Kakashi took a deep breath and adjusted his mindset.
Alright.
Souma couldn't possibly know what he was thinking anyway.
"Lost secret art?" Kakashi asked.
"It's a long story. I'll explain it bit by bit once we're there," Souma said.
Sage transformation wasn't something you could sum up in one sentence. To really explain it properly, you'd basically have to start from ancient history.
And from a "setting" standpoint, he technically shouldn't know that kind of lore in the first place, so…
Souma honestly had no idea where to start without sounding suspicious.
Kakashi didn't ask further.
He followed Souma into the Forest of Death. Souma took the path he usually used to absorb natural energy, and quickly found a secluded spot.
"Let's do it here," Souma said.
He sat down cross-legged and began explaining his understanding of "senjutsu chakra."
Kakashi and Asuma listened with full attention.
They were both elite jōnin. No one understood better than them how hard it was to create even one technique—yet Souma had not only done that, he'd used a secret method and new knowledge to discover a whole power system.
It was practically a miracle.
After listening, Asuma mulled it over for a long while.
"I remember you never actually learned Raiyū no Jimon (Coming Thousand-Hands Buddha), right?" he asked.
"I don't need to. The underlying principles are the same," Souma replied, shaking his head.
Kakashi thought for a few seconds.
"So the 'sage-lineage' is basically just natural energy fused with chakra?" he asked.
"Exactly," Souma nodded.
Kakashi frowned slightly.
"I feel like I've heard something similar to this before," he said. "I remember my sensei's summoning contract was with Mount Myōboku, right?"
"Yeah. I think he mentioned it once," Kakashi said. "But I didn't pay much attention. I only remember him saying it 'depends on the person.'"
Asuma nodded.
"The Fire Temple is the same. Not everyone can learn it," he said. "Before Souma showed up, only Chiriku had mastered the sage-lineage."
"Then that lines up," Kakashi said.
He was increasingly certain that what Souma had discovered was the same kind of thing his teacher had once mentioned—just never explained in detail.
Souma smiled.
"So my guess was probably right," he said.
"Mm?" both Kakashi and Asuma looked at him.
"What guess?"
"I saw records about a 'Great Toad Sage' in the Third Hokage's library," Souma said. "I always wondered what 'sage' actually meant. Today, Chiriku told me the sage-lineage used to be called 'sage arts.' So I started wondering if all three Great Sage Lands had beings like that Great Toad Sage."
He laid out his "hypothesis"—
That what made a sacred land "sacred" was that they held the secrets of the sages.
Asuma turned to Kakashi.
Kakashi braced his chin on his hand, as if deep in thought.
"Well? Remember anything?" Asuma asked.
"Mm? Of course not. Sensei only brought it up once. How would I know the details?" Kakashi said shamelessly. "Besides, I never signed a contract with Mount Myōboku. He wouldn't pass that kind of thing down to me."
Whether or not it was the same, the fundamental nature clearly was.
But that wasn't important.
What mattered was their training.
Souma cleared his throat.
"Either way, let's just learn our version. I heard Mount Myōboku's method involves… bug meals," he said. "Compared to that, the Fire Temple's method is pretty gentle."
Of course, that was assuming—
You could actually learn it.
Souma started describing how he'd stumbled into sage transformation.
Asuma and Kakashi listened seriously, with no sense of awkwardness about their "senpai" status flipping on its head.
After going through it once, Kakashi had a thoughtful look.
"I see. So sage transformation is just flooding your body with this chakra," he said. "The principle's similar to using Lightning Release to stimulate cell activity… except natural energy makes it way more dangerous."
"That's basically it," Souma nodded.
Of course, saying it was easy. Doing it was another story.
Asuma already had sage-lineage power, so on paper he should've been the easiest to pull it off.
Reality, however—
After one minute of trying, the hair on his head was flickering between "spiral monk topknot" and normal like a broken animation.
Souma immediately swept the surrounding natural energy clean.
Kakashi's face went a bit grim.
"Natural energy really is dangerous," he said. "No wonder this power never spread."
"What happened?" Asuma asked. "Did I change?"
"You didn't find the balance point," Souma said. "The natural energy in your head has to hit a steady equilibrium. If it doesn't, you start mutating."
"I didn't feel anything at all," Asuma said, clicking his tongue. "So I have to have you watching me while I train, huh."
He suddenly realized—
"So last night…"
"I have self-control," Souma said straight-faced. "And better sensory ability, so I can feel when something's off in advance."
"…"
That really wasn't modest.
But he had actually done it.
The difference between people really was brutal.
Asuma glanced at Kakashi, then at Souma, and sighed inwardly.
Back in the day, he'd been crushed by Kakashi.
Now, he was getting stomped on by Kakashi's student.
The only small comfort was—
At least Kakashi was suffering alongside him this time.
That thought made him feel slightly better.
"I'll keep at it for a bit," Kakashi said.
He sat off to the side, using the Fire Temple's method to sense natural energy.
The temple's technique was very polished. Just sensing it carried almost no risk.
Sage transformation was another story.
Souma moved a little further away with Asuma, so he wouldn't disrupt Kakashi's concentration while adjusting Asuma's balance.
After over an hour, Asuma's head was pounding.
While he rested, Souma mulled over a new approach.
"Asuma-senpai, let's try this," he said. "You absorb natural energy slowly, and I'll use my sensory ability to help you find the balance point."
"Will that work? Well… it's not like we have a better idea," Asuma said.
He didn't know that—
While he was experimenting with sage transformation, elsewhere...
"Shikamaru, Asuma-sensei's gone," Ino said.
Her sensing was best among them, so she was the first to notice something off.
"Just a shadow clone," Shikamaru said, sticking seedlings into the field with a blade of grass in his mouth.
"You noticed earlier?" Ino asked, surprised.
Chōji snorted.
"What's so surprising? Asuma-sensei was twitching before he disappeared," he said.
"You guys aren't worried?" Ino asked.
"About what? A messenger bird came to him before he left. He probably just got called to do something," Shikamaru said. "But his clone did pop like that…"
He paused, frowning slightly in thought.
"Figured something out?" Ino asked.
"He's probably with Souma-senpai," Shikamaru said. "Maybe learning some new technique. Otherwise his chakra wouldn't have been fluctuating like crazy."
He sighed.
Then told the other two to get back to work.
As much as he hated labor, a mission was a mission. It had to be finished.
Thankfully, there wasn't much left.
Back in the forest, Asuma was completely absorbed in training and had totally forgotten about his clone, until—
"I did it! I pulled it off too!" he shouted.
His sage transformation was different from Souma's.
His head changed more, his face taking on a fierce, Vajra-like look.
And—
After two seconds, his excitement caused the transformation to drop.
"That just now should've been your balance point," Souma said. "My senses didn't pick up any issues. But your mode is pretty unstable."
The moment he got excited, he couldn't keep it going.
Souma had never encountered that issue himself.
The five Bodhi marks had fundamentally changed his body, which was why his natural energy storage and output were both far more stable.
Asuma, though…
"Try again," Souma said. "This time, keep your emotions stable."
"Got it," Asuma nodded.
He closed his eyes and started again. Shapes and distortions flared up on his body now and then, but under Souma's guidance, he slowly locked onto his balance point.
And then—
Asuma re-entered the sage state he'd just achieved.
This time, he carefully kept himself calm, emotion steady, and mind unperturbed.
He drew his blade and swung.
"The boost is huge!" he said.
"How fast does the sage chakra burn?" Souma asked.
"Fighting speeds it up a lot," Asuma said. "At most, I can keep it up for a few seconds."
He couldn't help sounding a bit disappointed.
He'd managed to enter sage mode, sure. But he was well aware of how flawed it was.
First, he needed Souma's help sensing the natural energy balance point before he could even enter sage mode.
Second, he needed time to gather that natural energy.
Compared to Souma, it was night and day.
Asuma still remembered that Souma just… clapped his hands and in under a second, he was in full sage mode.
The gap between people really was endless.
He felt like crying.
But then he looked over at Kakashi, who hadn't even found the doorway yet, and suddenly felt a bit better.
At least he had some sense of it now.
Now it was just a matter of practice.
And then—
"Oh no," Asuma blurted.
"What's wrong?" Souma asked. He'd been about to go check on Kakashi, but Asuma's shout stopped him.
Asuma grimaced.
"When I was experimenting with sage mode earlier, my chakra surged pretty wildly…" he said. "I think my shadow clone got dispelled by accident."
"Shikamaru's smart. You were never going to fool him with just a shadow clone," Souma said. "Thinking of it that way—feel any better?"
He barely managed to keep from laughing.
This did not comfort Asuma.
He actually had a sense of responsibility, so once he realized the clone had poofed, he couldn't keep training. He quickly grabbed his things and rushed off.
Souma walked over to Kakashi's side.
Kakashi opened his eyes.
"What happened to him?" he asked.
"His sage training got a little… intense," Souma said. "The fluctuations probably popped his clone by accident."
Kakashi thought for a moment.
"That really is a problem," he said.
"Do you still care about that?" Souma asked.
"…"
Kakashi rolled his single visible eye.
What did that tone even mean? Underestimating him?
"How is it going?" Souma asked.
"Not bad. I've got a sense of it," Kakashi said. "But this feels like something that needs a lot of long-term training. Unless you're gifted, you won't get far quickly."
"Work hard, Kakashi-sensei. This project's waiting on you," Souma said.
"…"
Kakashi gave him a look, then sat down at the base of a tree with a soft sigh.
Two seconds later, he added:
"Where am I supposed to find the time? Just being able to come out here to train at all is already pretty good."
"Don't kid me. You still have time to read smut in the afternoon," Souma said.
"That's because I'm depressed," Kakashi said.
"Heh."
Souma hadn't expected Kakashi to nail it in a day anyway.
But slacking off wasn't allowed.
"Alright, alright. Once I get the hang of it, I'll spend more time working on it," Kakashi said eventually.
What could he do? He owed the kid.
Besides—
Kakashi really did want to keep close ties with Souma.
He brushed off his clothes and left the forest with Souma, complaining about his recent troubles on the way.
Still the same—
Sasuke and the others.
Sasuke had good comprehension and he was a Uchiha. Kakashi had a full training package ready for him.
It was Sakura and Naruto…
Those two, he had no idea what to do.
Since he'd already swallowed his pride once to ask his student for ninjutsu help, asking for teaching advice on top was nothing.
The first time doing something embarrassing was the hardest.
Kakashi had long since gotten past that stage.
"Give me some ideas," he said. "How should I train Naruto and Sakura?"
"Naruto's easy," Souma said without hesitation. "Strengthen his basics, then teach him Shadow Clone and Multi Shadow Clone."
Kakashi blinked.
"I will strengthen the basics," he said. "But why Shadow Clones and Multi Shadow Clones?"
"He's got a ton of chakra," Souma said. "Those two jutsu are perfect for him. Then you use the fact that clones can pass on their experience…"
He gave a tiny hint.
Kakashi froze.
Then his eyes slowly widened.
Got it.
If you didn't have talent, you made up for it with numbers.
How had he not thought of that?
Wait.
Could Naruto even learn Shadow Clones?
Well, they could try.
Shadow Clone wasn't that hard to learn.
Kakashi suddenly found himself looking forward to it.
If Naruto could learn Shadow Clone and Multi Shadow Clone, he'd know exactly what to teach him next.
With a plan in mind, Kakashi was energized.
"And Sakura?" he asked.
"I don't know much about her," Souma said.
"Her chakra control is very good. Her learning ability's strong too. She just… has a bit of a romance-brain problem," Kakashi said, giving a detailed rundown of Sakura's strengths and weaknesses.
Souma was silent for a few seconds.
"Kakashi-sensei," he said.
"Mm?"
"Don't you think… she needs to get her head treated first?" Souma asked.
"…"
That was harsh.
But also…
Painfully accurate.
Sakura absolutely needed some mental correction.
"Seriously speaking," Souma added, "she's probably best suited for medical ninjutsu. The other path is my kind of techniques."
"True," Kakashi said, slapping his forehead.
Sakura was basically a low-spec version of Souma. Their trajectories lined up almost perfectly.
He muttered to himself:
"I just need a way to push her a bit… Let me think… Got it! I remember Sakura used to be good friends with Ino from Team 10, right?"
He snapped his fingers.
"Tch. I've got it. I'll go talk to Asuma later."
Even with the mask on, Souma was sure Kakashi was grinning like a creep under it.
Still—
Throwing a "catfish" into the pond to stir things up wasn't a bad solution.
In the original timeline, Sakura had only really started trying because of Ino—
Even if she'd relapsed into old habits not long after.
With his own problems solved, Kakashi's mood shot up.
"Once I sort things out on my end, I'll spend more time on sage training," he said. "But I'll probably still need you to help me with the balance point."
Without Souma, Asuma might still be writhing in pain right now.
Kakashi wasn't stubborn.
Being a "genius" was something kids competed over.
As an adult ninja, only what worked mattered.
Souma of course agreed straight away.
He was only one person, and he was already feeding both the kikaichū and the giant ants.
He couldn't keep up with the demand alone.
It was fine for now while he had no missions.
But once he got sent out?
The more people who could use sage transformation, the more "backup feeders" he'd have.
Two wasn't nearly enough.
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/pikachu614