138. Learning Sage mode -3

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Fukasaku didn't quite understand Naruto's thought process, so he simply told Naruto to put down the stone statue, and then...

"Ow~"

Naruto was hit with a stick again. He still wasn't used to this kind of pain.

"Naruto, you've done well with this stage. Next, you need to absorb natural energy without relying on toad oil."

"Got it!"

"Then, the first thing is to practice staying completely still. Follow me!"

Naruto followed Fukasaku to an area filled with jagged stone peaks, each one slender and sharp, like an enlarged thorn.

"Is this called a karst landform?" Naruto wondered. His knowledge of geography wasn't the best.

Fukasaku used his tongue to pick up a slate from the foot of one of the peaks and climbed up, signalling Naruto to follow.

Naruto remembered from the anime that the next part of the training involved balancing on top of the spikes using the slate. He had to sit on it and remain perfectly still.

Even the slightest distraction would cause him to fall.

Naruto tapped the slate. Although it wasn't as sturdy as the floor tiles at his home, it felt strong enough that he wouldn't be impaled by the spikes for centuries to come.

Imitating Fukasaku, Naruto climbed to the top, placed the slate down, and sat on it, trying to maintain his balance.

Within seconds, Naruto felt an itch on his head and instinctively wanted to scratch it. And then:

"Ah~~~!" Naruto tilted, and both he and the slate fell.

"Shu!" Fukasaku's tongue shot out instantly, wrapping around Naruto's ankle to prevent him from hitting the ground headfirst, but the slate had already shattered.

Although Fukasaku caught him, Naruto's momentum caused him to swing in a small circular motion, with Fukasaku's tongue as the radius, until he ended up plastered against the mountain wall.

Let's say Fukasaku's tongue is 5 meters long, and the angle between Naruto and the vertical is 45 degrees when Fukasaku catches him. What would Naruto's angular and linear speed be when he hit the wall...?

Fukasaku pulled Naruto back and said, "Naruto, you need to focus more."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Naruto groaned in pain. He slowly got back up, picked up another slate, and prepared to try again.

Before sitting down, Naruto had an idea. He left the imprint of the Flying Thunder God on top of the pillar, marking it with the word "step."

This was Naruto's way of learning Sage Mode, but his distracted mindset wasn't helping him master it.

However, with the Flying Thunder God mark, if he fell again, he could teleport back before hitting the ground. That way, Fukasaku wouldn't have to keep saving him.

If Naruto reacted quickly enough, he could even save the slate, reducing their consumption.

After all, the slates were limited, and Naruto thought it was necessary to cultivate immortality sustainably.

In this way, Naruto not only improved his mastery of Sage Mode but also increased his proficiency in the Flying Thunder God Jutsu and sharpened his reaction speed killing three birds with one stone.

Still, Naruto's constant flying around was starting to give Fukasaku a headache.

Minato was a smart and quiet student, so how did his son end up like this?

...

After a day of hard training, Naruto finally lay down on his cot. Before going to sleep, he decided to talk with Kurama.

Naruto turned over from Kurama's back, sat in front of him, and said, "Hey big fox, why don't you learn Sage Mode too?"

Kurama looked at him. "Why would I want to learn something like that?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Because you've got nothing else to do?"

"Not interested." Kurama was immune to Naruto's reasoning.

Naruto tried another approach. "Don't you want to get stronger?"

"I'm already strong enough," Kurama replied. The Nine-Tails was more than capable of holding its own.

Naruto stared at him in silence. If you were really strong enough, you wouldn't be sealed inside me right now. But instead of bruising Kurama's pride, Naruto chose a different tactic: "Wouldn't you rather share a lease with a toad?"

Kurama's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Naruto patiently explained, "To use Sage Mode in real combat, I need Fukasaku to sit on my shoulders and channel the energy for me. That means you'd be sharing space with him."

"Not!" Kurama roared. "Minato never needed a toad on his shoulders!"

Naruto countered, "That's why he could only maintain Sage Mode for a few minutes. After two big moves, he was drained. Real battles can't always be won in a few minutes, right?"

Kurama grumbled, "Isn't my chakra enough for you? Why do you need to involve those toads?"

Naruto coaxed him, "Don't be like that. Even the Sage of Six Paths learned from the Great Toad Sage. It won't diminish your status if you learn it too."

Kurama fell silent. Based on Naruto's understanding, this was Kurama's way of agreeing.

Now, Naruto wouldn't have to worry about running out of energy during a fight. The power of Sage Mode combined with Kurama's chakra would be unstoppable.

Naruto happily went to bed, though a little frustrated. By now, shouldn't the Great Toad Sage have appeared to him? He'd been at Mount Myoboku for quite some time with no sign of him. Was he being ignored?

...

The next day, Naruto went to the training ground as usual. Unexpectedly, Kakashi arrived before Naruto had even finished warming up.

"Stop right there!" Naruto shouted, "Group A code: Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "SpongeBob SquarePants."

Naruto nodded seriously to Sasuke and Sakura. "Seems legit."

Sasuke and Sakura turned away, pretending not to know him.

Kakashi sighed. "Can't you just sense my chakra? Why come up with these weird codes? And it's not like I'm always late. Now that I'm early for once, you're suspicious?"

Naruto smirked. "Chakra can be copied. This is more secure."

Yes, Naruto had come up with multiple secret codes for Team 7. He had even given them code names for missions: Kakarot, Vegeta, Bulma, and... Sakata Gintoki.

Sasuke found it unnecessary, but he had gotten used to Naruto's antics and memorized a few codes to keep the peace.

Sakura just followed along because Sasuke didn't object.

Kakashi initially refused to play along, but Naruto threatened to bring Kushina to raid his house. Thinking of his collector's items...

Cough!, cough!, Kakashi wasn't giving in to threats. He just thought that, as a ninja, maintaining vigilance was essential. So, yes, secret codes were important.

"Alright, let's get to business. Pack up; we've got a mission at the border."

Naruto asked casually, "What rank is it?"

"A C-rank mission."

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