Chapter 448: Completion of Senjutsu Cultivation
How to achieve complete immobility?
Try hard to lower the heartbeat to the minimum, slow the blood flow to the slowest, and reach a state where metabolism nearly stagnates?
Or simply learn from the toads and go into hibernation?
No, these were not Haruno Sakura's answers.
With her attainment in Water Release, even if she lowered her life activities to the minimum, the chakra, spirit, and physical strength in her body would still continuously and rapidly transform, circulate through the meridians endlessly.
Therefore, no matter how hard Haruno Sakura tried to be "immobile," her body and spirit were still subconsciously operating rapidly.
Unless... she was a dead person.
So Haruno Sakura brought back a dead person, a corpse.
Or to be precise, a body without the breath of life.
Haruno Sakura's clone body.
"What a brilliant idea..." Katsuyu couldn't help but praise.
The moment it saw Haruno Sakura's clone, it already understood Sakura's idea.
"Is this your clone, Sakura-sama?" Katsuyu stroked the clone's flawless face and asked somewhat uncertainly.
Although the appearance and posture were completely identical to Haruno Sakura, Katsuyu keenly sensed a strange but clear aura near the clone's face.
This puzzled Katsuyu a bit.
"It is indeed my clone." Haruno Sakura smiled, then put her hands together and bowed, "Please keep the matter of this body a secret for me, even from my master for the time being, okay?"
"No problem, I will keep it a secret for you." A loud rumble suddenly came from below, and the Slug Sage's main body suddenly poked its head out and said in a muffled voice.
Even the most open and honest people have their own little secrets, and the Slug Sage could always keep their secrets: for example, when Tsunade first signed a contract with it and summoned its clone, she was a girl even flatter than Haruno Sakura, mocked daily by Jiraiya as a "steel plate"... Within just two years, she underwent earth-shaking changes.
Whatever Tsunade did, the Slug Sage kept this secret and told no one. Even if the girl in front of it knelt before it in the future, crying bitterly and begging for a hint, it wouldn't say a word!
"Let's not talk about gossip for now, let's see if your method is effective, Sakura."
The Slug Sage was also very curious. Cultivating Senjutsu with a lifeless clone indeed achieved the ultimate in "immobility." Even the Sage itself couldn't do better. So how would the effect be?
Haruno Sakura nodded.
"Secret Technique: Clone Body Jutsu!"
Different from using this jutsu before, Haruno Sakura didn't activate the clone's body this time, but directly projected her spirit onto the clone.
Then, she woke up in the clone's body.
The feeling of possessing a lifeless body was actually not much different from an ordinary Ice Clone—after all, an Ice Clone was just a block of ice without vitality.
The subtle thing was that she possessed a fully functional body capable of operating well. Although the main body didn't activate the clone's heartbeat, the clone's various physical strengths, perceptions, and organs still existed; thus, this clone was much stronger than ordinary Ice Clones or Shadow Clones.
The clone Haruno Sakura sat up and sensed her current state of existence slightly.
No heartbeat or pulse, blood didn't flow, even chakra solidified on the clone's body, no longer circulating vividly. Life activities completely dropped to zero: she indeed achieved complete "immobility."
"Seems... this is the feeling?"
Haruno Sakura closed her eyes.
Naturally, she perceived the existence of the so-called aura of nature. A huge, uncountable energy, the so-called natural energy, permeated the air, wandering throughout the world: from the sky to the earth to lakes and oceans, it was everywhere.
So she changed.
Purple eyeshadow, richer and more vibrant than when Haruno Sakura cultivated Sage Mode with Katsuyu's help, quietly emerged around the clone's eyes.
Complex and gorgeous Sage Markings revealed themselves on her smooth forehead, extending all the way from her cheeks down her neck, crawling onto those delicate and slender collarbones.
Haruno Sakura opened her eyes.
Under the urging of Senjutsu Chakra, the color of the Sharingan seemed to become even more bewitching!
"Success." The little slug praised softly, almost whispering.
"Didn't expect you even got the Mangekyo Sharingan..." The Slug Sage was also somewhat surprised, "Will there be any new changes when Mangekyo Sharingan is paired with Senjutsu?"
The clone frowned and sensed for a while. It seemed that apart from the color becoming more flirtatious and the pupil technique power possibly enhanced, there weren't many changes.
"Maybe only higher-level Sharingan will react with Senjutsu?" The Sage pondered.
"But this is beside the point... Sakura, now let's complete the final step!"
"Yes!"
The main body responded with some excitement.
Haruno Sakura released the Clone Jutsu.
The clone immediately fell limp to the ground. At the same time, a huge amount of Senjutsu Chakra returned to the main body following the spiritual power as the Clone Jutsu was released—
"Phew!"
Massive Senjutsu Chakra rushed into Sakura's body at once. Fortunately, Haruno Sakura practiced hard and seriously enough in the first stage, otherwise she would have nearly been burst by the excessive natural energy and then eroded into a mollusk!
Spending some effort, Haruno Sakura finally tamed this energy.
Thus, without external help, she finally successfully activated Sage Mode.
That is to say... the second stage of Sage Mode cultivation was declared successful!
Of course, this was only a preliminary success.
Next, Haruno Sakura had to practice repeatedly until she mastered Sage Mode proficiently—at least not being flustered for a while like just now.
That was just grinding work without much difficulty.
With the completion of the second stage, the basic cultivation of Senjutsu also came to an end. Of course, this didn't mean the cultivation of Sage Mode was over; in fact, mastering the condensation of Senjutsu Chakra was only the beginning of Sage Mode.
—Just as mastering the condensation of ordinary chakra was merely the beginning of the ninja path.
"Next, you need to master some special ninjutsu that can only be performed using Senjutsu Chakra." The little slug looked at Haruno Sakura who was gradually becoming familiar with activating Sage Mode, threw over a few scrolls, and reminded, "Also, I need to remind you of some things."
Cultivation of Sage Art (Senpo) was the third stage of this training, which was also the last stage.
Haruno Sakura caught the scrolls, not in a hurry to open them, just nodding lightly: "I understand... However, I have stayed in Shikkotsu Forest for more than a month. Since the first two stages are completed, it's probably time for me to return to Konoha."
"Sage Art cultivation doesn't need to be done in Shikkotsu Forest, right?"
Previously, Sasuke specifically wrote a letter to her, seeming that something happened in the village. Although both Sasuke and Tsunade said later that it was fine, Haruno Sakura was still somewhat eager to return home and wanted to go back to the village quickly.
"Going back to cultivate is also fine..." Katsuyu sighed, "But there is one jutsu, it's best to cultivate it now, otherwise your Sage Mode won't be considered complete."
"Hm?"
The girl frowned slightly.
Katsuyu didn't rush to answer, but talked about something seemingly unrelated: "Sakura-sama, have you thought about it? Sage Mode requires a certain preparation time. During that time, your clone needs to maintain an immobile form, becoming a target for the enemy..."
"Although protected by the main body, doing so is still too troublesome." Katsuyu continued, "And in many cases, you don't want to expose your clone, right?"
"So?"
Haruno Sakura was noncommittal about Katsuyu's question. She frowned and asked back.
"Merging with me will do." Katsuyu said.
Merging with Katsuyu?
In Haruno Sakura's mind, the scene of Combination Transformation with Katsuyu suddenly appeared.
Her expression suddenly became extremely colorful.
Wait... really have to fight with such an ugly image?
"Haha," Katsuyu chuckled, "Not like what you imagine! Just letting the shrunk me adhere to your body surface will do."
"I hang on your body, responsible for absorbing natural energy 'immobilely', and you are responsible for converting it into Senjutsu Chakra, and then fighting."
"I can hang on your shoulder, waist, back, hand, or... other places will also do."
Katsuyu's gaze subtly swept over a certain place.
When saying the last sentence, the tone suddenly became sneaky.
Haruno Sakura's face twitched, she rolled her eyes at it fiercely, and said nothing more.
The next day, Haruno Sakura left Shikkotsu Forest and returned to Konoha.
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