After two days of rest, Amamiya Raizen stood once more before the roaring waterfall of Mount Myōboku. Mist hung thick in the air, the scent of moss and wet stone heavy around him. Two familiar figures waited ahead—Shima-sama and Fukasaku-sama, the ancient toad sages.
"Little Raizen," Fukasaku croaked, his tone half stern, half amused. "Do you know what Sage Mode truly is?"
Raizen paused, scratching his cheek. "You absorb natural energy into your body and mix it with chakra, right?"
Fukasaku nodded slightly. "Not wrong, but not complete. To learn Sage Mode, you must first understand nature, not just steal from it."
He gestured to the forest, the stone, the water—everything alive yet still. "To 'absorb' natural energy means to feel it. Draw it in until it merges with you, until your body and nature breathe as one. Only then can you control the balance between what's within and what's without."
"Integrate with nature, huh…" Raizen exhaled. The logic clicked instantly, but living it was another matter. He'd read about this kind of stuff in old scrolls back home—now he was supposed to become it. "Basically… zen-mode DLC with a death penalty."
Fukasaku ignored the muttering and motioned toward the waterfall. "This stream isn't water. It's toad oil—sacred liquid that draws in natural energy."
Raizen blinked. "That's… kinda gross."
"Toad oil will help you sense the flow of natural energy through your skin," Fukasaku continued, dipping his hand and smearing the viscous golden oil across Raizen's arm. "But it's also dangerous. Too much energy, and you'll lose your human form."
Raizen's gaze followed Fukasaku's finger toward a row of stone statues scattered near the rocks—each shaped like half-human, half-toad forms frozen in agony.
"Let me guess. Failed students."
"Correct," Fukasaku said simply. "So, don't move. Let nature flow into you, not through force, but through stillness. That is where true Sage power begins."
Raizen sighed. "So I just sit still and don't move?"
"Exactly. But that's the hardest thing a living being can do."
Raizen sat cross-legged by the waterfall. The toad oil's scent burned his nose. He tried to breathe calmly, but the moment his mind wandered—bam!
A wooden staff cracked down on his head.
"Too much!" Fukasaku barked.
"Oi—! That hurt, damn it!" Raizen rubbed his skull. His left hand was already turning amphibian-green.
"Balance, boy! Too much natural energy, and you become the nature!"
The old sage smacked him again, dispelling the mutation. "Physical energy, spiritual energy, and natural energy must stay equal. Unbalanced, you turn to stone. Balanced, you become a Sage."
"Yeah, yeah, chakra math, got it," Raizen muttered. "One-third idiot, one-third genius, one-third dead if I mess up."
Despite the pain, he began again. Slowly, the rhythm between his breaths and the forest's hum aligned. For a fleeting second, he could feel it—the heartbeat of the world echoing with his own.
Then—pop!
A frog arm again. Another thwack. Another yell.
Hours blurred together. Raizen's patience was tested, his skull constantly abused by that merciless stick. Finally, wiping oil from his forehead, he smirked.
"Let's cheat the grind."
With a single hand seal, three shadow clones appeared around him.
"All right, boys—divide the pain, multiply the progress."
Fukasaku's eyes bulged. "Are you insane!? If all of you lose balance at once, the energy will combine—you'll turn into a mountain of frogs!"
"Guess that's what mentors are for," Raizen grinned. "You've got the stick, right?"
The old toad sighed deeply, resigned. "You humans… always trouble."
And so, training continued—smacks, explosions, a few cursed words, and countless moments of near-transformation. But as dusk settled, even Fukasaku had to admit—the kid was adapting fast.
Raizen wasn't yet a Sage. Not even close.
But for the first time, nature didn't reject him. It listened.
He smiled faintly through the pain.
"Not bad for a reincarnator who can't sit still."