Jiraiya had considered Naruto a genius,
but he had never imagined someone's talent could be this overwhelming.
Originally, in Jiraiya's estimation, it should have taken Naruto two to three months to learn Sage Mode.
Even just to grasp the basics and suppress that Dark Chakra would probably take ten to twenty days.
Three days.
Just three days later, Naruto successfully activated Sage Mode for the first time.
Orange eye shadow appeared around his eyes, and the centers of his pupils changed into a '-' shape. It was unmistakably the unique Sage Mode of Mount Myoboku.
"Naruto, how do you feel?"
Jiraiya stood a full twenty meters away from Naruto as he asked.
It wasn't that he didn't want to get closer.
It was that the current Naruto seemed impossible to approach… the Zero-Tails' Chakra, which had previously manifested as small black hands, had, after merging with Natural Energy, transformed into large, disorderly flailing arms.
Each arm had a mouth growing on it. Some were constantly opening and closing, chewing on something, while others murmured softly like chants... In short, it looked extremely unsettling.
However, it no longer carried the innate darkness and ominous feeling of the Zero-Tails… it was just the appearance that was hard to accept.
Naruto didn't answer immediately.
His eyes were slightly closed as he used his Observation Haki to its maximum limit to perceive his surroundings.
When the toad oil was first applied, everything around him seemed to change.
The air, stones, water flow, even the light… everything seemed to turn into clusters of energy bodies of varying colors.
And when the 'tendrils' representing Naruto's mental consciousness touched these things, that energy began to be drawn into his body almost instinctively.
To an outside observer, it looked like Naruto's body surface began to show signs of toadification.
If the toadification reached a certain level, it indicated an imbalance between the Natural Energy and the Chakra within Naruto's body.
Fukasaku, holding the black staff, was always ready to rush forward and interrupt this absorption state with a strike.
Absorbing Natural Energy requires remaining still. Once enough Natural Energy is drawn into the body and combined with the other two energies, the result is Senjutsu Chakra.
That's the normal process.
But with Naruto, there was a slight difference.
If an ordinary person using their spirit to draw in Natural Energy is like letting it automatically 'flow' into their body through a conduit,
then Naruto was actively 'devouring' the surrounding Natural Energy.
Even Fukasaku could faintly feel something flowing towards Naruto.
He had become like the center of a vortex.
Baku Baku no Mi-
This Devil Fruit representing the concept of 'consumption'. It grants its user the power to actively swallow things that are normally inedible.
Furthermore, it can ignore the inherent property conflicts of those things, forcibly break them down, recombine them, and 'compile' them into new amalgamations.
Sounds somewhat similar to the process of creating Senjutsu Chakra, doesn't it?
On the first day, Naruto still used the method taught by Fukasaku, drawing in Natural Energy step by step.
But the amount of Chakra within his body was simply too vast.
One part was the human's Chakra accumulated over decades in the One Piece World. Even though it shrank somewhat upon returning to the Ninja World, it was still astounding.
Another part was the Nine-Tails' Chakra leaking from the seal, plus the recently swallowed Zero-Tails' Chakra.
After drawing in an equivalent amount of Natural Energy, balancing these several powers became extremely difficult.
Even with Naruto's immense mental strength, he made several mistakes.
Fortunately, Fukasaku was quick-eyed and swift-handed, interrupting him in time.
After that, Naruto had the idea to directly use the power of the Baku Baku no Mi to actively 'mix' Senjutsu Chakra.
Chakra and Natural Energy were one thing, as both could be swallowed into his stomach. But how was he supposed to incorporate his own life energy, which represents the self?
After a day of deep contemplation on the second day, Naruto finally performed an act on the third day that left Jiraiya utterly dumbfounded.
He swallowed himself.
His mouth opened, and then, like an Ouroboros, he swallowed his lower body, his upper body, until finally, only a pair of lips remained.
Actually, the Baku Baku no Mi's original user, Wapol, had developed an identical technique. He could use it to alter his own muscle and fat structure, achieving an instant slimming effect.
One can only imagine how many girls envied such ability.
Unfortunately, he died too abruptly and pathetically, never getting the chance to demonstrate the advanced applications of this fruit to Naruto.
Otherwise, Naruto wouldn't have wasted so many days.
It turned out that using the 'self-consumption' method to balance the power within his body was the correct way to use the Baku Baku no Mi.
If originally, training in Sage Mode was like balancing a basin of water on your left hand, right hand, and head… carefully ensuring each basin held the same amount without spilling a drop-
Then the Baku Baku no Mi's balancing method was like throwing everything into a machine and letting the machine automatically divide it into three equal parts.
It was more efficient and didn't require Naruto to painstakingly maintain the balance.
But...
"Something's still missing."
Naruto opened his eyes. The large arms around him, as if finally receiving a command, stopped their chaotic writhing and uniformly 'looked' straight ahead.
This gave Jiraiya the creeps as they stared at him.
"Naruto, how long can you maintain this state now?"
Jiraiya cautiously approached Naruto, occasionally glancing sideways at those large arms. He couldn't help but feel that everything involving this kid somehow turned abnormal.
"Theoretically, I can maintain it indefinitely."
Naruto's words plunged Jiraiya into silence.
Yes, this was the biggest difference between using the Baku Baku no Mi to balance Chakra and Natural Energy.
This transformation could be maintained permanently.
It was as if Naruto had been born looking like this.
The fused creations of the Baku Baku no Mi don't disappear just because the user deactivates the ability.
This is evident from the Wapometal Wapol created in the original work.
As long as he continuously consumed Natural Energy for replenishment, Naruto could keep this mode active 24/7.
He could even use the large arms extended by his Sage Mode to handle eating and... other bodily functions.
Comparing people just makes you want to die.
This was something Jiraiya couldn't do.
Even after all these years of training, he still needed the assistance of Fukasaku and Shima to maintain Sage Mode for extended combat.
"Let's go. Since the Zero-Tails problem is solved, let's go say goodbye to that Great Toad Sage."
Saying this, Naruto turned around on his own.
"We shouldn't keep Sasuke and the others waiting too long."
Sasuke wasn't a summoner contracted with Mount Myoboku, so he couldn't be reverse-summoned here.
Karin was a summoner, but she needed to watch over the unconscious Sasuke and explain what happened to him, so she didn't come along either.
"Uh, Naruto... are you planning to go like that?"
Jiraiya's mouth twitched as he pointed a finger at Naruto.
"Huh?"
Naruto looked back with puzzled expression. Simultaneously, one of the large arms reached over and scratched the back of his head for him.
Jiraiya had a strong feeling that the current Naruto didn't look any better than before… if anything, he seemed even more indescribable.