Naruto: Drop System

After receiving the real-time information from the Wood Clones, Yagyu immediately grabbed a new Gelel Stone, sat down cross-legged, and began absorbing its special energy. Hundreds of Wood Clones used the Mayfly Technique to scatter far and wide, leaving only a few behind to continue fusing Sage Chakra.

Among them, about a dozen Wood Clones, like the one before, successfully fused the natural energy within the special energy with their internal chakra to create Sage Chakra, with red markings appearing around their eyes.

However, just like the previous Wood Clone, these Sage Modes only lasted a few seconds before quickly dissipating.

Afterward, these Wood Clones also left to act as scouts across various parts of the ninja world, leaving only a handful behind to silently guard Yagyu's true body.

If Yagyu lost control again, these clones would help him by absorbing the excess energy, just as they had done earlier.

Even though Yagyu had learned the technique to fuse natural energy with chakra to create Sage Chakra, he didn't dare to absorb all the special energy from the Gelel Stone at once like before.

After all, just one stone's worth of special energy required him to split it among hundreds of Wood Clones to dilute, and only a small percentage of them successfully fused Sage Chakra.

If he absorbed the entire stone's energy at once, he would certainly lose control and go berserk again.

So, just like the first time, Yagyu only absorbed a small portion of the special energy.

The life energy contained in the special energy felt minuscule to Yagyu's body, but even that small amount of natural energy once again made him feel irritable and aggressive.

Before the natural energy could affect his sanity, Yagyu put the Gelel Stone down and formed a meditative seal with his hands, placing his left hand over his right and touching his thumbs together in a classic Zen position.

To an ordinary person, Yagyu might appear to be meditating. To a ninja, it looked like he was gathering chakra.

In reality, Yagyu was working to fuse the two types of energy within his body.

However, the ratio between the two energies was incredibly skewed, so much so that calling it a billion-to-one ratio would be an understatement.

Before long, Yagyu opened his eyes.

His red pupils hadn't changed color, and no red markings appeared around his eyes.

He had failed.

Yagyu's chakra reserves were simply too large, incomparable to the "small amount" held by his Wood Clones.

He picked up the Gelel Stone again and resumed absorbing its energy.

This time, he absorbed several times more than before.

As soon as the special energy entered his body, Yagyu's expression twisted in pain, and his red eyes turned into yellow, beast-like slits once again.

Hurriedly, he put the Gelel Stone down and reformed the meditative hand seal, focusing on fusing the life energy with the natural energy in his body to create Sage Chakra.

Through intense concentration, Yagyu managed to separate the special energy into two distinct forces—one positive and one negative.

The pure life force, now free from the entanglement of natural energy, quickly merged into Yagyu's 130 trillion cells, making his already vibrant cells even more active, slowly enhancing his body's capabilities.

Though the changes were subtle now, once the amount of absorbed energy reached a certain level, Yagyu's physical transformation would become much more apparent.

Once he crossed a threshold—or perhaps several—Yagyu's Sage Body might not only grant him Hashirama's ability to heal without seals, but possibly even Jugo's cellular regeneration.

Moreover, his Yang Release and Yang Chakra could take on the properties of the Gelel Stone, allowing him to create things like never-ending water wells, livestock that grew overnight, and even granting him the ability to retain youth, similar to the effects of the Yin Seal.

After all, the ancient kingdom had conducted research on the Gelel Stone to prevent aging.

But Yagyu wasn't thinking that far ahead yet.

Right now, he was focused entirely on fusing Sage Chakra.

After a long while, as Yagyu sat meditating, red markings slowly appeared around his eyes. The violent aura that had surged when he absorbed the large amount of special energy gradually stabilized.

If someone could sense emotions, they would notice that Yagyu's mood and aura were now completely different from the earlier moments of aggression and near-loss of control. Instead, his aura had become serene, almost as if he had merged with nature itself, exuding a sense of simplicity and harmony.

Without visual sensory abilities, it would be almost impossible to gauge Yagyu's strength by sensing his chakra alone.

Yagyu slowly opened his eyes. The yellow, beast-like pupils had returned to normal, though his eyes now shone with a golden hue.

Perhaps it was the shift in his aura or the effect of the eye markings, but his gaze now carried an overwhelming sense of calm authority.

Looking down at his hands, Yagyu muttered to himself, "So this is Sage Chakra?"

A bright blue aura of chakra suddenly flared from his hands, enveloping them with a powerful energy wave.

Within this chakra, Yagyu felt a potent surge of energy.

If he were to unleash this chakra, its power would far surpass his previous self.

If he used this chakra to fuel elemental techniques, whether it was one of the five basic nature transformations or Yin-Yang Release, all of them would receive a significant boost in power.

Additionally, Yagyu noticed that his body now felt weightless, and even without using chakra to protect himself, he could jump from a height of several dozen meters without suffering any harm.

This chakra enhanced not only his physical capabilities but also his ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, as if a buff had been applied to him in a game.

However, this newfound power faded just as quickly as it appeared.

In less than a minute, the red markings around his eyes and the golden color in his pupils faded away, returning to their original state.

Yagyu then picked up another Gelel Stone and absorbed its energy once again.

With his recent experience, Yagyu swiftly re-entered Sage Mode. However, he furrowed his brows and muttered to himself, "I can't sense it… Is it because it's nighttime or because my Sage Chakra isn't strong enough?"

What Yagyu couldn't sense was the natural energy in the surrounding environment.

Despite entering Sage Mode, he was unable to detect any natural energy.

Without being able to sense natural energy, Yagyu couldn't absorb it from the environment to maintain or prolong his Sage Mode.

He still needed the Gelel Stone to enter Sage Mode.

In this way, his Sage Mode resembled the unique version Jugo had given Sasuke during the Fourth Great Ninja War, a form of Sage Mode reliant on an external source of Sage Chakra.

That said, Yagyu knew his Sage Mode was pure.

The reason he couldn't sense natural energy likely stemmed from the fact that his Sage Body hadn't fully matured yet, and his affinity with natural energy wasn't strong enough.

Once his Sage Body developed further, natural energy would automatically gravitate toward him, as Hashirama had described.

Soon, Yagyu's Sage Mode ended again.

"Huh?"

Just as Yagyu exited the immensely powerful Sage Mode, he seemed to sense something, and his face lit up with excitement. "Just as I suspected, my Yang Release chakra... is getting stronger!"

Indeed, Yagyu could feel the life force within him.

It was pure life energy, freed from the entanglement of natural energy.

This life energy was now fusing with his cells, making them more vibrant, producing more powerful physical and mental energy.

At this rate, Yagyu's chakra reserves would grow even more impressive in the future.

Once his Sage Body fully matured, his chakra levels would be so immense that even Naruto, with his own Sage Body and half of Kurama's chakra, would only be comparable to Yagyu—if not slightly less.

Just as Yagyu had predicted, the life force within the Gelel Stones was accelerating the growth of his Sage Body.

Not being able to sense natural energy wasn't a problem for now.

By continuously absorbing the special energy within the Gelel Stones, Yagyu's Sage Body would grow rapidly.

Once it reached a certain point, he would naturally be able to sense natural energy, just like Hashirama, who could enter Sage Mode with a simple clap of his hands.

And once he reached that level, as long as he had chakra left, he could fight while continuously absorbing natural energy to maintain his Sage Mode.

Thinking this, Yagyu's expression suddenly became a bit strange, and he muttered, "Special energy contained within stones that, when absorbed, increase one's power... Why does this feel so familiar?"

Staring at the pile of green-glowing stones on the ground, Yagyu fell silent for a moment, his mouth twitching slightly.

Good grief, isn't this just like spirit stones from cultivation stories?

No wonder it felt so familiar—it had suddenly turned into a cultivation scenario!

Despite his inner monologue, Yagyu wasted no time collecting the Gelel Stones from the ground, storing them in his spatial pouch.

Once one slot in his inventory reached a maximum of ninety-nine, Yagyu stopped, took out an extra-large storage scroll, and continued gathering Gelel Stones.

However, despite the vastness of the Gelel Stone mine, which had the potential to destroy half a continent if it exploded, even filling up both his scrolls and spatial pouch only made a small dent in it.

But Yagyu didn't plan to take it all. After gathering a certain amount, he used the Mayfly Technique to swiftly depart.

In this era, very few people even knew about the Gelel Stones, and the only ones capable of fully absorbing their energy were Yagyu, Naruto, and Jugo.

Even Naruto wouldn't be able to absorb the energy unless he learned Sage Mode or a technique to absorb chakra.

Yagyu needed to absorb the natural energy from the stones first before he could get to the life energy.

But he couldn't yet absorb a large amount of Gelel Stone energy all at once.

So it made more sense to take a batch of stones home, drain them, and return for more—or have a Wood Clone bring more to him.

With the Mayfly Technique, whether it was Yagyu or a Wood Clone, it would only take a few hours for a round trip.

And once Yagyu mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, the journey would take mere moments.

As Yagyu sped through the earth, his mood was incredibly joyful.

He never expected that a plot from the original series' most boring movie, The Lost Tower of the Phantom Underground Ruins, would bring him such an enormous surprise.

Originally, he thought the time-space summoning array in the Void Hole would be his greatest reward.

If he could figure out how to master the Flying Thunder God Technique through it, then this trip would have been immensely profitable.

But it turned out that the Gelel Stone mine was the true treasure.

There were only two known methods to fully develop the Sage Body.

The first was to become the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails, which would automatically elevate the body to a level beyond the Sage Body.

The second was to receive a gift from the Sage of Six Paths, which is how Naruto temporarily surpassed Hashirama.

However, when Naruto lost the Yin-Yang Release and Kurama's chakra, his Sage Body couldn't compare to Hashirama's, indicating that even in Boruto, Naruto's Sage Body hadn't fully matured.

Without relying on external boosts, the only other way to fully develop the Sage Body was through the slow passage of time.

Now, Yagyu had found a new shortcut, one that could allow him to achieve a fully matured Sage Body before the end of Shippuden. How could he not feel elated?

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