"Put simply, what's called Sage Mode is a state in which, on top of the ordinary chakra produced by mixing one's physical energy and spiritual energy, one absorbs natural energy and fuses it perfectly to form senjutsu chakra."
"The only difficulty lies in maintaining the balance of the three kinds of chakra—each must be one third to activate it. If any exceeds one third, you'll be swallowed by the power of nature; if any falls short of one third, you can't enter Sage Mode. But this so-called difficulty is... easy for me." After obtaining the Sage Mode training method from the White Snake Sage in Ryuchi Cave, Meruem had been studying it nonstop.
As everyone knows, Yakushi Kabuto, Naruto, Senju Hashirama, and Uchiha Madara all used this technique, and although they all call it Sage Mode, each person's is different.
Look closely: Naruto's and Jiraiya's Sage Modes skew frog-like around the eyes, while Kabuto's skews snake-like. Hashirama's and Uchiha Madara's differ even more. Hashirama's Sage Mode—origin unknown—can be set aside for now. Madara's is Sage of Six Paths Mode, a Sage Mode only obtainable after becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki.
Each learned their Sage Mode in a different place, so the forms they take upon activation also differ.
As for training—Sage Mode is indeed good, but with Meruem's talent, it won't take long to master.
What Meruem wanted to study was how to obtain a Sage Mode of his own.
If only he could see the Sage Mode training methods from Mount Myoboku and Shikkotsu Forest as well.
"Wait... In the original, Naruto trained Sage Mode at Mount Myoboku using toad oil that conferred toad traits. Though the manga didn't say it outright, Kabuto also trained Sage Mode under the White Snake Sage, so there must have been some kind of 'snake oil' as well. After Kabuto trained, his serpent nature, in a sense, surpassed Orochimaru's. According to the original, toad oil helped Naruto better grasp Sage Mode by absorbing natural energy. But there are pros and cons to everything—while these things help them train Sage Mode, they also confer the so-called toad nature and snake nature. Those traits are, by nature, dispensable."
"If that's the case, I roughly understand. Hmph, you old thing—so you did hold back on me, hoping I'd fail and turn to stone? You're underestimating me. I am the King of the Chimera Ants. If I don't rely on those external aids, then my Sage Mode should be the most perfect form. One-third balance? That's easy." Strange markings appeared on Meruem's face, and a band of purple eye shadow formed around his eyes, yet his pupils and body had no other changes—only those markings on his face and forehead and the eye shadow around his eyes.
In just a few breaths, Meruem actually mastered this god-tier technique that strikes fear into countless in the Naruto world.
If the White Snake Sage knew, she'd probably vomit blood. By not handing over snake oil, she had instead let him master the most powerful, external-aid-free Sage Mode.
For example, in Jiraiya's Sage Mode his nose becomes huge—rosy and bulbous. That's the mark of an incomplete Sage Mode, and Jiraiya even needs those two elder toads' help to use it. The more perfect the Sage Mode, the smaller the physical change—ultimately only a few markings appear, which is the most perfect form of Sage Mode. Of course, Sage of Six Paths Mode is not included here.
"It really is a remarkable technique. Heh-heh, I feel fantastic right now. My strength and speed have been enhanced to an unbelievable degree—heh heh heh heh. To think my body can still evolve—what a surprise." Clenching his explosively powerful fists, delight finally appeared on Meruem's face.
He truly hadn't come to the Naruto world in vain—just Sage Mode alone could give him such a massive boost. Then what if he also fused to produce Truth-Seeking Orbs and opened the Eight Gates? What if he devoured the God Tree's Chakra Fruit? To what level could his power rise? More importantly, even though his power wasn't fully restored yet, after using Sage Mode his strength had already surpassed his fully restored state.
"Yaoma, next time we meet, I want you dead!"
However perfect Sage Mode was, it had one pitying limitation: to use it, one must first possess chakra. Luckily he had the bug-like nen ability "Gluttonous Feast," otherwise he'd have had to wait until devouring the Chakra Fruit to gain chakra.
It seemed the other Chimera Ant troops had no way to gain such a convenient power-up. But Leizi and the Uchiha clan could use this method to boost their strength.
A pity Pitou still showed no signs of hatching; otherwise, no matter what, he would let her obtain this ability—she was the one he trusted most.
"Hm? New information? Jiraiya? That guy actually found Naruto? Interesting... let me think—does Jiraiya offer any benefit? Hm... tsk, tsk—Sage Mode and Rasengan don't require him. Looks like he has no particular use value, though he does have the key to Naruto's Four Symbols Seal. Forget it—let's see what little Naruto chooses. Since coming to this world, he's one of only two people here I approve of—unlike the original, he's not so hateful." After receiving the news transmitted from the Golden Silkworm Gu's side, Meruem stroked the egg in his arms that held Pitou. As for the other person he approved of? That was Uchiha Leizi.
No one noticed—the egg in Meruem's hand trembled slightly.
"Who are you? How do you know the jutsu my father left me?" Naruto eyed the long-haired white-haired ninja—who didn't know when he'd arrived—warily.
There was no malice from Jiraiya, and Naruto was focused on practicing the jutsu, so he hadn't noticed the man's arrival at all.
What? Isn't a ninja not supposed to overly rely on sensing and instead maintain vigilance? But this was Naruto. Even though he'd diverged from the original, his essence was the same... thick nerves and single-mindedness.
Expect him to stay on guard every second? More realistic would be expecting Sasuke to go ask Sakura out right now.
"Father?" Father? Naruto's father was the Fourth! Could he be alive? No—that's impossible. He used the Reaper Death Seal and died in front of the old Third. Minato was definitely dead. But... what did Naruto mean by 'father'?
This was phrasing the Golden Silkworm Gu had taught Naruto to avoid unnecessary trouble. Since parts of Minato's and Kushina's souls still resided in Naruto's body, saying it this way wasn't exactly a lie.
"You know who your father is? What else... do you know?"
"What's it to you, you middle-aged pervy peeper outside the women's restroom!"
Pervert.
Middle-aged.
Lecher.
Critical hit.
He forced those words out of his head with a shake.
"I am the hermit sage of Mount Myoboku's toad sprites, known as the Toad Sage, the handsome man who can make crying babies hush—Jiraiya-sama!" He then struck a chuunibyou pose, and at some point a big toad had appeared under his foot.
"Heh... never heard of you. Pervy Sage." Naruto gave him a sidelong look, didn't bother with him, and only threw out the jab.
"I'm really strong, you know! You still haven't said—do you know who your father is?"
"Of course I do. An extremely irresponsible father, but a good village head, that's all." A trace of sorrow flashed through Naruto's eyes. Yes, he knew—perhaps his father hadn't been wrong. Though he could understand his father, he couldn't forgive him...
He didn't know why he was saying so much to a stranger, but he just wanted to.
An irresponsible father?
A good village head? Looked like Naruto knew a lot—quite an apt metaphor.
Staring at Naruto's dejected eyes, Jiraiya didn't know how to speak. If Naruto were weaker, he could still teach him under the pretext of what he knew. But now, according to his own teacher's description, Naruto's strength wasn't much inferior to an elite jonin's, and he was practicing Rasengan. Facing a Naruto like this, Jiraiya truly didn't know what to teach—what remained were basically only Sage Mode and summoning.
"Hey, you just said this was a jutsu your father left you. Can you tell me who told you that, or who taught it to you?"
"What's it to you?" Naruto rolled his eyes at Jiraiya. He'd wasted enough time—he still wanted to hurry up and master Rasengan.
"Hey, kid—I'm your father's teacher!" Jiraiya felt he'd roughly grasped Naruto's temperament, so he loosened up his speech.
However—
"Get lost!" Hostility—deep hostility—tinged with a faint killing intent, spilled from Naruto's body. Beast-like vertical pupils surfaced in his eyes—only when emotions ran high did Naruto show that look.
"Why?" Jiraiya was a bit stunned... what kind of rhythm was this? By rights, Naruto should be feeling some goodwill toward him now, but why... why did hostility show instead?
He never expected this—adding the Golden Silkworm Gu into the mix was a huge variable.
"I told you to get lost!" Red chakra suddenly surged out of Naruto's body. It wasn't Nine-Tails Mode—just the Nine-Tails' chakra bursting forth, or rather, the agitated Naruto himself hadn't even noticed.
At that moment, Jiraiya suddenly recalled what the old Third had said to him before he left.
"Naruto needs you to pay closer attention to him. There may be someone by his side who is influencing him."
(End of Chapter)
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