Chapter 693: The Powerful Qualitative Change Brought by Senjutsu
"Mugetsu, how does it feel to learn Senjutsu? Was it troublesome?" Minato asked curiously.
"It was fine. Though I may need to trouble you again soon, Minato," Mugetsu replied after thinking for a moment.
"That's alright. When it's my turn to learn, you'll have to help me too," Minato said with a smile.
Afterward, Minato and Mugetsu discussed the specific implementation of the Ninja Academy reforms.
The Ninja Academy reform was the first major decision they had made after taking office, and it was also a crucial policy that would affect Konoha's future.
Minato sincerely hoped that the reform would become a great success.
After finishing their discussion, Mugetsu returned to the Hokage Office, dispelled the Shadow Clone working there, created a new Shadow Clone, and then used the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave Konoha.
Ever since mastering Sage Mode, Mugetsu had wanted to test how much it amplified his various abilities.
For example, how powerful would Armament Haki's defense become when fueled by Senjutsu chakra?
How much stronger would ordinary Ninjutsu become if Sage Mode were stacked with a Breathing Technique Chakra Mode?
And would special techniques like Limitless undergo any changes when powered by Senjutsu chakra?
Sage Mode was like a magnifying glass.
There was no need to modify the original Ninjutsu. Simply replacing ordinary chakra with Senjutsu chakra would significantly increase its power.
It was simple and direct.
However, Mount Myōboku was the territory of the toads, and Mugetsu's techniques were extremely destructive.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, he had not tested them there.
Mugetsu traveled to the mountainous region in the southern part of the Land of Fire.
The southern Land of Fire was less economically developed and contained many remote mountain ranges rarely visited by people.
Whenever Mugetsu needed to test abilities capable of causing large scale destruction, he usually came here.
After landing, Mugetsu stood still and began absorbing natural energy, condensing Senjutsu chakra before entering Sage Mode.
Once Sage Mode was active, Mugetsu immediately concentrated his Flame Breathing further and entered Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.
However, while using the Breathing Technique, Mugetsu devoted most of his attention to filtering out the natural energy attracted by Flame Breathing.
He prevented that natural energy from entering his body and becoming incorporated into the Breathing Technique itself.
Although a Breathing Technique enhanced by natural energy would certainly be stronger than an ordinary Breathing Technique, it definitely would not be as powerful as stacking Sage Mode with Breathing Technique Chakra Mode.
"As expected, everything has been strengthened."
Mugetsu clenched his fists, feeling an immense and continuous surge of power flowing through his body.
Because Flame Breathing Chakra Mode was now burning Senjutsu chakra while Sage Mode was active, the amplification had become even greater.
"Sage Art: Fire Dragon Dance!"
Mugetsu wasted no time.
He brought his hands together, instantly converted a massive amount of Senjutsu chakra into flames, and exhaled.
The instant the enormous high temperature flames appeared, they released suffocating heat.
Rolling waves of hot air spread outward, as though the atmosphere itself were boiling under the terrifying temperature.
Boom!
The orange red flames crashed down like a raging tidal wave.
A massive sea of fire surged in every direction.
Wherever the flames passed, the temperature rose to an unimaginable level. The air filled with a pungent burning smell and oppressive heat.
Tall trees rapidly lost their moisture under the terrifying temperature, their bark cracking apart.
The moment the flames touched them, they ignited instantly.
Pillars of fire swept through the forest, leaving only black ash behind.
The flames spread at an astonishing speed.
In moments, the dense forest transformed into a vast sea of fire.
The vitality of the lush vegetation was mercilessly stripped away, replaced by endless crimson flames and drifting ash.
Even the soil beneath the forest was scorched black by the terrifying heat and began cracking apart, as though the earth itself were wailing.
In the blink of an eye, the forest disappeared.
Only a vast sea of fire remained, radiating terrifying heat.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Mugetsu immediately switched to Water Breathing and entered Water Breathing Chakra Mode.
He consumed a tremendous amount of chakra and unleashed a massive torrent of water, finally extinguishing the sea of flames.
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!"
Immediately afterward, Mugetsu used Wood Release to recreate a forest, restoring the barren land to a lush and densely wooded state.
"Such enormous consumption."
Mugetsu exhaled softly and began thinking.
The moment he finished using Fire Dragon Dance, he had automatically exited Sage Mode because all of his Senjutsu chakra had been exhausted.
Mugetsu carefully considered the reason.
Fire Dragon Dance was already an ultimate Fire Release technique with enormous chakra consumption.
Flame Breathing Chakra Mode also burned through Senjutsu chakra at an astonishing rate.
"In that case, abilities like Azure Flame and Thoughtless One Slash might only be usable once, or I may not even have enough Senjutsu chakra to unleash their full power."
Mugetsu revealed a thoughtful expression.
The maximum amount of Senjutsu chakra he could condense at one time and the duration of Sage Mode were both problems.
However, the latter was slightly easier to solve than the former.
Unlike Naruto, Mugetsu did not have the Nine Tails living inside his body.
That meant he could directly have Fukasaku and Shima use the Two Great Sages Art on him.
It would essentially be the equivalent of attaching two extremely durable power sources to himself, allowing him to fight without worrying about running out of Sage Mode.
However, that method was not without disadvantages.
First, it was ultimately external power.
Fukasaku and Shima had their own positions and loyalties.
If Mugetsu one day fought against the combined forces of the Four Great Shinobi Villages, or even all Five Great Shinobi Villages, Fukasaku and Shima might not be willing to help him.
Second, while using the Two Great Sages Art, Fukasaku and Shima did not become invincible.
They could still be attacked.
If they were struck and injured, the Two Great Sages Art could be interrupted.
Therefore, Mugetsu still preferred to solve his own weaknesses rather than depend entirely on the Two Great Sages Art.
"Although the consumption is enormous, the increase in power is equally outrageous."
Mugetsu recalled the sight of the forest being instantly reduced to black ash.
Because Flame Breathing Chakra Mode had burned Senjutsu chakra, its amplification had surpassed that of ordinary Flame Breathing Chakra Mode.
Therefore, the Fire Dragon Dance he had just used could not be considered an ordinary Sage Art.
If Mugetsu used Fire Dragon Dance with normal Senjutsu chakra without activating Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, that would represent the standard process and power of an ordinary Senjutsu enhanced technique.
Mugetsu felt that if he used the previous attack against an entire ninja unit, everyone within the affected area would die.
Only ninja with extremely high movement speed might have a slight chance of escaping.
Even someone as skilled in Water Release as the Third Mizukage would absolutely be unable to block Fire Release at that level.
His only chance of survival would be to flee.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Mugetsu created two Shadow Clones and sent them aside to absorb natural energy.
Meanwhile, his main body also began absorbing natural energy again, condensing Senjutsu chakra and reentering Sage Mode.
"Sage Art: Armament Haki!"
Mugetsu converted a large amount of Senjutsu chakra into Yin Release Senjutsu chakra.
Pitch black Armament Haki rapidly covered his right fist.
Boom!
Mugetsu released his chakra and swung his fist.
Several enormous cracks, each dozens of meters long, instantly tore across the ground.
"Both its defense and offense have improved tremendously. But I wonder whether it can block a Truth Seeking Orb."
Mugetsu fell into thought.
Truth Seeking Orbs possessed the ability to nullify ordinary Ninjutsu.
With Armament Haki and Limitless, Mugetsu could stand inside the Ninjutsu attacks of ordinary ninja without suffering even a millimeter of injury.
However, against a Truth Seeking Orb, Limitless and Armament Haki might not perform much better than ordinary defensive Ninjutsu.
The difference existed at a fundamental level.
But Sage Art Armament Haki might be different.
Truth Seeking Orbs could not nullify Senjutsu.
Mugetsu took the Six Paths Staff out of his system space.
Once infused with chakra, the Six Paths Staff possessed properties similar to a Truth Seeking Orb, so it should be suitable for testing.
Mugetsu condensed a large amount of Senjutsu chakra around his left arm and formed Armament Haki.
Then, with his right hand, he picked up the Six Paths Staff, infused it with chakra, and struck his own left arm.
There was no other option.
Once the Six Paths Staff was infused with chakra, a Shadow Clone could not even hold it.
So Mugetsu had to test it on himself.
Bang!
The pitch black Six Paths Staff struck his arm covered in Sage Art Armament Haki.
A sharp pain immediately shot through Mugetsu's left arm.
However, what pleased him was that the Sage Art Armament Haki was not directly erased by the Six Paths Staff.
It still provided protection.
It simply seemed insufficient to block something equivalent to a Truth Seeking Orb head on, possibly because the amount of Senjutsu chakra invested was not enough.
After healing himself with Medical Ninjutsu, Mugetsu activated Limitless using Senjutsu chakra.
He then threw a Flying Thunder God kunai.
Once the kunai landed, Mugetsu hurled the Six Paths Staff toward its location.
Whoosh!
Mugetsu activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and instantly appeared beside the kunai.
Finally, the Six Paths Staff stopped one centimeter in front of Mugetsu.
It could not advance any farther.
"As expected of a Six Paths level technique. Even Limitless powered by Senjutsu chakra can still encounter problems when blocking it."
Mugetsu grabbed the Six Paths Staff and returned it to his system space.
If he had not increased Limitless's output at the last moment, the Six Paths Staff might have broken through it just as it had before.
The good news was that Limitless also benefited from Sage Mode and could be significantly strengthened.
The bad news was that Sage Art Limitless did not seem capable of fundamentally suppressing Six Paths level abilities such as Truth Seeking Orbs.
There was still a possibility that they could break through.
Overall, however, it was still good news.
As long as Mugetsu possessed enough Senjutsu chakra, blocking a Truth Seeking Orb head on was no longer an impossible dream.
Mugetsu also tested Limitless's offensive output.
It had similarly become much stronger.
However, it still was not particularly efficient as an offensive technique.
With that amount of Senjutsu chakra, Mugetsu could achieve far greater destructive power using his other abilities.
Afterward, Mugetsu tested his stronger techniques one after another.
When he tested Thoughtless One Slash, the result was exactly as he had expected.
Even after exhausting all of his Senjutsu chakra, he still could not push the technique to its absolute limit.
Perfect level Lightning Release chakra nature transformation.
Perfect level Thunder Breathing.
Perfect level Thoughtless One Slash.
The combination of three perfect level abilities created an astonishingly high ceiling.
Even without reaching its full potential, the attack's power was already terrifying, making it Mugetsu's strongest offensive and destructive ability at present.
Mugetsu did not even dare to release the fully condensed slash directly.
Even after deliberately dispersing part of its power, the damage it caused to the surrounding environment was still incredibly exaggerated.
....
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