"Three Hundred Million Volts: Thunder Ball!" Satoru pushed his Goro Goro no Mi to absolute limit. Blood trickled from his mouth; he concentrated all remaining power in his right hand.
This terrifying, earth-scouring lightning force fully gathered in his palm.
But that wasn't all.
In the next instant, Satoru made the Thunder Ball rotate. Yes, the already destructive Thunder Ball now spun like a Rasengan.
The lightning clump gradually sharpened but wasn't shuriken-like, as the youth didn't add Wind Release nature transformation.
Highest Lightning Release concentration combined with rotation compression condensed into a small spiral, triangular thunder vortex.
If Rasengan was a mini-typhoon, then Satoru's right hand now held a mini-thunderstorm.
"Spiral Thunder Ball!" Satoru finally unleashed all his power toward the Tailed Beast Ball. At the same instant, the Nine-Tails Demonic Monkey King fired its charge.
Spiral Thunder Ball was Satoru's signature move, based on Rasengan and Chidori principles.
Using high-concentration Thunder Ball and Rasengan's spin, he created a true thunderstorm in hand. This technique combined Lightning Release's piercing power and Rasengan's rotation, merging Rasengan's might with Raikiri's sharpness.
In other words, this Spiral Thunder Ball was a Rasengan-Raikiri hybrid, surpassing both, and seal-less.
It could be used for close-range strikes, or thrown like a projectile.
This time, Satoru naturally chose to hurl it, just like a Tailed Beast Ball.
Originally, it was supposed to be a small thundercloud storm, but since Satoru poured all his remaining chakra into it, it grew larger and larger.
BOOM! Soon, the Nine-Tails Demonic Monkey King unleashed its Tailed Beast Ball at Satoru, and at the exact same moment, the young man threw his Spiral Thunder Ball.
In the end, it boiled down to a classic clash of energy waves.
The ultra-powerful attacks from both sides slammed into each other, completely obliterating all the statues around them. Due to the confined space, collapses began everywhere.
Satoru brushed off the debris that had buried him and, panting heavily, finally dispelled Susanoo.
"Everything... I can't anymore..." Satoru finally collapsed to the ground.
For the first time, he had completely depleted all his chakra, pushing himself to such exhaustion that both body and mind gave out. He lost consciousness.
Satoru had a long dream. It felt like someone was calling him. Finally, he opened his eyes...
"Ow! It hurts!" Satoru's vision had noticeably worsened, and his entire body ached so badly that he could barely feel anything. Right now, the young Uchiha was undoubtedly at his most vulnerable.
"Nine-Tails Demonic Monkey King... I wonder if he's still alive?" Satoru looked around and saw four statues standing nearby: the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Phoenix, and Black Tortoise.
"What? These four statues... weren't they destroyed?" Satoru was utterly baffled. Their battle with the Demonic Monkey King had nearly demolished the entire well, so how had everything been restored?
"You're finally awake?" A voice suddenly came from behind Satoru. The young man jolted in surprise—he hadn't sensed anyone there at all.
Satoru turned around. Before him stood a man who looked no older than thirty, holding a staff. This staff seemed different from the one Hiruzen Sarutobi had.
"Who are you? Monkey King?" Satoru guessed immediately, but then it hit him. "You... you're Sarutobi Sasuke, aren't you?!"
The man before him smiled faintly.
"Yes, I am Sarutobi Sasuke. I didn't think you'd recognize me. Judging by the forehead protector on your head, you're a shinobi from Konoha, right? How's Konoha doing?"
"Konoha's fine. The Third Hokage is your son, Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"Ah, Hiruzen, huh... So he really became Hokage after all..."
"Um, Sarutobi Sasuke, didn't you die in battle? They said Silver Horn sealed you in the Red Gourd?" Satoru asked curiously.
"Red Gourd? Maybe. My memories of the past are fuzzy now. But before dying, I used my last strength to seal the Nine-Tails' chakra from Gold Horn and Silver Horn's bodies into the Monkey King's body."
"But the Nine-Tails' chakra is too ferocious—it could easily influence the Monkey King."
"That's why I had to seal my own chakra into his body as well, to make the seal last this long," Sarutobi Sasuke explained.
"This long? Honestly, not that long. The Second Shinobi World War ended not so long ago," Satoru replied truthfully.
"So the Nine-Tails' chakra is even more terrifying than I imagined..." the Sarutobi clan ancestor said. "Young man, I didn't expect you to have all five nature transformations of chakra. You're no ordinary guy. Since you made it here, you must have a close connection to Hiruzen?"
Satoru answered right away.
"You're right. I call him teacher."
"Hiruzen's student? I didn't think he had disciples already. Looks like you were destined to end up here," Sarutobi Sasuke patted Satoru on the shoulder. "You know, getting here wasn't mere chance. By arriving, you've essentially begun the Sage's trials."
"The Sage's trials?" Satoru didn't understand.
"Nowadays, in the shinobi world, there are three great Sage Lands: Mount Myōboku, Ryuchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest."
"Toads live on Mount Myōboku, snakes in Ryuchi Cave, and slugs in Shikkotsu Forest. But do you know that the true place of power, most suitable for human training, is the Water Curtain Cave on the Mount of Flowers and Fruit?" Sarutobi Sasuke said. "A Sage once lived here. He asked the Monkey Clan to stay. Later, people from the Sarutobi clan stumbled upon this place by chance and made a contract with the Monkey Clan."
"The Sage left three trials. Those who pass them can learn his senjutsu. Unfortunately, very few from the Sarutobi clan were deemed worthy to attempt them, and those who did couldn't overcome them," Sasuke continued.
Satoru asked immediately.
"What are these three trials?"
"The first trial is to defeat the Monkey King. In the past few decades, only you and I have succeeded," Sarutobi Sasuke replied.
"You... you did it too?" Satoru knew Sarutobi Sasuke was strong, but he hadn't expected this man to have beaten the Monkey King as well.
"I can guess what you're thinking. Don't worry about it. I defeated the Monkey King without the Nine-Tails' chakra. Though he's immortal with an Indestructible Body, he has clear weaknesses—his stamina and chakra reserves. But you, who overcame the Monkey King enhanced by my chakra and the Nine-Tails'—that's truly monstrous," Sarutobi Sasuke said.
"I just have some special abilities," Satoru replied modestly, not wanting to boast.