Chapter 375: Perfect Sage Mode
Remaining motionless and fully focused is essential for absorbing just the right amount of natural energy to form Sage Chakra, avoiding under- or over-absorption that could lead to its harmful effects on the body.
But that's only true for most people.
For Li Yao, his absolute mental control made the process mechanical. Once he succeeded once, he could replicate the process endlessly.
That's why—even while moving—Li Yao could continue absorbing natural energy and maintaining Sage Mode indefinitely.
Simply put, as long as his spiritual and physical energy weren't depleted, his Sage Chakra would be inexhaustible.
Then—Li Yao raised his hand with a flick.
"Sage Art: Water Mirror Technique!"
A stream of water instantly formed into a mirror before him.
The water-made mirror was perfectly smooth, indistinguishable from a real mirror. Every detail of Li Yao's reflection appeared vividly.
"As expected of Sage Art—it drastically amplifies ordinary ninjutsu."
Li Yao nodded in satisfaction. Normally, Water Release: Water Mirror couldn't match the clarity of a real mirror. Not even Li Yao's absolute chakra control could bridge that gap.
But the addition of natural energy through Sage Chakra overcame the material limitations, making the water mirror identical to the real thing.
Beyond the boost to jutsu power, entering Sage Mode brought tremendous enhancement to the body.
The most notable improvement was in sensory perception.
"So that's how it works."
Li Yao smiled as he looked at his clone, which had used Hydration Technique to merge with the air. He finally understood how Jūgo had detected him that time.
The flow of natural energy.
In nature, natural energy remains still—unless someone starts absorbing it, causing it to move. And once it moves, it becomes extremely sensitive to disturbances.
A clone using Hydration to merge with air might become invisible, but when natural energy flows through that air, it reveals a faint outline—just enough to notice a figure.
That's how Jūgo had detected Li Yao.
However, this method only worked at close range.
Li Yao had his clone move away to test it, and found that beyond fifty meters, the natural energy flow became too diluted to reveal anything.
Still, that wasn't much of a flaw.
Li Yao wasn't Jūgo. In Sage Mode, his chakra sensing had dramatically improved.
First, the range had increased—to 200 kilometers.
That was comparable to soul-level sensing.
Second, physical power!
Boom!
Li Yao punched the metallic platform beneath his feet.
Crack…
Cracks spread from the impact point.
Then—BOOM!
The entire platform shattered into chunks.
"Not bad. That punch is on par with the fifth gate of Eight Gates Released Formation."
He looked at his fist, feeling the surging power. His muscles felt like they'd evolved from rubbery springs to reinforced steel springs. His strength had jumped several levels.
And compared to Naruto's improvements, Li Yao's were even more impressive.
Why?
Li Yao stared at his reflection in the water mirror—no changes at all.
The boosts from Sage Mode were great, but what pleased him most was that his appearance had zero beast-like traits.
To be sure, he stripped off all his clothes, turned in place, and even had his Sage Mode clone use enhanced vision to scan every inch of his body.
At last, Li Yao confirmed:
He had achieved Perfect Sage Mode—just like the Sage of Six Paths. No beast-like features whatsoever.
This meant his original body truly had complete mastery over Sage Chakra.
That left him just one step away from reaching Sage of Six Paths level: Kekkei Mōra–level chakra.
Once he acquired that, and merged it with natural energy, forming Kekkei Mōra–class Sage Chakra—that would be true Six Paths power.
Obito's Six Paths mode hadn't even reached that level.
Without Sage Chakra, he was merely a powerful Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, not a true Sage of Six Paths.
Only Sage Mode fused with Kekkei Mōra made one a genuine Six Paths-tier fighter.
Now, Li Yao was only missing the Kekkei Mōra chakra.
"Let's go."
Exiting Sage Mode, Li Yao used Flying Thunder God to return to the tree hollow. He resumed his transformation as Nagato, sat in the wheelchair, and allowed chakra rods to remain inserted in his back, awaiting Naruto's arrival.
Konan stood beside him. Still under genjutsu, she believed Nagato had been here the whole time, controlling Pain.
Meanwhile, in the outside world—
Nine-Tails Naruto was displaying terrifying power. Li Yao's weakened Tendō Pain was completely overwhelmed and had no choice but to carry Naruto outside Konoha and use Chibaku Tensei to seal him.
Just like the original.
Naruto was trapped inside Chibaku Tensei.
But…
Li Yao's brow furrowed. He felt like he'd forgotten something—but couldn't quite place it.
Until—
A bald Nine-Tails head popped out of the Chibaku Tensei sphere.
Then it hit him—and he froze.
"Damn it, I forgot!"
Staring at the exposed Nine-Tails head and the sprouting tails emerging from the floating sphere, Li Yao finally remembered—
In the original story, Naruto's mind had been overtaken by rage, allowing the Nine-Tails to begin breaking the seal and taking over.
At the last moment, it was Minato Namikaze, Naruto's father, who saved him—restoring his consciousness.
But in this altered world, Naruto had come from the other dimension—from Loran.
And the spiritual imprint of Minato inside him… had already been erased by Li Yao.
Now, with Minato gone, Naruto had no way to reclaim control over his mind.
His heart, consumed by wrath, had already been completely overtaken.
If the Nine-Tails fully took over… Naruto would die.
There would be no Naruto—only Kurama, free at last.
"Seriously…"
Li Yao shook his head.
He had intended for everything to follow canon—right up to changing Nagato's final decision so he wouldn't revive Konoha's dead.
He wanted to see if Naruto, after sparing Nagato, would still be accepted as a hero by the grieving survivors of Konoha.
But first, he got annoyed at Jiraiya and acted too early.
And now—this unexpected disaster.
(END CHAPTER)
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