Chapter 10

On the next day before starting any kind of training the slugs had to have him become a summoner.

"Shibai-boy, just draw a bit of blood and sign this scroll with it.

He complied with it. After biting his thumb he started writing his name on it. Soon the name 'Shibai' was written on the scroll in blood but both he and the slugs felt that the connection wasn't made and there was something missing. "I feared that this might become a problem," a sigh escaped from his lips.

"What's the problem boy? Just sign your family name as well."

Shibai thought for a while about that. He hasn't thought about his surname after reincarnating because of some problems he had with his family on earth. The family name 'Ōtsu' wasn't part of his identity and he wanted to completely leave that behind in this new life but it seemed something had come in the way of that. After a bit of contemplating, he came to a decision. 'I've already come so far and I refuse to let that name drag me down so let's try something else.'

"Let's try this again", Shibai said to the confused looking elders.

He drew a bit more blood and wrote on the scroll. It now read 'Kuchiki Shibai'. The contract was immediately formed and both parties could feel each other better. Shibai smiled, he finally had a name that wouldn't make himself miserable thinking about it and if he ever had kids in the future then he could proudly pass on the name 'Kuchiki' to them.

"Now that you are our summoner, go ahead and try summoning Katsuyu since she requires the most finesse over this technique to be summoned.

Shibai formed the seals: Boar → Dog → Bird → Monkey → Ram with one hand before uttering, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)."

A slug appeared on the training ground they were using looking befuddled, "Eep! What happened? I was just eating breakfast."

"Sorry for the interruption Lady Katsuyu, I just started practicing the summoning."

"You just started practicing and already managed to summon me, I'm impressed Shibai-kun. Although now that you are a summoner of Shikkotsu forest I should start calling you Shibai-sama, if you don't mind that is.

"You can call me whatever you like best Lady Katsuyu," an encouraging smile looked at the large slug.

Relief spread on the face of the slug and she said, "Excuse me, I will go finish my breakfast."

The two elders looked at Shibai with interest, "Looks like summoning wasn't going to prove difficult for you. Now, let's begin the sage training, shall we. The first step is going to be staying still and nothing else!"

-Time skip-

Around half a year has passed since first coming on top of the mountain and the slugs proclaimed that they have nothing else to teach him. He had become a perfect sage and learned the medical techniques of the slugs.

For those who trained at Mount Myōboku came the ability to use the natural energy as an extension of your body to use Frog Kata and those who trained at Ryūchi Cave could inject natural energy to non-living objects and control them so when he learned that Shikkotsu forest sages didn't get anything special he was disappointed. But after the elders informed him that Shikkotsu forest sages didn't get any extra abilities, because the Sage Mode pumps much more chakra in your body, thus granting stronger physical buffs compared to the other two, he was still more than satisfied. Still, after the slugs said that he had mastered it, he had a feeling in his gut that this wasn't all and he was missing something. And the feeling was later confirmed after a system notification.

*Ding*

[Status]

[Name: Kuchiki Shibai]

[Age: 25]

[Height: 192 cm]

[DF: Door Door (Awakened)]

[Garp Template: 100%]

[Sage Mode: Imperfect]

'System what does this mean? I'm in the same perfect sage form that others like Naruto and Hashirama have.'

[The system won't answer this, figure it out on your own.]

'Well aren't you helpful?' He quipped back. The system didn't respond to cheap taunts. It was all in good fun, he and the system had formed a friendship of some kind despite Shibai not knowing what it even was, but strangely it didn't really matter.

"Elders and Lady Katsuyu, thanks for everything you've given me these last months. I really appreciate it," he gave a deep bow. "Even though you have claimed my Sage Mode to be perfect, I still wish to experiment because I feel that I can still improve."

"Oh Shibai-boy, you will always be welcome here in Shikkotsu forest," the sweet looking slug grandma told him. "And regarding the last issue, if you believe that you can do it then go for it. Even though we slugs, frogs and snakes have studied the natural energy the furthest, it doesn't mean that you should take everything we say word for word."

"I also believe in you Shibai-sama," Katsuyu said.

Shibai gave them a hefty grin, "See you later then, all of you." Then he suddenly disappeared from existence and appeared at the valley he has been calling home for quite a while now.

"His chakra signature has completely disappeared. Can you sense him anywhere grandpa?"

"Hmm I do not. Seems like his kekkei genkai allows for some type of space-time manipulation." None of them could sense him not because he had gone too far, the actual reason was that the chakra fluctuations within the valley were completely sealed off with the system's help so no one could spy on him and the village.

~Back at the valley~

'I wonder what the reason behind the imperfect sage is…' Shibai wondered while trekking down the large lake. 'It most likely has something to do with the haki residing in my body since when learning Sage Mode I had a hard time balancing out the three powers in my body. Normal people only have to balance their own spiritual energy and natural energy.'

For the next few months he had been wandering around the mountain range in search of the answer. He had tried meditating and finding what the issue was, staying as still as possible but he couldn't figure anything out.

More time passed and the System Initialization Mission was already close to complete. He had found out that the problem indeed lay in his haki, it wasn't compatible with nature energy. Shibai could only think of one thing to solve it, and that was beating the arrogant nature energy into submission. It worked. The nature energy didn't recognize the haki as someone worthy of working alongside it and Shibai's own chakra until it was proven otherwise. Now the three energies worked as a perfect trio. Haki being a manifestation of his will, chakra protecting his soul and natural energy constantly enhancing his body. The sensation upon becoming a perfect sage was indescribable, the power he could grasp far surpassing his previous self. Perfect Sage Mode wasn't something you had to activate, instead it was a passive ability that recycled the natural energy around you without ever running out of it, the longer you had it active the stronger you would become. It also got rid of the weird looking markings around his face, the only physical indicator of him being in Sage Mode was the change in the color of his irises, now being bright purple. Even if his own grandmother now said he was handsome, he would believe it.

He was truly happy, feeling your strength increasing in rapid fashion was still the greatest thing you could experience in Shibai's opinion. 'I guess I'll have to give the slugs a visit and tell them about this, then I have to complete the last milestone I set for myself when I began training 2 decades ago. I'm sure I got what it takes now.'