Starting with the Uchiha clan, they began cultivating demonic arts.

Chapter 178 The Great Toad Sage Passing on His Skills and Nagato's Evolution

Upon hearing this, Nagato opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only nod helplessly.

"Not bad... I can say that I have reached my personal limit, but compared with Uchiha Tou, there is still a big gap."

"It's okay, this gap will be closed soon..."

The Great Toad Sage looked at Nagato before him and spoke in a gentle tone.

"Great Toad Sage, does Mount Myōboku possess some even more powerful ninjutsu that I can learn?"

Nagato asked with a look of surprise on his face. The Great Toad Sage chuckled and took out a small box from the armrest of the stool beside him.

The box looked small, but that was only because of the giant toad master's enormous hand. In reality, it was about the size of a human head. The giant toad master looked at the box with a hint of nostalgia, and then opened it.

Inside the box was an ordinary-looking talisman, but almost everyone present was either a person or a toad who had achieved success in cultivating immortal arts. They could all clearly feel that an immense amount of natural energy was flowing through the talisman.

"This is a talisman of the immortals. Thousands of years ago, the Sage of Six Paths used the power of this talisman to defeat the goddess of Ang who wanted to destroy the world."

"After the war, I spent a great deal of effort to recreate a new talisman, and I was very grateful for the help of the Sage of Six Paths..."

"This talisman has absorbed thousands of years of natural energy on Mount Myōboku, so its effect might be even stronger than the original talisman... It was originally prepared as a backup plan to deal with certain extraterrestrial visitors and sealed demons..."

"However, now, perhaps it's time to use this talisman."

The Great Toad Sage stretched out two fingers, barely managing to pinch one corner of the Sage's Talisman, and took it out. Then, he looked at Nagato:

"Nagato, once you obtain the power of the Sage's Seal, you will possess the perfect Sage Body, and you will even be able to harness the power of the Rinnegan for your own use!"

"Only then will your battle with Uchiha Touyu truly begin. Before that, you can regard everything as a test for yourself."

As he spoke, the Great Toad Sage's eyes became somewhat unfocused, as if he were seeing Ashura and Indra again—it was as if fate had been rewritten. Nagato's opponent was none other than an Uchiha.

Like his ancestor Ashura, Nagato Uzumaki was initially at a complete disadvantage in his battle with Indra, but later received help from others.

"I wonder if he can defeat that descendant of Indra, just like his ancestor did?"

Upon hearing the Great Toad Sage's words, Nagato, who had been somewhat downcast, quickly perked up, his eyes sparkling. Nagato was, in a sense, a simple and naive person, and because he once possessed the Rinnegan, he deeply believed in things like destiny.

The Great Toad Sage's words were exactly what this former "Chosen One" wanted to hear, prompting him to ask impatiently:

"Great Toad Sage, what should I do?"

"It's very simple. You don't need to do anything. I'll just transfer the power of the Immortal Talisman to you."

The Great Toad Sage spoke, aimed the Sage Talisman at Nagato Uzumaki, and then the vast and boundless Sage Chakra within his body instantly surged forth.

Jiraiya and Nagato were shocked. The Sage Chakra within the Great Toad Sage's body was simply too vast, so immense as to be almost unbelievable. Even though it was just the movement of chakra without using any form of ninjutsu, it still made Jiraiya and Nagato feel as if they were in a deep sea of ​​natural energy.

Jiraiya is alright, but Nagato's current chakra reserves are comparable to some of the tailed beasts, yet he still feels like he's sinking into the deep sea. The Great Toad Sage's chakra is probably already greater than the combined chakra of the nine tailed beasts!

Of course, the sum of the nine tailed beasts is not the same as the ten-tailed beast. The combined chakra of the nine tailed beasts is probably less than a fraction of that of the ten-tailed beast. That is the result of a qualitative change leading to a quantitative change.

Even so, the Great Toad Sage's strength still shocked Jiraiya and Nagato.

However, despite unleashing such powerful Sage Chakra, the Great Toad Sage did not make any unnecessary movements, but instead channeled all his chakra into the Sage Talisman.

In that instant, the Sage's Talisman burst forth with dazzling light, like a black hole, continuously devouring the Great Toad Sage's chakra. The powerful flow of chakra even stirred up a swirling storm, directly breaking through the roof and even causing continuous dark clouds, thunder, and lightning in the sky.

As the Great Toad Sage channeled his chakra into the Sage Talisman, he spoke calmly:

"I'm old. Besides this amount of chakra, I don't have much fighting power left..."

At this point, the Great Toad Sage sighed:

"Back in my youth, I was a valiant toad who could team up with the Sage of Six Paths to fight off extraterrestrial enemies... But even toads have to admit they're getting old!"

Of course... this is just the old toad showing off. It can be understood as Zhao Yun and A Dou joining forces to charge in and out of Changban Slope seven times, killing indiscriminately. Zhao Yun was responsible for killing the Six Paths Immortals, while the young old toad was A Dou, who was responsible for the croaking.

The truth is that although the Toad Sage has a lot of chakra, he has never been a particularly strong fighter. In terms of chakra reserves, his skill level is probably not even as good as Kaguya's—at least Kaguya's skill level is lower, but she has more skills!

Not to mention that the Great Toad Sage has become so old now. Despite his chakra reserves far exceeding Nagato's, if they were to actually fight, the Great Toad Sage might not be a match for Nagato now!

Just like the tailed beasts in this world, the chakra within a tailed beast is at least dozens or even hundreds of times greater than that of an ordinary Kage-level ninja. However, in terms of combat power, most Kage-level ninjas are not afraid of those tailed beasts at all. This is the difference in combat methods.

In nature, toads have neither sharp teeth and claws, nor tough fur and shells, and they are not even particularly fast. Their only characteristic is that they are highly adaptable as amphibians. They can jump into the water to avoid enemies on land, and they can jump onto the shore to avoid enemies in the water. Coupled with their strong reproductive ability, this is how they have secured a place in nature.

The toads of Mount Myōboku are certainly much stronger than ordinary toads, but they are still far inferior to summoning beasts of the same level. Large toad summoning beasts in their prime can make up for it with weapons and the like, but the actual combat power of these old toads who have cultivated into sages is far from being on par with their chakra.

After rambling on for a while, the Great Toad Sage's voice grew softer and softer, and more and more wrinkles appeared on his body. In contrast, the Sage's Symbol that had been floating in mid-air had now completely transformed into a pure energy rune, shimmering with dazzling light in mid-air.

Sensing that the Great Toad Sage's life force was weakening, Jiraiya could no longer sit still:

"Great Toad Immortal, what are you doing? What are you doing now...?"

"Don't worry, Jiraiya. At my age, it's time for me to visit the Pure Land. Although the Sage's Talisman is powerful, it is actually more for healing and resurrection. It only has an auxiliary function, and the ability to develop the body's potential is just a side effect."

"If I want Nagato to truly make a transformative improvement, then I can only use my Sage Chakra to lay a solid foundation for him!"

"But...but..."

"Alright, Jiraiya, you've spent decades wandering the ninja world, wasting half your life, for the sake of the Child of Prophecy. Why can't I sacrifice the remaining decades of my life?"

The Great Toad Sage spoke calmly, which brought tears to Jiraiya's eyes. Even Nagato, who had little contact with the Great Toad Sage, looked excited and ashamed.

He lowered his head slightly, his half-closed eyelids concealing the Great Toad Sage's eyes, as well as his thoughtful expression.

"There's one more thing. Hagoromo Otsutsuki already told me that this strange Uchiha named Uchiha Touya possesses a bizarre ability to control souls. In his hands, death is truly just the beginning."

Just like the Sage of Six Paths, who, though dead, could still leap and bound in the Pure Land, once one's strength exceeds a certain limit, death becomes a very ambiguous matter. Even after the Great Toad Sage died and became a soul, he was still able to maintain his existence and consciousness.

Not to mention that the Pure Land itself is the territory of the Sage of Six Paths. Given the relationship between the two, if the Great Toad Sage went to the Pure Land, the Sage of Six Paths would at least give him an official position like Judge or Meng Po, which would be no different from his position on Mount Myōboku.

This old toad was already quite old and had no worldly desires, so he didn't care much about his physical body. The reason he was willing to help Nagato this time was partly because he wanted to deal with Uchiha Tou, but the main reason was that he was afraid that Uchiha Tou would come looking for him, kill him, and then enslave his soul.

When Fukasaku brought Shima's body in, the Great Toad Sage sensed something was wrong. After contacting the Sage of Six Paths in the Pure Land and learning that Shima's soul had not fallen into the Pure Land, he knew that Uchiha Hiu would probably come to kill him soon. That's why he hurriedly transferred his power.

This toad had lived for thousands of years and possessed incredibly abundant natural energy. It took it a full half hour to integrate all of its energy into the Immortal Talisman.

At this point, the old toad looked like it was on its last legs, its life force exhausted. Even its once tall body began to shrink, and its originally white toad skin became wrinkled and full of folds, as if it was about to lose its breath.

"Nagato... give me your hand... give me your hand... please..."

The old toad, barely breathing, managed to say something, then slowly pushed out his hand. The rune, which had been floating in mid-air and whose original form was no longer visible, had completely transformed into a shimmering crystal sage rune, and immediately drifted towards Nagato.

Nagato reached out and gently caught the Immortal Talisman that drifted towards him. Instantly, the crystal-like rune disappeared into his wrist.

An unbelievably large amount of Sage Chakra erupted within Nagato's body. This chakra, which would have been enough to burst an ordinary Kage-level ninja, was incredibly gentle within Nagato, flowing through every chakra meridian and constantly stimulating the potential of Nagato's physical body.

In theory, all members of the Uzumaki and Senju clans possess Sage Body, but the perfection of this Sage Body is hard to say. Many people call Hashirama Senju's Sage Body the perfect Sage Body, but in reality, isn't the Sage Body of the Sage of Six Paths even stronger than Hashirama Senju's?

Above the Sage of Six Paths, there are also pure-blooded Otsutsuki Sages, and even among these Otsutsuki, there are still differences in their physical constitution.

Nagato Uzumaki's Sage Body level is definitely not low; it's not something that just any Senju or Uzumaki clan member could support the Rinnegan.

Nagato Uzumaki was chosen by Madara Uchiha as a breeding ground for the Rinnegan. In terms of the level of Sage Body, perhaps only Ashura reincarnations like Hashirama Senju and Naruto Uzumaki could truly surpass him.

However, this is not considered low. It can only be said that compared with ordinary members of the Uzumaki and Senju clans, his Sage Body is only inferior to Hashirama Senju and Naruto Uzumaki. It is not that his Sage Body is only slightly inferior to these two Ashura reincarnations, but rather that it is far inferior by a huge margin!

This is equivalent to Hashirama Senju, the eldest brother, scoring 100 points, Naruto Uzumaki, the second brother, scoring 90 points, and when it comes to Nagato Uzumaki, the third brother, he drops directly to 60 points.

However, now, nourished by the vast amount of Sage Chakra, Nagato's Sage Body has undergone an almost earth-shattering, transformative evolution. Every inch of his skin is radiant, and his body, which originally looked slightly thin, has instantly become full and plump.

The red hair behind Nagato, nourished by the immense Sage Chakra, was as red as blood and as bright as flames, brimming with the breath of life.

However, the biggest change was in Nagato's Rinnegan. Originally, Nagato's Rinnegan was completely uncontrollable and was always in an active state, constantly consuming his life force and chakra.

However, now, those purple Rinnegan trembled a few times, degenerated into Mangekyou Sharingan, then into Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and finally completely transformed into ordinary black eyes.

The immense Sage Chakra not only transformed Nagato's body into a perfect Sage Body, but also allowed him to completely refine the eyes that originally belonged to Madara Uchiha!

The power of the eye concentrated in the Rinnegan instantly dispersed, causing Nagato Uzumaki's already limit-reaching Sage Body to make subtle progress.

Most importantly, all the power contained in these eyes is now fully open to Nagato Uzumaki. Even if Madara Uchiha came, the power he could wield with these eyes would be almost the same as Nagato's.

(End of this chapter)