The White Snake Sage looked at Chao Yanqian, spat out her snake tongue, and said: "Human, what is your name?"
"Chao Yanqian!" Chao Yanqian also looked at the White Snake Sage and asked: "Has the Sage foreseen that I would come?"
The White Snake Sage, like the Great Toad Sage, has a certain ability to predict the future.
Although the ability to predict the future is terrifying, it is not unacceptable. After all, even something like transmigration happened, so what is predicting the future in comparison?
Moreover, these sages predict the future at a price, and the future they see is only fragments. Even if one knows the future, it is impossible to completely change it.
It's just that Chao Yanqian is not sure whether a transmigrator like himself would also appear in the "future prediction" of the White Snake Sage.
"Probably a few years ago, I saw a boy appear in Ryūchi Cave, and this boy would bring unknown variables to the ninja world. I saw the same scene a few days ago, so I guessed you should be on the way to Ryūchi Cave," said the White Snake Sage.
"So that's the case. Is this the ability of the Sage?" Chao Yanqian asked.
"You are here to learn Sage Mode!" The White Snake Sage did not answer Chao Yanqian's question directly but stated his purpose.
"That's right!" Chao Yanqian nodded and said, "Is the Sage willing to pass on the Sage Mode to me?"
"I foresee that you will bring unknown variables to the ninja world, but I cannot see the distant future. You are indeed qualified to practice Snake Sage Mode. But whether you can succeed depends on your own fortune," the White Snake Sage said.
"Thank you so much!" Chao Yanqian said.
"Take him over!" the White Snake Sage said to the little white snake who had led Chao Yanqian in earlier.
"Yes!" the little white snake responded, then turned to Chao Yanqian and said, "Come with me!"
Leaving the stone room where the White Snake Sage was, Chao Yanqian followed the little white snake through the dark cave, walked for about five miles, and entered a deeper cavern.
Although he did not possess super perception abilities, Chao Yanqian could still feel a very powerful chakra presence in the cave.
This feeling had been present since he approached Ryūchi Cave, but upon entering this cavern, it became even stronger.
"To cultivate Sage Mode, you must first perceive natural energy. You ordinary people cannot perceive natural energy on your own, so the first step is to have me assist you in introducing natural energy into your body," the little white snake explained.
"Thank you for your help," Chao Yanqian said.
"Come here and sit down, then take off your shirt," the little white snake said.
Chao Yanqian sat down and took off his shirt.
"You human ninjas rely on chakra to perform ninjutsu. Ordinary chakra is a combination of physical energy and spiritual energy. Therefore, the stronger the ninja's body and spirit, the more chakra they can produce," the little white snake explained.
"And Sage Chakra is based on the combination of physical and spiritual energy, plus a third energy the vital natural energy to form the perfected Sage Chakra."
"So, you must maintain the balance of the three energies to activate Sage Mode," the little white snake continued. "Later, I will introduce natural energy into your body. You must balance your physical energy, spiritual energy, and natural energy, each occupying one-third of the total."
"If the proportion of natural energy is less than one-third, Sage Mode cannot be activated. If it exceeds one-third, you will be overwhelmed by natural energy. Although your strength would greatly increase, you would also become a wild beast."
"I see. When it comes to chakra control, I am second to none in Konoha," Chao Yanqian said confidently.
"That's good!" the little white snake nodded. "If your body is not strong enough, you will not be able to withstand the power of Sage Mode."
"I got it!" Chao Yanqian nodded.
"Let's begin!" As soon as the little white snake finished speaking, it quickly rushed to Chao Yanqian's body and bit his shoulder.
When the little white snake rushed over, Chao Yanqian instinctively wanted to counterattack, but he quickly realized that he was in Ryūchi Cave. If they wanted to kill him, it would not require such a roundabout method.
Originally, based on Manda's attitude toward Orochimaru, Chao Yanqian thought the snakes of Ryūchi Cave would be hostile. Before coming here, he had even prepared for a fight.
But after entering Ryūchi Cave, Chao Yanqian found that the white snakes were very kind to him.
He didn't know whether it was because the White Snake Sage had foreseen something and warned them.
However, regardless of the reason, the snakes had no reason to deceive Chao Yanqian. Given the disparity in strength, it made no sense for them to scheme against him.
When the little white snake bit into Chao Yanqian's shoulder, he immediately felt a powerful energy flow into his body. Not daring to be careless, Chao Yanqian immediately began to control the energy, balancing natural energy with spiritual and physical energy.
This task sounded simple, but it was incredibly difficult.
Originally, Chao Yanqian thought that with his chakra control skills, handling natural energy would be easy. But after experiencing it firsthand, he realized it was anything but.
The natural energy was too wild and violent. Chao Yanqian had to focus his full attention on controlling it. Any slight mistake would cause the natural energy to destroy his body and erode his mind.
No wonder so few ninjas in the original story had mastered Sage Mode; the difficulty of controlling natural energy alone eliminated most candidates.
And unlike Mount Myōboku, Ryūchi Cave did not have anything like toad oil to aid the process. Furthermore, the natural energy in Ryūchi Cave was more violent than that of Mount Myōboku.
The environment of Mount Myōboku was natural and serene, while Ryūchi Cave was eerie and strange.
Manda's violent temper was definitely nurtured in Ryūchi Cave. By contrast, the toad clan of Mount Myōboku was much easier to get along with.
As more natural energy entered his body, Chao Yanqian could clearly feel his emotions growing more irritable, and his body starting to hurt. Particularly the irritable emotions if he couldn't suppress them, it would cause the natural energy to spiral out of control.
Deepening his control over natural energy, this discomfort slowly began to fade.
The little white snake, having already gauged Chao Yanqian's chakra reserves, stopped transferring natural energy once enough had been absorbed and observed him from a distance.
Chao Yanqian carefully worked to combine the natural energy with his own spiritual and physical energy to form Sage Chakra.
Fortunately, over the past few years, Chao Yanqian had never slacked off in honing his chakra control. His study of medical ninjutsu also contributed greatly to his skills.
Even though the natural energy of Ryūchi Cave was extremely violent, Chao Yanqian suppressed it bit by bit.
After about half an hour, Chao Yanqian's body finally began to change.
First, a sharp fleshy horn bulged from his forehead, and purple markings appeared around his eyes. As more and more Sage Chakra filled his body, white translucent chakra slowly overflowed and formed the shape of several snakes, coiling around Chao Yanqian.
(For the protagonist's Sage Mode appearance, refer to Toneri's form)
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