Chapter 100: Sage Chakra, This Time I Hit the Jackpot

"Take care, everyone. Thank you for all your help during this time."

A few days later, at the entrance of Sunagakure, Gaara and his siblings were bidding farewell to Team 8.

Unlike several months ago, Gaara had now become polite and refined. Along with his brother and sister, he bowed deeply to thank Team 8.

"No need to be so formal, or we'll feel like we're the rude ones," Yagyu joked. "After all, we didn't get this kind of treatment when we saw you off last time."

Hearing this, the serious expressions on the faces of Gaara and his siblings melted into smiles.

Looking at Yagyu, who was the same age as her brother but already taller than her and whose strength, wisdom, and social grace she deeply admired, Temari felt her heart race uncontrollably again. She instinctively said, "Yagyu, Sunagakure and Konoha are allies. You're always welcome to visit us."

"Ah…" Yagyu nodded with a smile. "We'd love to have you visit Konoha too. I'll personally show you around."

"It's a deal then," Temari responded with a radiant smile, prompting Kurenai to raise her eyebrows and glance at Hinata.

But Hinata remained calm, her usual gentle smile still on her face.

Seeing this, Kurenai couldn't help but shake her head inwardly.

She wondered what kind of charm Yagyu had used on Hinata and the others. Their relationship was so strong that they didn't even seem to mind if Yagyu attracted attention from other girls. Weren't they afraid of him being taken away?

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with Gaara and his siblings, Yagyu waved goodbye. "Well, we'll be off. I hope you'll choose your Fifth Kazekage soon and get back on track! And if Gaara does become the Fifth Kazekage, be sure to send me an invitation so I can attend the inauguration ceremony."

His tone lightened toward the end.

Temari playfully added, "Same here. If Lady Tsunade suddenly decides to retire, don't forget about us, future Sixth Hokage."

"Haha, I'm still just a Chūnin; it's way too early for that."

"Alright then, farewell."

After bidding farewell to Gaara and his siblings, Team 8 disappeared in a flash.

Having been away for quite some time, Team 8 didn't dawdle on their return to Konoha, moving at a steady but swift pace.

Along the way, they passed through several bustling towns.

Yagyu bought a large number of souvenirs for Tsunade, Shizune, Karin, and even Hanabi.

Money was no longer a concern for Yagyu.

Though Kakuzu hadn't been carrying the Akatsuki's funds, his personal fortune accumulated over decades of bounty hunting was substantial. Both he and Hidan were S-class rogue ninjas, with bounties in the tens of millions. Although Yagyu had dismembered their bodies, it didn't stop him from collecting the enormous bounties.

Now, Yagyu was a multi-millionaire. Even if he retired from being a ninja, he would never have to worry about money for the rest of his life.

"Onii-chan, thank you! Mwah!" Hanabi, now having the privilege to freely enter and exit the Hyūga compound, kissed Yagyu on the cheek after receiving her gift.

This affectionate gesture showed that Hanabi had fully embraced her role as Yagyu's little fan.

After spending a few hours at the Hyūga clan, Yagyu sparred with Hanabi at the training grounds, helping her understand the basics of the Yin Seal technique.

Given her age, it would take Hanabi a few more years to master the Yin Seal. But if she managed it by the end of the Shippuden era, her strength would be more than enough to lead the Hyūga clan as its head during Boruto's timeline.

Once Hanabi had fully mastered the Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist, Yagyu could start training her as he did Hinata, granting her the same level of attention.

That evening, after enjoying a dinner prepared by Karin, Yagyu spent a long time talking with her in the living room.

Nearly four months had passed since the second Chūnin Exams. In that time, Karin had undergone a remarkable transformation, and her life had become much more fulfilling.

Several months ago, her life had been bleak, her chakra reserves so low that it seemed as if her lifespan might be cut short at any moment.

But now, Karin's chakra reserves had grown to the point where even those with basic sensing abilities could feel her immense energy.

Her striking red hair and vast chakra made it easy for anyone with some knowledge to deduce her true identity.

In addition to her physical changes, Karin had grown more outgoing after becoming friends with Hinata and the others, no longer feeling so self-conscious.

Though she hadn't joined any teams, Karin had become Tsunade's assistant alongside Shizune. Surrounded by Konoha ninjas in vests, and being the disciple of the Hokage, Karin's demeanor and confidence had grown immensely.

Even the version of Karin seen in Shippuden, serving as a leader in a certain base, was not as confident or strong as the Karin of today.

Although she had yet to awaken the Adamantine Sealing Chains, Karin's innate chakra control, sealing jutsu potential, and chakra reserves—greater than those of Hinata, Ino, and Sakura combined—meant that her proficiency in Water Release was growing as rapidly as Yagyu's. She was also excelling in advanced medical ninjutsu and sealing techniques.

At this rate, Karin was destined to be the first among the four to master the Strength of a Hundred Seal, making her the undisputed strongest, even more closely resembling Tsunade's true disciple than Shizune.

Seeing Karin's growth, Yagyu couldn't help but feel proud.

After offering her some words of encouragement, Yagyu returned to his room, created a Wood Clone, and used the Mayfly Technique to quietly leave Konoha. Within hours, he arrived inside the ancient ruins.

His Wood Clone had already prepared the area, lighting candles that illuminated the ground, revealing the green glow of the Gelel Stones that had been unearthed.

These stones were still unrefined.

Emerging from the ground, Yagyu eagerly picked up one of the head-sized Gelel Stones.

Blue chakra enveloped his hand, and an invisible force began drawing out the special energy within the stone, which seeped into Yagyu's body.

Just like the Preta Path of the Rinnegan, Wood Release also had an innate ability to absorb energy.

Whether it was the chakra within a jutsu or the physical and spiritual energy within a person, Wood Release could absorb it all.

Yagyu didn't need to learn any lesser chakra absorption techniques, as he already possessed the highest form of chakra absorption.

"Ugh..."

However, the moment the unrefined energy entered his body, Yagyu immediately stopped absorbing it, letting out a low groan.

If one looked closely, they would see Yagyu's expression contort for a brief moment, a flash of red, filled with malice, flickering through his eyes.

If someone could sense emotions, they would notice Yagyu's emotional state had changed, filling with negativity.

It took Yagyu a while to recover, and he muttered, "So this is the effect of natural energy? My emotions became suddenly violent, my mind out of control, but I didn't turn to stone. It's like Jugo's Sage Transformation."

Just absorbing a small amount of this energy revealed the consequences of over-absorption.

For ordinary people, absorbing this energy would cause them to transform into beast-like forms, with personalities becoming uncontrollably savage until their bodies eventually collapsed.

Even when absorbed in diluted form, the user's skin would turn brown-black, and their personality would become as violent as a wild beast. Prolonged use would still result in the body breaking down and death.

Even for someone like Yagyu, who possessed the Sage Body, or Jugo, who could naturally absorb natural energy, absorbing too much could result in losing control and transforming into a berserk sage.

However, the Gelel Stones not only contained natural energy but also vast amounts of life energy.

This life force had no negative effects on Yagyu. It flowed into his body as smoothly as a hot spring, refreshing him.

If Yagyu could absorb enough of this life energy, his Yang Release chakra and Wood Release would become exponentially stronger. He might even reach the point where he could instantly convert massive amounts of chakra into Wood Release chakra, allowing him to create a large Wood Golem in an instant, rather than needing time to gradually convert chakra and unleash techniques like the Deep Forest Emergence.

The energy within these stones was both positive and negative.

If Yagyu could fuse the negative natural energy with his chakra to create Sage Chakra, these Gelel Stones would become the ultimate supplements for him.

With that thought, Yagyu formed a hand seal, and a branch extended from his body, transforming into a Wood Clone identical to him.

Yagyu then grabbed another head-sized Gelel Stone with both hands and began absorbing its energy once more.

This time, Yagyu didn't hold back, draining the stone of all its energy.

As the special energy flowed into him, the Gelel Stone, which had glowed brightly under the candlelight, dimmed and turned into an ordinary rock.

It was like jade turning into a common pebble.

At the same time, Yagyu's expression twisted into a grimace, his body radiating a savage aura.

His fair skin rapidly darkened to a brownish-black hue, and his crimson eyes gradually transformed into yellow, beast-like pupils.

A terrifying aura emanated from Yagyu, making him seem like a demon emerging from the depths of the abyss.

Just as Yagyu was about to fully transform into a berserk sage, the Wood Clone beside him placed a hand on his shoulder and absorbed the energy from Yagyu's body.

Yagyu's mind, on the verge of losing control, instantly cleared.

But the Wood Clone, now filled with the special energy, began its own transformation.

In an instant, several shadowy figures appeared, each placing a hand on the Wood Clone, dividing its special energy into several parts.

Before long, these clones also began to change, their skin turning brown-black, their eyes becoming yellow, beast-like pupils. However, unlike Yagyu earlier, they did not immediately lose control.

The clones all sat down cross-legged, attempting to fuse the special energy with their chakra.

Yagyu, having regained his composure, created more Wood Clones to monitor their progress.

If any of the clones lost control, the others would absorb part of their energy.

Soon, the number of clones increased, splitting the energy from one Gelel Stone into nearly a hundred parts.

Even so, one of the clones lost control.

Before Yagyu could make another clone to help absorb the energy, the rogue clone used the Mayfly Technique to escape the ancient ruin.

Rumble...

The violent shaking caused Yagyu to wobble slightly.

Activating his Red Eye, Yagyu gasped in shock and excitement.

In a distant part of the mountain, a giant tree over a hundred meters tall had emerged from the ground.

This enormous tree was the result of the rogue clone's transformation.

When a Wood Clone is dispelled, it can either revert to a seed or grow into a small tree.

But this was no small tree!

The clone, having absorbed both the wild natural energy and the immense life force of the Gelel Stone, had grown into a towering tree over a hundred meters tall.

This was why the Gelel Stones could create endless water wells and livestock that matured overnight.

Fearing that more clones might inadvertently destroy the ancient ruin, Yagyu quickly created more clones to divide the special energy further.

Once the energy had been split into hundreds of parts, all of the clones' transformations subsided.

After a short while, many of the clones opened their eyes and shook their heads at Yagyu, saying, "The energy's gone. We failed."

Clearly, they had failed to merge the energy with their chakra to form Sage Chakra and had exhausted all of the natural energy.

Yagyu wasn't surprised by this.

He didn't expect to master Sage Mode from just one stone.

But after seeing one of his clones transform into a hundred-meter-tall tree, Yagyu knew he couldn't rely on Wood Clones to assist in Sage Mode training anymore.

Natural energy was only part of the equation. If he failed to master Sage Mode, he could always learn it at the Shikkotsu Forest.

However, the life force contained in the Gelel Stones was too valuable to waste on the Wood Clones. This was the key to rapidly advancing his Sage Body.

Just then, an unfamiliar sensation surged through Yagyu's mind.

In an instant, Yagyu's eyes lit up with joy as he gazed at one of his clones, who was now smiling.

"...It worked!"

The clone opened his eyes, which were still yellow but no longer beast-like. A red marking had appeared around his eyes.

Though the yellow pupils and red marking vanished after a few seconds, the clone had successfully fused natural energy with chakra, forming Sage Chakra!

Out of hundreds of clones, one had finally succeeded in mastering the technique to merge natural energy and chakra.

Clearly, Yagyu had hit the jackpot this time!

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