They're promoting the "Konoha threat" theory, and spouting nonsense about the Hidden

Chapter 115 What is an "Immortal"?

"This commotion... truly lives up to its reputation as a forbidden technique, the 'Raging Heaven Technique'!"

Sensing the visible flow of chakra around him, Hozuki Shingetsu couldn't help but marvel at it.

Meanwhile, in the forest far from the Tsuchigumo clan's territory, En no Gyōsha was unleashing the Wrath of Heaven technique as requested by Hozuki Shingetsu.

He clasped his hands together, his expression solemn, and as time passed, an inexplicable aura suddenly rose around him.

Under the influence of the Wrath of Heaven Technique, the body of the Traveler seems to have become a "black hole," absorbing certain special entities in nature that are imperceptible to ordinary people.

Ugh!

The wind gradually picked up, causing the tree trunks in the woods to sway and the leaves to rustle.

Gradually, as time went on, the commotion grew louder and louder, and some faintly visible "blue ribbons" even appeared in the sky—that was a materialized phenomenon caused by the excessively high concentration of chakra.

These ribbons came from all directions, centered on the traveler, and flowed into his body like weary birds returning to their nests.

This unusual phenomenon was so obvious that even people like Hozuki Shingetsu and Uzumaki Muneto, who were originally unable to sense natural chakra, could now faintly feel the inexplicable flow of chakra in the air.

This feeling of chakra is completely different from human chakra; it is filled with an incomparably powerful yet all-encompassing feeling.

Mania and tranquility, these two diametrically opposed states, coexist harmoniously in natural chakra.

"Is this the legendary natural chakra? No wonder Lord Hashirama was able to quell the chaos and defeat Madara Uchiha with this power."

Under such overwhelming power of heaven and earth, the members of the Uzumaki Sect couldn't help but sigh.

Like the Senju clan, they are descendants of Ashura. Furthermore, the clan produced Mito Uzumaki, the wife of Hashirama Senju. Naturally, the Uzumaki clan has some records of the key points of Sage Mode training.

Regardless of the source of the records, the integration of natural chakra into the body is a crucial step in training Sage Mode.

Judging from its appearance alone, it's already in such a state. How dangerous would it be to actually absorb all this natural chakra into one's body?

Unlike Uzumaki Munen, Hozuki Shingetsu, after a brief moment of reflection, focused all his attention on En no Gyosha.

Since it was still in the gas storage stage, Hozuki Shingetsu boldly approached En no Gyoja to get a close look at his current physical condition.

The core elements of the Heavenly Fury Technique and Sage Mode are natural chakra, or natural energy.

However, its manifestation is completely different. The technique of wrathful exploding pursues the ultimate explosion, which is to compress the ultimate natural energy, compress it again and again, and then release it all at once when it can no longer be sustained.

It can be said that the philosophy of the "Angry Heaven Technique" is to absorb as much natural energy as possible and then unleash it in a concentrated burst, without considering how to use it in a refined way.

The Immortal Mode, on the other hand, pursues a steady, long-term approach. Its philosophy is to find ways to utilize natural energy more efficiently within a given unit of time, thereby improving the efficiency of natural energy use.

It can be said that the two are both similar and different, sharing the same origin but developing new branches.

"If that's the case, then the ancestor of the Earth Spider clan who invented the Wrath of Heaven technique must have been no ordinary person... Could it be that the giant toad was also involved in conceiving and implementing the utilization of this natural energy?"

This thought suddenly popped into Hozuki Shingetsu's mind, but he quickly put it out of his mind.

Whether the truth is as it seems or not is of little use to him at the moment. His most important goal right now is to make good use of the Traveler and learn his own Sage Mode.

Five minutes passed, and when the En no Gyōzō sensed that the natural energy reserves were nearly depleted, he loudly warned Hozuki Shingetsu and the others to stay away from the area.

Naturally, they wouldn't be so reckless as to stand there and test their physical defenses, so they immediately moved away from the spot, running several kilometers away before stopping to watch.

Seeing that Hozuki Shingetsu and the others had gone far away, En no Gyoza immediately stopped hesitating. With a thought, the violent natural chakra within his body surged out like a flood. Under the transformation of some strange power, it turned into a violent shockwave that poured out in all directions!

Splash!

Nothing could withstand this violent shockwave. Trees, soil, rocks... everything within this area was swept away. The violent airflow gradually weakened only after a kilometer. Even several kilometers away, Hozuki Shingetsu and his companions could still feel the gale on their faces.

"Such power... no wonder the 'Raging Heaven' technique is listed as a forbidden art!"

Even the usually carefree Yukinagi completely suppressed her smile at this moment, her expression becoming extremely solemn.

Under such overwhelming power, it's safe to say that unless Hozuki Shingetsu activated his tailed beast form for defense, none of the people present could escape.

As the smoke and dust gradually dissipated, Hozuki Shingetsu and the others looked around and saw that a "vacuum" zone had suddenly appeared within a radius of one kilometer.

In this perfectly round vacuum zone, apart from the Traveler, there was not a single other color, only a deathly yellowish-brown.

clap clap clap!

"As expected of the Tsuchigumo clan's signature technique that allows them to dominate the ninja world, this Raging Heaven Technique truly lives up to its name!"

Hozuki Shingetsu clapped as he approached Yoru no Kyousha and offered his compliments.

"Oh, not at all... Compared to the terrifying power of Lord Gengetsu, the former Mizukage of your village, ours is far away!"

Although the ninja had heard such praise many times before, he still couldn't help but show his joy when he was praised by Hozuki Shingetsu, a figure who shook the ninja world.

"...So, after witnessing the power of this ninjutsu, I have a humble request. I wonder if the clan leader could grant me this small wish."

When Hozuki Shingetsu saw the actor who was in charge of bringing up the topic of steam explosion, he was delighted and took advantage of the fact that there were fewer people around to lay out the topic directly.

"The story of this Steam Explosion Technique dates back to after Lord Gengetsu passed away. No one in my Hozuki clan has mastered it since, causing this legendary technique that shook the ninja world to be lost. It is truly a shame to have failed our ancestors."

"So after learning about the nobles' technique of unleashing their fury, I wondered if I could learn from it, and that's how I came here."

Hozuki Shingetsu concealed the fact that he had already mastered the Steaming Explosion Technique, changed his reason for coveting the Wrathful Heaven Technique, and revealed his true intentions.

"If possible, could the clan chief perform the 'Raging Heaven Technique' a few more times for me, and would you also allow me to use my detection ninjutsu to check your physical condition while you are performing the technique?"

Seeing that En no Gyoja's expression changed, Hozuki Shingetsu immediately added, "In exchange, I will take one of your children as my disciple and have him undergo orthodox ninja training."

"In that case, surely the clan chief will understand my good intentions?"

Hozuki Shingetsu deliberately emphasized the word "clan chief," and his intention was self-evident.

Faced with Hozuki Shingetsu's blatant coercion and enticement, and seeing the Kirigakure people who were subtly surrounding him, En no Gyoza had no choice but to agree after a moment's thought.

The factors influencing his judgment included not only the immediate real threats, but most importantly, the substantial stakes offered by Hozuki Shingetsu.

As the number one contributor to quelling the internal strife in Kirigakure, even the tea enthusiasts in the Land of Tea knew that he had been designated by Kirigakure as the Fourth Mizukage, and that the enthronement ceremony would be held as soon as he came of age.

In this context, the significance of being accepted as a disciple by Hozuki Shingetsu for a small clan like the Tsuchigumo clan is self-evident.

In addition, as a forbidden technique passed down through generations of the Tsuchigumo clan, the Enma is confident that even Hozuki Shingetsu, without the bloodline and cultivation methods of the Tsuchigumo clan, can only detect some superficial aspects and cannot detect the core secrets of this forbidden technique.

Therefore, under the influence of multiple factors, the Ennogyosha also succumbed to Hozuki Shingetsu's coercion and enticement.

Hozuki Shingetsu was overjoyed to receive En no Gyosha's consent. Thinking that there was no better time than now, he immediately grabbed En no Gyosha and prepared to conduct the experiment right away.

So, after Hozuki Shingetsu's chakra forcefully entered Ekunohyuuja's body, he finally truly felt the core of Sage Mode—natural energy.

"As expected... This 'Raging Heaven Technique' never intended to fuse natural energy with one's own chakra from the beginning; it merely used one's own chakra as an 'outer garment' to firmly bind the natural energy..."

After the mental connection was established, Hozuki Shingetsu had a clear view of the state inside the Enjo no Gyoza's body and a deeper understanding of the various secrets of the Wrath of Heaven Technique.

The essence of the Raging Heaven Technique is to treat natural energy as fuel for cannonballs; the entire ninjutsu is a process of constantly converting, compressing, and releasing it.

From this perspective, the key points that Hozuki Shingetsu can learn from the "Angry Heaven Technique" are two:

Firstly, in this process, the perception of natural energy was achieved, thus realizing the effects of the toad oil from Mount Myoboku.

Secondly, it involves using one's own chakra to construct a "protective shield" to block natural energy from contacting the physical body and prevent oneself from turning into stone.

"The way this ninjutsu is used is somewhat similar to Sage Mode..."

At this moment, inside Hozuki Shingetsu's body, the Six-Tails also sensed the situation outside through Hozuki Shingetsu's chakra.

For the tailed beasts who once followed the Sage of Six Paths, Sage Mode is naturally very familiar.

The Nine-Tails can even refine Sage Chakra on its own for Naruto to use. While the Six-Tails can't do that, it still has the vision.

"Six-Tails, do you know the training process for Sage Mode?"

Hozuki Shingetsu's heart skipped a beat; he had momentarily forgotten about this matter and immediately asked Rokubi.

"Sage Mode, huh? I do know a little about that... but do you perhaps want to cultivate it too?"

"Just a heads up, I only know about cultivation methods, but I have no idea how to resist the erosion of the body by natural energy."

After spending a year together, Rokuou actually had a pretty good impression of Hozuki Shingetsu.

Putting aside Hozuki Shingetsu's status as a reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths, at least in his heart, he truly held no prejudice against the Tailed Beasts. This alone was enough to make the Six-Tails look at him with new respect.

So if possible, Six-Tails still doesn't want anything to happen to this guy.

"That's perfect... As for the risks of natural energy, aren't there ready-made solutions?"

Hozuki Shingetsu was overjoyed upon hearing this. Although he had a general understanding of the key points of Sage Mode from Naruto Uzumaki's training at Mount Myōboku in the original work, there were bound to be many discrepancies between the anime and reality.

Now that the Six-Tailed Fox has given me an extra layer of assurance in my cultivation, I am more likely to succeed.

So for the next three days, the forest, far from the village of the Earth Spider Clan, suffered terribly, with explosions occurring three to five times a day.

In this situation, Hozuki Shingetsu, who had fully understood the secrets of the Raging Heaven Technique through chakra connection, finally began training in Sage Mode under the guidance of the Six-Tails.

"Before you begin practicing Sage Mode, you must first gain a deep understanding of its underlying principles. Only by clarifying these principles can you minimize the chances of going astray during your practice."

To Hozuki Shingetsu's surprise, the Six-Tails' first step didn't involve explaining in detail how to absorb natural energy; instead, it first explained the theoretical knowledge of Sage Mode.

"The essence of this 'Sage Mode' lies not in the application of chakra brought about by this 'mode,' but in the word 'Sage.'"

"The term 'Immortal' is not just a title for a powerful ninja, but also a harmonious state of being in harmony with nature, and a state of mind where one's essence, energy, and spirit are complete and perfect."

With the explanation from the Six-Tails and some information he already knew, Hozuki Shingetsu gradually gained a deeper understanding of Sage Mode.

According to the toads of Mount Myoboku, the essence of Sage Mode lies in the word "balance".

The balance between "movement and stillness" in the mind and the balance between "physical energy, spiritual energy and natural energy" in the body—only when one is perfectly in these two balances can one cultivate the immortal mode.

It can be said that Sage Mode is not only an advanced mode of using chakra, but also contains the connotation of a universal state of "perfection".

Similar to the Buddhist "Bodhisattva" and the Taoist "unity of heaven and man".

The purpose of Rokuou specifically pointing this out before Hozuki Shingetsu's training was quite clear.

The point was to tell him that while techniques like absorbing natural energy are important, the spiritual path is the foundation of the Immortal Mode.

With this mindset, and carrying the various natural energy absorption techniques he had learned from the Enma, Hozuki Shingetsu officially began his Sage Mode training under the guidance of the Six-Tails.

(End of this chapter)