Chapter 119: Sage Body

Sage Mode.

This is a power many dream of attaining.

Jiraiya practiced Sage Mode for many years and had to rely on the assistance of the two Sages of Mount Myoboku, and even then, it took some time to enter Sage Mode.

However, right before Jiraiya's eyes, his new disciple entered Sage Mode without anyone's help, without any time, and even in a state of bewilderment!

The aura of Akihara Kagura gradually stabilized.

This was Akihara Kagura's first time entering Sage Mode. The sage chakra brought an unprecedented strength, and his body felt a surge of vitality.

"How does it feel?"

The Great Toad Sage asked gently.

"Not bad."

Akihara Kagura lifted a finger and touched the air.

"Sage Art: Water Mirror Technique!"

A water mirror appeared in front of Akihara Kagura.

Akihara Kagura looked at himself in the mirror, touching the eyeshadow above his eye sockets. The black and white eyeshadow, like flowing water, gathered at his fingertips.

This was a characteristic of [Sage Mode].

Eventually, the facial makeup of entering Sage Mode settled on his forehead, merging into a leaf shape between Akihara Kagura's eyebrows.

The Great Toad Sage fell into thought again.

This situation was something it had never seen before.

Akihara Kagura completing the Sage Mode on his own and being able to freely modify the appearance changes brought by Sage Mode seemed quite normal.

"Jiraiya."

Gamabunta was somewhat shocked by Akihara Kagura's talent for bursting into Sage Mode, saying, "Is this the new disciple you've taken in? Your disciples always seem to have more talent than you, Minato was like that, and this kid too…"

"Hahaha…"

Jiraiya scratched his head awkwardly.

"This child is even more outstanding than that kid…"

The Great Toad Sage interrupted their conversation, casually mentioning, "Little Jiraiya, you once encountered the Sage Eyes. This child must possess the Sage Body…"

"The Sage Body!"

Jiraiya's expression was somewhat surprised.

Because this term had never been mentioned before.

Regarding the Sage Eyes, Jiraiya did know about it; that was the Rinnegan owned by his deceased disciple Nagato, the legendary eyes of the Sage of the Six Paths.

What does the Sage Body mean?

Is it the physique of the legendary Sage of the Six Paths?

"Does it self-heal?"

Jiraiya remembered how Kagura's finger wound healed rapidly after he bit his finger, a healing ability far surpassing that of medical ninjas' medical ninjutsu.

"That is the most common ability of a Sage Body."

The Great Toad Sage shook his head and said softly, "A true Sage Body naturally possesses abundant life energy, can keenly sense the energy existing in nature, and easily assimilate this natural energy into their body, transforming into Sage Mode…"

"A Sage Body, huh?"

This tall man once again brought up the major affair of his life.

"Great Toad Sage, Kagura has already learned Sage Jutsu, and even possesses a Sage Body. Perhaps in the future, he could become a god of ninjas, just like the First Hokage…"

"Perhaps there is no one stronger than Kagura in the entire ninja world, right? Isn't he also not the child predicted by the Great Toad Sage who would change the ninja world?"

"Fate will bring you together."

The Great Toad Sage, hearing their conversation, turned back and said, "Little Jiraiya, when the moment of fate arrives, you will understand…"

"As for this child with the Sage Body…"

The Great Toad Sage looked towards Kagura again, closed his eyes, and slowly shook his head, saying, "Just like the child with the Sage Eyes, fate is a curious thing. It's hard for me to observe their true existence. This is a situation I have never encountered before. Perhaps only when I return to my slumber, will I have the chance to observe the river of time…"

"The boy beloved by nature…"

"Just like we are the spirit of nature between heaven and earth…"

While speaking, the Great Toad Sage slowly closed his eyes, his breathing gradually became even, and his body turned into a puff of smoke and dissipated.

Clearly.

The Great Toad Sage had returned to Mount Myoboku.

"..."

Kagura remained silent.

In this ninja world, there have always been many creatures beloved by natural energy, including ninjas themselves. However, some do not utilize natural energy to gain strength, and may even become as ferocious as wild beasts.

Some wild beasts learn to use natural energy, which leads them to develop intelligence and even establish the three great sacred lands.

"I'm going back too, Jiraiya."

Gamabunta, holding a pipe in his mouth, blew a smoke ring and muttered, "Who knows what kind of mess Mount Myoboku is in now. Teach your disciple well, you can summon anyone in the future, just don't summon the Great Toad Sage again."

The Great Toad Sage never left Mount Myoboku.

This time, the Great Toad Sage was actually summoned, which was a big deal for Mount Myoboku and even nearly caused a great chaos.

The kid named Akihara Kagura does have a talent for summoning jutsu, but he'd better not summon recklessly next time; we can't have Mount Myoboku in chaos every day.

Moreover...

The ninja world is not without its dangers.

The Great Toad Sage has lived for over a thousand years; who knows if it can still fight. If it were to be killed in a battle by accident, it would cause an earthquake throughout Mount Myoboku!

"I'm leaving."

After saying that, Gamabunta turned into a puff of smoke and disappeared.

Only Jiraiya and Akihara Kagura were left on the mountaintop.

Jiraiya leaped in front of Akihara Kagura, looked at the leaf-shaped face paint on Kagura's forehead, and said with a bit of melancholy, "I thought you would need to train for a while longer before I told you some information about the Sage Mode..."

As a teacher who has instructed many disciples, Jiraiya always had his unique way of teaching, allowing his disciples to become strong gradually without confusing their minds.

However...

There was a problem on the first day of teaching Akihara Kagura.

Akihara Kagura, this kid, is talented, even possessing the body of a sage, but his ability to cause trouble is truly second to none, even thinking about killing the Great Toad Sage...

The most troublesome part is...

How to teach him next?

Teaching this kid the art of summoning, he directly summoned the highest-ranking Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku and even directly mastered the Sage Mode.

The old man really gave him a big problem.

Besides, another headache for Jiraiya was learning new information that Akihara Kagura is not the Child of Prophecy, which means he must continue on his journey.

Akihara Kagura looked up at Jiraiya: "What is the Child of Prophecy? Am I not the Child of Prophecy, does that disappoint you, Teacher Jiraiya?"

"How should I put it..."

Jiraiya rubbed the hair on his forehead and sighed: "The Great Toad Sage is a sage with the ability of prophecy..."

"Many years ago, the Great Toad Sage made a prophecy that I would have a disciple who could bring change to the ninja world, just not sure if this change would bring peace to the ninja world or destruction to the world, so I have been searching..."

Jiraiya has always acted according to the prophecy of the Great Toad Sage, hoping to meet the Child of Prophecy soon, to teach that disciple to bring stability to the ninja world.

"Never mind."

Jiraiya was only disappointed for a moment, then became magnanimous again: "It doesn't matter if you're not the Child of Prophecy, you are still my disciple..."

That's also good.

Jiraiya could at least be certain of one thing.

Akihara Kagura was not the Child of Prophecy; he would not bring about change to the ninja world, nor would he cause a crisis of destruction there.

"Unfortunately, Nagato has died."

Jiraiya thought of his former disciple and sighed, saying, "If he were still alive, perhaps you two could have met…"

One with the body of a sage, the other with the eyes of a sage.

Jiraiya found his life interesting, encountering so many talented disciples, yet none were the Child of Prophecy. How extraordinary must the talent of the true Child of Prophecy be to surpass both the body and eyes of a sage?

"…"

Upon hearing the name of his superior, Akihara Kagura curiously asked, "Why haven't I heard the name of Brother Nagato in Konoha?"

"Nagato was not a ninja of Konoha."

Jiraiya shook his head, recounting his past, "It was during the Second Great Ninja War. After our battle with Hanzo of the Salamander, we happened to meet three orphans, Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato, in the Land of Rain. Worried they wouldn't survive the war, I took them in as disciples. Later, the messenger toad from Mount Myoboku told me they had died in the war…"

"…"

Akihara Kagura felt that Mount Myoboku was somewhat unreliable.

Looking at Jiraiya, Akihara Kagura earnestly suggested, "If teacher still misses them, shall we go to the Land of Rain to pay our respects?"

"The Land of Rain is still in civil war."

Jiraiya did not favor this idea.

Entering the battlefield would make the situation uncontrollable, and Jiraiya feared that Akihara Kagura might kill people there, as war too easily arouses a person's desire to kill.

Jiraiya still preferred to take Akihara Kagura to peaceful and auspicious places, to keep his disciple from thinking about killing. That was what he ought to do.

"Let's rest in the next town first."

Jiraiya gestured for his disciple to descend the mountain and looked again at the leaf mark on Akihara Kagura's forehead, "Can you maintain Sage Mode for so long?"

It had been quite some time...

How could this disciple still maintain Sage Mode?

In the past, Jiraiya's ability to maintain Sage Mode depended entirely on the two sages, Shima and Fukasaku, helping him absorb natural energy to form sage chakra.

"Do you want to try the power of sage chakra?"

Jiraiya looked at Akihara Kagura in front of him and suddenly couldn't help feeling a bit eager to try: "The traditional Konoha Village bell-stealing game, do you want to give it a try?"

"Are there any prohibitions?"

Akihara Kagura seemed quite interested.

"..."

For a moment, Jiraiya was at a loss for words.

This tall man's eyes began to get serious, he also wanted to know the true strength of his disciple. A string of bells appeared in Jiraiya's hands.

"So... none?"

As one of the legendary Sannin of the Konoha, Jiraiya was somewhat confident: "Then use all your strength, with the resolve to kill me, to take away the bells, even using Sage Mode is fine!"

"Traditionally, you should have two teammates to work with you, but I've heard of your strength, kid, so we don't need those between us, I will also give my all!"

Up to now, Akihara Kagura's track record has been quite impressive.

Jiraiya was confident, but he wouldn't arrogantly think he could treat this youngster like a child.

"Really no restrictions?"

Akihara Kagura asked Jiraiya again, and specifically reminded this teacher: "I've learned quite a few powerful techniques during this time..."

"Then let this teacher see them!"

Jiraiya put away the bells, formed a seal with his hands, but saw a hint of surprise in his disciple's eyes.

"Before the battle, we need to form such a seal, right?"

Akihara Kagura formed the same seal following Jiraiya's example.

"Correct."

"This is the Confrontation Seal, symbolizing the start of a battle."

"After the battle ends, the two fighting ninjas need to form the Reconciliation Seal, meaning the end of the conflict between the two."

After teaching Akihara Kagura these basic pieces of knowledge, Jiraiya suddenly rushed towards Akihara Kagura's direction and kicked at his chest!

"Taijutsu?"

Akihara Kagura raised his arm and easily blocked the strike!

Because he was still in Sage Mode, the natural energy within the entire area was providing him with sensory information, allowing him to easily predict the opponent's movements. Even Sage Mode could utilize natural energy to perform actions beyond prediction!

Akihara Kagura twisted his palm and caught Jiraiya's ankle with one hand, pulling down forcefully on Jiraiya's body!

Jiraiya immediately realized the immense strength of Akihara Kagura!

Unable to break free, the tall man encountered someone for the first time who was a match in strength to his old friend. He could only quickly form hand seals, attempting to use the Substitution Technique to escape!

"Locked on!"

Jiraiya immediately recalled certain uses of Sage Mode: "Under Sage Mode, one can control the natural energy of this area, making it impossible to use the Substitution Technique…"

"My taijutsu is actually not strong; I only know some basic taijutsu from the village."

Akihara Kagura slammed his teacher to the ground, while saying, "But I trained continuously in the village for several months, plus the enhancement of Sage Mode…"

"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

The moment Jiraiya was thrown down, he brought his palms together to complete the hand seals and quickly placed his hand on the ground, turning the ground into a swamp!

Akihara Kagura's body instantly sank into the swamp!

Taking advantage of the moment Akihara Kagura was distracted, Jiraiya kicked off against Akihara Kagura's chest, leveraging himself free from Akihara Kagura's grasp and simultaneously causing his disciple to sink deeper!

As expected.

Whether it was Jiraiya or Akihara Kagura, both knew in their hearts that the swamp on the ground would not cause any trouble. A vine quickly grew out of the swamp, lifting Akihara Kagura's body out of the swamp.

"So dealing with Sage Mode is this troublesome…"

Jiraiya hurriedly took a few steps back and immediately disappeared from the spot.

This tall man hid under a tree, feeling defeated by his disciple, yet a smile appeared on his lips: "I should have entered Sage Mode before announcing the start of the battle; close combat against Sage Mode is too disadvantageous."

"This kid…"

"His taijutsu isn't that bad after all…"

"Hmm?"

"Why is it so quiet now?"

Jiraiya hid behind this tree, frowning to himself, "Doesn't that kid understand the rules? Could he actually think I would fight him head-on?"

Just as Jiraiya was contemplating whether he should go out and say something, a beam of white light suddenly pierced through the trunk of the large tree!

Even more, the incoming white light continued unabated, piercing through countless large trees. The spot where each tree was pierced turned into nothingness, until the final area of disappearance caused a huge explosion!

"Is this... Dust Release?"

Jiraiya looked at the white light in horror.

Although Jiraiya had never seen this application of Dust Release before, the way the white light destroyed the trees and turned the trunks into nothingness was undeniable!

This was Dust Release!

The Dust Release of the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki!

Wasn't the Kekkei Genkai in this kid supposed to be the Wood Release?

Just as Jiraiya remembered the kidnapping case involving Akihara Kagura and the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, a figure slowly descended from the sky, "This was learned by sneaking during the kidnapping of the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki. Its power may not match the Wood Release within my body, but it also possesses formidable power…"

~~~

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