Chapter 127

Orochimaru's sudden shift in the conversation left both Tsunade and Jiraiya momentarily stunned. The two hadn't expected him to bring up Senjutsu the ancient art of Sage Mode training.

"Senjutsu?" Tsunade blinked, confused. It wasn't a topic they discussed often.

Jiraiya frowned slightly, still leaning against the tree. "Orochimaru, why the sudden interest in Sage techniques?"

Orochimaru didn't miss a beat. "You don't plan on having this discussion out here in the open, do you?"

Jiraiya glanced around, noticing the edge of the camp was empty, but he understood what Orochimaru meant. Despite the apparent solitude, it wasn't the best place to discuss such secretive techniques. With a sigh, Jiraiya pushed off from the tree and moved closer to Orochimaru, resigning himself to the conversation.

"Alright, fine. What's this about?"

Orochimaru, as usual, wasted no time. "Tell me honestly. Have you mastered Sage Mode yet?"

There was a brief hesitation from Jiraiya before he gave a reluctant sigh. "Well… to be honest…" He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I haven't fully mastered it. Not yet, anyway."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Why not?"

Jiraiya grimaced, clearly embarrassed to admit his shortcomings in front of his old friend. "It's about the chakra. I don't have enough." He sighed, realizing he had to explain. "You see, senjutsu requires balancing your own chakra with natural energy. If you don't have enough chakra, it's almost impossible to maintain the right ratio of natural energy to chakra. You end up being overwhelmed by the natural energy instead."

"Not enough chakra?" Orochimaru repeated, slightly surprised.

"Yeah," Jiraiya continued with a weak laugh. "I've been working on increasing my chakra reserves for years. And that potion you gave me helped, Orochimaru, but it's still not enough. I'm close… but not quite there yet."

As Orochimaru listened, he began piecing the information together. Ninja techniques generally rely on chakra, a combination of physical and spiritual energy. However, senjutsu chakra, which was used in Sage Mode, was formed by absorbing natural energy from the environment and perfectly blending it with one's chakra. To achieve Sage Mode, the user had to maintain a balance where natural energy accounted for one-third of the mix.

It was a delicate process. Too much natural energy, and the user would lose control, turning into stone. Too little, and Sage Mode couldn't activate at all.

The balance had to be perfect, physical energy, spiritual energy, and natural energy in equal parts. For that, a large chakra reserve was necessary. Even small fluctuations in the ratio could result in failure.

"So that's why you haven't mastered it," Orochimaru murmured, his eyes narrowing as he processed the information. He now understood that without a massive chakra pool, even the smallest imbalance between the natural energy and personal chakra could throw off the entire process, leading to failure.

Jiraiya, though a highly capable ninja, wasn't born into a clan with particularly large chakra reserves like the Uzumaki or Senju. It made sense why Naruto, with his vast chakra, mastered Sage Mode relatively quickly compared to Jiraiya, who struggled for years.

After thinking about it for a moment, Orochimaru turned his gaze to Tsunade.

"And what about you, Tsunade? Why didn't you pursue Sage Mode?"

Tsunade blinked, clearly not expecting the question. "Me? Well… when I signed the contract with the slugs, I heard about Sage Mode, but I didn't feel like I was suited for it. So, I never really pursued it."

Orochimaru frowned. Not suited for it? Was there truly such a thing? After all, she was a Senju, a descendant of Hashirama himself. Shouldn't she have a natural aptitude for such powerful techniques?

He wondered whether it was really about "suitability" or, more likely, the same issue Jiraiya faced, insufficient chakra. Maybe Tsunade had convinced herself early on that she wasn't compatible with Sage Mode, when in reality, the training required more chakra than she possessed.

"Tsunade," Orochimaru said suddenly, "can you summon a slug from Shikkotsu Forest and ask about their Sage Mode?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, confused by the request. "You want me to ask the slugs about Sage Mode?"

"Yes," Orochimaru replied. "I want to confirm something."

Tsunade didn't argue. She trusted Orochimaru enough to know that he wouldn't ask her to do this without a good reason. So, without further hesitation, she bit her thumb, forming a series of hand seals before slamming her palm on the ground.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A puff of white smoke appeared, revealing a small slug, no larger than her hand. It crawled onto her arm, greeting her in its gentle, sweet voice. "Hello, Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade smiled softly at the familiar presence. "Katsuyu, I need to ask you something. Can you tell me how the Sage Mode of Shikkotsu Forest works?"

The little slug hesitated, glancing at Orochimaru and Jiraiya, clearly wary of discussing such secretive matters in front of them.

Orochimaru, sensing the slug's discomfort, spoke up. "Don't worry. Even if you explain it, we can't learn it without being in Shikkotsu Forest itself."

The slug considered his words for a moment, then finally answered. "Very well, Tsunade-sama. The requirement for Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode is that one must possess a vast amount of chakra, at least ten times the chakra that you currently have. Only then can one handle the natural energy."

"Ten times the chakra I have now?" Tsunade repeated, her brow furrowing.

The slug continued, "Yes, and one must also use a special medium from Shikkotsu Forest to sense the natural energy, similar to how the toads of Mount Myōboku use their toad oil."

Orochimaru nodded, now understanding. So it was all about chakra volume, just as I suspected.

Without a large enough chakra reserve, it was impossible to control natural energy properly. That's why only certain individuals could truly master Sage Mode. Those without the necessary chakra reserves either failed or struggled, just like Jiraiya.

But then, a more important question formed in his mind, what about the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama?

He turned back to the slug. "One more thing, Katsuyu. The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, did he learn his Sage Mode from Shikkotsu Forest?"