Giving up? That was out of the question.
The toad oil was just a medium — how much natural energy one absorbed still depended entirely on the person.
As long as you had precise control, there was no risk of endless natural energy flooding in uncontrollably.
And even if you took a step back… natural energy wasn't infinite.
In the final battle of the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto had once made Kurama absorb every scrap of natural energy from the land around them just to counter Sasuke's Indra's Arrow.
With the amount of chakra he currently possessed, Senju Haruto wasn't even sure whether all of Mount Myōboku's natural energy would be enough for him to fully absorb.
And truthfully, Haruto was curious — eager, even — to see what his own Sage Mode would be like.
Might as well seize this opportunity and try it out.
Besides, he thought, the clearer Mount Myōboku and Konoha understand my strength, the more weight my words will carry.
This is a world of shinobi — ideals without strength mean nothing. Without power, no one will follow you.
Seeing Haruto's resolve, Fukasaku said no more. He simply tightened both hands around the black staff, hoping Haruto wouldn't absorb too much natural energy.
Jiraiya and Naruto were just as tense, watching Haruto closely, worried he might turn into a stone statue.
Haruto took a deep breath. After rubbing the toad oil onto himself, he simply closed his eyes and began sensing the natural energy around him.
In truth, Haruto didn't even need the toad oil at all.
With nothing more than a thought, he could blend seamlessly with nature — and then greedily draw in its power.
"This… how is this possible?!"
Fukasaku's hands gripped the black staff so tightly his knuckles whitened, his round eyes almost popping from their sockets.
Normally, for a first-timer, natural energy would seep into the body from the spot where the toad oil was applied, spreading through the limbs before merging with physical and spiritual energy to form powerful senjutsu chakra.
But the Haruto standing before him wasn't following any of those rules.
The toad oil on his arm was doing nothing.
No — more accurately, its effect had been completely erased.
Natural energy wasn't trickling in from the application point… it was surging into Haruto from every direction at once.
Fukasaku had never seen anyone absorb natural energy so aggressively before.
And he wasn't the only one stunned — Jiraiya was openly staring at Haruto with disbelief.
"Lord Fukasaku… is this even possible?"
As someone who had mastered Sage Mode himself, Jiraiya understood exactly how terrifying Haruto was at this moment.
If he didn't know Haruto personally, he would have sworn the man had been training in senjutsu for decades.
"This is…" Jiraiya breathed, "…like the Sage of Six Paths reborn."
And the shock didn't stop there.
Not only was Haruto absorbing natural energy at an outrageous rate — his control over it was equally extreme.
Fukasaku and Jiraiya couldn't help recalling what Haruto had once said to Gamabunta:
Sage Arts? Nothing special.
"…Genius," Fukasaku muttered under his breath. But it wasn't really that he thought Haruto was a genius — it was that he had no other word to describe something this terrifying.
"No trace of toad transformation…"
Fukasaku and Jiraiya said it at the same time.
Once Haruto fully entered Sage Mode, the only visible change was a set of black markings appearing on his forehead and around his eyes.
Other than that, there wasn't the slightest hint of toad-like features.
Then Haruto snapped his eyes open — and the sheer fullness of the senjutsu chakra coursing through his body hit him.
Even he could feel it — this power was on a completely different level from before.
"His eyes…" Fukasaku gasped. Jiraiya noticed it too.
Not only had Haruto's skin avoided toad transformation — even his eyes were unchanged.
Clear and bright. Human pupils. Human sclera.
Such a flawless Sage Mode… Fukasaku had never seen anything like it in his life.
Jiraiya opened his mouth, but no words came.
He remembered the grueling years it had taken him to master Sage Mode — and here was Haruto, who had merely asked about the principles and then transformed straight into the most perfect Sage Mode imaginable.
Does this world even make sense anymore?
"Haruto… this really is your first time?" Even Fukasaku found himself doubting the reality of his own life.
How could there be such a monster in this world?
"Yes, it's my first time," Haruto replied with a nod, lowering his gaze to his own hands, a complex expression flickering across his face.
Still… opening Sage Mode meant he now stood on par with Senju Hashirama himself.
At this level… maybe I could even use Hashirama's ultimate jutsu — the True Several Thousand Hands.
The thought tempted him for a moment, but he quickly dismissed it.
The reason was simple — the training grounds here were far too small. Even the Oil Falls wasn't much to speak of.
Unleashing the True Several Thousand Hands here would almost certainly cause massive destruction.
Still…
"There's one other thing I can test," Haruto murmured.
Channeling his senjutsu chakra into his eyes, his pupils spun rapidly, turning red as three tomoe began to take shape.
"That's… the Sharingan?!" Fukasaku blurted out. "Haruto… you're from the Uchiha clan?"
Mount Myōboku, having formed summoning contracts with Jiraiya and the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato, was well-versed in Konoha's affairs.
They knew the Nine-Tails attack years ago, and Minato's death, had deep ties to the Sharingan.
Never in his life had Fukasaku imagined that the man Jiraiya brought here would be from the Uchiha.
But Haruto's next words left him utterly speechless.
"Uchiha? No, Lord Fukasaku — I'm from the Senju clan."
Haruto smiled faintly as he brought his hands together in a clap — and from the ground behind him, a towering tree surged upward.
Naruto's jaw dropped. He let out a series of awestruck cries, his admiration for Haruto soaring to new heights.
The use of Wood Release left no doubt — Haruto truly carried the blood of the Senju.
"Great Sage Toad…" Fukasaku felt his mind go blank, his chest tight as if he couldn't breathe.
What kind of person is this?
"Lord Fukasaku," Jiraiya said with a sharp breath, "now you understand why the Third Hokage and I both felt safe entrusting Naruto to Haruto, don't you?"
Sharingan. Wood Release. Sage Chakra.
As for the Nine-Tails?
That would just be an oversized pet.