When faced with the unknown, one had to maintain humanity's reverence and humility toward nature. Thinking through ingrained assumptions could easily lead to a disastrous loss.
For example, a certain Hokage was often subjected to the disdainful stares of his wife's family. Anyone unaware of the truth might have thought he was simply an incapable husband!
Jiraiya had made a huge mistake.
After discussing sacred lands and Sage Mode with Uchiha Itachi that day, he had become extremely curious about the first person to master Sage Mode. Privately, he had used the Reverse Summoning Technique to travel to Mount Myoboku.
Jiraiya had assumed Gamamaru might be Sage Fukasaku's second-generation offspring or third-generation descendant. He had even eagerly asked whether it was some old debt from his youth...
Males... it was normal for them to have a few unknown chapters in their past.
For some reason, Jiraiya had been chased down and beaten by Sage Fukasaku until he woke the Great Toad Sage... The learned great sage did not hold it against him and gave him the answer.
Jiraiya left Mount Myoboku with a bruised and swollen face, returning to Uchiha Itachi and Kitahara...
Then he suffered another blow... It was understandable that Uchiha Itachi could cultivate Sage Mode, but that crow's method was a serious problem. What sage directly transmitted senjutsu Chakra like that?!
Kitahara used senjutsu Chakra to connect with and transmit power into Itachi's body, overwhelming the spiritual and physical energy within Itachi and forcing them to merge with natural energy, allowing him to enter Sage Mode faster...
"Sage Mode—Activate!"
Uchiha Itachi let out a fierce shout in his childlike voice. His eyes instantly turned scarlet, and at the same time, a pair of enormous pitch-black wings slowly spread from his back!
Boom!
The oppressive aura stirred up dust from the ground...
A new Crow Sage Mode...
Leaving aside the fact that it was infinitely better-looking than Mount Myoboku's Sage Mode, Kitahara's service toward his young one alone...
Jiraiya felt bitter inside. To activate Sage Mode, he still needed Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima to help him absorb natural energy. It took a long time... and there was even a risk of failure.
In Sage Mode, Uchiha Itachi swiftly formed a hand seal. "Sage Art: Fireball Jutsu!"
Itachi suddenly spewed flames from his mouth, which instantly formed a massive fireball...
Unlike in his normal state, the fireball continuously absorbed the natural power around it. Its temperature rose ever higher, its volume grew ever larger, and scorching heat waves rushed at them!
Boom!
The flames burned the sandy ground, gradually melting the sand and soil into crystals beneath the sunlight...
It was only an ordinary C-rank Fire Release ninjutsu, yet with senjutsu enhancing it, it could rival the B-rank Great Fire Dragon Technique—and covered an even wider area!
"Teacher Jiraiya? You're back!" Uchiha Itachi excitedly flapped the wings behind him and flew before Jiraiya. "Sage Mode? We did it!"
"..."
Jiraiya did not really feel like speaking.
Uchiha Itachi noticed the injuries on Jiraiya's face, and his delighted expression immediately turned concerned. "Teacher... you're hurt?"
"..."
Jiraiya wanted to speak even less. Physical injuries were one thing, but his heart had been hurt too!
Uchiha Itachi seemed to guess something and asked in surprise, "Teacher... you didn't really go to Mount Myoboku..."
When Kitahara had connected with him through Chakra that day, he had sensed the crow's hidden delight at a successful prank... It seemed this matter was not so simple.
"Caw~"
Hearing this, the crow flew onto Uchiha Itachi's head and provocatively glanced at Jiraiya... as if to say, See? I was right, wasn't I?
"The Great Toad Sage gave me the answer. The first person to successfully cultivate Sage Mode was actually the Sage of Six Paths."
Jiraiya gritted his teeth as he recalled how the Great Toad Sage had fallen into thought and reminiscence upon hearing him ask who Gamamaru was...
"Little Jiraiya, I have not heard that name in a thousand years. If I have not slept myself muddled over these past thousand years, then I believe my name should be Gamamaru..."
Mount Myoboku's ancient ancestor had not held it against him. He gave him the answer and had even, with great interest, asked Jiraiya to convey his greetings to Kitahara.
As the old saying went, the King of Hell was easy to meet, but his underlings were hard to deal with... Jiraiya lamented how practical such sayings truly were. Before leaving Mount Myoboku, he had been beaten up by Sage Fukasaku again.
Uchiha Itachi liked bringing up things best left untouched. "Teacher, did you meet that guy named Gamamaru?"
"..."
Jiraiya was so angry that he wanted to cover his mouth. "Show some respect! That is the Great Toad Sage, the master of Mount Myoboku!"
"..."
Kitahara and Uchiha Itachi shook their heads in perfect sync, looking at Jiraiya with sympathetic faces... Who knew what right the culprit had to sympathize with the person he had tricked...
"Let's not talk about that... Hiss..." Jiraiya could not help touching the bruises on his face. "Itachi, you need to learn to draw in natural energy yourself and combine it into senjutsu Chakra..."
The little boy nodded. "It's just too easy to lose control. If Kitahara had not helped me, I might have been assimilated because of excessive natural energy and turned into a crow."
"... I thought everyone turned into toads..."
"Maybe it's because Kitahara drew the natural energy out for me!" Uchiha Itachi shook his head, took out a fruit, and handed it to the crow on his shoulder.
Jiraiya felt bitter again. Normally, sages only helped draw in natural energy during battle.
During ordinary training, he still had to sense and absorb natural energy himself... It might sound more independent, and perhaps the results would be better, but...
Just look at what that crow sage was doing. Was that something a person would do?
It helped draw in energy during ordinary practice, and when it was time for serious business, it directly combined senjutsu Chakra and transmitted it over, forcibly activating Sage Mode!
The problem was that their tacit understanding could not be replicated. Not everyone was willing to open their thoughts to Kitahara.
"Caw!"
The crow was not blindly spoiling its young one. It simply felt that after activating Sage Mode, Uchiha Itachi could more easily sense the characteristics of natural energy.
Simply put, it was like using a trial version of a product first.
After the trial expired, he would surely have some familiarity with the product. After all, having used Sage Art, Uchiha Itachi should already be able to distinguish natural energy.
Uchiha Itachi closed his eyes and softly said, "More or less... I can already sense natural energy..."
"???"
Jiraiya was dumbfounded. What kind of teaching method was this?! You could forcibly activate Sage Mode before even being able to sense natural energy?!
How was this any different from cheating?!
The methods of cultivating Sage Mode were generally similar: draw in natural energy and merge it with the spiritual and physical energy within one's body. But beginners found it difficult to sense natural energy.
That was when the sages of the sacred lands had to help. For instance, Mount Myoboku had a special oil that could improve one's sensory abilities...
But once Sage Mode was successfully activated, one's grasp of natural energy and use of senjutsu Chakra would become increasingly familiar.
It was like a student who had just started school and could not even recognize characters yet being handed the answers to a final exam, then being told to start learning characters from those answers...
Of course, it also depended on talent. After all, if that person truly could not learn, there was nothing to be done...
But Uchiha Itachi was clearly not that kind of person. Other than romance, he was talented at everything...
As a new author, I crave more support... such as recommendation votes...
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