A Family

In truth, Mirai had been able to enter Sage Mode so easily and so quickly mainly because of his physique.

His physique was a Sage Body—the physique of a sage.

If even someone with a sage's physique could not easily use Sage Mode, then who could?

One had to know that Senju Hashirama, the God of Shinobi, also possessed a Sage Body.

There was no need to say how strong he was, or how powerful he became in Sage Mode. Everyone had seen it for themselves.

After waiting a little longer, Mirai opened his eyes.

Then he rose from the ground.

Feeling the immense power within his body, Mirai immediately felt eager to give it a try.

Mirai walked over to the toad statues beside him and gripped the base of one statue in each hand.

"Up..."

Mirai let out a low shout. The senjutsu chakra within him circulated wildly as tremendous strength erupted from both hands.

With one statue in each hand, Mirai effortlessly lifted them up.

"As expected of Sage Mode. This is fucking awesome!" Mirai could not help but exclaim.

Afterward, he set the two toad statues in his hands back onto the ground.

When he put them down, the ground trembled, making it clear just how heavy the two stone statues were.

Watching Mirai use Sage Mode so freely and effortlessly, Fukasaku Sage was greatly astonished.

At the same time, he was shocked that Mirai had succeeded in using Sage Mode on his very first attempt—and had even achieved perfection.

"Fukasaku Sage, does this mean the first stage of training is over?"

Hearing Mirai's question, Fukasaku Sage finally snapped out of his shock.

"Uh... i-it's over!" Fukasaku Sage said with a slight stutter.

"Then let's continue with the second stage of training!"

"Oh...! Alright!" Fukasaku Sage drew a breath and stared at Mirai with shining eyes.

This child was not only exceptionally gifted, but also so diligent. What a good child.

Compared to Mirai, that brat Jiraiya was truly hopelessly stupid and lazy.

The second stage of training took place at the edge of a cliff.

This time, Mirai had to stop relying on Toad Oil and directly sense natural energy.

And he could only rely on himself to draw the natural energy between heaven and earth into his body.

Then, he had to make the natural energy entering his body form a 1:1:1 ratio with his chakra and spiritual energy.

This was the so-called golden triangle equilibrium ratio.

Mirai sat at the cliff's edge, his eyes closed as he carefully perceived natural energy.

As for Fukasaku Sage, he gripped a black rod even larger and thicker than before, standing alertly beside Mirai.

As soon as the energy within Mirai lost control and he began turning into a toad, he would swiftly swing the rod.

After all, this stage was the most dangerous, and also the most difficult.

As time slowly passed, Mirai showed no abnormalities whatsoever.

He did not even display the slightest sign of pain.

Seeing that Mirai had not moved for so long, Fukasaku Sage could not help but grow puzzled.

Could it be that he could not sense natural energy?

Impossible... He had already been able to enter Sage Mode just now. There was no way he could not sense natural energy.

Then what exactly was going on now?

Unable to figure it out no matter how hard he thought, Fukasaku Sage began circling around Mirai.

As he paced in circles, he continued pondering what exactly was happening to Mirai.

Just like that, after another five minutes, Mirai finally changed slightly.

The eyeshadow-like markings from before appeared around his eyes once again.

Not only that, but totem-like patterns also appeared on his face this time.

Then... nothing else happened.

With a clang, the black rod in Fukasaku Sage's hand inexplicably fell to the ground.

"Holy shit! What the hell!"

Fukasaku Sage stood completely still, staring intently at Mirai. In the end, he even rubbed his eyes hard, afraid that he might have seen wrong.

The longer he looked, the more shocked Fukasaku Sage became by Mirai's monstrous talent.

"Could this kid truly possess the aptitude of a sage... the Child of Prophecy?"

Fukasaku Sage could not make sense of it, so he could only force himself to accept it.

"Yes, that had to be it. Otherwise, there was no way to explain the current situation!"

Fukasaku Sage had no choice but to think that way. Mirai's performance had truly been too monstrous.

Without the aid of Toad Oil, comprehending natural energy would become ten times more difficult.

Yet even with that tenfold difficulty, Mirai had still managed to achieve this. How could Fukasaku Sage not be shocked?

Mirai opened his eyes and felt the immense senjutsu chakra within his body, greatly satisfied.

"So that was it?"

As he spoke, Mirai used Water Release to form a mirror and looked himself over.

Seeing the totem-like markings across his face, Mirai's expression darkened.

"No, this won't do. Looking like this won't do. I still need to keep working!"

"You've already achieved perfect Sage Mode. What could possibly be wrong with this!"

Not understanding why, Fukasaku Sage assumed Mirai was referring to his initial state and offered a reminder.

However, Mirai still shook his head and sat down to continue cultivating.

Looking at Mirai, Fukasaku Sage nodded approvingly. "As expected of the Child of Prophecy. He really is different. That diligence of his is beyond reproach!"

Fukasaku Sage was also delighted to see Mirai working so diligently.

But how could he have known that Mirai mainly felt it was unacceptable because the totem markings on his face were too ugly?

If he had known Mirai's thoughts, his expression probably would not have remained so pleased...

And so, Mirai cultivated for another three days!

Finally, before the food ran out, he successfully reduced all the totem markings on his face until they disappeared.

Even the eyeshadow around his eyes was gone.

The only change was that an extra horizontal bar had appeared within his pupils.

"Now this suits my handsome appearance!"

Mirai looked into the mirror again, examining his Sage Mode, which now left no visible traces.

After completing his Sage Mode training, Fukasaku Sage had originally intended to enter Sage Fusion Mode with Mirai.

However, Mirai refused no matter what. He hastily used the flimsy excuse that the gas at home had caught fire and fled.

Sage Fusion Mode was when Fukasaku Sage and Shima Sage fused onto Mirai's shoulders to assist him in battle.

Mirai simply could not accept looking that ugly.

After much effort, Mirai dispelled the Reverse Summoning Technique and returned to Konoha.

Only after returning to Konoha did Mirai finally let out a genuine sigh of relief.

And only five days had passed during this trip.

As soon as Mirai returned, he went straight home.

The moment he entered, he saw Yuhi Kurenai wearing an apron and casual home clothes, cooking in the kitchen.

Beside her, Hinata, Hanabi, Ino, Ayame, Temari, and Karin chatted and laughed as they helped with the cooking.