"Good luck! If you figure it out, remember to teach me," Tsunade said, patting Ino's shoulder, entrusting her with this important task.
There was no psychological barrier for a teacher to seek guidance from a student; Jiraiya had learned the Rasengan from his disciple, and she herself had painstakingly developed Wood Release thanks to Ino. It wouldn't be strange to learn Sage Mode as well.
Ino studied those two papers repeatedly for three days, feeling that she couldn't just theorize and needed to put it into practice.
Ino received another secret mission from Jiraiya: "Train Naruto for seven days."
Jiraiya was all for someone helping to train Naruto and agreed without a second thought.
Upon hearing that she was going to put Naruto through special training again, Iruka even treated Ino to a bowl of ramen and thanked her repeatedly.
Naruto himself had no objections either.
Bringing seven days' worth of food, Ino took Naruto to the Forest of Death again. After he exhausted himself to unconsciousness, she entered Naruto's mental world to ask Ashura if he could replicate Senju Hashirama's Sage Mode under the current circumstances.
"Hashirama's Sage Mode?" Ashura scratched his head, unable to answer the question.
Is my reincarnation still me? Such philosophical questions were a headache to think about and not within their scope of discussion.
Ashura's mind wasn't very sharp either; even though these powers originated from him, he wasn't sure if he could replicate Hashirama's abilities.
Ino, with the idea of gathering wisdom, pulled Kurama into the chat group as well.
Kurama was in a seal, Ashura was hidden within the cells, and she once again became the "bridge," connecting the two.
Kurama remained tsundere. Ino hadn't touched the seal. Considering that foxes dislike heat and prefer cold, Naruto's energetic young body was as hot as a furnace, and Yang Kurama himself lacked the Yin Release Chakra. He was essentially roasting on a stove every day, compounded by his fiery temper. After more than ten years of this, how could he be well?
Ino used her own Yin Release. Regardless of what the ground water actually was, she injected all of her Yin Release Chakra into it, transforming it into the Spring of the Underworld, which then coiled around the prison to cool Kurama down.
"Feeling better now?" she asked.
Kurama still held his head high, showing disdain, but his tail gently flicked twice. When Ino pulled him into the "chat group," he didn't refuse.
Kurama was a part of the Ten-Tails. According to the Six Paths Sage's fair distribution method when he divided the Ten-Tails— "one part for Ichibi, one part for Nine-Tailed, one part for Two-Tails, one part for Nine-Tailed"—Kurama was essentially half of the Ten-Tails. Ashura was the Six Paths Sage's son and the heir to Ninshu; the two of them knew each other.
"What? Let that brat Naruto master Hashirama's Sage Mode?" Kurama was a bit reluctant.
Kurama's cheeks puffed out. He hadn't forgotten the scene where Hashirama said, "Nine-Tailed, you're too strong," and then he was grabbed single-handedly like a dog.
Ino quickly soothed him: "We're just trying to see if he can use the First Hokage's Sage Mode, not Wood Release. With Naruto's brain, he can't use Wood Release, right?"
Kurama tilted his head and thought for a while. That was true.
Ninja also had to be reasonable. Without Water Release, Earth Release, and Yang Release Chakra, Naruto absolutely couldn't learn Wood Release. If he didn't have it, he didn't have it.
Just practicing Sage Mode shouldn't be a big problem.
"Alright, what do you want this old man to do?"
Ino completely sealed Naruto's consciousness. The upcoming events had nothing to do with him; he didn't need to participate, much less know.
"Kurama, you control Naruto's body first."
"And then?"
"Then... you stomp your foot."
"...What kind of nonsense is this? And then what?"
"Then shout loudly! Clap your hands together!"
It proved that the First Hokage's description of his Sage Mode activation process was all superficial; simply glaring, pouting, and clapping was useless! Even with Ashura personally taking part in the process, it didn't work.
The external Natural Energy had only a mediocre reaction to his Chakra. If they forced the fusion, Ino estimated he would enter Kurama Mode. Kurama's Chakra was too overbearing; the external Natural Energy was absorbed as soon as it entered.
"No, I can't do it," Ashura shook his head bluntly. He was born with a Sage Body. This ability, inherited from the Ōtsutsuki Clan, was not the same as the Sage Mode used by the planet's natives to manipulate Natural Energy.
Ashura could still be considered an extraterrestrial in some sense, but by the time of Senju Hashirama, he was a full-fledged native.
Ashura's era also lacked a Ninjutsu system, and his use of Chakra was very crude, far from comparable to the refined control Ino and her peers possessed now.
"Unless you find Hashirama's soul and ask him yourself, you might find the answer," Ashura said, smacking his lips. "But... I estimate the chances aren't great."
Kurama snorted: "Senju Hashirama is a muddle-headed fool, the biggest idiot in the world."
Through this experiment, Ino gave up on following Hashirama's old path. Since the old path was blocked, she would forge her own unique path!
Naruto later stopped using Sage Mode and instead used Sage Fox Mode. It seemed like he abandoned Sage Mode, which had a long preparation time and short duration, but in reality, it was because Sage Fox Mode incorporated all the advantages of Sage Mode. Naruto handed over the work of harmonizing Natural Energy to the massive Chakra of Kurama, while he himself only focused on using it and fighting.
The evidence of Naruto being buffed by the Six Paths Sage was too obvious. Ino couldn't replicate his experience; she had to forge her own path.
Others could do it, and she now possessed the enlightenment of Wood Release, an ultimate Ninjutsu path, supreme wisdom, and unparalleled talent. For a mere Sage Mode, what difficulty was there in forging her own path?
Even if dense fog lay ahead, she could break through it with sheer power! Add points!
She wanted to see where the limit of her scapegoat panel was!
"Wisdom," "Seal," "Wood Release Level"—these could all continue to have points added. Maybe by adding points, she would suddenly comprehend it?
The Akatsuki Organization was currently lying low, making it difficult to impersonate Deidara to perform acts of chivalry.
Since it was hard to shift blame externally, she thought about shifting blame internally.
The King of Scapegoats appeared in her sights at the opportune moment.
Actually, Danzo, when compared to the Third Hokage, was truly not bad in strength. His Wind Release and Summoning Technique were top-tier, and he also had the ultimate forbidden Jutsu, Reverse Four Symbols Sealing. If he had reversed the order of his Ninjutsu usage, first activating the Izanagi buff and then using the forbidden Jutsu Reverse Four Symbols Sealing, sealing would be a victory. If it didn't seal? Then he would activate Izanagi again and try another round! Ten Sharingan, ten chances—surely he could successfully seal it once? He wouldn't seal ten bridges, would he?
Despite having ten chances, Danzo ended up with the laughingstock of "sealing a bridge." It must be said that he greatly underestimated Sasuke. If he had taken him even a little more seriously, Sasuke would have died long ago.
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