya thought to himself.

If Naruto were to train at Mount Myoboku, he might be able to master it within an hour!

It would absolutely shock the Toad Sage.

But being able to succeed in a place with thin natural energy outside of Mount Myoboku was enough to bring him there and give them a shock!

"Perverted Sage."

"I keep feeling like Sage Mode is an incomplete form of power."

Naruto felt that this thing seemed like a half-finished product.

"How is that possible! This is the power that the legendary Sage of Six Paths mastered back in the day by following the Great Toad Sage."

Jiraiya slapped Naruto on the back.

"Let's get moving. Don't overthink it here; it must be the lack of natural energy giving you that illusion. You'll understand once I take you to Mount Myoboku."

Is that so?

Perhaps it really can be improved.

Naruto followed after him.

The scorching sun could never affect the joy Naruto found in delving into ninjutsu.

He had to make Sage Mode even stronger!