Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 373 Immortal Arts Cultivation

Furthermore, Naruto's physical abilities have also improved significantly under the enhancement of Sage Chakra.

Its power is comparable to that of a ninja who has opened five of the Eight Gates.

Speed, power, perception.

Sage Mode truly lives up to the name "Sage," completely surpassing Naruto's previous abilities by several levels; it's like a power from a different dimension.

"Excellent, excellent!"

Inside the interlayered space, Li Yao was very satisfied with the power of the Sage Chakra and continued to follow Naruto, sensing the Sage Chakra within him.

While Li Yao was amazed by Naruto's speed, the others were also astonished by the strength Naruto displayed.

After the initial surprise, everyone was filled with joy.

"There's no need for the Hokage of Konoha to deal with these guys. Granny, you can step aside and enjoy your tea."

Naruto stared at Pain, his calm eyes revealing not only anger, but also an unwavering confidence that he would defeat Pain.

"Naruto..."

As Tsunade gazed at Naruto's retreating figure, she felt somewhat dazed, as if she could see the shadows of Minato Namikaze and Jiraiya in her mind.

Both of them are seen as reliable and reassuring by the public.

Naruto now provides Tsunade with this reliable sense of security.

"That's amazing!"

"Naruto defeated Pain with a single punch!"

At the edge of the crater, a Hyuga clan ninja was using his Byakugan to give a live report to the others. Hearing that Naruto had so easily defeated Pain, the despair in everyone's hearts finally dissipated, and hope spread. Everyone began to cheer for Naruto.

"Go Naruto!"

"We must defeat Payne!"

Intermittent sounds echoed from the edge of the crater. Although it was far away, Naruto, with his keen senses, heard them. An indescribable power descended upon Naruto's entire body, bringing his will and his body to their peak condition.

However, before he could fight, he had one more question to answer, after which he could focus all his energy on the battle.

"Grandma Tsunade, I probably shouldn't be asking this question right now."

"Because I can now absorb natural energy, I can sense everyone's chakra."

Naruto's deep voice came through, and even though Naruto hadn't asked his question yet, Tsunade already knew what he was going to ask.

"Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei... they... are they on a mission outside the village right now?"

Naruto asked in a tone that suggested he already knew the outcome but was still hoping for a surprise.

"..."

Tsunade remained silent. Not only Kakashi, but many people who were close to Naruto had died, and she couldn't bring herself to tell Naruto this cruel reality.

After a few breaths, Naruto, knowing the answer, whispered, "I understand!"

Images of Kakashi and the others flashed through Naruto's mind. He took a deep breath. He knew the answer to the question; he had no way out.

Let's go then!

Naruto looked at Pain and shouted, "Go, Gamabunta, take Tsunade away!"

bang

Gamakichi grabbed Tsunade and jumped away, leaving only a small, hand-sized slug clone perched on Naruto's shoulder, responsible for explaining the Six Paths of Pain's abilities to him.

Pain watched Tsunade leave without stopping her.

"Pain!" Naruto stepped forward, his cold eyes fixed on Pain, and shouted, "Let's settle this once and for all!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Naruto rushed over at lightning speed.

The battle between Naruto and Pain began instantly.

Li Yao instructed Pain to feign a lack of chakra, thus preventing the Deva Path from intervening and instead having the other six paths take action.

Even without intervention from the Heavenly Dao, it was still somewhat inferior to Naruto in Sage Mode. However, by utilizing the characteristics of the Rinnegan, it managed to hold its own against Naruto.

He also mentioned that he was a disciple of Jiraiya.

Naruto is also very hypocritical. Only as Jiraiya's disciple is he likely to try to understand Nagato according to Jiraiya's ideas.

Otherwise, Nagato, who wasn't Jiraiya's disciple, wouldn't be worthy of Naruto's understanding, no matter how different he was from the other members of Akatsuki.

The subsequent battles were similar to those in the original story.

The Pain clone controlled by Li Yaoying was even more talkative than Nagato, trying to persuade Naruto with his peace ideals while fighting.

Naruto at this point would naturally not agree with Li Yaotian's words about Pain; he would only become more furious.

Naruto and Pain (the Six Paths of Pain) engaged in a fierce battle.

Li Yao's true form had already left Konoha and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to arrive above a desert in the Land of Wind.

He had fully sensed the nature change of Naruto's Sage Chakra, and the next step was to gather his own Sage Chakra.

It's different from other ninjutsu chakra.

Although Li Yao could sense all the changes in the properties of Sage Chakra, he still needed to absorb natural energy to condense it.

Bang!

Just to be on the safe side, Li Yao decided to try using Shadow Clone Technique first.

Li Yao and his shadow clone descended from the sky onto the desert, where they then coalesced into a metal platform, providing a stable place to land.

A relatively stable environment is needed to gather natural energy.

The soft sand in the desert can easily disrupt the body's tranquility, leading to a failure in the absorption of natural energy, especially when condensing Sage Chakra, which requires concentration.

The shadow clone sat cross-legged, focusing intently on absorbing natural energy. Li Yao stood beside the shadow clone, carefully sensing its presence.

He has found the ratio of the three energy components needed to condense the Sage Chakra of Mount Myōboku from Naruto's Sage Chakra.

The shadow clone carefully absorbed natural energy into its body.

Bang!

A cloud of white smoke exploded!

The shadow clone technique failed.

Li Yao frowned, then relaxed, and once again conjured a shadow clone.

Li Yao already knew how much natural energy was needed to condense Sage Chakra, but precisely controlling the amount of natural energy absorbed to be exactly the amount required to condense Sage Chakra was still somewhat difficult.

Because Li Yao's control over natural energy is actually not much different from Naruto's.

The shadow clone just now failed to precisely absorb the natural energy needed to condense Sage Chakra, causing the excess natural energy to disrupt the balance of the Shadow Clone Technique and explode.

Having learned from the failure of his previous shadow clone, Li Yao tried his best to control the amount of natural energy absorbed this time.

"Bang!"

The shadow clone exploded again.

This time, the natural energy absorbed was less than the natural energy needed to condense Sage Chakra, which prevented it from fusing with spiritual and physical energy to form Sage Chakra. This portion of natural energy then disrupted the balance of the Shadow Clone Technique.

Bang!

Li Yao created another shadow clone to continue absorbing natural energy.

Bang!

The shadow clone exploded again.

The amount of natural energy absorbed is still not right; it's either a little too little or a little too much.

Compared to Li Yao's absolute control over his own spiritual and physical energy, natural energy is like a slippery eel, making it difficult to accurately grasp the amount of natural energy to absorb.

However, compared to other cultivators of immortal arts, Li Yao also has an absolute advantage.

That is, as long as he succeeds once, Li Yao can guarantee that the natural energy he absorbs each time afterward will be just enough to condense Sage Chakra.

This is a talent that comes from Li Yao's absolute control over his own mind.

Without needing to practice many times, once he succeeds, gathering Sage Chakra will be no problem for him.

Bang!

The shadow clone exploded again.

Li Yao continued to create shadow clones to absorb natural energy.

(End of this chapter)