Arisu died, but before dying he took a bite of the Chakra Fruit.
Although it was only one bite, the energy was huge.
After being reborn, Arisu felt that his body had indeed been nourished by the Chakra Fruit. His chakra became extremely vast, and at the same time his physical body was several times stronger than before.
Current body setup: Sage Body + Otsutsuki body
(A/N: Arisu's Sage Body is not the Sage Body from the original story, but was trained at Mount Myoboku and naturally formed after long practice.)
The characteristic of Arisu's Sage Body is that he can always stay in Sage Mode. Rather than saying he maintains it, it is more accurate to say Sage Mode is his normal state.
Just like the toads of Mount Myoboku can use sage arts without entering Sage Mode.
He can casually use sage arts at any time, and when refining chakra it directly becomes senjutsu chakra, without needing hand seals.
Now, Arisu has taken another bite of the Chakra Fruit.
His body has improved again.
But unfortunately, he did not break through to the Six Paths.
Because it was only one bite. If he had eaten the whole thing, he really could have broken through to the Six Paths.
"Eh!?"
A light bulb seemed to pop up above the White Ape King's head.
"I can feel your body is indeed different now. Does that mean you can try learning the sage art of my Ape Demon clan?!"
The White Ape King looked delighted.
Arisu's eyes lit up. 'Eh! It actually does seem possible.'
Before, he had also thought about learning more sage arts, but his body could not handle it. Sage Mode is all about balance. Learning too much would break the balance and could easily cause problems.
Now that his body is different, does that mean he can learn it?
"Sigh, it's embarrassing to say. In my Ape Demon clan, besides me, no one has learned our clan's sage art. If I die, our clan's sage art will be lost…"
The White Ape King sighed and showed a look of disappointment.
Arisu raised his eyebrow when he heard that. No wonder in the original story the Ape Demon in later generations did not have sage arts.
Logically speaking, in the original story the Third Hokage's summoning beast was so strong.
And the Ape Demon, who was called the strongest summoning beast by Orochimaru, why didn't he have sage arts?
So it turns out the sage art was already lost after the White Ape King.
"Alright, to keep your Ape Demon clan's sage art from being lost, I'll give it a try!" Arisu said righteously.
'Putting on a look like, If I don't go to hell, who will!?'
The White Ape King immediately brought Arisu to a stone tablet.
Arisu looked at the sage art on the stone tablet thoughtfully, then nodded and looked at the White Ape King. "Show me once first."
"Bro, this sage art is fierce. If you practice it wrong, you might explode and die." The White Ape King warned.
Arisu waved his hand. "I'm not afraid!"
Anyway, he can be reborn, so he really is not afraid of things that have a risk of death.
Just go for it with this lousy life.
At worst, if he dies, he respawns at the starting point and starts over.
Seeing this, the White Ape King immediately sat cross-legged on the ground and prepared to enter Sage Mode.
About three hours later, the White Ape King's aura shook.
Special sage markings appeared on his face.
"Sage Mode! Done!"
The White Ape King clenched his fists and said, "Arisu, my Sage Mode mainly boosts the physical body. After activating it, the body gets greatly enhanced!"
After saying that, the White Ape King threw a fierce punch toward Arisu's tombstone ahead.
Bang! BOOM!
A sonic boom burst out.
With one punch, a shockwave like Daytime Tiger swept forward.
BOOM!
Arisu's tombstone in the distance was instantly smashed into pieces.
Not even scraps were left.
It was completely flattened.
A huge crater from the blast remained on the ground.
"Awesome! That one punch made my old grave smoke!" Arisu could not help praising.
He understood now. The Ape Demon clan's Sage Mode can be seen as a different version of the Eight Gates, but without the negative side effects of the Eight Gates.
"Alright, next, I'll learn!"
Arisu copied the movements and immediately began practicing the Ape Demon clan's sage art.
He thought about the method he used back then to learn Mount Myoboku's sage art and started blending it with the Ape Demon sage art.
Before long, Arisu felt he had entered the basics.
In just half an hour, Arisu already felt skilled.
"Ah!?"
The White Ape King was shocked.
"Y-you-you… your learning speed is even faster than me entering Sage Mode!?"
The White Ape King looked at Arisu like he had seen a ghost.
He had just been about to say, don't be discouraged if you fail the first time, practice a few more times, and even planned to encourage Arisu.
But Arisu's learning speed was faster than his own speed of entering Sage Mode.
The White Ape King felt like crying.
Arisu stayed silent. He was also surprised by his own talent.
Could it be that because he already had experience before, his body naturally adapted?
Could it be that he is born with a holy body for cultivating sage arts?
———
Time passed quickly. For this whole week, Arisu stayed inside the Ape Demon Cave.
And Arisu made a bold change, which was to completely merge the Ape Demon sage art and Mount Myoboku sage art.
He originally just wanted to try it, but did not expect to really succeed.
He successfully fused the two, greatly increasing his strength.
Arisu took a deep breath. He did not form hand seals, nor did he make any complicated starting pose. He simply raised his hand casually.
His fist aimed at a giant ancient tree in the forest ahead that would require more than a dozen people to hug around it.
"Sage Art: Multiple Frog Kumite!"
The moment the soft shout fell, his fist had already struck out.
There was no earth-shaking sign beforehand, only the buzzing sound from high-speed compressed chakra. A solid amber-like energy bullet burst out from his fist.
Carrying a sharp howl that tore through the air, it shot toward the ancient tree.
Bang!
The moment the energy bullet collided with the tree trunk, there was no dragging impact process. The tree's body directly turned into powder at the point of contact.
"Nice, the power is strong, but why is it called Frog Kumite?" The White Ape King looked slightly confused.
Arisu just smiled lightly.
Suddenly, in the core area where the energy bullet exploded, the sage power of Mount Myoboku surged out.
It turned into invisible shockwaves, sweeping out in a hundred-meter radius centered on the destroyed ancient tree.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Continuous explosions shook the forest outside the Ape Demon Cave. What was originally just the destruction of a single giant tree turned into a large-scale energy disaster in the blink of an eye.
Dozens of equally towering ancient trees, as if crushed by an invisible giant hand, had their trunks broken and branches flying everywhere. The thick wood was as fragile as paper in front of the fused power of the two sage arts.
In just a few breaths, the once lush forest area was blasted into an empty circular zone. The ground was covered with broken trunks and flying wood chips, and the mountain-like energy aftershock in the air lingered for a long time without dispersing.
"My god! I get it now! You actually fused Mount Myoboku and the Ape Demon clan's sage arts!?"
The White Ape King stood there dumbfounded. The admiration on his face from before was now replaced by extreme shock.
He stared at the wrecked forest, then looked at Arisu's fist hanging casually at his side. His throat moved and his voice trembled, "Th-this power has already surpassed the pure Ape Demon sage art!"
"Right."
Arisu withdrew his fist and felt the chakra inside his body still surging smoothly without any blockage. A confident smile rose at the corner of his mouth.
The fusion of the two sage arts was even more perfect than he had expected. Mount Myoboku's sage art energy control gave the attack precise area expansion.
And the physical boost from the Ape Demon sage art raised the explosive power to a new level. The two complemented each other, creating the destructive effect of this punch.
Arisu turned his head to look at the White Ape King and explained with a smile, "Although I used the name from Mount Myoboku, inside it has already fused the power of the Ape Demon sage art. It can be considered a brand new sage technique."
As soon as his words fell, the energy aftershock in the distance that had not fully dispersed caused another faint rumble.
A few small branches that luckily were not destroyed slowly drifted down, making the flattened forest area look even more shocking.
The White Ape King looked at Arisu's back, and in his heart there was only endless emotion, this kind of talent is truly terrifying.