The Stillness of Sage Mode

The Stillness of Sage Mode

Over the weekend, after preparing everything, Ayato headed to the Training Ground. That day, he did not create Shadow Clones to study.

His body had fully recovered two days earlier. He had not expected it to take more than a month. Sure enough, breaking through his body's limits at his age had been far too forced.

Still, for the sake of his plan, Ayato had to keep breaking through. And he had to be fully prepared—he could not waste Chakra if he could avoid it.

Before long, Ayato arrived at the Training Ground. Sure enough, he saw Rock Lee again. Whenever there was a holiday, the chances of Rock Lee appearing at the Training Ground were practically one hundred percent.

However, Ayato felt that Rock Lee was not in particularly high spirits today. He had merely greeted him and showed no intention of sparring.

Although Ayato had not planned to spar today anyway, Rock Lee had become obsessed with fighting after trying it before. Whenever Ayato showed up here, Rock Lee would come looking for a match.

As for their win rate, it was basically fifty-fifty. When Ayato had Chakra and could use the Three Body Technique, his chances of winning were much higher. But once his Chakra ran out, Rock Lee's win rate soared.

Ayato looked at the dispirited Rock Lee and fell into thought. Something had probably happened, but without knowing the reason, he could not rashly try to comfort him. He should handle his own matters first.

Ayato began his training for the day. Both the volume and intensity of today's regimen far exceeded his usual routine. As the training continued, sweat and salt constantly seeped from his body.

Finally, that barrier loosened. Gritting his teeth, Ayato successfully broke through it once more.

Ayato did not stop immediately after breaking through. Instead, he finished his post-workout stretches before ending the session. Then, staggering on unsteady feet, he walked to his usual resting spot and sat down cross-legged.

Ayato could tell that this breakthrough seemed harder than the previous ones, though he did not know why. Nor did he have the time to think about it. His mental state had reached an extreme level of exhaustion.

At that moment, Ayato took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Resisting the urge to fall asleep immediately, he slowly calmed his mind.

Since ordinary training could not let him rush into that state of stillness, he would try after breaking through his limits. If this still did not work, then he would have no choice but to wait another month or so.

Ayato had the right mindset. He would give it his all this time, and it would be fine even if he failed. This was Sage Mode, after all; the difficulty was obvious. But he also believed that he would definitely succeed. If not this time, then next time. If not next time, then the time after that!

He was absolutely going to learn Sage Mode!

With that mindset, Ayato's body gradually grew still. This exhaustion covered up the sensation of ants crawling all over his body. Then, the fatigue slowly faded as well, and for the first time, his body became completely still.

Following that, his soul, which had been abnormally active since birth, finally became still as well. Slowly, his spirit and body merged together.

Ayato seemed to catch a glimpse of a sliver of scenery atop the Mountain Peak. But after that brief glimpse, he slipped out of that state once again.

Ayato slowly opened his eyes, surprise shining within them. It was a feeling—he could feel that he had succeeded, even if only for a very brief moment.

But since he had succeeded once, there would be a second time. The conditions for entering that state would even gradually become less demanding. He would not need to break through his limits every single time before entering it!

A small goal: before obtaining the Summoning Technique Scrolls of the Three Great Sage Areas, he had to be able to enter that state without any special training!

However, Ayato frowned again. Although he had entered that state, he did not seem to feel anything special, much less sense Natural Energy. There had only been utter emptiness. Still, his sensory abilities had indeed become absurdly powerful.

There definitely would not be any records of Sage Mode in the library. Ayato could not help feeling a headache coming on. It was probably normal. The later stages of training likely required Toad Oil or something similar.

Later, he could try sensing Natural Energy. Although he could not absorb it, being able to sense it directly without Toad Oil would definitely be tremendous progress.

One step at a time. Ayato sighed first, then grew a little excited. Today's gains had truly been a pleasant surprise.

Ayato slowly rose to his feet and looked around, only to frown. Rock Lee had actually left already. He had even cut down on his training. This was a serious problem.

Ayato was somewhat worried. After spending so much time together, he had grown quite fond of that little guy with such a talent for hard work.

However, he first had to deal with something else. Ayato looked toward a large tree and asked,

"Excuse me, are you going to keep hiding?"

"Ahahahaha! To think you could actually discover me—you really are an impressive little guy!" A young man wearing the green flak jacket of a Konoha Jonin stepped out.

Seeing the person emerge from behind the tree, Ayato relaxed. He had roughly guessed who it was, but what if it had been an enemy? That was right—this was Might Guy, the peak of temporarily ordinary humans.

"Hello. May I ask what you need?" Ayato asked.

Might Guy looked at Ayato with some amazement. He had been hesitating over whether to reveal himself. He had observed this place for quite a few days, and naturally, the one he admired most was Rock Lee.

But he had also witnessed Ayato's hard work. Moreover, over the past few days, Ayato had always seemed measured, never training excessively. Yet something had apparently gone wrong today. He had gotten distracted and overtrained!

If Ayato kept training like this, his body definitely would not be able to endure it!

Although Might Guy also wanted to follow Rock Lee and see what had happened over there, Ayato's issue seemed more serious by comparison. After all, one moment of carelessness could leave irreversible damage to his body.

"Little guy, you need to know that training must be done in moderation. Though youth has no limits, you're still young. Training like this will harm your body." Since he had already been discovered and come out, Might Guy did not hesitate to say what he wanted to say.

Ayato immediately understood. So that was why. He nodded and said, "I know that. You must have been observing this place before, so you should know that my training does not harm my body. It's just that there were some special circumstances today. Tomorrow, I'll return to my usual training volume."

"I see. That's good, then." Might Guy nodded. Doing it once was fine; he had merely feared that it would continue. "Since you understand, I'll be leaving now. Keep working hard and burning with youth, little guy! I think highly of you!"

As he spoke, Might Guy patted Ayato on the shoulder.

Ayato twitched the corner of his mouth. Although he had recovered somewhat, his body was still exhausted. Those two pats nearly made him drop to his knees. But he could not really say anything, so he merely nodded.

"I'll keep working hard."

Might Guy gave Ayato a thumbs-up, flashing a broad grin and those gleaming white teeth before leaving. Since everything was fine here, he still had to go check on the situation over there!

Watching Might Guy's back, Ayato smiled as well. Discovering Might Guy had been quite useful. After all, Might Guy was practically the greatest taijutsu master in the ninja world, and naturally possessed an extremely high level of expertise in physical training.

As Ayato's body continued to grow, he had to figure out the increased training volume for each stage by himself. With Might Guy's guidance, he could train more effectively.

But what exactly had happened to Rock Lee?