After a long exchange of blows, both Raizen and Fukasaku-sama were breathing hard.
The old sage gave a low sigh, his yellow eyes narrowing with something between pride and disbelief. "To think a human child could wield this kind of power at your age… truly terrifying."
He wasn't wrong. Raizen could feel it too — the natural energy swirling through him like a restless storm. He had mastered the balance of Sage Mode.
But there was still one final discipline he hadn't yet grasped — the Frog Kata.
Unlike taijutsu that relied purely on muscle and chakra, Frog Kata was a Sage-exclusive art — striking with the flow of nature itself, extending one's reach with invisible power. It was the bridge between man and the wild, between motion and stillness.
Until Raizen mastered that, Sage Mode was still incomplete.
That night, when they returned to their small hut, Shima-sama had already prepared dinner.
"Fuh-fuh! Little Raizen must be starving after training all day," she croaked fondly, carrying in a basket. "Eat up! I made something special to restore your energy!"
Raizen stared at the steaming pile placed before him — a cluster of pulsing larvae wrapped in sticky rice, glistening with god-knows-what.
He swallowed hard.
"...Looks… healthy," he muttered.
"Go on, eat before it cools!" Shima-sama urged.
With the resignation of a man signing his own death warrant, Raizen began eating.
Tears might've been involved.
By the end, he dropped his chopsticks and groaned, "I swear, I've stopped being human since I came to Mount Myōboku."
Ten Days Later
Compared to the hellish training of Sage Mode, learning Frog Kata was almost relaxing. Within ten days, Raizen had completely mastered it.
"Now that you can freely use Sage Mode and the Frog Kata," Fukasaku-sama said, his tone shifting serious, "there's nothing more I can teach you… except one final lesson — the flaw of Sage Mode itself."
Raizen blinked. "The flaw?"
Fukasaku nodded. "Even you must have noticed it. Sage Mode cannot be maintained indefinitely. Five minutes — that's the limit for most mortals."
Raizen's face darkened slightly. "Yeah… I figured. I'm not exactly the Sage of Six Paths. My body still needs time to gather natural energy."
The old toad folded his arms. "Exactly. To enter Sage Mode, you must be perfectly still — that means no movement during the absorption. On a battlefield, standing still is suicide. Without allies to cover you, you'll die before you finish gathering energy."
Raizen smirked faintly. "Yeah, that'd be one hell of a way to go. But… there's a workaround."
Fukasaku's eyes narrowed. "Oh?"
Raizen tapped his temple. "Shadow Clones. If I leave a clone behind to keep absorbing natural energy, then when I dispel it, I get all that energy back instantly. No need to stand still, no blind spot."
The old sage's pupils widened. Then, slowly, a grin crept across his face. "Hah! Brilliant! I didn't even think of that… and I've been alive seven centuries."
Raizen chuckled. "Guess modern brains have their perks."
With that, the last weakness of Sage Mode was patched.
For the first time in Myōboku's history, a human had achieved near-perfect control of it.
Five Months Later
Time passed quietly atop the sacred mountain.
Raizen had gone from eight to nine years old — though mentally, he felt a hundred. His training was complete, and now… he longed for the chaos of the human world again.
The smell of mud. The clash of chakra and steel. The noise of life.
He packed lightly, slinging his small travel pouch over his shoulder.
"So, you've decided to leave, Raizen?" Fukasaku-sama asked softly.
"Yeah," Raizen said, smiling faintly. "Been here five, six months. The Warring States probably burned half itself down by now — might as well check if my clan's still standing."
The old toad nodded. "Then go. But remember — Mount Myōboku will always welcome you back."
From the side, Gamaken rumbled, his deep voice echoing. "If you ever need me in battle, summon me! I'll fight beside you, anytime!"
Raizen laughed, genuine this time. "Count on it, Ken. I'll call you when things get messy."
With one last bow, he wove the seals. "Summoning Release."
A puff of smoke exploded around him — and when it cleared, Raizen was gone.
Back in the Human World
"Boom—!"
A burst of smoke appeared in the middle of a dense forest.
Raizen stepped out, adjusting his cloak, and looked around at the sea of trees.
"…Yup. Definitely not Myōboku anymore."
He wandered for a while until he stumbled upon something unexpected — a massive wooden structure rising from the forest floor, crowned with a golden spire.
A temple.
Raizen frowned. "A temple? Out here?"
The banners fluttered in the wind, the smell of incense faint in the air. Buddhist, by the look of it.
He sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. "Well… guess the gods wanted me to start my next arc somewhere holy."
He started walking toward it.