After Naruto sent his pets to a safe place and walked a certain distance, he and Jiraiya were reverse-summoned to Mount Myōboku.
Mount Myōboku is the habitat of the toad clan in the Naruto world, and also where Jiraiya cultivated Sage Mode. It exists like an island isolated from the mundane world.
Here lives Gamamaru, the Great Sage Toad, who has been alive since the Sage of Six Paths' era, as well as the two elder toads, Fukasaku (male) and Shima (female). They have lived for eight hundred years, each one incredibly long-lived. Below them are three mountain-sized enforcers: Gamabunta, Gamaken, and Gamahiro.
In Myōboku there is a toad, named Gamabunta. Gamabunta is so big, one pot cannot stew him whole, but Hinata can eat him.
"So this is Mount Myōboku!" Naruto exclaimed. He had always yearned to visit this, the only 5A-rated tourist attraction in Naruto. The feeling upon seeing it in reality was one word: enormous. Whether it was the stone statues or the mushrooms, even the ubiquitous leaves were several times his size. The croaking of frogs and chirping of birds were ceaseless, a scene brimming with vitality.
[Hmm, this place is perfect for Nine-Tails to romp around.]
After scanning the area, Naruto opened a portal and brought his little "ancestors" over. Mount Myōboku should have barriers, but they couldn't block Naruto's portal.
The ferret immediately began scampering and jumping, rubbing itself left and right, likely leaving its scent. The ferret hadn't settled on a new name yet; Naruto planned to think hard about it later.
Ginger Fishcake was also curiously exploring its surroundings. Shùnfēng wasn't brought over; he was left in a valley in the Land of Snow, because Jiraiya said dogs were forbidden on Mount Myōboku. Although he might blow up the heavens, the earth, and Konoha, Naruto, who still believed himself to be a good kid, was very obedient.
Scooping up Ginger, who had taken two steps and stopped, Jiraiya stroked the cat and said, "I'm warning you, this place is not like Konoha. Be gentle with your antics, understand… you shut up, don't talk."
Naruto was speechless. You won't let me talk. And Old Man, can't you just speak properly? If you said it, could I not listen? And you're warning me. What's the point of a warning? In my past life, I was warned thousands of times by the FBI in movies, but I still watched what I wanted to watch.
Sage Fukasaku, responsible for the reverse summoning, jumped out from behind Naruto and asked, "Is this the practitioner this time?" Although he had signed a contract, this was his first time seeing Naruto. If it weren't for the plop sound of him jumping, Naruto truly wouldn't have noticed a toad behind him. Besides Fukasaku's Sage Mode allowing him to blend into nature, it was also due to Naruto's field of vision. This elder toad was too small, not on the same scale as Gamabunta, but he was very strong.
"Yes, it's this kid," Jiraiya replied. Then he patted Naruto: "Next, Sage Fukasaku will be in charge of teaching you. Remember not to mess around."
Naruto nodded.
"Alright, you can talk now."
Sage Fukasaku was confused. Looking at this lively and cheerful child, why wouldn't he be allowed to talk?
"Perverted Old Man, you're really annoying," Naruto complained.
"Alright, you take your time learning. First, give me a few barrels of sake," Jiraiya replied. If I let you talk, it's not me who's annoying; it's Mount Myōboku that's going to have problems.
Naruto took out several barrels of aged fine wine and stacked them. Jiraiya tucked the ginger cat into his arms, hoisted a barrel, and walked off. It seemed he had discovered the proper use for Ginger Fishcake.
Jiraiya was going to drink with Gamabunta. When he was young, he made a mistake while practicing the Summoning Jutsu and arrived at Mount Myōboku. The first toad he met was Gamabunta. The two, one human and one toad, had practically grown up together, and their bond was very deep.
Jiraiya left, and Sage Fukasaku, seeing Naruto still surveying his surroundings, said, "Little Naruto, come with me."
"Okay, Sage Fukasaku," Naruto replied politely. Although he was a toad, he had lived longer than Naruto's entire family tree; he was an elder, and due respect should be given. Only his form of address made Naruto feel a little nostalgic. When he was little, the Third Hokage used to call him that.
Sage Fukasaku hopped ahead, followed by the ferret mimicking his hops, and then Naruto. Naruto held Fishcake, who could now increase his "milk volume" by 1.1 stages, in his arms. Ginger was probably 1.25. After feeding for a while, Naruto's passive ability, 'Orangeification,' had begun to take effect.
Sage Fukasaku led Naruto to an oil waterfall and gestured for Naruto to sit down. "Sage Jutsu is a cultivation method that combines your own cultivated chakra with natural energy absorbed from the outside world. Once learned, Sage Jutsu can enhance the power of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, and even Taijutsu will increase in power," Sage Fukasaku explained to Naruto.
Naruto understood this: an all-attribute enhancement buff—Sage Jutsu.
"The first requirement for cultivating Sage Jutsu is chakra volume. Little Naruto, you have a lot of chakra, which perfectly meets the learning conditions." Sage Fukasaku had sensory abilities, and coupled with Naruto's inability to suppress his aura, in his close-range perception, Naruto next to him was as dazzling as the sun. How does this child have so much chakra…
"The first step is perception. Don't underestimate perception; natural energy is very difficult to perceive." Indeed, it was difficult; Naruto knew this deeply. After secretly practicing for so many years, he could only occasionally perceive a little bit. After all these years, Naruto had only managed to perceive; he had never even attempted to fully integrate himself with nature.
Sage Mode wasn't something one could learn just by knowing the method; it had many learning conditions. Otherwise, Orochimaru, with his extraordinary talent, would have learned it long ago. For example, the irreversible toadification required Sage Fukasaku to use the black staff in his hand to "punch out" the natural energy to dispel it. If he practiced secretly, unless he was confident of succeeding on the first try, he would be waiting for death. In the original story, even the incredibly talented Crown Prince only learned it after a beating, didn't he? Even if he didn't use the toad's method to cultivate and thus avoid toadification, there would certainly be other side effects. This natural energy was more dangerous than nuclear radiation. At the very least, it killed faster than nuclear radiation outside of a direct nuclear explosion site.
After explaining some more knowledge about natural energy to Naruto, Sage Fukasaku extended his hand into the oil pond.
"This oil…" Naruto asked. This oil looked even more disgusting than gutter oil!
"This is toad oil; it enhances the perception of natural energy…" This oil isn't something you secrete, is it? Can't you use some soybean oil? Peanut oil would work too.
"Little Naruto, please take off your clothes," Sage Fukasaku said. Disgusting as it was, Naruto complied. It was just very awkward for him that the first time in his life he was asked to take off his clothes was by a toad.
Watching Sage Fukasaku's oil-covered hand slowly approach him, Naruto got goosebumps.
"Please wait!" Naruto stopped him.
"What's wrong, Little Naruto?"
"I'm a little excited. I need to change my posture to calm myself down."
With that, he found an empty spot by the oil pond, sat cross-legged, hands resting on his knees, back straight, concentrating his mind. He used the same posture he used when refining chakra. Cultivating Sage Jutsu was cultivating immortality, and cultivating immortality required the attitude of an immortal cultivator. At the very least, posture was very important.
Sage Fukasaku didn't understand what this posture meant, but he was open-minded and didn't ask further. He gently applied the toad oil to Naruto's back. In truth, Naruto initially refused the first application of toad oil, but Sage Fukasaku's hand was very soft, and the toad oil was cool, smooth, and very effective.
Naruto felt natural energy surge into his body as if he'd been hit with a special effect, a 'duang!'
"It's here."
Opening his eyes, he ignored his body's changes and immediately took out a mirror to check his face for any alterations. He had practiced perception on his own before, differing from the Crown Prince, so he didn't know if he would look different. It was best not to become ugly; ugly pretty boys weren't wanted by rich ladies.
"Why is it black?!"
"That varies from person to person, Little Naruto, and it's not just black; there's a little bit of red too."
Naruto rolled his eyes. You don't need to tell me; I already saw it, I just didn't want to say anything. He could see his current appearance in the mirror: a circle of black eye shadow, right next to the lash line, was a thin red line, almost invisible unless one looked closely. The sunlight reflecting off the red line cast a reddish glow on his eyeballs, combined with the unfamiliarity of natural energy causing toadification, making his eye sockets appear somewhat swollen.
Shatter. Naruto smashed the mirror on the ground.
I'm cultivating Sage Mode, not staying up all night like some immortal cultivator, okay? What's with these bloodshot eyes, swollen eye sockets, and dark circles?! Is it because I drink too much Black Dragon Cola and not enough Red Dragon Red Tea?!
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