If primordial natural energy were that easy to sense and use, the Ōtsutsuki Clan wouldn't be going around the universe planting God Trees like old farrs.
Even the primordial natural energy filtered through Makoto's Wood Release was the sa.
Its defining trait was extre inertia—impossible to sense, impossible to absorb.
Minato wasn't as discouraged as the three mbers of the Hayate squad. After thinking it over, he said, "It's just like when I first started training in natural energy at Mount Myōboku—I couldn't feel anything at all."
Yūgao looked curious. "Hokage-sama, how did you succeed later?"
"According to the sages of Mount Myōboku, to sense natural energy, the practitioner must achieve absolute stillness—both body and mind. But only the dead can truly do that. For the living, reaching that state is extrely difficult."
"So Mount Myōboku has sothing called toad oil. Applying it to the skin helps the practitioner automatically absorb natural energy. Once you get used to it, you won't need that aid anymore."
"Huh? That simple?"
"It's not simple at all, Yūgao. It's very easy to absorb too much and lose control. Once natural energy runs wild, it can turn a person into a toad in a very short ti. In worse cases, they'll petrify and die. Fortunately, the sages of Mount Myōboku can use special thods to draw out the excess energy and stop it from going out of control."
The three of them looked at Makoto.
Makoto: "Don't look at . I don't have any 'human oil.' If you want assistance… how about I mix natural energy into my saliva and spit it all over you?"
Yūgao: "Mm… I guess that could work."
Everyone looked at her like she was a pervert.
Minato smiled. "Toad oil is just Mount Myōboku's thod. I heard from Jiraiya-sensei that Ryūchi Cave's thod is much more direct and brutal. If a contractor wants to train in natural energy, they just inject it straight into your body—if it works, it works; if it doesn't, you die."
Makoto: "That's sothing I can do too. But I ran experints before—every single test subject died. Hayate and Yūgao both saw it."
"However, the natural energy in this dojo is gentler than outside. I don't know what will happen if it's introduced into the human body now. We'll have to test it to be sure."
Yamato imdiately volunteered. "—let do it. Makoto, I trust you."
"What's the point of you trusting ? Natural energy doesn't care about that. If you die, how am I supposed to explain it to your family?"
"We need verification?" Minato hesitated, but soon made a decision. "Makoto, I'll go request approval from the Third. Wait here."
"Alright."
Minato vanished from the dojo with Flying Thunder God. After a while, he reappeared, bringing back a prisoner bound all over.
Konoha was a huge village—of course it had a prison. All kinds of people were locked up inside, including captured enemy spies who hadn't yet been dealt with.
This prisoner was one of them. Makoto could sense that the shackles on his limbs suppressed chakra flow.
Minato said, "This man is not only an Iwagakure spy, he also kidnapped and killed a Konoha civilian when he was captured. He's currently awaiting trial. The Intelligence Division says there's not much left in his head—he can be disposed of."
Makoto didn't waste words. He grabbed the man and dragged him aside, tapping lightly on the shackles on his limbs to pause the sealing formula and restore his chakra flow.
The man had been silent the entire ti, only casting malicious glances at the group. The mont he felt his chakra return, he tried to launch a sudden attack.
He had no intention of escaping—no one could escape in front of the fad Yellow Flash. He just wanted to take soone down with him before he died.
Then Makoto glared at him once—and he went still, falling under a genjutsu, becoming a compliant puppet.
Makoto controlled him into a seated position, then guided a thread of natural energy from the dojo into his body, directing him to rge it with his own chakra in equal proportion to form senjutsu chakra.
But it quickly failed.
Chakra was ford by the fusion of physical energy and spiritual energy, carrying the will of the ninja.
But that will was rapidly and effortlessly erased by the white natural energy, causing the chakra to collapse. The two simply couldn't rge into one.
They tried several tis—it was always the sa.
The white natural energy in the dojo had already been greatly weakened in its annihilating properties, but it still wasn't sothing a ninja could easily touch.
To train in Sage Mode, natural energy had to be mixed with chakra. But the very nature of this white natural energy was to dismantle chakra. It was an irreconcilable contradiction.
In other words, using the thods of the Three Great Sage Regions to train in Makoto's Sage Mode was simply impossible.
So Makoto changed his approach.
After guiding natural energy into the test subject's body, he no longer tried to fuse it with chakra, but instead let it freely integrate into the body and mind.
This ti, it worked.
The test subject didn't die imdiately like before. Instead, he showed a very relaxed expression.
Makoto felt a surge of excitent and ordered, "Tell how you feel."
"Yes. My body feels very relaxed. My mind seems clearer as well."
"Good. Continue."
As the absorption of natural energy continued, the relaxed expression on the test subject's face disappeared, gradually replaced by pain—but Makoto did not stop.
Once a certain critical threshold was crossed, the test subject suddenly died—without a sound. His soul, the vitality within his cells, was instantly destroyed by the accumulated annihilating force after reaching a qualitative change.
Seeing the experint end, Minato asked with concern, "How is it? Did you get any results?"
Makoto combined it with his own experience training with white natural energy and replied, "For now, it seems the thods of the Three Great Sage Regions aren't suitable here. The natural energy I use initially strengthens the absorber's body and mind."
"Only when the absorber's overall condition has been enhanced to a certain level can natural energy rge with chakra to form senjutsu chakra."
"However, this is just a single case. Minato-senpai, you also said before that the prerequisite for training in senjutsu is having a large amount of chakra. This spy—his chakra reserves are only at the level of a Konoha chūnin at best. It's too little. Further verification is needed."
The chakra reserves of a Konoha chūnin were, in fact, already the upper limit for the vast majority of shinobi in the ninja world.
Shinobi with large chakra reserves were usually not weak—they were solid candidates for jōnin, elites of their villages, and normally wouldn't be sent out as spies.
Danzō was an exception. His way of thinking was abnormal.
Minato said, "When I saw his expression at the beginning, it didn't seem dangerous."
Makoto nodded. "Yes. It's much better than before—he didn't die imdiately."
"Then let do it. My chakra reserves are sufficient."
"Are you sure about this, Minato-senpai?"
Yamato imdiately objected. "Hokage-sama, that's not acceptable. It's too dangerous. Let do it instead—my chakra reserves are also very high."
Minato showed his signature bright smile. "No. Precisely because it's dangerous, I should do it myself. And I have experience training with natural energy—I'm the most suitable candidate. Right, Makoto?"
Makoto said, "That's true."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's begin."
Minato imdiately sat down cross-legged.
Makoto didn't waste any words—he was even a bit excited. Minato was indeed the best reference subject. Using a Hokage as a test subject—he was the first…
Alright, maybe not the first. Senju Hashirama had probably been dragged into the lab by his younger brother more than once.
He guided a strand of white natural energy from the dojo into Minato's body and asked, "Does it feel any different from the natural energy at Mount Myōboku?"
"Not for now. It's all a cool sensation."
"Good. Now, Minato-senpai, try to rge it with your chakra."
After several attempts, Minato said, "It doesn't work. The mont it makes contact, my chakra collapses—it can't fuse."
"As expected. Now, after your chakra collapses, don't refine it again. Guide the natural energy into your body instead, and tell what you feel."
"Alright. I can guide it a little, but it seems to automatically integrate throughout my entire body. As for the feeling—it's the sa as that guy just now."
However, he quickly sensed sothing off. Before he could even warn him, Makoto imdiately drew out all the natural energy from his body.
"Is this all the ti you can hold out?"
Minato, however, looked pleased. "But at least it worked. That's a good start, isn't it?"
"It is a good start. But Minato-senpai—are you really going to switch to my senjutsu system?"
"Is there a problem?"
Makoto said seriously, "Of course there is. You've already successfully trained in Mount Myōboku's senjutsu. Are you really going to give that up and start over with an immature system that I'm still developing?"
"Most importantly, from this point on, you won't be able to use Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode anymore."
Minato put away his smile and asked seriously, "Makoto, this kind of natural energy permanently enhances my overall attributes, right?"
"From my own experience, yes—including physical condition, ntal strength, and precise control over chakra. But it requires long-term, consistent training."
"Then that's enough. There's nothing to hesitate about. The natural energy absorbed in Mount Myōboku's senjutsu only temporarily increases my strength—once it's used up, I have to absorb it again."
"And while I consider my talent decent, I'm still just a shinobi without any special bloodline. Do you know, Makoto? I'm only 27 years old, and I've already seen where my limit lies. I want to break that limit. You're the only thod I've found."
"Alright. Since you've made your decision, I won't try to stop you. But for now, you can only train inside my dojo. Don't try this outside under any circumstances. That's the reason I said you won't be able to use Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode anymore—because if you absorb the wrong kind of natural energy, it'll be extrely dangerous."
"Don't worry. I won't act recklessly. Even if I'm not afraid of death, I can't leave Kushina and Naruto behind. More importantly, I want to use this system—with greater potential—to carve out a path for them."
The three mbers of the Hayate squad, who had been watching eagerly, finally couldn't hold themselves back after seeing the experint succeed.
Yūgao: "Makoto-nii, it's my turn now, right?"
Hayate: "No, no—brother, I'm older than them. Let go first."
Yamato: "I have the most chakra—it's the safest. Let go first."
Makoto: "No problem, Yamato. But first, call 'niisan' and let hear it."
Yamato: "..."
No, why are you still hung up on that? Can we put this aside for now?
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I will post so extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon/TitoVillar
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