Several days into their journey, Naruto kept training in ninjutsu.
Day and night, he relied on multiple Shadow Clones, using one to rest while the others trained.
He was trying to uncover the secret of Sage Mode.
What was the problem?
Naruto wondered: if humans underwent different degrees and forms of sage transformation whenever they learned any kind of Sage Mode, then why could the Sage of Six Paths undergo no such transformation, and still leave his chakra in the natural world long after his death?
Was Sage Mode perfect once Naruto had reached the point where he no longer grew toad-like bumps?
Power!
The Sage of Six Paths was undoubtedly powerful. He could convert Natural Energy into Senjutsu Chakra anytime, anywhere.
He didn't need to work hard to convert Natural Energy like everyone else. Absolute strength was everything.
It was like how the Yin Seal had been developed step by step into the Creation Rebirth technique, the Strength of a Hundred Technique.
To ordinary people, it was an ingenious secret ninjutsu.
But for Hashirama, it was entirely passive, and he didn't even need to store chakra for later use.
Chakra Enhanced Strength and Painful Sky Leg were, when all was said and done, just ways of applying chakra in specific situations—methods of fighting with Taijutsu!
The Yin Seal's greatest virtue was its ability to actively store chakra.
And Hashirama's greatest natural advantage was his Sage Body!
The essence!
Naruto suddenly understood.
"Perverted Sage!"
"I get it! I understand! Sage Mode is actually incomplete. The Sage of Six Paths was so powerful that he could use it permanently, anytime and anywhere, so all he had to do was learn to convert Natural Energy into Senjutsu Chakra."
"But we don't have his strength, so that first step becomes a roadblock for us, and is even considered the ultimate goal of Sage Mode! In reality, it's only the beginning!"
Naruto's laughter jolted Jiraiya awake from his dream.
"Idiot Naruto! It's the middle of the night! What are you babbling about?"
Creak!
Beneath the moonlight,
Naruto was still giddy with excitement as a crow flew overhead.
It was an exceptionally quiet night.
Naruto set about absorbing the meager Natural Energy around him.
At the same time, he tried to train!
Once he had accumulated enough Senjutsu Chakra, Naruto tried using it the way he used the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
After all,
the strength of Lightning Armor lay in its ability to fortify the human body.
The Raikage of each generation who had wielded Lightning Armor, as well as Killer B,
had speed, strength, and defense far beyond that of ordinary people.
That was all because they used Lightning Release Chakra to temper and stimulate their physiques.
Now Naruto simply used Senjutsu Chakra to temper his body.
Before long,
Naruto's skin began to vaporize.
More precisely, it began to emit a faint white glow.
This was a state his previous Sage Mode had never produced.
Boom!
He tried throwing an ordinary punch.
The dead tree exploded into splinters.
Ordinary Sage Mode could do the same thing, of course.
But after Naruto tempered his body with Senjutsu Chakra, that strike had consumed only a tenth of the chakra it normally would!
He'd used less chakra, but the power was the same!
"Naruto!"
"I'll be holding a memorial for you this time next year!"
Jiraiya had finally reached his limit. There was no way he could sleep tonight!
Smashing trees in the middle of the night!
Hm?
As soon as Jiraiya approached Naruto, he sensed something unusual.
Naruto's body was glowing white, appearing even paler beneath the moonlight.
A faint mist hovered over his skin, drifting in and out of sight.
"Senjutsu Chakra is tempering my body, making my physique as light and powerful as Senjutsu Chakra itself."
"In this state, my flesh, organs, and bones can temporarily turn into a vaporous form of Senjutsu Chakra."
"It boosts my strength, speed, defense, and healing even further. I call it Sage Mode Double!"
Naruto's golden hair grew and fluttered wildly, just like his vaporous Senjutsu Chakra.
Amazing!
It was a method Jiraiya had never even imagined!
"Most importantly, the longer I can maintain it each time, the more thoroughly my body will be tempered."
"One day, it'll be fully tempered, and I'll be able to vaporize my Senjutsu Chakra completely!"
"Any limb will be able to heal itself with Senjutsu Chakra at any time. I'll regenerate severed limbs. I'll become a true sage, one with Natural Energy!"
The Senjutsu Chakra Naruto had gathered ran out.
The white glow vanished, and the mist dissipated.
But his entire body had undeniably been strengthened from the inside out!
"Where did you get the inspiration?"
"You're a genius, Naruto! This way, you can stay in Sage Mode longer without worrying about turning into a toad, and you'll keep getting stronger!"
Jiraiya was ecstatic.
Then he reconsidered and felt something was off.
Why did it remind him of Minato Namikaze?
The more you researched and trained, the faster and stronger your student became than you?
"I got the idea from comics. I actually like playing games, reading comics and novels, and going to conventions. I've always wanted to get a better camera for taking pictures there."
Naruto couldn't help thinking back to the world where there were all kinds of games to play and videos and anime to watch.
"Conventions? What are those?"
Jiraiya was drawn off topic before he knew it.
"Places where everyone dresses up as characters from novels, comics, and games! You can take photos together, too! There's singing, dancing, and all kinds of awkward skits!"
Naruto spoke with great enthusiasm.
"So that's a thing!"
"Conventions sound amazing!"
Jiraiya's mind was already imagining scenery that surpassed even the hot springs.
"Perverted Sage, what are you grinning about?"
Naruto sensed that Jiraiya was at least a hundred percent up to something!
"Uh, of course I'm worried about your training progress. Anyway, how did you do that just now?"
Jiraiya gave a dry cough. "I've known how to do it for ages, but I didn't expect you to figure it out on your own. Hurry up and tell me what you learned!"
Tch!
Did Naruto think he couldn't see through him?
Jiraiya wanted to learn, but was too embarrassed to ask!
Sealing Space.
The Nine-Tails was surprised, too.
So Sage Mode had a second stage. Why had it never seen the Sage of Six Paths use it?
Never mind.
In the Nine-Tails' memory,
if the Sage of Six Paths had made the move, even an ordinary Great Fireball Technique would have become a world-scorching, sea-boiling jutsu.
Shinobi really were getting weaker and weaker.
The Nine-Tails felt a little sour as it thought about it.
Hmph!
What was so great about Senjutsu Chakra? Could it beat the Nine-Tails' chakra?
It took ages to gather, and you had to make sure Senjutsu Chakra didn't take over your body. It ran out quickly, too.
The more it thought about it, the angrier it got.
The Nine-Tails curled up and went straight to sleep.
The next day,
Naruto followed Jiraiya to a small town.
Tanzaku Town.
A place with a thriving entertainment industry, especially gambling.
As a shinobi, you were supposed to have quick eyes, quick hands, and sharp hearing.
For Tsunade to lose every time she gambled was a disgrace to shinobi.
"She must be somewhere on this street."
Jiraiya found a tavern and walked right in.
It was as if simply walking around here let him know all of Tsunade's habits.
Where she gambled, where she ran off to, and which places she went to eat.
He knew her too well.
So many of his memories featured an ageless old woman who loved gambling.
"Why did I lose again? Have I just been unlucky lately? Damn it!"
Tsunade drank and slammed the table, clutching her little pig.
She turned her head and saw Jiraiya standing beside her, with a familiar-looking blond kid in tow.
Before the two of them could say a word,
Naruto had already raised his hand to flag down a waiter.
"Hello, I'd like a roast suckling pig."
Ah!
The piglet was so frightened its pearl necklace nearly flew off.
"It misunderstood me. In that case, I'll have pork cutlet rice."
Naruto sat beside Shizune as if nothing had happened, quietly pouring himself tea and water as he waited for his food.
"Hey!"
Tsunade slapped the table.
Then she pressed her forehead right up against Naruto's.
"Who the hell are you, you brat? You little punk!"