Chapter 210: Guy's Sage Mode and Moonlight Admiration
As far as Genichi was concerned, Itachi Uchiha was a promising tool and a valuable seed to cultivate. The information he had passed on to Fugaku Uchiha through the boy was a casual, calculated move. If Fugaku had decided to cooperate, Genichi would have welcomed it, even going so far as to help the Uchiha find a more stable path, one less prone to the madness of their curse.
However, Fugaku lacked the decisiveness to seize the opportunity. Genichi wasn't disappointed. It wasn't as if he was short on Sharingan; he could mass-produce three-tomoe eyes at will now. If not for his own self-imposed restraints against using his personal cells for cloning, he could have created a perfect Hashirama-Sasuke hybrid already.
The matter was quickly forgotten as he refocused on his own training, leaving a shadow clone to occasionally guide the young Uchiha prodigy. Itachi, he had to admit, was a true genius. His affinity for Yang Release was nearly as impressive as his innate mastery over Fire Release. Watching the boy's rapid progress, Genichi found himself eagerly anticipating his next ten-year leap.
September was drawing to a close.
One day, Genichi took a break from his schedule to check on Kakashi and Guy's training.
Atop the towering wooden spires, both of them now sat perfectly still on their wooden discs. Even when the wind blew and the spires swayed, Kakashi remained as steady as a mountain. Guy, on the other hand, still flailed a bit with each gust, but at least he wasn't plummeting to the ground anymore.
They had reached the next stage. It was time to teach them how to sense natural energy.
Genichi floated up, hovering between them.
Guy opened his eyes and scratched his head. "Genichi, I don't think I'm sensing any of that natural energy stuff."
Kakashi also looked over. He hadn't felt anything either, though he had to admit the training had improved his concentration and chakra control.
"Natural energy is everywhere, but sensing it—or rather, recognizing it—is difficult," Genichi explained. "You don't know what it is, so you have no frame of reference to perceive it."
"So what is natural energy?" Guy asked immediately.
"What do trees need to grow?" Genichi countered.
"Water!" Guy blurted out. "And… dirt?"
"And sunlight for photosynthesis," Kakashi added.
Genichi nodded. "All correct. And all of that is natural energy. It is the very source of life. The nutrients in the earth, the water, the sunlight—it's all part of the same whole. This training was to calm your minds, to allow you to filter out the noise and become one with the natural world so you can truly feel its presence."
"That sounds a bit abstract," Kakashi admitted.
Genichi smiled. "Nature is the world, it is everything. We are a part of that world, a part of nature. The life force within us is a part of that natural energy. When we knead chakra, we are just refining a piece of it. Now, you must learn to draw in the natural energy from outside your body and merge it with the energy already inside you."
A look of understanding dawned on Guy's face. "So it's just like kneading chakra, but with the natural energy from outside, right, Genichi?"
Genichi nodded.
"I'll try it now!" Guy said, immediately closing his eyes.
Kakashi watched him, completely baffled. He understands? Understands what? How can you knead energy you can't even sense yet?
Genichi chuckled to himself. Sometimes, talent defied all logic.
"Genichi, how long did it take you to sense it?" Kakashi asked.
"A few months," he replied. "But I didn't have a teacher."
He then turned his attention back to Kakashi. "The lightning in the sky is also a form of energy. Everything in existence is. Place yourself within nature. Forget yourself."
With that, Kakashi reluctantly closed his eyes and tried again. Genichi hovered between them, a silent guardian. The first time absorbing natural energy was incredibly dangerous. The sheer volume of it could easily overwhelm a person, eroding their body and assimilating them back into the whole.
As the sun began to set, the sound of tearing cloth ripped through the air.
Kakashi's eyes snapped open. He looked over at Guy and gasped. A third arm—gruesome, malformed, and covered in lumps with long, bestial claws—had sprouted from under Guy's right armpit, tearing his shirt.
Is that what happens when you lose control? Kakashi thought, horrified.
Genichi was already there, placing a hand on Guy's shoulder and drawing the excess natural energy into his own body. The grotesque third arm rapidly withered and retracted, disappearing as if it had never been.
Guy's eyes fluttered open. "Genichi… I think I… felt it? Hey, why is my shirt torn?"
"Congratulations, Guy," Genichi said with a smile. "You successfully sensed and absorbed natural energy. You just absorbed a little too much, and your cells started multiplying uncontrollably."
"I grew a third arm?!" Guy exclaimed, twisting around to look for it. In his frantic search, he promptly lost his balance and fell off the spire.
Genichi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Is it because of his personality?" Kakashi wondered. "Is that why he's better suited for Sage Mode?"
"Not exactly," Genichi mused. "Guy may be hyperactive and emotional, but at his core, he is a pure, sincere, and incredibly focused person." In a word, he had the heart of an innocent. That purity, once he had mastered the stillness, allowed him to connect with nature more easily.
The problem was control. In the previous future, Guy had learned to absorb natural energy quickly, but even after years of training, he never truly mastered it. This time, Genichi wanted to see for himself: if Guy could master Sage Mode, how would it affect his Eight Gates?
The days turned into weeks. When they weren't on missions, Kakashi and Guy dedicated themselves to their Sage Mode training. Time flew by, and soon, Genichi's eighteenth birthday was upon them.
The night before, he slipped away from Konoha and appeared in Pakura's bedroom in the Hidden Sand Village.
She awoke with a start, two fireballs instantly appearing in her hands.
"It's me," Genichi said calmly.
The flames vanished. Pakura turned on the light, her brow furrowed. "Why didn't you come during the day? You're lucky I didn't kill you."
Genichi stepped forward and tilted her chin up. "That's no way to speak to me."
She turned her head away, a blush creeping up her neck. "Is there an emergency?"
"Tomorrow is my eighteenth birthday," he said, pulling back the covers and sliding in beside her.
A shiver ran down Pakura's spine. She felt a sense of dread, but also a flicker of anticipation. She quickly turned off the light, her voice trembling slightly. "What… what are you doing?"
Genichi's hand traced the smooth skin of her back. "Have you mastered Magnet Release?" he asked, his voice a low whisper.
"How did you know?" she asked, surprised.
"What are your plans for your next step?" he continued, ignoring her question.
"I haven't decided yet. My nature transformations are limited." She had mastered Fire, Wind, Earth, and Yin.
"Have you considered fusing the four you already have?" he suggested. "Combining your Scorch Release and Magnet Release?"
"How?" she asked, her mind racing. "Fuse Earth Release into Scorch Release? Or upgrade Magnet Release to a Kekkei Tōta by adding Yin and Fire?"
"If you add Earth to your Scorch Release, you get Lava Release," he murmured, his hands not idle. "As for Magnet Release… I don't have any good ideas for that at the moment…"
She looked down and blushed, realizing she had gotten too lost in thought. Now that her attention was back on the present, the sensations were… different.
"Wait," she said, her breathing becoming ragged. "Dust Release is also Wind, Fire, and Earth… but my Scorch Release and Lava Release already share similarities… just like we do now…"
"Exactly," he whispered, pulling her up. "The moonlight is beautiful tonight. Let's discuss it while we admire the view."
So Pakura admired the moon, and Genichi admired the beautiful back of the woman before him, glistening under the moonlight.
And just like that, bathed in the pale light of the desert moon, Genichi turned eighteen.
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