Shikkotsu Forest
Natsuro's true body had been here for several days now, bringing with him Hashirama's cells.
During this time, he had conducted various experiments on Hashirama's cells according to his own ideas.
If possible, Natsuro would have preferred not to transplant Hashirama's cells into his own body.
However, if his experiments continued to fail, then he would have no choice but to do so.
After all, he didn't have unlimited time to slowly figure out how to master the Sage Mode of the Shikkotsu Forest.
Fortunately, the experiments soon produced results.
When Natsuro injected the natural energy of the Shikkotsu Forest into Hashirama's cells, the cells remained unresponsive, it was as expected.
Hashirama's cells could not generate chakra on their own, nor could they naturally fuse with the natural energy.
Even when he attempted to inject his own chakra into them, the process still lacked a crucial component, spiritual energy.
So… the only option left was to transplant the cells after all.
Natsuro pondered this for a while before turning his gaze toward the Slug Sage. A sudden idea flashed through his mind, making his eyes light up. He decided to conduct one final experiment.
Natsuro asked the Slug Sage to split off a small clone and completely sever its connection to the main body, leaving behind an empty shell.
Then, he extracted a portion of Hashirama's cells and transplanted them into this slug clone. Finally, he used the Spirit Transformation Technique to enter the clone himself.
Since the clones of the Slug Sage were unique, having actual physical form, it was more appropriate to call them divisions rather than simple clones. This was why they were suitable for transplanting Hashirama's cells.
Now that this particular clone had been completely severed from its original consciousness, Natsuro could fully control it after using the Spirit Transformation Technique.
Initially, he had been concerned that Hashirama's cells might be incompatible with the slug's physiology. However, to his surprise, he discovered something astonishing...
Hashirama's cells, as expected, possessed insanely high compatibility, merging perfectly with the slug's cells.
It was almost as if Hashirama's cells could integrate with any organism, of course, provided that the host had the ability to control them. Otherwise, they would simply be consumed by the cells.
For this experiment, Natsuro didn't need the slug's cells, only Hashirama's. So, he suppressed all chakra activity, allowing Hashirama's cells to completely consume the slug's tissues.
Once the transformation was complete, Natsuro began extracting chakra from Hashirama's cells while simultaneously absorbing the natural energy of the Shikkotsu Forest.
This process was not without its dangers.
Since this wasn't Natsuro's true body, and his control over the chakra produced by Hashirama's cells wasn't very refined, there was still a risk of being overwhelmed by natural energy.
However, he was confident that if the clone started being consumed by natural energy, he could cancel the Spirit Transformation Technique and return to his real body in time.
At that point, the effects of natural energy would pose no real threat to his original form.
However…
Though Natsuro had prepared for this risk, it turned out to be completely unnecessary.
Because throughout the entire process, he never once felt the slightest danger of being overwhelmed by natural energy.
The reason? The chakra extracted from Hashirama's cells was naturally highly compatible with natural energy.
Even though he had yet to fully master the Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode, he encountered zero risk while attempting to do so.
This realization left him momentarily speechless.
No wonder Hashirama had been able to reach such an unprecedented level of power without any formal guidance...
It turned out his natural talent was simply maxed out in every possible aspect.
Even just using his cells, Natsuro had been able to reach this point. The level of innate talent Hashirama himself must have possessed was unimaginable.
Shaking his head, Natsuro pushed those thoughts aside. Since there was no longer any risk, he could now proceed with his experiments with peace of mind.
The experiment was time-consuming.
First, because the chakra generated by Hashirama's cells wasn't truly his own, manipulating it felt unnatural.
Second, even though Natsuro now had full control over the slug's body, it still wasn't his body.
And finally, he had never practiced the Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode before, so he had to figure out everything from scratch.
It wasn't until two days later that Natsuro finally returned to his real body.
For a brief moment, he even felt uncomfortable being back in his own form, after all, the difference between a slug's body and a human's was far too great.
Going forward, he should probably avoid staying in non-human bodies for too long.
Of course, he hadn't returned to his body because he had completed the final step of his experiment...
Rather, he had reached a deadlock.
And Natsuro suspected that the problem stemmed from the fact that the slug's body wasn't truly his.
So, he dispelled the Spirit Transformation Technique and returned to his real body to conduct one final experiment.
This time, he was confident that even if he failed, he wouldn't be in any real danger.
And, in fact, he was already very close to success, just not to the same degree of perfection as someone like Naruto.
Achieving Sage Mode
After some time, a dark marking suddenly appeared around Natsuro's eyes.
He slowly opened them, his pupils remained jet black, unchanged from before.
"Did it work?" the Slug Sage asked in mild surprise.
Had Natsuro really mastered Sage Mode in just a few days?
"It's mostly successful," Natsuro nodded.
Right now, he was in Sage Mode...
However, just as he had expected, his level of mastery had not yet reached Naruto's level of perfection. There was still a small gap.
But this final step… he could complete on his own.
There was no longer any need for a Hashirama cell transplant.
Even though he hadn't yet achieved peak Sage Mode, he had successfully attained the Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode, which had been his original goal.
"Good," the Slug Sage responded simply before falling silent.
In its eyes, there was no need for excessive surprise, what Natsuro had accomplished before this was already far more astonishing.
In a world where natural energy was already so scarce, forcefully walking down that ancient path was something that none of the Three Great Sages had ever imagined, let alone the fact that Natsuro had succeeded in doing so.
Compared to that, the fact that he had mastered Sage Mode in such a short period didn't even seem that surprising anymore.
At this moment, Natsuro was carefully sensing the differences between the Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode and Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode.
If Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode was an all-around enhancement, then the Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode was a specialized boost to physical constitution.
Of course, it also strengthened other aspects well beyond their original state but compared to Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode, those enhancements were somewhat lacking.
However, in terms of physical capabilities, he could feel an unprecedented surge of vitality and strength coursing through his body.
Out of curiosity, Natsuro suddenly slashed a wound into his own arm, then refrained from using any medical ninjutsu, choosing to let it heal naturally.
Even so, the wound visibly closed at an astonishing speed before his eyes.
This was the combined effect of Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode and Yang Release.
Currently, his mastery of Yang Release wasn't particularly advanced, but he had a feeling that if he refined it further…
Then, under this Sage Mode, as long as his soul wasn't destroyed or he wasn't reduced to ashes, he might be able to regenerate from anything!
Intrigued, Natsuro let a drop of his blood fall into his palm and carefully observed it.
Even though it had been separated from his body and lacked any external nutrients, the blood showed no signs of dying or drying up.
Could it be that, at some point in the future, he might even achieve regeneration from a single drop of blood?
That was starting to sound… a little too fantastical.
Natsuro shook his head, dismissing the thought. That was probably still impossible.
However, this unique property immediately reminded him of Hashirama's cells.
It seemed that in this Sage Mode, his cells had already reached the same level as Hashirama's, if not surpassed them in terms of natural energy affinity.
And if he continued refining his mastery of Yang Release…
Natsuro couldn't help but chuckle at the thought, his own cells were on the verge of surpassing Hashirama's cells as an even greater treasure.
Thinking back, there was once a time when he had seriously considered transplanting Hashirama's cells just to enhance his chakra reserves.
And now?
How quickly things had changed.
If you want to read more...
Check out the patreon and get 55 chapters in advance -> SaintXI
Currently on Chapter 314 - Naruto vs. Kurama: Sage Fox Mode