Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Yagura watched Suigetsu Hozuki's retreating figure, then lowered his head. The kind smile on his face vanished instantly, and his purple eyes narrowed slightly, flashing with a hint of murderous intent.

However, when he raised his head again, a kind smile appeared on his face, and he quickly followed the Watermelon Pufferfish Demon ahead.

……

At night, in a bustling border town in the Land of Rain, some members of the White Fang Squad, disguised as ordinary merchants, checked into a luxury hotel.

The owner of this upscale hotel is backed by people from Konoha.

After the White Fang Squad settled in, they were finally able to relax a little, as their nerves had been on edge ever since they left the village. The four of them took a nice bath, ate a hearty meal, and then went back to their rooms to rest.

After returning to his room, Kirito immediately set up a sealing barrier to block perception, and then brought up the attribute panel again.

He looked at the numerous options on the attribute panel, his gaze quickly landing on the Sage Mode.

He now has four enhancement points, and the "+" option didn't appear when he added points last time, but it does now.

Next, his gaze fell on the Virtue attribute, which had now reached 10.

After this period of study, his virtuous attribute automatically increased by one point, with 5 representing intelligence and the rest representing knowledge.

I don't know if level 10 is the limit for the Sage attribute level, and this time, there was no "+" sign after this option.

"Is it because we don't have enough enhancement points, or have we already reached our limit?"

Kirito looked at the "Wise" attribute option with a puzzled expression.

After his skill points were increased last time, his Yin Release level unexpectedly broke through to level 4. Now he is very interested in the Wise attribute option. In addition, the two Sacred Beast puppets have significantly improved his strength, allowing him to release five ninjutsu at the same time. He is even more interested in this option.

Moreover, he still hopes that such a buy-one-get-one-free deal will happen again.

After all, he had previously increased his Yin Release level by adding points to his Wisdom attribute twice.

Unfortunately, this option did not have a "+" sign this time.

Kirito was silent for a moment, then turned his attention back to Sage Mode Level 2 and whispered, "Choosing this is probably the best option for me right now..."

Chapter 166: Adding Skill Points, the Path to Immortality

Adding points to Sage Mode was a skill point allocation plan Kirito had already devised before arriving at the inn.

Now that the previously favored "wise" attribute can no longer be allocated points, he really has nothing left to hesitate about.

However, when his eyes swept over the three chakra nature transformation options—Water Release, Lightning Release, and Yin Release—which all reached level 4, he couldn't help but feel a little hesitant.

The difficulty of advancing from level 4 to level 5 in chakra nature transformation is truly extraordinary. Nearly a year has passed, and the highest level of water jutsu that has reached level 4 remains at level 4. It is unknown how long it will take to reach level 5.

Kirito has been training in Water Release for a long time, and he has a vague feeling that he needs a special opportunity to upgrade his Water Release from level 4 to level 5.

Accumulation is one aspect, but to unleash that accumulation, a specific opportunity is needed.

Kirito didn't know what the trigger was, but he had asked powerful ninjas like Mito, Tsunade, and the Third Hokage before. They were very surprised by his question. Mito and Tsunade couldn't give him a definite answer, but the Third Hokage's answer was quite interesting.

He said, "When a ninja can feel the emotions associated with a certain type of chakra, his understanding of the nature of that chakra will reach its peak."

This statement wasn't actually made by the Third Hokage, but rather by his teacher, the Second Hokage.

In fact, the Third Hokage, who also possessed seven chakra natures, had the same doubts as Kirito.

Unfortunately, as time passed, the Third Hokage never had much time to delve into the meaning of his teacher's words after he became Hokage.

Over the years, he has still not been able to successfully develop a new bloodline limit.

It is evident that none of the seven chakra natures mastered by the Third Hokage successfully broke through level 4 to reach level 5. Moreover, relying solely on level 4 chakra nature transformations, it is not an easy task to successfully fuse two chakra natures to create a bloodline limit.

Unless one is a descendant of a bloodline limit ninja, the birth of each bloodline limit is equivalent to creating something from nothing, and the difficulty of its creation is extremely high.

Kirito currently wants to combine Water Release and Lightning Release to create Storm Release, a bloodline limit.

In fact, since his Lightning Release reached level 4, the two originally incompatible chakra natures have gradually shown signs of fusion. This shows that a ninja needs to raise the level of two different chakra natures to level 4 to have a basis for forming a bloodline limit.

Unfortunately, the integration process was far too slow.

At the current rate of fusion, if all goes well, he might be able to successfully create Storm Release in five or six years. If things don't go well, he'll probably end up like the Third Hokage, never able to form a bloodline limit in his lifetime.

Therefore, continuing to improve the levels of his Water Release and Lightning Release chakra natures has become the problem that Kirito needs to solve.

This problem is difficult to solve. Like many ninjas who have raised their Water Release and Lightning Release levels to level 4, he lacks an opportunity to further break through the limitations of these two chakra natures.

"The feelings of chakra, does this mean that ninjas need to find a way to become chakra? Only by becoming chakra of a certain attribute can one possibly experience the feelings of that attribute's chakra."

Kirito recalled what the Third Hokage had said to him and sighed.

Kirito had no doubts about what the Second Hokage said, because it wasn't strange for ninjas to use chakra.

There have always been creatures in this world formed solely from chakra.

Tailed beasts are the most typical example of this.

Perhaps the Second Hokage accidentally transformed himself into a chakra being while developing some kind of forbidden technique.

The Second Hokage was a research fanatic, and quite like a mad scientist. When developing forbidden techniques, he never thought about the consequences for future generations. Kirito doesn't believe that he didn't study the Tailed Beasts, these amazing chakra creatures.

So the question is, how do you transform yourself into a chakra being?

When Kirito thinks of chakra creatures, he thinks of tailed beasts. The tailed beasts were created by the Sage of Six Paths splitting the Ten-Tails from the God Tree and then using the power of Yin-Yang Release.

Therefore, the most orthodox way to create chakra creatures is to master Yin-Yang Release.

The ultimate form of Yin Dun is the ability to create tangible matter from nothing.

The ultimate form of Yang Dun is the ability to imbue tangible things with life.

Only when the two are combined can life be created.

"To master Yin-Yang Release, the first prerequisite is to master extremely high-level Yin Release and Yang Release. In that case, I seem to have returned to the starting point of the problem. My Yin Release and Yang Release are currently only level 4 and level 3 respectively. I don't know how far I am from the ultimate. Who can guarantee that level 5 Yin Release is the ultimate Yin Release?"

Kirito smiled wryly, thinking about how tailed beasts are born.

However, despite his wry smile, after this analysis and reflection, his eyes were now unusually bright.

"Tailed beasts are really good things."

Gradually, an expression of excitement appeared on Kirito's face.

He currently lacks the ability to use Yin-Yang Release to create chakra creatures of different attributes, but there are readily available chakra creatures in the ninja world, which he can utilize to solve his immediate problems.

As for how to utilize it, Kirito focused on the level 3 Spirit Transformation Technique.

That would naturally mean temporarily taking over the bodies of these tailed beasts.

If he could temporarily possess the bodies of these tailed beasts, wouldn't he become a chakra being?

"The souls of the tailed beasts are quite powerful. For example, the Nine-Tails. If I want to suppress its soul, I would have to use the sealing technique: Reaper Death Seal. Otherwise, my current soul power is insufficient. It can only be said that none of these chakra creatures created by the Sage of Six Paths are simple."

Kirito recalled the immense soul power contained within Kurama's soul and spoke solemnly.

If he wants to suppress the soul of the tailed beast and temporarily occupy its body, he will need even stronger soul power.

"No rush. With the Soul Poison Pill made from the Soul Poison of the Dead Soul Flower, my Spirit Transformation Technique should reach level 4 naturally in a while. It would be a waste to use the enhancement points on the Spirit Transformation Technique now."

Kirito quickly shifted his gaze away from the Spirit Transformation Technique.

Once the Spirit Transformation Technique reaches level 3, it would probably require 2 enhancement points to upgrade it further. However, he now has a stable method to enhance his soul power, so it would be a waste to add points to the Spirit Transformation Technique to upgrade its level now.

"Ultimately, it's all because of insufficient enhancement points. If I had enough enhancement points, I wouldn't have to be so frugal with them and rack my brains to find other ways to improve my strength. I could just add points directly."

Kirito thought regretfully, only having four enhancement points left on his attribute panel, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Suddenly, a terrifying thought arose in his mind: to kill all the characters he knew in the story to quickly gain enhancement points.

The moment that terrible thought arose, Kirito immediately suppressed it.

The idea of ​​killing in order to become stronger is unacceptable.

Once he accepts this terrifying idea, he may very well fall into the same descent into depravity as Orochimaru in the original story, rapidly degenerating into a villain who indiscriminately kills the innocent and tramples on life, ultimately becoming a slave to power.

Power is so fascinating, but he wants to be the master of power, not its slave.

Kirito closed his eyes, quickly composed himself, and continued to think about how to best utilize the four enhancement points in his hand.

For now, continuing to allocate points to the Sage Mode is the best option.

"After all this time, you're still the best."

Kirito looked at the Sage Mode option and smiled.

This time, after thoroughly figuring out his strategy for improving his strength, he no longer hesitated and used the 3 enhancement points on Sage Mode to raise its level from 2 to 3.

The moment he upgraded from Sage Mode to Level 3, he experienced a sharp pain all over his body, and a large amount of blood seeped out from the tiny pores of his skin, turning him into a terrifying blood-soaked figure.

Kirito uses Soul Poison Pills, a type of soul poison, every day to enhance his soul power, a process that inflicts deep torment on his soul each time.

Therefore, he was already used to pain. Even though his whole body felt like it was being pricked by needles, he remained calm and even had the mind to use water chakra to create a water mirror to see his current appearance.

It was quite gruesome; he was covered in blood.

But it didn't matter. With a thought, he activated the Blood Dragon Eye's ability to manipulate blood, and the blood seeping from his body quickly separated from him and condensed into a small ball above his head.

The process of blood seeping from the skin continued, but many tiny black particles also seeped out with the blood. These particles mixed in with the blood, gradually turning it black.

"Are these things impurities from my body? They're really dirty."

Kirito manipulated some black blood, held it in his eyes, then peeled it away. Looking at the foul-smelling black powder on his hand, he pondered thoughtfully.

After reaching level 3 in Sage Mode, with the help of the system's mysterious power, his body is now undergoing a transformation from the inside out.

According to the descriptions in the cultivation novels he had read before, he was currently undergoing a process of cleansing his essence and marrow, which would transform his body and further enhance his aptitude for cultivating immortal arts.

The process of impurities seeping out lasted about five or six minutes, and then gradually began to slow down.

At this moment, the blood sphere above Kirito's head had grown to the size of a basketball. He estimated that such a large sphere contained about the same amount of blood as his original body.

Despite this, he did not die from excessive blood loss. Instead, he became more and more energetic and felt better and better. This shows that during his bleeding process, his body was also rapidly producing blood, allowing his body to complete a true blood exchange.

After his body expelled a large amount of impurities, he felt an indescribable sense of clarity, a hundred times better than the feeling after detoxifying in the toilet. He felt extremely comfortable, and the flow of chakra within his body became smoother than before.

Soon, the process of the skin bleeding and expelling impurities ended.

At that moment, the natural energy from the outside world suddenly began to rapidly penetrate into Kirito's body.

These natural energies do not combine with Kirito's chakra; they simply circulate rapidly and continuously within his body.

After this natural energy entered Kirito's body, the cells in his body, like a glutton that had been starving for a long time, began to absorb this natural energy continuously.

After Kirito discovered this situation, he gave up on preventing the natural energy from entering his body and allowed it to enter freely.