Natural Energy 3

Hatake Kakashi slowly opened his eyes and took a long, deep breath. Storing all his chakra in his lungs and liver just moments ago had naturally impacted the smoothness of his breathing.

"Many thanks for Elder Tagorihime's care." After expressing his gratitude to Tagorihime and standing up, Hatake Kakashi felt utterly exhausted. His mental focus had been pushed to the absolute limit without a fraction of relaxation, and now that he could finally catch his breath, fatigue washed over his entire body, especially his brain. It felt as though he could fall asleep the moment he closed his eyes.

"I didn't really do anything. Your current state is quite strange; it doesn't look like you've mastered Senjutsu, yet there is clearly natural energy present within your body. If this is your secret, then I won't pry. The White Snake Sage simply instructed me to watch over you and make sure nothing went wrong. It looks like you won't be able to continue your training today anyway. I'll take you to a place to rest first, and we can continue tomorrow. I'll report to the White Snake Sage, so you can rest easy." Tagorihime was quite perceptive; seeing that Kakashi's mental state was poor, she led him to a separate, spacious cave to rest.

"I shall follow Elder Tagorihime's arrangements, and thank you once again." Bypassing the specific circumstances of his current mastery of Senjutsu, he followed Tagorihime deeper into the cave.

The slightly damp cave was extremely quiet. Kakashi, who fell asleep the moment his head hit the bed, had a solid sleep and woke up to find some human food placed right at the cave entrance. It was a pleasant surprise, sparing him the wretched treatment of eating soldier pill rations.

After devouring a hearty meal, he felt his physical energy recover quite a bit. The collision of the two energies inside his body earlier had plowed through him like a field, forcing his body cells to work hard and squeezing out a great deal of potential.

Now, the dark blue energy within his body was becoming increasingly docile. Kakashi decided to conduct a simple experiment.

First, he applied it to the surface of his body, his fists, and his feet. When performing taijutsu, he couldn't make a concrete comparison since there were no test dummies, but his speed had increased dramatically.

Next came the use of ninjutsu.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

A scorching red fireball erupted from his mouth. It started at half a meter in diameter, but upon contacting the air, it rapidly expanded into a dark fireball over ten meters across. The scorching heat and rising heat waves caused Kakashi's white hair to flutter wildly.

Fortunately, this cave was tall and spacious enough; otherwise, there was no telling whether the destructive power of this fireball would have caused an unpleasant scene.

When he cast this fireball using the exact same amount of chakra as before, but replaced with an equivalent amount of Senjutsu Chakra, the effect was extraordinary. Facing the fireball directly, Kakashi felt he wouldn't even be able to withstand its temperature. The naked-eye visibility of that red heat was glowing purplish-red. Uchiha Kaze's fireball was nothing more than a little brother in front of it.

Having tested the fireball, Kakashi quickly formed hand seals to execute Lightning Style: Earth Walk, a lightning ninjutsu he was relatively skilled in. With fast attacks and low consumption, it could be called a minor skill divine technique.

The Earth Walk, which should have been the color of ordinary lightning, surged out from Kakashi's palm. A flash of lightning rapidly struck a huge stalagmite in the distance. The stalagmite, visually estimated to be over three meters in diameter, was instantly struck by the deep purple lightning and snapped straight down the middle.

Even with the fireball as a precursor, it still gave Kakashi a fright. This destructive power was akin to upgrading a sparrow gun to a cannon. A C-rank ninjutsu achieved the effect of an A-rank ninjutsu. Even excluding Kakashi's special affinity for lightning-style constitutions and his proficiency in this jutsu, the enhancement was still massive.

The commotion caused by this ninjutsu was quite large, and many snakes gathered at the entrance to watch. But before this group of snakes could figure out the situation inside, Tagorihime slowly walked in.

Seeing the elder arrive, the crowd of snakes hurriedly bowed and quickly retreated.

"You create such a huge commotion the moment you wake up; you really can't stay still for a single second," she said with a faint smile. "You've slept for nearly a day. Since you're awake and your spirit seems fine, come with me to see the White Snake Sage." With that, she turned and motioned for Kakashi to follow her.

"Right, I've caused you trouble." Kakashi was slightly surprised that he had slept for so long. He had originally thought it would be six or seven hours at most, but according to Tagorihime, he had actually rested for nearly a day. Sure enough, mental fatigue was the hardest to replenish. It seemed he would need to control the dosage in future related training; otherwise, encountering a sudden battle during an exhaustion phase would leave him extremely passive, and passivity often meant placing oneself in a dangerous situation.

"You're here, young man. It looks like you've mastered it quite well." The White Snake Sage was still coiled atop that high platform, leisurely smoking a pipe and puffing out rings of smoke from time to time, looking thoroughly content. She cast a sideways glance at Kakashi as he entered.

"I must thank the White Snake Sage for giving me this opportunity and arranging for Elder Tagorihime to tend to me on the side. Otherwise, I couldn't have mastered Senjutsu so quickly. Thank you once again, Your Eminence. Though saying this sounds a bit arrogant now, it truly reflects my genuine feelings. In the future, whenever Ryūchi Cave has matters within my capacity, I will certainly not shirk from them." He didn't make grandiose promises, stating only that within the scope of his abilities he would offer his full support, which appeared far more sincere. In front of an ancient monster like this, making empty promises would only yield the opposite effect.

"Hahaha, then I will accept your promise. There will always be opportunities in the future. I see you've grasped the natural energy within your body very well. Sure enough, in the glimpses of the future, the jutsu used by that figure..." Stopping abruptly right there, the White Snake Sage looked at Kakashi with deep meaning.

Kakashi didn't pry further. The White Snake Sage naturally had her reasons for not speaking, and asking would be pointless.

Seemingly satisfied with Kakashi's discretion, the White Snake Sage pondered for a moment before instructing Tagorihime.

"Since little Kakashi has already taken his first steps, you should impart all the Senjutsu of my Ryūchi Cave that you know to him."

"Understood. Next, I will take Kakashi-kun to familiarize himself with those Senjutsu."

The White Snake Sage's words were an instruction to Tagorihime, and also a dismissal for Kakashi. Kakashi, who should have taken his leave, worried that he wouldn't have another chance to be received by the White Snake Sage in the coming days. After hesitating, he spoke up: "White Snake Sage, I have a request. Might I ask to speak with you alone?"

Tagorihime at the side glared at Kakashi with apparent displeasure, then looked up at the White Snake Sage.

Amidst the swirling smoke, seeing the White Snake Sage's gesture, Tagorihime bowed slightly to the sage and took her leave first. "Then I'll wait for you at the place where you practiced yesterday."

"Alright, sorry for the trouble, Elder Tagorihime. I'll be right there." Kakashi replied with a hint of apology.

Tagorihime hadn't waited long at the training ground before Kakashi walked over with beaming eyes.

"It seems the White Snake Sage agreed to your request; look at how your entire expression has changed." Tagorihime teased.

"Ah, yes. I'm very grateful for the White Snake Sage's help. It removed one of my worries for the future." Without revealing specific details—everyone understood the principle that a poorly kept secret leads to ruin—the topic was not pursued further. Kakashi quickly immersed himself in the study of Senjutsu.

Time flew by, and a week passed in the blink of an eye.

During these past few days, Tagorihime taught Kakashi major moves including Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation and Sage Art: White Rage Technique, as well as practical skills like Earth Land Return and Twin Demon Slayer.

Naturally, Kakashi couldn't cultivate so many advanced jutsus in such a short time. Even if he could comprehend them all, the Senjutsu (dark blue energy) in his body wasn't sufficient for him to recklessly release and practice them. He simply memorized them all, after which Tagorihime left him to practice diligently on his own at his own pace.