Uchiha's personal opinion

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but at least it's not here now."

The slug continued to wiggle its antennae and answered in a soft, sweet voice.

"But they will always come..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu said meaningfully, "As long as the moon is still there, they will eventually find the ninja world."

"Even if the moon is destroyed, that immortal being will only escape from it, not be annihilated. That might make things even more troublesome..."

The slug continued to speak in riddles with Uchiha Tokumitsu.

Although Tsunade and the others were curious, they were too embarrassed to ask questions on the spot, and simply silently noted down the suspicious points in the conversation.

Uchiha Tokumitsu couldn't help but sigh.

While theoretically, even if the sky were to fall, the tallest person would hold it up, looking at the ninja world today, the one standing the tallest is none other than oneself...

The issues of Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave haven't been resolved yet, and now an even more inexplicable alien has emerged...

"By the way, why is the Slug Sage willing to share these secrets with me?"

After a moment's thought, Uchiha Tokumitsu asked casually.

"The ninja world is too boring. It's always good to see some new things appear, otherwise this endless river of time is just too tedious..."

The slug continued swaying its antennae, seemingly quite pleased, and said, "Gamamaru chose to stand against you because you disrupted his control over the future, while the White Snake hates anything that tries to change history..."

"If one day I destroy Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave, wouldn't the Slug Sage care?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu narrowed his eyes slightly as he spoke.

Even if the holy land is destroyed, new sources of power will always rise; this is the natural order.

Although the slug's voice still had that soft, sweet tone, its tone had become serious.

"I understand……"

Uchiha Tokumitsu bowed to the Slug Sage with heartfelt admiration.

In his eyes, of the so-called three holy lands and three immortals, only this seemingly fragile "snot-nosed creature" was most in line with his temperament.

"By the way, Deguang-kun is probably pursuing the power of immortal arts, right?"

The slug bent its antennae in return and asked another question.

"Yes."

Uchiha Tokumitsu answered frankly, "Furthermore, Ryuchi Cave even sent me their Sage Technique scrolls, which greatly puzzled me, so I rashly disturbed the Slug Sage..."

"Hmm~ I remember Lord Hashirama saying something that made a lot of sense..."

The Slug Immortal said, "Seeking external methods is not as good as establishing your own inner self."

Hope this helps!

After he finished speaking, the slug on the table turned into a wisp of smoke and disappeared.

"Be independent and sincere..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu muttered to himself.

Chapter 345 Taking a Different Approach

"Come to welcome Thousand Hands Killer!"

Driven by a mixture of fire-style chakra and natural energy, Uchiha Tokumitsu painstakingly conjured a three-headed, six-armed tengu image and hurled it at Orochimaru.

"Spirit Summoning Technique: Triple Rashomon!"

Orochimaru habitually activated his summoning jutsu, summoning three layers of ghostly gates to the underworld, blocking the so-called Thousand Hands Killing attack.

The Tengu waved its giant palm repeatedly, and after nearly five seconds, it finally shattered the three Rashomon gates, causing them to dissipate into a wisp of smoke.

"This, no matter what... has nothing to do with the immortal talent of the Fire Temple..."

Orochimaru sighed again.

"Why must we follow the rules of the Fire Temple?"

Uchiha Tokumitsu asked with some curiosity, then took out his notebook and began to record his insights on casting techniques.

He hadn't studied ninjutsu so seriously in a long time.

After visiting the Senju clan and having the opportunity to speak with the slug, Uchiha Tokumitsu also discovered a misconception he had been holding.

That is, after ascending to a high position, he unintentionally lost his ambition.

Although Uchiha Tokumitsu had always strongly supported the Uzumaki researchers in their study of natural energy in order to obtain a usable and safe method for cultivating Sage Chakra, the progress of this research, while not entirely without progress, was definitely disproportionate to the input and output.

"Seeking external methods is not as good as cultivating one's own mind!"

The slug used a quote from Hashirama Senju to enlighten Tokumitsu Uchiha.

Although the researchers in the vortex are all quite capable, they are still far from being able to sense the existence of natural energy. It would be strange if they could make any progress in studying Sage Chakra!

Uchiha Tokumitsu often avoided this by saying "a wise man does not stand under a dangerous wall," and never actually tried to absorb natural energy to refine it. As a result, it became impossible for him to learn Sage Mode.

Orochimaru was willing to be Uchiha Tokumitsu's sparring partner because he realized he had been abandoned by Ryuchi Cave. Instead of going to Ryuchi Cave, Uchiha Tokumitsu made countless copies of the Ryuchi Cave scroll and distributed them to the Jonin of the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans. Then, five days after visiting the Senju clan, the Ryuchi Cave Sage Scroll, which was sealed by multiple sealing techniques, disappeared without warning.

At the same time, Orochimaru also discovered that his summoning contract with Ryuchi Cave had been abolished, and apart from Manda, who had a blood pact with him, he could no longer summon any other Ryuchi Cave summoning beasts.

Therefore, Uchiha Tokumitsu became even more convinced of his initial thought—that Ryuchi Cave's unsolicited kindness must be a sign of malicious intent!

Orochimaru, having lost the Ryuchi Cave summoning contract, also lost most of his combat methods. Secret techniques that required the use of Ryuchi Cave snakes, such as Snake Mouth Binding, Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, and Ten Thousand Snake Formation, all became ineffective, thus reducing his overall strength.

Of course, Orochimaru could have re-cultivated ninja snakes for use in his jutsu, just like the conservative Uchiha ninjas used to raise ninja crows, but he had neither the time nor the money, so this path was also blocked.

However, there were some benefits as well. After reporting the anomaly of the summoning contract at Ryuchi Cave to Uchiha Tokumitsu, Orochimaru gained Uchiha Tokumitsu's trust.

To compensate for Orochimaru's losses, Uchiha Tokumitsu ordered that Ryuchi Cave also be included in the category of terrorist forces, and that, as is customary, the joint anti-terrorism force be responsible for its eradication. In addition, Orochimaru was nominated as one of the permanent members of the House of Representatives.

After granting him status, Uchiha Tokumitsu even brought Orochimaru along as a sparring partner to explore the mysteries of Sage Chakra.

The Fire Temple Secret Technique that was just used was extracted by Uchiha Tokumitsu from old documents to manipulate natural energy.

"Lord Deguang, you can use a different term. From now on, this can be considered a new type of ninjutsu that you have developed."

Orochimaru had an extraordinary obsession with the form and name of ninjutsu, and this was not the first time he had tried to get Uchiha Tokumitsu to change the strange-looking name of the Tengu jutsu.

After all, this technique is neither a welcoming move nor does it involve the Thousand Hands; it is simply the complete form of the Susanoo of the Uchiha clan.

"Then let's call it..."

Uchiha Tokumitsu thought for a moment and, drawing on his memories from his previous life, came up with a name—

"The Art of Garuda".

"Moreover, this technique can be incorporated into the village's secret archives and made available to all Jonin who can sense the existence of natural energy."

Uchiha Tokumitsu added another sentence.

"...It's certainly a good thing to open up to the village's Jonin, but what does this name mean?"

Orochimaru didn't care about the fate and levels of ninjutsu; he was simply baffled by his older brother Uchiha's naming method.

In the past few days, he had already seen the existence of the Firelight Lord, but he was equally puzzled by the name of this strange creation of escape techniques.

Uchiha Tokumitsu didn't bother to explain, and instead beckoned Orochimaru to continue sparring.

As the slug said, staying true to oneself is the right path that the strong should pursue.

After using the secret techniques of the Fire Temple as a reference, Uchiha Tokumitsu gradually developed a relatively complete system for utilizing natural energy.

After being able to sense the presence of natural energy, a certain preparatory secret technique is used as an aid to stir up the mixture of natural energy and external chakra, thereby amplifying the effect of the secret technique.

After becoming familiar with the properties of natural energy, try to incorporate a small amount of natural energy into your body and refine it together with your physical and mental energy to extract Sage Chakra.

Although this training process is not very efficient, it is stable and more suitable for the ninja world where natural energy is scarce, compared to the so-called sacred land's sage techniques.

Even Orochimaru, who was deemed by the White Snake Sage of Ryuchi Cave to lack the aptitude for Sage Mode, successfully came into contact with natural energy through the methods explored by Uchiha Tokumitsu.

……

"Sage Art: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Uchiha Tokumitsu managed to extract a portion of his Sage Chakra, concentrating it in his throat to form a giant fireball of alternating red and silver colors, which he then unleashed towards Orochimaru.

"Spirit Summoning Technique: Fivefold Rashomon!"

Orochimaru dared not be careless at all. He immediately bit his finger, which was already covered in bite marks, and used the Summoning Jutsu to summon a row of Rashomon gates.

"Boom boom boom boom!"

The Immortal Technique Fireball shattered four Rashomon Gates before being blocked at the final Gate of the Underworld.

Orochimaru also breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he was skilled in various life-saving techniques, they all had their limits; moreover, Uchiha Tokumitsu's fire release technique, which combined sage chakra with fire release, was indeed extraordinary, and he didn't want to be blasted into pieces.

Let's call it a day!

Orochimaru saw that Uchiha Tokumitsu was still in high spirits, so he quickly begged for mercy: "My chakra is almost exhausted, and I have to go to the research institute this afternoon to hold a seminar on a new research project."

"Really? Then forget it."

Upon hearing that it was related to research, Uchiha Tokumitsu immediately stopped what he was doing.

After all, among all the scientific research systems, the team led by Orochimaru has the highest return on investment.

Moreover, since Ryuchi Cave unilaterally terminated his summoning contract, Orochimaru has become more "human," and his previously gloomy and melancholic temperament has changed.

Relieved, Orochimaru quickly used the Body Flicker Technique to leave, while the grieving ninja servants took over his task and endured Uchiha Tokumitsu's "gang beating"—theoretically, one person fighting a group of people also counts as a gang beating.

After thoroughly practicing all sorts of low-level fire-style ninjutsu mixed with sage chakra, Uchiha Tokumitsu stopped.

The servant ninjas, who had been drained of every last drop of chakra, were finally able to lie on the ground and catch their breath.

After testing, Uchiha Tokumitsu clearly discovered that after mixing in Sage Chakra, the amplification effect of ninjutsu, although not as terrifying as the Mangekyou Sharingan's Shin-ou Genryūshin, could at least reach two-thirds of the amplification power of the Mangekyou Sharingan, and the advantage was that it did not consume eye power.

Although divine particles replenish the body's energy, the recovery of the Mangekyou Sharingan's power is still extremely slow. So far, it has only restored Uchiha Tokumitsu's vision to normal, and the power in his eyes is still far from being fully restored.

"Your team can rest for now. We'll have another guard company come over!"

Although the recovery efficiency of eye power is not high, after assessing the amplification of ninjutsu by Sage Chakra, Uchiha Tokumitsu still wanted to test the effect of Sage Chakra after being amplified by Mangekyou Sharingan.

But it was clear that the group of servant ninjas, who were already looking like dead dogs, were no longer able to handle this heavy task, so they had to change shifts early and call in another group of servants.