Chapter 45: Jiraiya, Have Some Lemon! (Translator's Note: "Have a lemon" is slang for feeling jealous.)
When facing unknown things, one must always maintain reverence and humility towards nature. If one thinks with an inertial mindset, it's very easy to suffer a great loss.
For example, a certain Hokage often suffered the disdainful glares of his wife's family. Unaware of the truth, one might think the husband was incompetent!
Jiraiya made a huge mistake.
That day, after conversing with Uchiha Itachi about the Sage lands and Sage Mode, he became extremely curious about the first person to master Sage Mode and privately used the Reverse Summoning Technique to go to Mount Myoboku.
Jiraiya thought Gamamaru might be Fukasaku's second-generation offspring or third-generation grandchild, and even eagerly asked if it was some old flame he had left behind in his youth...
Males, well... it's normal to have some unknown past.
For some unknown reason, Jiraiya was chased and beaten by Fukasaku until he woke up the Great Toad Sage... The erudite Great Sage didn't hold it against him and told him the answer.
Jiraiya left Mount Myoboku with a bruised and swollen face and returned to Uchiha Itachi and Kitahara...
Then he suffered another blow... It was understandable for Uchiha Itachi to cultivate Sage Mode, but that crow's method was highly problematic. How could a Sage directly transmit sage art chakra!
Kitahara communicated and transferred sage art chakra into Itachi's body, crushingly forcing the spiritual and physical energy in Itachi's body to forcibly fuse with natural energy, thereby allowing him to enter Sage Mode much faster...
"Sage Mode: Activate!"
With a fierce shout in his childish voice, Uchiha Itachi's eyes instantly turned crimson. At the same time, a pair of huge, pitch-black feathered wings slowly unfurled on his back!
Thump!
The oppressive aura stirred up dust from the ground...
The new Crow Sage Mode...
Leaving aside the fact that its aesthetic appeal was countless times higher than Mount Myoboku's Sage Mode, just talking about Kitahara's service to its cub...
Jiraiya felt sour in his heart. For him to enter Sage Mode, he still needed Fukasaku and Shima's assistance to absorb natural energy, which took a very long time... and there was even a risk of failure.
In Sage Mode, Uchiha Itachi quickly formed a hand seal, "Sage Art: Great Fireball Technique!"
Flames erupted fiercely from Itachi's mouth, suddenly forming a giant fireball...
Different from the normal state, the fireball continuously absorbed the surrounding natural energy, its temperature rising higher and higher, its volume growing larger and larger, the scorching heatwave rushing towards one's face!
Boom!
The flames burned the sandy ground, the sand gradually melting and crystallizing under the sunlight...
It was just an ordinary C-rank Fire Style ninjutsu, yet with the enhancement of sage art, it could actually rival the B-rank ninjutsu, Great Dragon Fire, and even had a wider range!
"Teacher Jiraiya? You're back!" Uchiha Itachi delightedly flapped the wings on his back and flew in front of Jiraiya, "Sage Mode? We succeeded!"
"..." Jiraiya didn't really want to speak.
Uchiha Itachi noticed the bruises on Jiraiya's face, his joyful expression instantly turning to concern, "Teacher... you're injured?"
"..."
Jiraiya wanted to speak even less. His body was injured, sure, but his heart was also very hurt!
Uchiha Itachi seemed to guess something and said in surprise, "Teacher... you didn't really go to Mount Myoboku..."
That day, when Kitahara communicated through chakra, he had sensed a joy of successful mischief hidden within the crow... It seemed this matter wasn't simple.
"Caw~"
Hearing this, the crow flew onto Uchiha Itachi's head and looked provocatively at Jiraiya... Meaning, I was right, wasn't I?
"The Great Toad Sage told me the answer. The first one to successfully cultivate Sage Mode was actually the Sage of Six Paths."
Jiraiya secretly gritted his teeth, remembering the Great Toad Sage's deep thought and reminiscence when he asked who Gamamaru was.
"Little Jiraiya, I haven't heard this name for a thousand years. If I haven't become muddled from sleep over the past thousand years, I think my name should be Gamamaru..."
The old ancestor of Mount Myoboku didn't hold it against him, told him the answer to his question, and even with great interest, entrusted Jiraiya to convey his greetings to Kitahara.
There's a good old saying, "The King of Hell is easy to meet, but the minor demons are hard to deal with"... Jiraiya lamented how true these adages were. Before leaving Mount Myoboku, he was beaten up again by Fukasaku.
Uchiha Itachi liked to bring up sore subjects, "That fellow named Gamamaru, did Teacher meet him?"
"..."
Jiraiya was so angry he wanted to cover his mouth, "Show some respect! That's the Great Toad Sage, the master of Mount Myoboku!"
"..."
Kitahara and Uchiha Itachi shook their heads in the same rhythm, looking at Jiraiya with sympathetic faces... It was unknown what right the instigator had to pity the person he had tricked...
"Let's not talk about this topic... Hiss..." Jiraiya couldn't help but touch the bruises on his face, "Itachi, you need to learn to try and draw natural energy yourself, to synthesize sage art chakra..."
The little boy nodded, "It's just too easy to lose control. If Kitahara hadn't helped, I might have been assimilated due to excessive natural energy and turned into a crow."
"...I thought everyone would turn into toads..."
"Perhaps it's because of the natural energy Kitahara helped me draw!" Uchiha Itachi shook his head, took out a fruit, and handed it to the crow on his shoulder.
Jiraiya felt sour in his heart again. This kind of treatment, usually only during battles would a Sage help extract natural energy.
During normal training, he still needed to perceive and absorb natural energy himself... Perhaps it sounded very independent, and maybe the training results would be better, but...
Look at what that Crow Sage was doing! Was that something a human (or a proper sage) would do?
Helping with extraction during normal training, and then directly synthesizing and transmitting sage art chakra during serious moments, forcibly activating Sage Mode!
The problem was, the tacit understanding between them was irreplicable. Not everyone was willing to open their minds to Kitahara.
"Caw!"
The crow wasn't just blindly doting on its own cub; it just felt that after activating Sage Mode, Uchiha Itachi could more easily perceive the characteristics of natural energy.
Simply put, it was like using a trial version of a product first.
After the trial version expires, one would definitely have some familiarity with the product. After all, having used Sage Art, Uchiha Itachi should already be able to distinguish natural energy.
Uchiha Itachi closed his eyes and said softly, "Pretty much... I can already perceive natural energy..."
"???"
Jiraiya was completely bewildered. What kind of teaching method was this! You could forcibly activate Sage Mode even before you could perceive natural energy!
What's the difference between your behavior and cheating!
The method of cultivating Sage Mode was roughly the same: extracting natural energy and fusing it with the spiritual and physical energy within the body. However, it was difficult for beginners to perceive natural energy.
This was when help from the Sages of the holy lands was needed. For example, Mount Myoboku had unique oil paints to help enhance perception...
But after successfully activating Sage Mode, one would become increasingly familiar with grasping natural energy and using sage art chakra.
This was like a newly enrolled student who didn't even recognize words yet, being given the answers to the final exam, and then being told to learn to recognize words from the answers...
However, it also depended on talent. After all, if that person really couldn't learn, there was nothing that could be done...
But, Uchiha Itachi was clearly not that type of person. Except for falling in love, his talents were all very good...
(End of this chapter)