[Chapter Size: 2300 Words.]
Mount Myōboku, 43.
...
...
"Our... I thought we were going to eat those larvae for a moment...!"
At this moment, inside Mount Myōboku, in the area of the toads, Naruto was beside Minato as they crossed a bridge along the path created by the toads themselves through the lagoons spread around.
Shima wanted to feed Naruto after Minato had sent Kushina, Jiraiya, and Nawaki to Konoha. He remained on Mount Myōboku due to an audience with the Great Toad Sage.
As they walked, they passed by all kinds of toads, some greeting Minato, others complaining to him because the fight with Kushina had disturbed their rest as it made the whole place shake, also showing just how powerful Minato was with all the damage caused.
"This place is really huge..." Naruto commented.
They continued walking along the path that could be considered suitable for humans, even though there were none living there besides Jiraiya, Minato, and Nawaki, being the only ones capable of coming to that place.
Minato, knowing the potential Nawaki had and also the lack of affinity the boy showed with Shikkotsu Forest, despite still being able to summon the giant slug, spoke with both Jiraiya and the chiefs of the toad clan to try teaching Nawaki.
Minato was preparing Nawaki for the war, seeing in him a great potential ally, especially if he mastered the Toad Sage Mode and also the Rasengan, as they had discussed some time ago and Minato was willing to teach him.
Now Minato was directly bringing Naruto. If they were going to train there, then it was already time for Naruto to learn Sage Mode even before doing so in his own world.
Minato had great control over Sage Mode. He could even replenish natural energy while moving, something that should have been impossible.
But he learned a type of chakra rotation where he did not lose control, even in the middle of a fight and having to multitask at the same time. He did not need to concentrate to imbue a technique, he could execute it unconsciously, his body did that naturally, the same way he breathed.
His core absorbed natural chakra into his body and made it circulate constantly. If he did not spend more chakra than he could contain, Sage Mode would never disappear. If he fought using only taijutsu, he would never lose the strength and power that ability gave him.
Which, for him, was already a great advantage, considering he also possessed techniques from the Six Styles of the Navy.
"Wait... isn't that Gamabunta?!" Naruto pointed as he saw the enormous toad sunbathing belly-up on the other side of a large lagoon. He did not even notice them, after the chaotic battle with Kushina, he had finally managed to rest, it seemed.
"Yes, yes. He likes sunbathing at this hour," Minato replied calmly while Naruto observed before staring at his supposed father.
"Isn't he... a little... grumpy with you?" he asked cautiously.
Minato thought for a moment. Certainly, Gamabunta was not the type to treat him the same way he treated Naruto.
"Well, to tell the truth, I only summoned him a few times, so I can't say I had many problems with him," Minato replied.
First of all, his first summon had not even been Gamabunta. It had been the toad with two katanas on his back, Gamahiro.
Besides that, Minato also had a certain affinity with Gamaken more than any other. Even though Gamaken always made up excuses and acted clumsily, Minato liked him a lot, using him as his main summon.
Even if he never admitted it publicly, after all he tried to keep his preference neutral.
"You don't fight much with them?" Naruto wanted to know why. Naruto had always had difficulty summoning them. Even though he could now do it perfectly, he would certainly still receive some resistance, especially if it was Gamabunta.
"I never really needed to," Minato replied while seeming to think for a bit.
"The truth is that I only used them when I really needed to, but that was well in the beginning, for many years now, I haven't needed to summon them anymore. The last time I summoned one of them was during the fight in Uzushiogakure, when I summoned Gamabunta to fight Shukaku. I summoned Gamaken more during the war..." Minato decided to explain.
Maybe Nawaki would end up making much more use of them than he did now. After all, Minato also had Guren, who practically was far more efficient in battle than the toads would ever be.
'Well, you're comparing a toad to a dragon. What did you expect?', Minato thought.
"Really? You used him against Shukaku? I did that too!" Naruto started telling his story with Gaara.
Soon the two arrived at the cave where Fukasaku was already together with Shima, talking with the Elder, Gamamaru.
Minato intended to see if Naruto could learn the Sage Mode technique there, with their help. Minato believed that if it had taken him a week and a few more days in the original, he could reduce that time much more.
With his help, it would take only a few days, since his control over natural chakra could help Naruto perfectly with the input and output of chakra without him turning into stone.
"Ah, you've arrived. The Elder already has an answer," Fukasaku said while Naruto and Minato stood before the oldest toad of Mount Myōboku.
"Wow... you're really old." Naruto did not mince words, and immediately Fukasaku and Shima were shocked by his lack of manners.
"That's true," Minato smiled. "Did you know that the Elder met the Sage of Six Paths himself, Rikudou?
"Really?!"
"Hey, Minato-boy! You should show more respect to the Elder!" Fukasaku said irritably.
"Rikudou...?" the Elder himself asked in a tired, yet equally curious voice.
"Yes. Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, and also his brother, Hamura Ōtsutsuki. Remember, you helped them deal with their mother, who was causing trouble back then," Minato explained.
"Ah, that's right... that's right. That woman was quite troublesome." He seemed to be remembering something very ancient...
"Tell me... how are they doing?" the Elder asked, making Minato almost fall to the ground.
"Well, that woman was imprisoned on the moon as you should already know... But Hamura died a long time ago. He went to live on the Moon and established a clan there to monitor his sealed mother and try to keep her company, but the clan unfortunately fell. As for Hagoromo, he's still around somewhere, I think. The old man said that he exists between the line of life and death, in a state intangible to matter, merely observing the world," Minato replied in a casual tone.
The three who were not part of the conversation looked at him strangely, wondering exactly who he was talking about.
"It feels like yesterday when I met them..." the Elder said.
"Actually, it was a thousand years ago, Elder Lord," Minato commented while scratching his head.
"My... that's true, it has been so long." The old toad started laughing, while no one besides Minato could understand. They had no idea what they were talking about or the meaning behind the names, besides Rikudou himself, but Minato said he was still alive somewhere, what a strange thing to say about a legend with barely any proof that he had truly existed.
But soon he stopped laughing and looked around. "But who are you again? And what are you doing here?"
Naruto fell to the ground in shock together with Shima.
Fukasaku also could not believe that the Elder had just forgotten the conversation they had only a minute ago.
Even Minato looked at the prophetic toad in silence, with a slight frown on his forehead.
"It's about the boy with Minato-boy learning Sage Mode," Fukasaku replied.
"Ah, right... the traveler from another world. I see... you are one of the candidates of the prophecy, aren't you?" the old toad asked.
Despite his eyes being closed, he slowly moved in Naruto's direction.
Naruto looked a little confused. "Prophecy?" he asked.
"It's not something you need to concern yourself with right now," Minato replied from the side, dismissing the matter. Even so, he looked at the old toad and nodded, confirming it.
"Yes. He is one of the two candidates. And he is the candidate who will bring the world toward a great positive change." The words left Naruto even more confused as he stared at the back of his supposed father.
"Hehe... I see, I see. The prophecy is a little different from world to world, but I believe your words," the Elder said.
That made Minato become a little thoughtful. Would the Naruto of this world not be the one to bring the great change to this world? Would it be him? With his plans, most likely, yes.
Minato had no way of knowing what truly lay behind the Elder's words.
"Anyway, he is more than allowed to train in the Toad Sage Mode," the sage said.
Naruto immediately felt relieved.
Minato's attention returned directly to Fukasaku. "Can we begin?"
"Wait... now?" the small toad asked while looking at Naruto before turning back to Minato.
"Of course. Why not? We're all already here. Remember that I was good at this," Minato replied.
Soon they left the place after saying goodbye to the Elder and headed to an area full of toads, close to an oil waterfall.
Fukasaku began teaching Naruto the fundamentals. He spread the oil over the boy's body and explained that Naruto should begin absorbing the natural chakra from the environment.
The process was the same one Minato had gone through years ago. Naruto remained wearing only shorts while beginning to concentrate after the oil had been spread across his body.
He tried to feel the natural chakra, but he could not perceive anything. They remained like that for at least three hours.
Naruto, who was not patient at all, was already irritated from staying still for so long, especially because he did not want to disappoint his supposed father.
"Damn it! I can't feel anything! Am I doing something wrong?!" he questioned.
Fukasaku and Minato, who were there observing, merely shook their heads.
"No. This is a naturally slow process, because you need to get used to natural chakra, but you will learn to feel chakra today itself," Minato explained.
"It can take days, weeks, or even months before you start feeling it." That was a slightly less optimistic answer from Fukasaku.
"Months?! I'll only be able to feel this after that long?!" Naruto had already reached the limit of how much he could endure that training.
If it would take months just to pass the first stage, that sounded absurd to him.
Minato looked at Naruto before answering. "It doesn't mean you'll spend all that time on this. I just haven't given you any help yet, because I wanted you to experience some of the stages."
"But, if you really want to feel natural chakra, I have two ways of doing that." Minato now looked at Naruto with a serious expression, making even the boy swallow nervously as he looked back at him.
"I can channel natural chakra through myself and try to make you pull it as well. Even though it's easier, I would like you to go through the same training I did."
"The same training? Isn't this it?" Naruto asked in confusion.
"This is part of it as well... but before this, I went through a trial in another place rich in natural energy."
"That's true. It's no wonder you completed Sage Mode the first time you trained," Fukasaku commented.
That did not go unnoticed by Naruto. "You're saying he learned it on the first day?!" Naruto was shocked.
Fukasaku merely nodded before looking at Naruto almost with pity, already knowing what would come next. "Minato learned it on the first attempt."
"On the first attempt...?" The words seemed to echo inside Naruto's mind.
Even Kurama, who was resting in his lake inside the seal on Naruto's stomach, raised her head in shock.
"What?!" Naruto and Kurama exclaimed at the same time.
In the next moment, Naruto merely noticed the scenery changing around him.
"What is this place?" Naruto observed the gigantic waterfall falling in the middle of nowhere.
There were no islands or anything nearby, only the sea.
"Currently, we are inside the territory of the Fish Clan. They use this waterfall as a ritual to ascend into dragons. It was here that I saw my friend, who was a fish, become a dragon..."
"Seriously?!" Naruto, who still did not know the story of Minato and his dragon friend, was surprised by that.
"Well, enough talking. Try climbing the waterfall."
"You will feel a greater and greater pressure of natural energy as you climb higher. It will try to penetrate your body."
"But since you are no longer using the oil, there is no danger of simply turning into a statue."
Minato began explaining while Naruto observed the waterfall before nodding. Then he simply jumped into it and started advancing.
The waterfall was a thousand meters tall. In the first hundred meters, Naruto ran at high speed.
But soon he began to slow down. When he reached three hundred meters, he could barely continue taking steps while feeling a monstrous pressure trying to push him downward.
It felt as if an entire mountain was pressing against his body.
In the end, Naruto managed to reach four hundred meters before starting to fall. If he had control over Kurama, he could even pass through the waterfall. But his physical strength was not that great.
Even the fish-men possessed physically more powerful bodies than Naruto's.
Minato remembered well when Guren could launch shigan strikes with his tail comparable to a B-rank jutsu, besides being able to move while flying using that same tail for geppo, after Minato taught him how to fight better.
Gurin himself was already more powerful than a jōnin.
Naruto might have many absurd powers, but his physical body still was not that strong without using Kurama's chakra. Naruto plummeted as he fell into the sea.
After emerging from the water, he stood up massaging his shoulders.
"Wow... that was hard..." he muttered.
"Your objective is not to surpass the waterfall," Minato said. "It is to feel the natural chakra placed within it as a challenge."
"I want you to memorize that sensation very well, because it will help you understand the chakra of the Toad Sage Mode by the end of today..."
Naruto heard that before nodding, looking at the waterfall with determination.
He would conquer that.
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