When Hoshiyomi saw the words "Nature Transformation– Nature Activation: 100%", his breathing grew rapid.
Without the slightest hesitation, he chose to activate it!
This time, there was no explanatory text like before. Hoshiyomi was simply ejected from the Sword Heart System—or rather, had he been kicked out of it?
Just as confusion began to set in, he suddenly realized his body was undergoing some terrifying transformation, one so overwhelming he could hardly keep up with it.
Before he could even react, he felt natural energy from the heavens and earth pouring toward him like pilgrims in worship. The sheer volume of natural energy rushing into him already exceeded his total chakra reserves.
Even if Hoshiyomi were to pour in every last drop of his chakra, it still wouldn't be enough to match such an influx.
And yet, he felt no fear—because he was certain of one thing: the natural energy would not harm him.
In his perception, it was clear that the natural energy was helping him undergo some incredible metamorphosis.
———
The Slug Sage, who had been lazily dozing, was suddenly awakened by the violent surge of natural energy. She sensed the tides of Shikkotsu Forest's energy converging toward a single point, and instinctively turned to look.
What she saw made her entire massive body tense up—because the place all that energy was rushing to was none other than where Hoshiyomi stood.
In her perception, torrents of natural energy, vast enough to be almost visible to the naked eye, streamed unceasingly into Hoshiyomi. Around him, a storm of pure natural energy was forming.
And Hoshiyomi stood at the very center of that storm!
Impossible. How could Hoshiyomi possibly draw natural energy on such a scale? Even she, with a thousand years of training, had never achieved such a thing.
No—that wasn't the issue right now.
With such a terrifying concentration of natural energy pouring into Hoshiyomi's body, his chakra alone would be utterly insufficient to balance it. And when natural energy fell out of balance… no one understood better than the Slug Sage what that meant.
Hoshiyomi would turn to stone!
Shaken, she didn't dare to waste a second. She sped toward the heart of the storm as fast as she could.
But the closer she drew, the more frightened she became—because even the natural energy within her own body no longer obeyed her. Instead, it trembled as though about to be ripped away.
The natural energy was rejecting her. Or rather, it was rejecting everything.
Like the most loyal of knights, it stood guard over the one within, determined not to let anyone interrupt the ritual taking place.
After pushing forward for a while, the Slug Sage was finally forced to retreat. Any further, and even her own life force would be sucked dry. Things had reached a stage where even she, with her thousand years of existence, could no longer intervene.
All she could do now was silently pray.
———
The storm of natural energy raged on for a full half hour. Even the clouds above twisted into massive spirals, dragged into whirlpools by the chaos below.
At last, after thirty long minutes, the violent surge began to subside. The energy slowly scattered and returned to calm.
And in its place… lay a cocoon.
The Slug Sage stared at it in silence, unsure of what to think. She could not imagine what Hoshiyomi had done to end up like this.
Still, there was one reassuring detail—inside the cocoon, she could clearly sense a strong, steady heartbeat.
That heartbeat meant at the very least… Hoshiyomi hadn't turned into stone.
Just as she prepared to step forward and help Hoshiyomi break free, the cocoon suddenly trembled violently. Cracks spread across its surface like a spider's web.
Crack… crackle…
As the cracks widened, the cocoon finally shattered completely, revealing Hoshiyomi inside—his appearance greatly transformed.
The Slug Sage couldn't help but gasp, sucking in a sharp breath of cold air. For a moment, she wasn't even sure if the Hoshiyomi before her was still the same person as before.
At this moment, Hoshiyomi's entire body seemed to be wrapped in a faint blue-silver glow. Countless specks of blue-silver light didn't take any specific form; instead, they floated like a galaxy, orbiting gently around Hoshiyomi and shifting with his movements.
His face bore no large or elaborate Sage markings—only faint eye-shadow and a single mark at the center of his forehead. That mark glowed in the same hazy blue-silver, intricate but still distinguishable: a sword-like emblem paired with wing-like flowing patterns.
His facial features hadn't changed, but somehow, he seemed more natural, more approachable, exuding an aura that was inexplicably soothing and pleasant.
Yet, despite this calm and refreshing exterior, the Slug Sage could clearly feel the terrifying power hidden beneath this overwhelming affinity. Hoshiyomi's strength had soared immensely with the awakening of his Perfect Sage Mode.
Meanwhile, Hoshiyomi slowly regained his senses. His first reaction was pure confusion—he had no idea what he had just gone through.
All he remembered was natural energy surging into him like a flood before he lost consciousness. Everything after that felt like a long, hazy dream—so vague he couldn't even tell if it had truly happened.
But now, there was only one thing he knew for certain: he felt incredible.
Yes, comfortable. A sense of blissful ease radiated through his entire body. Every single cell inside him felt alive, vibrant, brimming with energy.
When he closed his eyes, he could sense the surging power coursing within.
Confusion quickly gave way to elation—because he could clearly feel it: a massive leap in his strength.
It was just like the first time he'd successfully fused Sage Chakra—only now the leap was far greater. His chakra, physical strength, sensory abilities, speed… all of them had skyrocketed with the birth of his Perfect Sage Mode.
Almost instinctively, he glanced at his Sword Heart System. There, in his status bar, beside the icon for Dance of the Startled Swan, a new symbol had appeared—matching the glowing mark on his forehead.
It read:
Nature Transformation – Nature | Remaining Time: 29 minutes.
Seeing that "29 minutes," Hoshiyomi instinctively drew out Mikazuki Munechika. As the blade cleared its sheath, the blue-silver motes of light around him flickered like sparks of magnesium, dazzlingly beautiful.
Hoshiyomi couldn't help but inwardly praise himself.
Forget the power—just the visual effect of his Sage Mode alone was worth it.
This was peak style. His Sage Mode had its "cool factor" cranked to the absolute maximum.
Gekko Hoshiyomi: thirty years a shameless aesthetic fanatic, true to form.