Ryūchi Cave was vast, and so was Mount Myōboku. Since Myōboku was on the surface, it felt particularly expansive.
Comparing it to the environnt outside the Maze Mountain, it was understandable why the toads were wary of humans.
After all, this vast western region of the Land of Wind was not originally conquered by the Land of Wind—it was simply assud to be part of its territory because no one wanted it.
If not for the presence of the Maze Mountain, no one would co here.
The Land of Wind had no stationed troops here, nor any settlents.
The environnt was simply too harsh.
Walking across the land of Mount Myōboku alongside Fukasaku, Masashi observed the surroundings, which were completely different from the outside world. He wondered how such a place even ca to be.
He couldn't figure it out at all.
It wasn't like carrying the word "sage" in the na would magically turn it into an actual sacred ground.
The shinobi world didn't have things like that.
Even the existence of the Pure Land was questionable.
From his research starting from his ti as Muzo, he had concluded that the existence of souls in this world was uncertain. Chakra itself could carry consciousness, functioning similarly to spirit possession. The chakra reincarnations of Asura and Indra worked this way, as did the seemingly spiritual form of Hagoromo. This principle was also the foundation of the Edo Tensei.
Spirit Transformation was rely an imitation of chakra reincarnation.
Edo Tensei required a deceased person's body tissue for this reason—it used those tissues to extract the chakra of the living, then "generated" the deceased's consciousness through chakra. And of course, that consciousness could be taken away at any ti.
The consciousness within an Edo Tensei body was actually fake—it was a copy, not a true soul. It lacked mories of the afterlife, retaining only those from life up until the mont of death.
That was Masashi's understanding of Edo Tensei.
But this led to a contradiction: when Madara was revived using Edo Tensei in the original tiline, he had a young body but retained the abilities and mories from right before his death.
So... did the Pure Land even exist?
Looking at Fukasaku ahead, Masashi felt nothing.
From the very beginning, he had only ever considered Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode as sothing to reference. If it worked, great; if not, he didn't really care. If the Great Toad Sage refused to speak, then that was the situation—he wouldn't agree to anything blindly.
Either way, he wouldn't be at a disadvantage. The enemy remained the sa.
Compared to Sage Mode, he was more interested in the thod they ntioned for utilizing tailed beast power.
The Uchiha clan's thod of controlling tailed bBeasts was through powerful genjutsu. They could use them as summons, but they had no way to harness tailed beast chakra directly aside from being a jinchūriki.
The Senju and Uzumaki clans followed the jinchūriki route as well.
But that wasn't what he wanted.
He had always been double-standard—but only against his enemies. For those who weren't foes, he was capable of empathy.
At the very least, he believed that even though their lifeforms were different, as long as they had similar cognitive abilities, they shouldn't be treated as re beasts.
That applied to the giant snakes of Ryūchi Cave, the toads of Mount Myōboku, and the tailed beasts as well.
Even Black Zetsu—at best, he was an artificial being. But artificial beings were still people in a sense. Though he was an enemy, Masashi respected his determination.
Ahead, Fukasaku stopped walking.
They had arrived at a pool.
The pool rested against a cliffside, with a waterfall flowing into it. But instead of water, the pool contained oil.
"Where does this stuff co from?" Masashi glanced at it.
The oil pool wasn't large, and within it sat a stone toad, spitting oil from its mouth.
No matter how much oil was added, the pool never overflowed. Who knew how deep it really was?
"This is one of Mount Myōboku's secret treasures—Toad Oil," Fukasaku explained.
Hm? Shouldn't it be called Mount Myōboku Oil? Why Toad Oil? Because it's shorter and toads are using it?
"Toad Oil has the ability to attract natural energy. As long as you apply it to your body, it allows the surrounding natural energy to flow into you. Once you get used to this process, your skin will naturally sense and absorb natural energy."
So, a kind of skin transformation?
"I won't turn the sa color as this oil, will I?" Masashi asked.
To him, this felt like so kind of biochemical modification.
And this oil...
He looked around—the ground was covered in stone toads.
Was this stuff extracted from failed Sage Mode practitioners?
Wouldn't that make it "Corpse Oil"?
That was disgusting.
"Of course not," Fukasaku chuckled. "It's just that Toad Oil actively absorbs natural energy, but it won't affect your body. Applying it is just a way to help you sense natural energy in the air..."
Then he suddenly froze.
He had just realized sothing.
Masashi had already learned Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode. Naturally, he could already sense natural energy.
He just didn't know how to use the dium of air circulation to absorb it.
Although all natural energy was the sa, the thods of absorption differed depending on the dium—whether it was land, air, or water.
"Oh, my mory is failing ..." Fukasaku smacked his head. "I made a mistake. You don't actually need to apply the oil."
Masashi silently sighed in relief.
He really didn't want to sar that unknown substance on himself.
"Good to know," he said. "Honestly, I kind of liked the White Snake Sage's thod—it was just one bite and done."
Fukasaku let out a dry laugh.
A single bite was certainly quick, but toads didn't have that kind of fangs. They had to rely on external ans.
Besides...
Sage techniques deserved a bit of ceremony, didn't they?
"That's only because you're already strong enough. Most people wouldn't survive that bite," Fukasaku explained. "Mount Myōboku's thod is much safer—better suited for those with average strength."
Hearing this, Masashi glanced around.
The place was packed to the brim—completely full.
"It does look quite safe," he nodded. "At least they leave whole corpses behind. Unlike Ryūchi Cave, where they process the remains like takeout—no packaging needed."
"..."
Did Masashi know too much about Mount Myōboku?
Normally, when compared to Ryūchi Cave, wouldn't people find Mount Myōboku more reassuring?
They ate people! The snakes ate people!
"Don't take it personally, Fukasaku-sama. I'm just reflecting," Masashi sighed, also reflecting on himself. "Power isn't easily obtained. The thods may differ, but the struggle is the sa."
Without multiple lives, he wouldn't have even been acknowledged by Mount Myōboku.
He should take what he could get.
"You must have suffered a lot to think this way," Fukasaku nodded. "We have, too. Survival isn't easy for anyone."
His impression of Masashi changed. Over centuries, he had t many people, but now it seed the man in front of him wasn't the power-obsessed man the toads assud.
He was simply soone striving to protect what he valued in this world.
After all, he was an Uchiha.
The Uchiha clan always seed this way—soft-hearted, but with tough words.
"I'll directly teach you how to absorb natural energy, then. Unlike Ryūchi Cave, natural energy moves more actively through the air. You must remain still and let it flow into you passively—don't be too forceful."
"Got it. No problem. In Ryūchi Cave, I also sat still."
---
When Masashi finished ditating and stood up again, Fukasaku's face was already expressionless.
Even his tone was flat—completely devoid of emotion.
"Congratulations, you succeeded."
He felt that this generation brought him no sense of achievent at all.
One hour—that was all it took. He mastered Sage Mode perfectly.
No setbacks in the middle. The whole process was smooth from start to finish.
"Is there a mirror?" Masashi asked.
Without waiting for Fukasaku to answer, he said, "Forget it, there probably isn't one."
Then, he conjured an ice mirror to take a look at himself.
Great, he still looked like a painted-face monster, with the exact sa markings.
He decided to give this sage marking an official na—Volcanic Red.
Ridiculous.
Other people just get so eye shadow, but he had to smudge his entire face. It used to be carbon black, which even had a slight blue tint under the sun.
Now? Straight-up red.
If he ever got a chance to learn from Shikkotsu Forest, would he get so kind of radiant night edition?
Fukasaku watched Masashi conjure the mirror. His face wasn't just expressionless anymore—it had no expression at all.
Silently, he set down his staff.
"Fukasaku-sama, this wasn't difficult. Let's talk about the power of the tailed beasts instead."
"Alright." Fukasaku managed to pull out a smile. "Give a mont."
Then, he hopped away.
After a while, he returned with another toad and brought along a large scroll.
"Sign here first," Fukasaku said.
Masashi unrolled the scroll and examined it carefully. It was indeed the contract scroll of Mount Myōboku. He saw Jiraiya's na on it.
The latest na was Minato.
Then, he wrote his own na on it.
"Show Masashi your barrier space," Fukasaku said.
The newly arrived toad obediently opened its mouth.
Masashi glanced at Fukasaku.
What's the deal with this guy opening his mouth at ?
He didn't see any barrier, just the inside of its throat.
"Masashi, you misunderstand. This is so you can co out later," Fukasaku explained. "A gourd toad's barrier space is filled with strong acid that can corrode enemies, but only Mount Myōboku's contract holders are immune. The only issue is that to exit, you have to co out through its mouth."
"So, it's basically a stomach?"
"Of course not. It's a technique. Now that you've learned senjutsu, you can try copying it."
"Weren't previous contract holders able to use it? I think a direct explanation would be faster."
"This technique works inside the body. Just explaining it might not be enough to understand—it's different from human anatomy, after all."
"Got it." Masashi nodded.
Orochimaru had a similar technique. Gross, sure, but he could definitely store things inside his body.
He figured he had a rough idea of what Fukasaku was suggesting.
Then, Fukasaku began explaining the Toad Gourd Prison.
Jiraiya had used this technique before.
Masashi followed the instructions and activated it.
In the next mont, he found himself in a pitch-black space. It didn't feel sticky—just like falling into water. But there was a light source above.
So, he swam upward toward the light.
After a while, he broke through the surface and stood on top of it.
Looking around, the space seed endless, but at the top was a circular opening through which he could see the outside world.
So this is the barrier space.
His Sharingan morized the structure of the technique. The toads' jutsu were indeed quite different from humans', but there were still commonalities.
This technique could be understood within the frawork of space-ti ninjutsu.
But it required thorough research.
Orochimaru's Heavens' Curse Mark could also be a useful reference. He should find a chance to visit him.
There was no way the Snake Sannin was sincerely working for Akatsuki.
After studying the space for a while, he jumped and shot through the opening.
Outside, in the gourd toad's mouth, a hand erged first, followed by the rest of Masashi.
The entire process warped space, restoring his body from a smaller to its original size.
His feet landed back on the ground, and he turned to look at the gourd toad's small mouth.
Space-ti techniques were truly fascinating.
Now, he had a better understanding of how Orochimaru developed his body-substitution technique and why Sasuke was able to learn it.
It probably had nothing to do with soft-body modification.
He nodded in satisfaction.
"How was it?" Fukasaku asked. "Any insights?"
"You're not expecting to just copy the technique, are you?"
"Of course not. Toads have their own traits, and humans have theirs. But you can use it as a reference," Fukasaku said. "Just like how humans use jinchūriki to harness the power of the tailed beasts, which only humans can do."
"Let guess," Masashi said. "Your idea is to use barrier space to store a portion of a tailed beast's chakra as a dium, right?"
"You catch on fast."
Fukasaku was a little surprised but soon understood.
Compared to past guests of Mount Myōboku, Masashi's greatest strength was his keen sensitivity to chakra chanisms—perhaps the true root of his power.
Mount Myōboku had seen firsthand how strong soone who truly understood chakra could be.
At that mont, Masashi thought of Naruto's way of using the power of the nine tailed beasts.
Technically, Naruto was only Kurama's jinchūriki.
But because he had a portion of each tailed beast's chakra, he could use their power as a dium.
The tailed beasts even ford a group chat inside him—Naruto was the admin, and Kurama was the mod.
A barrier space could serve a similar function, storing portions of a tailed beast's chakra. The amount didn't need to be large—just enough to establish a chakra connection.
Barrier space... definitely a solid idea.
But Masashi was willing to bet this was just a theory from Mount Myōboku. There were probably no previous cases.
After all, among the people Mount Myōboku knew, the only master tailed beast handler was Hagoromo—and even he stopped being a jinchūriki after splitting the Ten-Tails.
He stopped being human altogether.
Masashi felt a surge of excitent.
If he could befriend all the tailed beasts, could he reach the Six Paths level?
Even if he couldn't, he could at least unlock Yin-Yang Release and go toe-to-toe with Madara.
Though, winning over the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails might be tricky. Those two would probably see him and imdiately get pissed.
Damn, I should have been gentler back then...
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Currently 80 advance Chapters!
/Malphegor
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