Chapter 92: Timeskip
(Authors note: Henceforth, like you guys mentioned in the comments, Wood Clones will be more leaned towards Cannon, making them much more OP)
It was midday, and the warm sunlight of Mount Myoboku filtered gently through the misty trees. Fukasaku had finally returned, having sensed that my original body had arrived. He hadn't been present for most of the shadow clone's activities, largely because the training until now hadn't required his full oversight.
"So, your main body's finally here," Fukasaku said, his tone calm but expectant.
I bowed respectfully. "Yes, Master Fukasaku."
"Good. Follow me," he instructed. "Now that you have access to your full chakra reserves—low as they might be—I can show you what sage chakra feels like."
We moved through the familiar winding paths of Mount Myoboku, passing towering mushrooms and serene pools until we reached the training ground. At its center stood a large stone basin containing the special oil of the toads—liquid known to evaporate anywhere else except this sacred place. It was used to ease one's ability to sense and absorb sage chakra from the environment.
Fukasaku turned to me. "As I explained to your shadow clone—and you should have its memories by now—regular chakra is a mix of physical and spiritual energy. But sage chakra, well, that's a whole different beast."
I nodded, recalling the lessons. "Sage chakra is absorbed from nature, stored temporarily within the body. Absorb too little and you fail to enter Sage Mode. Absorb too much... and you turn into a frog."
"Exactly," he said. "Glad to see you remember."
Honestly, I had known most of this even before the training. From the anime alone, anyone paying attention could understand how busted Sage Mode was. It had allowed Jiraiya to fight against multiple Paths of Pain. It had turned Naruto into a force of destruction. Hashirama had used a version of it to dominate Madara. And now, it was my turn.
Fukasaku dipped his webbed hand into the basin and rubbed a bit of the oil onto my palm. Instantly, I felt a strange shift. My skin thickened, my fingers widened, and before I even looked in the mirror, I could feel my hand transforming into something distinctly frog-like. Sure enough, when I glanced at my reflection, one side of my face had also begun to change.
The transformation was even more drastic than what Naruto had experienced.
Probably because of my chakra reserves. Unlike Naruto, who had the benefit of being an Uzumaki with insane stamina and chakra capacity, I was a player character. Despite technically being a Senju-Uzumaki hybrid, my stats were governed differently. There were limits in this world's game logic.
I felt a thump against my forehead—Fukasaku had struck me lightly.
In an instant, the transformation reversed, my limbs and face returning to normal.
"You barely have enough chakra to maintain sage chakra," he said, shaking his head. "The balance is going to be hard for you to maintain. You'll need extreme caution during your training."
I rubbed my temples, still adjusting to the aftereffects. "So what now?"
Fukasaku gestured to a flat, shaded spot near the trees. "Now? You sit. You sit perfectly still and do nothing but concentrate on your breathing. This isn't about brute strength or jutsu. This is about awareness. Stillness. You need to feel nature, not overpower it."
I walked over and took a seat, crossing my legs and placing my hands on my knees. The silence around us was nearly total—no birds chirping, no wind rustling the trees. Only the faint bubbling of the sacred oil behind me.
It was time to start the real training.
Time to become one with nature.
And this would take…a long time…
…
It seemed like the rules of this world were extremely harsh on those who were not the child of prophecy. By my understanding of the anime and manga, Naruto had been able to master Sage Mode in its entirety in the span of a week. Jiraiya, a legendary Sannin and one of the most powerful shinobi of his generation, had spent multiple years in training and still never reached perfection.
And now here I was, someone with all the cheat-code bloodlines you could imagine—and yet, I had spent two entire months just learning how to sit in stillness. Yes, two whole months.
Even more frustrating? I had used two shadow clones to assist in the training.
Despite the standard principle that using shadow clones could dramatically accelerate training time, it still took me that long. And while I could use them for this phase—training my mind and body to remain perfectly still—I wouldn't be able to use shadow clones during the actual Sage Mode training itself. The nature of Sage Chakra required a precise balance that could not be distributed among clones. That meant the next phase of the training would take exponentially longer.
Unlike Naruto, I didn't have the luxury of using shadow clones to speed up that part of the process. From what I understood, when Naruto had begun his Sage Mode training, he already had chakra reserves that rivaled or exceeded those of a supercharged Kage. I, on the other hand, was currently only at the initial Jōnin chakra level. That was a full two major rank differences.
And that made a world of difference.
The Uzumaki clan's natural affinity for chakra had always been portrayed as broken. And Naruto, being its most exaggerated representation, had access to not just that heritage, but also the Nine-Tails. It had been stated in the manga that Kurama's excess chakra would bleed into Naruto's body over time, increasing his base chakra volume exponentially.
Then layer on top of that the fact that Naruto was the reincarnation of Ashura, the son of the Sage of Six Paths, and everything started to make sense. He wasn't just a prodigy—he was the chosen one, a spiritual heir to the legacy of the world's greatest shinobi.
Me? While I had the potential—great potential—I wasn't gifted the way he was. RangerTech had hinted early on that only members of the first generation might have a natural aptitude for Sage Mode. And yes, I had both Senju and Uzumaki bloodlines, which certainly increased my compatibility, but that still only meant I had the "potential." It didn't grant me instant mastery.
So I trained. Hard.
Two months of learning how to simply sit in silence. Two months of learning how to not move a muscle. Two months of trying to feel the pulse of the world around me.
But today, something was different.
I had been sitting perfectly still for nearly an entire day. The wind had shifted. The forest around Mount Myoboku responded.
Fukasaku, who had been observing me for hours in complete silence, finally nodded.
"Well done," he said, his voice tinged with a mixture of respect and surprise.
Multiple birds had landed on my shoulders and head, pecking and hopping around without disturbing my stillness. That was the sign—the unmistakable mark that I had achieved a sufficient level of physical and spiritual equilibrium with nature. My body had stopped being a presence that disturbed the natural world. Instead, I had become part of it.
And Fukasaku noticed it.
"You've done something Jiraiya took much longer to achieve," he said, watching as one of the birds even attempted to nest in my hair. "This part of the training is one of the most grueling, and you've passed it with patience."
I didn't say anything in return. Not out of arrogance, but because I didn't want to break the stillness—not yet. That sensation, that harmony with nature, was delicate. Fragile.
But internally, I was proud. Not because I was ahead of Naruto or Jiraiya. But because I had earned it.
Every second of those two months had been necessary.
And it wasn't like I had done nothing but train in Sage Mode for the past two months.
Yes, power-wise, the only thing that progressed was my Sage Mode training. My raw combat prowess had not increased in any significant way. But versatility? That had grown dramatically.
Each day, I spent at least half of my time training to sit in perfect stillness. The rest was divided meticulously between improving my fuinjutsu capabilities and conducting operations inside the Land of Iron. It was a calculated balance, and though Sage Mode was my long-term goal, the short-term strategy demanded mobility and subterfuge.
Using wood clones has become one of my most valuable tools. Unlike shadow clones, which mirrored my perspective and personality but only relayed experience after being dispelled, wood clones allowed me to maintain simultaneous awareness of both bodies. It was as if my consciousness was split but still present in both forms. That awareness was invaluable.
I assigned a wood clone infused with the chakra level of an initial Chūnin to hunt down members of Dark Dream within the Land of Iron. The guild had repeatedly made threats—both in-game and in the real world—that they would hunt me down. Publicly, they swore vengeance. But the irony was, none of them even knew who I truly was. No one did.
Not even Kaiser.
So I took advantage of their ignorance. With careful planning, I had already wiped out every single known member of Dark Dream from the capital city of the Land of Iron. The operation had been swift and clean. And now, I was actively hunting the rest of their members across the region.
The average power level of players within Elemental Nations was still quite low. No player had yet reached Elite Jōnin rank. Most of the top players were barely considered Jōnin, and 90% of guilds were filled with Chūnin-level players at best.
Against me—even operating at the level of an initial Chūnin—those players stood no chance. With perfect mastery of the Eight Inner Gates, I could crush anyone below the threshold of Elite Jōnin.
And that's precisely what I did.
The wood clone infiltrated, located, and eliminated members methodically. My presence was a whisper in the shadows, never more than rumor. I maintained absolute anonymity.
More importantly, I was laying the foundation for a personal stronghold. I now had an entire base within the Land of Iron—hidden, secure, and rapidly becoming mine.
If everything went as planned, I'd consolidate it fully before the next influx of players.
Time was running short.
It had already been eight months since I arrived in this world. In another four, the second batch of Elemental Nations players would be allowed to enter. Unlike us, the first generation, they would be granted bloodlines right from the start—provided they passed the legacy questions where I got the Senju bloodline.
But in contrast, these players wouldn't have access to Sage Mode.
That gave me a critical advantage.
And in regards to fuinjutsu, I was 90% done making my special formula. Of course, I was coordinating with the Toad Sage—even though he was stationed near the Hidden Mist Village—because this level of complexity was simply out of my league. Despite that, my own proficiency in fuinjutsu had improved dramatically.
If I had to assign myself a ranking according to the AI's internal metrics, I would probably be considered proficient rank. But the moment I finished that special formula, I'd be considered a fuinjutsu master by the standards of the Great Villages. Not by the AI—but by human expertise. On that scale, I would be comparable to Lady Tsunade or Lord Jiraiya.
I also made it a point to return to the real world as often as I could. Partially because I needed to stay in contact with Kaiser about our guild's development and internal logistics. But mostly—because I wanted to speak with my parents. No matter how strong I became in this world, I couldn't forget what I was fighting for.
…
Authors note:
You can read some chapters ahead if you want to on my p#treon.com/Fat_Cultivator