Chapter 194: Sage Mode in the Sage Domain! (Second update, seeking subscriptions and votes)
The discussion about genjutsu lasted no more than half an hour.
Afterward, Sarutobi Asuma led Tsunade and the others to tour the Sage Domain he had created, as well as the massive underground research facility.
By 8 PM, the four returned home using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Sarutobi Asuma could go without eating, but Tsunade and the other two couldn't.
9 PM.
The four returned to the Sage Domain. Beneath the Sage Tree, with the vast starry sky above, they enjoyed the tranquility and peace, then discussed their respective plans.
Tsunade intended to cultivate Wood Release, a Kekkei Tōta.
Yūhi Kurenai would develop her genjutsu, Dream Realm, and continue practicing Medical Ninjutsu to enhance her Yang Style Chakra Nature Transformation, laying the foundation for developing her own Kekkei Genkai.
As for Shizune, she would continue to deepen her specialization in Medical Ninjutsu while also studying genjutsu.
The path she was taking would overlap with Yūhi Kurenai's.
It was just that Yūhi Kurenai would focus on genjutsu first, while Shizune would focus on Medical Ninjutsu first.
After 10 PM.
Sarutobi Asuma fed Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune first, then went to Tsunade's side to enjoy the "big fat sheep."
After a passionate battle, Sarutobi Asuma held Tsunade and said, "Sister Tsunade, do you remember the forbidden jutsu created by the Second Hokage that I mentioned before, the Impure World Reincarnation jutsu?"
Tsunade nodded, then frowned. "That forbidden technique..."
Sarutobi Asuma quickly said, "Don't worry, it's not for resurrection. It's because I considered that in the future, someone might use this jutsu to control powerful ninjas from the past to fight."
"So, today I captured three White Zetsu, intending to use them as sacrifices to try and summon the First Hokage and the Second Hokage, but I failed!"
Tsunade was shocked. "Failed?"
"With your abilities, how could you fail?"
Sarutobi Asuma nodded. "So, either the souls of the two Hokages have already been sealed, or someone has already used this jutsu."
Upon hearing this, Tsunade gritted her teeth. "That bastard Orochimaru!"
Sarutobi Asuma quickly comforted her. "Don't worry, this Impure World Reincarnation jutsu can also be broken, and we can reclaim the souls of the First and Second."
"However, to revive someone who has been dead for a long time, the only method currently available is the Rinnegan."
"And even with the Rinnegan, revival requires an extremely vast amount of chakra."
"Uchiha Madara needed to collect the Tailed Beasts before reviving himself, precisely to be in his prime state."
As he spoke, Sarutobi Asuma smiled and said, "Once the clone evolves the Rinnegan, we'll try to revive Nawaki first!"
"Okay!"
Tsunade nodded, then hugged Sarutobi Asuma back, saying emotionally, "Actually, I've let it go. As long as the living remember the departed in their hearts, they will always exist."
"If resurrection requires the sacrifice of life, then the person being revived would definitely not want that."
"Perhaps they, in the Pure Land, are also blessing us."
Sarutobi Asuma bit into a cherry. "Then we mustn't fail their blessings."
...
The next day.
The experimental facility began its relocation.
Important components would be moved to the Sage Tree base, especially those related to Sarutobi Asuma's cells, which had to be transferred to the safer Sage Tree base.
However, these tasks were all handed over to his Shadow Clones.
With the Flying Thunder God Technique and storage scrolls, moving wasn't much trouble.
At this moment.
Namikaze Minato, Uzumaki Kushina, Hatake Sakumo, Jiraiya, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sarutobi Shinya, Uzumaki Miri, as well as the other two Hokage Advisors, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, along with the two little rascals Naruto and Karin, were all being led by Sarutobi Asuma on a tour of the Sage Domain.
The scenery here was picturesque, leaving everyone amazed.
Naruto and Karin, the mischievous duo, picked flowers, chased butterflies and birds, and had a blast, their silvery laughter echoing frequently.
Finally, the group arrived under the Sage Tree.
Vines moved and formed floating cushions suspended in the air.
Everyone sat on them and found them incredibly comfortable.
Namikaze Minato couldn't help but exclaim, "The Natural Energy here is no inferior to Mount Myōboku."
Jiraiya nodded in agreement.
Sarutobi Shinya asked, "Asuma, you said this place allows for better cultivation of Sage Mode. What do you mean?"
Sarutobi Asuma pointed to the cushion formed by the vines he was sitting on. "The secret is right here."
"Huh?"
Sarutobi Shinya curiously looked at the cushion beneath his backside.
"This is a vine derived from the Sage Tree. It can gather dense Natural Energy, making it easier for ninjas to sense Natural Energy," Sarutobi Asuma explained.
Jiraiya then said, "The hardest part of Sage Mode isn't sensing Natural Energy, but controlling it. If you can't control it, there's a risk of losing control."
"On Mount Myōboku, if you lose control, the Natural Energy will erode your body, turning it to stone, like a frog."
Namikaze Minato nodded, "Jiraiya-sensei is right. That's why training Sage Mode requires having a vast amount of Chakra first."
"This way, you won't lose control after absorbing just a little Natural Energy."
"However, Natural Energy is even harder to master than Chakra."
Sarutobi Asuma smiled and nodded, "Sage Mode does carry that risk, but here we have the Sage Tree!"
"The Sage Tree can absorb excess Natural Energy at any time, ensuring you won't be eroded by it."
"Therefore, the vines not only help ninjas sense Natural Energy better, but they also act as a layer of protection, allowing ninjas to practice without worrying about erosion and giving them more opportunities to try."
This surprised both Jiraiya and Namikaze Minato.
This was much more secure than needing someone to supervise them on Mount Myōboku.
"Brother, you should try first!" Sarutobi Asuma said.
"Alright!" Sarutobi Shinya nodded, completely trusting his younger brother. He immediately lowered his eyes and calmed his mind to sense Natural Energy.
Next, under everyone's gaze, a branch of the Sage Tree lowered itself, and leaves attached themselves to Sarutobi Shinya's face and neck. A faint fragrance was then released.
Even Namikaze Minato and the others who were spectating, upon smelling this fragrance, felt their spirits instantly calm. It was like washing one's face with mountain spring water on a sweltering summer day; the heat instantly vanished.
At this moment, it was the inner heat, the heart, that quieted down.
Namikaze Minato and Jiraiya, feeling this, exchanged glances and showed expressions of pleasant surprise.
Sensing Natural Energy was also a hurdle when training Sage Mode.
At this moment, Sarutobi Shinya entered an unprecedented state of tranquility.
His mind was undisturbed, and his perception was amplified to its limit.
Then, he quickly sensed the Natural Energy filling the space between heaven and earth.
"So this is Natural Energy?" Sarutobi Shinya felt a surge of emotion and then attempted to guide this Natural Energy into his body.
The Natural Energy seemed very docile, rushing towards him.
But Sarutobi Shinya felt something was wrong. He felt like a floodgate, and the incoming Natural Energy was too immense.
And under everyone's astonished gazes, Sarutobi Shinya's limbs suddenly began to petrify rapidly, but immediately, the petrification receded just as quickly.
However, it wasn't long before the petrification appeared again, and then receded once more.
At this, everyone finally felt completely at ease.
Especially Sarutobi Hiruzen, who appeared composed but was actually holding his breath.
"Father, you should try too!" Sarutobi Asuma said.
If his brother and father could master Sage Mode, then they could use the Sage Power Eight Trigrams Seal.
And then use the original version of the Sage Cursed Seal.
Sarutobi Asuma believed that the original version of the Sage Cursed Seal wouldn't be difficult for Sarutobi Hiruzen.
At that time, Sarutobi Hiruzen could also administer it to their mother, Sarutobi Biwako.
Nodding, Sarutobi Hiruzen also closed his eyes and began to try training.
Sarutobi Asuma then said, "Minato-aniki, Kushina-neesan, and Miri-neesan will be taught by you."
"Jiraiya-senpai, you'll handle the two advisors."
Minato and Jiraiya both nodded in unison.
Time passed.
As it approached noon, Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others woke up one by one.
However, no one had immediately succeeded.
Even with the Sage Tree's assistance, Sage Mode was not that easy to master.
Finally, everyone's gaze once again converged on Sarutobi Shinya.
Among them all, he was the only one still immersed in training.
Sarutobi Asuma was filled with anticipation.
Among those present, if you were to talk about immense chakra, it would undoubtedly be Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Miri who ranked at the very top, besides himself.
Next were Jiraiya and his father, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
However, the latter was no longer at his peak.
And Sarutobi Shinya, who was in his prime at twenty-three, had a chakra level on par with Minato, inheriting the most from Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Secondly, in terms of talent, Sarutobi Shinya should have surpassed Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Miri.
As for Sarutobi Hiruzen and the others, they had all passed their prime state, and their fighting spirit was long gone compared to before.
Another half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
Suddenly, the branches of the Sage Tree retracted, revealing Sarutobi Shinya's face.
Almost simultaneously, Sarutobi Shinya opened his eyes, and the Sage Mode markings appeared on his face.
"He actually achieved it so quickly!"
Jiraiya was shocked.
Namikaze Minato also exclaimed, "As expected of Shinya!"
At this moment, Sarutobi Asuma felt a moment of astonishment.
This was because Sarutobi Shinya's Sage Mode markings were exactly the same as the ones he remembered from Senju Hashirama.
No!
It couldn't be said to be exactly the same.
The distribution of the markings was the same, but the colors were different.
Sarutobi Shinya's eyeshadow had an inner ring of gold and an outer ring of black.
The mark on his forehead was also gold in the center, with a black ring around it.
And his pupils were black on the inside, with the outer part dyed gold.
"So, the First Hokage's Sage Mode was probably his own, or self-awakened, originating from Ashura... and related to Wood Release!"
Sarutobi Asuma suddenly understood.
The reason Sarutobi Shinya's markings differed from Senju Hashirama's was because he had created the Sage Tree.
In other words, the source of Sage Mode was him, and it was influenced by him.
This was the same as the Sage Mode from Mount Myōboku.
The source of Sage Mode on Mount Myōboku was the Toad Sage, Gamamaru.
When cultivating Sage Mode with the help of toad oil, one would be influenced, leading to the result of being petrified into a toad by natural energy erosion.
Alternatively, if Sage Mode was not perfect, toad-like features would appear.
Tracing back even further to the Sage of Six Paths, his powerful Chakra Control, coupled with never having cultivated Sage Mode using toad oil, not only resulted in no toad-like features but also no markings.
This was the same for Sarutobi Asuma.
Sarutobi Asuma also cultivated Sage Mode without external help and possessed formidable Chakra Control, which is why he had no markings or special features.
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