Chapter 9: The giant rabbit

Naruto ran with large steps, soon he began to run towards the house of Grandpa Toad. The way back seemed shorter, perhaps because his mind was occupied with thoughts about what he had achieved the night before.

Upon arriving at Fukasaku and Shima house, Naruto found Fukasaku and Shima already awake. Fukasaku couldn't help but notice that something was different about Naruto, besides the fact that he was wet.

"Where have you been, Naruto-chan?" Fukasaku asked, with a curious expression.

"Just taking a walk," Naruto replied, lying without hesitation. "Shall we start training now?"

Fukasaku was still intrigued, trying to figure out what had changed in Naruto, but couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was. He shook his head and agreed to start the training, but first, he said, "Let's eat."

"Okay..." Naruto said with a disgusted grimace, as he looked at the plate of larvae served to him. Although the food wasn't particularly tasty, the taste itself wasn't that bad. However, the fact that he was eating larvae and other repugnant things was still hard to swallow - literally.

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The waters of the Oil-Gama waterfall fell with a deafening force, but Naruto barely noticed the noise. His mind was focused on an important question: would it be different this time?

He remembered how his body had changed after consuming the orbs of light, but now, with his enhanced skin, Naruto had a new hope. He wondered if this would bring a significant change in his training.

Sitting in a meditation position, Naruto felt the Oil-Gama being poured over him by Fukasaku. He closed his eyes and began to focus his mind on Zen Meditation. When Naruto's skin came into contact with the oil, he felt a strange sensation, and an orange-red pigmentation began to spread around his eyes. He knew this was a sign that his Sage Mode was activated.

Naruto took a deep breath and let his mind merge with the energy of nature around him. His awareness expanded, and he could feel the presence of all living creatures in the forest. The sounds of animals and the smell of vegetation filled his mind as he became one with nature.

Fukasaku was about to strike Naruto with the stick again, but something seemed different. Naruto was resisting longer than the day before, and the chakra of nature was gathering around him more strongly.

Surprised by what he was seeing, Fukasaku widened his eyes, and Gamakichi, who had just arrived, was also astonished. They had witnessed Naruto's progress firsthand, but this was still amazing.

Meanwhile, Naruto was almost smiling, knowing he had made a lot of progress since the day before.

Thanks to the improvement of his body with the red orbs, Naruto realized he could feel the chakra of nature more naturally. It was as if he had only 25% knowledge of the subject before and now had over 50%, which made it easier to understand something that was previously difficult to comprehend.

However, despite his impressive progress, Naruto couldn't maintain his Sage Mode state for long and soon began to swell due to a lack of control over his chakra.

Fukasaku immediately acted and struck Naruto's back with his black stick, dissipating the toad's transformation.

"Hey, Old Man Toad," Naruto said, opening his eyes. "I think I have a better idea for progressing faster."

"And what would that be?" Fukasaku asked.

"Well, I believe if I make shadow clones, I could learn faster," Naruto replied with a smile.

"You have a good intuition," Fukasaku said. "The experience of shadow clones is also transmitted to the original user, but be careful, the same goes for damage, and a clone transformed into a toad can be fatal for the original."

"Of course, I understand," Naruto said.

"Agreed, then," Fukasaku said. "But no more than four clones. If there are more, neither I nor my stick can protect us!"

"Here I go!" shouted Naruto, immediately making hand seals and creating three shadow clones.

As Naruto began his Zen meditation with the shadow clones, Fukasaku mixed some Oil-Gama into them. Slowly, Naruto began to better understand nature's chakra and find harmony.

However, the division of the shadow clones also made the toad transformation faster, and Naruto was soon beaten back to his normal form, having to start the whole process again.

⊱⋅───⊱◈◈◈⊰───⋅⊰

Naruto lost track of time while training but felt he had finally gotten the hang of it!

Although lumps had appeared near his eyes and all over his body, and his pupils had become as small as a bean, Naruto managed to maintain the orange-red pigment around his eyes, partially entering Sage Mode.

"Well done!" exclaimed Fukasaku excitedly. "Now try to lift the stone toad again!"

"Sure thing, dattebayo!" replied Naruto, excitedly.

Heading to the enormous stone statue, Naruto put both hands on it and began to try to lift it.

When he finally managed to lift the entire stone statue, Naruto felt his legs throbbing as he trembled like a bamboo pole. However, he skillfully controlled nature chakra and managed to release the statue upon hearing Fukasaku's voice congratulating him.

'This kid learns faster than Jiraya-chan,' thought Fukasaku with admiration. Naruto wasn't just learning faster, he was elevating his skills to a higher level.

⊱⋅───⊱◈◈◈⊰───⋅⊰

Naruto opened the old book he had received from Grandpa Toad and immersed himself in the story. Although he already knew the plot, it was still an interesting read, full of adventure and twists. But what really made Naruto cling to the book was the fact that it was written by his late sensei, Ero-Sennin.

At night, when he finally decided to sleep, Naruto ended up once again in the hunting dimension. Although he was already experienced in killing rabbits, Naruto knew there were other monsters in that place that were much more dangerous. He roamed the grassy plain until he found a giant rabbit, at least 150 cm tall. Naruto realized that this was an opponent of another level, one that needed to be faced seriously.

Determined to win, Naruto created a shadow clone and began to concentrate his chakra to prepare the Rasengan.

The giant rabbit, imposing with its 1.5m height, seemed to sense Naruto's presence and opened its jaws, displaying a sharp row of white teeth.