Hoshiyomi maintained his iaido stance, steadily calming his breathing and mind. At the same time, his body stayed in Transparent Release, naturally attuning itself to his surroundings.
Gradually, he began to experience what it meant to quiet the mind. This wasn't the same as spacing out or dozing off—Hoshiyomi was perfectly clear-headed, and he could still hear the wind, the falling of leaves, and the rustling of the Great Slug Sage's movements.
But none of that disturbed him. He sank deeper into a mysterious state, as if, in that instant, he had grasped the profound, elusive feeling of merging with heaven and earth, becoming one with nature itself.
Seconds passed. Then minutes. Then hours.
Before he knew it, the sun was already high in the sky. Noon sunlight filtered through the trees and stalactites of Shikkotsu Forest, spilling across his face—yet Hoshiyomi remained completely unaware.
His body neither sweated nor ached. He was utterly relaxed, as though he had fused seamlessly with the world, breathing and pulsing in rhythm with it. Sometimes still and calm like water, sometimes wild and thunderous like a storm.
The Great Slug Sage, who at first hadn't planned to interfere and had simply let Hoshiyomi explore on his own, suddenly realized that the young man behind her had been motionless for quite some time.
"Let's give it a bit more time. Surely he'll hit his limit soon…" she thought, shifting her massive body deliberately to see if the noise would break his focus.
But ten minutes passed, and still no reaction. In fact, in her perception, Hoshiyomi had been maintaining this strange, energy-draining state for more than half an hour.
"Could he have… fallen asleep? While squatting? No way."
Unable to contain her curiosity, she carefully turned her massive body to look—and froze. To her eyes, Hoshiyomi had vanished.
Her sensory perception told her he was still standing right there, but her vision showed nothing. Even more shocking was what she felt: natural energy was actively gathering around Hoshiyomi, clinging faintly to his body.
Natural energy was the energy of the world itself, omnipresent, like dust that settles everywhere. Of course, it would brush against the human body too.
But this was different. Hoshiyomi wasn't simply covered in natural energy—she could sense that some of it was actively being drawn to him, pulled to his body on its own.
She didn't know how he had become invisible, but she was certain of one thing: this ability was definitely helping him absorb natural energy.
Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that Hoshiyomi's body had already begun naturally absorbing energy on its own—though for now, it remained only on the surface of his body, not yet flowing inward.
After watching for a long time, the Great Slug Sage became certain: Hoshiyomi had truly achieved quieting the mind and, in fact, had leapt far ahead, reaching the very threshold of absorption.
All he needed now was a little help—just a nudge to let him experience the feeling of natural energy entering the body. Once he recognized its presence, the first stage of Sage Mode training would essentially be complete.
It seemed Hoshiyomi's idea hadn't been wrong after all—he really could absorb natural energy without relying on the aids of the Three Great Holy Lands.
Hashirama had mastered Sage Mode thanks to his Wood Release, which was naturally in tune with the flow of natural energy. Hoshiyomi, however, was entirely different—he had achieved this entirely through his own body, without any external help.
Just as she had told him before—he truly possessed limitless potential. What she'd intended only as words of comfort suddenly felt, even to the Great Slug Sage herself, like the fulfillment of an incredible prophecy.
At that moment, even a being who had lived for over a thousand years like the Great Slug Sage couldn't help but feel curious about Hoshiyomi. She wanted to see for herself if a human could truly achieve it—cultivating senjutsu directly, without relying on any external aids.
If it really were possible, then perhaps he would gain a Sage Mode even more perfect than Hashirama's—a form entirely his own, untainted by any outside influence.
With that thought, the Slug Sage quietly inched closer, lowering one massive antennae onto the top of Hoshiyomi's head. Before he could speak, she said gently:
"Don't let your thoughts wander. Stay exactly as you are—calm your mind, and focus with everything you have."
Hearing her words, Hoshiyomi steadied himself and restarted his training. Going from one to two was never the hard part—the true difficulty had always been going from zero to one.
And since he had already touched that state once, this time it took him less than two minutes to return to it.
Sensing this, the Slug Sage gave a satisfied nod. From her vast reserves, she separated out a single wisp of natural energy and silently infused it into Hoshiyomi's body.
In his state of complete focus, Hoshiyomi immediately noticed the difference.
He could clearly feel it—tiny motes of light, like fireflies, guided by some mysterious force, drifting little by little into his body.
It was an incredible sensation—like soaking in perfectly warm water, neither too hot nor too cold, the absolute peak of comfort. Every single cell in his body seemed to rejoice in that bliss.
But soon, everything changed.
As the Slug Sage had said before, natural energy could be as calm as water—or as violent as thunder. Once that small amount of energy entered his body, it lost the guidance it had before. Realizing it was trapped, it instinctively tried to flee.
Hoshiyomi, however, wasn't willing to let the chance slip away. His body subconsciously surged with chakra, attempting to hold the natural energy in place.
That was enough to enrage it. The once-docile energy suddenly rampaged, crashing through him wildly.
Pain exploded through Hoshiyomi. His scream tore from his throat as the agony shattered his meditative focus. And once that state broke, the natural energy's berserk rampage only intensified.
He could see it—his skin rapidly hardening, turning to stone. There were no frog-like or slug-like features—just plain, raw petrification.
Alarmed, the Slug Sage immediately pulled the natural energy back under control. With her power restraining it, the rampaging energy gradually quieted, withdrawing bit by bit along its original path, leaving Hoshiyomi's body.
At last, the horrifying stone patches faded, and his skin returned to normal.
The Slug Sage tapped his head lightly with a antennae, her voice tinged with disapproval:
"Greedy boy. Now you understand, don't you? Luckily, I reacted quickly, and you didn't forcefully try to suppress the natural energy. Otherwise, you'd already be nothing but a statue."