"Naruto: My Ninja Skills"Chapter 209: One Tap, One Jump Q
Departing Shikkotsu Forest, Yūshin proceeded to Mount Myōboku.
Mount Myōboku's toads differ from ordinary toads—not merely in size, but also temperamentally. Some possess rather foul tempers... They're irritable and violent.
This represents a natural phenomenon. If you grow that enormous without bullying others, wouldn't all that growth be wasted?
Therefore, upon Yūshin's arrival at Mount Myōboku, he was immediately besieged by over ten giant toads. Then...
When Fukasaku Sage and Shima Sage arrived at the scene, they beheld over ten crystalline ice sculptures.
With so many toads participating in battle, logic dictated tremendous commotion should have resulted. However, the opposite occurred—combat concluded in a single instant, leaving the surroundings eerily quiet.
Yūshin had come for a bath, so he showed restraint.
He had merely employed Ice Release; had he used Condensation Release, the situation would have become irreversible.
Mount Myōboku's ordinary toads possess intelligence equivalent to average ninja—or rather, they have intellect without wisdom, lacking sound judgment.
Consider Shikkotsu Forest's giant slug. Upon encountering Yūshin, it immediately awakened its deeper consciousness, communicating with Yūshin through its true essence and original will, naturally preventing any misunderstandings.
The toads clearly hadn't reached this level.
Yūshin glanced at the two sages, then said:
"These toads are mediocre. I've heard Mount Myōboku has an Iwasu Giant Toad—can you summon it?"
Fukasaku Sage's expression became remarkably humanlike as he froze... He hadn't expected Yūshin to open with such words.
"Does mere size enlargement hold meaning for you?" Fukasaku Sage asked.
This question struck the core. For a ninja of Yūshin's caliber, the larger the enemy, the better the target.
"How can one know without trying? Though... excessively aged toads might have poor meat quality." Yūshin still wished to witness the Iwasu Giant Toad's dimensions.
Fukasaku Sage's expression nearly cracked—he couldn't determine whether Yūshin was joking.
Frog constitutes an excellent dish—Yūshin personally favored spicy bullfrog—yet treating Mount Myōboku's toads as ingredients seemed somewhat infernal.
After all, these toads possessed human-like consciousness.
Shima Sage was already struggling to restrain herself from attacking. Fortunately, Fukasaku Sage proved more rational, extending his "hand" to stop her, signaling his wife to remain calm.
"Who exactly are you, and what purpose brings you to Mount Myōboku?"
"I'm a Konoha ninja named Yūshin. I came to Mount Myōboku having heard the natural hot springs here are exceptional—I simply wish to bathe."
Yūshin spoke truthfully—bathing in toad oil still constituted bathing.
"That's incorrect. Great Toad Sage said your name is 'Kan,' not Yūshin."
Fukasaku Sage's words momentarily stunned Yūshin. In this era, this marked the first time he'd heard the name "Kan" without self-introduction.
"Your Great Toad Sage has truly lived from a millennium ago to this era? Fascinating... I am both Yūshin and Kan, even originating from the same era as your Great Toad Sage."
Shima Sage immediately expressed disbelief:
"Impossible! How could humans live so long?"
"My circumstances are rather special. Using terminology familiar to you... petrification. Consider that I was petrified a millennium ago, then released from petrification in this era."
Yūshin was both Yūshin and Kan, both a person of this era and of a thousand years past. He could effortlessly adopt either identity—whichever proved convenient.
"Kan, please follow me. Great Toad Sage wishes to see you."
Regardless of whether Fukasaku Sage believed Yūshin's bizarre tale, since Great Toad Sage wanted to meet Yūshin, it at least indicated Yūshin's origins were extraordinary.
Yūshin thought: Since Great Toad Sage sent you, why all the pointless chatter?
Fukasaku Sage was a sage, Great Toad Sage was a sage, Sage of Six Paths was a sage—everyone was a sage, but sages clearly differed from one another.
"What about my children...?"
Seeing Yūshin about to depart with Fukasaku Sage, Shima Sage had to inquire about the frozen toads.
"No problem. After ten days to half a month, they'll thaw... This is minor punishment for poor hospitality."
Yūshin followed Fukasaku Sage deep into Mount Myōboku. Within a massive reddish-brown building, he beheld the ancient giant toad soaking in an enormous bathtub, its skin wrinkled and shriveled.
Great Toad Sage was truly ancient—as a toad, its skin surface actually lacked mucus.
Great Toad Sage wore a doctoral cap, its eyes seemingly difficult to open.
"Kan, I've heard of your deeds, though I never expected our first meeting would occur in this era... I am Gamamaru. When Sage of Six Paths established Ninshū and traveled the Shinobi World, I once received his guidance."
"A sage like Sage of Six Paths, transcending racial boundaries, was someone I'd never encountered."
"He was a natural-born sage who taught me methods for utilizing natural energy..."
Great Toad Sage appeared ancient, yet his thinking proved surprisingly clear, leaving Fukasaku Sage stunned.
Normally, Great Toad Sage's thinking wasn't this sharp. Was he perpetually feigning confusion? Or perhaps operating in an inactive energy-saving mode?
Yūshin nodded. Indeed, Sage of Six Paths was truly outrageous—not only spreading Ninshū among humans, but even among toads.
"In that case, you're a nominal disciple while I'm an inner disciple."
Absurd—who could calculate it this way?
"Kan, recently I sensed your chakra reappearing in the Shinobi World, making me momentarily believe I was hallucinating..."
"Wait, we've never had prior contact. How did you confirm my chakra characteristics?" Yūshin immediately identified the blind spot.
"Heh heh..."
Great Toad Sage merely produced strange sounds from his throat without answering Yūshin's question.
Yūshin suddenly realized he didn't fully understand Sage of Six Paths either.
"Kan, how did you survive to this era?"
"That's my question for you. You're merely a toad—why such longevity?"
Great Toad Sage pondered briefly, then answered Yūshin's question:
"Precisely because I'm a toad, I can 'hibernate.'"
Great Toad Sage mastered natural energy and could hibernate, making his longevity surprisingly reasonable.
"Coincidentally, our methods for reaching this era are quite similar... Though human, I also learned 'hibernation.'" Yūshin said.
His longevity method closely resembled Great Toad Sage's—both froze their life states, maximizing "energy conservation and emission reduction."
"I see... yes..."
Great Toad Sage felt his thoughts jump, but fortunately pulled them back in time.
His eyelids opened slightly, revealing obsidian-like eyes in narrow slits. After staring at Yūshin for a while, he shook his head with difficulty.
This motion made Yūshin's eyelids twitch... Wait, you're a toad—where's your neck?
"As expected, I cannot perceive your destiny clearly. Why is this... just as I couldn't perceive Sage's destiny long ago."
"Perhaps our life compositions differ? Both Sage of Six Paths and I are essentially 'tree people.'"
This resembled carbon-based life attempting to glimpse silicon-based life's destiny—though existing in the same world, you live in different dimensions.
"Tree people? What meaning? However, your life is indeed long and tranquil, with overwhelming vitality impossible to conceal, like a towering ancient tree..."
Speaking thus, Great Toad Sage fell silent. Just as Yūshin wondered if he'd died, Fukasaku Sage spoke:
"Great Toad Sage has fallen asleep."
Ah, sleeping and waking at will—this toad used such methods to live a millennium?
"Excellent. This counts as a reunion after long separation—quite gratifying."
Let Great Toad Sage continue his peaceful slumber. Fukasaku Sage signaled Yūshin to follow, and they departed together—one frog, one human.
"You heard it—I once studied under the same teacher as your Mount Myōboku ancestor. I'm essentially the elder brother, he the younger... Seniority must be clearly distinguished."
Confirming whether Sage of Six Paths first encountered Yūshin or Gamamaru was difficult, but the former seemed more probable, so Yūshin wasn't exactly using power to pressure others.
"Indeed, Great Toad Sage could actually connect to the legendary world-creating Sage of Six Paths—I've lived so long yet this is my first time hearing such things."
Fukasaku Sage appeared deeply moved. He'd considered himself long-lived, never expecting to be merely a junior in terms of age.
"So Lord Yūshin, what is your true purpose for coming to Mount Myōboku...?"
"I already said—bathing... just borrowing the ubiquitous oil here and collecting some soil samples."
"If that's all, please feel free."
Fukasaku Sage breathed a tremendous sigh of relief. Yūshin had just established "seniority hierarchy"—he'd feared Yūshin would make excessive, troublesome unreasonable demands.
Fukasaku Sage led Yūshin to an oil pool beneath an oil waterfall. Merely approaching, Yūshin sensed something in the air becoming extraordinarily active.
"Water droplets" flew past as abundant oil dispersed like morning mist. When skin contacted this oil, one felt the so-called natural energy.
Yūshin approached the poolside, crouched down, and directly plunged an arm into the oil.
Fukasaku Sage was about to warn of the dangers, but remembered this person was from a millennium ago—theoretically, he shouldn't be easily petrified.
"Oh, so this is natural energy..."
Yūshin was God Tree-Man—the God Tree specialized in extracting entire planetary energy. Naturally, he wouldn't be easily petrified by natural energy.
Having basically clarified natural energy's nature, Yūshin dove headfirst into the pool, then drilled beneath the waterfall to begin more detailed perception and training.
With oil's assistance, Yūshin sensed fine energy particles in the air... like coating oneself entirely in Tiger Balm, then amplifying skin sensitivity.
Hmm, aside from a certain melancholic sensation, everything was quite satisfactory.
Learning Sage Techniques so brutally... Fukasaku Sage watched Yūshin's fearless approach with renewed amazement.
Countless ninja had come to Mount Myōboku for training—none like Yūshin had ever dared directly soak themselves in oil.
Knowing Yūshin was fine, Fukasaku Sage didn't disturb his training and temporarily departed.
One day, two days, three days—when Fukasaku Sage returned on the third day to check Yūshin's condition, approaching closely, he suddenly noticed something amiss.
"Where is Lord Yūshin?"
"Where are the waterfall and pool?"
"Wait, where are my two mountains?!"
No one responded—only his bewildered words echoed through the mountain forest.
...
Learning Sage Techniques wasn't difficult. As "God Tree-Man," Yūshin shouldn't compare his Sage Technique and Sage Mode mastery speed with Uzumaki Naruto—he should compare with Sage of Six Paths... What? Sage of Six Paths was born knowing them?
Never mind then.
Yūshin felt training at others' homes wasn't conducive, preferring his own home for mental clarity. So he relocated two mountain peaks from Mount Myōboku, transforming others' homes into his own... Everyone happy.
Again and again and again—departing Mount Myōboku, Yūshin once more headed to Ryūchi Cave. His Sage Technique objectives were achieved; visiting Ryūchi Cave served other purposes.
The answer lay in the question itself—Yūshin had previously visited Ryūchi Cave with Orochimaru.
In the sunless, pitch-black secret caverns, space twisted and Yūshin's figure appeared.
Previously, White Snake Sage avoided him, but this time differed. When unwelcome guests arrive, can you simply refuse to see them?
High-purity Byakugan served as maximum-power searchlight and x-ray device—White Snake Sage had nowhere to hide.
"Excellent location—underground natural energy is surprisingly abundant... just somewhat eerily windy."
Having already transported several mountains, Yūshin hadn't planned to continue, yet Ryūchi Cave's soil quality proved genuinely exceptional—he had to continue "sampling."
"So you're hiding in the middle layer."
Yūshin quickly located White Snake Sage—the small white snake was hiding while smoking, appearing quite content.
But it soon detected Yūshin's arrival and observation. Aside from the super-strong perception brought by controlling natural energy, this was White Snake Sage's territory—minor disturbances couldn't escape its eyes.
Besides, Yūshin hadn't intended concealment. Apart from arriving uninvited, wasn't his behavior perfectly open?
Ryūchi Cave lacked everything except snakes—so many as to cause physiological discomfort.
Walking through the caverns, surrounding sights reminded Yūshin of nature documentaries from his previous life... Arctic-region snakes taking advantage of warm climate to reproduce on islands—that scene of countless snakes writhing and climbing together like boiled noodles left deep impressions.
"Finding a snake—is it easy? Physically exhausting, mentally exhausting too... This is truly a once-in-a-millennium occurrence."
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