Perfect Sage Mode

At last, Jiraiya spoke, giving Feng Yao his assurance.

"I'll talk the old man around."

But as a staunch supporter of the village, he would never allow anyone to harm it.

"But if you dare hurt the village, I'll never let you get away with it!"

Feng Yao sneered dismissively.

Jiraiya was indeed powerful. Calling him one of Konoha's strongest fighters would be no exaggeration.

But compared to Feng Yao, who possessed the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, he still fell short.

Not to mention the terrifying power of Double Kamui, which Jiraiya would find difficult to counter with the means at his disposal.

But now Feng Yao wanted to visit Mount Myōboku and see whether he could obtain Sage Mode through a check-in, so naturally, he would not let Jiraiya leave so easily.

"Jiraiya, how about this? Let's have a match with a wager. If you win, my Uchiha Clan will never undermine the village's interests..."

"If I win, take me to Mount Myōboku for a look..."

Jiraiya was delighted to hear that Feng Yao wanted to challenge him to a wagered match. He was very confident in his own strength.

But when he heard that Feng Yao wanted to be taken to Mount Myōboku if he won, he immediately eyed Feng Yao warily.

Still, he seemed to have guessed what Feng Yao had in mind and offered a warning.

"What do you want to go to Mount Myōboku for? Do you want to learn Sage Mode?"

"What do you think...?"

Feng Yao had no intention of hiding anything.

Jiraiya nodded. Apart from learning Sage Mode, he could not think of anything else Feng Yao might want from Mount Myōboku.

Surely he could not be after those disgusting bugs?

"All right, I agree. Whether you win or lose, I'll take you to Mount Myōboku."

Jiraiya was not worried about Feng Yao going back on his word, either. After traveling far and wide for so many years, he could tell that Feng Yao was a man of principle.

That was because he saw the same aloof pride in Feng Yao that he saw in his friend Orochimaru.

As for Sage Mode, Jiraiya was even less concerned. Over the years, countless people had wanted to learn it.

Only a handful had actually succeeded.

The others had either died or turned to stone.

Even a genius like Orochimaru had failed to master Sage Mode.

Only after attempting to train in Sage Mode could one understand its difficulty and danger.

Even he had not fully mastered Sage Mode. He still needed the help of the two sages, Shima and Fukasaku, to enter it.

And Jiraiya had only achieved even that much after spending years enduring a diet of bugs on Mount Myōboku and risking his life.

The help of Mount Myōboku's toads had been indispensable throughout the process.

So Jiraiya did not believe Feng Yao could learn it. Not everyone could be a genius like Minato.

"Where will we fight? If it's outside the village, I'll need to tell the old man..."

Feng Yao shook his head, a glint of a successful scheme flashing in his eyes.

"Since you said you'd take me to Mount Myōboku whether I win or lose, why don't we just go straight there?"

Jiraiya froze, thinking that did seem to be the case.

But something still felt off...

"All right, in that case..."

Jiraiya was not one to dither. Once he made up his mind, he acted immediately.

"Reverse Summoning Technique!"

Feeling a pull of chakra, Feng Yao did not resist.

After a dizzying sensation of distortion, the pull of chakra abruptly vanished.

Beneath his feet was no longer Konoha's soil, but the damp, thick, soft floor of an ancient forest, carrying the scent of rotting leaves and moss.

The surrounding light filtered through layer upon layer of towering ancient trees, taking on pale green, dusky yellow, hazy hues befitting a hidden realm. The air was so thick it seemed saturated with natural energy, and even a single breath made his chakra stir.

Nearby, enormous trees blotted out the sky, their trunks as thick as buildings, their branches coiling like mighty dragons, their leafy canopies impenetrably dense.

The ground was covered in thick moss, enormous mushrooms, ferns, and strange flowers and plants, some even taller than a person.

In the distance, he could see rolling immortal mountains wreathed in mist, with waterfalls plunging a thousand feet, their rumbling waters never sounding clamorous.

Toads of every size were everywhere: palm-sized green frogs, rock toads as large as houses, and giant toads like small hills. Some lay quietly, some swam, and some sat in meditation, forming a scene of tranquility.

Even with his steady temperament, Feng Yao was deeply stunned by the sight, as though he had stepped into a paradise secluded from the world.

It was practically another world. Without realizing it, Feng Yao recalled a theory he had seen online in his previous life.

The Three Great Sage Lands, including Mount Myōboku, along with several other places, might very well be independent spaces like Kaguya's subspaces. Put simply, they were little worlds.

Now, that theory really did seem possible.

Seeing Feng Yao's expression, Jiraiya smiled faintly.

Back when he first came to Mount Myōboku, he too had been deeply awed.

"Come on. I'll take you to meet the Great Toad Sage and the others first..."

Jiraiya had originally wanted to get to the fight quickly, too, but remembering that the outcome did not matter... he decided to introduce Feng Yao to Mount Myōboku's sages first.

Feng Yao nodded.

Inside, however, he grew excited.

Because the system, which had been silent for several days, finally responded.

[Detected that the host is currently at Mount Myōboku, one of the Three Great Sage Lands. Check in?]

"Check in!" Feng Yao chose to check in without hesitation.

[Ding! Congratulations to the host on obtaining Sage Mode (Mount Myōboku version)!]

[Ding! Congratulations on triggering a chain check-in. Check in at all Three Great Sage Lands in succession to obtain Perfect Sage Mode (the Sage Mode best suited to humans).]

Feng Yao's pupils contracted sharply. Perfect Sage Mode?!

Although he did not know what it entailed, if the system dared to call it perfect, it certainly could not be bad.

That description in particular-the Sage Mode best suited to humans-greatly tempted Feng Yao.

Having read the original story, Feng Yao naturally knew the drawbacks of Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode. If not for the tremendous boost in strength it offered, he would not have considered it.

Nor would he have gone to the trouble of scheming for it.

The clearest demonstration of Sage Mode in the original story had to be Naruto.

Without Sage Mode, Naruto was crushed by the Six Paths of Pain.

With Sage Mode, Naruto actually took on the Six Paths of Pain single-handedly. How absurd was that?

It showed that the improvement Sage Mode offered was a qualitative transformation involving exponential growth.

Feng Yao took a moment to feel what Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode had brought him.

He was utterly satisfied.

Feng Yao felt he could enter Sage Mode immediately, as though the ability were innate.

Having achieved his goal, Feng Yao's mood immediately brightened.

He also began setting his sights on the other two Great Sage Lands. Ryūchi Cave would be easy enough to find; Orochimaru should have a way to get there.

Orochimaru was already loyal to him, so reaching Ryūchi Cave through Orochimaru should not be much of a problem.

The difficult one was Shikkotsu Forest. As far as Feng Yao knew, it seemed only Tsunade had a way to get there.

But the crux of the problem was that Tsunade was unlikely to help an Uchiha like him...

"Forget it. Why think so much about it? With Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode and the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan with Double Kamui, my strength has basically reached the threshold of the Six Paths."

"As long as Isshiki doesn't appear, I'm already invincible..."