Underground.
Feeling the intense tremors from above caused by Gamabunta's landing, Seimei instinctively swam a bit deeper underground.
This wasn't the time for him to reveal himself.
And as he expected, the battle above was only going to get more intense, so he needed to take precautions in advance.
Fortunately, Seimei had an ample supply of chakra and had mastered the Doton: Dochū Eigyo no Jutsu (Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique).
With that, plus his powerful mental energy, he could hide deeper without hindering his ability to observe the battle above.
Time ticked by, second by second.
Just as Seimei predicted, the initial clash between Manda and Gamabunta was merely the beginning.
Soon, as Orochimaru and Jiraiya joined the fray, the intensity of their battle shot up dramatically.
In no time, the forest above was more than half destroyed.
Many trees were sliced clean through by Gamabunta's short sword, while the air became saturated with Manda's poisonous mist.
It was a brutal environment.
Luckily, none of this could reach Seimei.
He continued to quietly observe from underground.
It had to be said—Orochimaru and Jiraiya, the legendary Sannin, truly lived up to their reputation. Their combat experience was off the charts, and there was much Seimei could learn just from watching.
He was gaining a lot from this battle.
Unfortunately, such a high-level clash couldn't last forever.
Otherwise, he'd keep learning as long as it went on.
Roughly fifteen minutes later...
Orochimaru and Jiraiya once again distanced themselves.
At this point, both were noticeably worse for wear.
Standing atop Gamabunta, Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru. He knew that if this dragged on any longer, he'd lose the chance to bring Orochimaru back.
So, he made a decision.
He looked down at Gamabunta and whispered, "Bunta, can you hold them off by yourself for a bit?"
At that, Gamabunta nearly cursed out loud. Asking him to take on two enemies alone? What a joke!
However, just as he was about to retort, he suddenly paused. Something occurred to him. Glancing at Jiraiya from the corner of his eye, he asked, "Jiraiya... you're going to use that technique?"
"Yeah," Jiraiya nodded.
Suuuuuuuu...
Gamabunta took a deep drag from his pipe and, after a few seconds, exhaled slowly. Fuuuuuu...
Once the smoke cleared, he muttered with some resignation, "Alright. I'll do my best. Just make it quick."
"No problem. Thanks, Bunta!"
Without further hesitation, Jiraiya bit his thumb again and performed Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique) a second time.
BOOM!
With a burst of chakra smoke, two toads appeared on his shoulders.
One was male, with deep green skin, horizontal orange pupils, a dark brown short robe, a thick white rope around his waist, red prayer beads around his neck, and a dark blue headband with the kanji for "oil" (油) on it. He was none other than Fukasaku, the elder of Mount Myōboku.
The other was a smaller, female toad with yellow-green skin and flower-like markings on her back. Her eyes had round pupils, giving her a gentle appearance. She wore a light-colored apron-style outfit with a purple sash. This was Shima, Fukasaku's wife and fellow elder of Mount Myōboku.
When Seimei saw them, he knew the moment he had been waiting for was about to arrive—Jiraiya was preparing to use his ultimate technique: Sennin Mōdo (Sage Mode).
Unlike Senju Hashirama, who could enter Sage Mode instantly, Jiraiya required a period of stillness.
During that time, Fukasaku and Shima would assist him in absorbing natural energy.
Now, "stillness" didn't mean being completely immobile—it referred to a calm and peaceful state of body and mind.
Even so, Jiraiya's mobility would be greatly restricted.
And mobility was one of a shinobi's most critical assets. Against most opponents, this tactic might work.
But not against Orochimaru.
As someone who had been his comrade and friend for decades, Orochimaru was very familiar with Jiraiya's Sage Mode. The moment Jiraiya showed any signs of activating it, Orochimaru would definitely try to interrupt him.
That's why Jiraiya hadn't tried to use it earlier.
Only after summoning Gamabunta as support did he dare to attempt it.
Even now, success was not guaranteed.
Of course, Seimei hoped Jiraiya would succeed.
Underground, once Seimei confirmed that Jiraiya was going to activate Sage Mode, he immediately focused his senses to detect fluctuations in the surrounding energy.
As everyone knows, there are two prerequisites to mastering Sage Mode:
1. An enormous amount of chakra.
2. The ability to sense natural energy.
The second was obvious—if you couldn't even sense natural energy, you couldn't absorb it.
The first ensured that once you did absorb it, you wouldn't be overwhelmed and transformed by its power.
For most shinobi—especially those connected to the three great sacred lands—sensing natural energy wasn't that hard. Places like Mount Myōboku had things like "toad oil" to help in the process.
But chakra reserves were another matter entirely. They depended heavily on natural talent.
In terms of Sage Mode's demands, most ordinary shinobi didn't have nearly enough chakra.
But Seimei was different—chakra was no problem for him.
Currently, his chakra reserve exceeded 600,000 points, more than enough to absorb some natural energy without being overwhelmed.
And if that wasn't enough, he could always continue unlocking his physical potential to increase it further.
For Seimei, the real challenge was the second requirement—sensing natural energy.
Unlike the dense natural energy found in the three sacred lands, the natural energy in the outside world was extremely thin. Seimei had tried countless times to sense it—but with no success.
Now, he wanted to take advantage of the passive boost in natural energy caused by Jiraiya's transformation into Sage Mode.
If he could just catch a glimpse of natural energy... just grab hold of its "tail" and remember that feeling—
Then someday, under the right conditions, he could absorb it into his body...
And create a Sage Mode that belonged entirely to him, a Sage Mode unique to humans.
Just imagining it made Seimei's heart burn with excitement.
But he quickly calmed himself, expanding his senses to the limit, focusing on every tiny detail in the surrounding environment.