Naruto: Reborn with the Tenseigan

Hanzo of the Salamander, like a mad dog, kept hounding Sunagakure. Chiyo expected this; after all, Sunagakure's raid on Amegakure had prompted retaliation, which was quite normal.

Hanzo was a proud man, even if his pride held little value in the eyes of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

After Sunagakure raided the villages and towns of the Land of Rain, Hanzo had to respond as the leader of Amegakure. Otherwise, how could he hold his head up in the shinobi world?

It wasn't just about honor. Even the daimyo of the Land of Rain wouldn't let him off the hook.

The daimyo had poured money and resources into supporting Hanzo year after year. They might understand if Hanzo couldn't win against the Five Great Shinobi Villages, given the disparity in power, but for him to not even make a sound after being raided by Sunagakure? What was the point of all that investment?

For his honor, the citizens of the Land of Rain, and for the daimyo, Hanzo had to stand up against Sunagakure.

Even if he couldn't defeat them outright, he would tear a chunk of flesh from Sunagakure if he had to.

Otherwise, he would be seen as nothing but a disgrace.

With Amegakure persistently pursuing Sunagakure, and Iwagakure rejecting Chiyo's plea for an alliance, things were bad enough. But what really upset Chiyo was Konoha's peculiar strategy in this chaotic war.

Konoha's approach was straightforward: fight other enemies if they could, retreat if they couldn't, and just hold onto their territory. But they refused to retreat against Sunagakure—they pursued them relentlessly.

You wanted to start a war, act recklessly, and stir up trouble? Then I'll gladly help you out.

"Bunch of useless trash!!"

Chiyo cursed loudly for a while, gradually calming down when she realized that Sunagakure's situation in the Rain Country battlefield was becoming increasingly disadvantageous.

With three enemies to handle, Iwagakure wasn't actively pursuing them, but if they encountered each other, Iwagakure certainly wouldn't hold back. Amegakure was rabidly biting at their heels, while Konoha targeted them whenever possible.

In this back-and-forth, Sunagakure's position was growing increasingly awkward.

If things stayed the same, they could slowly fight it out with Amegakure and Konoha.

But in war, the situation could change at any moment—how could they be sure Iwagakure wouldn't jump into the fray tomorrow?

If Iwagakure, Konoha, and Amegakure all ganged up on Sunagakure, the village would truly be finished.

---

Meanwhile, at Shikkotsu Forest, Takashi was sitting cross-legged on the ground. As natural energy flowed into his body, merging with his physical and spiritual energy, it formed Sage Chakra.

"Huh!"

The Slug Sage, feeling a bit bored, suddenly lowered its head to look at the motionless Takashi.

Takashi was sitting cross-legged, absorbing natural energy, and a thin, elongated mark had appeared below his eyes—so faint that, if not examined closely, it would simply look like eyeliner.

"Little Takashi, I knew I wasn't wrong. Your talent is excellent, even better at controlling Sage Chakra than most. You might even be better than Hashirama."

Takashi, however, didn't seem to hear the praise. As soon as he opened his eyes, he immediately pulled out a mirror.

For someone training in Sage Mode, aside from the unique facial markings, strange features could also appear on the body. The Ryuchi Cave Sage Mode could give a snake tail, the Mount Myoboku Sage Mode resulted in a toad-like features, and Takashi wasn't sure what characteristic Shikkotsu Forest would add. He just hoped he wouldn't end up with two antennae on his head or a perpetually slimy body.

"Sigh!"

Looking at his reflection, Takashi thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

How could there be no changes? Was he training some fake Sage Mode?

No, that's not right—I've clearly entered Sage Chakra Mode!!

Could it be that something strange has appeared on my body?

Takashi panicked and immediately started patting himself down, frantically checking every inch of his body.

Good, everything was still there, including the "important part." He let out a sigh of relief.

The Slug Sage watched Takashi's odd behavior, its head tilted in curiosity. When Takashi had finally checked himself over and confirmed there was nothing amiss, the sage spoke:

"Little Takashi, talented individuals who achieve a perfect balance in controlling Sage Chakra won't show any strange features."

"Geez, you should've said that earlier—you scared me!" Takashi replied, picking up the mirror he had dropped on the ground. He inspected himself carefully once more and finally noticed that the only change was that the lines under his eyes looked slightly darker. If one wasn't paying close attention, they wouldn't even notice—almost as if he'd lightly applied eyeliner.

Unlike others, whose faces would end up covered in patterns.

"Slug Sage, does this mean my control over Sage Chakra is flawless?" Takashi asked, raising his head.

The Slug Sage nodded her massive head happily and said, "Of course! No special physical traits and minimal facial markings mean your control over Sage Chakra is excellent. When little Hashirama first entered Sage Mode, his whole face became one big painted mess."

Takashi: "..."

Hashirama's Sage Mode had distinctive features—a pattern around his eyes and the large circular markings on his forehead. Takashi, however, didn't have any of those.

Even when training in the same Sage Arts, facial markings would vary.

For example, Jiraiya's talent with Sage Mode was inferior to Naruto's. Jiraiya needed the help of toads from Mount Myoboku to maintain the balance of natural energy, which resulted in many strange features, such as the toad-like appearance of his face.

Naruto, on the other hand, was different. When he entered Sage Chakra Mode, the only change was a red ring around his eyes.

Putting aside the patterns, both he and Jiraiya also experienced changes in their pupils' shapes when entering Sage Mode. Minato was no exception.

After all, the three of them trained in Myoboku Mountain's Sage Arts.

Takashi, however, chose Shikkotsu Forest.

Even so, the markings on his face were vastly different from Hashirama Senju's.

Fewer markings weren't necessarily a bad thing—they could be deceptive and, frankly, more aesthetically pleasing.

"Little Takashi, your eyes are quite unique. I've noticed they're slowly absorbing Shikkotsu Forest's natural energy. Can you feel any Sage Chakra being consumed within your body?"

The Tenseigan is absorbing natural energy?

Takashi was startled.

After taking a moment to sense the changes in his body, he replied, "It seems like the consumption is minimal."

The greatest drawback of Sage Mode was its dependence on natural energy. Once the natural energy within the body was depleted, Sage Chakra Mode would deactivate, as it was impossible to absorb natural energy while moving or fighting.

With less natural energy in the body, Sage Chakra would diminish bit by bit. Once used up, it would have to be replenished by absorbing more natural energy to convert into Sage Chakra.

However, Takashi's Tenseigan could autonomously absorb natural energy, maintaining a balance between absorption and consumption.