Naruto: Talent Entry Perks

"Perhaps the natural energy of this stone is only secondary."

Just as Izayoi gave his evaluation, the voice of the Wood Clone suddenly reached his ears.

The Wood Clone raised his palm, clenched his fist, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Immediately, the information was transmitted to Izayoi's mind in real time.

After digesting this information, Izayoi's eyes also lit up slightly, and he used the Samsara Eye's chakra absorption to absorb the energy of the table-tennis-sized Gray Stone in his hand.

As the green energy flowed into his body, Izayoi's appearance did not change—he remained in Sage Mode.

From the aura, he didn't seem to grow stronger.

However, Izayoi opened his eyes wide in surprise and murmured, "So powerful… such pure life force…"

The information just transmitted from the Wood Clone was his perception of his own body—or more accurately, of his Wood Release.

Even though Izayoi had absorbed the senjutsu chakra, he could not absorb the life force within the Gray Stone's energy.

The Gray Stone wasn't a natural energy stone.

That empire, which didn't even leave its name behind, not only used this stone to wage war but also harnessed the life force within to create various things that brought convenience to life. They also developed technology from it—such as preventing aging...

All of these contained the power to destroy the continent. If the power of the dragon vein was attributed to time and space, then the power of the Gray Stone vein was the attribute of life.

Earlier, the Wood Clone had absorbed a basketball-sized Gray Stone. Just like when Nagato wore the Afei Armor, the power of Wood Release had increased.

Or rather, the Yang Release Chakra had strengthened.

The enhancement of Yang Release Chakra meant Izayoi's physical energy had become stronger, and the cells had been affected by the life force.

At this moment, Izayoi understood how the people of that empire could grow livestock overnight, produce endless crops, and create inexhaustible wells.

At the same time, he finally understood why Nagato personally acted just to deal with someone like Hyde.

This kind of life force was simply the ultimate tonic for Wood Release.

As long as the impurity in the Gray Stone—natural energy—could be removed or controlled, the life force would be the reward, the experience points to improve chakra and Wood Release.

And this so-called impurity was only for others.

To Izayoi and Nagato, it was also beneficial for strengthening.

This thing was a perfect tonic for both of them—with no harm, only gains.

"No wonder Nagato has been fighting with me and refuses to give up. He must've known this long ago," Izayoi sighed.

The Wood Clone also looked at the Gray Stones in front of him and sighed, "What a pity."

This "pity" referred to the fact that the Wood Clone could no longer help the main body absorb the Gray Stone's energy like before, converting its natural energy into senjutsu chakra to train in true Sage Mode.

Natural energy could still be absorbed, but life force could not be transferred. Even if Izayoi reabsorbed the Wood Clone, the life force wouldn't remain pure—it would only improve the Wood Release chakra, not his physical energy.

Not knowing how many Gray Stones remained in the vein or how much improvement they could bring, Izayoi couldn't afford to let the Wood Clone waste them. He could only absorb the Gray Stone's energy himself.

In this way, Izayoi's daily absorption of Gray Stones was also limited.

Because practicing true Sage Mode had conditions and risks—it required massive amounts of chakra.

Only with massive chakra could one suppress the backlash of natural energy and properly fuse it into senjutsu chakra.

If natural energy entered the body beyond what could be integrated, the result would be backlash.

At worst, one would become a monster. At the worst extreme, one could die.

True Sage Mode could only be cultivated by Izayoi himself.

Also, before Izayoi absorbed another Gray Stone, he had to first use up the senjutsu chakra in his body to avoid imbalance.

This was easy to solve: let the Wood Clone absorb the natural energy using the Samsara Eye, while Izayoi replenished his chakra and continued absorbing the Gray Stone.

But this still wasted resources and the natural energy in the Gray Stone.

"Is there a way to let the body absorb this natural energy fully, or make the most use of it?"

Izayoi waved his hand for the Wood Clone to teleport away. Then he sat cross-legged in front of the pile of Gray Stones, arms folded, deep in thought, flipping through the important fragments of knowledge he had memorized from this world.

The original work had very little information on natural energy—but what little there was, was extremely important.

For example, the reason Gamamaru sought out Otsutsuki Hagoromo was in hopes that the two brothers could destroy the God Tree.

Because ever since the God Tree took root, natural energy on Earth had decreased year by year.

Natural energy might be the life force of this planet—or at least a part of it.

The chakra fruit also contained natural energy.

Otsutsuki Kaguya, who ate the chakra fruit, must have had the ability to use sage arts—but as someone who became a god in one step, she might've simply overlooked that power. Or maybe her talent, like her combat experience, was limited.

But her eldest son, Otsutsuki Hagoromo, sensed natural energy as soon as he arrived at Mount Myoboku.

Under Gamamaru's guidance, he instantly refined senjutsu chakra.

Moreover… Otsutsuki Hagoromo had no eye shadow, and his pupils never changed.

In contrast, when Uchiha Madara absorbed Senju Hashirama's sage chakra, although he had no eye shadow, the face of Hashirama appeared on his chest.

All other known users of Sage Mode, including Senju Hashirama, displayed colored eye shadow, and their pupils would change.

However, there was one other person who, like Hagoromo, eventually had no eye shadow.

That was Uzumaki Naruto—in his normal Six Paths Sage Mode.

And Naruto was the reincarnation of Asura's chakra, born to inherit the Sage Body.

Izayoi opened his eyes and murmured to himself: "Otsutsuki bloodline... Sage Body."

As the son of Otsutsuki Kaguya, born with horns and peak configuration, he was an existence that didn't need extremes to achieve the ultimate pupil technique.

Otsutsuki Hagoromo's bloodline was certainly above red level.

His Sage Body, though acquired through training, could be passed on to his sons—and was likely also above red level.

Possessing this kind of Sage Body was undoubtedly a talent brought by the Otsutsuki bloodline and chakra fruit.

Just like how when Izayoi obtained the Otsutsuki bloodline (red), he unlocked several entries—including "medical genius" when practicing medical ninjutsu for the first time.

"I want to confirm something."

Izayoi used the farsight of the Samsara Eye, switching perspectives to a base on an island, staring intently at a boy with orange hair.

Several bubbles floated around the boy—one of them purple caught Izayoi's attention:

[Sage Transformation (Purple)]

"No," Izayoi said plainly.

He switched perspective again—this time to Uchiha Sasuke, who was training hard. Around Sasuke floated bubbles as well.

More than half a year after transplanting Hashirama's cells, Sasuke's strength had already reached the level of top-tier combat.

The power within Hashirama's cells was stimulating his Indra chakra. His chakra was increasing daily. Not only could he now practice sage arts, he had also mastered the Ryuchi Cave Sage Mode.

The growth of his chakra, along with the merging of the two polarities, allowed Sasuke to do something Nagato couldn't—just like Uchiha Madara had once done.

That is… upgrade his Wood Release.

When Sasuke had just transplanted Hashirama's cells, his Wood Release entry was blue—same as Nagato's.

But now, Sasuke's Wood Release had risen to purple—on par with Tenzo and Izayoi.

Of course, although both were purple, Sasuke's Wood Release was still far below Izayoi's.

Izayoi's red-level Otsutsuki bloodline allowed his Wood Release to absorb chakra, just like Senju Hashirama's.

Given the right conditions, Izayoi could evolve his Wood Release to gold-level at any time.

Sasuke, on the other hand, could at most replicate Madara's Impure World Reincarnation performance—Flower and Tree World Advent, Wood Dragon Technique—that was his limit.

"No."

Izayoi muttered the same two words after reviewing Sasuke's entries.

Then he switched to Jiraiya—"Still no."

By "no," he meant that Jugo, Sasuke, and Jiraiya—despite having either sage transformation or true Sage Mode—did not have the Sage Body entry.

But Uzumaki Naruto—who hadn't yet even trained in sage arts—already had [Sage Body (Red)].

Only he, blessed by the Sage of Six Paths, could do what Hashirama Senju couldn't—activate Sage Mode without eye shadow.

After losing the Sage's power, he would revert to normal.

After analyzing this, Izayoi couldn't help but curl his lips and murmur with some excitement:

"Maybe… I can also cultivate the Sage Body after birth!"

Because his chakra also came from the chakra fruit—and his Otsutsuki bloodline was red-level.

Compared to Hagoromo, he was one level lower in bloodline, and his chakra wasn't as pure.

But Izayoi didn't aim for a Sage Body above red—just unlocking the Sage Body was enough.

Even if it was white level, it didn't matter!

As long as he unlocked the entry, he could use points to upgrade it to red—or beyond.

This way, he wouldn't need to bet everything on Uzumaki Naruto.

Thinking of this possibility, Izayoi was so excited that he immediately started experimenting.

He split off another Wood Clone and had it absorb his senjutsu chakra. Then, the main body absorbed a Gray Stone's energy again.

Natural energy and life force poured into him. The life force was quickly absorbed by the body, while the natural energy flowed through his meridians with chakra but didn't yet merge into senjutsu chakra.

If it were anyone else—even Hoshigaki Kisame or Hatake Kakashi after discarding the Sharingan—their chakra wouldn't be enough to suppress this much natural energy.

Only Izayoi—with his Otsutsuki bloodline, Samsara Eye, Wood Release, and Yin-Yang Release—could suppress and control it.

He sat cross-legged, hands forming the meditation seal, trying to use the natural energy in his body to perceive the energy in nature.

Perhaps the energy wasn't enough yet, so the Wood Clone placed another basketball-sized Gray Stone on his lap.

Soon, Izayoi had absorbed its energy as well.

Due to the increase in natural energy, Izayoi couldn't stay calm. His body started reacting.

Like a chicken pumped full of hormones, his body swelled slightly.

His meridians ached faintly.

If it continued, beast-like traits would appear.

Izayoi had no choice but to convert the energy into senjutsu chakra and enter Sage Mode again.

"In this state, maybe it's easier to perceive natural energy," the Wood Clone said.

"Then that's not the Sage Body—it's just Sage Mode," Izayoi shook his head.

In Sage Mode, Izayoi found his mind unusually clear. Also, since the Wood Clone was independent and didn't give fatigue feedback when dispersed, he began thinking about multitasking.

As if struck with inspiration, the Wood Clone said in real time:

"The Six Paths Sage could cultivate the Sage Body without a Holy Land likely because his Otsutsuki bloodline was more advanced, and his chakra—sourced from the chakra fruit—already contained a high proportion of natural energy. Your configuration is far less than his, so you can't directly form a Sage Body like he did.

"But if you're right, and people with high-level Otsutsuki bloodlines have the potential to form a Sage Body, then why not unify the poles first—master true Sage Mode—and use Wood Release and Yin-Yang Release to convert all your chakra into senjutsu chakra, keeping natural energy in the body long-term to influence cell change?

"With the nature of the system, even slight changes can unlock entries—then just upgrade them with points."

Upon hearing this, Izayoi's eyes lit up.

He looked at the Wood Clone and praised, "Amazing, as expected of me!"

The Wood Clone immediately showed a proud expression.

"No need to rush," Izayoi said, full of fighting spirit. "Let's follow this method. First, master true Sage Mode. Then make Sage Mode your default state—like Goku and Gohan in Dragon Ball's Cell Arc—and let sage chakra slowly affect the cells containing physical and spiritual energy."

"Senjutsu chakra is a perfect 1:1:1 ratio of physical, spiritual, and natural energy. If it can pickle vegetables, it can definitely change cells."

Having found his goal, Izayoi was thrilled. He got up and walked out of the underground base, ready to share his joy with Hinata—and give his girlfriend a present.

The Gray Stone wasn't just a tonic for him—it was a tonic for the entire Otsutsuki clan.